HC to hear Parliament
attack case from April 1

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The Delhi High Court today fixed April 1 to hear on day-to-day basis arguments on the reference received from the trial court for .....more

Former diplomat Vipin
Handa dies in freak
accident

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: A former Indian diplomat to Pakistan Vipin Handa was killed in a freak accident at a Government offices’ complex here this .....more

Muslim clerics warn
US for launching attack
on Iraq

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Top Muslim clerics in the capital today denounced the US-led coalition for launching a "reprehensible attack" on Iraq, underpinning....more

Impact of Iraq war on India

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Economic pundits working out the consequences of the US-led war in Iraq on the Indian economy predict that even a short ....more

No proposal for free
power to farmers, CM
tells Vidhan Sabha

CHANDIGARH, Mar 20: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that there was no proposal with the State Government to restore free ....more

Air India plane
arrives with Indians

MUMBAI, Mar 20: More than 750 Indians, some along with their families, returned to Mumbai from Kuwait early today by two special Air India flights. .......more

Export of blood samples
of tribal people raises dust

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The Indian Council of Medical Research is investigating how a team of foreign scientists obtained blood samples of tribal ....more

Case against Aftab Ansari
sent to Sessions Court

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: A Delhi court today committed to the Sessions Court a case against dreaded terrorist Aftab Ansari......more

1993 blasts accused Mustaffa Dossa remanded to CBI custody ....

Govt to protect consumers against steep hike in oil prices .....

PM, DyPM to address rally on March 29 ....

RSS, BJP top brass discuss Ayodhya, better coordination ....

HC to hear Parliament attack case from April 1

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The Delhi High Court today fixed April 1 to hear on day-to-day basis arguments on the reference received from the trial court for confirming the death penalty awarded to three convicts in the Parliament attack case.

A bench comprising Justice Usha Mehra and Justice Pradeep Nandrajog passed the order to this effect after prosecution said that the paperbook on the case has been prepared.

The court will also hear the appeals filed by the accused against their conviction and sentence as well as the appeals filed by the prosecution seeking imposition of maximum sentence in which the convicts were awarded lesser punishment.

Special judge S N Dhingra on December 18 had awarded death penalty to Jaish-e-Mohammed militants Mohd Afzal, Shaukat Hussain Guru and S A R Geelani, suspended lecturer of a Delhi University college, under POTA and section 302 of IPC (murder) for committing terrorist acts resulting in the death of nine persons.

The lone woman convict, Navjot Sandhu alias Afsan Guru, wife of Shaukat, has been awarded five years sentence for not disclosing the conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13.

Prosecution had sought imposition of death penalty against Afzal, Shaukat and Geelani on the count of waging war against the country though they already have been given capital punishment on two counts under POTA and IPC.

They have been awarded life sentence by the trial court on the charge of waging armed war against the country under section 121 of IPC.

Former Law Minister and senior advocate Ram Jethmalani is defending Geelani.

Delhi Police also sought maximum punishment of ten years for Afsan Guru, for not disclosing the conspiracy.

Prosecution has also challenged the acquittal of Sandhu in the offences in which the other three persons were convicted on the ground that she had taken active part in the conspiracy.

Delhi Police has also contended that the special court failed to appreciate that bullet injuries caused to 16 persons during suicidal attack on the Parliament house and awarded only 10 years sentence to the convicts for the offence of attempted murder under section 307 of IPC.

The prosecution had submitted that 10 years imprsionment for attempt to life should be enhanced to life imprisonment. (PTI)

Former diplomat Vipin Handa dies in freak accident

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: A former Indian diplomat to Pakistan Vipin Handa was killed in a freak accident at a Government offices’ complex here this afternoon when the lift in which he was coming down collapsed.

The accident took place at 1210 hours at the Research Analysis Wing (RAW) offfice in Central Government Offices (CGO) complex in Central Delhi Lodhi road when he was going to attend a meeting along with three other officers. Initial information said that while the other officers stepped out of the lift, Handa, who was to follow them, got trapped inside the elevator which suddenly hurtled down.

The report said that soon afterwards, a bang was heard and authorities rushed to the ground floor where Handa, an Indian revenue service officer, was found.

The door of the lift was opened and he was rushed to the hospital where Handa was declared dead.

Handa was among the four Indian staffers in Pakistan who were expelled by Islamabad in a tit-for-tit action on January 23 this year.

The building has been sealed and an in-house inquiry began into the collapse of the lift.

Fire brigade officials, who were informed about the accident, were not allowed inside the "out-of-bound" building.

"Before we reached the spot, the victim had been taken to the hospital and we were not allowed inside the building," a fire brigade spokesman said. (PTI)

Muslim clerics warn US for launching attack on Iraq

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Top Muslim clerics in the capital today denounced the US-led coalition for launching a "reprehensible attack" on Iraq, underpinning their disgust with a warning that "Washington cannot live in peace by making things difficult for Muslims."

Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Maulala Syed Ahmed Bukhari said Indian Muslims considered the American attack on Iraq, being orchestrated in brazen defiance of the UN charter and massive international public opinion, as "an attack on Islam and humanity".

In a statement, the Shahi Imam said American President George Bush was targeting innocent Iraqi Muslims after killing thousands of Muslims in Afghanistan, which was most provocative. "America should understand that it cannot live in peace by making things difficult for Muslims," he warned.

The cleric said if America was not given a befiiting reply with iron hand during its destructive campaign against Iraq, the existence of Mulims in other countries, especially in Asia, would be in jeopardy.

Fatehpuri Masjid Shahi Imam Maulana Mufti M Mukarram Ahmad said the US aggression against Iraq was "highly condemnable" and should be stopped through active intervention of the Security Council.

"It is an attack on the UN peace mission, on peace-loving people through out the world and against the sovereignty of an independent country," he said.

Dr Mukarram held that the aggression was also targeted at Islam and against the Muslims all over the world, and appealed to the Muslim countries to unitedly denounce the action.

"More importantly, the UN should save its own prestige" by initaiating action against the indefensible attack," he added. (UNI)

Impact of Iraq war on India

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Economic pundits working out the consequences of the US-led war in Iraq on the Indian economy predict that even a short duration war would increase domestic oil prices by nearly nine per cent this year, give a push to the inflationary pressures and bring down industrial growth by half a percentage point.

The impact of a prolonged war would indeed be disastrous, the Indian economy could be in the grip of stagflation.

The sentiment in the financial markets in the country has been adversely affected by the threat of a war over Iraq. Share prices have been sinking and currency movements across the globe have been volatile. The pronounced integration among the markets means that deleterious consequences will be instantaneously transmitted across the globe. India too will feel the heat.

India is heavily dependent on imported oil supplies from West Asia. With the dismantling of the APM regime, the burden of international price increase will fall substantially on the consumer.

Aviation and tourism sectors will be adversely affected. The war could pull back the fragile global recovery underway. Most affected will be developing countries like india, with exports experiencing a set back. Even software exports, the star performer, will lose some of their lustre.

A FICCI study postulates two scenarios—one wherein the war will be quick and swift, ending in a matter of few days and resulting in a modest increase in the oil prices. The second scenario, the possibility of which is remote, is a war lasting for more than three months with a much greater impact on the oil prices. "An assessment of the likely impact of the developments in the Gulf is a complex exercise. It requires one to account for various possible outcomes that might occur depending upon several factors like the duration and intensity of the conflict and reaction of other oil producing countries to the situation," Dr Amit Mitra, secretary general of FICCI who had his initial training at Duke University, United States, told a recent meeting of the forum of financial writers.

The FICCI study postulates that a quick and lethal war on Iraq would will raise domestic oil prices by around nine per cent, the whole sale price index would go up by 4.5 per cent this year as compared to last year’s figure of 3.6 per cent and industrial growth would decline by half a percentage point to 5.5 per cent.

What would happen in the case of an extended war?

The average international price of oil could go up by 40 dollars per barrel. In such a scenario, domestic oil prices would shoot up by at least 45 per cent this year. The WPI would soar by 9.7 per cent and industrial growth would nosedive to 2.5 per cent for the same period, the study shows.

"The monetary policy stance in such a situation becomes extremly complex. While an easy money policy is necessary to spur growth, sucking excess liquidity is necessary to deflate prices," an economist says.

"Our assessment is that the war is likely to be a short duration one owing to the vast differences in the military capabilities between the two countries. Indications have been gathered from various indian businesses having close contact with Iraq," says A C Muttiah. "The ground level feedback is that troops positioned in south of Iraq are likely to move into and take over the southern oilfields of Basra and Nassriya. Northern oilfields of Mossul and Kurkur are also likely to be taken over. Some arrangements are reportedly being made to even start pumping oil after taking over these oilfields. So fears that oil supplies would be cut off for a long time are exaggerated," Mr Muttiah says.

The current war scenario has already pushed up oil prices to more than 30 dollars per barrel mark in recent months. Going by the past experience it can be stated that the increase in the oil prices in recent past, fuelled by uncertainty, is to a large extent a reflection of the market discounting the war hysteria and assigning a war premium to the oil prices. The other factors that have exacerbated the situation include the continuing strike of oil workers in venezuela and the less than favourable stance adopted by other OPEC members.

The view that with the burgeoning forex reserves at nearly 72 billion dollars, the country can take the volatile oil prices in its stride is myopic and probably relevant only in the short run. The size of external reserves depends on the continuance of certain positive features which are likely to evaporate in a war situation, economists say.

Higher petroleum prices mean the cost of manufactures would increase, thus choking demand. The demand effect of the give aways in the budget 2003-04 which is widely regarded as consumer-oriented would get wiped out. "The result of the budgetary exercise as far as the consumer goes would be nought," says Dr Aswini Mahajan, a lecturer in PGDAV College of Delhi University. Dr Mitra makes a strong case for India preparing a contingency plan in the face of the second war in the Gulf region in a decade. He lists some features of such an effort.

"India should look beyond the war and position itself as a reliable and low cost construction source for rebuilding in that region. There are fears that because of our diplomatic stand over Iraq war, Indian companies may be shunted out in a post-Saddam dispensation from most of the lucrative activities in that country. All efforts should be made to avoid such a situation," Dr Mitra says.

Dr Mitra, who had a stint at teaching at the prestigious IIT and later in the US, suggests that the Government introduce immediately confidence building measures for the domestic economy so that even in the case of a reversal in the global economy India could sail on its own steam. In order to ensure that the present growth momentum is maintained the Government should take steps to beef up internal demand to stimulate industrial growth.

Last but the least, says Dr Mitra, a cautious policy needs to be adopted with regard to exchange rate management—guarding against both excessive appreciation and depreciation. (UNI)

No proposal for free power to farmers, CM tells Vidhan Sabha

CHANDIGARH, Mar 20: Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today said that there was no proposal with the State Government to restore free power and water for irrigation and that 93 per cent of the farmers had already paid their electricity bills following the withdrawal of free power last year.

The Chief Minister clarified, during question hour in the State Assembly, that the Government had never assured any organisation or union of the farmers of any move for restoring free power to the farm sector.

Capt Singh was responding to a question, posed by Surjit Singh Rakhra of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), that whether there was any proposal under consideration of the State Government for restoration of free power and irrigation water to the farm sectors in view of the pitiable financial position of farmers.

The Chief Minister stated that the withdrawal of free power to the farm sector would help his Government in attracting multilateral and bilateral funding for several developmental projects in the State.

He said that the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) had withdrawan free power for agriculture pump sets with effect from October one, 2002. The State Government was, however, subsidising power supply to farmers as well as to poorer sections both in urban and rural areas. Later speaking on a call attention motion towards the agitation by Punjab farmers, Agriculture Minister Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said that Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and other farmers’ organisations had lifted their indefinite ‘dharna’ in Patiala and Chandigarh after negotiations with the Government.

Ms Bhattal stated that the State Government would be committed to its agreement with the farmers. She, however, did not elaborate on the agreement.

The Agriculture Minister said that the sugarcane growers were now being paid their dues by both the cooperative and private sugar mills.

She pointed out that the State Government was already bearing power subsidy of Rs 850 crore to facilitate the farmers, which had decreased the actual tariff for the farmers from Rs 212 to Rs 60 per horse power of motor.

Ms Bhattal was replying to the calling attention notice, raised by Akali MLAs Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Ranjit Singh Brahmpura and Gobind Singh Longowal, towards ‘dharnas’ of the farmers at Patiala and Chandigarh. (UNI)

Air India plane arrives with Indians

MUMBAI, Mar 20: More than 750 Indians, some along with their families, returned to Mumbai from Kuwait early today by two special Air India flights.

The first Boeing 747-400 flight arrived shortly after 7 am, while the second arrived three hours later, an Air India spokesman said.

Nearly 372 passengers were on board the first flight, while 396 passengers arrived on the second flight, he said

The flights were delayed due to "congestion at Kuwait airport", he said.

The flights were earlier scheduled to arrive at 3.20 am and 7 am respectively.

A third a-310 flight scheduled to land at Kochi with about 200 Indians, was expected to arrive at 1.30 pm, he added. (PTI)

Export of blood samples of tribal people raises dust

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The Indian Council of Medical Research is investigating how a team of foreign scientists obtained blood samples of tribal population of Andhra Pradesh for a controversial genetic study without the knowledge or permission of the ICMR.

ICMR has learnt that blood samples from 180 people belonging to Chenchu and Koya tribes in Andhra Pradesh were collected by a team comprising scientists from institutions in the US, UK, Russia, Germany, Estonia and Kuwait.

The foreign scientists had also drawn blood from 106 Bengalis of different castes, 58 ‘Konkanastha’ Brahmins from Mumbai and 53 Gujartis for analysis of their DNA. No Indian institution was involved in the study they have just reported in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

"It is glaring that the study has been done in the tribal population of India without any Indian agency being involved," a spokesman for ICMR told PTI.

"This needs serious investigation." Under the 1997 Health Ministry guidelines foreigners are not allowed to collect blood samples from India without ICMR clearance.

ICMR spokesman said some local person or persons must have been involved in the blood collection. "We will find out," he said.

Vinod Agrawal, Commissioner of Tribal Welfare in Andhra Pradesh refused to comment on reports that the foreign team was able to obtain the blood samples of Chenchus, Koyas and Lambadas with the blessings of his department.

Chenchus, numbering about 17,000 reside in the ranges of Amrabad plateau in Andhra Pradesh and some 300,000 Koyas live in the plains and forests on both sides of the Godavari river.

"We are disturbed by these reports (of outsiders exploiting Indian tribes for their research)," Lalji Singh Director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad told PTI.

"International collaboration is okay provided proper permissions are obtained and ethical guidelines are followed," he said.

Under the ICMR guidelines blood can be collected only after obtaining informed consent that should be documented. Guidelines framed by the department of biotechnology insist on "group consent" - in addition to individual consent —whenever research pertains to an ethnic group.

In this particular case it is not known how the foreigners who do not speak the local dialects obtained the consent of tribal groups. Some of the scientists who were contacted by e-mail failed to respond.

Four years ago, according to published information, the same international team had collected blood samples from Lambadas of Andhra Pradesh, Lobanas from Punjab and different caste groups from Uttar Pradesh.

"We cannot allow anybody to patent anything based on our samples," cautioned Ramaswami Pitchappan, at the Centre for Excellence in Genomic Sciences in Madurai Kamaraj University.

"We should have necessary safeguards," he said. Some Indian scientists wonder whether such a thing will be allowed on the gypsies of Europe. (PTI)

Case against Aftab Ansari sent to Sessions Court

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: A Delhi court today committed to the Sessions Court a case against dreaded terrorist Aftab Ansari in which he was accused of sending two Pakistani terrorists to throw a bomb at the house of Ajai Raj Sharma, the then Delhi Police Commissioner, in October 2001.

Metropolitan Magistrate M C Gupta sent the case file to the court of Additional Sessions Judge S N Dhingra after completing formalities.

Aftab Ansari, the prime accused in the American center bombing in Kolkata, was accused of sending Pakistani militants Arshad Khan and Asif Raja Khan to attack the house of the Delhi Police Commissioner.

Both were nabbed in front of the Lodhi Garden while exchanging firearms and other weapons. The police had also arrested one Neeta Das in connection with the case.

While Arshad Khan is in judicial custody in Tihar jail, Asif Raja Khan was killed while fleeing from the police custody in Gujarat when was taken there in connection with another case.

Ansari will be produced before Mr Dhingra on March 22 in connection with another case for allegedly hatching a conspiracy with six Pakistani Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HJI) militants and their three Indian associates to kill Mr A P J Abdul Kalam, now president of India and to abduct cricketers Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar between October 2001 and January 2002.

Ansari is charged under various sections of the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for raising war against the nation, militancy and criminal conspiracy. In the POTA case, charges were framed on March 5 by Mr Dhingra against Tariq Mehmood, Ashahaq Ahmed, Mohammad Amran, Mohammad Ashraf, Abdul Majid and Arshed Khan (all Pakistani nationals) and Mufti Mohammad Asrar, Gulam Mohammad Dar and Gulam Qadir Bhat (Indians) under POTA, Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Indian Explosives Act for planning terrorist activities, raising war against the nation and other offences.

All the accused were arrested from different parts of the country. Another accused Mohd Jallaluddin of Dhaka in Bangladesh had been declared Proclaimed Offender (PO). Jallaluddin gave a slip to the police while being taken to Gujarat in another case, said the report submitted by the police.

Ansari, the mastermind in the attack on the American Center in Kolkata, was brought here in a flight from there on Saturday evening.

The dreaded terrorist, who was extradited from Dubai in February 2002, would be taken back to Kolkata by March 24 for regular hearing of the American Center attack case. The next date of hearing in Kolkata is on March 25.

He is also accused of kidnapping businessmen Bhaskar Parikh of Gujarat and Partho Roy Burman of Kolkata. He was deported from Dubai in February 2002 and formally charged in the case on May 20, 2002. (UNI)

1993 blasts accused Mustaffa Dossa
remanded to CBI custody

MUMBAI, Mar 20: Prime accused in 1993 bomb blast case, Mustaffa Ahmed Umar Dossa, deported from Dubai last night, was today produced here before a special court which remanded him to CBI custody for a day.

CBI sought his custody for 30 days but his lawyer Rizwan Merchant filed an application urging for permission to remain present during interrogation of the accused. Designated Judge P D Kode directed CBI to file a reply in this regard tomorrow.

Mustaffa alias Majnoon Sheth alias Ahmed Memon would be produced tomorrow before the judge for further remand. The court has directed CBI not to interrogate him until then.

Deposing before the court, the accused said he was in custody of Dubai Police for 52 days. He said he had no complaints against CBI. Mustaffa also said he was engaged in gold trading business and his family was in Dubai.

Mustaffa’s lawyer said his client had been deported while CBI said they had arrested him at Delhi Airport when he arrived from Dubai by a flight.

On a request of Indian Government, Mustaffa was deported last night from Dubai. He arrived in Delhi where CBI arrested him and brought him to Mumbai by a regular flight this morning. Later, he was produced in a special court.

Mustaffa is the brother of Mohammad Dossa who is also a prime accused in the case and absconding since 1993 when serial explosions rocked the city killing 257 people and injuring 713.

Both the brothers are facing charge of distributing arms and ammunitions at the instance of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who masterminded the blasts.

Mustaffa, along with his brother Mohammed Dossa, also arranged landing of arms and ammunition at Dighi Coast in nearby Raigad district on January nine 1993. From there, the weapons were transported in trucks to Gujarat and Mumbai, CBI alleged.

Dossa brothers are also facing the charge of sending co-accused to Pakistan via Dubai for arms training.

The court had earlier issued non-bailable warrant against Mustaffa. He was also declared a proclaimed offender and his properties in the city were attached by the court. (PTI)

Govt to protect consumers against steep hike in oil prices

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Government today assured domestic oil consumers protection against any steep hike in global crude prices following breaking of war in Iraq and said the country will not face any shortage of petroleum products for next two months.

Setting in motion a contingency plan that included deferring refinery and oil field shutdowns for four months to ensure continuous supplies, Petroleum Secretary B K Chaturvedi said "we are constantly in touch with the Finance Ministry and will request them to cut excise and customs duties on crude oil and petroleum product if global crude oil prices rise steeply."

The approach was to shore-up stocks and ensure products’ availability at all places at reasonable price, he said.

Meanwhile, Petroleum Minister Ram Naik told reporters in Mumbai that the country had enough stocks of crude and petroleum products to meet two months requirement and supplies have been contracted from countries away from the conflict zone.

Spot purchases were being done from countries like Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, Libya, West Africa and Red Sea to reduce depedence on Middle-East.

"There will be no shortage. The war may disrupt supplies only from Iraq," Chaturvedi said while pointing that the country imported less than 5 per cent of annual crude oil requirement of 78.7 million tonnes from Baghdad.

"If crude prices rise steeply, we may stop procurement and exhaust the current stockpile of close to 25 days," he said while hoping that war in Iraq would be of short duration. Chaturvedi said the Government "does not anticipate any steep rise in global crude oil prices for a prolonged period".

"We anticipate the prices at reasonable levels," he said but did not say what he considered was reasonable price. Prices of petrol and diesel have risen by around Rs 5 per litre since January as global crude prices have firmed up on war fears.

"We are closely monitoring developments on Iraq front," Chaturvedi said while anticipating a short and swift war which would not have any major impact on crude prices.

The country at present had more than 12 days stocks of crude oil and another 11 days requirement in transit.

Sources said state-owned oil firms are maintaining 53 days of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) stock besides the 23 days of crude oil inventory available would provide for additional coverage of 34 days.

Stock of petrol and diesel are enough to meet country’s requirement for 33 days while kerosene stock are sufficient for 29 days. Besides, processing the crude oil stocks would provide for additional product coverage of 39 days for petrol, 30 days for diesel and 27 days for kerosene, they said.

Oil firms have resorted to heavy imports of domestic cooking gas (LPG) to take the total inventory to 12 days. Three-days LPG stock are in transit. (PTI)

PM, DyPM to address rally on March 29

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and other top BJP leaders and those of the coalition partners of the nda will address a rally in the capital on March 29 to mark the completion of five-year rule of the NDA Government.

"After this rally in the capital, the celebrations marking completion of five years by BJP Government will conclude with a function at the party office on April six to be attended by the Prime Minister," party president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters here today.

He said immediately after the conclusion of the two-day national executive of BJP in Indore on April five, all the top leaders will be going to the states to address meetings to mark the occasion.

The agenda for the national executive was given final shape at a meeting held at the residence of Prime Minister and attended by Advani, Naidu and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh. The informal meeting also attended by Defence Minister and NDA convenor George Fernandes discussed the achievements of the NDA Government.

Naidu said the meeting focussed on the ongoing development programmes undertaken by NDA Government and the need to highlight them to the people.

Listing the achievements of the NDA Government, Naidu said "five years of NDA governnance set the country on resurgent path and the country gained on all fronts."

Naidu said the political stability provided by the NDA Government comes out in clear contrast in the backdrop of several shortlived non-Congress Governments at the Centre in the recent past.

He said the last five years of NDA Government has come as a major relief to the countrymen dejected by political instability, lack of purpose, waning self-respect and dignity, distorted priorities and neglect of the rural masses and their needs and a sense of being left behind in the fast moving world.

"Development is our Mantra. Development, faster development and balanced development is our strategy. Making India a developed nation by 2020 is the dream of our Prime Minister," the BJP chief said.

Naidu said the BJP always believed in a strong and self-reliant India capable of defending its economic and sovereign interests for which adequate defence capabilities are an essential pre-requisite. (PTI)

RSS, BJP top brass discuss Ayodhya, better coordination

NEW DELHI, Mar 20: The RSS top brass today had a luncheon meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and senior BJP leaders and discussed among other things the Ayodhya issue and infiltration from Bangladesh.

The hour-long interaction at Vajpayee’s residence was also part of the ongoing meetings aimed at better coordination between people in the Government from the RSS and the Sangh ahead of the coming Assembly polls and the Lok Sabha elections next year, RSS sources told PTI.

Led by RSS chief K S Sudarshan, the Sangh delegation greeted Vajpayee on the occasion of Holi and the completion of five years of his tenure as Prime Minister.

Besides Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and BJP president Venkaiah Naidu represented the BJP while the RSS team comprised Sudarshan, general secretary Mohan Bhagwat, Pracharak Pramukh H Y Seshadri, joint general secretary Madan Das Devi and executive member M G Vaidya.

The RSS leaders briefed Vajpayee about its recent all India General Council meeting at Nagpur, particularly on its resolution calling for repeal of IMDT Act and the need to effectively curb infiltration from the eastern borders.

The Ram Temple movement, which the RSS had exhorted its cadres to join, also figured briefly in the meeting, the sources said.

Later, Naidu told reporters that "matters of national interest were discussed at the meeting" while RSS spokesman Ram Madhav described it as an "informal" meet. (PTI)

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