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Left hails Yadav’s resignation
RJD’s fate hinges on Muslim-Yadav equation in third phase
Parties woo Muslim voters
Stakes high for Nitish
BJP for CBI probe into Volcker report
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Jogi defends Natwar
BJP legislator held after much dilly-dallying
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee completes 5 years in office
Congress men barge into minister’s house
Bail plea of Shahabuddin rejected
Black magic claims 7-year-old’s life
Polluted Ganga worries people
Desk journalists’ body poll results
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Left hails Yadav’s resignation
Patna, November 6 The Jamui court earlier had also rejected the anticipatory bail petition by the minister, and his brother already
surrendered in the court and was now in the judicial custody. Senior CPM leader and party’s central committee member Ganesh Bidyarthi was of the view that the resignation by the minister on “moral grounds” would help the UPA to project a “clean image” in governing the country.” Earlier, the chargesheeted ministers from the BJP like Mr L.K. Advani and Mr Murli Manohar Joshi did not resign. But the UPA ministers respect the law”, he said. Mr Bidyarthi said after the resignation, the law would take its own course and the former minister has every right to defend himself in the court. The CPI, on the
contrary, was more vocal against Yadav as it was fighting election separately with another UPA partner, this time. State CPI leaders, Badrinarayan Lal and U.N. Mishra, earlier demanded the resignation by the minister soon after the non-bailable arrest warrant was issued against him. But both the CPM and CPI are of the view that the resignation by Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav was the reflection of UPA’s to value-based politics. Insiders in both parties had said that both the parties were indirectly pressurising the Prime Minister to act on the issue involving the Union Minister to send a better message to the people of the country, as one could always explore the legal options to defend him without occupying the chair which was harming the image of the UPA, particularly after the bail petition was rejected. |
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Resignation accepted
New Delhi, November 6 |
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RJD’s fate hinges on Muslim-Yadav equation in third phase
Patna, November 6 Mr Prasad knows it fully well that unless the RJD or its allies namely the Congress, the CPM and the NCP do not get full support from muslims and yadavs it would be impossible to keep reins of power. The area, where the voters would decide whether the NDA or the Secular Democratic Front (SDF) is going to rule Bihar, consists of Chamaparan, Mithalanchal and Kosi which is home to yadavs. There is a heavy concentration of muslims in districts of Araria, Kishanganj and Madhepura. In the February poll, the NDA had won 35 seats and the SDF had managed to secure 24 seats only. The LJP had four to its credit and its ally CPI had won just one seat. The
independents had won six seats and the Samajwadi Party was successful in two. The RJD had won 21 seats and the Congress had managed to secure two only. The NCP had also opened its account with the lone reserved seat of Shikarpur. In the February election, the NDA had snatched away 17 seats from the RJD in constituencies where it was impossible to think of a defeat for Mr Lalu Prasad as at least in half of the 72 Assembly seats the ‘MY’ equation plays a decisive role. While muslims had been lured away by LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan, a sense of alienation rather a feeling of disillusionment had set in Yadav community. Not only yadavs but other backward castes too had rallied behind the RJD chief in the early 90s in the wake of the implementation of the Mandal Commission report with great expectations and hopes but 15 years’ long rule or misrule of Lalu-Rabri administration has contributed to the feeling of disillusionment. So much so that the RJD had not been able to retain 26 seats in February’s electoral exercise. Eighteen out of the 26 RJD seats had gone to NDA and the rest of the eight seats were shared by the LJP, the CPI and the Independents. The RJD could take its tally to 21 by winning eight seats which were held in 2000 Assembly elections by other parties. In 2000, the RJD had won 38 seats, the JD (U) and the BJP had 11 seats each, the Congress five, the NCP one, the SP two, the NCP one and independents four. Not only the anti-incumbency factor continues to work against the RJD but what is making the task of the SDF more difficult is that the two political actors from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh namely the SP and the BSP, are contesting almost every seat in this phase. The BSP is contesting all 72 seats in this phase. The SP has decided to contest 65 seat where it has fielded over a dozen RJD rebels. The LJP, which had won four seats in February, is contesting 62 seats. Union Minister and LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan has fielded 22 Muslim and eight Yadav candidates in this phase. The JD (U) is contesting 42 seats and has given tickets to all of its 18 candidates who had won in February. The BJP is fighting 30 seats and has dropped one candidate from its 17 winning MLAs. In the 11 districts of north Bihar, the RJD is focussing in Supaul, Madhepura, Araria and Kishanganj. The RJD chief’s effort to mend his fences with Madhepura strongman Rajesh Ranjan Yadav alias Pappu Yadav appears to be not making much impact. In Madhepura district, the JD (U) had won four seats and the RJD had won just one out of the five seats because Pappu Yadav had vehemently opposed Mr Laluin Prasad in the February
elections. But long period of his remaining behind bars appears to be eroding his hold on Muslims particularly. The RJD supremo’s bete noir JD (U) President Sharad Yadav is also creating hurdles in Lalu’s victory march. |
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Parties woo Muslim voters
Bahadurgunj, November 6 While in February poll, all political parties had given tickets to 103 Muslims, 157 Muslims have been chosen by the
political parties to contest on their respective symbols in the ongoing electoral battle which alone shows importance that the political establishment is attaching to the largest minority of the state, points out 65-year-old Rafique Alam in Araria adding that even the BJP has given ticket to 1 Muslim. LJP chief Union Fertiliser and Chemical Minister Ramvilas Paswan has chosen maximum number of 47 Muslim
candidates in fervent hope of evolving a credible ‘DM’ (Dalit-Muslim) equation to replace RJD supremo and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s successful ‘MY’ formula which kept the RJD in power for 15 long years. The Secular Democratic Front has fielded 46 candidates with the RJD, the Congress and the NCP giving tickets to 30, 9 and 4 Muslims respectively. |
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Stakes high for Nitish
Patna, November 6 The national award winning film director Prakash Jha is actively campaigning for the NDA chief ministerial candidate Nitish Kumar. But for Mr Nitish Kumar, it is not a “silver screen”, but a “real life” battle, despite Mr Prakash Jha siding with him. Mr Nitish Kumar could sit in the “kursi” of Chief Minister for a brief spell in 2000 and so when the Bihar Assembly was dissolved after the February polls. The Supreme Court judgement describing the dissolution of the Bihar Assembly as “unconstitutional” on the grounds of “political morality” might help Mr Nitish Kumar in the conscious urban pockets of Bihar where there is reach of the media. Despite the anti-incumbency factor, Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD could as a single party bag the largest share of 25 per cent votes in February polls, followed by JD(U)’s 13 per cent, BJP’s 11 per cent, Congress 5 per cent, LJP’s 14 per cent, NCP’s a little over 1 per cent, CPI’s 1.59 per cent and CPM’s less than one per cent. With the changing political equations in the current spell prompting the RJD and the Congress to come closer along with the NCP and the CPM under the banner of the SDF, even going by simple arithmetic their combined vote share stands at around 32 per cent. For the BJP and the JD(U), their combined vote share stands at 25 per cent like that of February elections. So the success of the NDA in February elections was primarily because of the split in votes in the UPA camp. The exit poll predictions for the first and the second phase suggest both a rise in vote percentage and seats for the NDA. The projection rise is based on the “relative devaluation” of the LJP due to the shift of its upper caste vote bank to the NDA. At the same time there is not much loss for Mr Yadav except one or two seats as the “devaluation” factor concerning the LJP in the first two phases was more related to the NDA. But the figures of February polls indicate that the RJD was the biggest loser in the third and fourth phase of polling in the current spell (in February there was one combined third phase) with Mr Lalu Prasad losing 17 seats in the Kosi region by securing only 21 against 38 bagged by him in 2000 polls. The Kosi region, dominated by the Yadavs, Dalits and Muslims, will go to polls in the third phase on November 13. The results of February also indicate that atleast in 10 seats the respective victory margins for either the RJD or the NDA varied between 54 votes to 2000 votes. This also apparently substantiates the fact that Ramvilas Paswan acted more as a “spoiler” in third and fourth phase against the RJD as the LJP had bagged 21 of 29 seats won by it in February polls from first and second phase. So if the
projected “devalued” the LJP it benefited the NDA in the first two phases, the same devaluation was thus expected more to benefit the RJD led the SDF in third and the fourth phase, barring any unexpected gains for the NDA. One will thus have to wait for the ballot boxes to be opened on November 22 to see how best Mr Prakash Jha could write the script for Mr Nitish Kumar to prove the astrological prediction of Mr Lalu Prasad wrong. Mr Nitish Kumar, it is however, certain that he will either be a “Nayak” or “tragic nayak” as both the RJD and the LJP have admitted that this time the real battle is with the NDA led by this engineer-turned-politician. |
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BJP for CBI probe into Volcker report
New Delhi, November 6 BJP general secretary and spokesperson Arun Jaitley told mediapersons here that a “disoriented” External Affairs minister should not be allowed to continue in office during the investigation. He said judging by media reports the government appeared to be deciding whether to inquire into the Volcker Committee report by a retired judge or a retired diplomat. It was Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who during the NDA regime had demanded registration of a criminal case and inquire into the revelations made in the Tehelka tapes opposing the then government’s decision to appoint the Justice Phukan Commission of Inquiry. How can the Prime Minister and Mrs Gandhi and the UPA adopt different standards now?” Mr Jaitley asked. The BJP leader maintained that the facts contained in the Volcker Committee report constituted sufficient material to merit the registration of a regular case by the CBI. Under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act no person can accept a foreign contribution or agree to acquire any currency from a foreign source on behalf of any political party. Buttressing his party’s demand for a CBI probe, Mr Jaitley said acceptance of monies outside India and payments outside India by persons not so authorised would be an offence under the Foreign Exchange Management Act. The appropriate course would be to register a regular case with the appropriate agency and further the investigation in the matter. Interestingly, Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar’s NCP and an ally of the UPA came in support of Mr Natwar Singh and dismissed the Opposition’s demand for the External Affairs minsiter’s resignation. “Mere mention of Mr Natwar Singh and the Congress in the report is no evidence of their involvement in the UN’s Oil for Food Scandal in Iraq” NCP spokesperson D.P. Tripathi told newspersons. |
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Jogi defends Natwar
New Delhi, November 6 The former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister also threw an “open challenge” to the committee to produce evidence that Congress had taken commissions to sell oil and said the party had never been given an opportunity to clear its name.
— PTI |
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BJP legislator held after much dilly-dallying
Gandhinagar, November 6 The Radhanpur MLA, a supporter of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and eight others, including three office-bearers of the BJP, were arrested on Friday though the cops were at pains to point out that Mr Chaudhary had surrendered of his own volition and had been taken on two days’ remand to complete investigations in the case. He had obtained anticipatory bail, it was pointed out. The arrest comes just over a week before the Gujarat High Court is slated to hear a plea for transfer of the case to the CBI on November 16. The court had last month directed the state government to file its reply pertaining to a petitioner’s demand that the riot case involving the legislator be transferred to the CBI by November 15. As the case goes, Gulam Gilani and Gulamnabi Sheikh were allegedly shot by Mr Chaudhary and lynched by a mob in Radhanpur town of north Gujarat on March 1,2002. Though the Superintendent of police at Patan was sent a telegram on March 7,2002 about the killings, also identifying those involved, the police, only registered a case of rioting and arson against some unidentified people. An uncle of one of the deceased, Nanabhai Sheikh, who claimed to be an eyewitness to the killings, moved the court of the judicial magistrate, First Class, Radhanpur, on March 30,2002 seeking an investigation. On September 17,2004, the court directed the SP, Patan, to investigate the murders. On October 16,2004, the police registered a case of murder naming the legislator but on July 8,2005 it filed a closure report in the case. However, on October 14, the court rejected the closure report and ordered further investigation. Following a plea in the High Court for handing over the case to the CBI, the court on October 26 sought a reply from the state government and fixed November 16 as the next date for hearing. Thereafter, Mr Chaudhary was arrested on November 4. That Mr Chaudhary enjoyed the patronage of the Modi government was clear when range DIG Satish Verma, who had in March this year ordered the arrest of all accused in the case, including Mr Chaudhary, found himself unceremoniously transferred overnight. |
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Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee completes 5 years in office
Kolkata, November 6 Mr Bhattacharjee made it clear that he would encourage more flow of foreign funds to Bengal, no matter, if they were from the capitalist countries like the USA, UK and Japan or a communist China since “it has been the necessity of the day”. The hard Marxist leader has no hesitation to admit that in the past they had made mistakes in fighting against capitalism and now realised that there has been no clash between Marxism and capitalism. He reiterated that he would not allow ugly trade unions to prevail in the state, which in the past had stalled the state’s industrial progress. The Chief Minister, who had a good working relations with the UPA government in the past few years though they had differences on many matters, now wants that their relations be further strengthened. He hoped in the coming days the Manmohan Singh government would be more helpful to Bengal. He claimed that the state government had achieved success in many fields, particularly, in agriculture, panchayats, rural developments, IT industries, etc, but still there were scopes to achieve further. But the achievements had not been much satisfactory in several areas, particularly, healthcare, higher education and employment generation. Mr Bhattacharjee who initially inherited the Chief Minister’s chair “temporarily” from the veteran, Mr Jyoti Basu, in 1999, was recrowned for a long five-year-term after winning a massive victory in the 2000 elections. |
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Congress men barge into minister’s house
Gandhinagar, November 6 The violence is reported to be a sequel to a report that an elected member of the Bharuch district panchayat and her family had been abducted by the BJP and kept in the official residence of the
minister. Modvadia alleged that the elected panchayat member’s husband had informed of the abduction and that she was being kept at the minister’s residence. “When the brother went to the minister’s bungalow to meet the family, he was not allowed,” he said. |
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Bail plea of Shahabuddin rejected
New Delhi, November 6 He has been named in as many as 34 cases, including the kidnapping and suspected killing of two CPI (M) activists and a students union leader. As many as eight non-bailable arrest warrants are pending against him. |
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Black magic claims 7-year-old’s life
Bimbadharpur (Orissa), November 6 "On Diwali, it was new moon. Everyone knows that on this day black magic is practised. I believe that due to this practise, they killed my daughter. I have lost my child, now what can I say," said Biranchi Pradhan, Susha's father. Akhil Pradhan, one of the accused, was lured by some people belonging to the neighbouring village to bring a child for sacrifice in return for a reward of Rs.5,000. Later, Pradhan lured his neighbour Susha with some chocolates and took her to a jungle and handed her to the people who practised black magic. "They kicked her and blood oozed from her nose. They collected the blood in a container. After that they told me to leave the place since it was 10 o'clock at night," said Akhil Pradhan. Four suspects have been rounded up for questioning, said Yogesh Bahadur Khurana, Deputy Inspector General of Police of Nayagarh District.
— ANI |
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Polluted Ganga worries people
Patna, November 6 Contrary to ageold tradition, a large number of devotees in Patna now perform the puja at their homes because the Ganga is moving away from the “ghats” each passing year. Added to this, indiscriminate discharge of municipal waste water, along with discharge of agro-chemicals like pesticides and fertilisers from the extensive farming in the river basin into the Ganga are not only degrading the quality of its water, but also posing a big public health hazard. Earlier, lakhs of Chhhath devotees used to offer “Arghaya” to the Sun god after a dip in the Ganga. But increasing complaints of “skin diseases” in recent times have discouraged many people to do so now. Even the official administration in Patna described “12 ghats” of the Ganga as dirty and dangerous on the eve of Chhath. Mr Ajay Singh, member of the Chat Puja samiti said, there were a number of complaints last year on skin diseases and “we decided to avoid the same and instead brought Ganga jal in jars to perform the rituals”. Lalita Devi and Rampal still go to the Ganga to bathe. “But the numbers of such devotees are decresing day by day,” said Lalita Devi. |
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Desk journalists’ body poll results
New Delhi, November 6 The other office-bearers who have been elected for a three-year term are Kavita Pant of India TV (vice-president), Sanjay Pathak of Aaj Tak (assistant secretary), Nadeem Kazmi of NDTV (treasurer) and M.A. Alamgir of UNI Urdu (assistant treasurer). The following are the new managing committee members: Govind Singh (Amar Ujala), Abha Khanna (Hindustan Times), V.J. Thomas (Times of India), B.N. Pathak, (Hindustan), Giriraj Aggarwal (Outlook), Om Prakash Mishra (Indian Express), Vijay Chawla (Hindustan Times), Rajendra Dutt Shukla (Rashtriya Sahara), Tarique Faridi (India TV), Uday C. Singh (NDTV), Hitendra Gupta (Sahara Samay), Atanu Das (PTI Bhasha), Amiya Sathaye (Sarkaritel.com) and Anshuman Tripathi (Zee News). |
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video: Shahabuddin sent to transit remand. (
