Rae Bareli, May 3
Lashing out at the Uttar Pradesh Government for indulging in "politics of discrimination" in Rae Bareli, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today alerted her voters against those who hold on development for political purposes.

She addressed a massive public meeting at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Maiden in Saraini Assembly constituency this afternoon. Sonia arrived three hours behind schedule and asked voters to intervene through the ballot and prove that they were responsible citizens and wanted development.

She arrived here on a two-day whirlwind election campaign of the constituency, Ms Gandhi addressed public meetings at Kherao in Satawn Assembly segment and in Rae Bareli Sadar.

She responded to Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's charges at his election meetings in the constituency on Monday that the Nehru-Gandhi family had done nothing for the development of the district which was why it had remained backward.

Criticising the Samajwadi Party -led state government, Ms Gandhi said they were not showing sufficient interest and were refusing to cooperate with the Central Government for the development of Rae Bareli.

"The Central Government has never denied any of their (state government's) demands for money for the development of the state. "Yet they do not cooperate and discriminate against Rae Bareli", charged Ms Gandhi.

Illustrating her point, she said a large sum of money was released by the Central Government to desilt the Indira Gandhi canal, which would have brought much -needed water to farmers of the districts.

"The state government refused to accept the Central Government money", she pointed out and urged the electorate to recognise that brand of politics which discriminated against a district of the state. "Is Rae Bareli not a part of Uttar Pradesh? Is its development not considered to be the development of Uttar Pradesh" she wondered.

The Congress President is expected to address two more public meetings on Thursday thereby covering all five Assembly segments falling in the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency. So far, her campaign is being single-handedly coordinated by her son Mr Rahul Gandhi.

Wearing a beige sari with black border, Ms Gandhi, always a typical 'bahu' in Rae Bareli, had her head covered.

Talking emotionally of her ties with Rae Bareli, she said she was told "not to bother about Rae Bareli" and focus on the Assembly elections in other states. "How could I remain away from you people and deny myself your love"?, she asked. She informed that her entire family was involved in the campaign , "Rahul is roaming around somewhere, Priyanka will also come and Robert Saheb is also there". Priyanka's name has been announced as the election agent.

New Delhi, May 3
Pramod Mahajan's death, who strode the Indian political firmament like a colossus, has made the BJP and the nation poorer.

A brilliant strategist, a performer par excellence, a manager, a 'real politiker' and a fighter to the core would be missed in the Indian polity for a long time and void left by him would also be impossible to fill.

Starting his journey from an obscure Maharashtra village, Mahajan entered the corridors of power effortlessly and moved in it with ease and grace.

The wily 57-year-old Deshastha Brahmin was not only the party's master strategist but also its fundraiser and an ever ready troubleshooter.

Bubbling with energy, Mahajan never shied away from any task assigned to him. Irrespective of the consequences, he went after his goal with precision and perfection.

An example of it was seen when he eased out Uma Bharti from the party in a bloodless operation and convinced rabble-rouser Vinay Katiyar to contest against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Rai Bareli for the sake of the party.

At the same time, he also kept the mercurial ally Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray in good humour and helped the BJP to share power in Maharashtra.

A political activist who could ride many horses at the same time, Mahajan was indefatigable and was the 'practical' face of the saffron party.

When the history of the BJP would be written, Mahajan's name would figure prominently in it as the credit for bringing the party close to power goes to him as he not only brought into it a culture and style, but also modernised it despite opposition from the Sangh Parivar.

Calling spade a spade, Mahajan was always blunt and outspoken. He courted controversies at every step but also came out of it with ease.

In 1989, he was picked up by the then BJP President L.K. Advani as one of the four General Secretaries and he proved his mettle when he organised his president's Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya.

And once again in 1996, he moved effortlessly to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 13 days' government when he was appointed the country's youngest Defence Minister.

Many eyebrows were raised then as it was seen as his moving closer to Mr Vajapyee and abandoning Mr Advani but he performed his role brilliantly in not only in 1996 but also in 1998 and subsequently in five years of the BJP-led NDA government.

As a Parliamentary Affairs Minister, he ironed out every problem as he brooked no opposition and knew no insurmountable hurdle.

But a hurdle came and the destiny had willed it otherwise after battling for 12 days he had to bow down before the almighty.

But the never-say-die politician will always be remembered for his fighting spirit, which could be summed up from a quote on his working table - "The war is not over till the last ship is sunk".

New Delhi, May 3
Members of the United Nations in the race for the first election for membership of the newly established Human Rights Council, will face tough competition with revised requirement for absolute majority and reduced strength.

The election is scheduled to take place in New York on May 9. The 191-member General Assembly will elect 47 members to the UN Human Rights Council. So far, 65 UN-member states have announced their candidatures in writing. India has announced its candidacy and is in the contest for the membership in the council alongwith its neighbours Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The challenge is enormous as the new election procedure calls for an absolute majority (96 votes) of the entire membership of the General Assembly.

This is unlike the simple majority (through acclamation or 28 votes or fewer) needed for election to the suspended 53-member commission on Human Rights.

The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations has conveyed to the Secretariat of the UN General Assembly, the Indian Government's commitment to "make a positive contribution to make the Human Rights Council a strong, effective and efficient body capable of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms for all."

Summing up the challenge before India, the National Information Officer of the United Nations Information Centre, Mr Rajiv Chandran said, "India is fighting for a slot in the Asian quota that offers 13 seats."

According to the list of candidatures announced by member states, 18 Asian states are in the race for membership to the Human Rights Council. These include Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

A welcome change that has come about with the constitution of the Human Rights Council is that two-third majority vote by the General Assembly can suspend privileges and rights of members who commit gross and systematic human rights violations. This is in sharp contrast with the absence of provision for suspension of members of the Commission on Human Rights in case of similar violations.

In his recent statement, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, said the Human Rights Council will be more than a cosmetic change.

"The new council will be better placed to address situations of gross and systematic violations of humanrights. Its ability to meet throughout the year, and when necessary for longer than the commission has done, will allow the council to sound the alarm and bring urgent human rights crises to the attention of the world community."

Mr Chandran explained, "This means not just a finger pointing exercise but more accountability within the members. It is a far superior structure evolving at the UN. We have had occasions when Syria and Sudan were members of the commission and no action could be taken against them for human rights violations."

He said the new Human Rights Council had done away with the special agenda on Israel. Mr Chandran said, "That was always a prickly issue with the United States of America. The new Human Rights Council begins with a clean slate and does not come with the baggage of an Israel specific agenda."

Kolkata, May 3
It was peaceful polling in the state during the fourth phase of elections today which were held in three south Bengal districts, including the border district of Murshidabad.

But the defective EVMs installed at several polling stations hampered the smooth and brisk polling in these districts.

In some areas in Murshidabad and Birbhum districts, the locals boycotted the elections to register protest against the government’s apathy towards some basic needs like electricity, drinking water and healthcare services.

The two other districts, Burdwan and Birbhum, which are known to be the granaries of Bengal, have so far played a prominent role in the state politics.

In the 2001 Assembly elections, while the Congress won most of the seats in Murshidabad, the CPM retained supremacy in two other districts. But this time, differences among the Congressmen in Murshidabad would help the CPM and other parties to capture more seats.

Chief Electoral Officer Debasish Sen claimed that the elections had been free, fair and peaceful. He said the average percentage polling had been 60-65 per cent.

He said due to hot weather conditions polling in some booths was low. But in some stations a large number of voters were seen lining up where polling continued till late evening.

New Delhi, May 3
Ten days ahead of what was witnessed in Vadodara, the Bazme Azeez Charitable Trust (BACT) had forewarned the Centre and the Gujarat Governor about the possibility of communal flare-up if the Vadodara Municipal Corporation went ahead with its plans to demolish old historical dargahs in the city.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 22, copies of which were marked to Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Gujarat Governor among others, vice-president of BACT Arif Shaikh sought their immediate intervention and action before the law and order situation

is "disturbed and communal violence is thrust upon the peace-loving citizens of Vadodara city".

"We appeal your good self to stop the intended demolition forthwith," he said.

In his two-page letter, Shaikh accused the new Mayor of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation with behaving like an "autocrat" and said "he has openly declared that he would remove even four centuries old historical dargah namely Joravar Pir Dargah, Badshah Bava Pir Dargah, etc, situated at Yakutpura- Fatehpura Main road on Vadodara city".

"The Mayor is emulating his godfather and it is apprehended that their hidden agenda is to annoy the peace-loving Muslim community of Vadodara and once again to disturb the cordial and peaceful atmosphere of the city with undemocratic approach by the demolition of historical dargah," Shaikh said.

"We Muslims of Vadodara city are not against the beautification of Vadodara city but our feelings and emotions shall definitely be injured if these four centuries old historical monuments are demolished under the pretext of beautification and widening the roads," he said, adding "we apprehend that the hidden agenda behind this intended demolition is to disturb the communal peace and harmony and repeat the mayhem of 2002 in Gujarat".