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Amar Singh dares Cong to withdraw support in Uttar Pradesh
Sonia assails
Mulayam
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New-look Congress
within a week
Governor’s Address focuses on
development
Basu, Sinha decry statement on Iraq
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Indo-Pak talks on Baghliar
project
Town of 5,600 families faces submergence
Chapter on AIDS in Class X curriculum
NHRC notice to Andhra Government
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Amar Singh dares Cong to withdraw support New Delhi, June 12 Addressing mediapersons here today, SP leaders Amar Singh and Ram Gopal Yadav said the Congress did not have the numbers to bring down the SP government. Mr Amar Singh said the governments never fell on statements. “If the Congress has the courage to withdraw support, it can.” The SP offensive came after recent remarks by the Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, on the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh. Congress President Sonia Gandhi, during her visit to her Lok Sabha constituency Rae
Bareli, had blamed the successive non-Congress governments for deteriorating law and order situation there. Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil had also referred to a “lot of complaints” on the law and order situation in the state. Objecting to Mr Patil’s statement, Mr Amar Singh and Mr Yadav also took exception to Union Minister of State for Home Sri Prakash Jaiswal calling up the DGP of the state on the law and order situation without the matter being discussed with the Chief Minister. Accusing the Congress of behaving “arrogantly,” the SP leaders, however, said their party was not withdrawing support from the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre. “At present, we have no plans to withdraw support. It will be seen later,’’ Mr Yadav said. The SP leaders said it was no secret that the SP had been opposing the BJP since 1986 but the Congress was locking horns with the SP. “The recent Lok Sabha elections saw that we reduced the strength of the BJP to a dismal low even as the Congress gave Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to the BJP on a platter,” they said. The SP leaders said Samajwadi Party’s “silence” should not be construed as its weakness. “We have asked the SP workers to prepare for fight against the puppet government at the Centre,” they said. Dismissing the Congress criticism of the UP Government, SP leaders said the Congress had become “panicky” in view of the vast welfare works undertaken by the state government in power, water, education and health sectors. Meanwhile, the Congress said here today though it was continuing to support the Mulayum Singh government in Uttar Pradesh, however, it would simultaneously strive to strengthen its party organisation in the state. AICC general secretary Ambika Soni said the party would not hesitate to highlight people’s grievances, as it was incumbent upon elected representatives to do so. “If the SP sees this as a declaration of war, it only displays its lack of understanding,” she said. Stating that SP leader Amar Singh’s remarks did not warrant a
repsonse, she said just because the Congress was supporting the SP government, it did not mean it would stop raising people’s issues or rejuvenating its party infrastructure. “Support does not mean relinquishing our political space,” she added. She said the Congress was the first party to offer support to the Mulayum Singh government in order to keep communal forces at bay. This ideological commitment to strengthen secular forces, she said, would remain unchanged. Ms Soni said the last Lok Sabha poll had shown that though there was a groundswell of sympathy and support for the Congress, it was unable to translate it into votes because of its weak organisation. She said their primary objective now was to strengthen its state party unit so that it could form its own government. This, she added, was a legitimate exercise. Rae
Bareli: Continuing with her attack on the Mulayam government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today called upon party workers to be ready for a “long-drawn battle” if the state government did not mend its ways towards addressing people’s problems. “The caste and communal politics pursued by the successive non-Congress regimes are responsible for the current state of sorry affairs of the state,” Ms Gandhi said addressing a gathering of party workers at Lalganj on the concluding day of her two-day thanksgiving visit to her Lok Sabha constituency. Ms Gandhi, who was accompanied by her son and Congress MP from neighbouring Amethi Rahul Gandhi, exhorted partymen to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level to enable it to take its fight to a logical end. She regretted that the areas
(Amethi and Rae Bareli) were “ignored” by both the Centre and state governments during the past few years. “The Congress-led coalition government at the Centre will succeed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the country,” she said. Ms Gandhi said she was “not in active politics for some special post” but to ensure that the country regained its past glory and to re-establish value-based politics. |
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Rae Bareli, June 12 “The caste and communal politics pursued by the successive non-Congress regimes are responsible for the current state of sorry affairs of the state,” Ms Gandhi said addressing a gathering of party workers at Lalganj on the concluding day of her two-day thanksgiving visit to her Lok Sabha constituency. Ms Gandhi, who was accompanied by her son and Congress MP from neighbouring Amethi Rahul Gandhi, exhorted partymen to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level to enable it to take its fight to a logical end. She regretted that the areas (Amethi and Rae Bareli) were “ignored” by both the Centre and state governments during the past few years. “The Congress-led coalition government at the Centre will succeed in fulfilling the aspirations of the people of the country,” she said. Ms Gandhi said she was “not in active politics for some special post” but to ensure that the country regained its past glory and to re-establish value-based politics. Reiterating that she refused to accept the post of the Prime Minister “at the call of her conscience”, the Congress President said “one has to be ready for sacrifice if one wants to serve the society”. Addressing the gathering, Rahul Gandhi assured that sick and closed industrial units of the area would be revived and new industries would be set up to ensure speedy development. —
PTI |
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New-look Congress
within a week New Delhi, June 12 The AICC session, which in all likelihood will be called from June 25-27, is to be the party’s first major meet since the formation of its government at the Centre. The session is to be a “celebration” of sorts and will be aimed at galvanising its party workers. With the situation in Uttar Pradesh hotting up, the party’s strategy for the state is also likely to be decided in this session. Similarly, with Maharashtra heading for Assembly elections in September, this state of affairs in this crucial state will also be given accorded priority. In addition, the party will also lay down its own roadmap for the new Congress-led government. Since the Congress leadership is keen that the AICC session should be called before Parliament meets by June 28, the long-awaited and overdue revamp of the party organisation is next on party President Sonia Gandhi’s agenda. The new team could be announced within a week, it is learnt. There are several vacancies in the AICC set-up since several office -bearers have moved to the government. Senior general secretaries and CWC members like Oscar Fernandes, Kamal Nath, Arjun Singh, K.Natwar Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad in addition to party spokespersons Kapil
Sibal, and S.Jaipal Reddy are now ministers. Their slots have to be filled. In
addition, a number of senior leaders like Mohsina Kidwai, Balram
Jakhar, Nawal Kishore Sharma, M.L.Fotedar are tipped to become governors. Party insiders said Ms Gandhi would use this opportunity to restructure the party at the Centre and recast state party units. The new AICC team, expected to be a blend of youth and experience, will be entrusted with the task of conducting an exhaustive membership drive and strengthening the party,
especially in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Orissa where the party fared poorly in the
recent Lok Sabha and assembly polls. Although Rahul Gandhi is all set to play an important role in the organisation, it is still not clear whether he will be given a formal position. He has already gone on record to say he will be concentrating on Uttar Pradesh while recent developments indicate that Congress will now make all-out efforts to expand its political base in the state by positioning itself as an aggressive opposition party. Consequently, the recast of the UP Pradesh Congress Committee (UPPCC) is now almost a certainty. PCC chief Jagdambika Pal is likely to be replaced. |
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NCP rules out merger with
Cong
New Delhi, June 12 Union minister and party spokesman Praful Patel told reporters that after the NCP extended working committee meeting there was no question of the merger but the alliance would continue in Maharashtra. Mr Patel said the meeting, attended by NCP MPs, legislators and senior leaders reviewed the party’s performance in the Lok Sabha elections. He emphasised unity of secular parties to defeat the BJP and its allies. Earlier, in his presidential address, party chief and union minister Sharad Pawar said the NCP would maintain its separate identity and use the opportunity of being in the Union Government for the uplift of the people in the rural areas. He said the NCP had to sacrifice its interest on many seats in the recently held Lok Sabha elections as it did not get expected cooperation from other parties. Mr
Pawar, however, expressed satisfaction over the result which led to the overthrow of the NDA Government. Attacking the policies of the NDA government, he said these were against the secular traditions and were meant to appease the few rich. Mr Pawar said people had lots of expectations from the UPA government and the NCP workers would have to work hard. Mr Pawar announced the appointment of Mr D. P. Tripathi as general secretary of the
NCP. |
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Governor’s Address focuses on
development
Bangalore, June 12 There was a bold declaration to the effect that “reform interrupted would be development interrupted.” Both BT (biotech) and IT (infotech), road infrastructure (either urban or rural) and economic reforms had been associated with “elitist, pro-urban” administrations in the recent elections, and while populist schemes may yet come in the first budget, they have been skirted for now. The Governor’s Address, which by convention outlines the policy intentions of a newly formed state government, was delivered by Governor T.N. Chaturvedi. He began by noting that no party had received a clear mandate, resulting in the “like-minded parties of the Congress and the Janata Dal (S)” coming together to form a coalition government. In order to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the “sunrise” biotech industry, a biotechnology park would be set up in the vicinity of Electronics City, he said. The park would also provide incubation facilities to start up companies as well as house the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB) and the Centre for Genomics. “My government is acutely aware of the vital role played by road connectivity in the endeavour of the state towards development and prosperity,” he stated. The existing roads would be improved and new roads laid expeditiously, and assistance would be sought from NABARD, the World Bank and even private sector investors. A sum of Rs 5 crore would be earmarked for imparting English language skills so that youngsters in “secondary cities” could gain access to the booming business process outsourcing (BPO), read call centre and job market. He announced several drought management efforts, including the earmarking of Rs 150 crore for 2004-05 under a World Bank-assisted programme to develop 1.42 lakh hectares of land in several districts, recharging of groundwater, preventing encroachment of tank bed areas and the like. Cold chain facilities would be established, Panchayati Raj institutions would be empowered and there would be devolution and direct release of funds to gram panchayats through banks. “My government’s aim is to empower the farmers and villagers of Karnataka to govern themselves.” |
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Basu, Sinha decry statement on Iraq
Kolkata/New Delhi, June 12 The two-day CPM state committee meeting, which began at Alimuddin Street today in the presence of Mr Basu and Politburo member Prakash Karat, also opposed the decision of sending troops to Iraq. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was also present at the meeting. Meanwhile, in a scathing attack on External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh, the BJP today called him a “national liability” saying that the country can ill afford a Foreign Minister who suffers from a “foot in mouth disease”. Taking on the External Affairs Minister for his statement on sending Indian troops to Iraq, BJP’s shadow Minister of External Affairs Yashwant Sinha said Natwar Singh had “become a national liability” in a short period of about three weeks, as he had made “earthshaking statements” on the country’s foreign policy, which had adverse repercussions on the national security. |
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Indo-Pak talks on Baghliar
project
New Delhi, June 12 The two countries have held several rounds of technical-level talks so far to discuss Pakistan’s objections to the construction work being carried out for the Baghlihar project, but the talks were stalemated. Sources said it was on Pakistan’s specific request that India agreed to upgrade the level of talks to the level of Water Resources Secretaries of the two countries, something that had never been done so far. “This is a major concession given by us to Pakistan and it shows the Government of India’s sincerity and commitment towards normalising relations with Pakistan and resolving all bilateral disputes through peaceful negotations,” sources said. Pakistan has objected to India erecting gates to divert the Chenab water to the 450 mw Baghlihar project. Pakistan accuses India of violating the 1960 Indus Basin Treaty, while New Delhi has consistently maintained that it had done nothing wrong. Under the 1960 treaty, Pakistan has exclusive rights to the waters of three western rivers - Indus, Jhelum and Chenab - while India has exclusive rights over the waters of the three eastern rivers - Ravi, Sutlej and Beas. Sources said it was clear after covert talks in Amritsar last week between Indian and Pakistani National Security Advisers, Mr J.N. Dixit and Mr Tariq Aziz, respectively, that the current bonhomie between the two nuclear neighbours would continue. They predicted “a smooth progress” not only in the Baghlihar project talks, but also in talks on confidence building measures (CBMs), to be held on June 19-20, and the Foreign Secretary-level talks to be held on June 27-28. |
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Town of 5,600 families faces submergence
Bhopal, June 12 The Minister of Commerce and Industry, Mr Kailash Chawla, admitted at a press conference that none of the affected families had constructed a house at the alternate rehabilitation site though some families had moved there. He, however, said that a contingency plan had been prepared for the safety and protection of the affected families that could not shift to the rehabilitation site by June 30. Former Congress Chief Minister Digvijay Singh, who visited Harsud town yesterday, found the administration ill-prepared for the eventuality of the town being submerged. He said that his government had proposed construction of a protective wall which would have prevented the dam waters from entering the town and then there would have been no need to shift the entire population of the town. It was estimated to cost only Rs 66 crore. The people, however, did not accept it and said that they wanted compensation, instead. Mr Chawla announced that the Chief Minister had announced a special package of providing residential plots free of cost to the affected families in view of the situation of Harsud town. The package also includes financial assistance to affected families. |
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Chapter on AIDS in Class X curriculum
Hyderabad, June 12 “The unit contains the latest information available on the disastrous virus, dealing not only with the technical details of the syndrome, but also its sociological aspects such as living positively with HIV-affected persons,” Dr Manmohan Singh, Commissioner, School Education Department, told The Tribune. As many as 10 lakh students studying in Class X in the state will have to compulsorily answer one question drawn from this unit in the SSC public examination. |
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NHRC notice to Andhra Government
New Delhi, June 12 In response to a notice issued by the Commission, the Transmission Corporation of Andhra Pradesh Limited formally denied negligence on the part of its department staff. The Commission said that it is a well-settled proposition that if the supplier of electricity fails in maintaining the services in safe condition, it must give rise to the inference that there was negligence on his part. |
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The confrontation between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress worsened today with the SP daring the United Progressive Alliance government to bring down the Mulayam Singh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.
In video (
Rae Bareli, June 12
645
cadets pass out of Indian Military Academy.
