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RAIPUR, Oct 31: Ajit Pramod Kumar Jogi, bureaucrat-turned-politician, is perhaps the only person in the ......more From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 31: President of the oldest political organisation of India, Ms Sonia Gandhi, has, of late, ....more Excelsior Political Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The Congress party’s forthcoming multi-tiered process of the presidential elections ....more
Rescuing Rajkumar CHENNAI, Oct 31: Dr R Rajagopalan, who took over as the new Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu....more |
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Vajpayee assures NEW DELHI, Oct 31: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today assured the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister of all assistance to accelerate the pace of development in the state.....more
SC reserves judgement NEW DELHI, Oct 31: After more than a month long arguments, the Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on a bunch of petitions challenging the dropping of TADA charges againt associates of forest brigand Veerappan to secure the release of Kannada film icon Rajkumar, held hostage since July 30.......more CBI registers another PATNA, Oct 31: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered case in the multi-crore fodder scam, involving fraudulent withdrawals of Rs ....more Status of women no better NEW DELHI, Oct 31; Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi today said that 33 per cent....more |
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RAIPUR, Oct 31: Ajit Pramod Kumar Jogi, bureaucrat-turned-politician, is perhaps the only person in the country who has risen from the post of District Collector to become the Chief Minister of a state — Chattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh. The 54-year-old Congress leader entered politics in 1986 at the behest of his mentor and the then Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Arjun Singh after resigning as the District Collector of Indore. Born to a teacher couple of a missionary school in Pendra tehsil in Bilaspur district, Jogi resigned from IAS and started his political career getting straight into the Rajya Sabha because of his tribal background. He served Rajya Sabha for two terms and was elected to Lok Sabha from Raigar constituency in 1998. Media savvy and good orator, Jogi, considered close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, had been the party spokesman for more than two years. During his first term as Rajya Sabha member, Jogi undertook a "Padyatra" of Chhatisgarh region covering nearly 1500 kms to have the first hand experience of the problems faced by the people of the tribal belt. It was Jogi who in 1989-90 drafted the Tendu Patta policy and is largely credited for raising bonus to Tendu leave pluckers from Rs 15 to Rs 35. Jogi got his school education from Pendra and later completed his Bachelor of Engineering (BE) Degree with gold medal from Maulana Azad College of technology, Bhopal, in 1967. In 1968, Jogi qualified for the Indian Police Service (IPS) and in 1970, he joined the coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS). Married to Dr Renu, an eye specialist at the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital in Indore, the couple have a son. Their daughter Anusha committed suicide on May 12 this year. Widely travelled, Jogi has also two books to his credit—‘The role of District Collector’ and ‘Administration of peripheral areas.’ (PTI) |
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SPECIAL REPORT From B L Kak NEW DELHI, Oct 31: President of the oldest political organisation of India, Ms Sonia Gandhi, has, of late, become defiant and a bit aggressive, too. She does not fight shy calling the shots even after the growth, albeit not disturbing, in the number of her critics within her Congress party in recent months. Her critics are unhappy over the emergence of a well-knit coterie around her. Of course, Ms Sonia Gandhi has, in the past fortnight-and particularly during the last three days-dropped sufficient hints about her unwillingness to dissolve her coterie. But, at the same time, she has issued a stern warning to the members of the coterie not to act as her ‘instructors’. Two senior Congress leaders, Mr Arjun Singh and Mr Madhavrao Scindia, who are also counted among the members of the coterie, found themselves in an unenviable position when Ms Sonia reportedly told them to avoid sending out wrong signals vis-à-vis the appointment of the first Congress Chief Minister of the newly-created Chattisgarh State. On this issue, Ms Sonia had clearly indicated her intention to depend more on the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Digvijay Singh, than on others. Mr Arjun Singh and Mr Madhavrao Scindia are political heavyweights from Madhya Pradesh, the State out which Chattisgarh was carved out as a new State. These two leaders, who do not want Mr Digvijay Singh to continue as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, had tried Ms Sonia Gandhi to depend on them for paving the way for a trouble-free selection of the candidate for the post of Chief Ministership of Chattisgarh. And in this race, yet another political stalwart from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh, Mr Kamal Nath, also tried to motivate Ms Sonia. Senior Congress leader of Madhya Pradesh and former Union Minister, Mr VC Shukla, was keen on putting on the mantle of the Chief Ministership of Chattisgarh. Considering the fact that Messrs Arjun Singh, Madhavrao Scindia and Kamal Nath wanted their competitor on the Madhya Pradesh political scene (Mr VC Shukla) to get out of their way by his transfer to Chattisgarh, an attempt was made by them to make Ms Sonia Gandhi drop from her list the name of her favourite, Mr Ajit Jogi. Significantly, however, the ‘madam’ proved herself to be defiant and a bit of aggressive when she repeated her message to Mr Digvijay Singh to ensure the election of AICC spokesman, Mr Ajit Jogi, as the first Chief Minister of Chattisgarh. This, as was expected, has led to deep resentment in the ranks of supporters of Mr VC Shukla, who was reported to have the support of close to one-third of the party’s strength of 48 MLAs. More significant development than this was the fact that Mr Digvijay Singh had been given the most uncomfortable task of rewarding his bete noire, Mr Ajit Jogi, with the Chief Ministership. In the initial stages, Mr Digvijay Singh, had secretly planned to go slow on the task assigned to him. But after his close aides told him that his failure to act in accordance with the wishes of the ‘madam’ can eventually culminate in his ouster, and that too at a time when Mr Kamal Nath appeared very keen on replacing him as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, he (Mr Digvijay Singh) began to work overtime since Saturday to translate the directive from Ms Sonia into reality. Even after the news of discontent (which led to the postponement of the Congress Legislature Party meeting at Raipur on Monday) reached Ms Sonia Gandhi, the message from the Congress high command-Ms Sonia, to be precise-was, once again, dashed off late Monday night to AICC general secretary in charge of Madhya Pradesh, Prabha Rao, and AICC observer, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, directing both of them to ensure Mr Ajit Jogi’s election. By the time this piece of information reached 10 Janpath, the abode of Ms Sonia Gandhi, three developments were reported from Raipur, the capital city of the new State. First, political heavyweights were making a desperate bid for the plums of office. Second, consensus had taken a backseat. Third, the Shukla brothers (Mr Shyam Charan Shukla and his younger brother, Mr VC Shukla) were fighting the most significant battle of their political lives. Ms Sonia did not clear Mr VC Shukla’s name, even when two members of her coterie had pleaded in the latter’ favour. She cleared Mr Ajit Jogi’s name since she wanted a hardcore loyalist and a tribal to head Chattisgarh. Mr Digvijay Singh, too, had proposed that Chattisgarh should have a tribal Chief Minister. But he had not proposed Mr Ajit Jogi’s name. Now that Mr Jogi has been declared elected as the CLP leader, one leader is trying to outwit the other on the loyalty issue. In fact, the propaganda drive has suddenly been launched to justify the selection by Ms Sonia Gandhi. |
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Congress presidential
polls become controversial Excelsior Political Correspondent NEW DELHI, Oct 31: The Congress party’s forthcoming multi-tiered process of the presidential elections has become highly controversial, with the decision of election managers of Ms Sonia Gandhi to perform a wonder in her favour. This will be done by using a grey area in the Congress constitution. How does it matter if their new strategy triggers a bigger commotion? Their decision after all is the right decision and does not violate the party’s constitution. And by using a grey area in the constitution they will give Ms Sonia Gandhi an unfair advantage against her rival, Mr Jitendra Prasada. "We have to think of tomorrow. There is no need to recall the past", a confidant of Ms Sonia Gandhi told me. "Our party’s tomorrow will be safer and brighter under the stewardship of Soniaji", he said. He confirmed that the party, in a departure from past practice, had decided not to mix the votes polled for the two candidates in the State before counting. Hence, the new strategy: Counting will take place State-wise. This mechanism will enable the Sonia camp to know who has voted for whom. Happily for Ms Sonia Gandhi, Mr Ram Niwas Mirsha, chairman of the party’s central election committee, has fully endorsed this mechanism. In fact, some critics of Ms Sonia have termed as a ‘co-author’ of the mechanism, or new strategy. Mr Jitendra Prasada cannot be faulted for his cry against the move. He and his supporters have intensified their campaign against the move, which, they assert, has been publicised by the Sonia camp "only to pressure the voters". Clearly, the decision of the election managers of Ms Sonia will violate the secrecy of the ballot. But who will reverse it ? And who cares for Mr Jitendra Prasada’s pointed reference to the party’s past presidential election ? Ms Sonia Gandhi and her loyalists have no time to spare for examining Mr Prasada’s statement of facts: In the last election, when Mr Sitaram Kesri (who recently breathed his last) was elected Congress president, the ballot papers from all the States were mixed before counting. The party is bound to maintain the secrecy of the ballot. Outwardly, Mr Jitendra Prasada goes about a confident contestant. However, in private conversation, he does admit that the shape of events to come will not favour him. He does not rule out a free-play of muscle power and money in the coming polls. Taking the situation as it is, one thing has become too evident to be missed, namely, Mr Prasada’s decision to contest Mr Sonia’s claims to being the unanimous choice as president of the Congress has clearly signalled a challenge to the paramountcy given to the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty within the Congress. Mr Jitendra Prasada, who had hitherto lent his services and skills to manage the affairs within the party on behalf of the high command, posed the challenge to Ms Sonia even after he had received threats from some unidentified men. Mr Prasada has assessed that Ms Sonia is not fully trained and experienced to hold the high post in the party. He, too, will have to accept the fact that his talk of representing the voice of the ‘ordinary’ worker of the party has not so far offered—and will not offer in the coming days- an effective rallying point. True, Mr Jitendra Prasada is going to face a tough time in his battle against the Sonia camp. It is also true that his support base within the party is not going to expand in the coming day. But he seems to have achieved some success while bringing to the fore a few realities. His decision to join the fray reflects the tendency within the party in support of organisational democracy in the Congress. Second, Ms Sonia Gandhi has done precious little to rid her party of the canker of sycophancy. Third, Ms Sonia, her critics say, is not troubled by the means that her aides adopt to put down various inner-party debates that impliedly question her leadership. Fourth, Ms Sonia, to quote Mr Jitendra Prasada, has been, on more than one occasion, seen as promoting the leader-is-supreme culture for "her own self-preservation". There is no denying that Ms Sonia Gandhi has the charisma, which her immediate rival in the poll arena lacks. At the same time, Ms Sonia cannot absolve herself of the responsibility for what one media commentator aptly termed as "vulgar display of loyalty" to the leader that was witnessed when Mr Prasada filed his nomination papers at the AICC headquarters. |
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Rescuing Rajkumar will be
my first priority, CHENNAI, Oct 31: Dr R Rajagopalan, who took over as the new Director General of Police of Tamil Nadu, today said rescuing Kannada actor Dr Rajkumar held hostage by forest brigand Veerappan will be his first priority. In an informal chat with reporters after formally taking charge, Dr Rajagopalan expressed confidence that the Kannada matinee idol would be rescued soon. He would consult his senior police colleagues involved in the rescue mission as also seek guidance from the State Government in the matter. The state had one of the finest police force and there was no reason why Dr Rajkumar could not be rescued soon, he added. Strengthening the investigative machanism would invite his utmost attention, he added. He believed in simple living and high thinking and doing good to everyone. His credo would be to make the Tamil Nadu police one of absolute devotion to duty and integrity, he added. (UNI) |
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Status of women no better even after 33 pc reservation NEW DELHI, Oct 31; Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Maneka Gandhi today said that 33 per cent reservation for women in panchayats had failed to better their status in society as only the relatives of politicians have made it to the top leaving the common women unempowered. "Except for two per cent of women panchayat representatives, the remaining are relatives of ex-panchayat leaders. Political involvement of women still remains elusive and this has made no difference to the status of women," Gandhi said at a conference on `corporate initiatives for promoting gender equality organised by SCOPE. Out of the over 800 Members of Parliament (MPs), only 46 were women, she said adding Indian society was still very much bound by a male-dominated world view and an attitudinal change and sesitisation to the problems of women was needed to achieve total equality between the sexes. Calling for a change in the mindset in the corporate sector, Gandhi said it was necessary to recognise the responsibilities and pressures that women had with regard to family and child. Women friendly policies have to be introduced and necessary infrastructure created to ensure that women able to discharge their functions efficiently, she added. (PTI) |
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