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Advani's Rath Yatra enters Bihar

          Gaya: Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani's Bharat Uday Yatra continued its Bihar leg on Friday. He started off today from Hazaribagh, went through Ranchi and Gumla and will stop for the night in Jashpur. The day two of the yatra in Bihar witnessed bigger crowds as Advani's cavalcade made its way through Naxalite-affected areas of Bihar. The tone of the attack on the ruling RJD government in the state was sharper on Thursday with the Deputy Prime Minister blaming the state government for the poor economic development and security in the state. He also added that a change in the government and not President's rule was the way out for the people. "I feel the people can bring about a change," said Advani. He added: "Eighty-two per cent of India is Hindu and if there is no progress for them the country cannot progress."

          Delighted over the inclusion of the Ayodhya temple issue in the NDA manifesto, Advani said the settlement of the long-standing temple issue was round the corner. "I am happy to know that the temple issue has been included in the NDA and confident of an amicable solution," he added. He said the dialogue, involving the Dalai Lama, the Kanchi Sankaracharya and other Muslim leaders is making good progress towards a settlement of the issue. "A solution will come up probably after the formation of the next Government at the Centre. I am sure the burning issue will be solved, it is round the corner," said Advani. The `Bharat Uday' rath rolled into Bihar preaching the development mantra, but by the time it reached the holy city of Gaya, speeches turned into rhetoric and Hindutva was back in business.

SP manifesto woos Hindus and Muslims (Go To Top)

          Lucknow: Playing a balancing act, the Samajwadi Party on Friday tried to woo both the Muslims and the Hindus, by releasing its manifesto. The party did it by vowing to oppose any kind of interference in the Muslim personal law, offering job reservation for Muslims and to make arrangements for resumption of pooja and worship in all important religious places falling under the Archaeological Survey of India.

          In its 16-page manifesto for the coming Lok Sabha elections, released by SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, the party pledged to implement the court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid issue and also have a ten per cent reservation for Muslims in Government jobs by amending the Constitution. The party promised to make proper arrangements for security at all religious places. Favouring a court verdict on the Ayodhya issue, the party said it was of the view that the vexed issue could not be resolved through mutual dialogue. A special force will be raised to deal with communal riots, the party said. It promised strict action against those found guilty of involvement in communal riots that broke out following demolition of the Babri mosque and those responsible for attacking and damaging property of Sikhs during the 1984 riots. The victims, it said, would be given maximum compensation.

UP directive to deposit private arms (Go To Top)

          Rae Bareli: Licensed gun owners here have begun depositing their arms following a directive by the state government. According to a standard routine across the country, all private arms have to surrendered temporarily, ahead of polls, to ensure free and fair polling. District authorities are empowered to cancel the license if anybody fails to adhere to the directive. "It is election time and it is in accordance with the orders of the authorities that I have come to deposit my gun here," said Mohammad Ali, a gun owner. Mohammad Fayaz, owner of the shop, said the order helps maintain peace in the volatile town during elections. "This place is one where people pull out guns for the most trivial of reasons. So the government has ordered depositing of the guns each time during elections," he said.

          Rae Bareli district's top official said they were taking all steps to prevent violence during elections. "We have around 13,000 to 14,000 gun licences. During election time, by way of abundant caution, the public is requested to deposit their arms. Even the Election Commission has been giving such instructions," said D. N. Pandey, the district magistrate. Incidents of violence and booth capture are common in several areas of Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Bihar states during elections. The gigantic problem for law and order during polls, however, is that in most incidents of poll-related violence, the culprits are most often not legal arms owners and do not use licensed guns but illegal country-made and smuggled guns.

AG rejects EC proposal to ban opinion, exit polls (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: Attorney General Soli J Sorabjee has shot down the Election Commission's (EC) proposal for an Ordinance to ban publication of opinion and exit polls during the period of election. The EC said the move would violate the fundamental right to free speech. The Commission, after holding an all-party meeting, had recommended to the Government on April 6 for promulgation of an ordinance to ban opinion and exit polls as "publishing of the results of such polls during the period of election has the effect of influencing the minds of electors."

          Rejecting the idea, Sorabjee said that whatever could be the basis of the idea for the proposed ban, the Government could not resort to an ordinance, as, such poll surveys were being conducted for last many years. Therefore, it was difficult to conclude that circumstances impel the necessity for urgent and immediate action for the issuance of an Ordinance, he said. Terming as "highly debatable" the constitutionality of such an Ordinance, the Attorney said "a serious and formidable objection to the proposed ordinance is that it would be violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution." He said it was a well settled principle that right to free speech guaranteed under the Constitution included the right of the people to know, the right to receive information and the right of the citizen to disseminate information.

          He said information from divergent and antagonistic sources would help voters to make an informed choice which was similar to the choice made by the people after reading various articles and editorials in different newspapers. "Consequently, the restriction on freedom of speech and expression as contemplated by the proposed ordinance do not satisfy and are not covered by any one or more of the permissible heads of restrictions set out under Article 19(2)," he concluded.

Laloo files nomination from Madhepura (Go To Top)

          Patna: RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav filed his nomination papers from Madhepura on Friday. Yadav is up against JD (U) heavyweight Sharad Yadav in this constituency. "Sharad Yadav has now joined people who are only concerned with building a temple. He has now become communal and will now be defeated," said Laloo. The RJD chief has already filed his nomination from Chapra, where he is contesting against BJP's Rajiv Pratap Rudy. In the last Lok Sabha election, Sharad yadav had defeated Laloo Yadav in Madhepura.

Manipur for additional forces during polls (Go To Top)

          Imphal: An all-party meeting in Manipur has decided to seek assistance from the Centre for smooth conduct of the ensuing general elections in the state in view of the election boycott call by militants, official sources said Friday. Presided by Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh, the meeting held here decided to seek deployment of additional central forces for free and fair polls. The meeting also decided to inform national parties about the prevailing situation and urge them to convince the centre for deployment of extra forces in the state, a senior politician who attended the meeting said on condition of anonymity.He also said leaders of different parties had already briefed the Election Commission observers who are here to oversee the poll arrangments. Official sources said the chief minister would convene a high- level security meeting soon to discuss steps for conducting free and fair polls in the state. Meanwhile, a regional political party today appealed to separatist United National Liberation Front (UNLF) which had called for boycott of the upcoming elections to reconsider its ban imposed on poll-related activities.

PM campaigns in Orissa; Congress rebuts Bofors charges (Go To Top)

          Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived in Bhubaneshwar on Friday to campaign for his party the BJP ahead of the forthcoming general elections. The BJP is bidding to retain power on a platform of record economic growth, a strengthening rupee and striking peace with Pakistan. In the state politics the BJP is a junior ally of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal. The BJP, the biggest NDA ally, has promised to push ahead with its reforms programme and put Asia's third largest economy on 8- 10 percent annual growth path in a bid to eradicate poverty if it comes back to power.

          On the other hand, main Opposition party the Congress is expected to face a worst drubbing ever. The party said the BJP was raking up past issues as it was desperate about its prospects of getting re-elected. "We want that the BJP should fight us on issues whether it is development or governance. They do not want to talk on anything. They are bringing other issues like foreign origin and are bringing up the Bofors issue again. So it shows that they want to run away from this," senior party leader Manmohan Singh told reporters in New Delhi. The foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi has been a recurring issue during national polls, often raked up by the BJP. The Congress has also rebutted a Swedish investigator's alleged statement that party chief Sonia Gandhi be questioned in a 1.2 billion dollars arms scandal, that had toppled her late husband, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

          In an open letter published in a national daily on Thursday Sten Lindstrom, the principal investigator in the case for the past 18 years, said Gandhi be "quizzed" alongside Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi for attempts to confuse investigators probing bribery charges into the Bofors howitzer gun deal. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India (CPI-M) came down heavily on the separatists for giving a boycott call. "Today's elections hold great importance to the entire nation.There is one question in front of everyone that what will be the India government's political agenda for the next five years. In this the people have to give their vote. According to us, this is a big challenge to us to defeat those forces which are spreading hatred, terror in the nation and trying to threaten the democracy," Jammu and Kashmir state legislator and CPI-M leader Yusuf Tarigami told reporters in Srinagar.

Ladakh has a common candidate (Go To Top)

          Ladakh: Political parties in the country's Buddhist-dominated Ladakh region have put up a common candidate to contest from the constituency in the upcoming general polls. The Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) on Thursday unanimously decided to field Thupstan Chewang, a leader campaigning for Centrally-administered territory status for region. Political parties since the 2002 Assembly elections have been demanding Union Territory status, which would give the region special privileges. The LUTF meeting was attended by councillors, village heads and leaders of Tsogspas society. "Under the banner of LUTF, all the political parties have decided to give me support. I am happy that the platform that we have made is a secular one. There will be no talks of regionalism but we will contest elections on issues. I am very proud that cutting across socio-religious lines everybody has supported me," Chewang told reporters.

          LUTF is supported by the BJP, the main Opposition Congress party and other smaller parties. Ladakhis have long complained that the region has been neglected by the Centre and state governments. They allege that the Muslim- dominatged Kashmir Valley corners a major chunk of federal development funds. In 1989, the Ladakh Buddhist Association launched an agitation for an autonomous hill development council and New Delhi acceded to the demand in 1993. Muslims form slightly more than 15 percent of Ladakh's population.