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It’s Ram for Advani once
more
Sonia takes CM to task
Cabinet defers decision on Lok Pal
Bill
IMDT Act to be retained
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BSP, BJP for Central rule in
UP
2 Godhra carnage accused held
BJP to have more central office-bearers
Left opposes disinvestment in PSUs
No chance it was
suicide: STF chief
Youth killed, 20 hurt in firing
Siachen case: Major’s plea
dismissed
SC disagrees with move on competition
panel
HC allows teenager to stay with husband
NCW demands probe into rape case
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It’s Ram for Advani once
more
New Delhi, October 27 In his hour-long address that was a combination of admission of past mistakes and future strategy, Mr Advani asserted that the party would not compromise on its ideology and that it was committed to the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya even if it had to pay an electoral price for it. Mr Advani blamed the “disconnect” between good governance and poll outcome, overconfidence and moving away from the party’s core constituency, including its activists and the Sangh Parivar, for the BJP’s debacle in the Lok Sabha and the recent Maharashtra Assembly elections. “The BJP’s growth is reflective of the national will and desire of crores of people of this country that a magnificent temple be constructed at the Ram janmasthan in Ayodhya in the place of the existing makeshift temple. Our desire is to ensure that the temple is built,” he stated in a fervent hope to recreate events of the past that catapulted him as one of the two supreme leaders of the party. Mr Advani made some candid observations in his written speech when he said the “environment” that made the Ayodhya movement “most potent” in post-independent India had changed and the “Hindu anger” of the early 90s had given way to a “patient wait” for the temple. Maintaining that the BJP-led NDA government had held quiet parleys with Hindu and Muslim leaders to thrash out a lasting solution, he said the parties involved had been in favour of arriving at a consensus after the Lok Sabha elections, “though for us, temple construction was more important than the outcome of the elections”. “If the NDA had been re-elected, the construction of the temple would have begun by now,” he said to a thunderous applause from the 2,500 delegates and the shouting of slogans such as “Ram Lalla hum ayenge, mandir wahin banayenge”. Describing the Sangh Parivar as a key component in the party’s “human constituency”, he said, “They have great expectations from us...for some people politics has become pure commerce. We must be able to change the image of the ugly Indian politician, not by words but through our conduct. While with others, people may take a lenient view, they don’t forgive the BJP so easily”. Acknowledging that the defeat in the May Lok Sabha elections was a “major setback”, Mr Advani said the party had lost a General Election it was confident of winning and its advance in Lok Sabha from 1984 had been “both faulted and reversed” to come down to 138 seats. Though the difference between the BJP and the Congress was only of eight seats, the symbolic importance of the Congress edging out the BJP to the second place could not be underplayed, he said. |
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NDA lost LS poll in confusion, says
Vajpayee
New Delhi, October 27 "We have lost elections and not hope. There is no need to worry. The (period of) darkness won't last long. This defeat will not make us inactive for long," the former Prime Minister said while addressing BJP's National Council meeting here. He told the cadres that the party should "move ahead" after assessing the reasons for defeat. "We should not lose hope. There will again be an opportunity," Mr Vajpayee said asking the cadre to be prepared to face another election soon. "The party had to "be successful in the test." Noting the BJP failed to get the "expected success" in the Lok Sabha elections, Mr Vajpayee said it lost power in "confusion" as "overpowering over confidence" ensured that the cadres did not work to the extent desired. "An atmosphere of instability has been created in the country. There is instability in the Central Government," Mr Vajpayee said, adding his party was "seriously studying" the situation that has emerged after the Congress-led coalition assumed power. Pointing out that he had headed a 24-party government, Mr Vajpayee said "but it was stable and there was trust in it." "That stability is now gone. Everyday report appear about differences," he said. Mr Vajpayee questioned the UPA government's decisions on security issues and said the nation was going through "difficult and testing times". Questioning the UPA government's policies and programmes, Mr Vajpayee said in view of these the internal security was facing problems and in the world, "same old voices" were being heard which used to be aired when his government took over six years ago. He did not elaborate. Speaking after Mr
L.K. Advani was formally elected as new BJP President, Mr Vajpayee showered praise on the former Deputy Prime Minister's leadership qualities and equated him to Sangh ideologues Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Dattopant Thengadi in terms of
"marg darshan" (showing the path). He also appreciated the contribution of outgoing party President M. Venkaiah Naidu. The senior BJP leader said the party was beginning a "new chapter" under Mr Advani who has taken the charge for the fifth time and emphasised that there was a need for the cadres to have "faith in the organisation and trust in each other." Hailing the discipline in the BJP, Vajpayee asserted there was "no power struggle" in BJP, dismissing recent reports in this regard. "If there is any competition in our party, it is in terms of who does better work," he said, adding it was unlike other parties which witness "lobbying" and
"groupism". |
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BJP trains guns on Congress,
Left
New Delhi, October 27 While the party thus created an enemy syndrome by telling the cadres to take on their political adversaries, the political resolution, adopted by the party delegates, resolved to organise agitational and awareness creation campaigns to counter the assault on the party and its ideology. “The people’s disillusionment is growing. Disillusionment will inevitably turn into disenchantment and intense dislike. In this situation, the role of the BJP is clear. The National Council resolves that the party use every democratic means available -both inside and outside Parliament, both alone and in cooperation with its allies in the NDA - to oppose the government that is weakening India’s security,” the political resolution introduced by general secretary Arun Jaitley, which was subsequently passed unanimously without discussion, said. The resolution alleged that the UPA Government was weakening India’s security, declaring nationalist ideology and its adherents as its enemies, neglecting people’s problems and giving governance a go by. “It is proving to be a failure on one front after another,” it said. The document said in accordance with the fractured mandate in the Lok Sabha elections, the UPA Government should have followed a responsible course of coalition and concentrated on good governance by seeking maximum cooperation from the Opposition. |
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Sonia takes CM to task
Guwahati, October 27 It may be mentioned that ULFA leader D. Gohain, who was arrested in connection with the August 15 Dhemaji bomb blast confessed that a section of the Cabinet Ministers in the Tarun Gogoi Ministry had links with ULFA. D. Gohain reportedly further confessed that the state Tribal Minister Bharat Narah was aware of ULFA’s plan to organise violence on Independence Day this year. The situation became complicated for Mr Tarun Gogoi after AGP General Secretary Dilip Saikia sent all documents to President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam pertaining to the ministers’ ULFA nexus, which contained a photocopy of the confessional statement by ULFA leader D. Gohain. AGP President Brindaban Goswami today demanded immediate dismissal of the Tarun Gogoi Government for patronising ULFA. It were Ministers of the Tarun Gogoi Government who were working hand in glove with ULFA and maintained links with the NDFB and paid huge money to them for security,” alleged Mr Goswami. Mr Tarun Gogoi, instead of probing this issue, gave a clean chit to Mr Bharat Narah last week by keeping the party high command competely in the dark. The name of state Health Minister, Bhumidhar Burman, number two in Gogoi’s Cabinet, has also figured for his alleged links with ULFA. It is reliably learnt that despite knowing everything Mr Tarun Gogoi was hesitant to take action against Mr Bharat Narah and Mr Bhumidhar Burman as the latter had threatened the former with exposing some of his alleged misdeeds if they were booked for their nexus with ULFA. With the CPI, the CPM, the BJP and the AGP training guns at the Congress for shielding ministers having nexus with ULFA, Mrs Sonia Gandhi this afternoon reportedly called up Mr Tarun Gogoi instructed him to give a detailed picture on this issue within 48 hours. |
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Cabinet defers decision on Lok Pal
Bill
New Delhi, October 27 Incidentally, both the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and Dr Manmohan Singh had only last month suggested that their offices should be brought within the ambit of the Lok Pal. Sources said another reason for taking up the Bill at a later date was the absence of the Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, the Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister, Mr Ramvilas Paswan, and the Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shanker Aiyer, at the meeting today. Recently speaking at Dehradun, the Prime Minister had underlined the need for urgently enacting the Bill as art of his government’s efforts to reform the administration. The Lok Pal is considered to be the watchdog of several government institutions. “I have no hesitation in saying that absence of an institution such as the Lok Pal at the Centre is to some extent negatively affecting the working of the Lokayukta institutions at the state level”, Dr Manmohan Singh had said in his valedictory address to the Eighth All-India Conference of Lokayuktas. His comments incidentally came just two after Dr Kalam had made similar observations. “There is a broad agreement that public functionaries directly or indirectly elected by and responsible to the people such as MPs and ministers, including the Prime Minister, should be brought within the purview of the legislation”, Dr Manmohan Singh had said. There have been many reasons till date that the Bill has not been enacted most importantly it has been deferred on many occasions as privately most MPs are believed to be opposed to the move. The proposal was first mooted in 1966 when the Administrative Reforms Commission was set up under Morarji Desai. In 1968, the Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha, but could not become a law because the Lok Sabha’s term ended. Since 1989, it has been tabled four times, the last being in 2002. |
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IMDT Act to be retained
New Delhi, October 27 The NDA government was in favour of repealing the IMDT Act on grounds that it did not prove effective enough in identifying illegal migrants who had crossed over to the north-eastern state from neighbouring Bangladesh. The Congress, however, was against repealing the legislation, as it felt it could lead to unwarranted harassment to genuine Indian citizens, particularly of the minority community in Assam. However, the Bill was sent to a select committee headed by senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee. The Act came into force in Assam on October 15, 1983, for the detection and deportation of illegal migrants, who came to the state on or after the March 25, 1971, without lawful authority. |
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BSP, BJP for Central rule in
UP
Lucknow, October 27 As the main opposition parties in the Vidhan Sabha their demand acquires significance with barely a fortnight to go for the next Assembly session beginning on November 8. BJP chief Keshari Nath Tripathi has made his intention clear by announcing that his party wants to bring in a “no-confidence” motion against the Mulayam Singh Government in the coming session. Speaking to newspersons yesterday BSP leader Mayawati, however, kept her cards close to her chest, saying that “abhi advance mein kaise bata dein”. Nevertheless, she did not mince words in vehemently repeating the demand for President’s rule in the state raised by senior BJP leader Kalyan Singh last week. While the words were her own, the argument extended by her was identical to her once comrade in arms Both leaders made an appeal to the Congress-led Government at the Centre for the dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government accusing it of holding the democratic process to ransom by reportedly indulging in wide-scale misuse of state machinery for booth-capturing during the recent byelections. |
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Students marked as Hindu,
Muslim
Ahmedabad, October 27 The practice of getting Muslim students to wear a badge with a star and Hindu students to wear one of goddess Saraswati came to the notice of the DEO recently, more than five years after S. J. Dave School, located in Shehra village in the district, set the “uniform” code in 1999. “Show cause notices have been issued to the school administrators and they have been instructed to stop the practice immediately,” Godhra DEO V. J. Shah said here. The school authorities would also be summoned to answer questions on the issue and disciplinary action, if required, would be taken, the official said, adding: “We will also ensure that a similar ‘uniform code’ is not practised in any other school of the district.” However, the practice in this school was started with the consent of the trustees, including Muslims, Mr Shah added. — PTI |
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2 Godhra carnage accused held
Godhra, October 27 Both the accused are residents of Signal Faliya locality near which the Sabarmati Express was torched on February 27, 2002. The police said at the time of the carnage Bilal used to run a tea stall on the Godhra platform. —
UNI |
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7 Best Bakery accused identified
Mumbai, October 27 Taufil Ahmed Habibullah Siddiqui, who had sustained injuries in his head, chest, arms and legs during the March 1, 2002, carnage at the Vadadora-based bakery, also recognised two of the four swords used in the attack in this post-Godhra incident in which 14 people were killed. Taufil, who continued his deposition after being produced yesterday in the special court presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Abhay Thipsay, also narrated the sequence of events of that fateful day. —
UNI |
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BJP to have more central office-bearers
New Delhi, October 27 Introducing the amendment at the BJP national council meeting for approval, former general secretary of the party Pramod Mahajan said this had been necessitated as the expansion of the party across the country had resulted in more work. Therefore, it was felt that the President of the party needed more persons to help him out, he said. With the amendment, the party’s central office-bearers will include, besides President and treasurer, nine vice-presidents in place of seven, nine secretaries instead of seven and seven general secretaries in place of five. |
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Left opposes disinvestment in PSUs
New Delhi, October 27 After an hour long meeting of four Left party leaders, CPM politburo member Prakash Karat said: “They would like the UPA government to stop this disinvestment process and discuss this matter seriously.” “The Left express serious concern at this policy decision which has major repercussions for the very nature of the public sector,” he said within hours after the Cabinet took the decision to set up an investment commission to attract foreign direct investment in the country. Mr Karat said raising resources from the capital market should be decided by the PSU concerned, if the concept functional autonomy of the PSU, as stated in the CMP, is to be respected. The current move will not strengthen the public sector, but only facilitate an easy route for resource mobilisation by the Finance Ministry. He said the CPM had provided the PSUs individually going to the market to raise capital, if they so require it. The funds raised from the disinvestment would be going towards meeting the budgetary deficit and requirements of the government. It can also be seen as a way to privatisation through the back door. He said profit-making PSUs could be given the freedom to mobilise resources in the debt market or through debentures in the capital market without tinkering with public equity. The Left reaction comes on reports that the government was planning to offload its shares in the market of about 35 PSUs, including the BHEL, Power Grid Corporation, Power Finance Corporation, and has set up an empowered group of ministers to fix the price band for the sale of the shares. The government had stated that disinvestment up to 49 per cent of the shares of profitable PSUs can be undertaken as retaining 51 per cent government share holding will ensure that these units are not privatised. |
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No chance it was
suicide: STF chief
Bangalore, October 27 Mr Vijaykumar, here for a breakfast meeting with Chief Minister Dharam Singh (he also called on former Chief Minister
S.M. Krishna), said it was not easy to determine which bullet proved fatal for Veerappan as he had several bullet injuries. More details would be available after the medical and local Magistrate’s reports, he stated. “Truth is stranger than fiction. Everything happened extremely rapidly. Given the context and situation, there is not even a small chance that it was suicide. Even if it was, how does it alter the scenario in any way? If I had broken his will in that moment (in the van driven by an STF decoy, into an STF ambush) so that he killed himself; well, that is good enough. It is O.K. by me,” he stated. Addressing the issue of stage-managing an encounter, he regretted that he was “carrying the baggage” of suspicion in such cases. They had called out to him to surrender twice, but instead Veerappan and his cohorts opened fire. “With his trimmed moustache, skulking around for medical treatment for his eye, I really thought he was no longer the man he was and he would surrender. But he did not.” Because a “common criminal had been made into an icon, and had dominated the terrain and people’s minds for so many years” people were finding it difficult to believe he was dead. “It was happening to my boys and to me as well. I remember going on asking my SP, is it him, is it him?” Mr Vijay Kumar said. Dismissing the problem of a backlash from Tamil extremists and other Veerappan supporters, he said: “If it comes, I am sure we will handle it.” As for reports about buried Veerappan booty in the forests, he said: “It is for the local police to investigate. As for the
STF, our remit was to get Veerappan, dead or alive.” Mr Vijaykumar, however, left open a door for continued speculation when he said: “I can only go so far in answering you all. There are some things that I cannot talk about. I have already said too much - my Intelligence unit tells me that I should not have revealed the name of the STF van driver. But the media tells me that then I would have had an even harder time convincing you all.” |
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Youth killed, 20 hurt in firing
Bhopal, October 27 The body of 17-year-old Jaya Prakash was handed over to his family members after performing the autopsy and he was cremated in the afternoon amidst heavy security. Tension had, however, mounted as the van carrying his body came out of Hamidia Hospital. People who had gathered outside the hospital stopped the van and staged a “chakka jam”. They were demanding greater compensation to the victim’s family. The “chakka jam” was lifted after an assurance from senior officials. The Chief Minister, Mr Babulal Gaur, had announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the victim’s family. Trouble started following skirmishes among youngsters who were playing cricket yesterday afternoon. Soon elders intervened. Someone, meanwhile, summoned the police which further provoked the situation prompting the crowd to indulge in stone throwing.
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Siachen case: Major’s plea
dismissed
Jaipur, October 27 “I am not being provided with full opportunity to defend myself and no time is granted to me for engaging a new counsel after my previous counsel withdrew from the case midway,” Major Surinder Singh said in a letter he submitted to the court. However, the seven-member jury, headed by Brigadier A D S Grewal, rejected his plea on the ground that the issue of granting time for hiring a new counsel by the accused had already been settled. —
PTI |
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SC disagrees with move on competition
panel
New Delhi, October 27 “First decide what should be the nature of the commission, whether you want a judical body or a body of experts,” a Bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Mr Justice G.P. Mathur and Mr Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan observed. The observation was made by the court after perusing the affidavit of the Centre, in which it insisted that the Competition Commission (CC) should not necessarily be headed by a judge but by an “expert” in competition matters. The court further told government counsel Vivek Tankha that if the Centre wanted the commission to be headed by an “expert” then what was the need for it to have judicial member in the panel. The court made it clear to the government that it had the power to strike down commission’s adjudication powers. The CC is an important panel, which would adjudicate the disputes between competitive market forces. Replacing the MRTPC with CC was felt necessary in the changed global scenario and policy of openness adopted by the country. After the court made strong observations on the contents of the affidavit, the government counsel sought time to address the issue through arguments. At this the court then adjourned hearing on it for November 2. The apex court had earlier taken serious view of the appointment of former Commerce Secretary Depak Chatterjee as Chairman of the CC when the issue was brought before it in a public interest litigation (PIL), challenging the constitution of the CC on the ground that the body in the present form had “eroded” the powers of judiciary. |
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HC allows teenager to stay with husband
Chennai, October 27 Her father, Kamaraj, of Bodi village in Theni district of Tamil Nadu, 600 km from here, filed a habeas corpus petition before the Bench. The police produced Priyadarshini before the Bench in September-end but by that time she was already pregnant. She petitioned the Bench that she was married to Krishnaraj on May 17 and was pregnant with his child and did not wish to go back to her parents. Krishnaraj’s father, Alagarswamy, told the court that they would not only take good care of their teenage daughter-in-law but also arrange for her to study if she so desired. In this case, the Judges ruled that since the teenaged bride was pregnant, did not want to go back to her parents and her in-laws had promised to take good care, she be allowed to remain with her husband. |
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NCW demands probe into rape case
New Delhi, October 27 It was yesterday reported by newspapers that an almost blind 13-year-old schoolgirl had to wait in a police station for more than four hours, soon after she was allegedly raped, before officials arrived to register her complaint as they were looking after the security arrangements for the Prime Minister’s visit. Meanwhile, an inquiry had been ordered to ascertain whether there had been any negligence by the officials. |
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Railways to conduct hygiene audit CAG meets Pranab |
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