Tandon, Gopalaswamy were biased against Lalu: Saptarishi; 'Mature reaction averted major skirmish with Bangladesh'; CEC dismisses Lalu's charges; The car of Royals - Rolls Royce is back in India'; BCCI shortlists four players for coaching post; Shrek 3 script revealed; 'Polar Express' returns in IMAX format; Heidi Klum voted hottest mum; Kate Moss' detox Thai holiday; Paris Hilton's sexually explicit ad axed; Drink Pomegranate juice to spruce up your love life; Star Wars brings tears to Steven Spielberg's eyes; Peter Jackson is Hollywood's most powerful; Britney's pregnancy test up for grabs; India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Sunday, May 8, 2005

Tandon, Gopalaswamy were biased against Lalu: Saptarishi

New Delhi: LV Saptarishi, a senior bureaucrat who was the Special Election Observer for Bihar during the last general elections, today once again charged that the two Election Commissioners BB Tandon and N Gopalaswamy had countermanded the election in Chhapra on "baseless grounds". He said there was no reason for calling for a re-poll in the constituency and the two ECs countermanded the election purely on "castist lines" only to create problems for Lalu Prasad Yadav. They were biased against the Yadav community, he added. "On the directions of CEC TS Krishnamurthy when I presented my report on the day following the last day of polling, Tandon and Gopalaswamy asked me what were the names of SSP and DM in particular areas. When I told them that they were some Yadavs, he told me that all Yadavs were the same and they would take stern actions by ordering re-polls throughout the Chhapra constituency. When I contended that it was not a fit case for countermanding the election, the duo told me to get out of the room." Claiming that what he was saying was truth, Saptarishi said that all those officers who were present inside that room when the discussion between him and the two ECs took place should be interrogated and they would also tell the same. CEC Krishnamurthy was also present on the occasion, he added.

Comparing the incident to Draupadi's episode in Mahabharta, the bureaucrat, who is to retire after two months, said, "when Draupadi was being disrobed all the elders including Bhishma Pitamah remained silent spectators and you know what was the result. Had I kept quiet, it would have been improper." To the allegation that why he kept it as a secret for almost one year, he said, "I had to open my mouth now because Tandon is going to be the new CEC. I wanted to tell the world that such a persons should not be allowed to hold such a sensitive post." Meanwhile, reacting to Saptarishi's disclosure the BJP said that the bureaucrat was acting in an irresponsible manner while throwing to the wind all rules that an IAS officer ought to follow. "He has raised fingers on the integrity of a Constitutional body as high as Election Commission. He should be immediately terminated for this," said BJP spokesman VK Malhotra.

CEC dismisses Lalu's charges (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Chief Election Commissioner TS Krishnamurthy today rubbished demand by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to dismiss two of his colleagues for bias. Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had contested from the Chapra constituency in Bihar, had alleged that the Election Commission (EC) had acted in a biased manner. The polling was countermanded by the EC after allegations of rigging and Yadav won from the constituency in a re-poll. Yadav had alleged that in a letter, special election observer L.V.Prasad said he was forced to give adverse remarks and demanded the resignations of B.B.Tandon and N.Gopalaswamy, two members of the poll panel. "I am rather sorry and feel very bad that such unfortunate allegations are being made. I would like to say that the election commission is a remarkably credible, independent organisation. Just because one-person takes a view does not mean that the Election Commission is wrong. All decisions have been taken unanimously. All decisions are on the basis of factual information, analysis of reports received. This tendency to denigrate the Election Commission is strongly condemned by me," Krishnamurthy told reporters at the New Delhi airport. The opposition parties have countered the allegation saying that the election observer was politically motivated.

'Mature reaction averted major skirmish with Bangladesh' (Go To Top)

Agartala: India on Saturday claimed that its mature reaction to a border skirmish with neighboring Bangladesh prevented the situation from flaring up. Last month a commander of the Border Security Force (BSF) was killed and two soldiers were seriously wounded when fighting broke out with the Bangladeshi troops on the frontier in Tripura. Serious over the killing of the officers in the clash, India had lodged an official protest with Bangladesh and said the incident appeared pre-planned. On the other hand, Dhaka said that two Bangladeshi villagers were also killed in the incident.

The car of Royals - Rolls Royce is back in India (Go To Top)

Pune: Rolls- Royce, once the favourite car-maker of India's maharajas, has made a comeback in the country after a gap of almost 50 years in search of customers drawn from the new class of 21st century millionaires. It recently launched its new Phantom super luxury sedan in the city. Now owned by the German car giant BMW, Rolls Royce had to move its operations out of India in the 1960s because of prohibitive import restrictions. With the Indian automobile market experiencing a boom since 2000, the import duties are now not being seen as much of an impediment. The company recently announced that it had sold a Rolls-Royce Phantom to Yohan Poonawalla, a 33-year-old stud farm owner, who coughed up the required 435,000 pounds for the vehicle. Poonawalla said that paying the 103 percent import duty for the vehicle was not an issue for him, as "The first Rolls-Royce came into our family before I was born. It was a Silver Shadow. I have always been partial to the Rolls-Royce. It has such tremendous road presence."

BCCI shortlists four players for coaching post (Go To Top)

Kolkata: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has today shortlisted four former players including the World Cup winning hero Mohinder Amarnath and former Test player Sandeep Patil for the coaching post to succeed John Wright. According to a BCCI release the six-member committee formed by the Indian Cricket Board to appoint a coach has shortlisted Amarnath and Patil along with former Australian Test players Greg Chappell and Tom Moody. The candidates would be called for an interview, the date of which would be finalised after considering the availability of the candidates, it added. BCCI on Saturday appointed a six-member committee headed by its President Ranbir Singh Mahendra for this task. Former Board President Jagmohan Dalmiya, Sunil Gavaskar, S Venkatraghavan and Ravi Shastri are the other members of the committee. BCCI Secretary S K Nair is the convenor of the committee.

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