Congress for coalition in Assam
by Gyanendra Kumar Keshri

     New Delhi: Terming the lobbying for the post of Chief Minister of Assam as uncalled for and unfortunate, ruling Congress Party today made it clear that it was open for alliance with any party in the state except AGP and BJP. "Only two parties - AGP led by Brindaban Goswami and BJP - are untouchable. We are open for alliance with any other party if we do not get majority," said Digvijay Singh, former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and Congress party in-charge in Assam. However he expressed hope that the Congress party will get majority to form government on its own. Though both Congress and AGP claim that they would get majority to form government in the state, going by the speculations, Assam looks headed for a coalition government, with smaller parties playing significant roles.

     While the Rabiram faction of the BPPF is clearly on the AGPs side, the Hagrama Mohilary faction of the BPPF is siding with the Congress. Given the situation, the fate of the Congress and the AGP would depend on which faction wins more seats. The BJP has made it clear that it was neither in the race to form the government, nor would it give support for the AGP in the event of the regional party needing it to keep the Congress out. On lobbying for the post of Chief Minister by different people of the party, Singh said it was unfortunate and the disciplinary committee of the party would take appropriate action if anybody found guilty of the anti-party activities. "Chief Minister will be chosen by the elected members of the party in consultation with the party high command. There is no sense in speculating on any particular name at this point when the result is still awaited," said Singh. On Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi name, he said, "every option is open."

    Though counting of votes is scheduled on May 11, several senior Congress party leaders are already projecting themselves as prospective chief minister in case the party comes to power. The names doing the rounds include Sarat Barkataki and Devananda Konwar apart from PCC chief Bhubaneswar Kalita. Among staunch Gogoi detractors are Union minister Santosh Mohan Deb, Lok Sabha members Mani Kumar Subba and AF Golam Osmani and Rajya Sabha members Silvius Condpan and Dwijen Sharma. The name of Union minister BK Handique too has been propped up for the chief ministers post, though party insiders claim Handique was a member of the pro-Gogoi lobby and that he was being projected more as a buffer between the two lobbies. Leaders of the anti-Gogoi lobby which includes Guwahati MP Kirip Chaliha, have gone on record saying Chief Minister Gogoi and other leaders would be to blame if the Congress does not fare well in the assembly election.

Ten injured in sex scandal protest in Srinagar

      Srinagar: At least 10 people were injured in Srinagar on Saturday when police fired teargas shells and baton- charged hundreds of students as protests erupted over a sex- racket, in which several senior politicians and security officials were said to be involved. Local newspapers and television channels have been reporting details of a racket which, according to them, had been allegedly provided prostitutes for politicians, police officers and bureaucrats. "Till today, whatever cases have happened, had not come in front of people. But we demand that the names of the guilty in this case should be made public. Big people might be involved but they might cleverly try and put some small fry in the dock. We want the real culprits before us," said Sajid Ahmed Dar, a student. "Expose people ... stop pushing innocent girls into the sex trade," protesters shouted outside the Kashmir University campus in Srinagar. Members of a women's separatist group, Dukhtaran-e-Milat, whose name means Daughters of the Muslim Faith, also demonstrated against the suspected prostitution ring. On Friday, an angry mob ransacked the house of a woman suspected of running the prostitution ring, before razing it to the ground and setting fire to her belongings. The woman and three others were detained by police for questioning after pornographic videos and video clips on mobile phones, showing nude Kashmiri girls, were circulated in Srinagar. A strike call by the group and Srinagar's traders shut most shops, businesses, schools and colleges in the city on Friday. Prostitution is illegal in India. Police have arrested several people over the past years on charges of being involved in the crime in Kashmir.

LeT militant gunned down in Doda (Go To Top)

       Bhadarwah (J-K): Security forces on Saturday gunned down a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. Officers said, the militant identified as Abu Akasa, a Pakistani national, was killed in a fierce encounter at the Bhadarwah region, 35 kilometres from Doda, while his associate managed to escape. "We gunned down an LeT militant. He was a Pakistani national. There was no collateral damage in the encounter. We thought we would nab the commander but he managed to escape. We are hopeful to catch him soon," said S. P. Vaid, Inspector General of Police, Jammu. One AK-56 rifle, two AK magazines, five rounds of AK and a radio set were recovered from the possession of the slain militant. A search operation was soon launched in the near-by dense forests for the escaped militant, identified as Abu Talhaa, a self-styled LeT commander, who is suspected to be involved in the recent killings of 35 Hindus in the region last week. LeT is among half-a-dozen frontline militant groups spreading militancy in the State as well as some other parts of the country. It has been blamed for a series of suicide attacks and car bomb blasts in the valley in recent months.

SC order on Vadodara demolition resented (Go To Top)

     Vadodara: Hindus in violence-hit Vadodara on Saturday criticised a Supreme Court's order putting a stay on the demolitions of a Muslim shrine encroaching public place. The demolition was stalled by an order of the Supreme Court yesterday, which nullified an earlier order of a top provincial court. The High Court of Gujarat had asked the civic authorities to carry on with the demolitions. Hindus in the city were peeved at what they said, one-sided decision of the Supreme Court. "On what basis has the apex court given the decision. Whenever there is an issue involving Muslims, the court always sides them. So many Hindu temples in the city were demolished for the same reason, but did any Hindu made a fuss about it? Are the Muslims not responsible for the development of the city they live in?" said Govind Chatrade, a protester. "The Supreme Court has given a partial decision. When 20 Hindu temples were demolished for the same cause then why didn't the court give the same orders? This is injustice, " rued another Hindu, Narendra Soni. The civic authorities in the communal sensitive city had demolished some Hindu temples also, which obstructed widening of the city roads and had targeted a centuries old Muslim shrine, when trouble broke out. People from the Muslim community clashed with police and civic authorities in Vadodara 120 km (75 miles) south of Ahmedabad, after the demolition of a Sufi shrine as part of a road-widening project earlier this week, which eventually boiled into a communal conflict. Six people were killed and scores of there were injured, including ten police personnel in violence, forcing authorities to clamp prohibitory orders in the town and deploy army to contain the volatile situation. The locals, many of whom have lost crucial business due to the violence, have blamed the rioting on political interests, saying Hindus and Muslims in the city have lived in harmony for ages. Highly industrialised Gujarat is one of India's most communally sensitive states. It was rocked by Hindu-Muslim riots in 2002 after 59 Hindus were burned to death in a train.

Ajay Chautala's imported Landcruiser seized

       New Delhi: The Directorate for Revenue Intelligence on Saturday seized the imported Landcruiser car of Ajay Chautala, Lok Sabha MP and son of former Haryana Chief Minister Omprakash Chautala. The DRI officials seized the car from Ajay Chautala's official residence, 18 Janpath Road here this afternoon. According to the DRI officials, Chautala's car, bearing the registration number HR 24H 9777, was imported by misusing the Export Promotion Capital Goods Scheme (EPCG). It has been alleged that the seized Prado Landcruiser, which costs rupees 38 lakhs, was purchased by Chautala through Sanjay Bhandari, the infamous hotelier presently behind bars for illegally importing cars and evading the required custom duties. The luxury cars imported by Bhandari not only evaded custom duties but were also stolen from foreign countries, mainly England. Today's seizure comes close on the heels of the raids carried by the CBI officials on Ajay Chautala's father Omprakash Chautala's properties.

PM meets late Pramod Mahajan's family

      Mumbai: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today met the bereaved family members of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan at their residence here. Singh visited Mahajan's family at Poorna building in Worli at around 3 p.m. and offered his condolences to late leader's widow Rekha Mahajan, son Rahul, daughter Poonam and brother-in-law and BJP leader Gopinath Munde and other family members. "The Prime Minister said since he too was a member of the Rajya Sabha, he closely watched Mahajan for years and would remember him as a balanced and well-studied speaker," Munde told reporters after Singh's visit. Mahajan succumbed to multiple organ failure on May 3 after being shot at by his youngest brother Pravin on April 22. Mahajan, a key backroom manager of the BJP, was regarded as close to both its top leaders, former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and former Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani and a possible future head of the BJP.

Priyanka takes charge in Rae Bareli

       Rae Bareli: With the campaigning for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha by-polls coming to an end on Saturday evening, Priyanka Vadra, the daughter of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, took over the poll managing charge from her brother Rahul Gandhi who had to leave the constituency following the Election Commission (EC) directive. On Friday, EC had issued notices to all those having official security, including Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to leave the constituency after 5 p.m. today. However, Priyanka, also an SPG protectee, was allowed to stay back since she is the polling agent of Sonia. Priyanka sounded confident of "good results" of the by-election and showered praises for her brother Rahul. Speaking to reporters, she said: "He (Rahul) has done a good job while campaigning here for the last ten to twelve days and his efforts would really bring good results". On being asked whether the BJP leader Vinay Katiyar and others would be able to affect the poll result, Priyanka said: "Whoever may come, Soniaji, will win. I welcome them". Priyanka, who arrived here yesterday, devoted most of her time meeting party workers and distributed them the necessary poll materials and polling kits. Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi in a whirlwind tour of the constituency addressed almost half a dozen rallies before the dateline of the campaigning ended. The Lok Sabha by-election would be held on May 8 and the results will be declared by May 10

EC orders Rahul to leave Rae Bareli

      New Delhi: The Election Commission (EC) has issued notices to those leaders with official security, including Amethi Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi, to leave the Rae Bareli constituency by 5:00 p.m. today. The order comes ahead of campaigining in the high-profile constituency coming to an end this evening. Congress party president Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election from Rae Bareli after resigning from it following the "office of profit" controversy. Elections will be held on May 8. Daughter Priyanka Vadra will stay back in Rae Bareli since she has been appointed the election agent of Sonia. The EC order says that political functionaries, who are not voters, have to leave the constituency immediately after the electioneering gets over today. Other leaders who received the notice are Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party's Vinay Katiyar and Samajwadi Party's Rajkumar Choudhary. The EC has also ordered to remove all posters from government buildings, hoardings and banners, which have been posted without the permission of the municipal corporation. Rae Bareli District Magistrate said if the candidates failed to remove the posters and banners by midnight of Friday, the municipal corporation would carry the cleansing exercise today and the expenses would be borne by the respective candidates. The 12-hour deadline ended at 4:00 a.m. today since the notice was given at 4:00 p.m. yesterday.

Rally demands OBC reservation
by Chandrika Jain

      New Delhi: Students from the backward classes, under the banner of All India Bahujan Students' Campaign for Reservation, today took out a rally in the national capital demanding implementation of the proposal for reservation for OBC students on campus in letter and spirit. "Pro-reservation and Manuvadi merit pardafaash rally" as they called it started from the Ambedkar Stadium and will culminate at Jantar Mantar. Students from across the nation joined the rally, which also included students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra, Punjab and Maharashtra. Even the blazing Sun could not douse the spirit of the protesters, who voiced their demand by raising slogans like, "OBC ka reservation lagu karo, warna kursi khali karo" and "Doctors on deputation to prevent Manuvadi merit from dissection." Netrapal Singh representative of the organisation backing the rally said, "We are not asking for any charity. It is our right. Our community has a majority of 85 percent which comprises Schedule Castes, Schedule Tribes, OBCs and religious minorities. The rest 15 percent Manuvadis always try to suppress us whenever we raise our voice." The protesters were disappointed by the judgement given by the Supreme Court on Friday that allowed the 10 percent reservations for SC/ST candidates for post graduate medical seats to be implemented in the next year. They also said that the Centre was also not taking any step to help them. In an earlier ruling in 2004, the apex court had ordered a 50-50 seat-sharing formula for states and all India quotas with 22.5 per cent in each category reserved for SC, STs and OBCs.

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