Kolkata, May 2
A day prior to the fourth phase of poll in West Bengal, Marxist veteran and former Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, today said whatever might be the elections results, the CPM and other Left parties would ensure that the UPA government remains in power for the full five-year term.

“After all, we, the Communist, will not come to power if the UPA government goes out of power,” remarked Mr Basu.

He said they had strong differences with the Manmohan Singh government on some vital issues but still the results of the Assembly elections in West Bengal and Kerala would have no impact on the future running of the UPA government.

The CPM politburo and the party leadership in Bengal made it clear that after the elections, they would once again review their relations with the UPA vis-à-vis the proposal for withdrawal of support to the Manmohan Singh government.

The Left leaders are confident that in Bengal, they would once again come to power for the seventh time even if they lose some seats.

The party secretary in Bengal, Mr Biman Bose, who is also the Left Front’s chairman, did not look optimistic today when he said they would go to the Supreme Court against the Election Commission on behalf of thousands of genuine voters who were denied voting rights this time by the whimsical decisions of the election observers. He reiterated that the Left Front government would again come to power even after facing stiff opposition from the EC.

Though the exit poll and pre-election surveys conducted by the media and several private agencies forecast another landslide victory for the CPM, TMC leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee and the Congress working president, Mr Pardip Bhattacharya, felt that a larger turn out of voters meant casting of anti-incumbency votes against the ruling Left Front.

Both the leaders were certain that this time, there would be no increase in the strength of the CPM. On the contrary, other small parties like the CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc would do comparatively much better.

Tomorrow, poll will be held in three south Bengal districts including the border district of Murshidabad, where the Congress under the leadership of MP Adhir Chowdhury had built a strong base.

In the last Assembly elections, the Congress won most of the seats by defeating the RSP and the CPM. In the last Lok Sabha polls also, the Congress won by a thumping margin of votes in three seats including the Jangipur seat, which went to the Defence Minister, Mr Pranab Mukherjee.

But this time, in the wake of the inter-party clashes in the district unit of the Congress involving two groups, one led by Mr Chowdhury and the other by Mr Atis Sinha, the party’s poll prospects might not be as good as during the last elections.

New Delhi, May 2
Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed unhappiness over the leak of information from the Navy’s War Room and told the armed forces to enforce counter-espionage measures and sensitize all top secret installations to ensure that no leakage of classified information takes place.

Inaugrating the three-day top naval commanders’ conference here, he referred to the recent incidents involving the leak of classified information even from the War Room. The Defence Minister asked officials to come up with “a zero defect system to ensure secrecy”.

This is for the second time in less than a month that the Defence Minister has issued strict warning to services top brass to put in place a fool-proof security system.

The Defence Minister told the Naval commanders, “leaked out information has the potential to put the national security in peril” in the future.

The Minister’s remarks come as the CBI, in a bid to get to the root of the sensational war room leaks, has arrested some key players and cancelled the passport of R. Shankaran, another key suspect, who is also the nephew of Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash’s wife.

Mr Mukherjee was of the opinion that sensitization should not only be undertaken in key buildings and bases but also at lower formation levels. “Naval commanders need to sensitise the personnel under their command to plug all possible loopholes in this regard”, he said.

The Defence Minister also expressed grave concern at the number of accidents taking place at sea and in the air during the past few months, some of them involving loss of life. He urged the naval top brass to deliberate on a strategy to ensure that such incidents are prevented and there is a sense of accountability and responsibility fixed at higher levels to contain these incidents.

“I am deeply concerned at the sinking of INS Prahar in Arabian Sea near Goa. Appropriate measures should be undertaken forthwith to ensure that the stipulated standard operating procedures are followed by the personnel involved in the operations of ships”, he said.

Earlier addressing the conference, Naval Chief Admiral Arun Prakash emphasized a “shift in focus from autonomous, open sea operations like sea control or blockade to a direct linkage with land battle and littoral operations”. The concept, termed as the ‘Operational Manoeuvre from the Sea’, can favourably influence the progress of land-air battle.

New Delhi, May 2
The All Party Hurriyat Conference led by Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, which will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tomorrow for second round of talks, is likely to put forward concrete proposals for structured dialogue on the Kashmir problem.

The Hurriyat leaders, who arrived in the Capital today for tomorrow’s meeting, are likely to make suggestions for improving the ground situation in the Valley. The Hurriyat Conference is also likely to raise proposals of demilitarisation and self-rule in “five regions” of Jammu and Kashmir. The talks come in the shadow of killings of innocent villagers by militants in Doda and Udhampur which have been condemned by the amalgam leaders.

The Hurriyat Conference, which did not take part in the first roundtable chaired by the Prime Minister in New Delhi, has indicated that the amalgam was not against the concept of roundtable but it would not like to be part of a “crowd.” Sources said the Centre is not likely to invite too many participants in the Srinagar roundtable of May 25. The issue of APHC’s participation in the second roundtable is likely to come up during the talks with the Prime Minister. Hurriyat leaders would also seek improvement in human rights situation in the state.

The APHC, which wants a structured dialogue process with the government for political settlement of the Kashmir issue, has said that New Delhi should talk to those groups in the state who do not “toe the government line.”

Hurriyat leaders have said that the second round of talks should have been held earlier. The amalgam sees the dialogue process as “triangular” as it is “talking” to the governments of both India and Pakistan. It insists that any solution to the Kashmir problem should “be acceptable to the people of the state.”

Sources said that sizeable voter turnout in byelections to the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly despite boycott call by separatists has further drawn attention to yearning for peace among the people of the state and emphasised their faith in the process of dialogue. With Pakistan throwing its weight behind the Hurriyat led by Mirwaiz over the group led by hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the APHC is keen to assume primacy in the separatist camp by seizing every opportunity to maintain its position. Sources said that Hurriyat leaders are apparently convinced about the mood in the civil society of Pakistan for a constructive engagement with India.

Political observers feel that New Delhi should strive to increase the political space to encompass every section of society in the state. Senior advocate Ashok Bhan, who has been involved in back-channel efforts on Kashmir, said that political space should be enlarged to encompass the views of those who have stayed away from it.

Following the first round of talks with the APHC on September 5 last year, the Centre held talks with other separatist leaders, including Sajjad Lone of Peoples’ Conference and JKLF chief Yaseen Malik. The government has also reached out to the Kashmiri Pandits who were invited to the roundtable held in the Capital.

During the first round of talks with the APHC, the Centre had assured them of review of cases of detainers under various public safety laws. While some detainees were released earlier, about 40 of them have been released after the first roundtable.

Senior Hurriyat leaders Abdul Ghani Bhat, Molvi Abbas Ansari and Bilal Lone, Fazal-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aga Syed Hassan are part of the APHC team that will meet the Prime Minister tomorrow. The APHC had held two rounds of talks with the NDA Government.

Hyderabad, May 2
Amidst heart-rending scenes, the mortal remains of telecom engineer K Suryanarayan, killed by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan, were consigned to flames here today.

The pyre was lit by Suryanarayan's six-year-old son Satjya Teja. The body was brought here last night from Delhi and kept at his residence at East Anandbagh Colony in Malkajgiri.

While Manjula, wife of Suryanarayana, is undergoing treatment at a hospital after she attempted suicide by consuming phenyl yesterday, another woman Swapna, who claims to be the second wife of Suryanarayan, with nine-month-old Nitisha, attended the funeral.

On the question of Swapna staking claim to a portion of compensation amount by Bahrain-based company Al-Moayed, which had employed Suryanarayan, Mr Pankaj Sehgal, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Al-Moayed, said compensation would be given to the legitimate wife but the company officials were discussing the issue with legal experts. — PTI

Patna, May 2
The Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, has asked the police to take action against the physical instructor of the remand home at Darbhanga in Bihar for allegedly causing the death of a juvenile inmate.

According to the police, 18-year-old Bhiku Sah had died on Friday after the instructor Harishchandra Jha of the home asked three of his colleagues to stuff clothes in his mouth and then beat him mercilessly.

While the officials of juvenile home initially tried to suppress the incident, some inmates of the home reportedly managed to inform a visitor to he home about the gruesome murder of their friend. Subsequently, the police arrested the instructor.

The police said a preliminary probe had already been conducted into the death of the juvenile inmate. An FIR had also been lodged against the instructor.

The initial probe revealed that the boy was beaten to death at the instruction of the physical instructor for refusing to sleep on the floor.

Bikhu Sah had been arrested in Samastipur district on the charge of stealing a packet of cigarettes and brought to the Laheriasarai-based remand home 20 months back.

The inmates further reported to the police about other “misdeeds “ of the instructor, including his alleged activities of unnatural sex with them. 

New Delhi, May 2
The launch of the Bharatiya Jan Shakti on Sunday in Ujjain, has made the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership nervous as former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti has started approaching the disgruntled leaders and workers of the BJP.

Ms Bharti and other leaders of her party are confident that a slow exodus from the BJP to the Bharatiya Jan Shakti would begin after May 12 when results of the by-elections in Rae Bareli and Budhni from where she has thrown her might behind candidates who are opposing Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

Bharatiya Jan Shakti Vice-President Sangh Priya Gautam told the TNS last night ‘‘while in Rae Bareli our support to a Apna Dal candidate would ensure that BJP’s candidate Vinay Katiyar is pushed to number three, we are confident that in Budhni our support to Gondwana Party candidate would push the Congress candidate to number three”.

The moment results come out, “we are sure that exodus to our party would begin in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Uttranchal where the BJP is almost a moribund party”, said Mr Guatam who left the BJP only last week.

“Our advantage is that the Bhartiya Jan Shakti is a clone of the BJP and its erstwhile avtar the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and all those who were committed to RSS and Hindu values are bound to come to us sooner or later”, Mr Gautam said.

Ms Bharti has been in close touch with party cadre and leaders of Uttranchal as she has visiting religious places in the state frequently, he said adding ‘‘the state government under Chief Minister Narayan Dutt Tiwari is fast losing political ground and that is what would give our party a big chance’’.

Many leaders but more than them the BJP workers are going to come to us, he said rubbishing the claims of his erstwhile party that the Bharati Surkasha Yatra of Leader of Opposition L.K Advani and BJP President Rajnath Singh has been a success.

“Nowhere were the yatras able to draw crowds as was evident in Ujjain where our party held a meeting three time bigger than that of Mr Advani. The venue was the same and Mr Advani had the support of the Madhya Pradesh Government also”, Mr Gautam pointed out.

Ms Bharti, whose image and credibility with the common masses in the rural areas is her political capital, is bound to get votes from these sections, the leader pointed out and added that “her image of sacrifice and rebellion” continues to attract people.

Chennai, May 2
In what is being termed as the “discovery of the century”, a schoolteacher in Sembian-Kandiyanur village near Mayiladuthurai in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu has stumbled upon two Neolithic stone axes with Indus valley script.

The Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology has confirmed that the axes, one grey and the other black, with the script could be as old as 3,500 years and dated back to 1500 BC.

Sources in the Archaeology Department said the four symbols found on the celt, which is actually a hand-held stone axe, was in the classical Indus script, which proved that the script, which was commonly found in Harappa and Mohenjodaro, had reached Tamil Nadu too. — PTI