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Homage paid to Indira Gandhi on her 20th death anniversary

       New Delhi: Special prayers were held on Sunday at "Shakti Stal", the memorial of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on the occasion of her 20th death anniversary. Chairperson of ruling United Progressive Alliance and Indira's daughter-in-law Sonia Gandhi, her son Rahul Gandhi, were among the first to pay homage. They were later joined by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other political leaders. Classical music marked the sombre occasion. Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984 at her official residence in New Delhi. The security personnel allegedly plotted the murder to take revenge on her ordering the troops into Amritsar's Golden Temple to eject the Sikh militants who were hiding in there.The temple is the holiest of Sikh shrines.

Deshmukh to take oath as Maharashtra CM on Monday (Go To Top)

       Mumbai: The newly-elected leader of the Congress Legislative Party (CLP), Vilasrao Deshmukh, will take oath as Maharashtra Chief Minister on Monday. On Saturday, Deshmukh and NCP legislative party leader R.R. Patil met the Governor of Maharashtra, Mohammed Fazal, and staked their claim to form the next government in Maharashtra. The meeting took place after Deshmukh's arrival from New Delhi, where he had gone to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Govindrao Adik, Patangrao Kadam, MPCC chief Prabha Rau, Kripashankar Singh and NCP leaders Gurnunath Kulkarni and Vasant Chavan were also present on the occasion.

Congress-NCP gear up for show of strength in Maharashtra (Go To Top)

       Mumbai: Having staked a claim on Saturday to form the next government in Maharashtra on Monday, the Congress and the NCP combine faces an onerous task when both sit down to cobble up a ministry. A tough balancing act is in the offing in the coming week as caste and regional equations will play an omnipotent role in determining the state cabinet's composition. With several key portfolios already with the NCP, the Congress with just 18 berths to itself has a particularly difficult task. On Monday, Vilasrao Deshmukh will be sworn in as the Chief Minister and R R Patil as Deputy Chief Minister. 165 names have been submitted to Maharashtra Governor Mohammad Fazl for a state assembly with 288 MLAs. The list includes 71 names from the NCP, 68 from the Congress, 16 independents and 10 belonging to the smaller parties. Meanwhile, NCP chief and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Sunday told reporters in Anand, Gujarat, that he was happy with the combination that has emerged after 12 days of deleiberations between the two parties. However, he expressed surprise over the selection of Deshmukh as the CLP chief, but was quick to add that in the end it was an internal matter of the Congress party.

JD(U) seeks clarification from BJP on reviving of Hindutva (Go To Top)

       Ranchi: The Janata Dal (United) , a key ally of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Sunday sought a clarification from the BJP over its alleged plans to revive its Hindutva plank, terming it as a deviation from the opposition coalition's secular agenda. "The recent statement by the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership on Ayodhya issue have created uncalled controversy and a feeling in the minds of the people and particularly in the minds of political activists that the BJP is chanting its own prose of Hindutva as its driving force," senior JD (U) leader Digvijay Singh told reporters at a news conference in Ranchi. In December 1992, Hindu zealots razed to the ground the 16th century Babri mosque at Ayodhya, after which communal riots killed over 3,000 people nationwide. Hindu radicals want to construct a temple dedicated to Lord Rama over the ruins of the mosque. The BJP rose to prominence on the Ram temple campaign, an issue which sharply divided the two communities and rallied Hindus behind the BJP. But since coming to power in 1998, the BJP dropped its Hindu agenda for peace with nearly two dozen allies. Since losing national elections in May on a platform of good governance, economic prosperity and peace with arch-rival Pakistan, the BJP has struggled to define itself. "While each party in the NDA has the right to pursue its policies, anything that is on the NDA's agenda raises through many questions," Singh said. The BJP, which has vowed to bounce back from its electoral defeats by promoting a "nationalist" agenda with the veteran party hand at the helm, analysts say, is at crossroads after its surprise defeat in May's national election and in western Maharashta earlier this month and is struggling to motivate its right wing Hindu core support and at the same time reaching out to moderate voters.

Bharti opted out, says Advani (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday said that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharti had herself declined to become the party's general secretary since she wanted to visit Madhmaheshwar. "I had offered her the post of general secretary in the newly- constituted body of BJP, but she said her leave, which she had taken to visit Madhmaheshwar is still incomplete," party president L K Advani told reporters. Bharti is on leave till November-end, Advani said after taking part in the national convention of the Bharatiya Sindhu Sabha. Stating that it was on his request only that Bharti returned from Madhmaheshwar to attend the BJP National Council meeting, Advani added, "Probably she must have gone back to Madhmaheshwar by now."

Left demands more say in Centre's policy decisions (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Leftist parties, lending crucial support to the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government on Sunday demanded a greater say in the policy decisions of the government. The pro-poor Communists have been bitterly opposed to hike in domestic prices of petrol and diesel despite international rates bursting to 55 dollars per barrel and have also blocked the raising of the foreign equity cap in telecoms and insurance. Oil firms are seeking a 17 percent rise in diesel price, currently pegged at Rs. 24.16 a litre in Delhi, and a six percent increase for petrol, which sells for Rs. 36.81 a litre, to align retail prices with global trends. The Communists are also opposed to the U.S war on Iraq and have taken the government to task on last week's visit to India by Myanmar's military general Than Shew terming it as against the democratic principles of the country. "Policy decisions have to be taken after consulting us only. No doubt they (Congress) did consult us on issues like oil prices, Myanmar and observers for Iraq polls," the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI), A.B. Bardhan, told a news conference in New Delhi today. Bardhan also termed as mere hype last week's change of guard in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Former deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani, who has taken charge as the BJP party president, accepted setback but promised to turn them round. "They (Bharatiya Janata Party) will lose in both the places. Advani (Lal Krishna Advani) taking over does not make any difference," Bardhan said. The BJP, which has vowed to bounce back from its electoral defeats by promoting a "nationalist" agenda with the veteran party hand at the helm, analysts say, is at crossroads after its surprise defeat in May's national election and in western Maharashta earlier this month and is struggling to motivate its right wing Hindu core support and at the same time reaching out to moderate voters.

Manipur delegates to hold talks with Centre (Go To Top)

       Imphal: A delegation of Apunba Lup, an apex body of 32 Manipuri organisations today left for Delhi to hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from the state, official sources said. According to the sources, the 10-member delegation, including four women, is likely to call on the Prime Minsiter on Tuesday, but the final date is yet to be confirmed. Apunba Lup has agreed to send its delegation following an understanding with the state government, they said. As a step to facilitate the talks between the Lup and the Centre, the state government released all the 36 people including 18 NSA detainees from judicial custody late last night as demanded. Lup on its part called off the ban on learning of Hindi and activities of the National Cadet Corps in the state, the sources added.