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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.

Labels: India N-abled, Indian Politics

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

Labels: Indian Politics

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

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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”.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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).

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.''

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics

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.

Labels: Indian Politics