Excelsior... Nation

SPECIAL REPORT
Congress chief being lionized
Why didn’t the ‘Sonia card’ click in Bengal, UP?

From B L Kak

Greater need for civil,
military liaison: Army

NEW DELHI, May 16: Expressing concern over the increasing activities of Pakistan’s Inter Service Intelligence agency (ISI) in the capital, Army today said there was a need for greater coordination between civil and military authorities to tackle the problem.....more

CPI(M) rules out
coordination with Cong

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today ruled out the possibility of coordination with the Congress in the post-Assembly ......more

RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav

Laloo rules out taking
over reins in Bihar

PATNA, May 16: RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today ruled out taking over the reins in Bihar saying he had a ‘bigger role’ to.....more

K P S Gill

Govt’s Kashmir peace
initiative destined
to fail, says Gill

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Government’s present peace initiative in Kashmir does not appear to be based.......more

Discharge of 2 Jains in
FERA case quashed

NEW DELHI, May 16: A Delhi court has quashed an order discharging of two Jain hawala.....more

All 24 women MLAs
in new TN Assembly
from secular front

CHENNAI, May 16: All women candidates who made it to the Tamil Nadu Assembly this time belong to ....more

Vaiko

TN Governor was right,
but Jaya should have named somebody: Vaiko

CHENNAI, May 16: Tamil Nadu Governor M Fathima Beevi has strictly followed.....more

SPECIAL REPORT
Congress chief being lionized
Why didn’t the ‘Sonia card’ click in Bengal, UP?

From B L Kak

NEW DELHI, May 15: All eyes are suddenly focussed on 10, Janpath, the abode of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Ms Sonia Gandhi. She is thrilled by the "sudden surrender" to her by many among the disenchanted Congressmen, who, too, like the rest of her loyalists, have deemed it necessary to go all out to give credit to her for the party’s victory in Kerala, Assam and Pondicherry.

But the Congress chief as well as her loyalists have failed to throw up a convincing answer to the question: Why didn’t the ‘Sonia card’ click in West Bengal? They have also failed to answer as to why the Congress party under her stewardship failed to retain its Shahjahanpur Lok Sabha seat in UP in the just-concluded by-election.

The Congress had everything going for it in Shahjehanpur and the loss of the seat only indicates how the party unit in UP has mastered the art of throwing away advantages and saddling itself with liabilities. The seat fell vacant following the death of Mr Jitendra Prasada in January this year. A strong sympathy wave for his family had been unleashed after his death.

The Congress could have easily ridden piggyback on the sympathy wave. Congress leaders, on the other hand, chose to sit back and relax in local guest houses, move around in flashy, air-conditioned cars and hold drawing room discussions.

The BJP, too, was humiliated. The defeat of its candidate, Mr Satyapal Yadav, seems to have set the alarm bells ringing loud and clear. This was the second major defeat that the BJP suffered in the past one month.

Again, Ms Sonia Gandhi and her partymen have no answer to yet another question: Wasn’t it a Jayalalitha wave and not a Congress wave in Tamil Nadu? The Congress leaders, at the same time, cannot be denied the right to celebrate the party’s victory in Assam, Kerala and Pondicherry.

But what has baffled competent political observers and analysts is the latest choice of operations employed by the jubilant Congress leaders, including Ms Sonia herself: They have started the reverse countdown for the days left for the Vajpayee Government. It is quite surprising that they ignore the fact that the Congress party lacks a leadership in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal and failed to retain its Shahjahanpur parliamentary seat.

This notwithstanding, the Congress party, which seems to have been buoyed by the electoral verdicts in four States and one Union Territory, has begun to assert that the Vajpayee Government has lost the ‘political authority’ in the ‘mini general elections’. And even as the factionalism continues within the Congress organisation in Delhi and other States, party spokesperson, Mr Jaipal Reddy, has been mandated to publicly give currency to the party’s official assessment: "Election trends are an auspicious beginning of a process that will bring secular forces to the Red Fort under the leadership of the Congress".

Mr Reddy has, however, avoided identifying Ms Sonia Gandhi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate. Why so? An answer to this question is not far to seek. All Congressmen are not united on the question of projecting Ms Sonia as the undisputed leader and, hence, the logical choice for the post of Prime Minister in the event of a change at the national scene.

Ms Sonia Gandhi and her loyalists should not ignore the latest signals from the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The defeat of the BJP-led NDA in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Assam and Pondicherry, according to these signals, will consolidate the NDA partners in the coming months.

Considering the fact that the NDA partners will continue to treat the Congress as their ‘enemy number one’, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), DMK, Biju Janata Dal, Skali Dal, Indian National Lok Dal and the Shiv Sena are quite likely to fight back with a vengeance. True, the results of the Assembly elections signalled a defeat for the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s allies and boosted the hopes of the opposition. But Mr Vajpayee "is not worried at all", a source close to him told EXCELSIOR.

When the results were announced, Mr Vajpayee was holding meetings in Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian leaders. But he did make some telephone calls to India, including to the Home Minister, Mr LK Advani, the BJP president, Mr Jana Krishnamurthi and his alliance partners, including DMK supremo, Mr Karunanidhi, and the AGP chief, Mr PK Mohanta.

Greater need for civil, military liaison: Army

Maintaining that the capital was becoming vulnerable, Gen Surjit Singh of the Western Army Command said to fight such threats, sharper and focussed co-ordination between the civil and military authorities was called for.

Addressing the annual civil-military liaison conference inaugurated by Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor here today, General Surjit said the ISI gameplan appeared to be to make inroads not only in the border areas, but also to take militancy to the hinterland.

The day-long conference assumed significance in view of the spate of bomb blasts in the VVIP areas in the capital and the recent attack on Army installations in the Red Fort.

Drawing attention to reports of growing fundamentalism and threats from settlement of migrants in the capital, Gen Singh stressed the need to take legislative and administrative steps to stop such conditions from developing which he said aided the ISI in spreading its tentacles in the city.

The meeting attended by senior Army and police officers focussed on working out modalities for shoring up security in high-security zones.

Striking a similar note, Lt Governor Vijay Kapoor said there was growing threat to military premises especially in light of the Red Fort incident and the recent blasts near Army headquarters in North Block.

He said there was a need to decide on modalities of intervention by the police and other civil authorities in such circumstances and for greater military and civil interaction.

Those present at the meeting included Chief Secretary Delhi, Commissioner of Police, other senior police officials, DVB, DDA, DJB members and senior civil and military officials.

Singh pointed out the need for greater cooperation between the civil and military authorities in dealing with disaster and calamity situations. "Disaster management cannot be left to last minute measures," he said adding that frequent practicing of the drills would ensure prompt and appropriate response in the time of need.

He also offered the support of the Army in the development activities in the city.

Responding to the concerns expressed by the army on disaster management, the Lt Governor said a "chemical disaster plan" has been formulated with the help of experts for the capital.

According to the plan, three control centres would be set up at fire stations in Laxmi Nagar, Nehru Place and Rohini which would aid in mobilisation of help from the concerned authorities during crises, he said.

The programme would be carried out in close coordination with the military, he added. (PTI)

CPI(M) rules out coordination with Cong

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) today ruled out the possibility of coordination with the Congress in the post-Assembly election scenario. Speaking to mediapersons informally at the politburo meeting here, party general secretary H S Surjeet said his party had taken a strong exception to the negative role played by the congress during the recent Assembly polls in four states and Union Territory of Pondicherry.

The party’s politburo met for the first time after the recent elections to review the performance of the party in the Assembly elections and the political developments in the country.

We will treat the Congress in a manner that it has treated us (Jaisa Hamare Saath Unhonne Kiya, Ham Bhi Waisa Hee Karenge)’’, Mr Surjeet said in an obvious reference to the Congress having wrested power from the CPI (M) led Left Democratic Front in Kerala and joining hands with Trinansol Congress chief Mamta Bannerjee in West Bengal.

Besides Mr Surjeet, the other senior leaders, including Mr Jyoti Basu, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharje, his Tripura counterpart Manik Sarkar, former Kerala Chief Minister E K Nayanar, Mr Sita Ram Yechury, Mr Prakash Karat, Mr Anil Biswas and Mr Bimon Basu, were also present.

Mr Surjeet said the Congress joined all forces to defeat the CPI (M) in Kerala and West Bengal. The Sangh Parivar transferred their votes to the Congress in Kerala, he added

Replying to a question, he said the victory of the Left Front in West Bengal would enhance the morale of the party’s activists.

Asked to comment on the report that the CPI(M) had failed to get a simple majority in West Bengal, he said the left as a whole had achieved a majority in the State Assembly.

He also denied report that the Forward Block, one of the LF partners, had sought Deputy Chief Ministership in West Bengal. The CPI(M) had not had received any request in his regard, he said.

The Council of Ministers to be formed in West Bengal would be compact unlike the one at the centre where, there were nearly 80 ministers. The people had seen the performance of such a big ministry, he said.

Earlier, politburo member Biman Basu lashed out at the media for what he called playing the role of an enemy during the Assembly elections. We have fought against both opposition and media during the poll, he added. (UNI)

Laloo rules out taking over reins in Bihar

PATNA, May 16: RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today ruled out taking over the reins in Bihar saying he had a ‘bigger role’ to play to ‘throw out the anti-nation and anti-people NDA Government’.

Reacting to DMK leader M Karunanidhi’s reported statement that decks had been cleared for him to become the Chief Minister after the swearing-in of convicted AIADMK leader J Jayalalitha, Yadav said there was no question of replacing Rabri Devi since she enjoyed the people’s mandate.

Referring to Jayalalitha’s conviction, he said "what is conviction ? Jaylalitha scored a landslide victory with the people’s support ... She became CM."

"I had asked Jayalalitha to help unite the secular forces to counter the Sangh Pariwar... And she has succeeded in defeating the communal and fascist forces," he said.

About his role, the former Chief Minister, who is being tried in several cases of the multi-crore fodder scam, said "I am not unemployed ....I have a bigger role to play to dislodge the communal and facist forces at the Centre."

He charged the Centre with indulging in conspiracy to implicate political adversaries in false and fabricated corruption cases. "I have been targetted by the NDA Government because I raised a bogey of revolt against their devastating policies of liberalisation and communalism." (PTI)

Govt’s Kashmir peace initiative destined to fail, says Gill

NEW DELHI, May 16: The Government’s present peace initiative in Kashmir does not appear to be based on ground realities and is destined to fail and bringing the Hurriyat Conference to the centrestage of negotiations amounts to repudiation of the fundamental principles of democracy, according to Supercop K P S Gill.

Mr Gill, who is credited with eliminating terrorism from Punjab with an iron hand as the chief of the state’s police force, says the ongoing ceasefire in Kashmir is more of a gamble "destined to fail for far too many reasons".

"There is something absurd in accepting an organisation (Hurriyat) that has no democratic credentials and whose members are unashamed Pakistani proxies, as the ‘sole representative’ of the people of Kashmir in the negotiating process and divesting the state’s elected political leadership of its locus standi," says Mr Gill, in an article on Kashmir insurgency.

"Hurriyat explicitly derives its legitimacy from the power of the terrorist’s gun, though it may not openly engage in terrorist activities. To bring such an agency to the centrestage of negotiations and hence the political process, will be a repudiation of the fundamental principles of democracy," says the article in the latest issue of ‘Faultlines’, published by the Institute for Conflict Management, headed by Mr Gill.

The articles says the way in which negotiations are carried out in Kashmir could have a spill-over effect not only on other parts of the country but also on other areas of the world, infested with terrorist violence. "The leaders of the terrorist groups must be dealt with as terrorists and criminals. To appease them is to reward terror. And if terrorism in rewarded in one theatre of conflict, it will be replicated in others ... A victory for terrorism anywhere in the world is a victory for terrorism everywhere." Mr Gill says Kashmir is not the core issue between india and pakistan. "The conflict between India and Pakistan is an irreducible conflict between democratic liberalism and polity based on an exclusively religious absolutism."

Voicing a strong opposition to the "politics of consensus", he says: "The idea that everybody-including terrorists and mass murderers- must be accommodated in the political process ... Has been a unique product of a succession of corrupt and craven regimes. It is necessary now, if India is to survive, to abandon the whore’s ethic of consensus and appeasement ... Nothing is going to change unless it is demonstrated beyond a shadow of doubt that violence will not profit those who seek to use terror as an instrument of policy."

While saying that the character of the current peace initiative has been defined by factors extraneous to the conflict (such as the specific pressure from the US), Mr Gill calls for pursuance of a consistent and coherent counter-terrorism agenda in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Despite its economic strength, political resilience and military might, India projects an image of utter fragility and vulnerability as a result of the vacillation and weakness of its political leadership and bureaucracy ... India’s Governments have not learned how to act even as Governments of a principled democracy, leave alone a ‘great power’," he concludes. (UNI)

Discharge of 2 Jains in FERA case quashed

NEW DELHI, May 16: A Delhi court has quashed an order discharging of two Jain hawala case accused S K Jain and his employee J K Jain by a Magistrate in a FERA violation case saying the lower court has erred in interpreting a circular issued by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Setting aside the order of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) discharging the Jains in the case relating to recovery of foreign currencies of different countries and some travellers cheques by CBI in 1991 during investigation of the Jain hawala case, a Sessions Court recently said the circular was misinterpreted by the magistrate.

The ACMM had last year discharged the Jains saying the prosecution launched against them was contrary to the circular issued by ED in 1992 as they were not habitual offenders and the money involved was less than the specified amount in the circular.

"In my view the trial court misinterpreted the circular and misdirected itself", Additional Sessions Judge H S Sharma said and sent back the case file to the acmm.

"The trial court should not have throttled prosecution", as "eight more complaints are pending against the respondents involving more than Rs 60 crore of Indian and foreign currency," the court said.

While the Jains were discharged in all the conspiracy cases related to hawala scam due to lack of corroborative evidence, ED had initiated proceedings against them stating the documents recovered including the two jain diaries were admissible as evidence under FERA. (PTI)

All 24 women MLAs in new TN Assembly from secular front

CHENNAI, May 16: All women candidates who made it to the Tamil Nadu Assembly this time belong to the secular front, but what makes it more creditable for the AIADMK-led combination is that none of its women nominees lost at the hustings.

This "cent per cent" victory for the women candidates of a winning front is a record of sorts for the state.

Of the 104 women candidates in the poll fray this time, the AIADMK-led front had 24 women. Of them, 19 belong to the AIADMK, two each are from the Congress and the PMK, besides one from the CPI(M).

An interesting point is that when the AIADMK, led by Ms J Jayalalitha, won the elections for the first time ten years ago in 1991, then too it had scored a perfect ‘ten out of ten’, at the husting. All its 26 women candidates won the mandate.

A repeat performance was registered this time as well with all 19 women candidates of the party entering the house. Among the victors are post-graduates, doctorate-holders and lawyers.

The 1996 elections, however, was a sharp contrast to this, with only eleven among the 156 women contenders in the fray tasting success. None of them belonged to the AIADMK.

A better performance of women candidates this time has a flip side as the AIADMK supremo herself was disqualified from contesting the elections, with her nomination papers being rejected following her conviction in two corruption cases.

However, assuming office again as Chief Minister turned out to be a personal landmark for Ms Jayalalitha as she joined the elite group of late leaders like Kamaraj and MGR, besides DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi, to head the state for a second time.

With the two leading fronts—DMK and the AIADMK—loaded with 28 parties altogether (17 in the DMK front and eleven in the AIADMK front), only nine parties—AIADMK, DMK, MDMK, BJP, Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), Congress, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), CPI(M) and Makkal Tamil Desam—had given representation to women.

Barring those fielded by the AIADMK, PMK, CPI(M) and the Congress, which together secured 100 per cent success as far as the victory of women candidates was concerned, others bit the dust. They included independents as well.

In 1991 elections, 31 of the 101 women made it to the Assembly as the AIADMK returned all the 26 candidates it fielded, while its ally, the Congress, had five of the six nominees emerging triumphant.

In the first elections 1952, when polls were held in the composite Madras state, which also included Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, 24 women took the electoral plunge, but only two could taste success.

However, the performance of women improved substantially in the 1957 elections, when 50 per cent of them won (12 out of 24). A similar trend continued in 1962 with 13 of the 23 women contestants entering the Assembly.

Thereafter, it was a drastic decline, as just 34 women entered the house of the 203 who contested the next six Assembly elections between 1967 and 1989.

After a sea-change of fortunes the women saw in the 1991 polls, their representation in the Assembly again came down in 1996 with a mere eleven of the 156 women winning the elections. This time it was comparatively a ‘fair’ deal from the voters. (UNI)