Main Page                                                         Archive

 

CPI (M) ready for Third Front with secular NDA partners

     Kolkata: CPI (M) politburo member and party secretary in West Bengal, Anil Biswas has said that his party is looking at a broader political canvas for an anti-BJP and anti- Congress third alternative at the Centre. He said that they are looking at the secular parties within the NDA, and hopes that they would come forward to cooperate in taking up programmes with the Left parties. "As there are non-communal and democratic parties in the UPA, there are also such parties in NDA. We don't think that all the parties which are in NDA are communal," Biswas said. "If secular parties within the NDA take up programmes in accordance with the political situation and if they are in tune with that of our immediate programmes, an atmosphere of co- operation can be created with them and through this the possibility of a third alternative found," he said. He, however, declined to name the parties and said that his party was ready to work for an alternative. "I don't want to name them. But there are a lot of parties in NDA which are democratic and non-communal," he added.

Third Front is our goal, says Bardhan  (Go To Top)

     Jaipur: Soon after the CPI (M) announced that it was open to secular NDA partners coming ahead to form an alternative front, the Communist Party of India general secretary AB Bardhan has said that the United Progressive Alliance government was in a transition phase and his party's ultimate aim was to find an alternative to it. Bardhan said so while addressing the party's two-day state council meeting in Jaipur. The left leader said that the CPI along with other secular parties would come together and strive to form the proposed alternative front and it was the responsibility of the Communist parties to form the alternative front. Bardhan said, "the CPI was supporting the UPA government due to political challenges and compulsions", even though his party strongly opposed its capitalist policies of the UPA government.

Lalu, Paswan shrug off Third Front's idea (Go To Top)

     Patna: Leaders of two key alliance partners in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cabinet on Saturday cold-shouldered a proposal by communist parties to forge a third front, minus the ruling Congress party and the opposition BJP. Early this week, Communist Party of India chief A.B.Bardhan had mooted a proposal for formation of Third Front during his meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav. The communists, who provide key support to the ruling coalition from outside, have often made known their displeasure over the economic policies of Singh's government. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Steel Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, though bitter rivals, said it was too early to think of a third front. "There is no decision whatsoever to form a Third Front. I don't think there is any chance of forming a third front for a long time. This is just to destabilise the UPA government and to tarnish Sonia Gandhi and her son. Lalu Yadav and Bihar will stand by the UPA in full strength," said Lalu Prasad Yadav. Ram Vilas Paswan said it was too early to think of a Third Front. "Now there is talk of a Third Front. Let the talks go on. Let some concrete shape and suggestions come up then only will we form it," Paswan said. Both the low-caste leaders have in the past been strong votaries of Third Front and have been part of such governments in the past. There have been several attempts in the past to cobble together a coalition without the participation of the two major parties the Congress and the BJP but such governments did not last long.

Single judge commission to probe attack on Lalu (Go To Top)

     Ahmedabad: The Gujarat government has set up a one-member enquiry commission headed by Justice NB Patel, a retired High Court judge, to look into the incident of stone pelting on Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Lalu Yadav was attacked by an unruly mob, when he visited the SSG hospital, where the victims of the Sabarmati train collision were being treated. Seventeen people were killed, while 80 were injured in the train accident. The one-man commission would probe the reason behind the incidents involving Prasad, official sources said here on Sunday. The Railway Minister had on Thursday accused Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi of hatching conspiracy to kill him and termed the attack pre-planned. The Narendra Modi government and Gujarat Governor Nawal Kishore Sharma have sent a report on the incident to the Union Home Ministry. While the details of the reports were not immediately available, a preliminary study suggests that adequate security was provided to the Railway Minister. The report holds an angry mob responsible for the attack, and says it was not a conspiracy or a plot against him. Lalu's opponents have blamed him of politicising the attack to divert the attention from the Sabarmati train accident.

Panicker resigns from Sangeet Akademi (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: The alleged undemocratic functioning of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairperson Sonal Mansigh has intensified a row. KN Panicker, the Vice Chairman of the institution, resigned from his post last evening. He handed over his resignation to the Culture Ministry. He criticised Sonal Mansingh for being autocratic and politically motivated. Earlier, a team led by the outgoing Vice Chairman, demanded President Kalam to remove Sonal from her post. "Many in the general council feel they do not have a share. There will be more people to question this," he said.

Bill to check communal violence ready: Patil (Go To Top)

     Tumkur (Karnataka): Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil has said that the UPA government has prepared a draft bill to enact a law against communal violence. "We are in the process of enacting such a law. The draft bill is ready. We will introduce the bill in Parliament only after detailed discussions with our allies," he said. He told reporters here that the government was committed to bring such legislation as promised in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA Government. Patil added that the draft bill would be put in public domain to invite suggestions and discussions. "The draft bill will also be put on the Government web site for public response. We will hold conferences, seminars and consultations with academia, lawyers, judges and the media on the various aspects of the law for a consensus," he said. According to the media reports the bill will be called the Communal Disturbances Act, and aims at preventing a communal crisis like Gujarat in future. The sources said that the bill proposes some radical measures, which can upset the current level of Centre-State relations. Under existing laws, the Centre can intervene in the situation of communal violence in any state only if that state government asks for the Centre's intervention. If the Centre wants to intervene then the only option before it is to impose President's rule. But according to the new bill, the Centre has the right to send Union police forces into a state facing communal violence, even if there is no request from the state government for doing so. A fine on the citizens of a town prone to communal violence has also been proposed. The Centre may also try district officials, who prove to be ineffective or complicit in handling the violence. The Centre will have the final authority over the area of investigations and it can also not allow the state to hold the investigations. It would decide who should conduct the investigations.

---