politics | india politics

Goud sets Nov 1 deadline for separate T state

2008-09-07T09:37:00.000-07:00

Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP) president T Devender Goud said on Saturday that the people of the Telangana region would themselves announce a s e p a r at e state if the government failed to do so before November 1 this year.
Speaking in public meetings and road shows at various places in the district on Saturday, Goud said the Telangana people will not tolerate the political parties who are dilly-dallying on the contentious issue of separate state for some time now.
The NTPP chief also announced that the boards of all government offices would have the name ‘Telangana’ in place of Andhra Pradesh very soon.
Launching an attack on the Congress and the Telugu Desam for misleading the people of the region, Devender Goud said that the people of the region have been deceived by the Congress during the last five decades.
As part of his two-day tour programme in the district, Goud conducted road shows in Yellareddy, Banswada, Bodhan, Jukkal and other places in Nizamabad district.

Power troubles get serious in Old City

2008-09-07T09:36:00.002-07:00

Launching a scathing attack on the government for its ‘empty promises’, political activists of the Old City have appealed to the residents not to pay electricity bills for September if their power woes are not sorted out within three days.
At an all-party meet to address the issue of power cuts, specially during ‘Taraveeh’ special prayers of Ramzan which are performed in the night, political activists, residents, religious organisations and representatives of NGOs lashed out at the imposition of regular power cuts despite government’s promises of uninterrupted power supply during the holy month. “With no power, we are unable to address the gathering as the
place is plunged into darkness,’’ a representative from the Ujale Shah Mosque Committee, Saidabad, put forth. Amjedullah Khan of Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) demanded release of documents from the Central Power Distribution Company Limited (CPDCL) which show power disruptions in specific locations. “Earlier, along with MLAs and MPs, representatives of religious, non-political organisations were also called for the yearly Ramzan meetings. However, this is not being done since the Congress government came to power,” Khan rued.
CPM MP Aziz Pasha, who is a member of the energy standing committee, said that the government has failed to serve the people properly. “There is a limit to everything. If the government does not take any action, we will be forced to take the other path. Largescale dharnas will be organised,” Pasha said.
K Shekhar of CPI said contract workers in government services had worsened the situation.

Will Amar have a Sonia message for Chiranjeevi?

2008-09-07T09:36:00.001-07:00

Will Amar Singh convey a pehgaam (message) from Sonia Gandhi when he meets Chiranjeevi on Sunday evening? This was the speculation in Hyderabad on Saturday on the eve of the crucial meeting that might set the tenor for pre-poll alliances in Andhra Pradesh. Analysts wondered whether Amar Singh would assure __ albeit very indirectly __ the megastar of the chief minister's gaddi in case he chose to ally with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress for the forthcoming elections and the combine is able to secure a majority in the assembly.
For the records, the Amar Singh-Chiranjeevi meeting is being billed as a courtesy call. Amar Singh who has emerged as the nation's foremost political fixer is expected to be accompanied by Jayaprada who has acted opposite Chiranjeevi in many Telugu films.
"The Congress and its allies are focussed on coming to power in New Delhi post elections 2009. For this, every seat would count. To ensure this the Congress bosses would be quite willing to do a deal for the chief ministership of AP," a political insider averred. Analysts pointed out that SP had no presence in AP and therefore Amar Singh's purpose is only to explore the possibility of a national alliance with Chiranjeevi's Prajarajyam.
The meeting that has been facilitated by the intervention of superhero Amitabh Bachchan is in the backdrop of the assessment that Chiranjeevi will force a threeway fight in AP. Though the assessment of many is that Prajarajyam will come third in the battle, the party's support will become crucial for whichever party comes first to form a government.
"Whatever he might say, Chiranjeevi entered politics to become the chief minister and therefore he is not expected to compromise for anything less is possibly the assessment in the Congress headquarters. Of course, Chiranjeevi's bargaining chip would depend on the number of seats he gets in the assembly and the Lok Sabha," an analyst said.
He and other political watchers however conceded that Chiranjeevi was unlikely to enter into any pre-poll alliance with the Congress. "He intends to gather at least part of the anti-incumbency votes that will go against the Congress by virtue of being is power. He will not be foolish enough to tie up with the party before the polls," the analyst said.
"Such a tie-up will only benefit the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) that will pick up all the anti-incumbency votes," the analyst added. For the records, the spokesmen of Chiranjeevi's party have asserted that they will go alone in the polls. The assertion was made in the wake of speculations of a possible alliance between Prajarajyam and the BJP. Analysts feel that the trip by Amar Singh to Hyderabad has also been spurred by this speculation."

34 YRS OF OSTRACISM ENDS AS NSG GRANTS CLEAN WAIVER FOR NUKE TRADE

2008-09-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

The deal is done. And it's a big deal for India. It has gained the unique status of being the only nuclear weapons country to be included in global nuclear commerce without signing either the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty - - until now a precondition for entering mainstream nuclear trade.
When the NSG "adjusted its guidelines'' for India on Saturday, after 76 hours of high-voltage drama, to waive the precondition and open the door for New Delhi to join the world nuclear high table, a delicious piece of irony was enacted -- the NSG was formed 34 years ago as a response to India's 1974 Pokharan test and that very body was bending its rules to mainstream India's nuclear ambition.
The NSG's approval was also Manmohan Singh's moment. The Prime Minister, who had quietly worked out the architecture of the Indo-US nuclear deal with US President George Bush, clinched a piece of history on Saturday for salvaging a deal after staving off a huge threat to his government and his political career. Singh described the NSG waiver as a "forward looking and momentous decision''. Bush praised Singh for his "strong leadership'' in ensuring success at Vienna.
The deal will not just give India access to nuclear fissile material and technology with which it can mount a credible nuclear energy programme, it will also open up certain key technologies for India -- hi-tech that is used by a number of industries like pharma, IT, space and defence, but is also used for nuclear technology and is hence barred for those outside the nuclear club.
The implications of the deal will be beyond energy and technology. In strategic terms, it now brings India much closer to the US and several European countries.
WHAT IT MEANS?
UNIQUE STATUS: Ends 34-year nuclear isolation following 1974 Pokhran test. India now gets N-technology, keeps its nuclear program, doesn’t sign NPT, CTBT
N-MAINSTREAM: India can carry out nuclear trade, gets options for nuclear power and access to sensitive hi-tech that serves industry but is also used for nuclear technology; will help sectors like IT, space, pharma, defence, manufacturing
RISING POWER: Shows India as an emerging power. Waiver also came as India seen as a stable democracy and growing market economy
STRATEGIC SHIFT: India comes closer to the US. As also France, Germany, UK, other European countries, Russia, Japan, Australia. Indo-China ties could get frosty
GREAT DIVIDE: De-hyphenation with Pak complete. India now in category of responsible N-powers with impeccable non-proliferation record
WHAT NEXT?
US Congress expected to take up Indo-US 123 pact when it meets on Monday. It must be approved by Sept 28, when the session ends
Bush expected to ask Congress to skip mandatory 30-day period required for putting up pact for approval. Would like to see it through without re-look
Both sides may sign pact when PM goes to US at month’s end. India will then sign similar pacts with other N-suppliers Now, N-scene shifts to US
Vienna: The exception NSG has made for India on Saturday did not come easily but, at the end of the day, came largely because of the recognition of India as a strong emerging power, with a stable democratic system, growing market economy and business appeal. India’s earlier unilateral moratorium to nuclear testing — made by the Vajpayee government and cited by foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday morning — of course helped winning over the last few naysayers at NSG.
Now the scene will shift to the US for the final ratification of the Indo-US nuclear civil cooperation agreement by an up-down vote of the US Congress which meets on Monday. The Bush administration is expected to persuade American lawmakers to pass the pact before the session ends by September 26 by not insisting on the mandatory 30-day session period required to present the agreement for approval. If all goes well, Manmohan Singh will sign the agreement with President Bush in Washington towards the end of the month.
Back on NSG’s decision, it came Saturday morning after two days of bruising diplomacy that saw the last of the conscientious objectors wilting under sustained US pressure. Six of the last objectors, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands and Switzerland, relented after India went the extra mile to reassure them on its nonproliferation commitments, and the US, France and UK sat hard on them.
Until Friday night, when the NSG sat, exhausted through round after round of talks until 2.30 am, two things happened. A modification was made in the waiver text that had been circulating for a week, but with which some countries still had problems. Here, India’s statement earlier in the day came in handy, and a link was made between India’s commitments and the adjustment of the guidelines.
The amendment, which was agreed by the US and India, arrived on their tables at 1 am Saturday morning. After that, the objections melted away. The change reads thus: “Based on commitments in the political declaration of (India’s foreign ministry), “ participating states have decided on .... This was the only change that India permitted in the draft. There was a clamour for more changes, but India had already reached its bottomlines. In the past few weeks that had become very clear to the US.

Madhu Koda likely to resign today

2008-08-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Shibu Soren is tantalisingly close to realising his aspiration to be the chief minister of Jharkhand — a state he helped form — with the UPA leadership successfully persuading incumbent Madhu Koda to step down for ‘Guruji’.
Koda is expected to announce his resignation on Saturday.
The agreement with Koda capped hectic parleys among UPA partners to facilitate Soren’s ascension.
A power-sharing arrangement has been worked out which centres on maintaining the status quo with the significant exception of change at the helm.
All members of the Koda ministry — the two deputy chief ministers and the seven Independents who play ‘kingmaker’ — are proposed to be retained while the outgoing CM may be given charge of the UPA steering committee.
The committee will not be mere cosmetic as RJD, which was loath to support Soren and came around only at the instance of the Congress leadership, expects it to protect its interests in the state.
While Soren’s decision to pull out of the coalition government had looked as ill-timed bravado, he managed to pull it off with the help of the Congress leadership which needs his five votes in the Lok Sabha and is keen to repeat the alliance with the JMM and RJD which helped it sweep all but one of the 14 seats Jharkhand has in the Lower House.
Stephen Marandi, who was till recently a Soren loyalist, remains a holdout, but the UPA managers are confident of bringing him around.
Fears of early assembly polls — a certain prospect if Soren is not made the chief minister — may prove the calculation right. The Koda government failed to perform and those associated with it are likely to pay a heavy price at the hustings.
Jharkhand watchers don’t expect the change to ring in anything different, but are apprehensive that the arrival of a new chief minister and the proximity of polls may lead to a fresh scramble for mining leases in the resource-rich state

NSG waiver: US hints at changes in text

2008-08-22T23:42:00.001-07:00

The United States on Friday indicated for the first time that it might be agreeable to accommodating changes in the NSG waiver proposal but claimed in the same breath tha it was pushing for a clean text.
“I don’t want to lie to you...I can’t really lie. There might be some changes that we could accept. But we are pushing for a clean text,” US assistant secretary of state (South and Central Asian affairs) told reporters in Mumbai.
“We need to listen to countries that have objections,” Boucher said, adding that “we won’t allow anything that will impede (the Indo-US civil nuclear) deal”.
“The US and India will have to sit together and see what we can accommodate and what we can’t. We will have to talk to the other governments involved”, Boucher said. “If you are making an exception... There has to be a certain logic to it,” he said.
Stating that “this deal is a good deal for India, not just in terms of economic growth and energy but also in terms of India’s relations with international community,” he said, “It is a big deal for us and a big deal for India. The ball is in everybody’s court”.
“Most of the countries I talked to and most of the countries we are hearing from Vienna are positive. They understand the sort of importance in having cooperation with India,” he said.
Boucher said that the Bush administration plans to present the deal to the US Congress in September for its endorsement. He said there was no possibility of the deal being scrapped by the next government in New Delhi as the agreement was between two nations and the new government was obliged to honour the international commitments of the earlier regime.
However, the issue of forging a strategic alliance between India and the US will have to wait till new governments are installed in both Washington and New Delhi, Boucher said.

Chiranjeevi to seek people’s blessings, not Lord’s

2008-08-22T23:41:00.001-07:00

Though megastar Chiranjeevi has chosen the temple city of Tirupati as his launch pad for unveiling his political party, interestingly he will not be offering prayers to Lord Venkateswara like NTR, Chandrababu Naidu and Y S Rajasekhara Reddy.
Talking to ‘TOI’ in Tirupati on Friday, Chiranjeevi’s brother-in-law Allu Aravind ruled out reports that Chiranjeevi would offer prayers to the Lord at Tirumala on August 25 and perform a special abhishekam and pujas at Hanuman temple in Japali Theertham on the hill town on August 26 and later take part in the public meeting at Avilala Tank. “We don’t know how these rumours have come about. Chiru has not yet planned his Tirumala trip. He will be landing here on August 26 and launching his party at the public meeting,” he said.
Asked whether the megastar would make his appearance in “Teluguvani Panchekattu” (a la YSR) or in shirtpant (like Naidu), Aravind said with a broad smile: “I cannot reveal that right now as it is a huge suspense.”He said they want to complete the meeting within three hours before 7 pm for the convenience of the public. “Only Chiru will be on the stage while all others, including VIPs, would sit along with the public. Chiranjeevi will be spending some time with physically challenged fans. Later, he will address the public,” he added.
To a query he said the government was extending full co-operation for organising the meeting on a large-scale. Thanking the district police for extending the security cover to the star, Aravind said that besides 2,500 police personnel, 1,000 well-trained personal security of Chiru and 3,000 volunteers would be controlling over 10 lakh people who are expected to converge
on the Avilala Tank area. Sources said the film actor’s fans had already booked 25 trains. The specially challenged fans would be received by the volunteers in bus and railway stations and taken to the meeting. An exclusive gallery has been set up for them. “They will be provided free meals and would be dropped at the railway and bus stations after the meeting,” he said. Meanwhile, the megastar’s decision not to visit Tirumala temple seems to have not gone down well with his fans. “Annaiah should change his decision and pay a visit to Tirumala. Otherwise, all his efforts for uplift of the poor will go in vain,” an ardent fan not wanting to be named said. “There is a strong belief among the leaders as well among the public that whoever pays obeisance to the Lord will rule the state,” an analyst said. The belief had never gone wrong as NTR, Naidu and YSR became CMs after praying at Tirumala, he recalled.
Passerby hurt in Chiru birthday bash
A person was injured in Tirupati when the over enthusiastic fans of Chiranjeevi celebrating the actor’s 53rd birthday were bursting fire crackers at Four Pillar junction road. According to sources, about 50 fans gathered at the junction to celebrate the occasion in a big way. A Murali (28), a passerby, was hit by a cracker on his face and in the process his teeth were broken. Even before the public gathered, the fans quickly left the place. The injured person was later taken to a hospital.
Chiru B-day fete stopped at Tirumala
The fans also tried to celebrate their icon’s B-day right in the temple town where political events are strictly banned. Over 40 Chiru fans tried to distribute food packets in front of Annadanam Complex in Tirumala. The TTD vigilance sleuths prevented them since it would become a political promotion activity.
As per rules and regulations any political event or meeting is strictly banned in Tirumala.
B-day wishes from
daughter Srija
Hyderabad: Chiranjeevi’s daughter Srija on Friday morning called him up on the occasion of his 54th birthday and wished him all success for his political party.
Srija and her husband Sirish Bharadwaj had had a strained relationship with the actor’s family eversince their marriage last year. The actor had not accepted Sirish as his son-in-law and not even visited his granddaughter, who was born two months ago.
Asked whether the star wanted to patch up before naming of the party on August 26, they said there was no talk on the issue. According to a source close to the couple, the hero-turned-politician was talking to Srija daily, but was waiting for an opportune moment to patch up with the couple.

Naidu asked to fight for bronze medal in state politics

2008-08-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

With scores of ‘Telugu tammullu’ walking out of Telegu Desam Party, the Congress Legislature Party on Friday asked C h a n - d r ab abu Naidu to get ready to fight for the bronze medal in state politics as the Congress has already secured the gold medal.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress whip N Kiran Kumar Reddy and legislator Erasu Pratap Reddy questioned Chandrababu Naidu’s comments asking chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy to pack his bags from the political arena over his failure to respond to people’s problems. Taking serious objection to the TDP chief ’s rhetoric, the Congress party whip asked Chandrababu Naidu to explain the exodus of hundreds of ‘Telugu tammullu’ from his party.
“Chandrababu Naidu is in such a helpless state that he cannot even stop the exodus from TDP. Instead, he thought it would be wise to target the chief minister to cover up the damage to his party. He is forgetting that people have elected this chief minister and he has fulfilled what all he had promised before coming to power. In fact, the chief minister has been delivering more than he has promised on subjects like free power, free housing, irrigation projects, loan waivers, issue of fresh loans, micro finance to SHGs, health insurance scheme, scholarships to weaker sections, pensions to widows and physically handicapped,” said Kiran Kumar Reddy.
“This chief minister has won the hearts of the people and he is the gold medal winner in state politics as he is way ahead of all his political rivals. Y S Rajasekhara Reddy believes in delivering and living up to promises, unlike his predecessor who is always eager to see the democratically elected chief minister ousted at any cost,” he said.
“The Telegu Desam Party chief is not even in the race for a silver medal at this point as people have started losing faith in Chandrababu Naidu at a fast pace. He may have to settle for a bronze medal given the present state of affairs in the Telegu Desam Party,” Kiran Kumar Reddy added.

Karat rules out backing Cong after next polls

2008-08-01T06:53:00.000-07:00

Ruling out any support to a Congressled government at the Centre after the next election, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Thursday said his party would be accused of “opportunism” if it did so.
Speaking to a TV channel, Karat also lashed out at PM Manmohan Singh for the cash-for-vote scam and said it was far worse than the JMM bribery scandal. “It was on a much bigger scale this time. Manmohan Singh will never escape the moral blame,” Karat said, adding that Congress had adopted a similar method during P V Narasimha Rao’s tenure which led to the JMM bribery scandal.
Karat also challenged the government and said, “Let us see how they run this government with a manufactured majority. We all know how they won the trust vote with bribery, intimidation and blackmailing.” Putting in perspective CPI general secretary A B Bardhan’s statement that Mayawati could become PM, Karat said, “Bardhan was asked, do you think she can become PM. He said, yes why not. That is his way of saying that he has no objection to any particular leader becoming PM. We don’t look at it in terms of projecting an individual.”
On a specific question about projecting Mayawati as the next PM, Karat reiterated that his party did not look at projecting individuals.
As for not supporting a Congress-led coalition, Karat said, “We are going to call for the defeat of BJP and Congress. And after that, if you think we are going to support a Congress government, I don’t know, I think people will accuse us of opportunism.”
Karat also wondered why only the possibility of Congress or BJP forming a government was raised. “So, why do you think that there can only be a BJPled government or a Congress-led government,” he said, adding a third force could also be in that position. “Hopefully, we will be able to present some third force in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections,” he said. Asked whether the coming together of the Left with parties like BSP, which have aligned with BJP in the past, would create a durable third alternative, he said the Left was not going to project such an alternative. “Be very clear, I didn’t use the word third alternative. I have not talked about the third alternative... Our party’s understanding of the third alternative is not some combination to fight elections. The third alternative has to be in terms of policies and programmes,” Karat said.
The CPM boss said political parties which were not part of the Congress and BJP-led coalitions joined forces only after realising that they were opposed to the nuclear deal. “It’s only after we withdrew support, we said we would contact all secular parties which opposed the deal and which can plan with us to vote against the UPA government. And as part of the process, I met Mayawati, Ajit Singh, Deve Gowdaji. We met all of them and then came to a common understanding,” he said.
Karat also made light of the erstwhile UNPA led by Samajwadi Party, and said he never considered it a part of the third front

IAEA May Clear India

2008-08-01T06:50:00.000-07:00

The IAEA Board of Governors is expected to approve on Friday the India-specific nuclear safeguards pact to allow the Indo-US nuke deal to move forward. There may not be a vote and Pakistan may not press for this step.

With the US and India going all out to get a comprehensive backing of the 35-member Board for the UN nuclear watchdog’s inspections plan by consensus, IAEA sources indicated that the major step may not face any hurdles and and that it will have a smooth sailing.

Pakistan’s attempts to force a vote caused unease both in India and the US but it appeared to back off after the US nudged Islamabad not to block the approval or seek amendments.

IAEA sources said the safeguards text is likely to be approved by a consensus but in the event of a vote, Pakistan may abstain.

IAEA decisions are usually taken by consensus except when the Iran’s nuclear programme came up for vote in 2005. Sources said the crucial meeting will see statements delivered by the ambassadors of India and the United States as well as by the nuclear watchdog’s director-general, Dr Mohammed ElBa radei.

CM for cheaper houses under Rajiv Swagruha

2008-08-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

Chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy on Thursday instructed the Rajiv Swagruha Corporation to ensure that the cost of houses/flats under its scheme is 25 per cent less than those in the market and at the same time not to compromise on quality.
The CM reviewed the progress of the Rajiv Swagruha housing scheme at the secretariat on Thursday. Cautioning the officials, the CM said, “Quality should be maintained at every stage and precautions should be taken to observe all the norms stipulated for multistoried buildings.” Third party monitoring and all the other vigilance should be taken to ensure perfect quality construction, CM said.
“The aim of the government is to see that every person with moderate income owns a house at an affordable cost,” said CM. The officials said that the work is progressing steadily on the Rajiv Swagruha houses/flats at Chandanagar (1140 units), Bandlaguda (3114 units) in Hyderabad and Pocharam (2604 units) and Vetapalem (Prakasam district 427 units). According to the officials, the Chandanagar houses/flats will be completed by January 2009. The officials informed the CM that the model houses are ready at Chandanagar and those at Bandlaguda and Pocharam will be ready soon. Model houses will be constructed at Yendada, Kakinada, Vetapalem, Nellore, Kadapa, Tirupati, Kamareddy, Mahbubnagar and Karimnagar.
Under the scheme, 25 per cent of the cost of the house is taken as deposit from the applicants within three months and on failure to pay it the allotment is cancelled.
So far Rs 38.33 crore has been collected for 25 per cent of Rajiv Swagruha houses in the state. About 4000 acres of land has been already purchased by the corporation and efforts are on to purchase more land at other places, said the officials.

Brother’s Verbal Assault On RTA Official

2008-08-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

Panchayat raj minister J C Diwakar Reddy on Thursday condemned the alleged harsh language used by his brother J C Prabhakar Reddy against transport officials for seizing his bus.
Addressing a press conference 72 hours after the incident, the minister said that anyone found guilty of using such language should tender an unconditional apology. “If there is truth in the allegations, then the law will take its own course. No one has the right to call anyone by his caste or occupation in a derogatory manner. If anything of that kind has been said, I strongly condemn it and sincerely apologise. But, at the same time, I request all TV channels to send me tapes relating to the incident so that I can find out the truth.”
The minister said he was deeply hurt over the way his name was being dragged into the controversy.
“I am not here to support anyone, but to clarify on media reports that have been naming me in the incident. I have not yet spoken to my brother about the incident. But, whatever I have seen on the TV, I can definitely say that the incident is deplorable.”
On Thursday, demonstrations were held across the state by Dalit and BC organisations demanding the arrest of Prabhakar Reddy.
“If my brother has made such a statement, then he has to suffer. But, we have to find out the truth of the allegations,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, in the face of vociferous demand for his arrest from Dalit organisations and BC bodies, J C Prabhakar Reddy denied in Anantapur that he abused the officials on caste lines. “My rural language might have been misunderstood by the officials and BC organisations,” he said.
Threatening to intensify the agitation all over the state if he was not arrested, leaders of the BC Samrakshana Samithi and Mahajana Party questioned the government’s inaction. “What is stopping the police from arresting Prabhakar, when they could arrest the editor and two reporters of Andhra Jyothi in a midnight swoop?” they asked.
While Mana Party activists and SC sangham workers took out rallies in Kadapa, Nalgonda and Nellore decrying the remarks of Prabhakar Reddy, BC activists and Dalits burnt his effigy in Anantapur.
CPI leader K Narayana said in Warangal that Prabhakar Reddy should be arrested immediately and Diwakar Reddy should be dismissed from the cabinet.
Nayee - mana Sangham attacked the booking counter of Diwakar Travels on Raju road in Anantapur by breaking the window panes and damaging furniture.
They said they would down the shutters of barber shops on Friday throughout the state.

TDP not in a hurry for tie-up with TRS

2008-08-01T06:45:00.000-07:00

As expected, the core committee of the Telugu Desam Party on Telangana discussed the separate statehood issue at a meeting here on Thursday, but said several more such meetings were needed before taking any decision on the contentious demand.
The second meeting of the core committee was held at a remote village, Aiza in Mahbubnagar district on Thursday. Briefing the media after the meeting, TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu said since the issue was a very sensitive one, a decision could not be taken in one or two meetings. “There is no need for taking a decision in such a hurry. We have yet to discuss and debate the matter with MLAs, public representatives and district party presidents before taking a decision,” he said.
The TDP had gone to polls last time with the slogan of united Andhra but now keeping in view the changing scenario and recognising that sentiment existed in certain parts of Telangana, the party softened its stance but a final decision was not possible without taking into consideration the feelings of people of all the three regions, he added.
While this remains the official stand of the party for the time being, it is said that the party wants to buy time to see how the political scenario emerges after the announcement of Chiranjeevi’s party. The film actor, it is said, would inaugurate his party office in Jubilee Hills on August 8 and launch his party on August 22.
Moreover, TDP wants to move carefully in regard to having any kind of tie up with TRS. Any understanding with TRS would mean that TDP would have to sacrifice a big chunk of assembly and Lok Sabha seats which could lead to dissensions within the party as well. Even if that problem can be sorted out, a lot depends on the attitude of the Left parties since TDP is trying to forge a viable third front at the Centre and also have understanding with them at state level.
While the CPM appears to be more in favour of joining hands with TDP both at national and state level, the CPI is still wavering and appears to be more inclined to sail with Chiranjeevi. It is aiming for a minimum of 20 assembly and about four Lok Sabha seats. The TDP would not yield so much space.
All these issues are understood to have figured at the core committee meeting which finally decided to continue the consultations with party leaders on the contentious issue of separate Telangana before announcing its stand. Meanwhile, the core committee also decided that Naidu should end his ‘Mee Kosam yatra’ at Anantapur and return to Hyderabad by August 15 and lead the party during the monsoon session. Thereafter, he will take up district tours every week.

Bush ticks off Pak PM: Who controls ISI?

2008-08-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

An "annoyed" US president George W Bush has confronted Pakistan prime minister over the leaking of intelligence, shared by Washington, to militants by the ISI and quizzed him on who was controlling the spy agency.
Pakistan, which has reacted angrily to recent calls for direct US military strikes or "hot pursuit" of militants thriving in its tribal areas, has been harping on the need for the American intelligence agencies to share information so that it can carry out operations against the extremists.
However, Bush during his meeting with prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday said that Washington is reluctant to share intelligence with Islamabad because people in the Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI) are passing on such information to militants, defence minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar was quoted as saying by Pakistani newspapers on Thursday.
Bush also expressed "concern and some annoyance" about the ISI's role in Pakistan, the minister told the news daily. Bush told Gilani and his delegation that the US believed the ISI had established deep ties with militants operating in Pakistan's tribal areas, some officials present in the meeting said.
The US president complained that intelligence shared with Pakistan was leaked by "certain elements" in the ISI to terrorists much before they could be attacked by American or Pakistani forces. This was a cause of concern for the US, Bush was quoted as saying by Mukhtar.
Bush was blunt about expressing American reluctance to share intelligence information with Pakistan, an official present at the meeting was quoted as saying by Dawn newspaper.
"President bush also asked who is controlling the ISI," Mukhtar said. This was apparently a reference to the recent controversy over a move to place the spy agency under the interior ministry. The government notification in this regard was withdrawn after the powerful army and the presidency objected to the move.

Amar backs Mamata to take on Left in Bengal

2008-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

With CPM general secretary Prakash Karat joining hands with BSP supremo Mayawati soon after Mulayam Singh Yadav extended support to the UPA, Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Wednesday didn’t miss the opportunity to call on CPM’s arch rival and Trinamul Congress chief Mamata Banerjee at her Kolkata residence to checkmate the Left.
“Mamata shouldn’t feel alone. I will come down to Kolkata whenever she calls me and our 56 MPs will stand by her when she will raise the demands of Singur farmers,’’ Singh said, while promising to join the Trinamul’s rally on September 1 against the entry of big business in retail.
At a joint press meet with Mamata, Singh stepped up the ante against the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government. “The Left in West Bengal are taking a right turn. In fact, Mamata has taken a profarmer stance and has also stood by the hapless traders threatened by the entry of big business in retail trade. Now, I’ve decided to join hands with her. If Leftists like Aparna Sen can do so, what’s the harm in my supporting her struggle for the poor,’’ said he.
In return, Trinamul wanted Singh to take up the issue of the forcible land acquisition in Singur with Prime Minister . “We talked politics. I requested Amarda to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi. We aren’t opposed to industries, but the state government should return the land of the farmers unwilling to part with their land,’’ Mamata said

Nooyi among business leaders Obama consults

2008-07-31T07:22:00.000-07:00

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has met with a bipartisan group of business and economic leaders, including India-born PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi. He intends convening the group periodically in the run-up to the November election.
Obama called the meeting Monday to discuss the “deteriorating” economic situation in the US and went on to lay out his strategy for “short-term relief and long-term growth”. He also voiced his support for “a second round of economic stimulus”, CBS News reported. He said he would be convening the same group periodically over the next few months “because of the dynamic situation and one that the next president will need to be prepared to deal with the moment he takes office”.
The impressive list of those who attended, besides Nooyi, included Warren Buffett who participated by phone, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, former SEC chairman under President Bush, William Donaldson; former treasury secretary under Bush, Paul O’Neill; former treasury secretary under President Clinton, Robert Reich and former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker.
Incidentally, Indra Nooyi has also topped the list of the highest paid female chief executives, who have collectively defied the trend of falling CEO pay at the 500 largest US firms. Nooyi took home $12.7 million - including $4.5 million in bonus pay - in 2007 putting her at number 139 out of 500 company chiefs overall, Forbes magazine noted Monday. The 13 female chief executives in the US magazine’s list saw their pay jump an average 27 percent last year. In contrast, after clocking a juicy 38 percent collective pay hike in 2006, CEOs of the 500 companies saw their compensation dwindle an average 15 percent in 2007.
The gap in pay packet of male and the female CEOs does persist, however. The average take, including salary and bonuses, for all 500 CEOs was $12.8 million, double the female average of $6.5 million. Even Nooyi’s total compensation was just one-fourteenth that of the highestpaid man on the list of 500 top CEOs, Oracle’s Larry Ellison. He realised $182 million from the exercise of vested stock options in addition to the modest $1 million salary.

Politics of twists & turns

2008-07-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

Of all the MPs who took part in the confidence motion that the UPA government won by 19 votes in the Lok Sabha about 10 days ago, his case is the weirdest. While the members who defied the respective party whips were understandably expelled, D K Adikesavulu Naidu, the TDP MP from Chittoor, was expelled from the party for ‘obeying’ the whip and voting against the motion. Days later, what happened in the run-up to the trust vote and during the voting is still a whodunnit waiting to be cracked.
If TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu had put a tail behind Adikesavulu three days before the voting to keep tabs of his movements, then it is clear that he was a ‘suspect’ from the party’s point of view. The voting too was dramatic, with MIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress minister Renuka Chowdhury physically shielding the MP from TDP members K Yerrannaidu and E Dayakar Rao and help him vote for the confidence motion.
A day later, he was issued a showcause notice and soon after that expelled from the TDP. Chandrababu Naidu maintained that despite the fact that he had voted against the confidence motion, he was expelled because of the drama he caused during the voting which “brought a bad name to the party.” Two days ago, at a press conference in Tirupati, Adikesavulu displayed a faxed copy of his ballot paper showing that he had voted against the motion, and charged that he was expelled from the party because of his caste.
A member of the Kapu community, 67-year-old Adikesavulu is a mechanical engineer and his special interests include ‘setting up medical colleges.’ Professionally, he is the wholesale distributor for UB Group of breweries for Andhra Pradesh and also for a Japanese electronics giant, besides owning several liquor businesses in neighbouring Karnataka. He has also been chairman of TTD. He began his political career in the Congress and rose to become its treasurer. Losing the general elections from Chittoor as a Congress nominee, he shifted loyalties to the TDP and won the Chittoor LS seat in 2004.
Adikesavulu rose to become very close to the TDP chief and has funded party activities like the Mahanadu as well as Naidu’s personal functions like the reception for his son Lokesh in Chittoor. Several reasons are being attributed to Adikesavulu deciding to part ways with Naidu. One, the much speculated political entry of megastar Chiranjeevi into the political arena. Being a Kapu like the megastar and the Rayalaseema region having the community in seizable numbers, hitching on to the new party makes political sense. Two, that he had no future in the TDP because Chittoor LS seat has been reserved for SCs as per the delimitation exercise and with Tirupati LS seat already reserved for SCs, Adikesavulu cannot get a ticket from any party from his native district. Three, that despite giving his heart and soul to the TDP and Naidu, he has not been given the respect that he deserved from the party boss. Four, that his son Sreenivasulu, who is being groomed to enter politics, has an attempt-to-murder case slapped against him in connection with a bid by unidentified men on the life of Congress leader C K Jayachandra Reddy early this year, and remaining in the opposition party will not help him close the case.
While Chiranjeevi is still to launch his party the Congress is desperately wooing him as they rightly consider him to be a ‘prize catch.’ Those close to him say Vijay Mallya, the liquor baron to whom Adikesavulu is said to be well acquainted, convinced him to vote for the UPA in the trust vote. In return, he has been promised a Congress Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka in case nothing works for him in Andhra Pradesh. But one thing is clear. He wants to be an MP from either of the two houses. However, he is still to make up his mind as to whether he would sail with the Congress or wait for Chiranjeevi. If what he told TOI is any indication, it would most probably be the latter. “I will take a decision about my political future after a month,” is what he said.
Adikesavulu’s calculation is that Chiranjeevi would have launched his party by that time. In any case, he still has the Congress to fall back on. Thus, expelled from the TDP in the fag-end of his political career, this rich and powerful liquor baron has several sound options in the waiting. And he has already proved that he would be an asset to whosoever snares him.

Run for fertilisers proves fatal for ryot

2008-07-31T07:19:00.000-07:00

Notwithstanding the tall claims of the Rajasekhara Reddy government, the fertiliser ‘shortage’ has claimed the life of a farmer in Warangal district. A 55-year-old farmer died when he rushed to take his quota of fertilisers at Station Ghanpur on Wednesday.
As there was heavy jostling among farmers for fertilisers at the distribution centre, the victim, Pallepu Uppalaiah, ran for over 200 metres holding his fertiliser coupon. However, he collapsed and died. The efforts by the locals and fellow ryots to resuscitate Uppalaiah proved futile. The last words the farmer uttered expressed his anguish over his failure to get hold of his fertiliser quota.
The deceased, who was a native of Sripathipally village, came to the mandal headquarters to get a bag of complex fertilisers (BAP) for which he took the token a fortnight ago. He had two-and-half acre land. While locals said he died of fits, some farmers said he might have choked to death as he drank water after falling down.
Earlier, when the farmers gathered at the Primary Agriculture Cooperative Society (PACS) office to get their quota, the authorities said that only 100 bags of fertilisers were available for distribution and asked all the farmers to go to the nearby fertiliser shop dealer. Fearing that they might not get even one bagful, the farmers started running towards the dealer shop and in the melee, Uppalaiah fell and died.
Meanwhile, the death of the farmer sparked instant protests from the farmers and leaders of all the political parties who staged a dharna on the Warangal national highway demanding Rs 10 lakh ex gratia to the kin of the victim.
The agitating farmers and leaders from TDP, BJP, TRS and NTPP blamed the government for the death of the farmer.
Station Ghanpur MLA Kadiam Srihari, Nava Telangana Praja Party leader E Peddi Reddy, TRS district unit president Peddi Sudarshan Reddy and others joined the agitation. With the situation getting out of control, the police resorted to a lathicharge in which 10 party workers were injured. The authorities announced that Rs 1 lakh would be paid as ex gratia to the victim’s family. With increasing fertiliser shortage, the district administration began issuing fertiliser cards to the farmers three days ago in all the mandals. “Each coupon will enable the farmer to get one bag of BAP fertiliser,” a revenue official said. CM tells minister, agri officials to pull their socks up
Hyderabad: Baffled by reports of acute shortage of fertilisers and that it led to the death of a farmer in Warangal district while waiting in the queue for fertilisers, chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on Wednesday asked agriculture minister N Raghuveera Reddy and his officials to pull their socks up and solve the problem.
While the minister and the officials tried to explain to the chief minister that this year the supply of fertilisers to the districts was on the higher side compared to last year, Reddy shot back saying that if that was the case, then why were there reports in the media about long queues and agitation by farmers in various parts of the state alleging shortage.
The only answer the officials offered was that they were facing some delay in getting the allocated stocks from other states. As per procedure, the fertilisers manufactured in the state are allocated to other states while the state gets its supplies from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Kerala and some other states.
According to sources, the chief minister spoke to Union fertiliser minister Ram Vilas Paswan over phone while the meeting was still in progress and urged him to permit the state to use the fertilisers manufactured within the state. The minister is said to have agreed to the proposal in principle, according to Raghuveera Reddy. Nagarjuna Fertilisers manufactures urea, Godavari Fertilisers manufactures DAP and Coromandel Fertilisers complex fertiliser.
According to the minister, so far 4.21 metric tons of complex fertilisers have been sent to the districts as against 3.82 metric tons last year. Similarly, 3.6 MT of DAP has been dispatched.

TDP seeks restoration of security to its leaders

2008-07-31T07:18:00.000-07:00

A delegation of Telugu Desam Party met the chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy here on Wednesday and urged him to restore full security to some of the party leaders.
The state government recently scaled down security of Warangal MP E Dayakar Rao and Assembly deputy floor leader N Janardhan Reddy.
The TDP leaders led by MLA D Narendra drew the attention of the chief minister to the curtailment of security to Dayakar Rao Janardhan Reddy. The delegation said that the two leaders continued to face threat from Maoists. The CM is said to have assured them that he would get the matter examined.
Later talking to the media, Narendra said the Congress was worried over the response Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was getting for his ‘Mee Kosam yatra’ and hence it decided to curtail the free movement of party leaders in the run up to the polls.
He said when the government made a similar move in the past, TDP had requested the assembly speaker to intervene and see that the security was not reduced. The speaker had assured the party that there would be no reduction.
But still the government resorted to ‘intimidatory’ tactics, he said.
It may be mentioned here that soon after scaling down the security cover, home minister K Jana Reddy told the media that government would reexamine the issue if a representation was made to it by the affected people. He said the decision to cut down on the security was taken after a report submitted by the committee that periodically reviews the threat perception to different leaders.

Close shave: Modi passes by live bomb

2008-07-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

In a shocking lapse of security, three more bombs were recovered here on Wednesday within hours of chief minister Narendra Modi visiting the location in the heart of the city's diamond district of Varachha. Modi enjoys a security cover that has been upgraded to the level given of the prime minister.
For a state that's already alarmed at the security situation as more and more unexploded bombs are being discovered, it was scary that one of the bombs was found barely 20 metres from where Modi was about an hour back.
The same boat-shaped explosives in green plastic bags had been tied to a vertical drainage pipe and another was found hanging from a tree. The pipe ran between Kishan and Khodiyar shopping complexes and was spotted by shop owner Ranchhod Makwana.
Modi, along with an entourage of ministers and top city officials, had passed through this area at around 8.30 am. The second bomb was recovered in the evening hanging from a mango tree near Utsav Hotel in Varachha. Since Sunday, 22 bombs live bombs have been recovered and defused in Surat, of which 16 have been recovered from Varachha.
The chief minister was holding a meeting with senior officers in the police commissioner's office at 10 am, when Makwana called up the police control room to tell them about the bomb. It had been placed barely 20 feet from textile trader Sanjay Kaporia's shop, who had found a bomb in a dustbin on Tuesday and carried it to a police chowki.
"As soon as I opened by shop, I spotted a green packet tied with the pipe near the first floor,'' Makwana said. Deputy commissioner of police S G Khatri said, "We had checked the area before the CM's visit, but is possible that we missed the bomb given the numerous signboards around it.'' Experts from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Gandhinagar, have confirmed that all of Surat's 22 bombs were potent and would have caused a lot of destruction had they gone off. The bombs in Ahmedabad had analogue clocks as triggers, while in Surat they had integrated circuits, which failed.
Modi declares rewards
Chief minister Narendra Modi announced a reward of Rs 51 lakh for anyone who gives key information leading to bombers. He also announced an award of Rs 21,000 for all those who informed the police about the 22 bombs found in Surat.

Blasts change govt’s focus on terrorism

2008-07-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Instead of election-oriented planning and a sharper focus on economic reforms, terrorism has become the central agenda for the UPA government with intelligence and geo-political assessments indicating that terror groups are planning more attacks against Indian targets in the coming months.
The back-to-back serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad on Friday and Saturday have resulted in terrorism setting the post-trust vote agenda of the government which was looking to move on governance-related issues that had fallen victim to the paralysis induced by the Left-UPA showdown over the India-US nuclear deal.
With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and home minister Shivraj Patil holding a high-level meeting to review the internal security situation, the government is gearing to what it feels is the clear intention of jihadi groups who operate out of Pakistan and Bangladesh to attack high value targets in Indian metros. Many of these groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed have Pakistan links and Harkat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami has a base in Bangladesh.
The blasts may bring about a re-orientation of political priorities as terrorism cannot be accorded anything less than top priority, all the more in a year studded with elections including assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir. While the claims of the outfit that calls itself Indian Mujahideen are being scrutinised carefully, the overall objective of jihadi groups to demoralise security forces, trigger public insecurity and deepen the communal divide is not in doubt.
The government had hoped that its political focus after winning the July 22 trust vote would see it concentrate on the implementation of a populist
agenda while also hoping for inflation to level off by the year-end. This was pretty much key to the Congress' plans with the party also banking on electoral returns in BJP-ruled states which face elections this year even as the Centre looked keen to project a 'we-are-back-to-business' signal with reforms. The Bangalore-Ahmedabad bombings have altered the script.
Sources agreed that if the government continued to appear on the backfoot over combating terrorism, there would be a political price to pay. The high impact that terrorism has on the public mind ensures that security, or lack of it, occupies a considerable part of the popular mind space. The warnings of the jihadi outfits that carried out the attacks last week that there was more to come had a ring of authenticity about them.
Well-placed sources said the assessments offered by intelligence agencies and a review of the situation in India's neighbourhood presented a bleak and challenging picture. There was no alternative to stepping up intelligence collection and internal vigil as the risk of terror strikes was high with the situation in Afghanistan and the Pakistan-Afghanistan border not showing any signs of improving. The region remained under Taliban-al Qaida control and offered a haven for anti-India groups as well.
The recent attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul pointed to the threat that Taliban, acting in cahoots with Pakistani agencies like ISI, posed to Afghanistan. The situation in Bangladesh is not very encouraging either with HuJI successfully using its bases in that country to launch operations against India. The government's assessment also acknowledges and takes into account the deep roots LeT, Jaish and HuJI have taken aided by the cooperation of radical groups like Simi.

Emulate PM, Sonia on N-issue: Rahul

2008-07-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked party cadre to emulate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on the nuclear issue.
Addressing the PCC executive at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress general secretary asked members to motivate the cadre in creating awareness among people on the benefits of the nuclear deal with the US. “Members must create awareness among people by motivating the party cadre on the importance of the nuclear energy and its role in meeting the future energy needs of the country,” he said.
He said it was the responsibility of the party cadre to ensure that various welfare programmes and development schemes being implemented by the UPA government and the state government reached the poor. “You should motivate the cadre in this direction and this will help the party gain confidence of the people. The party cadre should monitor implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and ensure that all eligible farmers receive the benefits of a loan waiver,” he said.
The AICC general secretary was in all praise of the state government for taking up various welfare schemes.
“I have found out that the state government has ensured a balance while delivering the fruits of development in both rural and urban areas. Some of the
schemes are so interesting that we may borrow ideas from the state,” he said and added, “I thank the people of Andhra Pradesh for the support they have been extending to the Gandhi family and the Congress party. My family always had a special attachment with the people of AP. Please extend similar support for the party in the next elections.”
Rahul also interacted with members of various cells of the party and frontal organisations. He participated in a tele-conference with six district unit presidents and inaugurated a set of computers linking the state party office with its district units on the concluding day of his two-day tour to the state.
Chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, party affairs incharge in AP Veerappa Moily, cabinet ministers from the Centre and state, MPs, MLAs and senior leaders were present all through the general secretary’s 110-minute stay. During the interactive session, Rahul Gandhi expressed interest in learning the problems being faced by weavers and assured to convince the PM on sanctioning an exclusive weaver loan-waiver package.
Congress leader M Kodanda Reddy pointed out that farmers were facing shortage of labour due to implementation of NREGS during peak farm season. Some of the party leaders told Rahul Gandhi on the need to take more backward classes (BCs) into confidence in the wake of new political parties likely to take centrestage in the state.
Later addressing a press conference, PCC chief D Srinivas exuded confidence that the party would win the next elections in the state irrespective of an alliance. “People in the state know that Congress alone can fulfill their aspirations,” he said.

PM fights off WTO push from Bush and Brown

2008-07-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

Just when the Doha round of WTO talks teeters on the brink of collapse, India has fended off what may appear to be suggestions from the US and UK for relaxing its negotiating stance on the contentious issues of farm subsidies and tariff reductions.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh conveyed India’s resolve not to make concessions to the developed countries, to President George Bush of the US as well as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the past two days.
Details of what transpired between Singh and President Bush and Prime Minister Brown, specifically whether the two tried to nudge him to soften the stance that India has taken at the on-going mini-ministerial meeting at Geneva, were not known. Sources, however, said that the two leaders had urged the Prime Minister to help “ensure conclusion of the Doha round” of global free-trade talks.
The conversations coincided with what the observers have called make-or-break round to end the stalemate over reductions in subsidies and import tariffs.
For his part, the Prime Minister is learnt to have repeated India’s stand that for the talks to succeed, the developed countries must reduce their agricultural subsidies and tariffs.
Singh said that India is committed to the success of the multi-lateral trade system as free trade benefits all. But he made it plain that India’s priority was to protect the livelihood of millions of its small farmers, implying that there was vast room for flexibility on the part of the developed countries.
“In the developed countries it is only a miniscule section of their population — 2% to 3% — that is dependent on agriculture. As against this, more than 60% of India’s population is dependent on agriculture, and our priority is to ensure livelihood, security for our small farmers,” Singh is learnt to have told President Bush and Prime Minister Brown.
The Prime Minister said that while India had been committed to trade liberalisation over the past 18 years and had been bringing down tariffs and opening up its economy, the country alone had the prerogative to determine both the pace and quantum of scale of reductions. Singh also argued that while its opening up has benefited the Indian economy allowing it to grow at a faster rate, “India will continue to pursue trade liberalisation at its own pace and in consonance with its development priorities”.

Kurnool MLA dies of ill health

2008-07-27T01:02:00.000-07:00

Congress MLA M Sikhamani from Kodumuru Assembly constituency in Kurnool district died of prolonged illness in Hyderabad in the wee hours of Saturday. He was 76.
A diabetic, Sikhamani was suffering from kidney failure for the past one year. He was admitted to hospitals in Kurnool and Hyderabad several times. Despite his failing health, he attended several functions and meetings till Thursday.
The MLA left for Hyderabad on Friday evening for treatment when his car got stuck in a traffic jam for about three hours en route. He became unconscious by the time the vehicle reached Hyderabad and was rushed to Nims where he breathed his last. Sikhamani is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters and grandchildren.
A native of Munagalapadu village, about five km from Kurnool city, Sikhamani joined politics at a young age and served as village sarpanch for more than two decades. He joined the Telugu Desam and won the Kodumuru seat in 1985. However, he lost from the same seat in 1989. He then joined the Congress and was elected from the same seat in the 1994, 1999 and 2004 elections.
He was a close associate of former chief minister and late leader Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy but after winning the 2004 elections, Sikhamani switched loyalties to chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, an arch rival of the Kotla family. Sikhamani’s son Mani Gandhi served as Kurnool mandal parishad president during the last term. The body of the MLA has been brought to Kurnool and kept at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office, where several leaders and officials paid tributes to him. Kurnool MP Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy, his MLA wife Kotla Sujatha, Panyam MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy, district collector J Balaramaiah, joint collector K Chakravarthy, SP N Madhusudhan Reddy, DCC president Mayor S Raghurami Reddy and several others paid their respects to the legislator.
Hundreds of people from Kurnool city and neighbouring villages also visited the body and paid tributes to the late leader. The last rites will be held at his native village, Munagalapadu, on Sunday.
CRUCIAL DELAY
Sikhamani, the 76-year-old MLA, left for Hyderabad from Kurnool on Friday evening for treatment when his car got stuck in a traffic jam for about three hours en route. He became unconscious by the time the vehicle reached Hyderabad. He was rushed to Nims where he breathed his last

Rahul’s cuppa stumps Jadcherla

2008-07-27T01:00:00.000-07:00

The unexpected guest surprised everyone at a road side tiny hotel near Macharam village in the most backward Mahbubnagar district.
Driving on national highway no 7, Congress MP and general secretary Rahul Gandhi paid a surprise visit to the Surya Family Restaurant at the Macharam crossroads and had tea and some snacks. Dhaba owner Vattipalli Amarnath Reddy and his parents Mannem Reddy and Manemma were elated over the visit.
“I could not believe my eyes. I realised it was indeed Rahul Gandhi after the security personnel escorted the VVIP to a dusty chair,” Amarnath Reddy told The Times of India.
“When I offered to clean the chair, Rahul politely declined and asked me to get a good cup of tea and some snacks,” the dhaba owner added.
Rahul Gandhi’s Mahbubnagar district visit was decided only on Friday late night and very few from the district knew about it. Rahul, after landing at Shamshabad airport, left for Jadcharla and the convoy of about a dozen vehicles made the halt at the dhaba at around 1.30 pm.
Rahul first had a chat with Amarnath Reddy and enquired about the business. He also asked about the state government schemes.
Later, the young Congress MP interacted with about dozen customers at the dhaba. Avuladasu Rajendra Goud, Macharam MPTC member, introduced himself to Rahul, who enquired about the Congress activities in the area. Rahul also asked him about the local MLA details and tried to gather some information about his performance.
Finally, the young Gandhi bought a packaged drinking water bottle, a few chips packets, biscuits and paid for all of them. When Amarnath Reddy refused to take the amount, Rahul insisted and gave him Rs 500 note. Amarnath Reddy returned him Rs 400.
As Rahul was leaving, a hotel worker Narsimhulu went up to him and said he was a staunch supporter of the Congress party and told him that he had voted for the ‘Hand’ in all elections. Narsimhulu urged Rahul to help him as he was very poor.
However, Rahul advised him to make use of the benefits of the Indiramma housing scheme being implemented by the state government.
Later, Rahul attended an audit meeting of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) at Bhutpur, where several daily-wage labourers complained to him that they were being paid only half of the stipulated salaries. Rahul advised district collector V Usha Rani to take action against those responsible for it.

MIM MLA opens fire in Abids

2008-07-27T00:59:00.000-07:00

Demolition of an illegal floor of a building on Chapel Road in Abids by civic officials on Saturday morning led to tension with Karwan MLA Mohammed Muqtada Khan alias Afsar Khan firing two rounds in the air. Later, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) legislator along with another party MLA went to the Abids police station and lodged complaints against the civic officials. With news spreading that the duo were ‘detained’, other MIM legislators and activists protested in front of the police station, clogging the Chapel Road-Abids, Chermas-Koti, L B Stadium-Khan Latif Khan stretches.
The four-hour drama put motorists and pedestrians to severe hardship. Being Saturday, most schools functioned for only half day.
School buses and autos were stranded for four long hours, prompting some school students to plead with traffic police to ‘get them out of the mess’.
The trouble began at about 10.30 am when, as part of dismantling illegal houses, 35 personnel of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) town planning wing began demolition of a property owned by Mir Ahmed Ali, who is constructing a building near J B Hospital on Chapel road. GHMC officials booked
Hyderabad: Demolition of an illegal building in Abids by GHMC town planning personnel sparked trouble on Saturday after the owner of the property called up Asif Nagar MLA Moazam Khan and informed him about the incident.
At first, property owner Mir Ahmed Ali’s father Khaja Nawab tried to stop the GHMC officials, but when they refused to heed his pleas, he called up the Asif Nagar MLA.
Moazam Khan along with Karwan MLA Afsar Khan reached the spot and argued with the GHMC staff that they have a court order. Besides, the building owner had applied under the building penalisation scheme (BPS) and hence it could not be demolished, they stated.
Moazam Khan allegedly tried to stop them from pulling down the structure. As the workers ignored his threats and continued their work, Afsar Khan tried to intervene in the matter and opened fire.
After the incident, both the MLAs went to the Abids police station and lodged separate complaints against four GHMC officials.
On learning that their MLAs were ‘detained’ by police, MIM activists, including MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, MP Asaduddin Owaisi and other MLAs, reached Abids police station and staged a dharna pressing for the arrest of GHMC chief city planner Purushotham Reddy and town planning section officer Ranjit.
The GHMC officials had made an attempt to demolish the building on Friday too. But they did not go ahead as the property owner’s brother Mir Ahmed Ali with the help of others allegedly thrashed section officer Ranjit. He is currently undergoing treatment at the Osmania General Hospital.
The town planning staff lodged a complaint against Ahmed Ali for obstructing them from performing their duties.
At the Abids police station, Asaduddin Owaisi had a long discussion with GHMC additional commissioner (town planning) K Dhananjaya Reddy. Police booked cases against GHMC chief city planner (CCP) B Purushottam Reddy, Ranjit, Shah, and other town planning officials under sections 307 (Attempt to murder) 147 (Rioting) and 148 (Rioting, armed with deadly weapon) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Bangalore, Ahmedabad. Who’s next?

2008-07-27T00:57:00.001-07:00

India appears to be one of the softest targets in the world for terrorists. On two consecutive days, they have struck in two top Indian cities—Bangalore and Ahmedabad—triggering widespread fears of more such attacks. As a sense of helplessness grips the country, security and intelligence specialists say India is increasingly being drawn into the epicentre of terror.
On Saturday evening, Ahmedabad was rocked by 17 precisely planned blasts in crowded markets, bus stands, residential areas and hospitals, leaving 29 dead (at 11 pm)
and around 100 injured, some of them seriously. The nature of the blasts were similar to those in Bangalore on Friday — quartz timer devices, microprocessors and ammonium nitrate were found at blast sites in both cities — indicating that the attacks were the handiwork of terrorists drawn from the same pool. Significantly, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi’s constituency of Maninagar was rocked by four blasts.
The blasts which took place between 6.45 and 9.00 pm caught the police unawares even as the state was under red alert following the Bangalore blasts on. Compared to Bangalore, the Ahmedabad blasts were of higher intensity.
The last three terror attacks occurred in BJP-ruled states — Rajasthan, Karnataka and now Gujarat. Security experts warned that Bhopal in MP could be the next target. Like on the eve of the Jaipur and UP court blasts, a group calling itself Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the blasts in an email.
All the blasts, except the one at Sarkhej, took place in the crowded eastern neighbourhoods of the city, within a radius of 5 km. The Civil Hospital and LG Hospital campuses were the last to get bombed, about 40 minutes after the first round of blasts.
Most of the bombs were planted behind bicycles in tiffins contained in blue polythene bags while the bombs in the hospitals were placed in automobiles. The bombs were packed with timer devices and microprocessors. Preliminary reports suggest ammonium nitrate was used in the bombs.
Eyewitnesses said multiple explosives were planted within a short range, which went off within an interval of a few seconds. The idea was to attract people to the site with the first blast and then explode the other with more devastating effect. “One bomb went off from a bag on one cycle carrier and as people collected, another one went off within 15-20 seconds on another cycle carrier’’, said Bhushan Bhatt, a municipal corporator. One of the bombs went off near a bus in a Hindu pocket of the otherwise Muslim-dominated Sarkhej ripping one side of the bus completely. The busy diamond market in Bapunagar here was also made a target. At Maninagar, the bombs were planted in busy vegetable market and bus stops.

Bangalore, Ahmedabad. Who’s next?

2008-07-27T00:57:00.000-07:00

Obama meets Afghan president

2008-07-21T06:33:00.001-07:00

US presidential contender Barack Obama pledged steadfast aid to Afghanistan in talks with its western-backed leader on Sunday and vowed to pursue the war against terror ‘with vigour’ if he is elected, an Afghan official said.
On the third day of an international tour deigned to burnish his foreign policy credentials, Obama and other American senators held two hours of talks with president Hamid Karzai at his residential palace in the Afghan capital.
Obama has chided Karzai for not doing more to build confidence in the Afghan government, whose grip remains weak eight years after the ouster of the Taliban. US embassy spokesman Mark Sroh said the senators discussed the painstaking rebuilding of the country’s government and economy, the security situation and corruption with Karzai. The Afghan president said Obama’s message was positive.
“Senator Obama conveyed ... that he is committed to supporting Afghanistan and to continue the war against terrorism with vigour,” said Humayun Hamidzada, Karzai’s spokesman.
Both Democrats and Republicans ‘are friends of Afghanistan and no matter who wins the US elections, Afghanistan will have a very strong partner in the United States,” Hamidzada said.
Obama, the presumed Democratic candidate for the US election in November, has made Afghanistan a centrepiece of his proposed strategy for dealing with terrorism threats.
He said the war in Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida-linked militants are resurgent, deserves more troops and more attention as opposed to the conflict in Iraq.
While officially part of a congressional delegation on a factfinding tour also expected to take him to Iraq, Obama was travelling in Afghanistan amid the security accorded to a likely Democratic nominee for president rather than a senator from Illinois.
Earlier in the day, he praised US troops while eating breakfast with soldiers at Camp Eggers, a heavily fortified military base in the city. “To see young people like this who are doing such excellent work, with so much dedication ... It makes you feel good about the country,” Obama said.

Six BJP MPs give Advani’s dinner a miss

2008-07-21T06:28:00.000-07:00

The BJP-led NDA gathered in the Capital on the eve of the special session of Parliament with six out of the BJP flock of 130 missing from the dinner hosted by Leader of Opposition L K Advani and at least four missing from the allies' camp.
Of the six missing BJP MPs, actor-turned-politician Dharmendra is believed to be on his way back from Los Angeles where he recently underwent knee surgery. Out of the rest, BJP sources said "efforts were on" to get sulking Gujarat MPs Somabhai Patel and Babubhai Katara to vote on the party's side, though chances that they may switch camps cannot be ruled out.
Pattan MP Mahesh Kanoria, still in ICU after a heart ailment, is unable to travel and hence may have to stay away from the House. Karnataka MP K Manjunath, who is unwell, may also stay away. Maharshtra MP Harish Chandra Chavan is also in hospital, but he may be playing truant to avoid voting with his party.
Of the NDA lot, Trinamool Congress chief and the party's only Lok Sabha MP Mamata Banerjee is in Kolkata, with indications that she might abstain from voting. Two JD(U) MPs -- Ramswaroop Prasad from Nalanda and P P Koya from Lakshwadeep -- stayed away while of the 12 Shiv Sena members, one was absent from the dinner.
Clarifying reports that some BJD members may switch sides while voting, party MP Tathagata Satpathy said, "MPs in our party have a one-to-one relationship with party chief Naveen Patnaik and that creates a bond that ensures stability."
Speaking at the party's parliamentary board meeting on Sunday evening, Advani said the BJP would highlight the overall failure of the government at the special session and not only focus on the nuclear deal. Reiterating the party line on the deal, Advani said, "Unlike the Left, BJP is against the deal in its present form since it puts a cap on further testing, but is not averse to strategic ties with the US."
Senior leader Jaswant Singh explained the flaws of the nuclear deal to MPs.
During the confidence motion, Advani will be the Opposition's first speaker while deputy leader of Opposition V K Malhotra will speak on the second day. Among the others slated to speak include Shahnawaz Hussain, Maneka Gandhi, Kiran Maheshwari, Haren Pathak, Ananth Kumar and Kharabela Swain.

‘Power cuts playing havoc with people’

2008-07-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

Power cuts are playing havoc with lives of ordinary citizens.
“Yesterday, there was a power cut from 2 am to 6 am in our area. While the official power cut is from 2.30 pm to 6 pm, from 8.30 am to 12 noon, there was no power as well. Let there be power cut, but not unscheduled power cuts at such odd timings. My work was paralysed due to the unscheduled power cuts,” Ashok Ram Kumar, a lawyer who specialises in intellectual property rights and resides on Road No 10, Jubilee Hills, told ‘TOI’ While another resident of Jubilee Hills, Salil Ganeriwal, said power cuts were not specific. “We do not know when their is a power cut,” Ganeriwal added.
M Praveen Kumar of Secunderabad said there was load shedding in his area from morning till 6 pm in the evening. “Though we are bearing with the three-and-a half-hour power cut, why are we forced to bear double the time. The authorities have messed up with the power situation. We would have been in a safe situation if the government had planned things in advance,” he said.
The unscheduled power cuts in the night has enraged the residents. “Though there is a power cut in the morning during the scheduled hours, in the middle of the night, again, we are suffering half an hour power cuts on a regular basis,” Akhila Reddy, a resident of Masab Tank, said.
Most areas in the twin cities, eve n those considered as high-paying by the Central Power Distribution Company Limited (CPDCL) are facing unscheduled power cuts on a regular basis.

MIM to vote for UPA

2008-07-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

Ending days of speculation Asaduddin Owaisi, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, announced on Sunday that he would vote in favour of the UPA government during the trust vote on July 22.
Owaisi told mediapersons: “Though we have strong reservations over the effect of the nuclear agreement with the US on India’s foreign policy, we have decided to vote for the continuation of the UPA government.”
Owaisi returned from Delhi on Friday night after meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. “Our objective is to stop the BJP from forming the government and L K Advani becoming the Prime Minister. Our enemy No 1 is Advani and enemy No 2 is (CPM leader) Prakash Karat. The CPM has camouflaged its anti-Muslim policies under its ideological cloak”, he claimed.
Justifying his support for the UPA government, he reeled out numerous measures the government had taken to instil confidence among the Muslims and lessen their economic and social miseries. On the other hand, he added, both the SP and the BSP had been in power in Uttar Pradesh alternately for several years but they ignored Justice Jagdish Bhalla’s direction to notify the names of the accused in Babri Masjid demolition case since it would have gone against the BJP leadership. Asked what he got in return for his vote for the UPA, Owaisi said: “Rs 5000 crore. This is the amount that would cost to implement the Fatimi sub-committee report to improve the education level among Muslims. The Fatimi sub-committee report has not been tabled in Parliament as yet. I have got the assurance of the Prime Minister on this issue”.
He disclosed that the BSP leaders asked him to vote against the UPA government, which he turned down.
Referring to the growing relations between Telugu Desam Party and BSP, he asked Mayawati to be wary of TDP president Chandrababu Naidu. “His stars are not doing well; whoever he befriends becomes a loser. Babu should take stock of the situation in his own party before trying to topple the UPA government,” he added.
Asked what would be the outcome of the trust vote, he remained non-committal. “I do not have the knowledge of the future. I cannot comment on it. Jeet aur haar lagi huee hai (victory and defeat are closely linked). Let’s see what happens,” said the Hyderabad MP. He blasted CPM for communalising the nuclear deal. “Why shouldn’t they say that Hindus are in favour of the agreement or the Dalits are opposing it? Why bring in the name of the Muslims? Why do you want to fire your gun from my shoulder? The CPM has caused a massive damage to the Muslims (by saying that the Muslims are opposed to it). They have provided a handle to the Hindutva forces,” he alleged.

Will YSR say yes to early state polls?

2008-07-21T06:24:00.000-07:00

Even as the UPA government fights a grim battle of survival in New Delhi, interested quarters are wondering whether the state would go to the polls too in case the Manmohan Singh government tumbles. But highly placed sources indicate that chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is dead against going for early polls. His calculations are based on the premise that the benefits of programmes like Indiramma housing project will be fully felt by the electorate if the state government is able to be in office till the end of its term. This would be an electoral advantage for the ruling party, YSR feels, say sources. This line of thought has been obliquely referred to by the chief minister in his recent public utterances including at the Collectors' conference last fortnight.
Further not clubbing the state elections with the general elections (if they happen early) would also allow the state government the advantage of benefitting from the experience of the general elections. Additionally, holding the national election under a Congress regime would have its own spin off.
If the Manmohan Singh government falls on Tuesday, general elections would be probably held in November. State elections are slated for four months later ie. March next year.
But not all Congressmen or allies of the Congress party are convinced by this argument. They feel that in the case of early elections, the two polls should be clubbed. "No party is ready for early elections. Delaying them would allow Chiranjeevi's camp to ready for the election and even Devender Goud and Chandrababu Naidu's TDP. Early elections would catch them unawares and put them at a disadvantaged situation," said a Congressman.
He adds: "The Congress can at least manage but these parties will be all at sea." Having two set of elections would also increase the costs but here the Congress may be better placed than opposition parties because of its better resource base.
A leader from a party sympathetic to the Congress pooh-poohs the line of argument attributed to YSR. "All these schemes will have only limited political impact. Whether elections are held three months earlier or later would not make any difference." He adds: "If Indiramma is so crucial, why have Rs 2-a-kg rice, cheap pulses and the like," he wondered.
Though YSR has considerable clout with the Congress high command, an aide of the chief minister when quizzed about the matter said that in this matter probably the high command will have the final say. In other words more than YSR it will be Sonia's voice that would be crucial.

Maya upstages NDA as UPA’s main rival

2008-07-21T06:23:00.000-07:00

As Mayawati emerged the pivot of moves to oust the Manmohan Singh government, the BJP-led NDA appeared to run the serious risk of losing its billing as the principal challenger to the UPA coalition.
For the second day running, BJP lost out to BSP-led charge for numbers in the prime-time TRP. As Mayawati made good her pledge to take the fight to the UPA camp, poaching MPs of her archrival SP and reaching out to new allies stretching from Left to UNPA, BJP managers were unable to back up their high-voltage rhetoric over the last week by organising numbers.
BJP leaders have not managed a single MP from the pro-deal or "undecided" columns since last week when a senior party functionary lured away Harish Nagpal, the Independent MP from Amroha, despite the aggressive scramble for him by both SP and BSP.
The contrast with Mayawati's headline-hogging exploits is stark. The Dalit star has had a procession of leaders calling on her since she landed here on Saturday. On Sunday, she succeeded in snatching Ajit Singh from Congress just when the ruling party thought it had a deal with the Jat leader. The UP chief minister was easily the most conspicuous presence in the frame when JD-S leader, former PM H D Deve Gowda, after having indicated all this while that he had tilted towards supporting the deal, sent his son H D Kumaraswamy and party MP, M Shivanna, to the UNPA get-together. Mayawati takes advantage of Left UNPA compulsions
New Delhi: The NDA's PR deficit was aggravated on Sunday when it failed to hold on to its wavering MPs -- Ramswaroop Prasad and P P Koya of JD-U and Braj Bhushan Sharan Singh of BJP. Aggressive denials from NDA managers could not quell the speculation on more desertions from its ranks.
Several factors contributed to BJP's lower visibility at a time when the government was ripe for an all-out assault. Mayawati is benefiting from the compulsion of Left and UNPA members not to be seen as hobnobbing with the 'communal' BJP. The 'secular' outfits are loath to engage with BJP for the fear of annoying their Muslim constituency, and SP's charge that they were part of a vast 'communal' plot has reduced the manoeuvre space further.
Also, the outcome of the trust vote will depend, to a crucial extent, on whether SP is able to check erosion of its numbers, and this enhances the significance of the UP CM in the numbers game. Being the ascendant political force, she is far better placed to be the rival pole of attraction for those looking for accommodation outside the Samajwadi tent. Assurances from the chief minister will, in any case, carry more credibility with even those looking for compensation, other than political, for switching sides.
While the alibi offered by the BJP managers was that they could not match Mayawati's 'snatch-andgrab' tactics, having to take the backseat to her has underlined the mismatch between the soundbytes of voluble spokespersons and the skillset needed for highstakes political operations. More seriously, it has yet again exposed the inability of the NDA allies to jell into a smart and alert political machine -- a shortcoming which leaves the BJP to shoulder the burden alone.

Just 1 vote could bring govt down

2008-07-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

This is as close as it gets. The gloves were off as UPA and the Opposition squared off for the July 22 trust vote with the numbers still too close to call and both sides resorting to snatch-and-dash tactics to poach rival MPs, escalating a ding-dong battle marked by desperate deal-making and breathtaking brinksmanship.
With each and every vote now absolutely crucial, late night reports suggest that CPM has renewed pressure on Somnath Chatterjee to quit as Speaker after publicly saying it was up to him to decide.
The all-out poaching drive saw Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh displaying BJP MP from Balrampur Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh to the media on Sunday evening and UPA managers hinting that there were more defections in the pipeline. They suggested two JD(U) MPs--P P Koya and Ramswaroop Prasad--would part company with NDA.
The government's determined drive to drum up numbers lay in the early morning shock it received with RLD chief Ajit Singh turning up at Mayawati's residence and announcing that he was in the anti-UPA camp. The Jat leader slipped away from right under the UPA's nose after days of negotiations during which he was assured a "generous" seatsharing formula in his bastion of western UP.
The Ajit Singh turnaround was not the only bad news for the ruling coalition. A little later, JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda despatched his son and party MP Shivanna to a very political lunch hosted by TDP at the residence of former minister K Yerran Naidu. By evening, the Vokkaliga leader had formally announced his decision to go against govt.
RLD and JD(S) account for five MPs -- one JD(S) MP, M P Virendra Kumar, had already defected to the Opposition -- and equal the five JMM MPs who are now with UPA. JMM's Soren met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for almost an hour. He will be inducted as Cabinet minister soon along with an MoS and his son Durga will replace one of two deputy CMs in the Madhu Koda government in Jharkhand.
Though set back by Ajit Singh and Deve Gowda, UPA managers tried to recoup their losses by targeting Shiv Sena MPs and others belonging to the NDA. They refused to drop the claim even after 11 of the 12 Sainik MPs attended a dinner hosted by Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Sunday.
The rival camp, led by Mayawati, was ready to retaliate by raiding the pro-deal garrison. Mayawati told UNPA and Left leaders that more SP MPs were likely to bolt. As it is, five SP MPs have said they will oppose the government. As things stand, including JMM and rebel BJP MPs, the UPA tally comes to 265 MPs, but along with NC two MPs, who are expected to announce support for government on Monday, that number should swell to 267. The combined Opposition figure is 268. But what makes these figures less than certain is the prospect of desertions. The trigger could be disgruntlement or a handsome settlement.
Officially, the undecided numbers now stand at just five MPs. These are Independent MPs Thupstan Chhewang (Ladakh), Mani Charenamei (outer Manipur) and S Bwismuthiary, Mizo National Front (1) and Nagaland People's Front (1). Congress feels that Bwiswmuthiary will support UPA.
The numbers game
UPA can count on 268 MPs. A couple of Independents might join. The combined opposition tally is 270. This figure might be eroded by defections. There are just four undecided votes. These can split between UPA and opposition. It is still anybody’s match
Political slugfest
UPA gets a jolt with RLD chief Ajit Singh and JD(S) leader Deve Gowda joining hands with Mayawati. In a counter move, it secures Soren’s support and claims two JD(U) MPs are set to defect. Amar Singh parades BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
Emerging alliances
Third Front may have got a new leader in Mayawati. Though cooperation limited at present, poll pacts cannot be ruled out. Even if UPA loses, Cong-SP pact will endure. NDA hopes that some UNPA parties like INLD and AGP will join it. Left-BSP dialogue to continue ‘Two AP Cong MPs may quit’
New Delhi: UPA is expecting National Conference to join its ranks for the July 22 trust vote, and feels that Independent MPs Thupstan Chhewang and S Bwiswmuthiary will follow suit as will Nagaland People's Front. In such a scenario, the UPA numbers will rise to 270 MPs. This is clearly is precarious and the coalition is therefore expected to concentrate on ensuring a few more defections.
Taut nerves were in evidence right through the day. TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, who is camping in New Delhi, said the numbers were slipping away from the UPA but agreed that counter-poaching was a concern as the government was going full throttle in trying to breach Opposition defences.
Apart from NC, Congress expects that at least two Independents and one North-east party will join the UPA ranks. These additions along with disaffected elements cross-voting would see the government through, it is felt.
RLD and JD(S) account for five MPs -- one JD(S) MP, M P Virendra Kumar, had already defected to the Opposition -- and equal the five JMM MPs who are now with UPA. JMM's Soren met Congress chief Sonia Gandhi for almost an hour.
He will be inducted as Cabinet minister soon along with an MoS and his son Durga will replace one of the two deputy CMs in the Madhu Koda government in Jharkhand.
These developments put an intense focus on the two-MP National Conference with good reason. With claims flying thick and fast, it was difficult to separate hype from fact. If the UPA was laying claims to the loyalties of some Shiv Sena MPs, UNPA said that at least two Congress MPs from Andhra Pradesh were keen to leave the party. The churn saw party bosses monitor MPs and in some case even depute bouncers and private detectives to keep an eye on those with suspect loyalties. Most in demand, as has been the case, were little-known Independents who could hardly have anticipated the limelight.
The bid to mobilise every vote continued apace. BJP said that ex-film star Dharmendra would indeed be back for the vote. Its two MPs who are in hospital will also be there as will be party patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee. This will in some measure make up for the loss of two MPs -- rebel Somabhai and the defector Brijbhushan Sharan Singh.
The mood of political leaders was fittingly grim. SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav held a press conference to hit out hard at what he called the alliance of the two "Lals" -- the Left and BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani -- the poin obviously being that the comrades had betrayed the "secular" cause. He caustically noted that Left leaders -- the allusion clearly being to CPM boss Prakash Karat -- had fought "communalism" through statements while he had done so on the streets.
The tough talking did not perturb Karat who has teamed up in a vengeance play with Mayawati, provoked by the Congress-SP alliance and a recent CBI move against her, and TDP leader Naidu who is smarting over SP having brought his "third front" project crashing down.
All three have scores to settle with Congress and are leaving no stone unturned, even informally liaising with the BJP.

Bill Clinton willing to campaign for Obama

2008-07-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

Former US p re s i - dent Bill Clinton has said he was willing to camp a i g n f o r W h i t e H o u s e hopeful Barack Obama, who defeated his wife Hillary in a sometimes bitter democratic nomination race.
Asked by reporters if he would campaign for Obama, who aims to become America’s first Black president, Clinton said: “Whenever he asks.”
“He’s busier than I am on politics anyway,” he said.
Clinton told reporters on Thursday that he had a ‘good talk’ with Obama following the marathon nomination battle, during which the former two-term president’s wife jousted repeatedly with the Illinois senator’s campaign.
Clinton and Obama spoke by telephone on June 30 in an effort to mend fences, three days after Hillary Clinton and the presumptive Democratic nominee appeared publicly for the first time in a show of party unity.
Reports last month said that despite his wife’s vow to do whatever she could to make Obama the next president, Bill Clinton was still nursing anger over the campaign, in which he was accused of playing the race card to boost Hillary’s chances.
The former president remains a hero to many grassroots Democrats, and could possibly help Obama in his quest to win over working class whites in key swing states that backed Hillary Clinton in the primary race.

Plot to assassinate Bush foiled: Israel

2008-07-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al-Qaida cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George Bush.
Israel’s Shin Bet counter-intelligence agency said one of the suspects had used his mobile phone to film helicopters at a sports stadium in Jerusalem that was used as a landing site for Bush’s delegation.
The suspect then posted queries on websites frequented by al-Qaida operatives, asking for guidance on how to shoot down the helicopters, the agency said in a statement.
Bush visited Israel in January and again in May. Lawyers representing the six suspects could not immediately be reached for comment.
Two of the arrested men are students of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, according to the statement released by Shin Bet. The other four are Palestinian residents of east Jerusalem.
It said the men had met several times at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, seeking to organize a local al-Qaida network.
The agency said bomb-making instructions on the personal computers of several of the six new suspects, the Shin Bet said. But the statement gave no indication that their activities ever moved be yond the planning stage.
None face charges of active involvement in any attacks. The men were arrested in June and July, the statement said. But the information was only approved for publication on Friday, the day the men were to be indicted in a Jerusalem court.
Earlier this month, Israel indicted two of its Bedouin Arab citizens for links to al-Qaida and for planning attacks inside the Jewish state.
The two men gave al-Qaida operatives information about strategic sites like army bases, skyscrapers and Israel's international airport that could serve as targets, a statement released by Shin Bet said

3 of six jailed MPs could be barred from polls

2008-07-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Although they are said to be receiving overtures from both sides, three of the six jailed MPs legally have little incentive to look beyond the term of the 14th Lok Sabha.
Umakant Yadav, Ateeq Ahmad and Afzal Ansari can afford to weigh their options with an eye on the next election as they are still only facing trial. On the other hand, Pappu Yadav, Suraj Bhan and Mohammad Shahabuddin have already been convicted over the last year or so for serious offences like murder and kidnapping.
The convicted MPs have been able to retain their seats because Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act saves them from being disqualified till each of their appeals is “disposed of by the court.”
The benefit of this section, however, comes with a short expiry date. Or so the Supreme Court interpreted three years ago in K Prabhakaran vs P Jayaraman, when it said a convicted MP could avert disqualification “only so long as the House continues to exist and the person continues to be a member of a House.’’ The immunity ceases to apply if the House is dissolved or the person ceases to be a member of the House.
This means that once the 14th Lok Sabha is dissolved, the three convicted MPs cannot contest elections again till their appeals are upheld or, alternatively, they serve out their sentences and wait for another six years to get over the period of disqualification.

UPA close to comfort zone?

2008-07-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

The political potboiler bubbling over in the Capital has acquired all the uncertainty of the final overs of a tense Twenty20 match with a hint of match-fixing to boot: UPA is scrambling for runs, the NDALeft-Mayawati combine is looking for a few sharp runouts while bookies are furiously working the phones.
With just four days to go for the crucial vote in the Lok Sabha that will decide the fate of the Manmohan Singh government, the pressure cooker atmosphere is almost unbearable. It's war out there as parties seek to secure their flocks while raiding rival pens to make off with prize catches that they hope will make all the difference in next week's showdown.
It is difficult keeping track of MPs, some who are giving the term "multi-tasking" a new meaning. Take the case of Congress's Karnal MP Arvind Sharma, who late on Thursday night assured his party he would very much vote for the government. But on Friday morning, he was on the verge of joining BSP, launching a broadside against Congress for "targeting" UP chief minister Mayawati.
No party can afford to let its guard down. NDA learned this the hard way when UPA __ NCP, to be precise __ sneaked up on JD(U) MP from Lakshadweep, P Koya, and sought to snare him. JD(U) was working hard to retrieve him when BJP urgently sent its senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu to Karnataka, where its MP from Dharwad (south), Manjunath Channappa, had fallen to the guiles of Congress. Naidu is hoping to stop him, besides seeking to build on the contacts his colleagues have claimed to have established with two Congress MPs.
BJP sources claimed that a couple of its MPs from the North-east had been approached with "offers" if they batted for the government. Some MPs have even received text messages, perhaps inking a new chapter in telemarketing. Some of the players are new, even first termers, who feel jittery about their re-election and, therefore, vulnerable to seductive pitches. But there are a few veterans who know all about playing on doctored pitches, like JMM chief Shibu Soren who has the dubious privilege of having been associated in the infamous 1993 buyout which saved the P V Narasimha Rao government. SWINGING FOR THE DEAL
Cong looks to bag Mohammed Koya, JD(U) MP from Lakshadweep, BJP MP Manjunath from K’taka
Cong MP from Karnal Arvind Sharma set to join BSP, MP from Sirsa Atmaram Gill may follow suit.
DMK rebel Dayanidhi Maran falls in line, but four SP MPs refuse to back UPA JMM chief Shibu Soren still keeps BJP, Cong guessing, but tilting to NDA. RLD leader Ajit Singh undecided
BJP’s “kabootarbaaz” MP Babulal Katara promises to support party, but former action star Dharmendra missing in action
BJP alleges two of its north-east MPs tapped over mobiles to defect. Some offers made through SMS

Maya reigns supreme

2008-07-18T06:19:00.000-07:00

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati seems to have conjured up a strategy out of the chaos triggered by the nuke deal, with the leadership role being thrust on her in line with her wish to acquire a pan-Indian appeal.
The Dalit czarina would spend the crucial weekend ahead of the trust motion in Parliament meeting two unlikely friends -- Telugu Desam Party chief Chandrababu Naidu and Telangana Rashtra Samiti boss K Chandrasekhara Rao. The two rivals from Andhra follow the Left which has just shed its inhibition to forge a front with the "casteist outfit''.
Though pushed into the situation by the altered political equations -- Mulayam Singh Yadav joining hands with Congress and the urgency shown by CBI -- the BSP chief is looking to turn it into a vehicle to her national ambitions with the objective to grow at Congress' expense.
If the motley bunch of regional parties backed by Left does prop up the BSP supremo into a leadership role against Congress and BJP faces in Lok Sabha battle, her purpose would be served.
Observers feel it would be the logical next step to Mayawati's growth after she swept the 2007 UP assembly polls. The loser would be Congress, already faced with shrinking votebase and geographical spread.
Mayawati's feat in breaking the jinx of a hung assembly which even the mighty BJP and SP could not, insiders say, fired the imagination of Dalits across the country. She herself embarked on a nationwide campaign to boost the party's presence in states, a move which saw Congress' concerns reflecting in its criticism of the chief minister ignoring governance in UP.
The gambit could not adequately boost the BSP growth in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka polls but it is felt the gap would be filled by Mayawati being seen as a national player.
It would be a direct threat to Congress, which retains a strong grip over Dalits outside UP. A BSP success in its endeavour could knock the bottom out of Congress' staying power elsewhere as Dalits and minorities are critical to its political muscle.
Given the returns, Mayawati may agree to walk with Naidu and Rao despite her interests being at variance with them. Naidu worked to break the Dalit mobilisation in AP by introducing sub-categorisation, which has now been picked up by Congress in its own bid to counter BSP.
BSP has opposed the division of Dalits on the lines of social advancement, but it may keep the contentious issue out for next Lok Sabha polls.
A BSP success, in the long run, would only end up threatening the AP outfits, as seen by BJP which courted Mayawati in UP only to see her hijack the saffron social base.
It is working for Mayawati, strong enough to worry Congress and SP. If Naidu and Rao are landing at her doors, as did the Left, its because there is no ambiguity about her political muscle or ambitions. As Rao says, "She will be a big power in future and we want to be on her side. We need someone to ruin the Congress and Mayawati can do it.''

Narendra likely to dare TRS whip, vote for UPA

2008-07-18T06:18:00.000-07:00

Suspended Telangana Rashtra Samiti MP A Narendra is likely to spring a surprise during the trust vote on July 22. Narendra, who represents Medak Lok Sabha constituency, has already announced that he would support the government only if the UPA leadership takes a decision in favour of Telangana state. But the threat of a whip by TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao may influence his decision. Sources said since TRS was planning to embarrass him by issuing a whip, he is likely to violate it and vote for the UPA.
“The threat of a whip for the UPA trust vote is meaningless. I am not a TRS member. A whip issued by the TRS leadership is not binding upon me,” Narendra told TOI. He said there were several reasons for the whip not applying to him but said he would disclose them later.
Meanwhile, Chandrasekhar Rao is planning to form an umbrella group of the parties demanding separate states. Rao is leaving for New Delhi on Friday. He has already been invited by Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh to take a collective decision on the trust vote. Later, he will meet UP chief minister and BSP leader Mayawati in a separate meeting.

State to be blamed for power crisis

2008-07-18T06:17:00.001-07:00

The power crisis in the state was not entirely unexpected. In fact, it has been predicted, and while the failure of the southwest monsoon is a reason one cannot argue with, the other is entirely due to lack of proper planning. The powers that be did not tieup for buying power when it was available in June. Now, while the government is willing to buy at any cost, there’s hardly any available.
According to one expert, the southern grid came close to collapsing on Tuesday when the state was drawing power at a frequency of 48.5 hertz (hz). When the demand is less, the frequency would be 50.5 hz while it would be 48.5 hz when the demand is excessive. If the frequency drops to below 48.5 hz, the grid would collapse, he said.
The expert said that surplus power was available in the north and western regions in June and the state should have bought the power in case the monsoon failed.
“In such a scenario, Andhra Pradesh should have bought powerwherever it was available and even one MW would make a difference. There is some power available in northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Tripura. But since the demand is high, this power is likely to be available only at a high price of Rs 8.50 per unit,” he said.
Interestingly, even this rate would be lesser than what the state is currently paying right now for drawing power from the southern grid. ‘Dark days ahead for state’
Hyderabad: The state should have been geared up to face power crisis and bought power when it was available from other states, say experts. Now as the demand is high, the power is likely to be avaibale at higher rates. “When the state draws power at 48.5 hz, it will be paying for it at the rate of Rs 10 per unit which is costlier than Rs 8.50 per unit it can buy the few MWs that is currently available,’’ an expert said.
All round failure of the monsoon will only increase the demand and reduce the supply. As a result, a long and dark winter lies ahead of Andhra Pradesh, he predicted. Conservation of power by loadshedding and power cuts is the only way to tide over the crisis during the next four months.
Except for the eastern region, the monsoon has failed across the country and Andhra Pradesh, the largest consumer of power among the southern states, will be hit the hardest.
The peak demand currently is in the range of 10,000 MW per day while only 8,000 MW is being generated resulting in a shortfall of 2,000 MW.

No going back on N-deal: Sonia

2008-07-18T06:16:00.001-07:00

Taking the fight to the Left camp on the contentious India-US nuclear deal issue, UPA chairperson and AICC president Sonia Gandhi said that there was no question of compromise on the nuclear issue. In a belligerent mood, Sonia said the nuclear deal is important to the interests of India as it enables the country to generate more power.
Addressing a mammoth gathering of over one lakh at a public meeting in the AC Subbareddy Stadium here on a hot and sultry Thursday afternoon, Sonia said: “There is no question of compromise on nuclear power, our security and foreign policy.” Stating that the country needs more nuclear plants to generate electricity to eliminate power cuts, she said: “The demand for electricity is growing day by day. We need access to nuclear technology and this is what we want to do for the poor people of the country.”
Saying that the future generation would recognise the value of this agreement, she said: “We need more power for agriculture, schools, hospitals and for every single village and house in the country.” The UPA chairperson said the country is currently utilising coal and water resources for generating power but they are limited. “We would do what is best for the country and we don’t need a certificate from anybody on the issue,” she thundered, amidst claps from the crowd. Though the crowds were mobilised from nearby districts and brought to venue on road transport buses, the people had a torrid time because of near heat wave conditions in the stadium.
Taking a dig at the Left parties for withdrawing support to the UPA government led by Manmohan Singh, she said: “What the country needs is to move ahead with pride and not the kind of politics other parties pursue. We don’t need the politics of division.”
Pointing out that India is forced to import 75 per cent of its oil requirements, Sonia said it imposes a heavy burden on the government. Hitting out at the NDA allies, she said the cost of fuel has gone up from $35 during the NDA regime to $147 now. “But we have been extremely cautious that consumers of petroleum products are not made to suffer,” she remarked. Touching upon the rising inflation, she said the government had to face huge challenges due to the unprecedented rise in oil prices.
She announced that the UPA government is keen to provide road connectivity to all villages having more than 2,000 population. “The priority of the UPA government is farmers, education, social security and irrigation,” she said. Complimenting the efforts of the Y S Rajasekhara Reddy government, Sonia said AP has emerged as No 1 state in the country with its developmental initiatives.
“Andhra Pradesh is a model for the country. Innovative schemes like loan waiver for farmers, irrigation projects and loans at low interest are laudable and I congratulate the CM for taking up such programmes,” she said.
Sonia began her speech by greeting the crowd in Telugu by saying ‘Meeru bagunnaaraa’ (Are you doing well?). With no roof, the people kept squirming and moving from place to place looking for water. The district education officer had announced a holiday for all schools in the town. Rajahmundry MP Undavalli Arunkumar translated Sonia’s speech into Telugu for the audience.

How many historic blunders will our comrades commit?

2008-07-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

The story we heard as young students back in the early 1950s was that even as CPI’s student volunteers were marching in a procession against the British regime following the Quit India call by Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Bose, head of the party’s youth brigade went running after them asking them to stop and turn back, shouting: ‘The party line has changed, comrades’! The party itself and its subsequent fragments, including the bigger one — the CPM — have never quite accepted it as a blunder, or even as a minor mistake. Indeed they invariably offer a very laboured explanation of the World War having turned into a ‘people’s war’ with the Soviet Union having intervened on the Allies’ side. Others, however, never let go of an opportunity to remind them of their ‘betrayal’ of the nation at that critical hour. Comrades usually fall silent whenever this reminder is thrown at their face.
Come independence in 1947, and before the celebrations had subsided, the party, then led by B T Ranadive, a 1940s version of Prakash Karat, very learned in Marxist theory, completely unfamiliar with the notion of moderation as well as of practical politics, voiced the slogan: “Yeh azadi jhoothi hai; janata abhi bhi bhookhi hai”. He launched an armed uprising from Telengana to overthrow the bourgeois regime which, according to the party, had been placed in power by the colonial regime in a conspiracy against the rising tide of communist revolution. The uprising was suppressed brutally, as the state always does when faced with a threatening challenge.
The price paid by faithful believers in the call of revolution was massive. But they were ordinary workers, always dispensable for a worthy cause. The leaders were put in jail and released. Even this was never formally acknowledged as a blunder, although the replacement of Ranadive with Ajoy Ghosh and the resolution to participate in parliamentary politics “to help complete the bourgeois democratic revolution” as a step towards achieving “a people’s democratic revolution” was an implicit admission enough.
Things worked smoothly for a while. So long as workers went on strikes and held gheraos and dharnas and simultaneously party candidates contested elections, the state was not really threatened. Indeed, the state welcomed the absorption of the challenging agency into its fold through election of governments in the states. So complete was the absorption that in the next bout of a serious
challenge from the outside, i.e., the Naxalite movement, the CPI and CPM became its chief targets. Nor need we forget that the only party other than the Congress which wholeheartedly welcomed the imposition of the Emergency by Indira Gandhi was the CPI.
But by now a radical metamorphosis of the communist movement in India had occurred: its role would henceforth remain strictly confined to the four walls of parliamentary politics. With coalition politics becoming the new norm, a great opportunity came its way in 1998 when there was the possibility of Jyoti Basu heading a coalition government. Karat is known to be the one dead set against this happening and succeeded in enacting what Basu later called a “historic blunder”. Basu was not lamenting the denial of the PM’s chair to him; he saw the results of that denial in BJP’s subsequent rise to power for six long years. It was as a corrective to that blunder that he and another ‘practical’ politician in the CPM leadership, Harkishen Singh Surjeet, helped forge a Left-UPA coalition following the 2004 elections.
That coalition is in a shambles now, because Karat, who has learnt his Marxism in a British University and JNU, is obviously unmindful of minor headaches like paving the way for the BJP’s return. Ranadive was fortunate in that he did not have to choose from among many enemies: there was no BJP or its predecessor. The Congress was his single enemy. Karat has made his choice. The Congress still remains his single enemy and if he has to traverse the path in the company of the BJP, so be it. He finds the very communal reason given by Mayawati for denunciation of the nuclear deal as anti-Muslim laudable, even as several highly respected Muslim bodies have refused to link Islam with the nuclear deal.
Nor has he any problem with all the crores Mayawati has made in the past few years. Mayawati’s declared intention — and the practice of it — to capture power and hold on to it regardless of whoever is willing to support her, including the BJP, is of no concern to Karat either. These small details must be ignored for the higher cause of bringing to heel a government, which spent four years accommodating some reasonable and some grossly unreasonable demands placed before it with a “Do it or else” command.
One can imagine the BJP leaders chuckling under their breath about the help the Left is rendering them. If the Left under the leadership of Karat does go all the way and the BJP does stage a return to power at the Centre, there is no doubt that one more senior CPI or CPM leader will call it one more historic blunder, and wait for the next one to happen.

N-deal will change India like computers did: Rahul

2008-07-17T08:19:00.000-07:00

With the trial of strength in the Lok Sabha staring the UPA government in the face, AICC general secretary and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi aggressively championed the India-US nuke deal. “It could open new vistas for the country in the fields of power, energy, nuclear technology, employment generation and present an ideal opportunity to take India into the global big league within next 15 years,’’ said the Gandhi scion.
Rahul drew parallels between the proposed nuke deal and his father Rajiv Gandhi’s launching information technology and heralding the computer age in India. As a young lad, he said, he had observed the reaction to his father’s decision to introduce computers. “Everyone thought it was ridiculous. What good would a computer do to a farmer, they asked,’’ Rahul said that the response to the proposed nuke deal is quite similar, and that time will prove this was the right decision.
Opponents of the nuke deal, Rahul said, talk about the mere 3% of our energy requirements that it will meet. But how can anyone be sure that young Indian scientists would not find the method to increase it to 70%, he asked.
Rahul also claimed young politicians across parties, including the BJP, were in favour of the nuclear deal. “Every right thinking person favours it. Every youngster is clear about its advantages. This includes young politicians in the BJP and other parties, too,’’ Rahul said. In private, he said, these leaders admit that the deal is good - it’s only their seniors who are opposing the deal.
Exuding confidence that his party was poised to clear the trust vote, the Gandhi scion said that even the spectre of defeat would not deter the Congress now that the die was cast. Facing the media on last day of his Amethi tour on Wednesday, Rahul said, “Sometimes in life one has to take risks... The government is taking such a risk... par theek hai. Sarkar gir jaaye to gir jaye (if the government falls, so be it),’’ Rahul said.
“When you are clear about national interest, numbers don’t matter,’’ Rahul said. “The PM has taken a decision and it’s the right decision... We will win the trust vote, and even if we don’t, it doesn’t matter,’’ he said. The PM, he further said, has shown true leadership and proved he has vision, tenacity and leadership. “I am proud of him and 100% with him,’’ Rahul declared.
Rahul, who once again had dinner with a Dalit family in Amethi on Tuesday night, sought to debunk the perception that he was deliberately wooing the community. He said he goes to Brahmin and OBC households too but the media takes note only when he visits a Dalit family.

Most Muslim MPs may vote for deal

2008-07-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Despite Opposition hopes that Muslim MPs might find it difficult to vote for the N-deal with an ‘anti-Islamic’ Bush administration, it is becoming clear that the vast majority of them will be back ing the govt in the confidence vote on July 22.
Of the 37 Muslims MPs, 26 are in parties that are part of the UPA or have openly declared their support for the government in the trust vote, while 11 are with anti-deal parties like the CPM, BSP, BJP or JD(U). TOI spoke to most of them on Wednesday and found that there’s hardly any who see the issue as having anything to do with the community.
Most, on both sides of the divide, affirm that they will abide by their party’s stand, those against the government dubbing the deal harmful to the country’s interests and those in favour asserting that it would serve India’s objectives.
What is particularly interesting is that an avowedly Muslim party like the Muslim League in Kerala is firmly in the progovernment camp and even Asaduddin Owaisi of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) seems likely to stick by the UPA, though he said, “MIM will take a decision...on July 19 after consultations with party chief Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi.” Also, of the two parties Kashmir parties, Mehbooba Mufti from the PDP has committed her support to the government, while Omar Abdullah’s National Conference too appears to be veering around to throwing its weight behind the deal.
There are some exceptions though. UP has the largest contingent of Muslim MPs with seven in SP and four in BSP. Among the SP MPs, Munnawar Hasan, who represents Muzzafarnagar, has made it clear that he will vote against the government.
“I will defy the party whip...By extending support to the deal, Mulayam has played with the sentiments of Muslims and his true face has now come to the fore,” he told TOI. However, it’s no secret that Hasan’s differences with the party high command pre-date its hobnobbing with the Congress. SP’s Muslim MPs may not back UPA
New Delhi: Vast majority of Muslim MPs would be backing the government in the confidence vote on July 22. But some like Atiq Ahmed, SP MP from Phulpur, who is being watched keenly by both sides, told reporters in Allahabad, where he was brought from Mainpuri jail after being allowed to attend Parliament, that "the need for seeking a confidence vote is less likely to arise as Manmohan Singh will tender his resignation before that". That suggests he might join Hasan in going against the party whip.
Other SP MPs like Rubab Sayda of B a h r a i ch , Shafiqur Rehman Barq of Moradabad or Salim Sherwani from Badaun all maintained they will vote with their party and the refrain from them is that "what is good for the country, is good for Muslims too."
Few expect the BSP's 4 MPs to go against party supremo Mayawati's decision to vote against the government. Party MP from Azamgarh, Akbar Ahmed Dumpy, said that he would have voted against the deal even if the BSP had not issued a whip. He added that this was not a Muslim issue. "The move...to sign the deal is nothing short of compromising the security of the nation," he said.
Another dissenting voice from the pro-deal camp could be Golam Osmani, who represents Barpeta in Assam, but as with SP's Hasan, the issue here is not Islam but his disaffection with the local party leadership. Another Congress MP from the state, Anwar Hussain, has made it clear that he is not just voting for the government but working to ensure the trust vote is won.
UP apart, the states with the largest number of Muslim MPs -- 5 each-- are West Bengal and Bihar. In West Bengal, neither the CPM's three MPs nor the two from the Congress are expected to stray from their respective party lines.
In Bihar too, the RJD's three Muslim MPs--Mohd Shahabuddin, Mohd Fatmi and Taslimuddin-- look certain to back their party's stand and so does Congress' Shakeel Ahmad. The lone anti-deal voice among Bihar's Muslim MPs will be the BJP's Shahnawaz Hussain, but both sides agree that the issue is not about Islam, but about "national interests".
Muslim MPs from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are by all indications going to stick to their respective positions, which means Congress, DMK and Muslim League members will back the government, while those from the CPM will vote against it.

BJP eyes Congress camp

2008-07-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Sensing the possibility of turning the tables on the Manmohan Singh regime, BJP has joined the efforts to defeat the government in the July 22 trust vote in the Lok Sabha by taking the fight to the Congress camp and seeking to poach the party's MPs in Karnataka.
After intense in-house discussions, BJP brass has come around to the view that the UPA government is a lot more vulnerable than was initially thought. The main Opposition now feels that the numbers are "slipping away'' from the government as the ranks of "undecided'' parties and MPs has not shrunk too much six days ahead of the vote.
Over the past two days, BJP has shed its ambivalence, which in part was a tactical decision to prevent a sharpening of "secular-communal'' faultlines, and reached out to Congress MPs in Karnataka where it won an impressive victory in May. At least two "important'' MPs are in negotiations with BJP and the saffron brigade feels more could follow suit.
With the 14th Lok Sabha running out of time, MPs are evaluating their prospects and in Karnataka, BJP is definitely the more attractive option for several Congress MPs. It is also understood that senior BJP leaders are similarly probing the Congress's flanks in at least one other state as well.
The view in BJP is that a likely election in November would suit it if the government were to fall next week. Inflation is not likely to come down till the end of the year and the NDA would aim to pin down the government for having failed to complete its term in office while making a mess of "aam admi'' concerns. The NDA would like to present itself as being more capable of running coalitions than Congress.
By snapping at Congress's heels, BJP hopes to force the UPA lead player to devote attention to guarding its own flock at a time when it needs to urgently woo new allies. BJP is also competing with Congress for the same set of allies, with the party reaching out to Shibu Soren's Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader, Ajit Singh, and a group of Independents who are critical pawns in the number game in Lok Sabha.
BJP has been trying to persuade NC that it cannot hope to gain much by supporting Congress as the equations in Jammu and Kashmir have altered in the last month or so. After the Amarnath land-for-pilgrims controversy, Congress is facing a backlash in Jammu while the Valley was in any case up in arms. The possibility of forming a government in partnership with Congress in the approaching Assembly elections is bleak. If NC did not get a majority, it could very well need BJP support as the saffron party feels it's on an upswing in Jammu.
The Opposition party is working hard to wean RLD chief Ajit Singh, another key player, away from the UPA camp.

‘D-day will be last day for UPA govt’

2008-07-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Communist Party of India on Wednesday asserted that the day of trust vote — July 22 — would be the last day in office for the Congressled United Progressive Alliance government.
Addressing a press conference, CPI deputy general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy said that Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh’s decision to seek the trust vote would prove suicidal for the UPA government.
“This government is clearly in minority and is set to lose the vote of confidence by a narrow margin. It is better for the Prime Minister to step down gracefully after the debate on July 22 to uphold his personal image as well as that of the office he is holding,” he said.
Reddy asked the Prime Minister to advise Congress leaders to desist from horse trading as it would tarnish “Singh’s image as an honest politician”. “It is unfortunate that the Congress is trying to overcome shortage of MPs for the no-trust vote by using the services of the PM’s office. The prestige of the PM’s office has been denigrated in the last couple of days. It is the darkest chapter in the history of parliamentary democracy,” he said.

Govt in a tizzy over power crisis

2008-07-17T08:12:00.000-07:00

The power situation in the state is getting grimmer by the day. If rains elude the state even after July 31— though Met department officials ‘predict’ rains— the state will face a serious power crisis as 500 MW unit of the NTPC at Simhadri will be shut down for maintenance.
This, when the state is already facing a shortage of 2,000 MW a day. In fact, the unit No 2 was to be shut down on July 15 but following a special request by the chief minister to the Union power ministry, the Centre has persuaded NTPC not to take up maintenance works till July 31.
Y S Rajasekhara Reddy nearly pressed the panic button more in terms of its likely political fallout during an election year while informing this to the state Cabinet on Wednesday.
An upset CM told energy minister Shabbir Ali that he was receiving several complaints about power cuts during night hours. He directed the minister to immediately hold a review meeting with officials and reschedule load shedding timings and avoid night power cuts at all costs.
He cautioned the energy department that things must be done in a more systematic manner so that complaints from the general public get minimised.
The chief minister also told them to somehow manage to supply seven-hour free power to agriculture. The government has been supplying free power for the past four years and it cannot afford to take any risk at this stage, he is learnt to have told the department.
While expressing hope that the situation would ease by the end of July if it rained as predicted by the Met department, he said that the situation would further improve from September once Reliance gas started flowing in. This would enable generation of 2,000 MW of power. The present shortage is also around 2,000 MW per day. The CM told the Cabinet that the Mumbai court will give its verdict by September and this would ease the situation. But officials do not seem to share this optimism and are keeping their fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, the chief minister asked the agriculture department to be ready with proposals for taking up alternative crops in case the rains do not come even after July 31.
The energy minister said that the thermal units were being put to maximum use and that there was no short supply of coal anywhere. Singareni Collieries has been sending an additional 10 rakes of coal per day and the thermal stations have stocks sufficient from two days to one week, the minister added.
Perhaps all that one can do now is just pray.

Cong edgy as D-day nears

2008-07-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

Suddenly, the race is looking much closer than it looked at the beginning. Congress managers, kept on the edge by would-be allies and independent MPs playing hardball, were looking over their shoulders on Wednesday as the rival Left-BSP camp got a boost with BJP mounting an operation to topple the Manmohan Singh government.
The government’s negotiators maintained UPA was ahead in the numbers game and had been successful in rounding up some smaller partners and stemming efforts to poach its MPs. But they conceded getting home and dry remained critically dependent on the fate of negotiations with JMM, RLD, JD(S) and National Conference, besides a clutch of independent MPs. Some of these outfits, like RLD and NC, are inclined to support the government, but the deals are yet to be sealed. And in a fast-changing scenario, there could be surprises for both sides.
Congress had a taste of fickle pledges when Harish Nagpal, Independent MP from Amroha on whom it was counting, crossed over to the opposition. The July 22 vote was always going to be tight, but Congress is feeling the heat as the D-day draws closer even as the party was satisfied that UPA partners such as the onemember Majlis-e-Ittehad-al-Musalmeen and IUML— which had appeared to waver over the nuclear deal with the ‘anti-Muslim’ US— had come around.
But the UPA lead player was being given a tough time by another constituent, five-member Jharkhand Mukti Morcha whose Shibu (Guruji) Soren has not just upped the ante, but also opened parallel lines with NDA.
The hurdle that Congress has run into is that with the term of the Lok Sabha nearing its end, MPs are inclined to see how they stand at the hustings and whether switching parties would help their prospects. Take the case of Ladakh MP, Thupstan Chhewang. He is aligned with the Congress, but is yet to be secured and is scheduled to meet L K Advani after some quiet groundwork by BJP Jammu leaders.
Congress managers conceded Chhewang would not reveal his hand before Friday evening. Ditto for LS member from
Outer Manipur, Mani Charenamei, who is yet to convert his assurance into a pledge of support. While Kokrajhar MP, S Bwiswmuthiary is on the UPA chart, this can hardly succour managers who have come to appreciate the value of every member after the dramatic one-vote defeat of the Vajpayee government in 1999. Congress’s rebel MP, Kuldeep Bishnoi, has already been bagged by the BJP.
With the BJP, which had lagged CPM and BSP in prowling for potential allies, joining the hunt, UPA managers may be forced to keep an eye on partners like PMK.

Goud to spice up T with social justice

2008-06-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Though there are no signs of any leaders of other political parties of consequence joining T Devender Goud, scores of university professors and grassroot level workers, mostly from the TDP and TRS, are likely to join forces with him.
According to sources, Goud is planning to add social justice to his separate Telangana state slogan to give the movement a social objective as well. This will herald a new phase in the fight for a separate Telangana state in the region, the sources said. “Never in the past have protagonists of the Telangana movement shown the people what they can achieve if a separate state is ever formed,” said the sources.
Goud, for the past two days, has been holding discussions with professors of Osmania and Kakatiya universities and some researchers of CESS in Hyderabad and other sympathisers of Telangana to chalk out a twin programme of separate state and social justice.
Already, People’s Telangana Foundation, a body of teachers of Osmania University, has passed a resolution endorsing the policies of Goud, expressed in his first press conference.
Goud’s first interface with the people on Saturday is expected to be dominated by professors, lawyers and other professionals along with several district level leaders who are basically the foot soldiers for all political parties.
The interface, being organised as a preparatory for the launch of his new party, is going to provide the ideological foundation of the proposed outfit. “The meeting is expected to redefine the Telangana movement in terms of social justice. This concept is expected to broadbase the Telangana movement with widespread participation of masses. This is a departure from the conventional sense of Telangana movement,” professor S Simhadri, convernor of the foundation.
The convention, being held at Pingali Venkatrama Reddy Hall, will be inaugurated by prof K Jaishankar, a Telangana ideologue, and addressed by intellectuals and district level leaders who joined Goud recently. Goud will leave for the venue after paying tributes to martyrs of Telangana at the memorial opposite the state assembly on Saturday morning. “Goud will spell out the his road map for his movement in his concluding remarks,”

Congress unease on N-deal comes to the fore

2008-06-27T22:23:00.000-07:00

Congress remains uneasy over the prospect of having to face early polls because of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's determined push for the nuclear deal in defiance of the Left.
The unease in the party as well as UPA allies reflected on Friday in the comment of UPA troubleshooter Pranab Mukherjee who, while expressing the Centre's interest in the deal, said, "We know about the time constraint but we have to keep in mind the concerns expressed by different sections."
The reply at a press conference was in conformity with the aversion in the party and among UPA partners over the possibility of facing the electorate earlier than May 2009 when Lok Sabha polls are scheduled.
They also underscored the gap between the thinking of Prime Minister’s Office, on the one hand, and that of the Congress establishment and allies on the other.
The PM has doggedly stressed the need for the government to approach the IAEA immediately for the ratification of safeguards agreement, arguing that the clock was ticking away for the landmark deal with the US.
Sources said even as the leadership is charting out a separation plan and preparing for life beyond Left with the support of SP, it has not given up efforts to end the standoff with Left. The certainty of the Left walking out of the alliance with UPA in the event of the Centre defying its veto on approaching IAEA has put the leadership in a bind. While an optimistic Congress has put in motion a process to mop up numbers in Lok Sabha, starting with opening a line with Samajwadi Party, there is now a realisation that it may be an extremely risky proposition in the face of its rivals readying its numbers to vote against it.
Left's announcement to vote even with the BJP was followed on Friday by the announcement of BJP's PM candidate L K Advani that his party would seek a special session to force the Manmohan Singh government to take a floor test if Left fell out with the UPA. BSP leader Mayawati, having just withdrawn support to UPA after a volley of accusations ranging from political to personal, is unlikely to be seen with Congress anymore. The fast-adding numbers on the rival side would turn the confidence test a walk on the razor's edge for the UPA, rendering it vulnerable to arm-twisting by new allies even if it survives by a whisker. Senior Congress leaders, however, admit that passing the test without Left's support would be extremely difficult.
Congress's reluctance for early polls is in total sync with wariness of UPA allies who have told Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that bringing forward the polls could prove to be a misadventure.
Allies are apprehensive that double-digit inflation and the string of defeats which has led to negativity around Congress would be a major handicap in any immediate test of the popular pulse. The message was conveyed when the allies called on Sonia, after the PM raised the nuclear ante again to trigger hectic political activities.
What is of key concern to the allies is the doubt that the nuclear issue does not have much of a resonance with the masses. A senior UPA partner wondered if the nuke pact would have an impact on them to give an advantage for "their sacrifice for national interests''. The AICC and the allies are on the same page on this.
The UPA constituents are keen to hammer home the point that Left could not be offended to the point of making the differences irreconciliable for future politics. While saying that the same held true for the comrades, a leader said the "middle way'' could be to delay the divorce as long as possible. The PM, for his part, remains unrelenting in his advocacy for the early conclusion of the deal. Sources quoted him telling an important visitor earlier this week that he could not compromise since the issue involved "national interest".

Karat turns to Karuna

2008-06-23T10:02:00.000-07:00

Chennai/New Delhi: Caught between the tough lines they have pursued on the nuclear deal, both Congress and Left have now turned to the allies to mediate to save the coalition from a seemingly irreconciliable situation.
A day after DMK boss and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi warned that the BJP could return to power exploiting the differences in the ruling combine, CPM chief Prakash Karat and CPI secretary D Raja met him in Chennai on Sunday pleading for his intervention to break the impasse. “On behalf of the Left parties, we have requested him to intervene in this problem and see how things can be resolved,” Karat later told reporters. He said it was befitting for Karunanidhi to play the mediatory role since he was the senior-most leader of the UPA. Karunanidhi, according to sources, told the Left leaders to adhere to the middle path while agreeing to come to Delhi in the coming week to help the two sides bridge the differences. Karnanidhi said on Saturday, “We have a duty to resolve the differences between the Congress and the Left parties in the interests of the nation.” He further said that the UPA-Left alliance should be strengthened for the sake of the prosperity and growth of India, reports from Chennai had said.
The peace talks are expected to focus on how to reconcile the PM’s insistence on approaching the IAEA for ratification of the safeguards agreement with the Left’s resolute refusal to let the government do that. The PM has said that the government must complete its business with IAEA for the country’s credibility. He and others in the UPA have tried to tell the Left that they can put the process on the pause mode, thus, meeting Left’s condition that the deal is not operationalised.
The Left, however, insists that this must be backed up by a public undertaking of sorts which the government is loathe to give. The government’s argument is that a public declaration can hardly enhance India’s credibility as a reliable interlocutor — the reason for which the PM wants to go to the IAEA.
India To Lobby With NSG
July and September are emerging as key months in the nuclear deal calendar that has been worked out between foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and key officials. India is likely to start lobbying in earnest with the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for an exemption by July. The PM wants to kick off the effort at the G8 summit itself. That will be a formal opening of negotiations on the NSG. Nuclear deal: Manmohan firm, Left stubborn
Chennai/New Delhi: Bridging the differences between the UPA and the Left parties over the nuclear deal is going to be tough as CPM doesn’t seem interested in letting the government survive for long in any case. But neither the Congress leadership nor the Left can allow the deterioration in ties to move beyond a point because of the imperatives of the coalition era which may knock them into a political alliance after the next Lok Sabha polls.
The allies are likely to explore whether the assurance from the government that it would let the ball rest at the IAEA will be acceptable to the Left if it is underwritten by senior leaders like Karunanidhi, Sharad Pawar and Lalu Prasad.
Despite the worrying inflation figures and the hardening of Left’s posture, the PM has not wavered on his keenness to go to the IAEA. He has always maintained that the deal was in national interest and there was no reason for the government and the Congress to be apologetic about it. “If it is a good deal, it is a good deal,” he is learnt to have recently told one of his colleagues.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi agrees with him but will not like to press headlong into a confrontation with the Left despite the buffer that has been tied up with the Samajwadi Party. Congress is worried that a rupture on this issue will so embitter the ties that the two sides may find it difficult to collaborate even on the ground of “secularism”.
The fear is based on the certainty that the CPM would cite the deal as a sign of Congress’s capitulation to the US, leaving the former with little option but to retaliate by publicising its suspicion that the CPM and the Left could be playing “China’s game”.
To further the peace overtures, Sonia is expected to consult allies like Pawar and others who are talking to the Left to avert early elections. While Pawar has been active trying for a compromise between the two sides, Karunanidhi’s visit to Delhi is expected to further push the process as he has good equations with senior leaders of the CPM and CPI.
“He embarked on a similar role in the past and he is going to play a crucial role in the current crisis as well,” DMK MP Tiruchi Siva said confirming the CM’s visit to the Capital.
In a quick stock-taking, the Congress leadership has considered the pros and cons of inking the deal at the cost of the government at this stage and is of the view that the 123 agreement could give a boost to its flagging prospects in elections after a series of defeats.
Arguing against clinging to power for a few more months by sacrificing the deal, a prominent member of the pro-deal lobby said, “Anyway there will be elections in four states in November; what will be the government’s status if Congress suffers reverses again?”

Chrianjeevi's New Party -- Fans Meet

2008-06-23T09:55:00.001-07:00

Progressive Telugu Forum invites you to Chrianjeevi Fans Meeting in Irving,TX and participate in dicussion of the following topics:

* Necessity for Chiranjeevi to form a new political party to serve Telugu people, considering the prevailing social, political, and economical conditions

* The ideal objectives and policies the proposed new party should endeavor to fulfill in various sectors, such as education, agriculture, IT, et cetera

* How can we contribute to the efforts of Chiranjeevi in achieving the proposed party's objectives

Please forward this invitation to all interested persons. and encourage them to be a part of Chiru phenomenon, which is expected to change the AP political landscape.

Devender Goud Resigns From TDP

2008-06-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

Senior TDP Leader Devender Goud, resigned from Telugu Desam Party today, giving all answers to the negligence shown on him, by TDP leaders including Chandrababu Naidu on the account of TDP support to Telangana Issue.

It will be a great loss for TDP, as Devender Goud is strong leader from the party in Telangana Region.

On the other hand TRS Leader Harish Rao, welcomes Devender Goud’s resignation, claiming it as Telangana’s victory.

Congress Senior party leader Venkataswamy also welcomed same, and even addressed, his party men may also do the same thing, if need arises to protest for Telangana.

Meanwhile PeddiReddy, other TDP Leader also followed Devender Goud’s footsteps. Other TDP leaders Kadium Srihari and Gutta Sukhender Reddy from Telangana Region are hoping Chandrababu naidu may rethink his stand on Telangana issue, otherwise he may encounter same type of acts from them also.

It is known to everybody that Devender Goud is the only leader fighting for Telangana Cause in TDP from so many days, inspite of opposition from other region leaders.

A Choice Between Politics, Progeny in India

2008-06-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

Four years ago, the villagers of Pinkapar gathered under a tree and urged a shy, veiled, lower-caste woman, Vijaykumari Markande, to run for a seat on the village council. She declined, saying she lacked the confidence required to be a politician. But the villagers persisted because they had to elect a lower- caste woman that year under a law mandating that one-third of all local council members be women and members of lower castes. They finally persuaded Markande to run. She entered the race and won, becoming a sarpanch, the head of the village council. But Markande had to deal with a differe

Through the Elections, Brokaw Will Do M.T.P.

2008-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Our sib-blog, TV Decoder, has just posted an item about Tom Brokaw taking on “Meet the Press” duties in the wake of Tim Russert’s death earlier this month. Mr. Brokaw will assume the role through the November elections.

He said in a statement:

“I’ve been appearing on ‘Meet the Press’ since the days of Watergate when it was moderated by Lawrence E. Spivak right through the distinguished tenure of my great friend, Tim Russert, so I feel right at home.

“Tim made ‘Meet the Press’ the center of the universe for informative and lively discussions of public affairs, particularly the exciting 2008 campaign for president, and I intend to continue that commitment to our viewers.”