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Grenade attack wounds six at Congress rally in Kashmir

          Srinagar: Suspected militants threw a grenade at a Congress election rally in Banihal on Wednesday, wounding at least six people. A senior police official, including two others, were seriously injured in the attack. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was due to arrive later in the day at Jammu, to address a campaign rally for his Bharatiya Janata Party. The explosion in Banihal, 120 kms north of Srinagar, was the latest in a series of attacks in Kashmir where rebels have called for a boycott of the elections beginning next week. The injured were admitted to hospital in Srinagar. Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Lal Singh, who was addressing the public meeting when the grenade landed, was safe. Singh is a candidate from the Congress party for parliament. "Outside the rally, a scooter was parked. There was a blast at the gate. When Lal Singh was addressing the rally, there was a blast. There are 15 injured, one DSP was seriously injured and one died on the way," said an eyewitness.

Lalji Tandon sacked (Go To Top)

          New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday sacked Lalji Tandon, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's election campaign manager, after 25 people were killed in a stampede at a function to mark Tandon's birthday on Monday, an official said. Lalji Tandon, who was Vajpayee's pointman in Lucknow, was replaced by SS. Ahluwalia, a spokesman for the party said. The dismissal, described by analysts as a damage limitation exercise, follows the deaths of 19 women and two children in a stampede for free saris during a function organised to mark Tandon's 70th birthday. Witnesses said the stampede was caused when organisers of the function threw the sarees into the 5,000-strong crowd of poor women crammed into a small park. Vajpayee on Wednesday bemoaned the stampede. "It is a great tragedy, we are mourning it, but elections cannot wait," he told reporters in Bangalore. "Every year saris have been distributed there. This time something happened and it is unfortunate," he said. Vajpayee will file his nomination papers in Lucknow on Thursday in a low key ceremony and later address party workers, the BJP spokesman said.

PM's appeal to Jethmalani to withdraw (Go To Top)

          Jammu: Asserting that peace between India and Pakistan should be 'permanent', Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Wednesday expressed the hope that the ongoing dialogue process will 'continue and succeed'. "We want peace to be permanent. We are neighbours and we have to live together. For development, peace is essential," he said addressing an election rally in Jammu, reaching here from Bangalore. The Prime Minister also asked Congress-backed Ram Jethmalani to reconsider his decision to contest against him in Lucknow. Extending an olive branch to him, Vajpayee disapproved of the attacks apparently by his party colleagues against Jethmalani, who has filed his nominations from Lucknow. In a statement, Vajpayee said he and Jethmalani had been friends and colleagues for 40 years now and had broadly shared political values and goals and were together in the fight for democracy. "Jethmalani has filed his nominations to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from Lucknow constituency from where I am also seeking re election. Since this is likely to be the last elections in which we will be active participants, I expect that he will reconsider his decision," he said.

Defends saree distribution (Go To Top)

          Bangalore: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Wednesday said the government would abide by the Supreme Court order in the Best Bakery case in which it has ordered reinvestigation and retrial in Maharashtra. "We will abide by the Supreme Court order," he said when asked by reporters in Bangalore about the apex court order. To another query, Vajapyee said he was opposed to indulging in personal attacks during electioneering and exhorted political leaders to take the campaign to the highest level.

           Earlier, Vajpayee strongly defending distribution of sarees that led to a stampede killing 22 women in Lucknow dismissed suggestions that the incident has dented his image. "Nothing wrong in distribution of sarees," Vajpayee, who represents Lucknow Lok Sabha constituency, said in Bangalore commenting on the incident that occurred during the birthday celebrations of his election manager and senior BJP leader Lalji Tandon on Monday. "Every year sarees have been distributed there," Vajpayee said adding, "this time something happened and it is unfortunate." "It is a great tragedy, we are mourning it, but elections cannot wait," he said after offering floral tributes to the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar in front of Vidhana Soudha, the Karnataka Government's Secretariat.

Vajpayee calls on Sai Baba (Go To Top)

          Bangalore: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today met the Sathya Sai Baba at his Ashram Prashanti Nilayam in Whitefield on the outskirts of the city. Vajpayee met the spiritual leader before emplaning for Jammu where he will address election meetings.

We too will form coalition Govt at Centre, says Sonia (Go To Top)

         Jamnagar: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said her party would form a coalition Government after the polls as she took on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its stronghold of Gujarat. Addressing an election rally in the port town of Jamnagar, she thundered: "Right now we are in the process of forming an alliance of like-minded parties, and we will be in a position to form a coalition at the Centre." Her comments came a day after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee taunted the Congress for failing to build coalitions.

           Addressing some 2,000 people, Sonia Gandhi hit out at Vajpayee, accused him of speaking in different languages about Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "On the one hand Vajpayee asks Modi to learn 'Raj Dharma' in a reprimanding tone and on the other, he praises Modi for his so- called achievements in Gujarat," she alleged.

Two killed in group clash in Bangalore (Go To Top)

          Bangalore: At least two people were killed and several others injured in clashes between groups of two political parties in Bangalore. Police said the clashes broke out on Tuesday between supporters of Congress party candidate for Bangalore South parliamentary constituency, M. Krishnappa and V. Somanna, a candidate for Binnypet assembly constituency. Somanna's activists allegedly attacked Krishnappa camp when he was inaugurating an election office. Amjad and Aejaz, supporters of Krishnappa, sustained stab injuries and were brought dead to the hospital. Other injured activists of both camps are undergoing treatment at a hospital. The feud between the rival groups has been long running, police said. Following the attack, tension prevails in the area. Senior police officers, alongwith five platoons, were rushed to the site.

Yatra will serve as yardstick for performance: Advani (Go To Top)

          Talcher (Orissa): Entering the final lap of his Bharat Uday Yatra today, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said the 8,500 km-long journey across the country had not only been personally most rewarding, but it had also set a standard for assessing government performance in the future. Talking to reporters here before moving on towards Puri, where the 33-day yatra concludes, Advani said: "The governments would be under pressure to perform as the urge for development and good governance would come from the people themselves.'' Describing the travel as self-educating and inspiring, he further went on to say that it would make him more determined to work for basics like electricity, transport and water. The goodwill generated for the BJP in particular and the NDA overall through the coverage of 128 Lok Sabha constituencies was also quite enormous.

Buffalo his campaign vehicle (Go To Top)

          Hyderabad: At a time when most other political leaders have hired fleet of jeeps, open lorries and the top among them hop around in chartered helicopters to campaign for the upcoming elections, a lesser resourceful aspirant has found a new campaign vehicle, - a buffalo. Katam Ganesh Yadav, an independent candidate running for assembly elections from Malakpet constituency in Andhra Pradesh, may lack the resources for a publicity blitz but sure does attract no less attention. When his counterparts are drumming up frenzied electoral mood crisscrossing the city in all kinds of contraptions, along comes Yadav riding a buffalo, entertaining Malakpet residents with his unique style. To make sure he does not escape attention, Yadav has also equipped himself with a harmonium. But why only a buffalo?

          Yadav, whose name signifies the milch men community, says that riding a buffalo was his special way of connecting with people. "I have chosen buffalo to campaign because I am a Yadav, and this is a Yadav's buffalo, I take pride in it. I am not asking for votes from people for my own interest but I want to selflessly serve them. I go to meet people on buffalo, I cannot go by car to beg for votes, this is injustice to me. All I want is to work for people," said Yadav. Apart from Yadav, 13 other independent candidates are in the fray from Malakpet. The main contest will be between the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Congress party. Andhra Pradesh will go to the polls in two phases on April 20 and 26. Yadav most likely will meet the fate of most others of his ilk, - independent candidates who end up being "also ran", but his unique campaign style will certainly get him many a glance, if not votes.