Back to Main Page                                                                       Archives

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

Rahul says he respects his adversaries

         Amethi: Brushing aside attacks on his family, particularly his mother Sonia Gandhi on her foreign origin, Rahul Gandhi on Monday said, "Our hearts are Indians" and these criticisms did not bother him. "Our hearts are Indian. They beat for India. You can abuse us, you can kill us but it will still beat for India," an emotional and nostalgic Rahul, who is contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections from Amethi constituency, told reporters. "I have learnt to be an Indian from my mother" and "my father is my hero," said the 34-year old Rahul. He said, "Your enemies will always have something to say for you. I actually expect my enemies to say something".

         Asked whether he would launch a counter-attack, Rahul said, "We don't need to attack viciously. These are peripheral things and don't matter. If your aim is right you are going to go on, come what may" and added that "we have been taught in our family to do what we feel is right". To a question why he joined politics, he said, "Politics has hurt my family. My father and grandmother were killed. But I know that they were proud to have been killed for the country".

Khurana's durbar on hold (Go To Top)

          Jaipur: Giving in to pressure from the Opposition, Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana has decided to put his daily durbars for the poor at Raj Bhavan on hold till Lok Sabha polls. The Congress had alleged that Khurana was flouting the code of conduct and unconstitutionally using his office for the benefit of the BJP. Controversy over Khurana's durbars has been hotting up with his roping in Asaram Bapu to raise funds for the poor. A jampacked Amroodon Ka Bagh in Jaipur these days is witnessing religious sermons by Asaram Bapu. Roped in by Governor Khurana to raise funds for running his Garibi Sunwai Kendra, Bapu gave away monetary help to the poor at Raj Bhavan before the sermons. Taking serious exception to religious activities by Raj Bhavan before the polls, Congress alleged that in the garb of helping the poor, Khurana was flouting the COC by buying voters for the BJP and it would take up the matter with the EC.

Advani to file nomination today (Go To Top)

          Gandhinagar: Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani will file his nomination for the forthcoming general elections from Gandhinagar today. He will also start the second part of his Bharat Uday Yatra from Porbandar in Gujarat. Advani is seeking election for the fourth time from the Gandhinagar seat. In the 1999 polls, Advani had defeated the Congress candidate and former Chief Election Comissioner T N Seshan by 1,88,944 votes.

Tough fight for Congress in Chhindwara (Go To Top)

          Chhindwara (MP): The Congress party is fighting a two- pronged attack in the tribal dominated areas of central Madhya Pradesh for the general elections. The Congress lost miserably in the state in last year's assembly elections as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) saffron-clad Uma Bharti stormed to power cashing in on anti-incumbency and cow politics. Stakes are high in tribal dominated Chhindwara constituency as BJP's Prahlad Patel takes on veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath. The BJP, basking in the glory of the December assembly polls, are hopeful that the winning streak will continue.

         "The main issue of this election will be development. No development has taken place under the Congress. There has been lot of misuse of the government machinery, we will convince people that if the BJP comes to power, this won't happen," Patel said.Another destabilising factor for the Congress is the fast- upcoming Gondwana Gantantrik Party (GGP), as it threatens to take away the tribal votebank, till now nursed by the Congress. Of the region's 54 percent tribal population, 22 percent are the Gonds, and are expected to play a crucial role in the outcome. "For a long time the tribals have been suppressed. Nobody took care of our needs despite the fact that all leaders have been winning elections on the basis of the tribal vote bank. No party has ever allowed any tribal leader to come forward nor do they draw out any plan for their development," Manmohan Shah Batti, GGP leader, said.

          Kamal Nath, who has won this seat seven times, rubbished the claims saying people would not change loyalties. "This Gondwana Party is fighting the elections with a hope to cut into Congress vote bank. BJP and Gondwana party are conspiring against Congress. However, tribals understand all this and will never support them," Nath said. Nath, one of former Prime Minister Sanjay Gandhi's school friends, represented the constituency for 16 years, from 1980 to 1996 but lost in the 1997 by-election. That was also the first time since the first elections in 1952 the constituency, a Congress stronghold, slipped out of their hands. Although the Chhindwara district is richly endowed with natural resources, particularly forest wealth and coal, there is extreme poverty and widespread unemployment in this region.