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Assembly Polls
Cong at unease as leaders criticise Pawar
CPM for war against price rise, drought
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Kulkarni joins panel in Mamata’s ministry
Batla case: Delhi HC’s no to judicial probe
Rs 10 crore seized from VHP leader’s possession
Guwahati
encounter
Crisis in Left Front deepens
Swine flu toll 72
CPI (Maoist) calls off indefinite bandh
Constable’s Death CBI reluctant to take up Shopian case
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Maharashtra BJP in a tizzy as infighting goes on Shiv Kumar Tribune News Service
Mumbai, August 26 Senior BJP leaders in Maharashtra are staying away from the media glare as their senior colleagues in Delhi play out their differences before television cameras. The president of the Maharashtra unit of the BJP, Nitin Gadkari, and senior party leader Gopinath Munde, who are jointly in charge of the election campaign in the state, are keeping a low-profile ever since the controversy erupted following the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from the party. It is no secret that Gadkari and Munde cannot stand each other and the latter is one of the leaders earlier targeted by Arun Shourie shortly after the BJP lost the Lok Sabha elections. Munde had prevailed upon LK Advani to shift the chintan baithak to Shimla from Mumbai on the grounds that any controversy in Maharashtra could rub off on the party's electoral prospects. The clamour to clean the BJP of opportunistic leaders is similar to the demand raised by Munde's opponents in Maharashtra shortly after the demise of his brother-in-law and party stalwart Pramod Mahajan. After party leaders caved into the demands of the RSS, which propped up Gadkari against Munde, the latter virtually raised the banner of revolt and threatened to leave the party. The Gadkari camp had then orchestrated protests against the Munde-Mahajan loyalists who, it was alleged, were responsible for hijacking the BJP in Maharashtra. Though Munde managed to survive, mainly due to support from Advani, Gadkari and others managed to hobble him during the last Lok Sabha elections. Attempts by Munde to ensure a Lok Sabha ticket for Pramod's daughter Poonam were scuttled. The wounds in Maharashtra haven't even healed when the latest round of bloodletting commenced. The hardliners within the BJP are echoing Arun Shourie's views calling for a clean up in Maharashtra as well. However, the compulsions of fighting the Assembly elections have shut them up at least for the moment. But, say observers, the tussle between the Munde and Gadkari factions would worsen when tickets have to be distributed. Though candidates for most of the seats have been decided, a few contentious choices remain to be made, say sources. Meanwhile, a section of the BJP leaders from the state, like former Union Petroleum Minister Ram Naik, are pushing for a campaign based on local issues like drought and price rise in the state. “The main issue before voters in Maharashtra is price rise and the government's failure to control it,” says Naik. He told reporters here that the infighting at the national-level would not have any impact in the Assembly elections.
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Cong at unease as leaders criticise Pawar
New Delhi, August 26 Two days after AICC general secretary Digivijay Singh reiterated his personal view on the merger of the NCP with the Congress, it was the turn of senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi to criticise the Agriculture Minister. This has led to considerable unease in the Congress which is preparing to begin seat-sharing negotiations with the NCP for the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections. Such public statements by its senior leaders will create unnecessary tension between the two parties, which are partners both at the Centre and in the state, remarked an AICC office-bearer. Taking a cue from former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digivijay Singh, senior Congres leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi today openly charged Pawar for misleading the country on the extent of the drought situation. Speaking at a meeting of the National Alliance of Farmers’ Association today, Chaturvedi said it was bewildering that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for sugarcane was not raised along with that of wheat and paddy which had resulted in lower production of this crop which, in turn, pushed up the price of the sweetener. The Congress leader also said after steadfastly stating that there was enough stock of sugar, he had suddenly changed track to say it was in short supply. Reacting to Digivijay Singh’s statement two days ago, Congress chief spokesperson Janardhan Dwivedi had clarified that “the Congress has not taken a view on this issue; this is Singh’s personal view.’’ The sub-text here was that party leaders should refrain from voicing individual opinions on alliance partners. Chaturvedi’s
statement, too, has also not gone down well with the Congress leadership which believes that such remarks are best avoided. “After all, we are not in the opposition....we are running a government together,” remarked a senior Congress leader. It is also feared that as a member of the five-man panel set up by the Congress to assess the party’s position in Maharashtra, Digivijay Singh may create problems during the seat-sharing negotiations as he is not favourably inclined towards an alliance with the NCP. |
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CPM for war against price rise, drought
New Delhi, August 26 Admitting that past anti-inflation movements of the Left failed to impress people, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat is now taking the stomach route to people’s hearts. He told his workers to build their movement on people’s issues. “All Left parties will join us in this campaign, which will culminate in rallies in state capitals this November,” Karat said today, hinting at the possibility of former Third Front partners joining the movement. “Like on the nuke deal issue, we expect some political formations to support us in these areas as well,” a senior CPM leader told The Tribune on the sidelines of the party’s day-long national convention on Right to Food, which ended with a call to the UPA to universalise PDS, ban future trading in essential commodities, retain 35 kg per family per month food grain quota under the proposed Food Security law, include other commodities, including sugar in PDS, and offer food grains instead of cash under NREGA in the drought-affected areas. Refusing to accept the proposed food security law as it is, Karat said the CPM would create public mood in favour of a universal
PDS.
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Kulkarni joins panel in Mamata’s ministry
New Delhi, August 26 He, however, denied reports that he had joined the Trinamool Congress. Kulkarni said he had been appointed in a "committee in the Ministry of Railways that had been constituted to advise the minister on how to innovatively usher in reforms in the Railways". When asked specifically whether he had joined the Trinamool Congress, the former aide to former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and BJP leader LK Advani said: "I am not joining any political party." Just days after the BJP expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh for praising Mohammed Ali Jinnah in a book he had written, Kulkarni had quit the party on Sunday last sighting “ideological differences”. He had been a severe critic of the party strategy in the recent elections, which the BJP lost badly. “I have major ideological differences with the party. I want to be honest in my views and wish to maintain party discipline. So I decided to come out," said Kulkarni, who wrote a magazine article criticising the BJP and its ideological fountainhead Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after the party's poll debacle. The 58-year-old IIT graduate-journalist-political backroom boy was a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) card holder before he crossed over to the other side of the political spectrum.
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Batla case: Delhi HC’s no to judicial probe
New Delhi, August 26 The High Court rejected the contention of an NGO that National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has failed to conduct a proper investigation in reaching to the conclusion that it was not a fake encounter. “It’s (NHRC) a statutory body and if that body has come to the conclusion that it is not a fake encounter, then the court should not interfere in the matter,” the Bench comprising Chief Justice AP Shah and Justice Manmohan said. Holding that NHRC's findings could not be overruled, the Bench said the human rights body's "prestige and independence has to be preserved at any cost". The Bench made the observations when advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO 'ANHAD', questioned the findings of the commission on the ground that it had accepted the police version and did not conduct an independent investigation.
— PTI
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Rs 10 crore seized from VHP leader’s possession
Jaipur, August 26 A team of I-T sleuths led by Additional Director of Income Tax Prasannjeet Singh made the recovery after raiding two residential premises and an office complex of Modi. “We have seized Rs 10 crore in cash and Rs 57 lakh worth of jewellery from the premises of the broker,” he said. The raids were conducted on these premises on Monday morning and the assessment and the valuation took almost two days, he added.
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HC tells police to file FIR
Tribune News Service
Guwahati, August 26 Delivering the order on the basis of a writ petition filed by Taratambi Devi, mother of the slain youth, on August 7 last, a two-member Division Bench of the High Court further asked the police to proceed in accordance with the law in the case after registering an FIR. The court also directed the Director-General of Police, Manipur, and the SP, Imphal (west district) to see that the officer-in-charge comply with the court order for registering an FIR. The deceased Sanjit’s mother had earlier gone to the police station to lodge case related to July 23 incident, but the officer-in-charge refused to allow her to do so. She then moved the High Court. Probe ordered The Guwahati High Court has directed a judicial inquiry into another alleged fake encounter that took place way back in 2004. Irungbam Somananda Meetei was allegedly killed in a fake encounter by personnel from 12 Assam Rifles.
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Crisis in Left Front deepens
Kolkata, August 26 He objected to the participation of Bharti Electronics, along with the MTL, in the electronic industry on the question of the country’s safety and security. Roy also disapproved of the Centre’s involvement in the family feud of Ambani brothers. Soon after the reports were released, the RSP strongly reacted to Roy’s endeavour and senior party leader Kshiti Goswami alleged today that Roy had no business to write such a letter to the Prime Minister. The party’s state secretary Debabrata Bandopadhyya also expressed his displeasure over the issue, adding that these were Roy’s personal views and the party had nothing to do with it. Feeling insulted, the RSP leader soon sent in his resignation to party general secretary Chandrachud. Roy said he had resigned even from the party’s primary membership. But Roy’s resignation letter was not still accepted, party sources said. Meanwhile, the crisis in the Bengal Left Front has deepened following sharp differences among partners. The two major partners, the Forward Bloc and the RSP, went public in strongly criticising the big-brother, the CPM, for still pursuing a dictatorial attitude towards smaller parties. Forward Bloc general secretary Ashoke Ghose said the CPM had not learnt proper lesson even after their massive debacle in the Lok Sabha and the Assembly byelections. He wrote a letter to CPM state secretary Biman Bose, advising him to change their attitude and rectify themselves by abjuring high-handedness.
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Swine flu toll 72
New Delhi, August 26 Following closely is national capital Delhi, with 30 new cases today and an overall case load of 540. On the mortality front, however, Delhi has done well in prevention, with only three casualties to date. Karnataka has the maximum casualties (19) after Maharashtra, while Gujarat has seven, Tamil Nadu three and Kerala and Uttarakhand one each. Of the 27 states under surveillance, no casualty has been reported so far in 20, indicating that state governments’ efforts in containing the spread of H1N1 virus are paying off. So far as positive cases go, Karnataka comes third at 352 infections, followed by Tamil Nadu at 257, Andhra 123, Kerala 150, Gujarat 92, West Bengal 42 and Goa 21. Today, fresh cases were reported in Andhra (7), Karnataka (22), Tamil Nadu (18), Kerala (15, Haryana (4), Uttrakhand and Jammu and Kashmir (2 each), Rajasthan (1), and Uttar Pradesh (7). Haryana, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir also figure prominently on the infection list, with 57, 27 and 17 cases, respectively.
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CPI (Maoist) calls off indefinite bandh
Patna, August 26 Earlier, the Naxal outfit had enforced a 48-hour bandh in five states, including Bihar and Jharkhand, to protest against the illegal detention of their politburo member Amit Bagchi, alias Anil, and a central committee member Kartik who were picked up by the Jharkhand police from a Patna-bound train. Since the Jharkhand police was not disclosing the arrest of their leaders, the Maoists threatened to intensify their ‘war’ against the state power by announcing an indefinite bandh in both Bihar and Jharkhand beginning today. Bowing under pressure of the Maoists threat, the Jharkhand police produced their two missing leaders in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate.
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2 IPS officers
suspended
Hyderabad, August 26 The disciplinary proceedings will be initiated against Dube, an officer of the ADGP rank, and Commandant of Special Armed Reserve Police Abraham Lincoln for violation of rules in deputing the constable for orderly duties outside the state. — TNS
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Hoping to recover the lost political base, the CPM today called for a nationwide movement against price rise, drought and food insecurity, invoking its cadres to make Right to Food a people’s campaign.
