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Saturday,
December 7, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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TRIBUNE SPECIAL Paswan to
campaign for Cong in Gujarat BJP
refutes reports on poll campaign
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UP Govt
still in majority: Advani Kisan
Divas function awaits PM’s blessings Interlinking
of rivers soon, says Advani Chautala
seeks funds for water supply scheme Film
fest in Kolkata from today
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TRIBUNE SPECIAL Ahmedabad, December 6 He had over a half-an-hour meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani first before the latter left for Gujarat to campaign and later called on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. While Mr Pandya sought to play down the trip telling the Press later that he was making only “courtesy calls” and returning “satisfied,” sources said he told Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani that he was keen to campaign, particularly in Ahmedabad as also in Maninagar constituency of Chief Minister Narendra Modi to dispel uneasiness among the cadres. Mr Pandya’s meetings with Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani assumes significance since he was personally interacting face to face with them separately for the first time after he withdrew from the fray as Mr Modi was adamant not to allow him to seek re-election from Ellisbridge constituency for the fourth time. He reportedly pointed out to both leaders that while withdrawing he had assured BJP President M. Venkaiah Naidu that though he was opting out from contesting, he would certainly campaign for the BJP as a “loyal soldier of the party.” Mr Pandya, however, reportedly pointed out the difficulty that the BJP may face in many constituencies because of the attitude of Mr Modi and pleaded that Mr Modi would try to put the blame on him and former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel if the poll results were against the party. He had reportedly also warned both Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister that Mr Modi was capable of going against the party on any important issue as seen from his refusal to yield to the entire party leadership and even to the RSS, whose top leader Madandas Devi camped in Ahmedabad for three days, just to settle a personal score with him. Mr Pandya said he withdrew from the polls just to save the Central leadership from a “small embarrassment” in not being allowed to decide the candidate for Ellisbridge constituency. Cornered by the Press in the Gujarat Bhavan to know why he was denied the ticket despite his winnability for the fourth consecutive term not in question Mr Pandya said: “They (party leadership) were wanting to give me a ticket but there were certain reasons beyond their control that they could not decide on it. So, I decided not to participate in the polls.” “The reason (for not giving him ticket) will be known to the decision makers,” he added. |
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Paswan to campaign for Cong in Gujarat New Delhi, December 6 He told reporters here that as his party was contesting the Assembly elections, he would campaign for the Congress which could counter the “communal” BJP. Asked if he would join the Congress after campaigning for the party, he ruled out the possibility. He said the BJP was a sinking ship and the LJP would support the Congress as it could provide an alternative to the BJP. However, Mr Paswan said his party would maintain equidistance from the RJD, the BJP and the Congress in Bihar. Asked if he would support Ms Gandhi if she staked her claim for Prime Ministership, he said the LJP had nothing against her being the Prime Minister.” Welcoming the decision of the RJD headed by Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mr Paswan’s Lok Jan Shakti Party not to contest the Gujarat poll and of the Left parties to field candidates only in a very limited number of seats, he said it would ensure that non-BJP votes did not split. |
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BJP refutes reports on poll campaign New Delhi, December 6 Terming the reports as “false” and “mischievous”, BJP spokesperson Vijay Kumar Malhotra said Mr Vajpayee could be addressing two meetings tomorrow in Vadodara and Jamnagar and another two on December 9 in Surat and Ahmedabad. Mr Malhotra said besides the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, the Central ministers who would address election meetings include Pramod Mahajan. |
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UP Govt still in majority: Advani New Delhi, December 6 Replying to a short-duration discussion on the situation arising out of the recent political developments in Uttar Pradesh, Mr Advani said, “The Governor has acted within the powers bestowed on him by the Constitution, Supreme Court judgements and the Sarkaria Commission report, which lay down that he can summon the Assembly for a trial of strength only if he has reliable evidence that the government is in a minority.” He said the Centre would ensure that the Constitution was not violated, adding that it had no power to direct the Governor to act in a particular manner. Recalling that the Uttar Pradesh Assembly was kept under suspended animation after the February elections as no party or group was in a position to form a viable government, Mr Advani said the BJP-BSP coalition, with the support of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and other MLAs, had succeeded in providing a stable government. While agreeing that some BJP MLAs had voiced their resentment against the Mayawati regime, Mr Advani said this issue was more a matter of concern for the party, which would deal with it. Participating in the discussion, Opposition members accused the Governor of playing a partisan role in “shielding” the Mayawati regime which, they claimed, had lost majority. Initiating the discussion, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh accused Ms Mayawati of using strong-arm tactics against her detractors. He said some Independent MLAs who had revolted against her “authoritarian” regime had been either jailed on “frivolous” charges or were being harassed by the police. |
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Kisan Divas function awaits PM’s blessings New Delhi, December 6 The NDA government, because of its pro-farmer public utterances, had decided to celebrate Kisan Divas on December 23 this year in the memory of Choudhary Charan Singh. A committee for celebrations was constituted in the Department for Agriculture and Cooperation in the Ministry of Agriculture whose immediate boss in no other than son of the former Prime Minister, Agriculture Minister Ajit Singh. The committee decided to celebrate Kisan Samman Week from 17 December to 23 culminating in Kisan Divas on a grand scale. On Kisan Divas, 20 successful and enterprising farmers from areas would be honoured at the national function at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. In fitness of the event, it was felt that the Prime Minister should be invited as the chief guest to the function. It was also decided that the Prime Minister would release a publication on life, work and views of Choudhary Charan Singh. The planning for kisan week has been elaborate but the committee had probably not taken into account the deep rooted disliking of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who continue to hold Charan Singh responsible for the downfall of the first ever non-Congress government in 1979. The long and bitter rivalry between Mr Ajit Singh and Planning Commission member Som Pal is another factor which is understood to have thrown a spanner in the kisan week celebrations, sources said. But the Agriculture Minister, undeterred with the developments, is going ahead and is going to address a farmers’ rally in Jaipur on December 23. |
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Interlinking
of rivers soon,
says Advani New Delhi, December 6 The proposal to connect all rivers in the Himalayan zone and those in the peninsular region is being fine-tuned to supply water from the surplus to deficit areas, Mr Advani said. “A proposal has been mooted to have a garland of rivers. It has to be fine-tuned and efforts are on in that direction,” he said while inaugurating a conference here of state Ministers of Rural Development on rural drinking water. |
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Chautala
seeks funds for water supply scheme New Delhi, December 6 Addressing a meeting regarding the `Swajaldhara’ programme attended by the Public Health Ministers of various states convened under the chairmanship of Deputy Prime Minister L. K. Advani here yesterday, he pointed out that the Mewat area of Haryana was very backward and as many as 497 villages of this area were facing acute shortage of drinking water. He said the water in this area was saline and there was no permanent drinking water source. |
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Film fest in Kolkata from today Kolkata, December 6 More than 80 films from 14 countries will be screened in the two-day festival, which has generated tremendous enthusiasm among the city’s cine lovers. Organised by a leading adventure club ‘Giri-Doot’ to mark the 2002 “United Nations International Year of Mountains”, the festival has been divided into three categories.
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