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Bhadana joins BJP, to contest from Dausa
Govt misusing funds on ‘India Shining’ drive, says Cong Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar hold joint rally Pervez’s outburst may revive terrorist camps
New Delhi, April 1 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is understood to have expressed his unhappiness over “overdose” of his photographs in the BJP’s “Vision Document” and “pulled up” the party leaders for not consulting him on it. |
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PM rakes up foreign origin issue Protest against ticket to Laxman
RSS draws flak for calling CPM as betrayer Sumitra Mahajan’s election upheld
SC to hear petition on surrogate ads today 9 get 5-yr term in fodder
scam case Air Marshal Gujral is Deputy Chief of Air Staff Disabled Rights Group to gherao CEC’s office
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Bhadana joins BJP, to contest from Dausa New Delhi, April 1 Bhadana, brother of senior Haryana Congress leader Avtar Singh Bhadana, who quit the Chautala ministry over ticket distribution, joined the saffron party along with his supporters in the presence of BJP general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. “He (Bhadana) is a leader of the Gujjar community spread over western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir,” Mr Mahajan told newspersons after formally admitting him into the BJP by handing over the membership slip. While Mr Bhadana preferred to remain silent on whether he would contest in the coming Lok Sabha or not, BJP sources said he would be fielded against late Rajesh Pilot’s son in the pre-dominantly Gujjar constituency of Dausa in Rajasthan, which was represented by Sachin’s mother Rama Pilot in the last Lok Sabha. Later, speaking to The Tribune Mr Bhadana tried to downplay reports in a section of the media about his plans to split the INLD in Haryana. “I have nothing to say on that,” he said. Asked whether he has joined the BJP just because he was denied Lok Sabha ticket by the INLD, Mr Bhadana said, “I had been indirectly aligned to the BJP, whether I was in the HVP or the INLD as both parties had alliance with the BJP some time or the other. But now I have decided to join the BJP directly.” Mr Bhadana had began his political career by forming the Haryana Jan Sangharsh Samiti in 1994 against the then Haryana Government led by Mr Bhajan Lal. In 1996 he joined the Haryana Vikas Party and got elected MLA from the Samalkha constituency in Haryana. In 1999 left Haryana Vikas Party and formed Haryana Vikas Party (Democratic). |
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Govt misusing funds on ‘India Shining’ drive, says Cong New Delhi, April 1 It accused the NDA government of misusing public funds for the party’s political campaign, condemned Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi and charged the BJP of co-opting national figures like Gandhi only to grab power. Supporting his charges with documentary proof, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal maintained that the Prime Minister’s office (PMO) had directed various ministries to allocate funds for the government’s “India Shining” campaign. He demanded a CBI inquiry into this misuse of public money and said that appropriate action be taken against those involved. He specifically referred to a letter purportedly written by Mr Sudheendra Kulkarni, OSD in the PMO, to Prasar Bharati CEO K.S. Sarma asking him to immediately start a publicity campaign on Doordarshan. Mr Sibal said a meeting was held on February 10 in the Prime Minister’s office at the initiative of Dr.S. Narayan, Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister. Outlining the publicity campaign, Mr Kulkarni had mentioned that Rs 15 crore were needed for the next two weeks while different ministries were asked to allocate funds for the “India Shining” campaign. Stating that this was an offence, Mr Sibal wanted to know if the Prime Minister was aware of this misuse, adding that if the answer was yes, then it amounted to an act of betrayal. The Congress also launched a blistering attack against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the “low-level” personalised campaign being conducted by him against Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Speaking at a rally in Gujarat in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Mr Modi had said that nobody in his state would give a job of a driver to Rahul Gandhi. Stating that such remarks only reflected the “class and breeding” of BJP leaders, party spokesperson Anand Sharma said it also revealed the hollowness of the PM’s periodic appeals for a dignified political debate. He also wanted to know why Mr Advani had chosen to remain silent when Mr Modi made such remarks. |
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Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar hold joint rally Mumbai, April 1 Addressing a mammoth rally in the town of Solapur, the two leaders showed that they had put away their bitterness behind them. Both Mrs Gandhi and Mr Pawar indicated that the secular alliance firmed up in Maharashtra could bag most of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Clearly aiming for the agricultural constituency, Mrs Gandhi said the Congress alliances with the NCP and the RPI were aimed to give justice to the downtrodden and economically backward sections of society. She accused the Vajpayee government of failing to help farmers and provide jobs to the unemployed. Mrs Gandhi said the fact that the Congress had first tried to make Mr Shinde Vice-President and then Chief Minister of Maharashtra was proof that it was committed to weaker sections. She went on to canvass for Mrs Ujwala Shinde, wife of the Chief Minister, who is the party candidate for the poll. Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Congress Deputy Leader in the dissolved Lok Sabha Shivraj Patil were among others seated on the dais. Mr Pawar, who had questioned Mrs Gandhi’s qualifications to become Prime Minister on account of her Italian origins, spoke in a different tune today. “This (the Nehru-Gandhis) is the family which made so many sacrifices for the nation,” he said. He further hit out at the NDA government for “turning India into a slave of the US”. Earlier in the day, Mrs Gandhi had a daylong tour beginning from Marathwada. During her speeches, Mrs Gandhi said the NDA government had not kept its promises to the people. Pawar taken ill According to reports Mr Pawar has taken ill and may drop out of the election campaign. It is not clear what is wrong with him, but reports say the Maratha strongman may have to undergo surgery. |
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Pervez’s outburst may revive terrorist camps New Delhi, April 1 The sudden and unexpected manner in which General Musharraf has conveyed to put a deadline on peace talks may also be indicative of a fresh spurt of violence in Jammu and Kashmir. Official circles here say that General Musharraf might plan to revive the terrorist camps and allow groups like the United Jehad Council, kept under leash till now, to relaunch terrorist attacks within India. There was no reaction from the Ministry of External Affairs today on General Musharraf’s comments during a televised programme in which he had stated India and Pakistan must make progress on resolving their disputes over divided Kashmir by August or he would withdraw from the tentative peace process. The Congress today asked former Minister of State for External Affairs K. Natwar Singh to demand a clarification from the Government of India. Mr Natwar Singh wondered why couldn’t Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee pick up the hotline and speak to General Musharraf about this outburst. He demanded to know if any clarification had been sought by the Government of India from Pakistan and whether the Pakistani High Commissioner had been summoned by the Foreign Office. Sources said the General’s outburst had quite a few reasons behind it. One reason which has provoked him the most is the defeat his army faced in south Waziristan during the recent operations against Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups. The rout and the ultimate decision to withdraw from the tribal areas has only increased a sense of alienation and anger among the Pushtun commanders, a reason for General Musharraf to worry. Against this backdrop, an attractive and viable option left for General Musharraf was to kick up dust over the traditional target, Kashmir. By doing so, he could cover up his failure in Wana and appease the extremist elements within the Pakistan Army who, he fears, would conspire against him in the near future. He also had reasons to get worried over the successful process of negotiations which the Government of India has been carrying out with the All-Party Hurriyat Conference over peace. If the talks with the Hurriyat were to succeed there was every possibility that Pakistan’s role as a possible mediator or a party would stand marginalised. |
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Pervez remarks domestic compulsion: Advani Himmatnagar (Gujarat), April 1 |
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Photo display in vision document irks PM New Delhi, April 1 Mr Vajpayee is understood to have told the party leadership, including party president Venkaiah Naidu and general secretaries Pramod Mahajan and Arun Jaitley, that only a few photographs should have been used in the document. “You should have consulted me on it,” Mr Vajpayee said when Mr Naidu, Mr Mahajan and other leaders had met and presented a copy of the
document to the Prime Minister immediately after its release on Tuesday. Sources said, the Prime Minister, however, did not have any reservation about the contents of the document. The document, which heavily banks on the charisma of the Prime Minister, carries 54 photographs of Mr Vajpayee depicting his long political career. In one of the photographs, he is seen with former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. The opposition parties had criticised Mr Vajpayee’s projection in the document describing it as “personal photo album” of the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, in the light of negative response from some quarters to the “overkill” of “India Shining” advertisement, the BJP had decided to restructure its advertisement campaign, the sources said. Even as the BJP officially countered the opposition criticism on the “India Shining” advertisements party insiders said the party was planning to bring out specific advertisements to counter the main opposition, Congress, on various issues. |
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PM rakes up foreign origin issue
Jawhar (Maharashtra), April 1 “Whether a foreigner can occupy a high office in the country is a matter of debate which should take place in a calm and composed atmosphere,” he told an election rally in this tribal-dominated area in Thane district without naming Ms Gandhi. Ridiculing the alliance of the Congress and the NCP in the Lok Sabha poll, the Prime Minister reminded the people that the NCP had parted ways with the Congress on the “big issue” of foreign origin. “I do not understand this alliance,” Mr Vajpayee said, referring to the joint rally by Ms Gandhi and the NCP leader Sharad Pawar in Sholapur and took a dig at them saying that at least they should have avoided holding it on April Fool’s day. The Prime Minister said the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance was working well and his NDA government had proved wrong the Congress and other political opponents by successfully running the coalition for five years. Listing the various steps taken by his government for the welfare of tribals, he said a separate Ministry of Tribal Affairs was created and a commission was set up to redress their grievances. He asserted that his government was committed to bringing tribal regions in the mainstream of development.
— PTI |
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Protest against ticket to Laxman New Delhi, April 1 The demonstrators, holding placards against Mr Laxman Singh, who had left the Congress and joined the BJP recently, wanted the party to cancel his ticket. Even as the party workers and leaders from Rajgarh have been opposing his admission into the party, the BJP leadership has decided not to budge. “There is no question of any rethink on the Rajgarh seat. It is a special case by itself,” party General Secretary Pramod Mahajan told mediapersons here. Stating that the BJP leadership was aware of the possible resentment that could arise from some quarters after Mr Laxman Singh was fielded from Rajgarh, Mr Mahajan maintained that this would be a temporary phenomenon. |
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RSS draws flak for calling CPM as betrayer New Delhi, April 1 Quoting British Home Department records, CPM leaders Sitaram Yechury told reporters that the only person with whom the Sangh Parivar could identify with was Savarkar, who had “openly begged the British to set him free” and promised to “serve” the foreign rulers’ cause. They quoted a letter written by Savarkar to the British authorities on November 14, 1913, from the Andaman jail as saying that “I am ready to serve the (British) government in any capacity you like, for as my conversion is conscientious so I hope my future conduct would”. The Marxist leaders also quoted a Bombay Home Department communication, which said, “The sangh has scrupulously kept itself within the law and in particular has refrained from taking part in the disturbances (Quit India Movement) that broke out in August, 1942. Referring to the RSS charge, Mr Yechury said former President Shankar Dayal Sharma in his address to the midnight session of Parliament on the 50th anniversary of Quit India had also quoted British Home Department records about the role of the Communist Party of India. |
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Sumitra Mahajan’s election upheld New Delhi, April 1 Dismissing the petition of former bureaucrat Jaspal Singh, whose nomination papers for contesting the election to the Upper House were rejected by the returning officer, a Bench comprising Chief Justice Mr V N Khare and Mr Justice S H Kapadia said he had failed to disclose a cause of action against the vitorious candidate. Mr Jaspal Singh’s nomination was rejected when two vacancies from Haryana will filled in the Upper House last year. |
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SC to hear petition on surrogate ads today New Delhi, April 1 The hearing on the petition was fixed for tomorrow by a bench headed by the Chief Justice, Mr V. N. Khare, when Attorney General, Mr Soli J. Sorabjee, made a special mention about the filing of the petition before it. As Mr Sorabjee sought interim stay on the High Court’s order, the Chief Justice said it could not be done without hearing the matter. The Union Government moved the special leave petition against the High Court order after the Prime Minister had instructed the Attorney General to take legal recourse of the issue after certain surrogate ads had targeted him. Similar ads had also targeted the Congress President, Ms Sonia Gandhi for her foreign origin. The Union Government has questioned the High Court order quashing Rule 7(3) of the Cable Television Networks Rules banning the telecast of political ads on TV and cable network, contending that it was enacted with an objective to end influence of money power in elections. |
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9 get 5-yr term in fodder scam case Ranchi, April 1 Special judge Ramanuj Narayan, who had yesterday reserved the sentence after convicting them, sentenced Junul Bhengraj, then regional director, North Chota Nagpur division, Animal Husbandry Department, and Braj Bhusan Prasad, then accounts officer in Patna, to five years RI. Sashi Bhusan Verma, then touring veterinary officer (mobile), and P.K. Tripathi, former district animal husbandry officer at Lohardaga were sentenced to four years’ RI. Employees of supplier firms — Mahendra Prasad, Ramnandan Singh, Anjani Kumar Singh, Basant Kumar Singh and Rama Shankar Singh — were sentenced to five years RI. While Ram Nandan Singh was slapped Rs 5000 or two months’ simple imprisonment, others were fined Rs 20,000 or six months’ simple imprisonment.
— PTI |
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Air Marshal Gujral is Deputy Chief of Air Staff New Delhi, April 1 Air Marshal Gujral was earlier
Assistant Chief of Air Staff in the personnel branch at Air HQs.
Commissioned in the fighter stream of Indian Air Force in December
1967, Air Marshal Gujral has flown over 4000 hours of accident-free
flying in a wide range of aircraft. A graduate of Defence Services
Staff College, he has also done the Long Defence Management Course and
the Higher Command Course. Air Marshal Gujral has commanded various
MiG squadrons and a premier fighter base in Eastern Air Command. |
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BJP condoles Tohra’s death New Delhi, April 1 “In the death of Tohra, the country has lost one of its great leaders,” party President M Venkaiah Naidu said in his message. On behalf of the party, the BJP President has deputed Law Minister Arun Jaitley to attend Tohra’s funeral tomorrow at his native village Tohra in Patiala district. |
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Disabled Rights Group to gherao CEC’s office New Delhi, April 1 “The voting centres do not have ramps for people on wheel-chairs, or ballot papers in Braille to help the visually-impaired to vote. Even the hearing-impaired are not allowed to vote,’’ DRG convenor Javed Abidi said in a statement today. |
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A clarification Apropos the news item headlined “Allow pupils in nearby exam centres, says HC”, which appeared in this newspaper on Wednesday, the Haryana School Education Board, Bhiwani, has claimed that the board has nothing to do with the conduct of the National Open School examinations. The board also claimed that the Delhi High Court has not issued any directions to the board. |
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