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Bangalore, April 4 
The BJP today said that it would advise its leaders not to make “personalised attacks” during elections but lashed out at the Congress for making remarks in “extremely bad taste” against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani.
BJP not using
PM as a brand, says Jaswant
Vasundhara steals Advani
show
Congress peeved at Modi’s diatribe against
Sonia
Sadhna Bharati Cong answer
to Uma?
Rahul, Mayawati to file papers
today
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SP to contest 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh
BSP colluding with BJP, alleges
Sherwal
Govt imported inferior AK-47 rifles, says Cong
3 crore devotees expected
at Ujjain Kumbh
Dawood undergoing cosmetic surgery in Pak?
Skeletons of those who fled with Bilkis identified
Visva Bharati staff’s hand in Nobel theft suspected
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BJP to stop personal attacks, says Jaitley
Bangalore, April 4 “We will advise all our leaders not to take up personalised issues in elections”, party spokesman Arun Jaitley told reporters when asked about reported “personal attacks” made against Congress President Sonia Gandhi by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi during poll campaign. However, Mr Jaitley asserted there were some issues like a person of foreign origin occupying high constitutional posts which were “political in nature” and were part of the BJP’s “Vision Document” and NDA’s agenda. Asked why the NDA was “scared” of a woman (Sonia Gandhi), Mr Jaitley said, “I don’t think we are in a bout that one has to be scared” but the BJP was concerned with the principle that in a democratic governance certain high posts should be occupied by persons of Indian origin. Also, the largest democracy could not be run on the basis of a dynasty, he said. “We have strong political comments. We have to make (them)”, he said, defending BJP raking up the foreign origin issue of Ms Gandhi. He also said the Congress choice (of Gandhi) was an “onslaught on national pride”. Making a scathing attack on the Congress, he said, “Some of the statements made by its leaders, particularly Karnataka PCC President B Janardhan Poojary are in extremely bad taste and lower the level of public discourse”. “I am no great admirer of scholarship of Poojary but he appears to be totally ignorant of both history and geography”, Mr Jaitley said, referring to his attacks against Mr Advani whom he had called a “Pakistani” because he was born in Lahore. Mr Jaitley said partition of the country was a tragedy and if the Muslim League was the “prime culprit”, the Congress was “close second as far as responsibility is concerned”. He said refugees who came from Pakistan suffered in terms of loss of lives and property and to call Bengalis, Punjabis and Sindhis who came from there, as foreigners was to “rub salt on their wounds”. It was the Muslim League and the Congress which were “primarily responsible” for partition. Taking strong exception to Poojary’s personalised attacks on Mr Vajpayee which he called as “sick and gutter like statements”, Mr Jaitley said Mr Poojary as Union Minister of State for Finance had made the banking system bankrupt. “Today, he is displaying mental bankruptcy”, Mr Jaitley said. He said he hoped that Congress leaders would “seriously introspect on these matters”. —
PTI |
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BJP not using PM as a brand, says Jaswant
New Delhi, April 4 “We are not marketing Mr Vajpayee as a brand. The country has adopted him as a symbol of progress and economic development,” he told PTI when asked about criticism that the party was excessively dependent on Mr Vajpayee’s image. To a question about the Congress demand that Mr Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani should retire, he dismissed it with contempt, saying “The Congress can say all kinds of things.” In an interview to UNI, the Finance Minister strongly defending the government’s “India shining” campaign. He said it was not a case of “overkill” rather fulfilment of a commitment approved by Parliament. The campaign, intended to project a positive image of India among the international community and local populace, had been part of his Budget initiative, which was later approved by the two Houses, Mr Jaswant Singh said. Reports had suggested that besides the Opposition, certain top BJP leaders were also wondering whether the government had gone for an overkill on the “India shining” campaign. Taking a dig at the Congress, which alleged misuse of funds for the feel-good campaign, the Finance Minister said the principal Opposition party had undermined the achievements of the country, and not the Vajpayee government alone. “If my friends in the Congress do not want to give credit to either the Prime Minister or me, it is fine. For heaven’s sake, please give credit to the people of the country who have achieved this milestone. It is not some foreigners who have come here and worked to achieve the growth rate,” he said. He also took exception to Left parties’ contention that figures had been fudged to show a 10.4 per cent GDP growth rate in the third quarter of 2003-04. Pointing out that the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO), which had come out with the growth figures, did not work under the Finance Ministry, he said, “We should not belittle some of the established organisations of the country simply because their findings are politically inconvenient.” Mr Jaswant Singh said the government would come out with its “dada-dadi” bonds in the next 10 days. The model code of conduct would not come in the way, he |
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Vasundhara steals Advani
show
Jaipur, April 4 But it is the emerging ‘strong-woman’ of the BJP and the state Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje who stole the thunder each time she took mike at the public rallies which the Deputy Prime Minister addressed. While giving out the report card of her four-month government she received the maximum appaulse from the people at the rallies which also reflected that in her short time at the helm of affairs she had managed to win the support of the public. That of course had come when she was voted to power in the late last year Assembly elections, where the BJP won the maximum number of seats in its history in the state. But the applause pointed to the wide spread acceptance which this government and the party was still enjoying among thee people. As Mr Advani addressed last of his rallies in the state before entering Uttar Pradesh it was evident that Vasundhara Raje could soon be among the firebrand young turks of the BJP on whom the party would be depending over the next few decades. Having already won the hearts of the people during her ‘Parivvartan
Yatra’ which she undertook before the assembly elections, Vasundhara
Raje, continues to be the cynosure of the women’s eyes here and a model of respect for the men. With her strong words and the promise to deliver what she has promised, she has managed to win the admiration of all sections of the society. In the over a dozen rallies that she adddressed along side Mr Advani, she was always the star attraction. Incidentally, she always spoke before Mr Advani and receieved the maximum applause. In comparison there were not many takers for the words of the Deputy Prime Minister. Although the Bharat Uday Yatra managed to attarct large crowds every where it went, but as Mr Advani took the public address system, people started to disperse. A phenomenon which is mostly witnessed during the Congress rallies where the party president Ms Sonia Gandhi is unable to hold the crowds despite her personal attraction. The only time he really managed to get a big applause from the people was when he mentioned the name of Indian star cricketer and the Nawab of Najafgarh Virender Sehwag. Does this mean that the days of the ‘old brigade’ are over and it is time to make way for the young
turks. |
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Congress peeved at Modi’s diatribe against
Sonia
Ahmedabad, April 4 Launching a scathing attack on Mr Modi, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told a press conference here today that Mr Modi’s utterances against the Congress president were not befitting a Chief Minister. Nothing that Mr Modi engaged in verbal personal attack against Mrs Gandhi in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, Mr Singhvi said the silence maintained by Mr Advani and the Prime Minister on the issue indicated that the Chief Minister had the covert approval of senior BJP leaders. He alleged that Mr Advani and Mr Vajpayee were hiding behind the shadows of Mr Modi and encouraging him covertly to carry on with his diatribe. Mr Singhvi also rubbished the Chief Minister’s claim of progress achieved in the state during his regime. The total debts of Gujarat had risen to around Rs 60,000 crore as against Rs 28,000 crore in 1995, he said while claiming that the erstwhile Congress regimes in the state had considerably brought down the debts. Mr Singhvi said the BJP government in the state had been able to add only 537 MW of power since 1995 as against its promise of 10,000 MW, and the state was facing a shortfall of nearly 4,000 MW. The Congress spokesman said despite the state government’s claim, not a single multinational project had come up in Gujarat during the past nine years although nearly 30 such projects had come up in various parts of the country, including states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, during the same period. Scoffing at the BJP’s claims of establishing a ‘Ramrajya,’ he said the National Democratic Front Government was ridden by umpteen number of scams such as the Tehelka scam, UTI scam and petrol pump scam, among others. However, when Mr Singhvi’s attention was drawn to the Congress decision to give Mr Ajit Jogi a Lok Sabha ticket despite he being embroiled in a “scam”, the Congress spokesman Mr Jogi had been suspended for breaching party discipline and not on the basis of any allegation or accusation. The suspension was revoked following Mr Jogi’s apology, he said adding that no charges had been framed against Mr Jogi in any court. To a question on Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, Mr Singhvi said it was merely an election issue for Congress opponents. —
UNI |
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Sadhna Bharati Cong answer
to Uma?
New Delhi, April 4 It has its very own Sadhna Bharati, an eight-year-old from
Etah, whose oratorical skills could well put several seasoned campaigners to shame. In fact, she could even grow up to be a formidable rival to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who began as a child by reciting hymns and verses at religious
discourses. Sadhna Bharati, who made a fiery and impressive speech at the Congress’ daily press briefing, has been drafted by the party as a “promising campaigner” in the Lok Sabha elections. In a brief demonstration of what is in store for the electorate, Sadhna Bharati spoke in chaste Hindi as she set out to lambast the NDA government while praising Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Her short speech was peppered with catchy phrases and references like “feel good as deal good” and “loktantrik as
loottantrik” as she spoke of the various scams and scandals that surfaced under NDA
rule. Sadhna Bharati was equally unfazed when asked that she had campaigned for the BJP. “Don’t you know that the meeting in which I spoke was organised by the Lodh samaj and not the BJP?” was her prompt reply. |
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Rahul, Mayawati to file papers
today
Lucknow, April 4 If on the one hand the Bharat Uday rath of Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani will roll into Lucknow, on its way to Faizabad, the Congress President Ms Sonia Gandhi, will reach Sultanpur, almost the same time with Priyanka and Rahul. The Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, will receive Mr Advani’s rath in Lucknow, his parliamentary constituency, from where he is contesting for the fifth time in a row. Later in the afternoon both Mr Vajpayee and Mr Advani will address a joint rally in Ambedkar maidan. Mr Advani, will then proceed to Faizabad, where he will address another rally in the evening and at the next day will have a darshan of Ram Lalla. “The electioneering will get an impetus tomorrow with our main star campaigners Vajpayeeji and Advaniji addressing as joint meeting — a first in the election campaign,” senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra told The Tribune. BSP working president Mayawati will file nomination from the Akbarpur parliamentary constituency tomorrow at 12 noon. On the other hand AICC President Sonia Gandhi and her daughter Priyanka Vadra would be present Sultanpur on Monday when Congress nominee Rahul Gandhi files his papers from the Amethi constituency. Election there is slated for April 26. UPCC president Jagdambika pal said here that Ms Gandhi, along with her children and family friend Capt Satish Sharma would reach Lucknow on Monday morning by a service flight. Later, they would travel by road to Sultanpur where Rahul, along with Capt Sharma would file their nominations. Later Ms Sonia and Rahul will address a public meeting. On March 21, the AICC had announced fielding Rahul from
Amethi. |
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SP to contest 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh
New Delhi, April 4 Mr Amar Singh, general secretary and spokesman, said the party would not have
liked to oppose Mrs Gandhi but election meetings, including one addressed by
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, had already been held and
therefore it was not possible to withdraw at this stage. He said the party
will fight elections in 28 seats in Madhya Pradesh and besides the 26
names released today decisions on candidates in Mandsaur and Jabalpur
would be taken later. He also announced that the party will not put
up any candidate against former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar from
Balia in Uttar Pradesh or against Jyotiraditya Scindia in Gwalior,
Madhya Pradesh.
— UNI |
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BSP colluding with BJP, alleges
Sherwal Chandigarh, April 4 Alleging that the BSP leadership was colluding with the BJP leadership to ensure victory for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in the next Lok Sabha elections, Mr Sherwal holds that all those committed to the philosophy and ideals of Dr B.R. Ambedkar are feeling suffocated in the party. “There is unprecedented exodus from the party which was started as a social movement. But now it is becoming autocratic where diktats of only the top few run. There is no grooming of leadership. “While some of us have already walked out of the party and joined the Lok Jan Shakti Party headed by Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, others are expected to follow us before the elections,” says Mr Sherwal maintaining that ever since he quit as general secretary of the Haryana unit of the Bahujan Samaj Party and joined hands with Mr Paswan, the BSP leadership has launched a vilification campaign against him, his family and his supporters. “We will fight it out,” he says revealing that he has written letters to the Chief Secretary and Director-General of Police of Haryana, seeking security for his family as he and his family members have been receiving “threats” for the past five days. “They — the BSP leaders — are threatening to liquidate us. The want us to sit at home and not work for the Lok Jan Shakti Party. Why senior and respected leaders should quit the party on the eve of a election’. See what happened to Mr Phool Singh of Madhya Pradesh and Mr Rashid Ali in Uttar Pradesh.” “The allegations they have made against me and my family are baseless. I am consulting my lawyers and I will sue them for defamation,” said Mr Sherwal. “The state unit wanted to contest the Fatehabad byelection. We were called to Lucknow for the rally addressed by Ms Mayawati. We were not allowed to meet her and were told that she would come to Haryana and hold consultations with the state unit. But very next day, Mr Narender Kashyap, who is general secretary for north, told us that the BSP had decided against contesting the byelection. “Similarly, no consultation with the state unit was held over nomination of party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. How can a party function where workers and state leaders have no say? Till march 30, there was no complaint against me. And on March 31, they started making baseless allegations against me and my family,” said Mr Sherwal holding that the Panchkula house belonged to him as he had taken a loan from the Sector 17 branch of the State Bank of India. The money the BSP leaders were talking about was deposited by his wife and not the party as had been established by a police inquiry. He maintained that the headquarters of the Haryana unit of the BSP were in Rohtak and as a dedicated worker and leader, he was using a part of his house for some party work. “But I never got paid any money or rent for that,” he asserted. “The Lok Jan Shakti Party is keen to contest the Sonepat seat. In case we have an alliance with the Congress, we will decide about the remaining seats. Otherwise, we may contest three Haryana seats,” said Mr Sherwal holding that all senior and top functionaries and committed workers were leaving the party and joining him in the Lok Jan Shakti Party. |
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Govt imported inferior AK-47 rifles, says Cong New Delhi, April 4 On January 1, 2003, the MHA invited tenders for a
purchase contract for AK-47 assault rifles and a year later, awarded the contract to Kintex Share Holding Company, a Bulgarian export-import agency that allegedly procures weapons illegally from international gun-runners, party spokesman Kapil Sibal told reporters. In awarding the contract to Kintex, he claimed the Home Ministry rejected the bid of the lowest bidder offering the weapons at $ 150-160 per piece, or 25 per cent cheaper than the Bulgarians. This bidder was Izhmash Open Joint Stock Company, a member of Rosoboronexport (a corsortium of arms manufacturers in various Republics in the Russian Federation), the original manufacturer of AK-47 assault rifles, he said, alleging the bid was rejected without conducting any field trials or test firing, despite repeated written requests from Izhmash. He charged the Deputy Prime Minister and MHA had ignored three letters written on June 14, 16 and 19, 2003, by the President of the Udmurt Republic (a Republic of the Russian Federation) explaining that the AK-47 rifles manufactured by it were protected by a Eurasian patent and national patents of several countries. Meanwhile the BJP dismissed as “irresponsible” a charge by the Congress that the Union Home Ministry imported “inferior” AK-47 assault rifles from a Bulgarian state-owned company with alleged links with international gunrunners when a “superior” rifle was available at much cheaper prices.—
PTI |
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3 crore devotees expected
at Ujjain Kumbh
Bhopal, April 4 The rituals during the Kumbh include a dip in the Kshipra river and darshan of Lord Mahakal. As the Kshipra dries up in summer, water is released into the river from the 10 stop dams where water has been conserved for this purpose only. The sadhus, who put up their akharas around Ujjain for the entire Kumbh period, have had never had it so good as this time because of the personal interest of the Chief Minister, Sadhvi Uma Bharati. The sadhus were even permitted to install airconditioners in their tents, but the facility was withdrawn following a fire mishap caused by short circuit last week. The government has deployed over 15,000 police personnel for security during Kumbh. Cameras have been installed at 16 points to keep a watch on the movement of the people. Anti-terrorist squads have been deployed at strategic points. There are five most auspicious days for the dip and darshan at Ujjain: April 5 and 22 and May 5 are marked for shahi snaan while parva snaan is scheduled for April 19 and 24. The Ujjain Kumbh, one of the four occurring every 12 years, is known as Simhastha because it takes place when the sun is in the Aries and the Jupiter is in the Leo. The other three Kumbhs are held in Prayag (Allahabad), Nashik and Hardwar. |
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Dawood undergoing cosmetic surgery in Pak?
New Delhi, April 4 Dawood, now Iqbal Seth, alias Amir Sahib, who was so far living in the posh Clifton area of Karachi, has recently shifted to “an ISI-safe house in Islamabad” after the USA declared him an “international terrorist”, sources said here today. They also confirmed a report in this regard that appeared in South Asia Tribune. The don had a few months ago visited South Waziristan on the Pak-Afghan border, the scene of the recent fighting between the Al-Qaida, Taliban and the USA-led coalition and Pakistani forces. The officials said Dawood had gone there to meet his contacts in the Taliban and the Lashkar-e-Toiba and extend material support to them. Dawood ’s name figures in the list submitted to Pakistan by India mentioning the names of 20 wanted terrorists and criminals. Recently, the US Treasury Department has declared him a global terrorist and also accused him of having “financially supported Islamic militant groups working against India, such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba”. The report in South Asia Tribune said intelligence agencies believed that he was undergoing a cosmetic surgery in Islamabad to change his looks and was planning to leave Pakistan. — PTI |
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Skeletons of those who fled with Bilkis identified
New Delhi, April 4 The CBI and forensic experts had recovered some bones from a rivulet at Panivela village where the massacre had taken place. The bones, which had been buried after putting salt on these for early decomposition, were taken for tests to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. It was found that at least one of the bones belonged to a child killed by the rioters on March 3, 2002, official sources said. Investigations showed that the bones belonged to two males, two females and a child, they said. As no pelvic bone, which helps in identifying the sex of the deceased, was found, doctors carried out tests based on measurement of the bones. Later, they identified them with the photographs of the deceased who were accompanying Bilkis on the ill-fated day. With this the CBI, which began fresh investigations into the case, has identified 12 of the 15 people killed in the riots. Bilkis Yakub was among the three persons who had survived. The other two were Saddam (7) and Hussain (5). —
PTI |
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Visva Bharati staff’s hand in Nobel theft suspected
Kolkata, April 4 After interrogating Pradip Barui, an ex-casual employee at Uttarayan complex, the CBI interrogated some officials and other staff of the university today. Sniffer dogs were also engaged in the raids conducted last night at several places in Purba Palli and other areas on the university campus. But none of the stolen items could be recovered till this evening. The CBI suspected that the stolen items might have been smuggled out to some place outside the country. Accordingly, the help of the Interpol might be sought in recovering the stolen prize medal and other valuables, said the CBI. Today, another batch of senior CBI officials, which had flown down to Kolkata in the morning, left for Santiniketan for inquiring into the case. Meanwhile, the district police conducted raids in some areas on the Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Nepal border last night and seized three pieces of ivory artifacts from a house in Dinajpur village. One person was arrested. But these artifacts were not any of the 50 items stolen from the Uttarayan complex on March 24. |
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New Delhi, April 4
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