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Sonia attacks Vajpayee on coalition issue
Justice Shambhu Singh files papers
Patel votes crucial in 14 seats
EC over-reacted on Lucknow incident:
BJP
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Voter apathy worries
parties
Ramps for disabled
voters
Former HC Judge files
nomination
Sanjay Dutt campaigns
for father
No staff from other states for J&K poll
Task force for border dists sought
‘Warrants’ against Kalam need to be
quashed, rules SC
USA lauds India’s role in
peacekeeping
India: Hamas leader's killing unjustified
CBI registers case against minister’s OSD
From vacuum to air brake coaches by 2006
Large turnout at Somvati Amavasya
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Sonia attacks Vajpayee on coalition issue Vasai, April 19 Addressing voters here on behalf of party candidate Govinda, Ms Gandhi accused the Prime Minister of changing his stand frequently. “Yesterday, Mr Vajpayee said he was tired of coalition politics, but today he is again seeking votes in the name of the NDA alliance,” she said at Narveer Chimaji Maidan here. Hitting out at the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine here, Ms Gandhi accused them of dividing society on religious lines for political profit. The Vasai-Virar belt, home to a large number of east-Indian Christians, is expected to vote for Congress candidate Govinda in a big way. Ms Gandhi said the Congress had forged an alliance with the NCP, setting aside differences to prevent “such forces from coming to power.” She also hit out at the Prime Minister for his silence on the Lucknow tragedy, where 22 women died at a party function where sarees were being distributed. Earlier in the day, Ms Gandhi addressed a meeting in Maharashtra’s Kopargaon town in Marathwada. Here she accused the NDA government of “cheating the youth and farmers with false promises.” “Even the educated youths are unable to earn their livelihood due to unemployment,” she said. The Congress chief claimed that her party had started public-sector units to provide employment, but the NDA government was “selling them at cheap rates.” Bangalore, April 19 Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s recent expression of worry about an unwieldy 22-party coalition was only about difficulties inherent in a coalition and the need for a decisive majority, he said, responding to mediapersons’ queries here about the PM’s reported statement at Nagpur. “You have to understand the spirit in which that was said. In any case, 22 parties have now been reduced to 12 parties,” he said in an obvious attempt the play down the PM’s comment. The NDA was seeking a stronger mandate, while the Congress was “fighting for survival” and even in defeat, it wanted a weak mandate for the NDA so that it could destabilise the government, he said. |
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Cong asks EC to take
final view on exit polls
New Delhi, April 10 Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said all political parties had unanimously told the Election Commission that though they had no objections to the conduct of exit polls, they all wanted the results to be declared only after the last phase of elections on May 10. They all felt that the results of the exit polls of the first phase would influence the voters in the subsequent phases. He said after hearing them, the Election Commission had assured all political parties that it would announce its decision soon. Meanwhile, it asked the government to issue an ordinance banning exit polls. The government, however, threw the ball back into the EC’s court, saying the attorney-general had advised that such a move would curtail a citizen’s right to freedom of expression. The matter has been hanging fire since then. With the first phase of polls opening tomorrow, the Congress drew the Election Commission’s attention to this pending matter. A Constitutional authority like the Election Commission should not abdicate its decision, Mr Sibal said, adding that it hopes it will take a decision either way. Mr Sibal said they suspect the Election Commission is hesitant to take a view on this issue as it feels that it has no powers to take action against anybody violating ts order. Quoting various provisions of the Representation of People’s Act, Mr Sibal maintained the Election Commission had the power to enforce its order and also challenged the attorney-general’s views on this matter. |
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Justice Shambhu Singh files papers
Bhopal, April 19 He will face former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh’s younger brother Laxman Singh, who had been representing Rajgarh in Lok Sabha as a Congress member since 1994 but had defected to the BJP a few months back. It was at the instance of Mr Digvijay Singh that Mr Shambhu Singh had agreed to join the electoral politics by resigning as the Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal, the post he had been occupying after his retirement from the High Court. His tenure at the Industrial Tribunal was scheduled to end on July 4. The state Congress leaders had reservations about fielding Mr Shambhu Singh from Rajgarh and had recommended the name of Mr Devendra Singh Raghuvanshi, a two-time Congress MLA from Chachaura, which forms part of Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency. The party high command, however, overruled the PCC leaders reportedly on an assurance from Mr Digvijay Singh that he would ensure Mr Shambhu Singh’s victory against his brother while he could not say the same regarding Mr Raghuvanshi. An interesting aspect has been added to the Rajgarh contest by the decision of Mr Ashok Tripathi, an RSS leader, whose candidature has been sponsored by the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, an offshoot of the Sangh Parivar. He is receiving tremendous support from the local BJP workers who have not yet been able to reconcile themselves to supporting Mr Laxman Singh. The BJP in the state is reportedly seeking the help of the RSS leadership in persuading Mr Tripathi to withdraw from the contest. |
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Patel votes crucial in 14 seats
Ahmedabad, April 19 Former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel had played a key role in bringing the Patel community to the BJP’s fold and had helped the party in winning majority of the Parliamentary seats in 1998 and 1999 Lok Sabha elections . But the treatment meted out to Keshubhai Patel by the party High Command in general and Chief Minister Narendra Modi in particular has led to disillusionment among members of this community and this may upset the BJP’s applecart. Approximately 20 per cent of the five crore population of the state, Patels have a minimum of eight per and maximum of 41 per cent votes in 22 Parliamentary seats. With this strength, it is but natural that the Patels have a clout and both the BJP and the Congress have fielded candidates from this community. The BJP has given tickets to six Patel candidates and the Congress to five. Traditionally from the farming community, Patels have, over the years, entered engineering, banking and other sectors as well. They control groundnut production and processing which is one of the two major crops of the state. Thus, they not only have a sway over the large sections of farmers but also enjoy growing financial clout. Half of the Patels are living in the Saurashtra region, known as the groundnut bowl of the state. Rest of them are spread all over the central, north and south Gujarat. The Amreli district has the largest concentration of Patels which roughly works out to 4.70 lakh. Chota Udaipur, which has 57 per cent tribal population, has the minimum percentage of Patels at eight per cent. Junagadh has a concentration of four lakh Patels followed by 3.75 lakh in Rajkot, 3.50 in Bhavnagar, three lakh each in Jamnagar and Porbander, 2.25 lakh in Surendranagar and 1.80 lakh in Kutch. Saurashtra has around 58 lakh Patel voters and sends at least 18 to 20 Patels each time to the Assembly. Their political clout can be judged from the fact that out of the eight Lok Sabha seats in Saurashtra, Patels had won four in the 1999 general elections. In Amreli, from where the Chief Minister’s friend Dilip Sanghani had won last time, the BJP is facing an uphill task as Patels are working to defeat him. VHP supporter V. Patel in Amreli said over the telephone that if Sanghani lost then Keshubhai’s honour would be restored to some extent. Similarly in Surat, where Union Rural Development Minister Kashiram Rana is trying to retain the seat for the sixth time in a row, nine per cent of the Patel votes would determine the final outcome. Most of them are in the diamond- cutting trade. Fully aware of his problems and rising stock of the Congress candidate Chandravadan Pithawala, Rana asked Keshubhai to appeal for him on Sunday, the last day of campaigning. |
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EC over-reacted on Lucknow incident:
BJP
New Delhi, April 19 Maintaining that the BJP was neither directly or indirectly involved in the April 12 function organised by some NGOs/individuals on the occasion of Mr Tandon’s birthday, a top BJP functionary, on the condition of anonymity, said here that while the death of 22 persons was an “unfortunate incident”, slapping of bribery charges against Mr Tandon and a show-cause notice to the party was far-fetched. He said in the Lucknow incident, the saree distribution function was organised by ‘private individuals’ and the BJP had nothing to do with that. Even if Mr Tandon was found guilty of holding such functions, the party could not be held responsible for individual actions, he felt. The BJP is likely to reply to the Election Commission’s show-cause notice on April 22 or April 23, party sources said. |
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Voter apathy worries
parties
Ahmedabad, April 19 While the heat may keep urban voters indoors, growing disinterest among the electorate is more worrisome. The ruling establishment became jittery when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s rally on Friday here failed to attract crowds. Congress leader Shankarsinh Vaghela said that poor turn out was a strong indication of the waning popularity of the BJP in the state. "The same stadium was packed to capacity a few months back at the function of my Shakti Dal", he claimed saying "the ruling party could ensure even half of the strength that I had". Notwithstanding the claims of Mr Vaghela, voter apathy is discernible and is acknowledged by RSS leaders. A possible cause for their disappointment is the choice of candidates by the BJP and the "arrogance" of the Chief Minister, said a leader. According to the Gujarat Election Watch Committee, headed by former Chief Justice of Gujarat High Court B. Diwan, 26 out of the 162 candidates in the fray have criminal background. |
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Ramps for disabled
voters
New Delhi, April 19 A Bench of Chief Justice V.N. Khare, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia directed that the ramps should be provided as far as possible in all polling booths across the country for the second phase of polling on April 26. The facility should definitely be provided for the last two phases on May 5 and 10, the court said. It, however, said providing of ramps would not be possible during the polling tomorrow. The direction came on a plea by the Disabled Rights Group (DRG), whose activist Javed Abidi, in a personal submission, said at least a “symbolic” beginning should be made to make disabled people’s visit to the polling booth easier. “Why should there be symbolic efforts. We will direct the authorities to make it meaningful,” said the Chief Justice, who had converted the DRG’s letter to him into a PIL. The order was to be implemented in consultation with chief electoral officers of the state and Union Territories, the apex court said. The DRG had also sought various other facilities like special provision for the visually impaired in electronic voting machines (EVMs) and ballot papers, but the apex court said this would be considered for future after the poll. The DRG had sent the letter to the Chief Justice after their plea was not favourably considered by the Election Commission. |
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Former HC Judge files
nomination Bhopal, April 19 He will face former Chief Minister Digvijay Singh’s younger brother Laxman Singh, who had been representing Rajgarh in Lok Sabha as a Congress member since 1994 but had defected to the BJP a few months back. It was at the instance of Mr Digvijay Singh that Mr Shambhu Singh had agreed to join the electoral politics by resigning as the Chairman of the Industrial Tribunal, the post he had been occupying after his retirement from the High Court. His tenure at the Industrial Tribunal was scheduled to end on July 4. The state Congress leaders had reservations about fielding Mr Shambhu Singh from Rajgarh and had recommended the name of Mr Devendra Singh Raghuvanshi, a two-time Congress MLA from Chachaura, which forms part of Rajgarh Lok Sabha constituency.
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Sanjay Dutt campaigns
for father
Mumbai, April 19 According to party worker Kamruddin Merchant, who is overseeing the senior Dutt’s campaign, Sanjay Dutt made an appearance at the rally and mingled with the people present there. Father and son even rode in an auto-rickshaw to accompanying cheers. Sanjay Dutt, however, did not address the crowd. Sanjay Dutt is expected to draw more crowds should he begin active campaigning for his father. “I have never done it before. I would never do it for anybody but my father,” Sanjay Dutt said. It is, however, not clear if Sanjay Dutt will be a regular fixture at his father’s meetings. |
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No staff from other states for J&K poll
New Delhi, April 19 The state-government has also not requisitioned any staff from other state as was the case in the 2002-Assembly poll when the entire electoral process was conducted and supervised by officials from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab. |
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Task force for border dists sought
Jalpaiguri, April 19 The EC’s special observer, Mr Afzal Amanullah, who visited Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling during his two-day tour to the region to make an on-the-spot study of the pre-poll situation, had assured the district administration and the police that he would take up the matter with the Home Ministry after his return to New Delhi. |
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‘Warrants’ against Kalam need to be
quashed, rules SC
New Delhi, April 19 Fixing April 27 for deciding the fate of the bailable warrants issued by suspended Ahmedabad Metropolitan Magistrate M.S. Braham Bhatt, a Bench comprising Mr Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Mr Justice S.B. Sinha and Mr Justice S.H. Kapadia said it had to be seen whether any person would come forward to challenge the quashing of the warrants. When senior advocate Harish Salve told the court that the warrants were nothing more than waste papers, the court said though the complaint against these dignitaries was fictitious, the order of the magistrate was a judicial order, which needed to be set aside by following the legal procedure. |
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USA lauds India’s role in
peacekeeping
New Delhi, April 19 US Deputy Chief of Mission Robert Blake said here at a multinational seminar dealing with issues in peace support operations, "Today, the role of the military is changing. Daily, soldiers are called upon to help keep and in some cases, enforce peace". "Peacekeeping will continue to be an important mission for many militaries in the foreseeable future. Multilateral training will assist us in understanding the problems that arise when national armed forces with different histories, professional cultures and procedures operate together. Doing so requires close cooperation among all nations involved," he said. "In some of the most difficult UN operations over the course of more than five decades and in four continents, Indian troops have won universal admiration for their professionalism and excellence," he said, adding that India was currently the fourth largest of the 94 troop contributors to the UN and had at the moment 2,536 peacekeepers deployed in seven of the 13 current UN missions around the world. He said since its first UN peacekeeping mission in Korea in 1950, more than 67,000 Indian peacekeepers had served in 38 missions across Africa, Asia and Europe. The Indo-US cooperation in this area now encompassed numerous training exercises, seminars, personnel exchanges and senior officer and functional visits, besides ones undertaken by units and ships. It also covered technological cooperation and expanding defence sales, he said. |
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India: Hamas leader's killing unjustified
New Delhi, April 19 "The targeted killing of Hamas leader Abdelaziz Rantisi is unjustified and unacceptable and cannot be condoned under any circumstances," an official spokesman said here. |
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CBI registers case against minister’s OSD
New Delhi, April 19 CBI sources said Neeraj Singh had allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with a private firm, Gibralter Finance and Investment, for pecuniary benefit. They said he was dealing with the income tax case of the said firm and had subsequently got his wife employed in one of the sister concerns of Gibralter, known as Artec Systems for a monthly salary of Rs 28,000. —
PTI |
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From vacuum to air brake coaches by 2006
New Delhi, April 19 The air brake system enhances safety, according to sources in the Railway Ministry. While 2,700 vacuum brake coaches will be converted to air brake coaches in 2004-’05, 2,640 coaches will be converted to air brake coaches in 2005-’06. |
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Large turnout at Somvati Amavasya
Hardwar, April 19 The mela administration claimed that more than 23 lakh devotees took the Snan. The mela administration had taken extra precautions and deployed 10,000 officers and jawans of the police and para-military forces and also enforced a strict traffic plan. |
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