Home   Contact Us                                                                           Dateline New Delhi, Thursday, Dec 4, 2003

BJP sweeps three heartland states; Congress retains Delhi (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 4: The ruling BJP swept the rival Congress party from power in three Hindi heartland states on Thursday. Defying opinion polls, the BJP easily won the three important states - Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh - in races decided by local issues such as electricity and water. Results from Monday's elections showed the Congress, the party that dominated politics in the world's largest democracy for decades after independence from Britain in 1947, holding only Delhi, under the chiefministership of Sheila Dikshit. A jubilant BJP president Venkaiah Naidu said the party would now work towards strengthening the feel-good factor.

         Congress, which leads the national Opposition, ruled all four of the states gone into the election. Opinion polls had forecast the BJP winning only the biggest, Madhya Pradesh. It was a tough blow to the Congress, whose Italy-born leader, Sonia Gandhi, is struggling to win acceptance as an alternative prime minister, and who trails Vajpayee in opinion polls. In Madhya Pradesh, where a massive anti-incumbency wave saw the undoing of chief minister Digvijay Singh, the Congress quarters were gloomy while BJP workers shouted slogans and sang victory songs in praise of leader Uma Bharati. Digvijay, who like any other Congress leader sought to keep out senior leaders from the election process, couldn't see the writing on the wall, that he and his party had become unpopular in the state. In Chhattisgarh, Ajit Jogi had undertaken development work on a large scale yet his party lost to the BJP, and that too in spite of the Judeo bribe scam. In drought-hit Rajasthan, women and the Jat community voted for Vasundhara Raje's BJP. A repeat parade of sitting MLAs in the contest and his own low profile did Ashok Gehlot in.

          The BJP won the last major state election in riot-scarred Gujarat a year ago this month, with a hardline Hindu campaign that many feared would be repeated. Instead, it focused this time on economic management, good governance and targeting pivotal seats, which senior leaders say will also form the basis of its national re-election strategy. On the economic front, the BJP-led coalition is widely expected to hand down a populist pre-election budget in the new year.

BJP surprised by victory margin in Rajasthan (Go To Top)

          Jaipur, Dec 4: The BJP on Thursday managed to get a majority in Rajasthan, a result that appeared to surprise the party leadership. "I was not expecting to cross 100. But I think that three things have happened. One, when you have 66 per cent turnout it means a wave, and obviously the wave could not be in favour of Ashok Gehlot. Also, the government employees, the youth and the rural population tilted the balance in our favour," party leader Pramod Mahajan said. Mahajan credited the victory to the people of the state and party leader Vasundhara Raje.

          Raje won her seat from Jhalrapatan, defeating Congress candidate Rama Pilot by 27,375 votes. "I would like to thank everyone for their trust and vote. It carries with it great responsibility," said chief minister-designate Vasundhara Raje.. And in the face of the massive defeat, state Congress president Girija Vyas said her party will respect the people's verdict. "We will analyse later but the party is strong and will continue its work," she said.

I failed to feel the pulse of the people: Digvijay (Go To Top)

          Bhopal, Dec 4: Incumbent Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh on Thursday conceded his Congress party's defeat in the 2003 Assembly elections after being in the driver's seat for almost a decade. Addressing a packed press conference in the state Capital a short while ago, Singh said that the defeat in the Assembly elections was virtually a wave against the Congress party, and acknowledged that it was time to move aside and let the Opposition BJP form a government in the state.

          "I had said, if there is a wave, it will be difficult for us. It appears there was a wave," he said, conceding that he had failed to feel the pulse of the people. He also reiterated that he would not accept any party post, including the leadership of Congress Legislature Party, for 10 years in the wake of the defeat.

Vajpayee confirms attending SAARC summit (Go To Top)

          New Delhi, Dec 4: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Thursday confirmed that he would be going to Pakistan to attend the 12th SAARC summit. The summit will be held in Islamabad from January 4 to 6, 2004. A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs shortly before Vajpayee's departure for Nigeria to attend the three-day Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Capital Abuja said that Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali had been sent a letter confirming the Indian Prime Minister's attendance at the Islamabad moot. The statement said that a letter had been delivered at the Pakistan Foreign Office by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to this effect. It further went on to say that Vajpayee's acceptance was in response to an invitation letter delivered to him by Prime Minister Jamali on August 6 this year.

MiG crash near Hoshiarpur, pilot safe (Go To Top)

          Chandigarh, Dec 4: A MiG-29 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Adampur in Hoshiarpur district with the pilot bailing out safely The aircraft is reported to have developed some snag during the flight and crashed 25 km from Adampur base. The pilot Sqdrn-Ldr P J Mohammed however bailed out safely. IAF has ordered an enquiry into the crash.

Biharis in Assam too scared to leave relief camps (Go To Top)

          Tinsukia (Assam), Dec 4: The situation in Assam, hit by ethnic killings last month, is returning to normal with no fresh incident in the past one week. But immigrant settlers from neighbouring Bihar continue to live in fear. At a relief camp in the worst-hit Tinsukia town, most of the settlers still fear to return to their houses. Most of them refused to speak up, though their scary eyes spoke volumes about the fear.

          Hansraj Yadav, who has been living in the state for several decades, is in a state of shock. "We did not know why did it happen with us only so unexpectedly ... it has never happened before. Or else, why should we have been staying in Assam? We are saved here otherwise we would have got killed there only," said Yadav, wondering why they were targeted. Sunia Devi, who alongwith others has been living in the camp for more than a fortnight, appreciated the Government's gesture, but said she was too scared to go back. "We are feeling OK here. However, sometimes we feel scared also. We fear that someone would come unexpectedly. When we see the guards, we feel safer. There are guards around us and the Government has provided some facilities also," she said.

          Fifty-nine people from Bihar were killed in a row triggered by competition for jobs. Violence swept parts of the state last month after an attack on Assamese train travellers in Bihar following reports of assault on Bihari students who came to Assam to take tests for railway jobs. Assamese students feared the Biharis would grab the prized Government jobs in the state of about 26 million people. Officials said that what started as a clash between Assamese and students from Bihar had been hijacked by United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) separatists to revive their flagging morale. Assam is one of the richest states with huge tea estates and oil reserves, but locals complain jobs often go to outsiders. They also accuse New Delhi of exploiting the state's wealth and neglecting its development.

Fake passport racket busted in Hyderabad (Go To Top)

         Hyderabad, Dec 4: Five persons involved in a fake passport racket have been arrested in Hyderabad. During a raid on Wednesday, a special task force of the city police seized several passports and fake documents used in getting visas. "The five accused are from Malakpet and we seized 186 genuine (and fake) passports, 143 fake rubber stamps, 36 fake documentation files including fake Income Tax papers and financial statements and many other related documents, which are used to get a visa," said R.P. Singh, Commissioner of Police.

          According to police, the accused had managed to send 11 people abroad. They used to charge around Rs, 200,000 from each person. The main accused Shaik Abdul Rasheed used to prepare the documents with his Chennai-based accomplice. Police are on the look-out for more people involved in the racket.

PIA will operate 12 flights to India (Go To Top)

          Karachi, Dec 4: Pakistan International Airlines will operate 12 direct flights a week to New Delhi and Mumbai, the Dawn newspaper quoted a PIA spokesman as saying on Wednesday. According to the spokesman, Indian and Pakistani aviation experts have discussed the possibility of adding a third destination to their existing network. PIA will now be flying to Colombo, Dhaka and Kathmandu directly after the restoration of the flights, he said. Operations to Bangkok and Hong Kong will also be resumed. The spokesman said this expanded operation would give a substantial boost to PIA's revenues.

Kale found guilty (Go To Top)

          Mumbai, Dec 4: Maharashtra batsman Abhijit Kale has been found prima facie guilty of the charge of offering bribes to two national selectors. This was contained in the D V Subha Rao Inquiry Committee report submitted to the Bombay High Court by BCCI counsel and Maharashtra Advocate General Goolam Vahanvati.

Sound start by Aussies (Go To Top)

          Brisbane, Dec 4: Australia scored 262 for two at close of play on the first day of the first Test against India here on Thursday. Justin Langer cracked an unbeaten century, while Damien Martyn was on 36 when stumps were drawn for the day. Scores: Australia 1st innings: 262 for 2 in 62 overs (M Hayden 37, R Ponting 54, J Langer 115 batting, D Martyn 36 batting; Zaheer Khan 2-53).