High security alert as Advani enters Bihar

          Patna: Security was beefed up along the Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border as well as on the route Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani will take to enter the eastern state later this morning as part of the second phase of his Bharat Uday Yatra. News reports said that Advani would enter Bihar's Gopalganj district today from Uttar Pradesh, the area that was once the stronghold of Bihar's strongman and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Laloo Prasad Yadav. Advani's yatra will pass through eight districts, including Gopalganj, East Champaran, Vaishali, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Jehanabad, Gaya and Nawada. All police stations in these districts have been put on a maximum alert. Besides, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel are being deployed along the 450-km-long route. Commandoes and Special Task Force (ST) personnel will also be posted at various places of the yatra, news agency reports said. During his two-day stay in the state, Advani is scheduled to address 15 public meetings, in spite of threats of disruption announced by ultra-left outfits like the People's War Group and the Maoist Communist Centre. The BJP has also warned Laloo Yadav not to stop the yatra.

Congress releases vision document (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Congress party released its 'Vision Document' on economic policy, which claims that the reforms now under way were started by it before the NDA came to power, as part of the party's electoral campaign today. Senior Congress leaders Dr. Manmohan Singh, Pranab Mukherjee and Arjun Singh released the document at the AICC headquarters here. The Congress is putting out three such documents in the coming week, including its vision on India's foreign policy and internal security. On March 22, the party released its manifesto for general election 2004 on the twin plank promise of more employment opportunities and a focus on development. The 32-page manifesto identified six basic tenets for governance that the party would aim for if voted to power. These were promotion of communal harmony to ensure social cohesion (Samajik Sadbhavna), employment opportunities for the youth (Yuva Rozgar), rural development to improve the economic and welfare of farmers and agricultural workers (Grameen Vikas), economic resurgence (Arthik Navotthan), women empowerment (Mahika Sashaktikaran) and equal opportunities (Saman Avsar) for the socially underprivileged sections of the society. Describing the "Back to Basics" manifesto as action-oriented and transparent, the party's president Sonia Gandhi had then promised "a dignified place for every section of society."

Congress still undecided about Delhi list (Go To Top)
by Pankaj Yadav

          New Delhi: Uncertainty continued to prevail in the Congress party over the seven Delhi Lok Sabha seats. Senior party leaders who are in charge of Delhi affairs sat throughout the day at 10, Janpath mulling over various contenders from their constituencies. Nothing could be decided till late in the evening. Neither was there any information about the behind-the-scene developments. Party sources were also tight-lipped. They said it might take a day or two for the party to finalise the names of the candidates for the state that goes to polls on May 10.

          Party workers and senior leaders interested in ticket distribution could be seen at the party headquarters at 24, Akbar Road waiting for the elusive list. While from Outer Delhi ex-MP Sajjan Kumar's name is making the rounds, the East Delhi seat is likely to go to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit's son Sandeep Dikshit. From among the rest five constituencies, the situation seems to be clear only in Karol Bagh, where former minister in the state government Krishna Tirath is so far the only choice. Party insiders say that the delay in finalising the tickets would jeopardise the party's chances since the BJP candidates have already begun their work in their respective constituencies. The main tussle is said to be in the camps of party's state unit president Prem Singh and CM Sheila Dikshit. Singh is learnt to be in favour of her son Sandeep's candidature.

Orissa villagers' names missing from voters' list (Go To Top)

          Nevapara (Orissa): While most of Indians are in the grip of an election fever, there are others who will be denied the right of participation in elections to the world's largest democracy. People in two remote villages in Orissa say they have never voted in any of the elections held in the country since independence as they were not listed in the electoral rolls. Orissa, which is going for simultaneous assembly and parliamentary polls, will vote on April 20 and 26. Around 560 villagers in Samarpudar and Kapurgarh, located in the mountain ranges of Nevapara district of the state, say no survey has been conducted in their villages.

          The villagers lament exercising franchise is last priority on their mind when they are also deprived of even basic amenities like drinking water, electricity, roads and health care centers. "We do not know what is what. Nobody comes to our village. We are staying in isolation as if we are not under any government. Or we think that they do not consider as human beings," Badri Majhi, a villager said. However, district authorities denied the villagers' allegations. "A door-to-door survey was done about one year back. Recently we invited people to file their claims, those who came to file the claims have been included. Around 12,000 people have been included in the voters list. So we have taken all possible measures to include people here," P. K. Patnaik, district collector of Nevapara, said.