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Congress set to form Govt in Goa, Hooda wins

     New Delhi: The Congress has strengthened its position in Haryana and Goa assemblies as the by-polls results declared today have gone in its favour. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda secured a landslide win by a margin of 1,03,000 votes in the Kiloi assembly constituency in Rohtak. Kiran Choudhary, Congress candidate from Tusham and wife of state's fromer agriculture minister Surender Singh, won by over 1,25,000 votes. While, Savitri Jindal, Congress candidate from Hissar and widow of state's former power minister O P Jindal, registered the victory by over 1,02,000 votes. Singh and Jindal had died in a helicopter crash on March 31. Apart from winning the above all three seats from Haryana, Congress and its allies won four of the five assembly seats in Goa where bypolls were held on June 2. The Congress-led United Legislature Party has now the required numbers to form the next government in the state. Congress has won Taleigao, Margao and Cumbhanjua seats while the NCP bagged the Benaulin seat. Now, Congress's tally in the assembly has increased to 17, while its coalition partner NCP has two and MGP one MLA. BJP won from the Poinguimin seat raising its strength in the House to 15. In Kerala, the CPI-M led LDF today retained the Koothuparamba and Azhikode assembly seats in Kerala thrashing its UDF rivals by huge margins K Prakashan Master of CPI(M) has won from Azhikode by 2,3376 votes. CPM's P Jayarajan has been elected from Koothuparamba by a margin of 45,377 votes. In Andhra Pradesh, TDP has won by over 17,600 votes in Penukonda. In Karnataka, Sameer Ahmed, the JDS candidate from Chamrajpet, has won by over 3,000 votes. S Bangarappa, the SP candidate from Shimoga, has also won. In Uttar Pradesh, the RLD-SP candidate has won from the Kheraghar assembly seat. Samajwadi Party's candidate Mohammad Ashraf from Allahabad West has won by around 13,000 votes defeating former MLA Raju Pal's widow.

Radical Sikhs hail Bhindranwale, Shiv Sena warns (Go To Top)

     Amritsar: Radical Sikhs in Amritsar have plastered the city with posters of Bhindranwale, a dreaded militant worshipped by many as a martyr, to mark the 21st anniversary of a daring rebel takeover of the Golden Temple, led by him. Twenty-one years after his death, the lean bodied firebrand leader is still a hero and Sikh radicals see him as embodying the injustice done to them. "We want to create awareness among the people and give a message to the government that the wounds that it gave to the Sikhs are still afresh. They have tried to appease Sikhs by steps such as giving India a Sikh Prime Minister but such appeasing acts cannot heal our wounds," said Kanwarpal Singh, general secretary of Dal Khalsa. Bhindranwale was one of the main architects of militancy in Punjab, which saw nearly 3,000 people lose their lives to the regular bombing of buses and markets. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is claimed to have been killed by the Indian army when troops stormed the holy seat of Sikhism in Amritsar, the Golden Temple, to flush out the separatists fighting for their own homeland, killing scores and severely damaging the structure. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who ordered the army's Operation Blue Star, was gunned down four months later by two Sikh bodyguards, triggering a wave of reprisals in which thousands of Sikhs were killed in some of India's worst communal bloodshed. But the revival of martyr worship has alarmed analysts who say the rebels, armed with latest technology and links with Islamic rebels, can hit back with twice the ferocity. The Shiv Sena held an elaborate fire ritual to mark the anniversary in Amritsar and cautioned New Delhi to nip in the bud what they feel are frantic efforts to revive a reign of terror. Police recently arrested two militants of Babbar Khalsa, a Sikh separatist group, for blasts at two cinemas in Indian capital last month which killed one and injured 50, raising spectre that the embers of Sikh militancy might still be burning.

Koirala meets exiled Nepali leaders in India  (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Former Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala today met dozens of exiled Nepali political leaders and activists in New Delhi in an attempt to mount pressure on King Gyanendra to resore democracy. "When I have come here I have to meet my old friends. The Prime Minister and other friends in the parliament and ministers also. There I will discuss about the situation in Nepal and we will discuss our common concerns in the matter," he said. Koirala and other leaders have lauded New Delhi's support for democracy in Nepal but advised caution over the renewal of arms supply to the kingdom. Earlier, he said that New Delhi should make it sure that arms supply, which has been resumed recently, meets its desired result. Koirala, head of several parties fighting against King Gyanendra, is ailing and has come on a private visit here to get medically examined.

Delhi cinema blasts: two more Babbar Khalsa activists arrested (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested two more activists of militant group Babbar Khalsa today in connection with the cinema hall blasts in the Capital. Bahadur Singh and Gurdeep Singh were arrested during a raid conducted by a team of Delhi Police Special Cell in Mallpur village, Jalandhar. The police also recovered one Kilogram of explosives and 11 detonators from the two assailants. The raid was conducted on the basis of the hints provided by Balwinder Singh, an accusd who was arrested earlier from Nawashahar in Punjab. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Ajay Kumar said that Balwinder had informed the interrogators about the consignment of explosives he had kept with Bahadur. Two persons, including Balwinder, had already been arrested in connection with the two blasts, in which one person was killed and over 70 were injured.

Migrants from other states in Punjab embrace Sikhism (Go To Top)

     Jallandhar: If Canada and US are the favourite destinations for the Punjabis, Punjab has been a prime destination for the people from states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. And now after staying here for decades, most of them have converted to Sikhism and adopted the Sikh way of life. Punjab known for its prosperity and agricultural revolution has attracted from different states particularly UP and Bihar for over two decades. Most of them have now settled there and many are opting to embrace Sikhism. Lakshmi Singh, owner of a wheat-crushing unit, came to Punjab as a labourer way back in 1982. Originally, a migrant from Bihar's Sitamarhi district, today he converses in Gurmukhi, prays in a gurudwara and dresses like a devout Sikh. Singh, who has not yet been baptized as a Sikh, says that he felt the urge to adopt Sikhism, ever since he started visiting the gurudwara. The ardent faith of the people in the Sikh gurus and the gurbani gave one the idea of equality among all castes and religions. In Punjab, which has a gurudwara in each and every village, the doors are open for people of all faiths, to come, stay and have langar or community meal. For Sharmilee Singh, who migrated to Punjab from Bihar's Purnea district some 15 years back, it was not the community, but the Sikh religion that inspired him to become a Sikh. Sharmilee, before his conversion was called Chander Shri, and now earns his daily wages doing odd jobs at gurudwara Shaheed Baba Nihal Singh in village Talhan, And those who perform sewa at gurudwaras, consider it an article of faith necessary for one to be a proper Sikh. While some have been trying to paint pictures that migrant labourers are crowding Punjab, only to outnumber the Sikhs, and in the process inciting Sikhs by harping on the bogey of marginalization and erosion of their culture, religion and language, the truth is that these migrants are instead influenced by Punjab's rich culture. Today, Punjab is a growing economy. Jobs are available in agriculture, industry and civil sectors for everyone. Adopting a way of life is just one aspect. Every person is looking for a better livelihood. So why not these migrant labour who are also human beings and have equal rights to grow.

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