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Sunday, February
17, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Cong playing double or quits in UP? Modi has a fight
on hand
Eunuchs as symbol of political protest |
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BJP for more pressure on Pak 3 HUJI ultras
held in Gujarat Sajjan’s statement in ’84 riots case recorded Criticism of judgements necessary: AG Attack on Joshi condemned Book on Ranjit
Singh released
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Cong playing double or quits in UP? Lucknow, February 16 The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party have stepped up the level of their campaign. But the Congress strategy is still not clear. The seeming lack of high voltage presence is evidently meant to mislead the rivals. The BJP is playing for survival. And the only leader who can turn defeat into victory for the saffron party is Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On Friday, he hopped all over Lucknow and Kanpur, keeping a frenetic pace for swinging the tide in favour of the BJP. The loss of even a single seat in Lucknow would be personally embarrassing for him since he represents it in the Lok Sabha. He spent the night at Raj Bhavan, huddled in confabulations with state-level leaders for fine-tuning the BJP’s strategy for the third and last phase of polling on February 21. The Samajwadi Party is banking solely on the charisma of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. It has put into the campaign all it has. The situation is much the same in the BSP camp where Ms Mayawati is expected to perform the miracle of ensuring victory for her party by overplaying the backward and minority cards. But, where is the Congress? Has the leadership given up UP without a fight? No one among the state-level leaders has any clue about the status of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh. He was supposed to spearhead the Congress campaign in UP. After talking to a cross-section of Congress workers and leaders, the picture that emerged would make the committed Congressman happy. The party is playing a remarkable game of “winner takes all and the loser goes bust”. The think tank has convinced the high command, more importantly Ms Sonia Gandhi, that a token presence in the state legislature would do more harm than good to the image of the party. The Congress would be pushed around by the
Samajwadi Party. As a junior partner, it would have to share the blame for the likely misrule of Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav. The present strategy is to aim high so that the Congress speaks from a position of strength in the event of a hung assembly. After the Dalit and backward classes abandoned the Congress in favour of the BSP and
Samajwadi Party the leadership simply did not know what to do. The demolition
of the Babri masjid took away from it the Muslim votes. And the upper castes
traditionally favour the BJP. Yes, the Congress is the only party without an assured caste or community base. However, this time Congress has done its homework. Instead of trying to win back the support of the Dalits, it has decided to target the upper caste votes. For the first time in many years, the party has fielded 93 Brahmin candidates plus a fairly large number of
Thakurs. The move is simply breathtaking. The upper castes have traditionally supported the BJP. However, of late they have begun to express their displeasure over the political machinations of UP chief Rajnath Singh. His aborted attempt to create a quota within the reserved quota for the most backward classes was criticised by a number of upper caste organisations. They accused Mr Rajnath Singh of following the policy of Dalit appeasement. The Congress hopes to cash in on the disenchantment of the upper caste voters with the BJP. The Punjab factor too may help the Congress improve upon its projected strength of 20 to 30 seats in the new Assembly. The anti-BJP Brahmins from Uttaranchal and the Punjabi Congressmen have already spread out in districts in UP that have a fairly high percentage of upper caste and Punjabi votes. The Akalis have no interest in UP. For this reason alone, the presence of Congress workers from Punjab may indeed help the Congress get the votes that have otherwise been the source of strength of the BJP. But what about the Muslim vote?. The Congress did try to sell the idea of “strategic voting” to the Muslim community for avoiding a three-way split. Muslim hotlines were set upto help the community vote for the non-BJP candidate — basically from the Congress, the SP and the BSP — who also happened to enjoy the support of the majority community. However, latest reports indicate that the policy of “strategic voting” may come unstuck. Most Muslim voters are not willing to vote a winning non-Muslim candidate at the expense of Muslim candidates. Sources say that the high command think tank has worked out an alternative plan to avoid a three-way split of the Muslim vote. No one is willing to talk about the basic
features of the new strategy for the simple reason that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. For the Congress it is a do-or-die election and it does not want to forearm the rival parties by going public with the new strategy it has put into place for making the Muslim voters forgive it its past
political trespasses.
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Modi has a fight
on hand Rajkot, February 16 For one, the fractured Congress party in the state has closed ranks to rally behind its candidate, Mr Ashwin Mehta, for the February 21 poll. This will be the first election to be contested by Mr Modi, who became the Chief Minister in October after his predecessor Keshubhai Patel was removed. Mr Modi has to get elected to the legislature in six months, failing which he would have to step down. Mr Patel has refused to campaign for Mr Modi, even though Rajkot is his hometown, and this has led to a fair amount of consternation in the BJP. “My health does not permit me to undergo long travel or undertake the rigors of hectic campaigning,” Mr Patel has said. This has not prevented Mr Patel from planning visits to Sayajiganj in Baroda city and Mahuva in Surat district where too byelections are also to be held. In a last-ditch effort to persuade Mr Patel change his mind, Mr Modi held a 30-minute one-to one meeting in the state capital and urged his predecessor to work for the BJP but without success. Patel has said he will go to Rajkot - but only on February 21 to cast his vote. Not wanting to take any chances, the BJP has now fielded a clutch of high-profile campaigners including Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and M. Venkiah Naidu, as also film stars Vinod Khanna and Juhi Chawla to lend weight to Mr Modi, who is a no mean crowd puller himself and is considered a master strategist and manipulator. BJP campaign managers, quite obviously, are predicting a “landslide victory” for Mr Modi. The RSS and its fraternal organisations have also been campaigning in the constituency, which has returned BJP candidates even when the party was going though its worst phases. Mr Modi has stationed himself in the constituency and is supervising the campaign. But what is giving the BJP sleepless nights is the fact that the Congress, the main Opposition party, seems to have temporarily put factionalism behind it and buried personal likes and dislikes in a bid to defeat Mr Modi. Congress stalwarts like Amarsinh Chaudhary, Shankersinh Vaghela, Manoharsinhji Jadeja, Narhari Amin and Chiman Shukla have been engaged in a door-to-door campaign for party candidate Mehta.
IANS |
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Eunuchs as symbol of political protest Lucknow, February 16 Of course, the eunuchs have always enjoyed a rather privileged position in Indian society. No marriage is complete without a group of eunuchs singing the “badhaaee” (praise) of the newly weds and getting money and gifts in return for the rather bawdy entertainment they offer. The birth of a male child may escape the attention of the
neighbours but not of the half-male half-female entertainers. However, it would be a mistake to treat the presence of a fairly large number of eunuchs in the electoral battle in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh as some kind of a light entertainment. The late Mirza Changezi’s passion in life was to write naughty verse and get the eunuchs a place of respect in society. Had this eccentric genius from Fatehpur been around, he would have been enthusiastically campaigning for them. What would have made Mirza Changezi more happy is the positive response of the people to the appeal to vote for the eunuch candidates. For every person who attends the public rallies of the eunuchs out of curiosity there are at least two who are willing to actually vote for them. The problem that the presence of the third sex has created for mainstream politicians in the Prime Minister’s constituency has to be seen to be understood. Until yesterday they were treated as social outcasts. And it was considered below one’s dignity to getting into a slanging match with them. It is the same code of social respectability that has now begun to give the mainstream politicians sleepless nights. They can see that the threat from the eunuch candidates is real and yet for them to take on the “hijras” as serious political rivals makes them feel uncomfortable. The mainstream politician’s diffidence is working to the advantage of the eunuchs who have reportedly already build up a fund of goodwill among the voters in Kanpur, Lucknow and elsewhere. It is not for the first time that the members of the third sex are trying to give their image a new look The process started some years ago when a group of enterprising eunuchs decided to contest municipal corporation and panchayat elections. The token success was seen as an expression of faith of the common folks in the integrity of the members of what was until then an outcast community. Today the Mayor of Gorakhpur is from the third sex. In Madhya Pradesh a eunuch has been elected to the Assembly. The members of the third sex have realised that the road to social respectability and
acceptability runs through the slush and filth of political office. And they are willing to take the plunge. The third political option that they offer can only help find answers to questions that mainstream
politicians have not been able to do. Their most vocal leader Shabnam Mausi was in Lucknow recently to garner support for the two candidates contesting the Assembly elections from here. L. H. N. |
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Ram temple not likely to be built Ayodhya, February 16 Although there is a clear polarisation of views on the sensitive issue between the Hindus and Muslims, a third and moderate view is slowly emerging among the people here who want that there should neither be a temple or a mosque at the disputed site. This neutral and moderate view is more evident among the younger generation, who are relatively educated and are more conscious about peace, harmony and economic development. “No government, whether it is BJP, Congress or any other party can afford to allow the construction of the temple as the Muslim community will react sharply for hurting their religious sentiments in a big way. “However, in the interest of all both temple and the mosque should co-exist. Otherwise the disputed site should be cleared and converted into a hospital or any other institution which benefits one and all,” an 18-year-old school student Mirza Abid Baig told The Tribune today. Asked about the Ram temple threat given by the VHP, Baig simply dismisses it by saying that “chunav ka chakkar hai, saheb (It is all about elections).” About 12 persons, belonging to different castes and religion that this correspondent spoke to strongly felt that the political parties raised the Ram temple issue just before the elections and the status quo will remain till the court gives its verdict. They also strongly advocated that the disputed site be converted into a big hospital or any other public utility centre. Although the common man is sick of the Ayodhya temple issue, BJP candidate from Ayodhya and UP Minister of State for Energy Lalloo Singh is openly speaking in favour of construction of Ram temple, realising the need to polarise the Hindu votes to ensure his victory for the fourth consecutive time. But the question arises now whether the VHP is annoyed with the BJP and the Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for distancing themselves from the Ayodhya issue, quoting the compulsion of the NDA alliance at the Centre? Anand Sonkar, BJP worker, stresses that there is no difference of opinion between the BJP and the VHP. It is the compulsion of the coalition government which the party heads at the Centre which has made it compulsory for the Vajpayee government to be on the backfoot “for the time being”. He explains that if the BJP government is reinstalled in Uttar Pradesh, the VHP would in all probability postpone the date of beginning the construction of the temple and would cooperate with the state government. At the same time if any other government other than the BJP comes to power, the Sangh Parivar outfit will intensify its campaign for the construction of the temple at any cost. All said and done more than the temple issue it is the caste combination which would decide the fate of the candidates in this politically sensitive constituency. An analysis of the caste equation gives a clear edge for the BJP nominee, who is a sitting MLA and a three-time winner here. But, political analysts believe that there will be stiff competition from Samajwadi Party nominee Ved Prakash Gupta, who had quit the BJP a few years ago. The BJP will also have to face division of votes at the hands of Abhay Singh of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Ashok Singh of the Congress. Meanwhile, in the wake of the threat call given by the VHP and due to the ensuing assembly poll, the Faizabad district administration has made elaborate security arrangements in and around Ram Lala’s makeshift temple. The area looks like a virtual fortress with armed policemen guarding every inch and big and narrow barricades greeting the visitors at the temple. |
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BJP for more pressure on Pak New Delhi, February 16 “If pressure from other countries does not end Pakistan’s encouragement to cross-border terrorism, then India would have no choice but to exert pressure on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism,” party president Jana Krishnamurthi said here. Supporting Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the Ayodhya issue, the BJP chief said Mr Vajpayee had made a “statement of fact” on his failure to resolve the tangle. Maintaining that there was no question of dialogue with Islamabad, he said in response to a question that the BJP was not advocating war against Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism. “We are not for war. It was for the government to decide the steps to tackle the problem.” Taking strong exception to the remarks by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf during his recent visit to the USA, he said it was not possible to have dialogue with a person who takes a “contradictory and inconsistent stand.” The BJP president said the country could not place any reliance on the bona fides of General Musharraf. “All of us know he was behind Kargil when Lahore was on. The proxy war intensified since he came to power and after saying that December 13 Parliament attack was stage managed by India, he condemned it as a terrorist attack,” the BJP president said, adding that General Musharraf has been changing his stand so consistently that “he cannot be relied upon”. |
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3 HUJI ultras
held in Gujarat New Delhi, February 16 Inamul Haq Banarasi, Asad Ahmed Munshi and Hussain Ahmed, who were acting as facilitators and contact persons for the ISI and terrorists, were apprehended in Surat yesterday, police sources said here today. The three were associated with Aftab Ansari, mastermind of the Kolkata attack and had ferried arms and ammunition for the terrorists who carried out the assault, they said. Nine .30 bore pistols, 97 rounds of ammunition, seven magazines, 2 kg of BETN explosives, 2.2 kg of RDX, four detonators, 2 mobile phones and seven sim cards were recovered from their possession.
PTI |
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Sajjan’s statement in ’84 riots case recorded New Delhi, February 16 The statement of the accused was recorded in a question and answer form after all the 27 prosecution witnesses were examined before Additional Sessions Judge R.L. Chugh. Deposing before the court, Mr Kumar replied to all 110 questions prepared by CBI Special Public Prosecutor
R.M. Tiwari in connection with his involvement in the case. To a question whether he had exhorted a crowd to kill all the Sikhs including children, Mr Kumar said, “It is false and incorrect .’’ He also denied saying that in case children were spared they would take revenge. On a question of his presence near the house of prime witness Salawati Kaur, the former
Member of Parliament said, “It is false and totally incorrect. I was never present in the area on the dates as alleged.’’ He denied that in his presence his associates Nathu Pradhan (another accused who died a few years ago) inflicted trident
(trishool) injuries on victims and burnt them publicly. Refusing of having any knowledge about a few of the witnesses who turned hostile in the case, Mr Kumar said, “I was MP in 1984 but can not say whether the witnesses used to come to me or not.’’ The CBI had registered a case following a recommendation given by the Jain and Banarjee Commission in 1990. The agency had filed the charge sheet against 13 persons including
Kumar under sections 143,147,148,149,435 and 455 of the India Penal Code (IPC).
UNI |
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Criticism of judgements necessary: AG Hyderabad, February 16 Quoting from South African constitutional court’s recent judgement that said ‘criticism, however robust and painful, is as necessary as ever’, Mr Sorabjee said as the ultimate guardian of free speech, the judiciary show the ‘greatest tolerance to criticism’. The Attorney General was addressing students of National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law at Shameerpet on the city outskirts on ‘Rationale of Contempt Jurisdiction’. ‘It is not just the public that has the right to scrutinise the judiciary, but the judiciary that has right to have its activities subjected to the most rigorous critique’, he said. Referring to the vexed question whether the truth was a defence to a contempt action, Mr Sorabjee was critical of the Supreme Court’s judgement which ruled truth was no defence. “It is anomalous and unfortunate”, Mr Sorabjee said adding that he would plead for truth in the public interest to be the proper defence. Mr Sorabjee said the criticism of the courts and judgements was a necessity and was permitted. “Criticism, however robust and painful, is as necessary as ever. It is not just the public that has the right to scrutinise the judiciary, but the judiciary that has right to have its activities subjected to the most rigorous critique... It is particularly important that as the ultimate guardian of free speech, the judiciary show the greatest tolerance to criticism of its own functioning’’, he added.
PTI, UNI |
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Attack on Joshi condemned New Delhi, February 16 BJP spokesperson Maya Singh said SP workers were getting desperate as their party was “losing the electoral battle in the state.” Alleging that the SP and its supporters have been disturbing the proceedings of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies, she said they were now trying to disturb the proceedings of the BJP. “They are trying to threaten the voters,” she added. She said the party had not only lodged a complaint against SP workers but had also written to the Election Commission on the issue. The spokesperson said the party would gain more seats in UP and Punjab than predicted by poll surveys. |
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Book on Ranjit
Singh released New Delhi, February 16 Releasing the book “Maharaja Ranjit Singh — Lord of the Five Rivers” written by Delhi-based French author Jean-Marie Lafont here yesterday evening, the minister said the there was a need to take lessons from history. He said the Maharaja had set new paths in various fields, including establishment of the tradition of Ambassadors and transfer of technology by taking help from French army Generals. The minister assured all help to organise an exhibition of all artefacts relating to the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh which were lying in various French museums and the residences of descendants of his French army officers. |
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