Bangalore, Feb 28 : Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani Saturday blasted the rightwing Hindu group Sri Rama Sene for its attack on women in a Mangalore pub last month, saying such “barbaric attacks are condemnable”.

Advani was referring to the Jan 24 attack on young women by around 40 Rama Sene men. The Sene members had accused the women who go to pubs of violating Indian traditions.

He was addressing a well attended rally of students and youth in Karnataka to mark the conclusion of a state-wide anti-terror campaign by the ruling BJP.

Speaking to reporters after the rally, Advani said: “I strongly condemn the attack on girls in Mangalore. There can be no compromise on this. It is wrong and against Indian culture and ethos.”

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said people could have different perspectives on whether they approved of young men and women frequenting pubs but attacking them was wrong.

“Girls and boys will have their own ways, and you may not approve, but it is wrong to attack them for it,” he said.

Hundreds of male and female students attended the rally in scorching heat at the Palace Grounds, about five kilometers from the city centre, a highlight of which was an address by K. Unikrishnan, father of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a National Security Guard (NSG) commando who was killed in a gun battle with terrorists during the Nov 26-29 Mumbai carnage last year.

After being garlanded and presented with a shawl by Advani, Unnikrishnan and his wife Dhanalakshmi sought the BJP leader’s blessings by touching his feet.

In his brief address in Kannada, Unnikrishnan said his son was not killed but sought death fighting the terrorists.

“Have such fire in you and no terrorist can kill you,” he exhorted the cheering young audience.

NATHKUCHI, Feb 28 – Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi laid the foundation stone of North East’s first mega food park project at Nathkuchi within the campus of Assam Co-operative Syntex Mill in Nalbari district yesterday.

The Nathkuchi mega food park to be set up at a cost of rupees one hundred crore will be the third project of the country.

Laying the foundation stone of the mega project, the Chief Minister said that the setting up of this park will boost the North-East agricultural sector. The State Government has decided to generate employment by increasing farmer’s productivity.

Gogoi was hopeful that such a food processing project will help to usher in a Green Revolution in the country. The Chief Minister added that during the Congress regime the economic condition of every village in the State had registered quick development.

Referring to the insurgency problem in the State, the Chief Minister asserted that development activities will go on despite terrorism. “We can’t stop developmental activities owing to terrorism”, Gogoi added. He further stated that the ULFA had totally lost mass support.

We want a solution to the ULFA problem, but they should come forward for negotiation leaving their base in Bangladesh, the Chief Minister said. He, however denied the charge about the Congress party’s involvement with the ULFA for grabbing power at Dispur.

Speaking at the function, Minister for Industries, Commerce and Power, Pradyut Bordoloi said that about 30,000 to 35,000 youths will get direct or indirect employment from the proposed food processing project. Bordoloi said that horticultural and other agricultural products available in the North-East and bordering Bhutan could be processed in this park. The Industry Minister further added that, the overall situation in the State has improved significantly. Investors from outside therefore proposed to invest Rs 2100 crore in the industrial sector in the State.

The State Government has decided to set up a bamboo park at Jagiroad, textile park at Sipajhar, plastic park at Tinisukia, jute park at Kharupetia and an agricultural project at Dakshin Kamrup area only to generate employment in the State.

The meeting which was presided over by Revenue Minister Dr Bhumidhar Barman was addressed by MLA Moloya Barman, MLA Maneswar Brahmo, joint secretary of food proccessing Gautam Shyndal, among other.

It may be mentioned that the main purpose of the project was to increase realisation of farmers, creation of high quality rural processing infrustructure, reduction in wastage, capacity building of producers and processors and creation of an efficient supply chain, besides employment generation. Though the project will cost a hundred crore initially, another Rs 500 crore will be invested in the final stage.

GANGTOK, Feb 28 – Setting aside ideological differences, the Congress, BJP and CPI (M) have joined hands in Sikkim to fight Sikkim Democratic Front in the Assembly elections to be held later this year.

The alliance between the three national parties and two regional parties Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad Party and Sikkim Gorkha Prajatantrik Party has been named the United Democratic Front (UDF),

according to KN Upreti, Congress leader and UDF chief coordinator. Upreti told journalists here that there would be a direct contest between the SDF and the UDF in all the 32 Assembly seats in Sikkim.

Imphal, February 28 : The office of the Manipur People's Party (MPP) Heingang Kendra was inaugurated today in a function with S Surjaboro, president of MPP Heingang Kendra and MPP leader Y Mangi as the chief guest and guest of honour respectively, according to a release of MPP Heingang Kendra, issued by its secretary P Birachandra.

Speaking during the function, the MPP leader Y Mangi appealed the people to extend support in strengthening the party to enable it to take the front role against the prevailing lawlessness, price hike, etc.

The party leaders and the gatherings had also observed 2-minute silence as a mark of respect to the late Dr Kishan, Token and Rajen, who were killed brutally last week and also condemned the government for not taking appropriate action at the right time, the press release said.

By Manjari Mishra

JAGDISHPUR, AMETHI, Feb 28 : He was committed to ensure that Amethi and Rae Bareli emerge as the best districts in entire Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi declared. With Sonia inaugurating the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli on February 2 and his presence in Jagdishpur on Friday with a Rs 500 crore revival package for Malvika Steel Plant, the attempts showed. The young MP striking a sentimental note by reminiscing about his father's frequent visits to the constituency did a quick round up of the development projects carried out during his tenure to drive the point further home, and the crowd simply loved it all.

Amethi's facelift in the last five years, Rahul recounted, included setting up academic institutions, building of 800 km stretch of roads, cataract camps that cured 25,000 patients and the burgeoning chain of women self help groups which, he claimed, enjoys a two lakh strong membership. The fruit of his labours elsewhere may take a little longer to show up but with his father and people of Amethi playing guiding stars, he would reach the goal well in time, he said.

The best part of the speech was devoted to his father. Rahul traced his first journey to Amethi when he was "barely 12 and would listen to his father's speeches unable to make any sense out of them". He has come a long way ever since and though he has lost his father now he had the residents of Amethi to show him the way, he said, amidst wild applause from the audience.

The minister for steel and mining, Ram Bilas Paswan who accompanied the MP along with the state minister Jitin Prasad, even fixed the date of the inauguration of the new venture. I promise you all that on 28 January, 2010 Rahul Gandhi will formally inaugurate the plant, he told the cheering crowds. In a frontal attack on Maya government, Paswan said that the state government had failed to provide the farmers with fertiliser and DPT despite the fact that Centre had been regular with its supply and subsidy.

One ton of DPT cost the government Rs 50,000, he said, but the subsidised rate for the farmer was only 4,800. Similarly, MOP, which was procured by the centre for Rs 32,000 per ton, was supplied at Rs 4,830 a ton. He had already written a letter to the state government inquiring into non-availability of both here, the minister said.

Sharpening the attack without naming the UP chief minister, Paswan cautioned the dalit voters to be wary of opportunistic politicians who were out with the divisive card and playing politics to stymie the development work. I fail to understand why some people suffer from gripes whenever Rahul tries to share the miseries of dalits, he remarked, alluding to Mayawati's reservations about the MP's dalit agenda. Rahul needed their blessing to nurture into a tree the little 450 crore sapling he has planted in Jagdishpur, he said.

For records, Malvika Steel Plant had closed down in 1998 and had been involved in a legal battle ever since. On January 20 after a favourable judgment from the court the take over was planned. Now the unit taken over by SAIL will be looked after by Bokaro steel plant, as per the minister.

NEW DELHI, Feb 28 : Hours after Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh visited the former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in hospital, the party announced that Lalji Tandon would be its candidate in Lucknow. It was represented by Mr. Vajpayee in the 14th Lok Sabha. Senior leaders had been maintaining that the Lucknow seat would be decided in accordance with the wishes of Mr. Vajpayee.
Mr. Tandon has been close to Mr. Vajpayee for years and he has also looked after the Lucknow constituency.
However, he is not entirely non-controversial. Ahead of the 2004 election, more than 20 women died in Lucknow in a stampede when saris were distributed to them free on Mr. Tandon’s birthday.

NEW DELHI, Feb 28 : The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on Friday issued an appeal to the electorate to vote for a party that would protect and promote secularism and the democratic commitment enshrined in the Constitution.

Releasing the appeal at a press conference here, CBCI secretary-general Stanislaus Fernandes described the appeal as a set of guidelines that voters should keep in mind while exercising their franchise.

Besides commitment to secularism and democratic values, the effort of voters should be to encourage candidates without a criminal record or corruption charges, and those who will work for social justice including reservation for Dalit Christians.

In all languages As to whether the CBCI would pitch for any particular party, Archbishop Fernandes said the Catholic Church did not do that.

However, he added, that the appeal had been sent to all the dioceses of the Catholic Church and would be available in all languages. “Lay organisations can take a political stance,” he said.

— Photo: G.N. Rao

POLL MODE: Congress president Sonia Gandhi with tribal women in Kothagudem, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday. KOTHAGUDEM: Secularism and social justice were not mere election slogans, but they remained the soul and ideology of the Congress, said United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Sounding the party’s election bugle at a mammoth tribal rally she addressed in this coal town on Friday, the AICC president made it clear that the common man – ‘aam admi’ – had remained the focus of the party policies. Empowerment of the tribes, which had been the dream of ‘Indiramma’ (Indira Gandhi), was fulfilled. The Congress had given the Lambada community the status of scheduled tribe.

As she made a direct appeal to the crowds in Telugu calling upon them to vote for the hand symbol, the tribes, mainly women, roared back in approval.

The plight of peasants in Andhra Pradesh five years ago was a grim reminder and often still “makes me sad,” she said. The Congress worked for the welfare of the farmers and revival of their dwindled fortunes.

It reached out to them with loan waiver and a host of measures. Over 2.25 lakh farmers were benefited by loan waiver in Khammam district alone and the Indira Sagar and Rajiv Sagar lifts taken up in the district would help irrigate over four lakh acres.

While the government could ensure equal access to education and healthcare to all sections, Opposition parties were raising a hue and cry in the media over Congress policies and programmes. But they had no face to go to the people and talk about them.

The programmes and welfare measures implemented by the Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy government had made their mark in the State.

Stating that the Congress had fulfilled all its commitments given to the State, she wanted people to reaffirm their faith in the party.

Shillong , Feb 27 : Meghalaya Assembly Speaker Bindo M Lanong today dared his deputy Sanbor Shullai to prove the corruption charges levelled against him saying that he would step down if the charges are proved.
"If the deputy speaker can prove my involvement in corruption, I will gracefully step down and if he cannot prove, then Shullai should resign," Lanong said, a day after the deputy speaker alleged his involvement in illegal appointment of officials in the Assembly.

The speaker has informed the Chief Minister Donkupar Roy about Shullai&aposs alleged misbehavior."If the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government does not act on the matter, then I will do it on my own using my discretionary powers as a Speaker," Lanong said.

Shullai is alleged to have verbally abused Lanong when the latter refused to comply with his deputy&aposs request. It is also alleged that Shullai had banged the table and created a ruckus in the Speaker&aposs chamber.

Lanong said that Shullai&aposs action has lowered the dignity of the office of Deputy Speaker.

Meanwhile, Shullai has denied the allegations of the Speaker and termed the report as an attempt to defame his him.

Bangalore, Feb 27 : BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani today said the NDA is not short of allies going to parliamentary elections and expected more to join it after the polls.
"No, not at all", Advani told PTI when asked if he believed whether the NDA was short of allies.

"Even when we came to power for the first time, many of our allies joined only after the elections and this time at the moment we are five in the NDA and in the last two months we have added one more ally from Haryana, one more from UP and one more from Assam, so that even before the elections, we have had additions to our alliance partners and I have little (no) doubt that after the elections also there will be some more additions", he said.

Asked if he expected more re-alignment of forces before the polls, he said "not much". "That alignment has already taken place since the time the left broke away from the UPA".

Asked if he believed that the anti-BJPism is more pronounced now than before the last elections, he said "not at all". "This happened in 2004 when for the first time in the history of Indian politics, the left parties supported the Congress party in a vague manner", he said.

Fatehpur (UP), Feb 27 : The Indian Justice Party today charged BSP president and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati with spreading hatred in society by setting up caste based committees.

"The chief minister has created further hatred in society by setting up caste based committees and holding their seminars and meetings throughout the state, seeking their support for the coming elections", IJP president Udit Raj said while addressing a public meeting here in Bindki.

Raj alleged that this has only strengthened parties like the BJP, Congress and the Samajwadi Party and under such circumstances, National Dalit Front was the only viable alternative.

He also criticised the BSP president for amassing "huge wealth" and alleged that she has betrayed the dalits. The Dalit Front has taken shape to protect their honour and place in society, he said.

Raj said that the front led by Union Fertiliser and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan would contest 300 to 350 Lok Sabha seats in the coming elections.

Opposition presses for discussion on pay revision

Agartala, Feb 26 : The proceedings in Tripura Assembly were today marred by noisy scenes and two successive adjournments over pay and allowance benefits for state government employees. Later, the House transacted usual business and passed two unanimous resolutions congratulating the Slumdog Millionaire team for winning three Oscars for India and Tripura girl Sourabhee Debbarma for making it to the top three in Indian Idol. Trouble started when Speaker Ramendra Debnath signalled the commencement of the scheduled Question Hour at 11am. Leader of the Opposition Ratanlal Nath stood up to press for an adjournment motion for an urgent discussion on the “deprivation of the state’s 1.5 lakh employees” in the name of upward revision of pay and allowances upon the recommendations of the Pay Review Committee. The Speaker rejected Nath’s plea summarily and asked the ministers to continue with their replies to “starred” queries. However, backed by nine Congress MLAs and the lone INPT legislator, Bijay Kumar Hrangkhawal, Nath kept on pressing for the adjournment. The Speaker adjourned the House for 15 minutes but the scenes were re-enacted after the House reassembled.  A second adjournment of 15 more minutes followed and then the proceedings moved smoothly. Chief minister Manik Sarkar assured the House that a bill raising salaries and allowances of members would be presented in the current budget session. Congress legislator Sudip Roy Barman moved a motion congratulating the Slumdog team and Sourabhee. While these resolutions were passed unanimously, the Speaker rejected the MLA’s plea for a joint appeal for vote in favour of Sourabhee.

Pune, Feb 26 :  REST OF WORLD: Congress and BJP face multiple poll challenge from BSP, JD(S), SP, Independents...


As in the past, the Pune Lok Sabha seat will witness a tussle between the Congress and the BJP. But the old rivals are staring at a clutch of smaller parties that threaten to rock their boat. These smaller parties had secured, between them, some 25,000 votes in the 2004 elections and are now gearing up to grab more.


The BSP, Janata Dal (S), RPI factions, Independents and now the Samajwadi Party have already begun “making noises” to get noticed by the big brothers. The BSP, which had made its presence felt by securing 9,100 votes in 2004, is the first to take off with the hope of “making a difference”.


“The party made inroads into the city in 2004 without a big campaign. This time, we hope to do better as the party has established a network,” said Kiran Alhat, state BSP secretary and in charge of party affairs for Pune.


The BSP will organise a training workshop and a rally at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on February 27. “Our main vote bank is the Dalit. However, the social engineering initiative of Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh has changed public opinion,” he said.


Not to lag behind, the Samajwadi Party is set to make its debut in the Pune Lok Sabha seat. “The party recently held a rally of workers and we are ready to take the plunge,” said city chief Anees Ahmed. He said senior party leaders are discussing alliances with leading parties in the state. “If required, we will contest on our own.”


Ahmed said the SP has a good following in the state and it will provide a better option for Dalit Muslims. “There are sections of society that struggle for justice and the SP is better option for them,” he said, adding that there is a deep resentment among north Indians over the agitation against them and the SP is well connected with this community.

Though the party does not have the strength to win the Pune seat, Ahmed sees this as an opportunity to strengthen its base in the region and make itself noticeable by going all alone.


“Political parties have affiliations to certain sections of society and don’t let go any chance to exploit them. There are political parties that cannot win the elections, but want to have their pie and make themselves noticeable,” a political observer said.


“Smaller parties jointly make a big difference as they grab a substantial chunk of votes that can, otherwise, determine the result,” another observer said.


The Bharatiya Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM), the Republican faction led by Prakash Ambedkar, had bagged 5,321 votes in 2004. “The party has a presence in the city and we can’t disappoint our voters by staying out of the battle,” a leader said.

Iboyaima Laithangbam


IMPHAL, Feb 26 : Most of the political parties in Manipur have started making political capital out of the murder of three government officials by militants of the NSCN(IM), which is holding talks with the Union government after signing a ceasefire 12 years ago.

The kidnapped officials were brutally murdered by some militants on February 17.

Leaders of the Manipur unit of the BJP called on Governor Gurubachand Jagat on Wednesday. During the 45-minute talks, the leaders submitted a memorandum demanding a short spell of the President’s rule.

The memorandum alleged that the present coalition of the Congress and the CPI had failed to administer the State according to the provisions of the Constitution and that government machineries had collapsed. The government could do nothing to close down the three designated camps of the NSCN(IM) in Manipur, where the ceasefire is not in operation.

Besides there are reports of increased looting, extortion of illegal taxes and killing.

Rein in NSCN(IM) The Manipur People’s Party has demanded declaration of the NSCN(IM) as a terrorist organisation since it has admitted to murdering the government officials. The leaders also said the intention was to ignite the communal tinder.

They also demanded direct intervention by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram.

In Parliament, the Communist Party of India MP Gurudas Dasgupta asked the Centre to rein in the NSCN(IM). Speaking during zero hour, he said the NSCN(IM) was violating the ground rules of the ceasefire.

Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has been camping in New Delhi to meet Mr. Chidambaram and Defence Minister A.K.Antony to talk about the situation stemming from the murder of the three officials.

Reports say that he will demand custody of the NSCN(IM) men responsible for the murders.


Day curfew lifted Day curfew has been lifted from the two districts of Manipur. However, night curfew remains in force as the protesters are planning torchlight processions.

Sit-in protests are continuing throughout the State.

New Delhi, Feb 25 : Taking a serious view of the failure of the SP general secretary to appear before it, a Delhi Court on Wednesday gave Amar Singh a final opportunity to depose on Thursday in a criminal complaint filed by him in a two-year-old cheating case.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Kaweri Baweja asked Singh to appear before the court to record his statement.

"It is stated by the counsel for complainant that the matter be adjourned for tomorrow. Time and again, opportunity has been given to the complainant but he has failed to appear in the court. Today no application was filed, neither any reasonable ground has been mentioned," the court said.

A final opportunity has been given to the complainant to appear before the court, the judge said putting the matter for hearing for on Thursday. During the proceeding, Anoop Kumar Sharma, counsel for the accused sought the court's directions to close the
evidence in the matter as Singh had failed to depose despite being given several opportunities.

On February 20, the court had imposed a cost of Rs 5,000 on the Rajya Sabha MP for his failure to depose before the judge. Singh had registered a case against Barun Kumar Verma in June 4, 2007 alleging he tried to extort money from him in connection with hearing of a case in the Supreme Court relating to SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

"BSP founder Kanshi Ram would have never thought birthdays will be utilised for collecting money," he claimed, adding he was against "politics on poverty".

Last year, Gandhi, during a visit to Vidharba on July 18, was moved by the living conditions of dalit woman Kalawati Bandurkar and later highlighted the case in Parliament.

Mumbai, Feb 25 : Bharatiya Janata Party leader Lal Krishan Advani on Tuesday said that public funding of elections would be part of its agenda for governance, a step towards rooting out corruption from politics.

“The seeds of corruption are sown in fund-raising during election campaign and expenses are growing as time passes [on]. In some countries, it is the government which bears the entire expenses,” said L.K.Advani, speaking at a party function in Mumbai in which he was handed over a cheque of Rs 11 crore for election fund for which 40,600 people contributed.

Advani said public funding of elections was the need of the hour to root out corruption.

“Ours is a vibrant democracy and hence the menace of corruption should go. Public funding of elections will be part of our governance,” he said adding public and private funding of elections cannot go together.

Advani, on the occasion said: “In Nagpur, the party has collected four crore rupees and another Rs. one crore has come from Jalgaon. This has always been the approach of the party to collect funds from active members as well as supporters of the party,” Advani said on Tuesday.

During his speech, Advani remembered the late part strategist and popular leader Pramod Mahajan while being in Mumbai.

“I am speaking at this Shanmukhanand hall for the first time for a party function in the absence of Pramod Mahajan,” Advani said.

Meanwhile, Advani also stated that it’s all well with Shiv Sena-BJP alliance.

“Alliance partners have to adjust due to delimitation of constituencies. There is no problem. In fact, the NDA has been strengthened with new partners in Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Assam joining in.”

Also present on speaking at the function, BJP leader Gopinath Munde criticised Nationalist Congress Party president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar by calling him a “confused leader”.

“Even he himself and God do not know which party he will align with. He dreams of becoming Prime Minister! I have been hearing about his ambition since my childhood,” Munde said.

Speculations of a possible Shiv Sena-NCP tie up increased after a reported meeting between Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray and Pawar. However, the Bala Sahab Thackeray, however, denied the meeting saying Pawar was his old family friend and they did not require a secret meeting place.

IMPHAL, Feb 25 : A team of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Manipur pradesh met the state Governor Gurbachan Jagat and submitted a memorandum to him in regard to the sensless and brutal killing of Dr. Th Kishan, the SDO of Kasom Khullen and his two subordinate staff by the NSCN(IM). Various matters relating to the law and order situation in the state were also discussed during the meeting which carried on for about 45 minutes.

The BJP team consisted of Dr. H Borobabu Singh, the state president, N Ibohal Singh, state vice president, Dr. S Dhananjoy Singh, state vice president, M Bhorot Singh, ex-MLA, Prof S Tikendra Singh, state general secretary and L Ibomcha Singh, ex-MLA.

Among others the team questioned the presence of three camps of the NSCN(IM) at Chandel, Tamenglong and Senapati districts of Manipur in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement between the outfit and the government of India.

The memorandum stated that the NSCN(IM) was harassing the people of the state in the name of the ceasefire pact, which in fact was not applicable in Manipur. As such the government should either review of scrap the ceasefire agreement if such killings continue in the state, it said.

It also urged the authorities to ensure that the culprits involved in the crime belonging to the NSCN(IM) and also the three officials who were abducted by the outfit and are now in the custody of the Assam Rifles be handed over to the state government for the law to take its course.

Shillong, Feb 24 : Dealing a blow to the Opposition Congress, an independent MLA who was part of the Opposition Meghalaya United Alliance, switched allegiance and joined the ruling NCP-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance.

Independent Legislator Limison Sangma met Chief Minister Donkupar Roy Monday night and informed him of the decision to support the ruling alliance.

With Sangma joining MPA, the strength of the ruling coalition in the current 59-member Assembly has gone up from 32 to 33 while the number of Legislators of Congress-led Opposition has been reduced to 26 from 27.

By-poll to the Umroi seat, which fell vacant after the demise of EK Mawlong, is slated for February 26.

Sangma, who represents Tikrikilla constituency in the Assembly, told reporters that he took the decision to join MPA after consultation with his supporters and workers.

Sangma said after sitting in the Opposition for almost a year and observing the development activities undertaken by the MPA government, especially in Garo Hills, he decided to shift allegiance to the ruling alliance.

Sangma hoped that his decision to support the government would result in further development of his constituency.

A Congress spokesman neither confirmed nor denied the development, but said, they were yet to get any official communication from the MLA.

Insurers say Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is also faltering due to lack of awareness, rival packages at state levels

Maitreyee Handique and Teena Jain

New Delhi: A federal health insurance scheme for the poor that the Congress party-led government launched last year is facing trouble in several states, including ones where the Congress or its allies are in power.
Some of these states are rolling out rival packages and, in some cases, scrapping it ahead of national polls due by May."

Bihar, Feb 23 : Union Railway Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav has declared that he will contest the coming Lok Sabha elections from the Saran constituency.


Delimitation of constituencies has led to a rechristening of the Chapra seat, currently represented by Lalu, as Saran.

While denouncing the communal policies of Bharatiya Janata Party, Lalu claimed that the people would welcome the “developmental” policies of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA).

He asserted that the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L K Advani would never succeed.

He assured that the RJD, if given a chance in the coming polls, would support the Constitution Amendment Bill to give the poor classes the benefits of reservation.

MYSORE: As the ouster of Mallikarjuna Kharge as Opposition leader in the Legislative Assembly to accommodate former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah is almost certain, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is getting ready to encash on it.

The party feels that the change of guard in the Congress
legislative party would help mobilise dalits in favour of the BSP. The dalits had rallied behind the Congress in the last Assembly elections.

The BSP, that failed to open its account in the state in the Assembly elections with dalits rallying behind Kharge, is planning to organise the community and educate them on the Congress betrayal.

The decision to replace a loyal Congress worker and nine-time MLA like Kharge to keep Siddaramaiah in good humour has invited the wrath of various dalit organisations.

They also staged a protest in front of the Congress office in Mysore, warning the party bigwigs that it would disturb the party’s traditional vote bank.

The BSP, which is planning to field its candidates in all 28 seats in the state, has set a target to increase its vote bank by 3.5 to 8 per cent in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The party that managed to get 85,000 votes in the last Parliament election in Chamrajnagar (reserved) Lok Sabha constituency, is looking at fielding a senior dalit leader capable of wooing all backward communities and Muslims. Sources said that the party leaders would decide the poll strategy at the national executive meeting to be held on March 1 and organise assembly segmentwise rallies in Mysore region before March 15.

Ahmedabad, Feb 23 :  In his third visit to Gujarat in the recent past, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi visited Patan on Sunday evening. There, he met Dalit youths and discussed various issues affecting them.

After visiting Kutch in the day, Rahul arrived at Patan in the evening. He met around 1,000 Dalit youths at the Uma Bhavan Hall and discussed with them various issues like education, employment and participation of youth in politics. Congress leader Shailesh Parmar, who accompanied the young leader during his visit to Patan, said, "He discussed various issues like commercialisation of education, injustice to Dalits and unemployment with the Dalit youth."

While answering a query on the low representation of women in the state Assembly, Rahul reportedly criticised the fewer Assembly sessions called by the state government.

After the meeting with the Dalits, Rahul met other people of the town at Subhash Chowk and discussed various issues of the district. He also met youths at the Congress Membership Booths. He also garlanded the statues of Dr B R Ambedkar and Subhash Chandra Bose.

However, the local BJP leadership objected to Rahul garlanding the statues of Ambedkar and Bose and not those of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. To register their protest, the local BJP leaders garlanded the statues of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel and washed them with water.

SURAT/NEW DELHI: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Saturday urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from commenting on the state's economic initiatives but the Congress retorted by terming Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pro-corporate, saying it had little concern for the masses.

"Some people come from Delhi and give us advice on the Tata Nano project without full information," Modi said in Surat.

He was reacting to Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi's criticism of the Gujarat government. Gandhi, while visiting Surat Feb 14, had said the Modi government had doled out special favours to Tata Motors for shifting its small car Nano project from West Bengal to Sanand.

In reply, the Congress said the basic problem with the BJP is its ideology which is pro-corporate and has nothing to do with the masses.

"It is the fault of the party ideology which supports the corporate world. It is extremely sad that in the land of Mahatma Gandhi, the corporate world is favoured who are earning crores of rupees," Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said in New Delhi.

"The Modi government has nothing to do with medium and small scale industries," he added.

However, the chief minister faulted the Congress-led central government for not doing enough for workers in the diamond polishing units, most of which in India are based in Surat, who have lost their jobs due to the global economic meltdown.

"When it is a question of providing alternative employment to recession-hit diamond workers the central government should refrain from playing politics
. The state government is in contact with diamond traders of Canada so that the workers may get some work," he said at a public meeting.

Modi accused the central government of "perpetrating injustice on the state".

"The government in Delhi is openly anti-Gujarat. It is doing nothing but just throwing spanner in the works of developmental projects that the state government has undertaken," he said.

Imphal, February 23 : Alleging that the SPF Government led by Congress party has failed miserably in protecting lives and properties of citizens and is no longer a popular Government, BJP has demanded resignation of Chief Minister O Ibobi on moral ground.

Addressing a press meet this afternoon, State BJP president and former Speaker Haobam Borbabu asserted that the abduction of six employees including the Kasom Khullen SDO from Ukhrul DC office complex and subsequent mur- der of the SDO and his two staff at Taphou in Senapati district was a clear indication that the State Govern- ment's intelligence, police and other law enforcing machinery have become dysfunctional.

Failure of the Government to book the culprits till date on one side and the vague claim of rescuing/pulling up the other three surviving abducted employees only show the Government's lack of concern on the matter, Borbabu asserted.

The Government's announcement of ex-gratia as if human lives can be measured with money and the vague claim of rescuing the surviving abducted employees aimed at pacifying the people's movement is not acceptable, the State BJP president said.

In case the rebel group NSCN (IM) is found to be involved in the murder, it is the logical responsibility of the State Government to keep a close watch on the peace talks between the Government of India and the rebel group, he asserted.

Suspension of the Ukhrul DC was not enough.

Had Works Minister K Ranjit questioned absence of the DC during his official tour to Ukhrul district on February 14, the tragic murder could have been averted.

As such Ranjit is another person liable to be booked in the murder case.

BJP national leaders have been apprised of the brutal murder so that the matter is put up in the ongoing session of Parliament, Borbabu said.

The State BJP will launch various forms of intense agitation in case the Government fails to book the culprits within five days, declared the former Speaker.

Former Chief Minister W Nipamacha also addressed the press meet.

"Seat sharing and other poll issues would be decided at a meeting here Feb 23, involving the respective presidents of all the six parties," he added.

Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, may have taken his words back in which he scolded MPs for their unruly behaviour, but the frequent disruption of Parliament by members of various parties on different issues instead of any quality discussion for public concern proves the devaluation of the dignified constitutional institution by our so-called lawmakers, which has now become a part of Indian democracy.
  The Speaker on Thursday (Feb 19) criticised Members of Parliament for creating hullabaloo, saying they didn’t deserve even a paisa of public money. ‘I hope all of you who don’t want this House to function should be defeated in the election. You have to be taught a lesson; people will give a fit verdict,’ Chatterjee had stated. His outburst found justified by many concerned citizens.

In a democracy, the establishment and institutionalisation of Parliament is the key to hold the government accountable and make the nation function. However, over the years, the criminalisation of politics as more and more goons becoming elected representatives, and bitter political controversies are reflections of the defacement of our parliamentary authority.

Bribery and corruption, which was only an outside affair, entered this temple of democracy last year on July 22 during the Trust Vote, when three BJP MPs waved one crore currency notes inside the House alleging some Congress and Samajwadi Party MPs for offering huge sums to save the Congress-led UPA government during the trust vote.

Furthermore, the falling standard of our political class can also be judged with the quality of discussion and scanty attendance. Many of our Parliamentarians preferred to stay at home or go on holidays when serious business sessions were on table. Many important bills went passed without any formal discussions and some like the ‘women reservation bill’ remain at its prologue stage in the absence of political will.

For instance, there were hardly 20 MPs present in the House on Friday (Feb 20) when the discussion of government’s interim budget for 2009-10 was on the table. As per a 2008 government report – every minute of parliamentary proceedings costs Rs. 34,500 and amid such disruption of House one can imagine how much money go waste from the public account. Speaker is bound to adjourn the House due to lack of quorum and Chatterjee’s rage is well justified.

The 15th Lok Sabha elections is due in April-May this year and every single voter should take account of their representatives, as at the end of the day it is us who choose the individual or party to govern the nation. If we elect someone with criminal charges without any standing for public cause, we deserve such distracting session in Parliament devoid of any spirit to strengthen parliamentary democracy.

Surat, Feb 21 : In what could turn out to be face-off between the two heavyweights of Indian politics, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi for his remarks calling the Gujarat government 'pro-rich'.

“None can stop Nano…Congress cannot stop Nano,” Modi said. Modi was speaking in a pre-election rally at Surat where he criticised Rahul for making a statement referring to Tata’s Nano project being shifted into the state from West Bengal.

In a statement, Rahul had talked about job losses in the diamond industry in Gujarat, on one hand, and the state government passing on sops to the big industries on the other.

Reacting to Modi’s comment, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh said, “It is extremely unfortunate that on Gandhi’s land who always favoured mass production common men are languishing and big industrialists are flourishing. I am not accusing Modi for this because this is what the ideology of BJP is. The problem is with their ideology.”

NEW DELHI, Feb 21 : With elections looming, the Centre on Friday made a fresh pitch for tabling in Parliament the findings of the Justice Banerjee Commission report which ruled out any conspiracy in the fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra in 2002, which resulted in the killing of 58 kar sevaks and the subsequent widespread anti-Muslim violence.

The finding of the Justice Banerjee Commission, which was appointed by the railway minister Lalu Prasad even when the Nanavati Commission was probing the killing of kar sevaks, undercuts BJP’s claim that the fire was the result of a premeditated attack by fundamentalists belonging to the minoroty community.

The findings have not been tabled in Parliament because of the order of the Gujarat High Court, passed in response to a Gujarat government plea, forbidding its disclosure.

The fresh effort to get the findings released comes just after a court dropped the POTA charges against the Godhra fire accused.

Unsuccessful in its attempt to table the report during the last monsoon session, additional solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam took a fresh shot by requesting Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam for permission to place the Justice Banerjee report in Parliament.

The Bench, however, told the ASG that as the matter was pending before the HC, the Centre would do well to pursue it there. Not to be outdone, the ASG further convinced the Bench about the urgency of the matter — though he did not mention the impending general elections — and got an order from the SCrequesting the high court to decide the Centre’s plea expeditiously, preferably within six weeks.

This means, the HC decision would be expected by the middle of April, which would suit the gameplan of the ruling coalition to score brownie points over the opposition NDA.

More so, since the apex court had backfooted the UPA constituents in September last year when it had refused to restrain the Gujarat government from going public with the Justice Nanavati Commission report, which had not only given a clean chit to the Narendra Modi government in the riots but had also taken a view opposite to that of Justice Banerjee on the Godhra train burning case.

While Justice Banerjee had disbelieved any pre-planning to throw inflammable material into the Sabarmati Express at Godhra station, Justice Nanavati had unearthed a clear conspiracy to torch the train by the accused, most of whom were from the Muslim community.

The Modi government had on March 6, 2002, set up an inquiry commission under retired Supreme Court judge, Justice G T Nanavati, to go into the riots. After Lalu Prasad became the railway minister in the UPA government, a Railway Committee headed by another retired SC judge, Justice U C Banerjee, was set up to identify the cause of the fire in the train and to suggest measures for the prevention of such incidents in future.

Two months after Justice Banerjee submitted the interim report on January 17, 2005, a petition was filed by a person claiming to be a passenger on Sabarmati Express on the date of incident, requesting the Gujarat HC to quash the setting up of Banerjee Committee. The HC had stayed implementation of the interim report.

On March 3, 2006, the Justice Banerjee Committee submitted its final report but the HC stayed the implementation of this report as well and restrained the Centre from making it public, thus preventing it from placing it before Parliament.

NEW DELHI, Feb 21 : The government suffered a major setback in Rajya Sabha on Friday as the opposition led by BJP and CPM did not let the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill to be introduced and passed.

The Bill was passed by Lok Sabha last December amidst din along with 16 other Bills.

On Friday, attempts by the government to reach out to CPM and BJP also failed. Brinda Karat of CPM refused to withdraw three amendments moved by her on the ground that the Bill in its present form looks like a “protection of corruption Bill”. BJP also told foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee that it would not accept dilution in the definition of corruption.

BJP has only agreed with one provision in the bill that prior sanction be taken to prosecute retired public servants. Even Left does not have problem with this amendment.

It is believed that a section of leaders in Congress were also opposed to letting the bill pass in the present form.

One of Karat’s crucial amendment is to stop deletion of section 13(1) (d) III of the PCA. This section says that a public servant is said to commit the offence of criminal misconduct if while holding office he obtains for any person any valuable thing or pecuniary advantage without any public interest. Government argument in seeking deletion of the clause is that it puts under investigation decisions of senior bureaucrats that involve “public and commercial interests”.

Another amendment by Karat relates to a provision in the bill that deletes the last part of the definition of “known sources of income” of a public servant. The deletion would do away with requirement of a public servant to intimate his “lawful income” to authorities as per the rules applicable.

Backroom parleys on the bill had begun as early as Monday. Yet, the three amendments were moved by Karat.

Apart from the amendments, she was also demanding that a legislation of such an importance be sent to parliamentary standing committee. She was approached by Congress’s V Narayanswamy to withdraw the amendments. On her refusal, she was requested to meet minister of state in PMO, Prithviraj Chavan. But she refused. On Friday, when MPs met in the Business Advisory Committee meeting, both BJP and CPM MPs demanded that the bill be sent to the standing committee. Karat again refused to withdraw her amendments.
Then Mukherjee tried to convince BJP leaders but with no results.

Oommen A. Ninan

Slashes lending rate on farm loans to 8 per cent

MUMBAI: On the heels of earlier measures announced by State Bank of India (SBI) for the home loan and small and medium enterprises (SME) segments in early February, it has been decided to offer concessions in interest rates for new car purchasers and farmers.

SBI has decided to freeze the interest rates on new car loans for one year at 10 per cent annually.

Interest rate will be reset after the freeze period at the applicable card rate contracted as on the date of sanction under the respective new car loan schemes.

The SBI car loan scheme offers the longest repayment period of up to 84 months without any advance EMI (equated monthly instalment).

“SBI calculates interest on loans on daily outstanding balance, which reduces the interest burden on the borrower as against the monthly outstanding balance basis or the flat rate basis as charged by few others,” the bank said in a release The new car loans will be on offer from February 23 until May 31 across India and the interest rate will be reset on these loans at the contracted rate after June 1, 2010.

Package for farmers In a bid to save farmers from falling prey to distress sale of their farm produce, the bank has decided to reduce the rate of interest for loans to farmers against cold storage and warehouse receipts to 8 per cent annually with immediate effect.

These loans, till now, were being charged interest ranging from 10.5 per cent to 14.25 per cent, depending on the quantum of loan sanctioned. The loans will be made available to farmers, irrespective of whether the farmers were given crop loans for raising the produce or not.

The 8-per cent interest announced will be at fixed rate for 12 months in respect of loans sanctioned and disbursed till the end of May.

The package is being implemented pan-India, the release added.

NEW DELHI, feb 21 : The BJP on Friday demanded that the government clarify on a statement made by the former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri, that India and Pakistan were close to arriving at an agreement to resolve the Kashmir issue.

BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said Mr. Kasuri had talked about a near-agreement on withdrawal of Indian troops from the Siachen, on the contentious Sir Creek question and even on Kashmir. He said the party had no problem if backchannel diplomacy was used to resolve contentious issues, but “the country should have been taken into confidence.”

He was asked why the BJP-led governments with Vajpayee at the helm between 1998 and 2004 did not take the country into confidence on the former External Affair Minister Jaswant Singh’s many rounds of negotiations with the U.S. and even on the reasons for failure of the Agra Summit.

Mr. Javadekar said that in the case of the Agra Summit differences had arisen because Pakistan insisted on treating infiltrators coming into Kashmir from Pakistan as “freedom fighters” while India saw them as terrorists.

According to Mumbai Police, Pandey, arrested for his role in a bombing in Malegaon last year, told them that RSS general secretary Mohan Bhagwat and RSS Muslim wing leader Indresh Kumar had received funds from ISI.

Ahmad said: “It must also be investigated whether the ISI funded the divisive politics as well.”

Pandey alias Swami Amritanand, a self-styled Hindu religious leader, is among the 11 people arrested for their alleged role in the bombing in the Maharashtra town Sep 29 that claimed six lives.

New Delhi, Feb 20 : Few MPs attended the Lok Sabha Friday when the house discussed the government’s interim budget for 2009-10.

Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj and Minister of State for Finance Pawan Kumar Bansal were the only ministers at 4 p.m. for the discussion that had begun earlier in the day.

Only two of the 12 MPs in the house then in the house were from the opposition. The number dropped to eight within 10 minutes, before touching double digit again.

Shortly after 4, Devendra Prasad Yadav, who was in the chair, said: “I have to go for an urgent work. No member in the panel of chairmen is available. So I request C.K. Chandrappan (CPI) to chair the proceedings.”

Chandrappan later told IANS that the attendance had been poor since the start of the debate, perhaps because many MPs may have left Delhi due to the weekend and the Monday Shivratri holiday.

Telugu Desam Party parliamentary party leader Yerran Naidu entered the house at 4.15 p.m. but left almost immediately after seeing the near empty treasury and opposition benches.

It was only at 4.50 p.m. when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi walked in.

Communist Party of India-Marxist MP Suresh Kurup entered at 5.10 p.m. but left after around 30 minutes.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee reached the house at 5.30 p.m., preceded by Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

The number of Bharatiya Janata Party MPs also rose to six. There were just 20 MPs when the house adjourned at 6.38 p.m.

Earlier, on Feb 13, the Lok Sabha was adjourned over two hours ahead of the scheduled time due to lack of quorum.

Leader claims no cracks in party, workers think otherwise

Kohima, Feb 20 : The Congress has strongly refuted claims that fissures in the party leadership was responsible for the resignation of four of its legislators from the Assembly to join the Nagaland People’s Front (NPF), the largest constituent of the ruling Democratic Alliance of Nagaland Former Congress Legislature Party leader and MLA I. Imkong said there was no rift in the party leadership and these claims were “absolutely” ridiculous. The sole objective of spreading these rumours is to create division in the party, he added. Peeved by the claims of the NPF and the defected legislators, Imkong said chief minister Neiphiu Rio is doling out crores of rupees from the state’s exchequer to buy the MLAs at the expense of common people. Asked if more Congress MLAs would resign, the former CLP leader said the party was closely monitoring the latest situation in the state. “We don’t care if anyone wanted to resign,” Imkong said. He said a CLP meeting would be held on Saturday to chalk out strategies, but flatly denied that change of leadership in the CLP and the Pradesh Congress Committee is imminent in view of the resignation of four of its members. “The party is solidly united. There is no crack in the party,” he said. He added that the party workers have expressed support to the leadership of CLP leader Chingwang Konyak and PCC president K.V. Pusa.  However, some Congress workers said more MLAs would quit the party if the leadership was not changed immediately. Congress sources said there is a crack in the party leadership and the situation can be corrected if the leadership is changed. But the PCC president said both the CLP members and the PCC have expressed their confidence and support to him and Konyak. “We have the support of our party members,” Pusa said. Last Friday, two Congress MLAs, Kejong Chang and Aloh Konyak, resigned from the Assembly and joined the NPF. Last night, after much speculation, another two Congress legislators, Azheto Sumi from Dimapur-III and Deo Nukhu from Chizami constituency under Phek, quit the Assembly and joined the NPF. Speaker Kiyanielie Peseyie immediately accepted their resignation. NPF sources said more Congress MLAs would resign to join them.  The legislators who quit have cited internal crisis as the reason for their resignation.  The Congress, in the meantime, has asked the Centre to initiate an inquiry into the “cash for MLAs” scam by the CBI or a committee headed by a judge of the Supreme Court or the high court. The PCC and CLP said the four MLAs were paid Rs 5 crore each. The NPF, however, refuted the allegations.  On Tuesday, after a closed door meeting of the PCC and DCC, a team led by Pusa met Governor K. Sankaranarayanan and submitted a memorandum requesting him to call in either the CBI or constitute an inquiry committee to probe into the “cash for MLAs” scam.

he Nationalist Congress Party can claim to be doing well in Meghalaya at all levels. While sharing the assembly with the United Democratic Party as part of the Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government, it has recently been able to defeat the Congress convincingly in the elections to the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council. The district councils in Meghalaya had been evolved to protect the traditions, cultures and rights of the people, but have rapidly become new sites of political battles and testing grounds for regional parties.

The NCP has won 19 of the total 29 seats of the GHADC, an absolute majority against the Congress’s five. Given that non-tribal candidates are not welcome in these elections, the NCP may be justified in seeing its triumph in terms of having established “a stronghold” in the Garo Hills. It has added that this will lead to a victory in the Lok Sabha elections. Leaving long projections aside, talking about strongholds is also to risk certain paradoxes. While the NCP will form the executive committee in the GHADC, and the MPA partners will form the one for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council, the Congress will be forming the executive committee for the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council.

Patna, Feb 20 : As is his wont the Union fertilizer minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, is once again hell bent upon spoiling the ‘party’––read Alliance here. But he is no different from the other Dalit leaders of the country.

In 1999 his one vote led to the fall of the then Vajpayee government on the floor of Parliament. Then weeks later he joined the same NDA. But in the NDA he used the same formula of bargaining his position as he is doing today. It was largely because of him that the NDA could not contest the 2000 assembly election unitedly and had to pay the price. The RJD managed to win by a wafer thin majority.

In 2004 he agreed to contest eight seats within the UPA as he was down in the dump following his resignation from the Vajpayee cabinet after the BJP entered into alliance with Mayawati in May 2002. However, during 2004 campaign he said that he resigned in protest against the Gujarat riots, but the truth was that he quit a couple of months after it was all over in Narendra Modi’s state. In fact he was furious over the BJP’s proximity to Mayawati as the BJP-BSP alliance in UP considerably reduced his bargaining position as Dalit leader of national stature within the NDA.

In 2005 assembly election he took another U-turn and refused to join the UPA. He made Muslim chief minister an issue but ended up sending only one Muslim in the state assembly. Last month he unilaterally announced the name of 20 candidates for the coming Lok Sabha election. Out of this only one is Muslim. Though he did not flay Lalu Yadav in 2004 in 2005 assembly election he made him the main target. Even today he is leaving no opportunity to target him. He knows the weakness of Lalu Yadav and the Congress Party. Even a small fraction of Dalit votes is very essential for the UPA.

But the RJD is not in mood to oblige him as it won 22 out of 26 seats it contested last time. However, it also knows that once the UPA gets disintegrated in Bihar the direct beneficiary will be none else but the NDA.

The problem with the Dalit politics in India is that their political leaders are not seriously interested in the issues like communalism or secularism. Rather they are more keen on the empowerment of Dalits. Be it Mayawati or Paswan or anyone else they can join hands with any party which suit their interest. They are of the view that remaining in power is the best bet for the Dalits.

Even the architect of the Indian Constitution, B R Ambedkar, adopted a slightly different approach. More than opposing the British he wanted the emancipation of the Dalits. Given the choice between the British and Brahmins he would go with the former. Even the anti-Brahmin Justice Party of Tamil Nadu followed a different line. The party decided to contest the council election in early 1920s when the Congress was vehemently opposed to it and was busy in Non-Cooperation Movement following the enactment of Rowlatt Act of 1919 and Jallianwala Bagh firing of the same year.

But the tragedy with the present day Dalit politics is that Paswan and Mayawati are not united though their approach is somewhat the same––that is to remain in power or extract as much bargain as possible. Mayawati in UP and Paswan in Bihar, both are in the no-man’s land of politics in the age of Alliances.

Lucknow, Feb 20 : Contrary to the allegations of a tacit understanding between the BSP and the BJP, senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Mayawati on Thursday.

Comparing Mayawati with the Mughal emperors, Tandon alleged that under her, criminals had hijacked the party.

“I had taken a personal initiative for installing Mayawati as the chief minister in 1995 to instill a sense of confidence and pride among Dalits that someone from their ranks can rise to the highest office of the state. But she has disappointed the people,” said Tandon.

“Nobody had visualised a situation where the Dalit movement would create a leader like the Mughal emperors,” he said.

Tandon, who was participating in the general debate on the budget in the Assembly, is the only BJP leader with whom Mayawati had a personal relationship. Until a few years ago, she used to tie rakhi to Tandon. Tandon’s criticism of the chief minister, and its stridency, was therefore unexpected.

Later, in the lobby, several members complimented Tandon for his speech. “Rs 700 crore has been provided in the supplementary budget for three memorials, while a population of 40 lakh in Lucknow has been left at the mercy of god,” he said. “Not a penny has been provided for drinking water and improving the power distribution network in the city.”

The Dalit movement, he said, had created leaders like Dr Ambedkar and Kanshiram, but there can be no place for the most hated kind of feudalism as practiced by the present day Dalit leaders of UP.

He alleged that the party of the Dalits had been hijacked by people like Satish Mishra, Akhilesh Das and mafia-turned-politicians Mukhtar Ansari and Arun Shankar Shukla alias Anna.

Rubbishing the BSP claim that it had abolished jungle raj and established the rule of law, Tandon said: “What message does the BSP want to give to the society by fielding most dreaded mafias and criminals as candidates for the next Lok Sabha polls? Are they the new source of inspiration for the society?”

Speaking about the degeneration of the BSP, Tandon said: “In Brahmin sammelans organised by the ruling party, Satish Mishra claims it is ‘Brahmin Samaj Party’, while in the hoardings put up by Akhilesh Das, BSP is described as ‘Best Secular Party’,” said Tandon.

“There are now three Bahujan Samaj Parties in the state and it is difficult to identify the real BSP.”

“In my six-decade-long public life, I have never seen hoardings of political leaders on public toilets, but such hoardings of the chief minister are a common sight in Lucknow. It is nothing but the most vulgar display of wealth by the rich people who are ruling over the BSP,” he said, adding that Mayawati’s conduct has become a laughingstock for Dalit movement.

New Delhi, Feb 20 : "You do not deserve one paisa of public money," an angry Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said as members of several political parties stormed the Well of Lok Sabha raising a spate of issues and disrupted Question Hour.

So annoyed was the Speaker with the behaviour of some members, he said that he believed Parliament should be adjourned sine die.

"I think Parliament should be adjourned sine die ... public money should not be spent on useless allowances for you," he said as some members of the BSP, BJP, TDP, RPI, PMK and MDMK stormed the Well and raised slogans against the government on several issues.

BSP criticised the UPA government for "being anti-Dalit" as it had "ignored" the backward classes in a new draft legislation on universities introduced in the House.

BJP members joined them on the same issue, while members of PMK and MDMK trooped into the Well demanding that the government make efforts to "stop war" in Sri Lanka. TDP members were also seen raising the Satyam issue.

Angered by the members' behaviour, Chatterjee said "you are behaving in the most condemnable manner. I express my greatest annoyance and condemnation."

The Speaker said he hoped that the people of the country will give a "fit verdict" in the coming elections.

'Yeh Budget phans jayega'

"This budget will not pass... The budget will get stuck," Speaker Somnath Chatterjee warned Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today just before the interim Rail Budget was put to vote.

This threat, of course, was in a lighter vein by the Speaker who was wondering whether his request for railway connectivity of his constituency Seuri with Prantik in West Bengal.

"Speaker ko nahi diya, Budget pass nahi hoga. Aapne Advaniji ko diya, Vayalar Raviji ko diya. Yeh Budget phans jaayega (You have heeded to the requests of L K Advani and Vayalar Ravi and not the Speaker. Budget will not get passed. It will get stuck)," Chatterjee said light-heartedly, prompting laughter in the House.

To this, Prasad promptly said he had announced that the survey for new lines between Prantik-Seuri and Anandpur Sahib-Garhshankar was over and further action was being taken for getting necessary approval to start work on the projects.

"Oh, then it is alright," the Speaker said and asked the Minister to move the Budget for passage.

Chatterjee to brief Bangla MPs

Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, an aggressive votary for observance of rules in the House, will visit Bangladesh this weekend to address the newly-elected MPs there on how to conduct business in Parliament.

"I will talk about the importance of parliamentary democracy, proper functioning of Parliament and our experiences" to the members of the new Bangladesh Parliament, Chatterjee said.

On a lighter note, he said "of course, I cannot talk about the credibility of the Speaker because here I cannot control the House."

The Speaker has, on a regular basis, expressed his anguish over the disruption of proceedings and behaviour of members in the House.

Replying to questions, Chatterjee also blamed the media for highlighting the disruptions more than the proceedings. "Yesterday, (External Affairs Minister) Pranab Mukherjee made some important observations in the House. But the disruptions have received front-page coverage."

New Delhi, Feb 20 : In a major reshuffle in the key committee of the ruling Congress party Thursday night ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad was recalled as party general secretary.

Azad has been given charge of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Puducherry as the party reshuffled Congress Working Committee (CWC), its highest decision-making body.

V. Kishore Chandra Deo has been dropped from the post of general secretary and Karnataka leader Mallikarjun Kharge inducted into the CWC.

The work allocation of the nine general secretaries has also been changed.

Rahul Gandhi will continue to look after Youth Congress and National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Digvijay Singh remains in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. He will also look after the publicity.

Mohsina Kidwai has been given the charge of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh while Mukul Wasnik will be in-charge of the party affairs in Delhi, Rajasthan and would also look after Sewa Dal.

Prithviraj Chavan will continue to be AICC general secretary in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, he has been made the party in-charge of Haryana.

Janardan Dwivedi will continue to look after organisation. He also gets new charges like organisational elections, training and programme implementation.

Congress treasurer Motilal Vora gets another responsibility as party in-charge of administration.

New Delhi, Feb 20 : Former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammad Azharuddin formally joined the Congress on Thursday and is expected to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

Azharuddin addressed the press at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday evening and clarified that the party high command will decide from where he will contest elections.

He said he has always been a fan of the Congress and late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.

"I am quite happy to be in front of a large gathering after a long time. I have been a fan on late Rajiv Gandhi. It is the only party that has made so many sacrifices," said Azharuddin.

"I want to work in the larger interest of the party. I am not the captain anymore so I can't decide on whether I will contest in polls. That is for party high command to decide," Azhar added.

Azhar will probably contest from one of the three constituencies falling in Hyderabad in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

He is expected to take on the Congress ally in Andhra Pradesh, the All India Majlis-e Ittihad al-Muslimin's (MIM) growing influence in the state and is likely to be projected as the party's new Muslim face.

Azharuddin was introduced to the press as the latest entrant to the Congress by senior party leader Veerappa Moily.

"Sonia Gandhi is very happy to have Azhar in the party. He has firm belief in the secular and forward looking policies of the party," said Moily.