Back to Main Page                                                                       Archives

Tickets for Indo-Pak cricket series online: http://pcbtickets.cricket.org, http://pcb.cricket.org, www.cricinfo.com.

NCP releases manifesto (Go To Top)

          New Delhi/ Indore: The Nationalst Congress Party (NCP) today released its manifesto for election 2004, saying that it would contest 32 seats, including 18 in Maharashtra. Briefing reporters in the Capital this morning, NCP president and former Union Minister Sharad Pawar also announced the names of 24 candidates. Talking about the gap between the NCP and Congress party closing,

          Pawar said: "When the Congress itself is not insisting on the leadership issue of the secular front in the post-poll scenario, it is not an issue now." "The leadership of the Opposition front will be selected after the polls," he added. Pawar even said that he did not consider Rahul Gandhi's entry into the poll fray as promotion of dynastic politics. "Why blame the Congress? Even in BJP, Finance Minster Jaswant Singh's son and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's son have thrown their hats in the ring," he countered. "If they had been given safe Rajya Sabha seats, I would have called it dynastic politics. In this case all will have to contest elections and people will decide," he added.

          The Marathwada strongman also ruled out any arrangement with the BJP in the post-poll scenario, dismissing the saffron party's reported claim that the NCP was its reserve force. One of the highlights of the manifesto was the NCP favouring a fixed term for the Lok Sabha. Pawar said the country could not afford the 'luxury of frequent' parliamentary elections, and added that his party also favoured the creation of smaller states like Vidharbha and Telengana, which are economically viable. The NCP, which split recently with senior leaders PA Sangma and VC Shukla walking out of the party, has already formed an alliance with the Congress to jointly contest the polls in Maharashtra. The party, an ally of the main Opposition Congress party, was recently recognized by the Election Commission, after a faction broke away and aligned with the BJP.

         Meanwhile, Gandhi will be completing her two-day roadshow in Madhya Pradesh today. Clad in a simple cotton sari, Gandhi freely interacted with the villagers on Thursday. "There is an enthusiasm, a positive approach, in the people towards the Congress," she claimed. Asked if the crowd would translate into votes, she said: "Yes, definitely." She once again debunked ruling the National Democratic Alliance's "India Shining" campaign, saying that she didn't believe that slogan at all. "No, not at all," she said when asked if she believes India is really shining.

Govinda's 'netagiri' (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: 'Virar Ka Chokra', Govinda has plunged into politics after he was formally given the Congress ticket for North Mumbai Constituency. He will be pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Ram Naik who has an unbeatable record from the North Mumbai Constituency of winning the Lok Sabha elections for five successive terms. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Sushil Kumar Shinde, said that the Congress is lucky to have an actor like Govinda standing for Lok Sabha elections and that he is sure that 'Hero No.1' will work for the good of the society and nation. When questioned about the fact that he was pitted against the likes of Ram Naik, Govinda said that his being an actor will work in his advantage. He said that he will first visit Virar and will start connecting with the people of North Mumbai constituency. The actor also plans to meet people by travelling in buses and local trains.

BJP's filmi stunts  (Go To Top)

          Mumbai: This year elections will have plenty of filmi touch as many film and TV stars who are joining the BJP, met BJP party president Venkatiah Naidu to discuss party plans. Though the meeting was quite informal it laid some guidelines for the film stars. The meeting went on for around half an hour at Mumbai's Inter-Continental Hotel. Film stars who attended the meeting were Hema Malini, Manoj Kumar, Suresh Oberoi, Yukta Mookhey, Poonam Dhillon and Dara Singh. Television artists like Smriti Irani, Apra Mehta, Vani Tripathi, Gajanana Chauhan, Pankaj Dheer and Mukesh Khanna also were present. Stalwarts from music industry like music director Sharavan, singer Kumar Sanu and lyricist Gulshan Bawra will also campaign for the party. On the political front there was BJP party president Venkatiah Naidu and Petroleum Minister Ram Naik. According to Naidu, it was more of introductory session where opinions and suggestions were taken. Naidu also focused on the main theme of development, leadership of Vajpayee and the future of India. He also said final ticket confirmation would be given on March 27.

BJP fights hard to retain South Goa (Go To Top)

          Mormugaon (Goa): The BJP that has successfully made dents into Christian-populated South Goa constituency, is facing a tough battle to retain the seat ahead of ensuing general elections. The state goes to the polls on April 26, in the second phase. South Goa or Mormugaon, a Catholic bastion, had long been a pocket burrough of the main Opposition Congress party and the BJP wrestled it during the 1999 general elections. The Congress, keen to take back its stronghold, has fielded its former chief minister Churrchil Alemao against the BJP's sitting MP Ramakant Angle. The state BJP, sensing a neck-and-neck fight, is into a fierce campaign to retain the prestigious seat. "In the past five years, he has done developmental work worth 105 million rupees for the people. Our previous MP used to just distribute ambulances. Here we are not doing that only but we are carrying out developmental work like making community halls, cemetery, crematorium, roads, schools, offices, halls etc. He is the first lawmaker to do such work. We are not hesitant to project his performance," BJP state president Rajander Arlekar said.

          The youngsters in the constituency feel that the BJP's prospects were brighter as it was heavily banking on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's image and the goodwill earned by the State Chief Minister, of the BJP, Manohar Parikar in the state. "This time the BJP has more chances in Goa and it is firstly because of Parikar, and secondly because of Vajpayee," Manav, a local resident, said. But some of the over 510,000 voters in the constituency are not quite impressed by the "feel good" claims of the BJP. "I do not know what they did. I do not know which government to vote for. Government does not do anything for the poor. Those who have money, all work is done easily. If there is no money. one has to always has to suffer," Panduram, another resident, said. Goa, a former Portuguese colony, had 12 different governments in the last two decades before Parikar government took over in 2002. The BJP, despite its label as a Hindu party, managed to be single largest party in the 40-member provincial assembly of the state, which has a large Christian population.

Vajpayee says peace with Pak is permanent (Go To Top)

           Amritsar: Peace with nuclear rival Pakistan is permanent and the South Asian neighbours are unlikely to ever fight again, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said while addressing a public rally here Friday ahead of the forthcoming general elections. "We have said the history will not be repeated. There were other things also which happened after that. I was told not to trust them. But I am trusting humanity and I hope that we will not fight again," Vajpayee told an election rally in Amritsar.

          The polls are being held in stages from April 20 to May 10. The BJP that heads the ruling coalition has made the recent warming of ties with Pakistan a central issue in its re-election campaign. On Friday he joined Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani in Amritsar, which is about 30 minutes by road from the border and has strong emotional links with the Pakistani city of Lahore. Advani is on a nationwide campaign tour called a "Bharat Uday Yatra", that aims to capitalise on a "feel good" factor to win a second term on the back of a good monsoon, an accelerating economy and burgeoning peace efforts.