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EC orders effective deployment of CPMF for Bihar polls PATNA, Mar 26: Apprehening trouble during the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in view of the presence of candidates....more Sonia’s
foreign origin NEW DELHI, Mar 26: Coming out strongly in defence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, .....more Advani
pays homage AMRITSAR, Mar 26: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today visited the Jalianwala ......more MUMBAI, Mar 26: Bollywood actor and Congress candidate from Mumbai north Parliamentary constituency Govinda today hit the campaign trail by ....more |
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Jaya continues to KARUR, TAMIL NADU, Mar 26: Stepping up her attack on AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin, .....more Fernandes shifts to Muzaffarnagar, JD(U) releases first list NEW DELHI, Mar 26: JD(U) president George Fernandes shifted to his old constituency Muzaffarpur amidst speculation that Nitish Kumar would be .......more JD(S) will form Govt in K’taka on its own: Sindhia BANGALORE, Mar 26: Janata Dal (secular) will form the Government on its own.....more NCP’s manifesto silent over Sonia’s foreign origin issue NEW DELHI, Mar 26: NCP today remained silent on the issue of foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in its election manifesto even as ........more |
| CPI(M) to consider joining non-NDA
Government: Yechuri ....... IG, CID, to monitor probe into disappearance of POTA accused ...... |
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EC orders effective deployment of CPMF for Bihar polls PATNA, Mar 26: Apprehening trouble during the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar in view of the presence of candidates with criminal background and threats from Naxalites, the Election Commission has asked the State Government to make effective deployment of Central Para-Military Forces (CPMF) in consultation with the special observer appointed by it. "We apprehend trouble during the elections due to the presence of criminal elements in the fray and threats from Naxalites and have asked the Bihar Government to ensure effective deployment of CPMF to prevent violence during the polls", Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy and Election Commissioners N Gopalaswamy and B B Tandon told a joint press conference. Earlier they reviewed poll preparedness with top Bihar officials including Chief Secretary K A H Subramanian, DGP W H Khan and Home Secretary B K Haldar. The three Election Commissioners, who also held talks with District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, Divisional Commissioners and range DIGs, however, said "we do anticipate some problems but we are geared up for that". Krishnamurthy said he had asked the state officials to deploy the CPMF personnel in consultation with L V Saptarishi, a West Bengal cadre IAS officer whom the Commission has appointed the special observer for Bihar. Krishnamurthy said he had asked the state officials to take extra care to ensure peaceful and fair poll in constituencies adjoining Indo-Nepal and Bihar-Jharkhand borders and those having significant naxalite presence or from where criminal elements are in the fray. Asked if EC was contemplating steps to debar gangsters from entering the fray, he said under the existing laws the Commission has no power to prevent them from coming into the poll arena. "The best we can do is to make available to the electorate the information about their criminal background as all candidates are required to swear an affidavit while filing nomination declaring if they have been charged with any criminal offence. The copy of the affidavit is on display at the office of the returning officers the day nomination is filed", the CEC said. Referring to the complaints lodged by representatives of political parties during the Election Commissioners’ interaction with them yesterday regarding non-availability of photo identity cards to all voters, Krishnamurthy said " we have to prescribe alternative documents on the basis of which voters who don’t have I-cards can exercise their franchise. What these documents can be will be announced by the EC in consultation with the Chief Electoral Officer of the state soon". Asserting that no eligible elector will be denied his right to vote, the CEC said he had asked the state officials to distribute photo I-cards to the voters whose cards have been prepared by March 31. On the complaint about non-transfer of Government servants who were posted in their Home Districts or were at one place for more than four years, he said the Chief Secretary has been asked to transfer all such officials by March 31. (PTI) |
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Sonia’s foreign origin no handicap for becoming PM: Surjeet NEW DELHI, Mar 26: Coming out strongly in defence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, veteran CPI(M) leader Harkishan Singh Surjeet today said her foreign origin should not come in the way of her leading a Government. At the same time, he made it clear that the secular parties would decide their candidate for the Prime Ministership through mutual consultations. "Nobody can debar her from taking up any post...The NDA leadership’s attacks on her in this regard will have no impact as she enjoys the constitutional and legal right to take up any job like any other Indian citizen," Mr Surjeet told UNI in a wide-ranging interview. Mr Surjeet, known as the Chanakya of Indian politics, said the the NDA leadership was harping on Ms Gandhi’s foreign origin only to divert the people’s attention from the real issues. "It simply demonstrates the BJP’s weakness and failure on all fronts," he said. According to him, the NDA leadership knew full well that Ms Gandhi had now acquired leadership qualities. "Her road shows across the country have attracted an enormous response from the masses. She has learnt Hindi, improved her communication skills and is now more accessible to the media also," said Mr Surjeet, who played a pivotal role in the installation of three non-Congress or non-BJP Governments at the Centre in the ’90s. Expressing confidence that the Congress would "definitely" emerge as the single largest party after the polls, the CPI(M) general secretary said the BJP-led NDA would not even cross the 200-mark. Though prospective allies, like the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, had yet not integrated with the "secular" alliance, they too would have no choice but to "join us as they are also wedded to the principles of secularism," he said. Besides, he felt the Congress president had "bravely" taken on the BJP by attacking its "communal and fascist agenda" and played an important role in defending secularism in the country, both in Parliament as well as outside. Mr Surjeet said the NDA leadership had raked up the Ram temple issue only to counter the "growing popularity" of Mrs Gandhi. On the NDA leadership’s plans to bring in legislation to debar persons of foreign origin from holding high office, Mr Surjeet quipped, "where have they been for 55 years? ours is a democratic country and not a dictatorship... This is all the more important to ensure their defeat at the hustings." "We are now supporting the Congress despite the fact that we have differences with them on economic issues...It is in the paramount interest of the nation today that the NDA is ousted as its continuance in power will further endanger our social fabric and unity in diversity," he said. He said thousands of Indians had gone abroad and married foreigners. "When they return home, can we debar them from exercising their constitutional rights?" he asked. "The BJP’s continued campaign on this issue is bound to boomerang on it as communal policies never pay in the long run," Mr Surjeet said. Replying to a question on the BJP’s latest attempts to woo the Muslim voters by inducting some of the community’s leaders in its fold, the CPI(M) leader said this is a "mere ploy or cover". "The BJP wants to influence the larger public opinion by showing that it is not at all a communal party, but a secular one and wants to broaden its base this way. But it cannot succeed in its gameplan because the history of the BJP governance at the Centre and states showed how it implemented the agenda, dictated by its parent organisation- the RSS, whether it is rewriting the history books or infiltrating into country’s cultural moorings and distorting other independent democratic institutions like the Election Commission," he said. "Besides, the minorities could not go along with it because they very well know that the sole agenda of the RSS is to establish a Hindu rashtra," he said. On reports of "murmurs" even within the Congress on Mrs Gandhi’s foreign origin issue, Mr Surjeet said he did not agree with this. "She should rather be congratulated for galvanising the party," he felt. On the Congress’ failure to rope in the SP or the BSP in the secular alliance, the CPI(M) leader maintained that Ms Mayawati had yet to say a "final word", indicating that some sort of understanding between the two was still possible. He said the secular alliance would fare much better in West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, Bihar and Tripura. According to him, in Punjab, the BJP was not a big force but would gain because of its alliance with the Akali Dal. "In Haryana, too, it is not strong," he observed. While the BJP was much ahead in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, it had 50- 50 chances in Rajasthan, he said, adding that in UP it was "feeble". He said the left parties had now emerged as a "big force" on the political scene and its tally in the Lok Sabha was bound to increase in the coming elections.(UNI) |
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Advani pays homage to martyrs at Jalianwala Bagh AMRITSAR, Mar 26: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today visited the Jalianwala Bagh and paid homage to thousands of people who were massacred there on April 13, 1919. Soon after arriving here on the last leg of the first phase of his Bharat Uday Yatra, Advani visited the martyr’s memorial there. He later headed for the Golden Temple. At Golden Temple, Advani was accorded a warm welcome amidst tight security. The Deputy Prime Minister was offered a ‘saropa’ (shawl) by the the Temple authorities. (PTI) |
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JD(S) will form Govt in K’taka on its own: Sindhia BANGALORE, Mar 26: Janata Dal (secular) will form the Government on its own after the assembly elections and the legislature party will elect its leader, party spokesman P G R Sindhia asserted today. The JD(S) had been receiving "overwhelming response" in the state and would come to power on its own, he told newspersons here. "we don’t require the support of either the BJP or the Congress to form the Government." Taking a dig at both the BJP and the Congress, he said "we don’t either impose any leader or choose the style of Congress to elect the legislature party leader through a sealed envelope. The newly-elected legislators will elect the leader in a meeting as was done in previous occasions." He said the Parlimentary committee meeting discussed in detail the selection of candidates for both the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections. The list would be released in two days after clearance from party President H D Deve Gowda in consultation with leaders. It had also been agreed in principle to have seat adjustments with the Communist parties. While the CPI (M) had demanded 12 assembly seats, the CPI had sought six seats. The party would decide on the number of seats to be given to the Communist allies before releasing the final list, he added. Former Union Minister V Srinivas Prasad, who was also present, said the Congress had lost its votebanks as witnessed during the tenure of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi due to various factors including absence of a powerful leadership. Noting that Chief Minister S M Krishna could never be a mass leader, he said by "sheer accident" he had donned the mantle but ‘failed miserably" in delivering goods. Especially in rural areas, the Congress was "very weak" which would be advantageous to the JD(S), he opined. The BJP state leaders were "daydreaming" about forming the Government in Karnataka. While the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre could boast of some achievements, the BJP, on its own, could not claim anything, he added. Non-committal on BJP leader M Rajasekhar Murthy joining the party, Mr Prasad said the leader had already made it clear that the Congress should never be allowed to come to power at any cost. Prominent leaders from Bijapur district including Mr S M Chowdhary, Mr T M Nagachoodaiah, who quit the Congress recently, Dalit Sangharsh Samiti president N Murthy and grandson of former president B D Jatti, Channu Jatti joined the party. (UNI) |
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NCP’s manifesto silent over Sonia’s foreign origin issue NEW DELHI, Mar 26: NCP today remained silent on the issue of foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in its election manifesto even as its chief Sharad Pawar did not consider Rahul Gandhi’s entry into the poll fray as promotion of dynastic politics. "When the Congress itself is not insisting on the leadership issue of the secular front in the post-poll scenario, it is not an issue now. We are with the issue and not left it at all," Pawar said when asked about absence of the foreign origin issue in the Nationalist Congress Party’s manifesto, which he released at a press conference here. "The leadership of the opposition front will be selected then (after elections), today the Congress is saying that itself, so we are not raking the issue now," Pawar said. Asked whether Rahul’s entry into the poll fray has raised the dynasty question, he countered, "why to blame Congress, even in BJP, Finance Minster Jaswant Singh’s son and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s son have also thrown their hats in the ring." "All eligible youngsters who are eligible are contesting and berth is being given to the younger generation. We have no objection. If they had been given safe Rajya Sabha seats, I would have called it dynastic politics. In this case all will have to contest elections and people will decide," he said. The Maratha strongman also ruled out any arrangement with the BJP in the post-poll scenario dismissing the saffron party’s reported claim that NCP was its "reserve force." A highlight of the manifesto was the NCP favouring a fixed term for the Lok Sabha. Pawar said the country cannot afford the "luxury of frequent" Parliamentary elections. He said his party was also for smaller states like Vidharbha and Telangana, which "are economically viable." Asked if the NCP favoured that the Lok Sabha Speaker should be elected without any contest from political parties, he had a dig at incumbent Manohar Joshi saying "this was possible only if the presiding officer acted really independently and did not attend Shiv Sena meetings." The party was contesting a limited number of 32 seats, including 18 in Maharashtra, Pawar said releasing the list of 24 candidates. The NCP would contest one seat in each Bihar (Katiyar), Madhya Pradesh (Mandsaur), Gujarat (Rajkot), Manipur (outer Manipur), Goa (north Goa), Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Andaman and Nicobar islands, West Bengal (Bashirhat) and six seats in Uttar Pradesh. Prominent candidates include Pawar from his pocketborough of Baramati, Praful Patel from Bhandara and Tariq Anwar from Katihar. When asked how was the NCP manifesto different from the Congress’, in the absence of foreign origin issue, he said, NCP’s stands on globalisation, disinvestment and WTO were different. Replying to a question, Pawar said work on preparing a common minumum programme had begun. The NCP would highlight the problems of unemployed youth, the desparate farming community and the perishing domestic industries. Promising to provide a "development-oriented, transparent and corruption free Government," the manifesto favours giving equal importance to the public, private and joint sectors in the reconstruction of Indian economy. (PTI) CPI(M) to consider joining non-NDA Government: Yechuri KOLKATA, Mar 26: CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechuri today claimed that the BJP-led NDA had no chance to get majority in the Lok Sabha polls and that his party was not averse to joining any non-NDA Government at the Centre. The politburo member, addressing a meet-the-press programme organised by Press Club, Kolkata, said there were several possibilities in the post-poll scenario and his party would take appropriate decision at the right time . Mr Yechuri said his party was confident of improving its strength from West Bengal this time, adding that the question of supporting the Congress did not arise because of the fundamental differences in their economic policies. He however, clarified that they would support other secular parties, including the Congress, wherever his party did not have the sufficient organisational base. The CPI(M) leader said the opposition parties would not be able to retain their seats in the Lok Sabha this time and ridiculed their charges against the officials of the state Government. He said the issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi becoming Prime Minister was "premature" since the leadership issue should be decided only by the elected members of the Lok Sabha and not otherwise. What would happen if the projected leader was defeated in the election he said and pointed out that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee faced electoral defeats many a times. The CPI(M) leader said the United Front Government at the Centre emerged after the 1996 election and felt a similar situation might crop up this time too. He said his party would work in the best interest of the people. Mr Yechuri said BJP was "communal party" and that his party was opposed to the Congress also since their economic policies were "anti-people." He said his party would welcome formation of a secular democratic front at the saddle and would consider joining it in the national interest. He said the party was opposed to have a front with the Congress but would not favour split of the support base against the "communal forces." Answering a question, he said the Bharat Uday Yatra of Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani was nothing but an attempt to further consolidate Hindu votes and pointed out that Mr Advani was talking about the Ayodhya temple after he entered the Hindi heartland. He, however, added that "I do not think that he (Advani) will get that kind of support now after Gujarat issue." He said his party would receive support from the Congress in Andhra Pradesh in two Lok Sabha and 14 Assembly seats.(UNI) IG, CID, to monitor probe into disappearance of POTA accused MUMBAI, Mar 26: Expressing dissatisfaction over the progress in the ongoing probe into the disappearance of Ghatkopar bomb blast accused Sayed Khwaja Yunus from police custody, the Bombay High Court today directed the Inspector General of State CID to monitor investigations and submit a report on April 7 on steps taken to trace him. Hearing a Habeas corpus petition filed by the father of the accused, Justice S S Parkar and Justice Ranjana Desai considered a report fowarded by CID and observed that not much progress had been made in the case. Earlier, the Judges had observed that they would monitor the probe and if they were not satisfied they would transfer the matter to CBI for investigation. The Judges had also directed the state and the CID to file separate affidavits explaining how and under what circumstances Khwaja Yunus disappeared from police custody and also the delay in arresting the erring policemen who were responsible for the escape of the accused. The state CID has alleged that Khwaja Yunus had died in custody due to police assault while the Crime Branch has claimed that he escaped from custody when a police jeep taking him to Ahmednagar for investigations met with an accident near Pune on January 7 last year. Assistant Police Inspector Sachin Vaze was arrested by state CID early this month under IPC provisions for alleged murder of Khwaja Yunus. He has been remanded to judicial custody till March 31. Prosecutor Purnima Kantharia said the CID was trying its best to trace the three absconding cops and had obtained non-bailable warrants against them. The Judges said the CID had not acted fast in arresting the erring cops as a result of which they had absconded. Besides, CID had also delayed in moving the court to obtain non-bailable warrants against them. The Judges also allowed Khwaja Yunus’s lawyer Majeed Memon to oppose the bail of arrested cop Sachin vaze in the lower Court. The High Court had on March 5 ordered the state CID to look for the body of Sayed Khwaja Yunus who is alleged to have died in police custody. Memon told the Court that the CID had wasted two weeks police custody of Vaze as other accused were not arrested and therefore they could not be confronted with Vaze. The absconding cops wanted in this case are Rajaram Kisan Nikam, Sunil Vasant Desai, Rajendra Rajamani Tiwari. Earlier, a POTA Court had ordered compensation of Rs 5,000 per month to the family of Khwaja Yunus unless he was produced dead or alive. The state filed an appeal in the High Court which stayed the lower Court’s order. Later, the father of the accused filed a petition in the High Court urging for the production of Sayed Khwaja. He urged that his son was killed in police custody and the guilty were being shielded. (PTI) TDP announces 47 assembly, 3 LS seats HYDERABAD, Mar 26: The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) announced its second list of candidates contesting 47 assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies, after several rounds of deliberations late last night. Former MP and TDP leader Yerran Naidu released the list at Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s residence. Among the candidates in the fray, 13 are new faces. Three candidates figure in the lok satta’s list of prospective candidates with criminal records. The TDP has also given tickets to two senior IPS officers. The party has taken all precautions while selecting the candidates, following recent protests by disgruntled workers over the release of its first list of 72 candidates on Ugadi, the Telugu new year’s day. Following is the list of TDP candidates contesting the 47 assembly and three Lok Sabha constituencies: Lok Sabha candidates: Shobha Nagi Reddy (Nandyal) D Janardhan Rao (Amalapuram(SC)) B Venkateswarulu (Warangal) assembly candidates: K Mohan Rao (Patapatnam) N Gopal Rao (Kothuru(ST)) Kala Venkat Rao (Unukuru) N Jayaraju (Naguru(ST)) S V Chinnappa (Bobbili) T Jaya Prakash (Therlam) Aruna (Gajapathinagaram) P Suryanarayana (Sathivada) G Appala Naidu (Uttarapalli) T Trimurthulu (Ramachandrapuram) Krishna Babu (Kovvur) A V Suryanarayana (Razole) D Narendra (Ponnur) Linga Reddy (Cumbum) G Narasaiah (Martur) B Masthan Rao (Allur) Y Srinivasulu Reddy (Rapur) Dr Ratnam (Sulurpet(SC)) Dr N Sivaprasad (Satyaveedu(SC)) N Amarnath Reddy (Panyam) P Rama Subba Reddy (Jamalamadduku) Veera Siva Reddy (Kamalapuram) Satish Reddy (Pulivendula) P Raghunath Reddy (Nallamada) N Kishtappa (Gorantla) Paritala Ravindra (Penugonda) B C Govindappa (Kalyandurg(SC)) N Anuradha (Kodangal) P Mahender Reddy (Tandur) M Vijayapal Reddy (Narayankhed) K Umadevi (Medak) Annapurama (Armoor) G Nagesh (Boath(st)) P Rajyalakshmi (Sirpur) S Viswanatham (Buggaram) Ch Rajashwar Rao (Sircilla) L Ramana (Jagityal) Sambaiah (Parakal) T Venkateswarulu (Burghampahad(ST)) K Nageswara Rao (Kothagudem) Venkata Veeraiah (Paler) B Laxminarayana (Khammam) S Venkateswara Rao (Tungathurthi) P Chandrashekhar Reddy (Miryalguda) K Sattaiah Goud (Nakerekal) Shukru Nayak (Devaragonda(ST)) Kanaka Sunder Rao (Tadapalligudem). (UNI) EU promises to look into short-term visa issues NEW DELHI, Mar 26: India today raised the issue of short term visas for skilled manpower, particularly IT professionals, with European Union, which in turn assured Indians it would look into the matter for mutual benefit. "The only thing that we have been requesting EU is about the visa problem. Indian professionals, who need to go to EU countries for deployment of software, their short-term visa takes three to four months. In world of IT a few months can be fatal," Minister for IT and Communications Arun Shourie said after the third India-EU working group meeting on IT here. Errki Liikanen, the EU Commissioner, said, "in short term visa issues there have been difficulties. In Europe we have the permanent visa which is relatively easier to get but the short-term issues are more difficult. I will pass this message to my colleagues in EU to pass this to member states." "We also have proposed to discuss this matter in GATS round to give more commitment for free movement for skilled labour," he said. On the European level, the member states decide about visa and there was little EU decision making, Liikanen said. "But if it is in their interest to be competitive, to get high quality software at reasonable cost, they should also act further accordingly to issue visa right away," he said. Liikanen said Europe was an open market that allowed Indian companies the freedom to set up their businesses there. "Indian software companies mostly know the UK market but there are other markets like western and eastern Europe where they should be present." Visa problems with Euroepan countries have been a issue with Indian IT professionals for some time. Two years ago, an offcial of the Mumbai based I-flex’s was taken into custody in the Netherlands where he had gone on a short trip to address customer queries on the allegation of visa irregularities. German had also once issued a threat to freeze visa to skilled professionals which later was taken off. (PTI) |
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