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Tuesday,
May 8, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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UAVs being used during Poorna Vijay
Work
permits prelude to deport Bangladeshis: VHP |
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Soldier’s family denied aid Vet sub-centres await inauguration
Vanniyar votes hold key to power in TN No cakewalk for CPM this time Ramoowalia predicts
Left Front’s win CANDIDATE OUTSTANDING The problem of ‘duplicates’ Senior leaders woo Assam voters LS BYELECTI0N
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UAVs being used during Poorna Vijay New Delhi, May 7 Reports here said both the Indian Air Force and the Army had deployed the UAVs to keep the track of rapid build-ups and thrusts by armour and mechanised forces in various formations being used during the exercises. Operation Poorna Vijay, is the biggest ever exercise being conducted by the armed forces after the 1987 Operation Brasstacks, involving a strike corp, large mechanised formations of artillery and special forces. The IAF has deployed more than 120 warplanes ranging from MiG-21 to MiG-29, Jaguar, transport aircraft and attack helicopters, including the newly inducted Mi-17 IVs. Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis, accompanied by the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Air Command, Air Marshal Krishnaswamy, today visited the Air Force’s operational location for the exercises. Addressing Squadron and Flight Commanders, Air Chief Marshal Tipnis told them that “this is the closest fighter pilots can get to a war like situation”. The IAF was using five bases - Nal, Suratgarh, Sirsa, Agra and Chandigarh. During the operations the IAF would also be undertaking the biggest ever dropping operation which would include four IL-76 and 18 AN-32 transport aircrafts, he said. The IAF chief emphasised on the training value of these exercises and on the involvement of the Squadron Commanders and the Flight Commanders to achieve optimum utilisation of every mission flown. With the initial few days from May 2 being utilised by formations for marshalling, the wargames are now coming to a climax with bold rapid thrusts, counter-thrusts and armoured columns criss-crossing hundreds of kilometres a day. The Defence Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh, and the Army Chief, Gen S. Padamanabhan, will be visiting the Suratgarh area tomorrow. Defence sources said in Jodhpur that the forces were preparing to deal with “ABC war complex” during the exercises. The ABC war complex (atomic, biological and chemical weapons) aimed at preparing the armed forces to deal with attempts by the enemy to wreck havoc by contaminating food and water supply, they said. The exercise would also test the skills of the Army Medical Corps in keeping the soldiers fit for battle in the scorching heat, with temperature soaring above 45°C, they said. All five commands of the Indian Army were participating in the exercises, they added. Operation
'Poorna Vijay' Likely
aims of the exercise are 2. To exercise special forces
and airborne troops for activation deep inside the enemy's
rear. 3. To exercise senior
commanders in the control and conduct of air-land battle with
large formations. 4. To exercise manoeuvers in
a battlefield strewn with Electronic Warfare and air-defence
missiles. 5. To train troops in a
passive Nuclear, Biological and Chemical measures. 6. To exercise commanders in
the control of high volumes of fire power. 7. To exercise commanders at
all levels in combined-arms operations, to optimise the
outcome.
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Work
permits prelude to deport Bangladeshis: VHP New Delhi, May 7 Describing Mr Vajpayee’s announcement in this regard in an election rally in Assam yesterday as “diplomatic”, VHP vice-president Giriraj Kishore said work permits would be an easy way to enlist all these illegal migrants who were, so far, staying in the country without revealing their foreigner’s status. The Prime Minister had stated that work permits could be issued to all those migrants who were suspected to be foreigners but could not be evicted due to legal problems. These infiltrators would be allowed to stay in the country till the issue of the Illegal Migrants’ Determination Tribunal was resolved, he had said. Acharya Kishore said, Mr Vajpayee seemed to have put emphasis on issuing work permits to these migrants instead of their deportation in view of the Assembly elections in Assam. |
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Soldier’s family denied aid Hanumangarh, May 7 Havildar Bhupinder Singh of Panditanwali village of Pilibangan tehsil was in the Second Sikh Light Infantry. He and 12 more soldiers died in an accident while they were going to Kargil from Jaipur. The Army Chief, General Ved Prakash Malik, issued a decoration letter honouring him and declared him a “Operation Vijay” martyr. The other soldiers who died were from Punjab. Whereas the Punjab Government has provided aid to the families of the martyrs, the family of Bhupinder Singh is still waiting for aid by the Rajasthan Government. Bhupinder Singh is survived by his wife, Seema, four minor girls and mother. The Rajasthan Government, ignoring the recognition accorded by the Army Chief, has not included him in the category of martyrs. His family has been provided with Rs 1 lakh only, while the package announced by the state government for the martyrs of the Kargil operation include irrigated land to the dependents of the martyrs and a government job to one of the children. Also, an amount of Rs 1,92,000 is to be deposited in the village post office for permanent monthly income to the family of the dead soldier. Mr S.M. Rattan Parakhi, Lt-Col, Second Sikh Light Infantry, on August 4, 1999, had written to the then District Collector to provide the announced aid to the family of Bhupinder Singh. While the district administration also wrote on the matter to the authorities concerned, nothing was achieved as the state government had not declared Bhupinder Singh a martyr. |
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Vet
sub-centres await inauguration Hanumangarh, May 7 According to sources in March 2000 the Veterary Department announced the opening of two veterinary centres also at Rawatsar, two at Pilibangan, one each in Nohar, Bhadra, Sangaria. The department was to appoint a computer and an assistant at these centres, but because of the shortage of staff, the appointments could not be made at these centres. So most of the centres could not be started. One such veterinary sub-centre was opened here for a short time, as in August 2000 the person posted here was transferred and since then it has been lying locked. Things do not stop here, as the condition of veterinary centres to be run by gram panchayats or private institutions is also pitiable. Only six centres were sanctioned last year to be run by gram panchayats or private institutions, two and four in Nohar and Hanumangarh, respectively. The department was to appoint a doctor, while the compounder and an assistant and other arrangements were to be made by the gram panchayats concerned. While the Veterinary Department has appointed a doctor here, other posts to be filled by the respective gram panchayats or the institutions are lying vacant. |
Vanniyar votes hold key to power in TN Chennai, May 7 The key to occupying the seat of power at Fort St George here is which way the Vanniyar votes in northern Tamil Nadu, accounting for nearly one-third of the seats in the 234-member Assembly going to the polls three days hence on May 10, go. Then, the two main Dravidian parties have also to take into account the proliferation of casteist forces in the last one year. Most importantly there have been fresh realignment in the political firmament of Tamil Nadu in the run up to the Assembly elections. With hardly any anti-incumbancy factor against the DMK and no sympathy or any other wave in favour of the AIADMK, an interesting and tough battle is on the cards. The PMK which changed loyalties midstream as it were by dumping the DMK-led NDA and entering into a partnership with the AIADMK has the portents of changing the fortunes of the two main regional parties. Simply put, if the PMK’s Vanniyar vote bank of 8.4 per cent is added to the AIADMK, there is no way the AIADMK combine can come crashing for the second consecutive time after suffering a humiliating defeat in the 1996 Assembly elections. It is apparent that the DMK has a daunting job and the significance of the PMK being in the rival camp has not been lost on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. It is precisely for this reason that he has endeavoured to rally round the casteists groups. This, however, cannot neutralise the loss of the PMK or the Vanniyar votes. Mr Karunanidhi’s DMK scored a stunning victory in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections by sweeping the Vanniyar belt in northern Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK’s gains on the other hand were recorded in the state’s southern and western regions. Though there is no complaint directly against the Chief Minister, people have strong reservations about Mr Karunanidhi’s ministerial colleagues. Because of this some sections want a change of party and leadership in Tamil Nadu. Amazingly, people are not averse to Ms Jayalalitha assuming the office of the Chief Minister despite the fact that she has been convicted in some cases under the anti-corruption Act. AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha, who is on a Karunanidhi bashing campaign, is obviously banking on the PMK tilting the poll in her favour. Obviously the AIADMK’s confidence of performing well at the hustings this time stems from the hope of retaining the southern part of Tamil Nadu and reclaiming the north. At the same time Jayalalitha has also to contend with some negative aspects of a lack of second rung leadership and the memories of her unpopular rule from 1991 to 1996. It is not as if everything is in order in the DMK camp. An ageing Karunanidhi has declared that this will be his last election. Intra-party squabbles have come to the fore in the DMK with Karunanidhi virtually declaring his son and Chennai mayor M.K. Stalin as his heir apparent. Then, it is also perceived that the DMK front with 18 parties in its fold is an unwieldy entity while the AIADMK combine is a compact and manageable one. The AIADMK front comprises G.K. Moopanar’s TMC, PMK, Congress and the Left parties. |
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No cakewalk for CPM this time Kolkata, May 7 But there has been certainly a pro-Mamata wave now pervading everywhere which if reflected in ballot box, might be the cause of anxiety for the CPM. The CPM, however, denies if any wave against them. The poll campaign, which gathered momentum in the past few days, suggests that it has been the most difficult election the CPM ever faced in the past now it has been a fight for their survival, fight for their remaining in power, which Jyoti Basu himself admits. “This will be our toughest poll-battle but still, I am confident, we will come to power because the people want us to remain in power as they want peace and progress, which only we can provide”, said Basu at a public meeting in Dhakuria on Saturday. But the CPM’s main adversary, Trinamool Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, confident about victory, has started announcing the new government’s plans and programme at various public meetings. At an election meeting at Salt Lake where TMC candidate, Sujit Bose is fighting against Subhas Chakraborthy of the CPM, Ms Banerjee declared that the first thing her new government would do, was to institute inquiry into the misuse of money and power by the CPM during its long rule of 24 years. She said “it is certain that we would come to power and there will be the end of the CPM misrule. We shall have to work hard and sincerely to fulfil all the hopes and aspirations of the people, which had been ignored so long. We shall give priorities to solving problems of unemployment, healthcare and sanitation, agriculture and rural development,” Chief Minister-designate of Congress-TMC jot, Ms Mamata Banerjee announced. The BJP, however, has a forecast for a hung Assembly and Tapan Sikdar feels, neither the CPM nor the Congress-TMC will be able to get absolute majority to form a stable government. He said the BJP and other small parties would play vital role in the ministry making after the poll. But Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharya is certain they would retain absolute majority as people want in power as they want peace and stability and not anarchy, development and progress and not destruction and retardation, which only the CPM-led front government, could ensure. Ms Banerjee, however, ridiculed Bhattacharya by saying that his dreams would remain unfulfilled as an alternative government would come to power. She said the people were wanting a change for a better government to make an end to the 24 years of CPM’s misrule and they have already accepted us in the new government, Ms Banerjee asserted. The 2001 Bengal Assembly elections this time has assumed some special importance. Over 1600 candidates of 10 different political parties are now in the fray to elect the 13th Bengal Assembly, which the CPM-led left parties with Jyoti Basu as Chief Minister dominated since 1977. Basu Government came to power after dislodging Shankar Siddhartha Ray’s government (72-76). At that time the Congress was the major political opponent of the CPM. But now the Congress is divided with the formation of the TMC under Ms Mamata Banerjee, which has been the vital force against the CPM. BJP also now has appeared in the Bengal’s political scene, which has fielded candidate at almost all 294 seats. The TMC initially had forged with the BJP, the JMM and the KPP in setting up Bangla Bachao Front against CPM but later, it severed its tie with the BJP on Tehelka issue and went on a seat-sharing arrangement with the Congress-allowing the party to fight in 58 of the 294 seats and the JMM in eight (KPP remained with BJP). Ms Banerjee kept the remaining 228 seats for her. In the state’s 12th Assembly (after ’96 elections) the CPM had 150 members and the remaining 53 to eight other partners the RSP, the Forward Bloc, the CPI, the DSP, the FB (Marxists) etc. While the Congress had 82 (TMC not formed) the GNLF 3, the JP(N) and the
FB (S)-Kamal Guha’s party, each one and independent four. In the ’91 elections, however, the CPM had larger number of MLAs of 188 and the Congress had lesser number of 43 only. At that election the Left Front secured 48.75% and the Congress 36.38% votes. In that Assembly, the BJP had no member. But after ’96 elections the BJP had its presence in the Assembly with one member. The present election has been specially important that the polling will be held with the help of electronic voting machine (EVM) and excepting, some unusual cases, voters identity card has become compulsory for all. The election will be held in one day on May 10 and the results be declared on May 13. Adequate security has been made for free, fair and peaceful poll. This is the first time after ’77, that the Left parties will go to the poll without Jyoti Basu in Chief Minister’s chair. But he has been still the main poll-campaigner for the CPM. He has already addressed 42 meetings in the districts and the city — which at places had drawn large crowd, at some places very thin. Chief Minister, Buddhadev Bhattacharyya, however, held more meetings and these had been largely attended. After all, it has been a test case for him to prove his worth as Chief Minister as well as leader of the CPM. |
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Ramoowalia predicts
Left Front’s win Kolkata, May 7 Mr Ramoowalia said the CPM-led government could not fulfil some of the basic demands of the people during its 24-year rule, which had made it unpopular. But still the Front government would once again come to power since there was no suitable alternative, he said. He addressed several election meetings in the city and the industrial towns of Asansol and Durgapur. He also campaigned at places with concentration of Sikh population. He came to Kolkata to take part in the campaign following a request from the CPM’s central leadership. The Lok Bhalai Party is a partner in the anti-BJP People’s Front of which Mr Jyoti Basu is the Chairman. Mr Ramoowalia has been engaged in mobilising the Sikhs in Punjab in favour of the People’s Front. Mr Ramoowalia said an anti-incumbency factor had now been standing in the way of the CPM’s returning to power with a large number seats. According to him, the Left Front’s total seats in the Assembly might come down to 175-180 from its present strength of 203 seats. He regretted that the CPM’s inner party rivalry had now come to the fore and had caused enormous damage to the party. He admitted that the dissidents under the leadership of Mr Saifuddin Chowdhury and Mr Samir Putatundata would adversely affect the party’s poll prospect to some extent, which the CPM leadership could have avoided.
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CANDIDATE OUTSTANDING Kolkata, May 7 He had a very humble beginning in the Congress as a student leader in the late 1960s when Atulya Ghosh was at the helm. Later, Mr Mitra was inspired by Mr Ghani Khan Chowdhury, in whom he found the leader he had been looking far. Recently, however, Mr Mitra has publicly distanced himself from his mentor. “He is fighting for his own men in Malda alone but not for 12 other sitting MLAs who were denied tickets in the seat-sharing with the Trinamool Congress”, he says. “I’m now totally occupied with work in my Sealdah constituency and have no time to either go out of the area or think of anything else,” Mr Mitra says. He has been winning the Sealdah seat since 1972. In the 1997 elections, he was the lone Congress candidate to win from Kolkata. In the 1996 elections, Mr Mitra won the seat by margin of 21,000 votes. He defeated CPI heavy-weight Arun Prakas Chatterjee, who initially belonged to the CPM. This time Mr Mitra is fighting against Mr Chanchal Ghosh (CPI) and Mr Bimal Ghosh of the BJP. Mr Mitra was worried earlier because his disciple, Tapash Roy, had been fielded by Ms Mamata Banerjee of the Trinamool Congress. However, after the WBPCC expressed opposition to the move, she was forced to withdraw Mr Roy from Sealdah to Burrabazar. Popularly known as “Chhorda” (“Little big brother”) in his constituency, Mr Mitra enjoys the reputation of standing by his people in their hour of distress. |
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The problem of ‘duplicates’ Thiruvananthapuram, May 6 Party candidates have expressed concern about this phenomenon as the task of steering the voters clear of the confusion is rather tough. The “duplicates” are obviously sponsored by political parties to deprive their rival candidates of at least a few hundred votes. But this clever trick being a two-edged sword, both fronts in Kerala have to put up with the problem of duplicates. The voter confusion will be confounded in Thiruvananthapuram West, where there are four candidates with the same name. Former Minister and Congress-led United Democratic Front candidate M.V. Raghavan has three of his namesakes in the list of 11 candidates. Besides Mr M.V. Raghavan, there are Mr A.V. Raghavan, Mr P.K. Raghavan and Mr M.C. Raghavan. This is the only constituency where the main candidate, faces a challenge from the largest number of namesakes. “Since this is a peculiar situation for the UDF in this constituency, the thrust of our campaign here is not the name of the candidate, but the symbol of the candidate,” said the campaign manager of the UDF for the constituency. The Marxist-led Left Democratic Front candidate in the same constituency, Mr Antony Raju, has only one namesake “Antony.’’ Former Chief Minister and CWC member A.K. Antony, who is facing a six-cornered contest in his traditional constituency of Cherthala, has another Antony, an independent. Kerala Deputy Speaker and CPI leader C.A. Kurian has a tough task ahead, as among the four candidates in his Peermade constituency, there is one more Kurian, but with the initials C.K. Sitting Congress member Palode Ravi has an independent rival Vazhodu Ravi in Nedumangadu. So is the case with sitting Congress member B. Vijayakumar who has an independent rival with the same name and same initial in Thiruvananthapuram East. LDF candidate A.M. Abdul Rahim is to contest with another Abdul Rahim, an independent in Alapuzha. In Ernakulam, Prof K.V. Thomas of the Congress faces another candidate of the same name and initials. While his main rival and sitting MLA Sebastian Paul has to contend with one Sebastian Xavier, independent. Mr P.T. Kunhumohammed, film director and sitting MLA of the LDF, cannot take lightly the presence of P. Kunhumohammed in the Guruvayur constituency. Among the seven candidates in Chittoor, there are three Athuthans — sitting Congress member K. Achuthan and independents K. Achuthan and C. Achuthan. But the only consolation of the Congress member K. Achuthan is that his main rival K. Krishnankutty of the LDF also has a similar problem. There are two more Krishnankuttys, both independents. Thus, the contest in Chittoor is between Achuthans and Krishnankuttys. Congress student leader Satheesan Pacheni, whose main rival is CPM Politburo member V.S Achuthanandan, has one Satheesan in the fray in Malampuzha. There are two candidates with the name P. Viswan in Koyilandy. One of them is the sitting CPM member representing the same constituency. Former minister and Kerala Congress leader T.M. Jacob, who is contesting from Piravom, has one independent, M.T. Jacob, to contend with. But his main CPM rival Gopi Kottamurickal has to be careful about Gopi Kattamparambil, Gopi Kunnaiparambil and Gopi Kottaraparambil.
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Senior leaders woo Assam voters Guwahati, May 7 Encouraged by the performance of the party in the last parliamentary poll, leaders of the BJP rushed to Assam to campaign. In a bid to preventing the Congress from coming to power, the BJP entered into an electoral alliance with the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) despite reservations expressed by the state unit leaders of the party. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee completed his two-day campaign schedule in the state on May 6. However, the election rally of the Prime Minister did not receive enthusiastic response from the people in Guwahati city on May 5 and only about a couple of thousand people attended the rally. The Prime Minister accused the Congress of coming into an understanding with militant outfit United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to come back to power in the state. The killing of BJP candidate for the Dibrugarh Assembly Constituency Jayanta Dutta by the ULFA militants also made poll a prestige issue for the BJP. The other senior leaders of the BJP who campaigned for the AGP-BJP alliance in Assam include the Union Home Minister L.K. Advani, Union Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi, BJP president Jana Krishnamurthy, Pramod Mahajan and others. The BJP general secretary Sunil Shastri has been camping in Assam since the day the poll was announced. Not to be outdone, the Congress launched the campaign for the poll with vigour and the party president made two trips to the state to campaign for the party candidates in different parts of Assam. Other senior leaders, including Mr Kamal Nath, Mr Rajesh Pilot and others also extensively toured the state to woo the voters. Senior leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have also left no stone unturned to improve the party’s performance. President of the NCP Sharad Pawar and former Lok Sabha Speaker P.A. Sangma criss-crossed the state in hired choppers and Mr Sangma hoped that the party would improve its performance in the state. The Samata party leader and former Defence Minister George Fernandes also visited the state. Similarly, Union Telecom Minister Ram Vilas Paswan too campaigned in the state. Not to be left behind, AGP president and Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta also launched a hectic campaign schedule all over the state in support of the alliance candidates. He is facing a challenge from his former colleague Atul Bora of the Trinamul Gana Parishad in the Dispur constituency. Mr Mahanta is contesting from two constituencies this time. |
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LS BYELECTI0N Shahjehanpur (UP), May 7 In a predominantly rural constituency of 12 lakh voters the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party are making efforts to close the gap in the next two days for
polling on May 10. While the BJP has made it a prestige issue as Congress victory here would put a question mark on UP Chief Minister Rajnath Singh’s claim of control over the state, the SP and the BSP are in the fray prepare ground for the coming Assembly elections early next year. The Chief Minister already has been twice to the constituency and asked the local MLA Suresh Babu Khanna, his ministerial colleague, to remain posted at Shahjehanpur to ensure victory for the party candidate Satyapal Yadav who was given party ticket against the wishes and recommendations of the party’s local unit. But the BJP candidate, who was a Minister of State for Chemical and Fertiliser in the last 18-month Vajpayee government, is facing a tough battle as not only the local party workers and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh cadres are reluctantly working for him but even one of the allies of the BJP-led state government — the Loktantrik Congress — is opposed to Mr Yadav. Loktantrik Congress president Naresh Agarwal, who is cabinet Minister in the Rajnath Singh ministry and holds the important portfolio of Power and Energy, has asked the Vaishya community which has about 80,000 voters to vote for the Congress candidate. Mr Agarwal, who recently held a convention of Vaishya community in the capital, has made no secret of his support for Mrs Prasada with an argument that late Jitendra Prasada was his leader. The BJP candidate cannot even depend totally on Yadav votes to be divided between him and SP candidate, Rammurti Singh Verma for whom former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has been campaigning vigorously. |
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All airfields in the
operational scenario like Naliya, Bhuj, Bhatinda, Gwalior,
Pune etc. are being activated to bring realism. About
one hundred fighter and transport aircraft and
helicopters are participating.