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Congress swept away by saffron tide A deserted look of DPCC office after the losing in MCD election in New Delhi on Saturday. — Tribune photo by Mukesh Aggarwal
Celebration time in BJP camp
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New Delhi, April 7 The blame game has begun in Delhi Congress over the humiliating defeat in the civic polls with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit holding the DPCC, headed by her detractor Ram Babu Sharma, responsible for the debacle while he attributed it to a host of issues implying the failure of her government.
Vindication of stand, say RWAs
DLF residents stage hunger strike
Farmers’ voice silenced by UP Govt: VP Singh
Exit poll has SP retaining power
Mulayam woos Muslims, farmers
Constable killed in accidental firing
Congress workers beat up cops in Dadri
Online courses: The future of education
‘Heated’ phone puzzle hits Faridabad also
Jamia to launch website, news portal on April 9
Free education to poor girls
Real estate expo opens in Gurgaon
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Congress swept away by saffron tide
The saffron party, exploiting to the hilt emotive issues like sealing and demolition drives, put up an impressive show winning 164 of the 272 seats to oust the congress which bagged 69 wards in a bitterly-fought elections, seen as a prelude to the Assembly polls next year. The dismal results sparked a blame game in the Congress with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit holding the party, headed by her detractor Ram Babu sharma responsible for the debacle,while he attributed it to a host of issues implying the failure of her government. Significantly, the Mayawati-led BSP, which has no MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, sprang a surprise by opening its account winning an impressive 15 seats while local leader Madan Lal Khurana’s Bharatiya Janshakti Party could bag only two seats. Smaller parties like the NCP, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and the LJP won two seats each while independent candidates made their presence felt bagging 16 seats in what was considered as a straight battle between the Congress and the BJP. Jubilant over his party’s performance,
BJP Delhi chief Harsh Vardhan said the civic election was a referendum on the Dikshit government’s performance and promptly asked for her resignation. Knives were out in the Congress after the defeat with senior leader and Ram Babu Sharma loyalist Jitendra Kochar as well as MLAs like Naseeb Singh, Rajesh Lilothia seeking his resignation holding him responsible for the poll failure. |
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New Delhi, April 7 In contrast, it was all quiet in the Congress office with only mediapersons giving company to the few party leaders and workers. The atmosphere in the Delhi BJP office was that of rapturous celebration as a large number of party workers danced to ‘bhangra’ beats from the ‘dhol’ and lit an array of firecrackers at regular intervals. The smiles became wider and victory whoops got louder as the media took comments from the party leaders live on TV. The party workers around Delhi BJP unit’s chief Dr Harsh Vardhan demanded silence from the others as he ceaselessly gave reactions to TV cameras. Taking a break from an impromptu jig with enthusiastic party workers and numerous phone calls, Dr Harsh Vardhan demanded Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit’s resignation. Preferring the quieter environs of the inner office, BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said that it was the lack of statecraft to resolve issues like demolition and sealing that has led to the undoing of the congress. A pall of gloom descended on the Delhi Congress office as the results favouring arch-rival BJP poured in. A visibly-disappointed DPCC chief Ram Babu Sharma said the party candidates and workers did their best in the face of the sealing and demolition drives.—TNS
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Blame game begins in Congress
New Delhi, April 7 Dikshit, who campaigned at the fag-end of the run-up to the polls, sought to wash her hands off the defeat, saying the DPCC did not come up to the expectations in the elections and called for introspection on the reasons behind the debacle. We have to really go down into why this has happened, what was the cause of it, she said. Sharma, on the other hand, blamed the poor performance of the party on a number of issues related to governance in the Capital, including the sealing and demolition drives, water and power problems as also rising prices. The Dikshit government had come under attack over its management of power and water supply, with residents up in arms over faulty meters and inflated bills. The Congress high command, meanwhile, felt that the outcome of the Delhi civic polls could have been somewhat better if Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her bete noire DPCC chief Ram Babu Sharma had worked together. “The results could have been somewhat better if Dikshit and Sharma would have worked in tandem,” AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot, party in-charge of Delhi, said. The comment came in reply to a question whether the differences in the local unit of the party had affected its performance in the MCD elections. He made a similar remark when asked whether a more active involvement by Dikshit in the campaigning would have helped. Dikshit had entered the campaigning at the fag-end. Some months back, Gehlot had reminded the local leadership to realise that they would sink or swim together. The Congress leader also attributed the poll debacle to a host of issues, such as the sealing and demolition drives.—PTI |
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Vindication of stand, say RWAs
New Delhi, April 7Reacting to the adverse results against the Congress in most wards of Delhi, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) said that this verdict was a vindication of their stand against the Master Plan.
“The Congress party’s insistence on going ahead with a Master Plan designed to appease law-breakers, the builder lobby and the trader community has backfired in a big way and the election results are a clear vindication of our continued stand against imposition of this motivated document,” said Sanjay Kaul, president, People’s Action. RWAs as well as civil society groups across the city had resisted the Master Plan as a political manifesto of the Congress party which would lead to more chaos in Delhi. Alpana Kishore, convenor of New Delhi People’s Alliance (NDPA), a consortium of various civil society groups in Delhi said, “This is a sign from the electorate about the ground resistance to the Master Plan and one of the first things to be done now is to shelve it and start afresh with greater public participation.” RWAs were also of the opinion that the cumulative damage to the lives of ordinary citizens of Delhi by the terrorism of the Discoms after power privatization and had turned the people against the regime. “We cannot ignore the fact that power privatization has become the single most common source of harassment for the citizens of Delhi, be it the bills, the meters, the service and maintenance or the behaviour of the Discoms,” said Atul Goyal, Coordinator of United RWAs Joint Action (URJA), West Delhi. Goyal added that they considered the verdict a fitting reply also to the state government for its policies. |
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DLF residents stage hunger strike
Gurgaon, April 7 Today’s programme was further intensification of the agitation programme of procession taken out by the residents in all the phases of the City, last evening, under the banner of their “DLF Qutab Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association”. The residents on hunger strike said that in case the management did not heed to their voice, they would enlist the support of other Residents’ Welfare Associations in Gurgaon. According to many, the development gives currency to the feeling that a majority of the residents coming from various parts of the country who had invested heavily to set up houses in the posh DLF City area are now ruing their decision. The reason being that they had to periodically take to the streets against the DLF management for salvaging their collective rights as purchasers of plots from it. The colony has many well-known names of the country as well as those who sold their property elsewhere to set up houses in the first private colony of Gurgaon seeking better housing prospects. Although the residents have been voicing concern over lack of promised civic amenities in the city by the management, the current spell of protest is regarding commercialisation of ‘community sites’, inadequate water supply and lack of security provisions. The office-bearers of Qutab Enclave Residents’ Welfare Association alleged that steadily most of the ‘community sites’ were being commercialised by the management. According to them in Phase I, the senior wing of Summer Field School has been built in a park. Also, the site for post office, fire station, police station and cinema has been transformed into Plaza Tower. In Phase II, the site for community centre has been converted to ‘Atria’ building where the Covergys office is located. The shopping-cum-commercial centre site has been used to build DLF Square and Nestle House. In Phase III as far back as 2005, the top management of DLF had assured that the community centre would be built expeditiously. In fact, a ‘Bhomi Poojan’ was also held in which senior DLF staff were present apart from the residents. Instead of a community centre, the management wants to set up a club on the pattern of one in Phase-IV. In Phase IV too, the site for community centre has been used to build the gymnasium attached to the club. The residents allege that the management was charging rent from these commercial sites for its own profit, which they are prevented under the law. As per the law, the management cannot earn more than 15 per cent from the entire project. The extra earned has to be invested in the colony or handed over to the government. As per the records, the management’s present asset is worth Rs 85,000 crore in Gurgaon. |
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Farmers’ voice silenced by UP Govt: VP Singh
Noida, April 7 The former Prime Minister was addressing an election meeting in Dadri in support of Jan Morcha candidate Raj Kumar Bhatti. He said “Public was the judge and the judge has made up its mind.” Now only its verdict is to be announced on the D-day. The Samajwadi Party, soon after coming into power, had let loose a reign of terror and exploitation against the farmers and labourers. Poor farmers’ land was forcibly snatched in the name of acquisition and presented to the capitalists on a platter. Farmers’ voice of protests was silenced with the help of lathis and other coercive measurers. Even a farmers’ Panchayat was not allowed to be held in Dadri. Workers of Jan Morcha were arrested and thrown into jails and fictitious cases registered against the farmers. But the SP government had forgotten that people’s aspirations and voice cannot be silenced for ever.” The former Prime Minister called upon the people to weigh all the pros and cons carefully before exercising their votes. Now they knew who were their friends and who are the people whom they must not allow to occupy the seat of power again. The former PM appealed to the voters to ensure Rajkumar Bhatti’s victory at the hustings. |
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Exit poll has SP retaining power
New Delhi, April 7 An exit poll conducted for the 62 seats that went to polls today shows SP leading with 20-24 seats, nearly at par with its performance in 2002 when it had secured 24 seats in the Assembly constituencies that went to poll today. SP’s arch rival BSP was close behind with a projected win of 16-20, better than its 2002 performance when it had won in 14 assembly constituencies. The BJP remained on the third slot with projected wins of 12-16 seats, down from 18 seats it won last time. Congress appeared to better its performance with 6-10 estimated wins when compared with victory in four seats in the previous polls. According to the exit poll, ‘others’ have failed to open their account in the first phase. If this voting pattern is used as a benchmark for the entire state the sp could win 120-130 seats (145 seats in 2002), followed by BSP 125-135 (98), BJP 80-90 (107) and Congress 40-50 (25) and others 10-20 (28), the exit poll said. Except Congress and BSP, the exit poll shows all other parties getting less number of seats than in the previous elections.—PTI |
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Mulayam woos Muslims, farmers
Greater Noida, April 7 The Chief Minister also declared that ‘Abadi’ land will also be clearly demarcated. It may be recalled that Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Government had received a lot of flak on forcibly acquiring land for Dadri Power Plant and paying a miserly compensation to the tillers of the soil. The Chief Minister also assured the Muslim voters that they will not lose on any front and their interests will especially be protected. Mr Yadav appealed to the electorate to vote for Samajwadi Party’s Dadri candidates Ashok Chauhan and Ram Niwas Balmiki from Hapur constituency. “The government will give Rs 2 lakh as a relief for national calamity to farmers instead of Rs 1 lakh at present. We shall also restore Muslim’s right if voted back to power irrespective of the High Court’s adverse decision. We shall go to the apex court in appeal on this issue,” he declared. Mulayam Singh said it was the state government’s prerogative to bestow minority status on any community. My government had given many benefits to the people: Rs 20,000 stipend to girls who passed inter exams, Rs 1 lakh compensation to the family of a farmer dying in accident, unemployment allowance, free education up to inter class, etc. The stipend to girls qualifying in inter-class will be raised to Rs 25,000 now, he said. Criticising his rival parties, Mulayam Singh Yadav said BJP, BSP and Congress have nothing to offer. Their one-point agenda is to “Remove and entangle him in some cases”. He said his government will make a national level hospital in Ghaziabad and increase unemployment allowance to Rs 1,500 per head. Dalits will get Rs 25,000 instead of Rs 10,000 as state help for the marriage of their daughters. Within two years, the state will get round-the-clock power supply, Mulayam Singh declared. |
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Constable killed in accidental firing
Gurgaon, April 7 The constable, Pradeep Kumar, a native of Sonipat, was on duty along with an ASI and a couple of other constables. He had joined service in 2000. |
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Congress workers beat up cops in Dadri
Noida, April 7 A convey of Congress leaders was returning from Bulandshahr after a party propaganda meeting under Youth Congress president Ashok Tanwar. Besides his ‘rath’, over 100 Youth Congress activists in 15 vehicles were accompanying him. At Dadri Trijunction, Tanwar started an address at G.T. Road. A contingent of police reached there to dissuade the Youth Congress leaders from holding a meeting without permission. When SI told them to wind up the meeting, Youth Congress activists started arguing with cops. When arguments became heated, the workers assaulted the policemen and beat them. But soon Inspector Dharminder Chauhan reached the spot with a large force in response to an SOS sent by the SI. Seeing a large number of cops, Youth Congress workers quietly sped away in their vehicles. |
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Online courses: The future of education
New Delhi, April 7 With the evolution of communication and technology, a classroom today has moved beyond the physical boundaries of a university. Online courses have made distances irrelevant, delivering education in real time over the Internet. It has opened up new vistas of knowledge transfer to help hone individual skills. What are the benefits? To mention a few — one can learn from home or work, no need to commute to or live on a campus, study whenever it is most suitable, could result in increased salary, specialisation, and higher management positions. But the primary advantage of this online programme is the flexibility that it offers. You will not be forced to take leave from your job or spend any time away from your family. You will be able to do your class work at the hours that are most convenient to you. Also, you are allowed ample time in which to finish, up to minimum of two years for online Diploma in Business programme. All these advantages make the online programmes very attractive indeed. The decision to pursue an online course in business and management could not be made at a better time. Employers today are demanding more education from their employees than ever before. An accredited online programme will carry significant value in any organisation’s hiring and career advancement decisions. Such an online Diploma in Business and Management was launched for the very first time in India in an academic tie-up of New Zealand Change Training with International College of Financial Planning Ltd (ICFP) earlier this week. These online courses are available for students of India for the first time. They will meet international quality standards. Students will be awarded Diploma in Business on successful completion of these courses. According to Mr Anish Wig, CEO and Director, ICFP, “It provides the Indian student access to a globally competitive set of courses placing the ICFP online course at par with the best in the world. We are proud to be the ‘New Zealand Institute of Online Learning’ partner in bringing the set of online courses to Indian students and working professionals who aspire to further their educational goals or immigrate to New Zealand or simply retain their business edge in today’s globally competitive corporate environment”. Mr Graeme Waters, High Commissioner, New Zealand, said, “It will free the learning process from the confines of the classroom as it’s an open, flexible and distributed learning process, or blended e-learning. The programme will enhance their (students’) knowledge and give them an insight into the global industry.” He also added that in New Zealand one could have access to high quality education at comparatively lesser cost than in many other countries. Moreover, Indian students would feel at home at New Zealand as it had a sizeable Indian population who migrated to that country. So, a great advantage of education in New Zealand was that students could interact with students from almost every country in the world. |
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‘Heated’ phone puzzle hits Faridabad also
Faridabad, April 7 According to reports, a person identified as Sandeep Singh, a resident of Rajiv Nagar near Sector 37, working with a company here, reported at the local Bhadshah Khan Civil Hospital at about 3 pm. He had suffered burns on his hand and stomach. These burns were reportedly sustained as mobile phone was lying in the pocket of his trousers. He claimed that his hand and other body parts got a burning sensation when his mobile phone started vibrating after receiving a call. He said the phone set got so heated up that he sustained minor injuries when he tried to get it out from the pocket. He said the number displayed on the screen was 988888888. Some of the media persons present in the hospital at that time, however, noticed that there was no sign of burns or any damage to the phone set, though the victim showed some dark spots on his hand and stomach. When asked, various phone companies said that no such number had been allotted by them to any subscriber. The complainant said that he had been a subscriber of Hutch Company with the number 9811206620. However, this number was found ‘not reachable’ as this correspondent tried to contact the subscriber. No complaint has been launched either with the company or the police so far. |
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Jamia to launch website, news portal on April 9
New Delhi, April 7 It will also be equipped with a web news portal with audio and video streams, which will be solely administered and maintained by students of journalism and other courses. The main purpose of
the news portal is to provide hands-on training to the students of the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre in writing, reporting and editing news and producing multimedia packages for the web. Programmes put out by Radio Jamia, too, will be available in the audio format on the MCRC web portal. The website will also contain the names, addresses and contact information about former students of AJK MCRC working in the industry. This will help existing students seek their advice about existing and emerging career options. |
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Free education to poor girls
New Delhi, April 7 Dr Sunita of Rai Foundation informed that an eminent jury would select the applications nominated by schools, colleges and NGOs solely on the basis of the merit of the application. The scholarship includes 100% waiver in tuition fees for the entire education, hostel accommodation and mess charges. “We will also take responsibility for their placement. It is a part of our initiative toward women empowerment,” she said.
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Real estate expo opens in Gurgaon
Gurgaon, April 7 Dr Kidwai, who was here to inaugurate a three-day International Real Estate Exhibition, said on the occasion that although foreign investment was necessary for development of Gurgaon and Haryana, it should be according to our expectations. He stressed that there was no need to expand real estate in order to keep pace with the rate of development. He urged upon people of Gurgaon to participate in the development activities of the area. He praised the Haryana government for utilising infrastructure funds. More than 42 builders like Imperial Land Development Ltd, Unitech, Suncity, Pan India, Sun India, Realtech Group, Aerens Esteems took part in the exhibition. Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has also displayed its various schemes in the exhibition.
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The Congress party received another jolt on top of its recent losses in Uttarakhand and Punjab with the BJP sweeping the municipal elections in the national Capital today.
New Delhi, April 7