The Tribune

N E W S
I N ..D E T A I L

Tuesday, July 7, 1998

weather n spotlight
today's calendar

Govt to go ahead with
Women's Bill: PM
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 6 — The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, today announced in the Rajya Sabha that the Women’s Reservation Bill would be introduced in Parliament in the current session, even if there was no all-party consensus on it.
Responding to the issue raised by agitated women members of the Rajya Sabha, Mr Vajpayee said the BJP government was committed to the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
The issue was raised by the women members soon after the newly elected members had taken oath of affirmation. Mr Vajpayee said it had been decided to introduce the Bill in this session. However, some members had conveyed that they wanted some provisions of the Bill reconsidered.
He said with this in mind an all- party meeting had been convened and he was hopeful that a consensus would be arrived at during the meeting. He made it clear that the government’s view was that even if there was a lack of consensus on the issue, the Bill would still be introduced.
The women members had wanted to know the government’s stand on the issue.

The government had been forced to defer the introduction of the Bill on the floor of Parliament just a day prior to its opening following a three-week recess after the Samjawadi Party chief, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, met the Prime Minister and expressed his opposition to some of the provisions in the Bill. The Vajpayee government preferred to have an all-party meeting as even the Congress came up with objections, especially that the Opposition parties had not been consulted on the issue.
The Bill was originally set to be taken up in the Lok Sabha on July 3.
The Samajwadi Party delegation, during its meeting with the Prime Minister had said that the party would oppose the Bill in its present form and wanted that the reservation of seats should be slashed from 33 per cent to 15 per cent. It also wanted some other changes be brought about in the Bill.
The party was of the opinion that the Election Commission should not impose upon the parties, which of the constituencies would be reserved for women. It was of the view, however, that it should be made mandatory for every party to give ticket to a fixed number of women candidates.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday made a fervent appeal to all political parties for getting the Bill giving 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and Assemblies unanimously adopted by Parliament.
Welcoming the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s statement in the Rajya Sabha that the government would introduce the Bill even if there was no consensus among all political parties on the quota, the BJP general secretary, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, appealed to all parties that they should join hands in paving the way for the "progressive legislation, which is long overdue".
"Now at least, let us come together to adopt the Bill unanimously", Mr Naidu said.
Answering a question, Mr Naidu said a meeting between the Prime Minister and the AIADMK chief, Ms Jayalalitha, would be held at a time "convenient to both". "They would meet as and when convenient.They are allies and friends and they can meet whenever it suits them", Mr Naidu said adding that no date had yet been fixed for the meeting.

SAD demand on Udham Singh
Nagar rejected
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 6 — The Centre’s inability to exclude Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed Uttaranchal state has sparked off a fresh round of tension in the BJP-led coalition.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), which has been pleading, for the exclusion of the Punjabi-dominated Udham Singh Nagar district from the proposed state has decided to lodge a protest with the Centre.
The Centre’s viewpoint was announced here today by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, who said it was conveyed to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on the telephone.
Mr Khurana said here today that the demand was not acceptable on the ground that the district fell under the Nainital parliamentary constituency and under the Constitution, a constituency could not fall in two states — Uttar Pradesh and the proposed Uttaranchal.
The minister maintained that till the delimitation of constituencies in the year 2000, the parliamentary constituency could not be altered.
In addition, the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha had earlier passed resolutions in which Udham Singh Nagar district was to remain under the Nainital Commissioner.
The minister said he had also suggested that SAD leaders should come and discuss the issue with the Prime Minister and the Home Minister for an amicable solution.
The SAD Parliamentary Party held a meeting this evening and decided that a delegation of MPs from the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha along with Mr Badal would call on the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, tomorrow to press their demand.
Sources in the Union Home Ministry said the Punjab Chief Minister was also scheduled to meet the Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishna Advani, tomorrow.
The issue could create friction between the BJP and the SAD, especially in the wake of the tough stance of the latter’s Political Affairs Committee.
Mr Khurana’s response came in the wake of the political resolution adopted by the SAD at Chandigarh yesterday in which it said including Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttaranchal could have serious consequences and even hamper the process of bringing Punjabis into the mainstream.
The SAD had said there could be a referendum on the proposal, if necessary, the party’s argument being that a large section of the population was Punjabi.
"The issue is sentimental"’ senior SAD leader and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Surjit Singh Barnala had said. Pleading their case at the group of ministers' meeting on Saturday which went into the question of setting up of three new states, including Uttaranchal, Mr Barnala had said the area was plain land unlike the hill terrain where Uttaranchal was proposed to be carved out of Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, SAD MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, questioned the stand taken by Mr Khurana. "When the issue is under consideration of the group of ministers, set up by the Union Cabinet, why should Mr Khurana announce it," he asked.
He said the SAD was not opposed to the formation of Uttaranchal but wanted to respect the sentiments of the residents of the district a majority of whom had passed a resolution seeking the exclusion of Udham Singh Nagar.
In fact, of the 327 gram sabhas, 274 had passed a resolution to this effect.

Pak bid to blast bridges foiled
Tribune News Service
JAMMU, July 6 — A Pakistan plan of blowing up vital defence and government installations, including bridges in Poonch district, was foiled by the BSF when one militant was killed and large quantities of weapons and explosives were recovered late last night.
Reports from the border area said that the BSF jawans had laid an ambush at Achhahad village in the Mendhar area of Poonch. As they spotted six militants, the BSF challenged them to stop. The militants opened fore. An encounter took place in which one militant was killed. Five others fled to safety, leaving behind large quantities of arms and explosives.
When the BSF jawans carried out search operations, they recovered four rockets, one rocket launcher, two IEDs, each weighing 10 kg with the potential of blowing up massive bridges and buildings, and a bag containing scores of hand grenades. Two wireless sets were also recovered.
The entire area has been cordoned off and a manhunt launched against the remaining militants.
Reports said that the militants may have crossed into the Indian territory recently from either Kotli or Palandari in Pakistan. Their target was to supply explosives to the militants in Mendhar and Surankot which have witnessed series of incidents of subversive violence, including killing of civilians in recent weeks. The pressure of the militants in Surankot led the authorities to send additional security forces and during the past one week, the insurgents have come under pressure from the security forces which have launched an offensive against them.
The BSF also arrested one Afghan guerrilla from Gool Gulabgarh in the Udhampur area last evening. Reports said that as the man from Kabul, Nek Mohammad, was seen moving leisurely, civilians informed the BSF picket and he was taken into custody for interrogation.

UNI adds from Srinagar: Troops killed five hardcore militants at Narapatheri in north Kashmir while the Jammu and Kashmir police Special Operation Group (SOG) arrested another five, including a self-styled dump commander, in Srinagar during overnight operations.
A Defence Ministry spokesman said an ambush party of troops gunned down five hardcore militants at Narapatheri last evening.
He said three AK-56 rifles and one pistol were seized from the slain militants, believed to be foreigners.
Inspector-General of Jammu and Kashmir police P.S. Gill told reporters here today that SOG, Srinagar, headed by Mr Manohar Singh, conducted raids in Srinagar city and its outskirts during the past 24 hours, following reports that some militants were planning to cause disturbances in the city. Five militants, including a self-styled dump commander were arrested.
The arrested militants were responsible for several killings and other anti-national activities, he said. The SOG seized 11 AK-56 rifles, three universal machine guns, two rocket launchers, five pistols, two rockets, two boosters, six grenades, nine remote control devices, four wireless sets, 12 detonators, 43 magazines and more than 1200 rounds from these militants and their hideouts.

Furore in LS over price rise
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 6 — Lok Sabha members, cutting across party lines, today expressed concern over the increasing prices of essential commodities and urged the government to take urgent steps to give relief to the common man.
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, told the House that the government was ready to have a detailed discussion on the subject. Mr P.M. Sayeed, who was in the chair, said the Business Advisory Committee would decide the date of the discussion.
Raising the issue during zero hour, a Congress member, Mrs Suryakanta Patil, said the prices of common vegetables like potato, tomato and onion, had skyrocketted in recent months and they were beyond the reach of the common man.
Not only were the poor people finding to difficult to afford them, but even the upper middle class had been affected by the steep rise, she said.
Mrs Patil said the economic sanctions imposed on the country following the Pokhran nuclear tests had worsened the situation as it had resulted in increased inflation.
The Trinamul Congress leader, Ms Mamata Banerjee, demanded that the Prime Minister should make a statement on the matter and an action plan should be prepared to control prices of various commodities in consultation with the state governments.
Ms Banerjee’s intervention was marked by vociferous opposition from Congress members with Mr Rajesh Pilot pointing out to the Speaker that Ms Banerjee was also part of the government.
Mr Sayeed, however, overruled the objection saying he had permitted Ms Banerjee to speak as a member of the House.
She said the common man did not want reasons for the price rise but wanted concrete action to bring them down. She said the prices of commodities differed from region to region. For instance 1 kg of green chillies in Delhi cost Rs 35 while it cost Rs 110 in Calcutta. Similarly, even within the Capital, the prices of the various commodities varied from locality to locality.
Mrs Geeta Mukherjee said the BJP-led government had done away with all kinds of rationing and this was one main reason for the increasing prices. She said the Government’s priority should be to control prices rather than go in for nuclear tests.
Mr V. Radhakrishnan of the CPM said the Centre’s decision to ban the use of common salt had put additional burden on the poor as they were forced to buy iodised salt at a rate of around Rs 6 a kg. He said there were no conclusive scientific findings to prove that the use of common salt was harmful for human beings.
The government also came in for attack from the Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) HLD(R), with its member, Mr Kishen Singh Sangwan, criticising Doordarshan for its failure to cover a function of freedom fighters where former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Devi Lal, was honoured.
Mrs Kailasho Devi said the HLD(R) had given unconditional support to the government and yet Doordarshan was behaving in this manner.
Mr Khurana while pacifying the HLD(R) members said Doordarshan was an autonomous body. He, however, assured the members to take up the matter with the Information and Broadcasting Minister.
The deteriorating law and order situation in Bihar also figured in the Lok Sabha with a Samata Party member, Mr Prabhu Nath Singh, accusing the state government of harassing him as he had taken up anti-Bihar Government issues in the House.
He also cited the case of another Samata Party MP, Mr Sushil Kumar Singh, who had received a letter from the Bihar police that he faced a threat to his life and he should make his own arrangements for security.
The Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, who had received letters to this effect from the two MPs, said he had taken up the matter with the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, and the Centre had asked the Bihar Government to provide security to the two MPs.
Mr Khurana also reiterated the assurance and said he would discuss the matter with Mr Advani.
Ms Abha Mahato (BJP) said Uranium was being smuggled from Bihar to Pakistan and sought a CBI probe into the matter.
Samajwadi Party member, Ms Reena Choudhary, complained that the Chief Development Officer, Lucknow, had misbehaved with her when she wanted to know the progress of the projects under the MPs Development Fund.
Mr Khurana said the fund could be used only on the recommendations of the MPs as this was their right. He asked the member to give him a written complaint and assured that action would be taken against the officer concerned.

Ex-DC, 11 others get jail
for contempt of court
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 6 — A former D.C. of Gurgaon, Mr I.D. Kaushik, along with 11 other persons, including certain companions of former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, were sentenced to six month's simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 2000 each by the Punjab and Haryana High Court today for committing contempt of court. After Mr Kaushik's retirement he was made a member of the Haryana Public Service Commission.
This is the maximum punishment prescribed in the Contempt of Courts Act.
Mr Justice V.K. Bali, who awarded the sentence to the contemners, allowed them 15 days to file an appeal against their conviction.
In his 151-page judgement Mr Justice Bali came down heavily on official respondents and the police. The judgement disposed of a civil suit, a civil writ petition and a contempt petition, all filed by a widow, Mrs Shakuntala Yadav, and her three minor sons.
The other contemners are Mr Khalil Ahmed, the then Tehsildar of Gurgaon; Mr Jaswant Singh, patwari; Mr Virender Kumar Pahwa, girdawar, Mr Sagar Singh, the then SHO of Gurgaon; Mr Yadvinder Singh, Mr Amarjit Singh, Mr Brij Bhan, a brother of a former Congress MLA Pursh Bhan; Mr Atul Nibre, a local industrialist; Mr Harinder Singh, Mr Kanshi and Mr Jaggi.

Recognising that the petitioner had to fight for justice for seven long years, Mr Justice Bali said it was a fit case where special costs need to be granted to the plaintiffs that might "partly soothe their wounds and bring solace to them".
The judge ordered that the defendants in the suit would pay Rs 1 lakh as costs to the plaintiffs. He further directed that the land would be handed over to Mrs Yadav and her sons once the limitation period for appeal was over. The Senior Subjudge, Gurgaon, has been directed to supervise the handing over the possession of land to the plaintiffs.
He also ordered that if the plaintiffs file a case before an appropriate authority for mesne profits, the case would be decided within three months. The mutation in favour of Yadvinder Singh was set aside.
Mrs Yadav had alleged that one Yadvinder Singh, a relative of her late husband, Mr Lal Singh, fraudulently obtained a decree from the then Subjudge, Gurgaon, Mr A.D. Gaur, transferring 116 kanals and 11 marlas of land belonging to her husband to his name on October 19,1990. The land is situated in DLF Qutab Enclave (Part II) and its market price in 1993 was estimated to be about Rs 8 crore.
Yadvinder Singh, the petitioner alleged, after keeping the decree a secret till the death of Mr Lal Singh, got the land transferred in his name in August, 1991. When Mrs Yadav came to know of the decree, she wanted to inspect the court file which was not traceable. An FIR was lodged with the police which did not investigate the case properly. She filed another suit for setting aside the decree and also moved the subordinate courts for permanent injunction restraining the respondents from dispossessing her from the land.
The District Judge, Gurgaon, who had initially given a stay order in favour of Mrs Yadav, dismissed her appeal on January 23, 1993. The High Court was closed on January 24, 25 and 26, 1993. Yadvinder Singh leased the land to Mr Amarjit Singh and Mr Brij Bhan on January 25, 1993 for 99 years and fabricated sale deeds in favour of four persons — Mr Nibre, Mr Harinder Singh, Mr Kanshi and Mr Jaggi, on January 27, 1993.
Mrs Yadav moved the High Court with a plea for setting aside the mutation in favour of Yadvinder Singh. The court ordered the status quo in regard to possession of the land on March 5, 1993.
However, the respondents forcibly dispossessed Mrs Yadav from the land on September 15, 1993. After The Tribune ran a story on the plight of the widow, the High Court, in an unprecedented decision, transferred the civil suit to itself.
The judge said though the court should be generally reluctant to exercise its power under the Contempt of Courts Act, which is of an extraordinary nature, in a clear case of contumacious conduct, not explainable otherwise, the contemner must be punished.
"It is of paramount consideration to uphold the dignity, power, prestige and authority of the courts of law and justice in a democratic society founded on rule of law. Implicit obedience to court orders can be minimised only at the risks of weakening the foundations of our constitutional set-up and correspondingly endangering our very democratic existence.
"In the present case, contempt committed by the respondents is of a very heinous character and they have stuck to their insistence on justification of conduct on false pleas. Thus they have only aggravated the offence. Till the last moment, the respondents have not shown even the slightest expression of regret, leave alone apology. This conduct of the respondents would further add to the gravity of the offence".

The court regretted that though official respondents were responsible for maintaining the dignity of the courts and to protect those who were in distress and needed help, they themselves became breakers of the law. "Holding high positions, where they could come to the rescue of the petitioners, they chose to side with the law-breakers. All entreaties made by the widow to the DC and the police fell on deaf ears.
The judge said the official respondents' indifference towards a halpless woman was because of their connivance with the private respondents in "wrongfully, illegally and forcibly dispossessing the petitioners from the land despite the stay granted by a Division Bench of the High Court in their favour.
Holding that the conduct of the respondents must be condemned in severest words, Mr Justice Bali wrote: "This court does not hesitate even for a second to hold that the official respondents have just acted contrary to what they were supposed to do. By their such act and conduct, it is natural that the common man would lose faith in the administration.
"The official respondents, who were to serve the cause of humanity, became part and parcel of illegalities indulged in by the private respondents. The present case provides a classic example where the official respondents helped the law-breakers in a most illegal and cloistered manner", he ruled.
Holding that in this case no leniency was required to be shown, Mr Justice Bali awarded the maximum punishment which a court could award to a contemner under the Act. He said if the fine was realised from the contemners, it should be paid to the petitioners.

Sat Mahajan is HP Cong chief
Tribune News Service
SHIMLA, July 6 — Uncertainty over the appointment of a new chief of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) was over today with the appointment of Mr Sat Mahajan to the post.
His appointment as chief of the Himachal PCC was cleared by the AICC chief, Ms Sonia Gandhi, today.
He succeeds Mr Sant Ram, who died recently.
Mr Mahajan, is known as strongman of Kangra, has also headed the PCC twice earlier once between 1972 to 1977 and then from 1995-1996. This is for the third time that he has been asked to head the organisation in the state.
His appointment has been welcomed by the leader of the Congress Legislature Party, Mr Virbhadra Singh and many other senior partymen.
Mr Virbhadra Singh described him as an old and dedicated Congressman and said that the party was safe in his hands. He said that he would wholeheartedly cooperate with Mr Mahajan.
Mr Mahajan told The Tribune on telephone from Pathankot that it would be his effort to see that the party was brought back to power.
Mr Mahajan had recently lost the Kangra Lok Sabha seat to the BJP leader, Mr Shanta Kumar. He represented the constituency in the previous House.
It is worth mentioning that Mr Mahajan had sided with Mr Sukh Ram, former Communications Minister, during a trial of strength between him and Mr Virbhadra Singh for chief ministership in 1993.
It is learnt that Mr Mahajan’s name for the post was recommended by the AICC general secretary, Mr R.K. Dhawan, who discussed the issue of replacement of the PCC chief with a crosssection of the partymen here last month.
Many other senior partymen were in the race for the post and had been camping in Delhi for this purpose.
Replacement of the party leadership was on the cards eversince the Congress lost power in the state in the Assembly elections. However, the process was hastened with the death of Mr Sant Ram.
A former Chief Minister, Thakur Ram Lal, Mr J.B.L. Khachi, Mrs Asha Kumari, Mrs Viplove Thakur (all MLAs) and many others have welcomed appointment of Mr Mahajan as the PCC chief.

No change in stand on CTBT
NEW DELHI, July 6 (PTI) — The government today maintained that there was no change in India’s stand on the discriminatory nature of the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT) and termed as "premature" reports that Delhi was ready to sign it after extracting certain concessions.
"India’s basic position on the issue remains unaltered," official sources said while reacting to reports which indicated that Delhi was planning to sign the CTBT after getting certain concessions on the transfer of technology from advanced countries.
"We are at the intermediary stage and fully engaged in the process of a dialogue with key interlocutors to come to a mutual and joint agreement," the sources said, adding that India had already initiated parleys with Russia, France and the USA.
The sources confirmed that the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Mr Jaswant Singh, would meet U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott in Frankfurt this week to continue the dialogue.

Mr Jaswant Singh had met Talbott in Washington last month to explain India’s nuclear policy and outline security concerns that prompted it to undertake the Pokhran tests.
India’s security concerns would have to be taken into account during its negotiations with key interlocutors, the sources said.
Outlining the positive gestures made by India in recent weeks, the sources said these included the imposition of a voluntary moratorium on nuclear tests with Delhi expressing its willingness to explore ways and means for de jure formalisation of this undertaking.
India had reiterated its readiness to engage in negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty in the conference on disarmament in Geneva and assured strict export controls on nuclear related materials and technologies.
As part of a major diplomatic initiative, Delhi had embarked on an overall plan to engage key interlocutors in a constructive dialogue, the sources said.
On reports that India was hoping to extract concessions from the West on the transfer of dual-use technology in exchange for a positive commitment on the treaty, the sources said it was premature to jump to any such conclusions.
Asked whether Delhi had initiated parleys on the CTBT issue with Britain and China, the sources said "nothing so far for this specific purpose".
Responding to questions on western sanctions, the sources maintained that government was not going to use trade as a counter coercive policy.
Meanwhile, the CPM today charged the ruling bjp-led combine with holding talks on the ctbt with the USA in a "clandestine manner" and asked the government to clarify whether it was "resiling" from the earlier stand of not signing the ctbt.
In a statement here, the party politburo said "it is incumbent upon the Vajpayee Government to state clearly whether it continues to adhere to the stand taken by India on the ctbt so far or whether it is resiling from this position."
Referring to the proposed meeting between US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott and Mr Jaswant Singh, mp, this week at Frankfurt, the cpM said it was significant that these talks "are being conducted in a clandestine manner in a third country without Indian people and Parliament being told of the exact nature and scope of the negotiations."
It said the terms and conditions on which negotiations were being held were "being put out in vague terms without any clear position spelt out by the government."

Take steps to defuse tension: Sharif
ISLAMABAD, July 6 (PTI) — Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said that the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should adopt measures to effectively meet heightened tensions and widespread 'serious concern' among countries of the region following the recent nuclear tests.
Accepting the invitation to attend the tenth SAARC summit at Colombo later this month from Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar here, Mr Sharif said the summit was taking place at a time of 'momentuous developments in the region', an obvious reference to the recent nuclear tests by India and Pakistan.

"The nuclearisation of South Asia has heightened tensions and there is widespread and serious concern among the countries of the region," an official release quoted him as telling Kadirgamar.
He stressed that it was important for SAARC to "address itself to these realities and to adopt measures which would effectively meet these concerns."
Mr Sharif also emphasised that for the regional cooperation to flourish, it was "indispensable that an environment of peace and harmony exists."
Mr Kadirgamar also met his Pakistan counterpart Gohar Ayub Khan apart from calling on President Muhammad Rafique Tarar.
Mr Khan told the Kadirgamar that Pakistan was desirous of settling all its outstanding disputes with India through dialogue but stressed that it 'must be meaningful and result-oriented and should be in a substantive and specific manner address the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir'.
He also explained Pakistan's rationale behind the nuclear explosions in the wake of India's tests on May 11 and May 13.
Pakistan is likely to initiate some discussion on the peace and security issues and with it the Kashmir issue at the SAARC summit which is scheduled to be held from July 29 to July 31 as it has already launched a diplomatic exercise to muster support from the member states by sending a special envoy to different countries.

Maharashtra MLAs: Cong defends
issuing show-cause notices
NEW DELHI, July 6 (PTI) — The Congress today defended its issuing of show-cause notices to 10 party MLAs from Maharashtra and denied that there was any crisis in the state unit and said the new PCC president would be decided soon in consultation with senior leaders including Sharad Pawar.
"There has to be accountability in the party’’, party president Sonia Gandhi said during an informal chat with reporters when asked about the reported adverse reaction of Mr Pawar on the show-cause notices.
AICC General Secretary Madhavrao Scindia spoke on similar lines on the issue. "The Congress is a democratic party and there can be varying opinions on different issues. But this cannot be described that there is a crisis or disunity in the party’’, he told PTI.
Mr Scindia said the show-cause notices were aimed at curbing indiscipline and lay down the principle of accountability and establish convention of moral responsibility in the party.
He said the notices were issued to the MLAs as they had signed the nomination papers of a ‘’non-Congress’’ MLC candidate (Arun Mehta) "without the sanction of AICC’’.

He said it was possible that the legislators might have some legitimate argument on the issue which they might explain through their replies to the notices.
With the spotlight on choice of a new MPCC chief, political observers noted that little attention had been given to the equally important issue of resolving the CLP leadership crisis.
They contended that Pichad’s position as opposition leader in the assembly was also vulnerable under the circumstances. As a loyalist of senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar, efforts to consolidate his position would be challenged by some partymen who held the Maratha strongman responsible for the cross-voting.
Meanwhile, Congress leader in the state legislative council and opposition leader in the Vidhan Parishad, Chhagan Bhujbal, is expected to return from London only by July 12 after completing physiotherapy for vocal chords, party sources said. He may have to extend his stay in London, they said.
Political observers interpreted Bhujbal’s absence as yet another factor that could send wrong signals on the eve of the monsoon session of state legislature. They reckoned that Congress floor strategy for the session could be impaired with both Pichad and Bhujbal conceivably not getting the requisite time to get their act together.

Essential Commodities Bill referred
to select committee
NEW DELHI, July 6 (PTI) — Bowing to pressure from members in the Lok Sabha, the government today decided to refer to a joint select committee the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill aimed at the expeditious disposal of cases pertaining to hoarding, blackmarketing and profiteering in essential commodities.
Opposition members supported by some allies of the BJP-led government, stiffly opposed the Bill, saying it would come as a "relief to defaulters and not consumers" as it reduced term of punishment of defaulters from seven years to two years.
The House witnessed an uproar as soon as Food Minister Surjit Singh Barnala rose to give his reply on the debate, with several opposition members and some allies of the ruling coalition demanding that the Bill should be referred to a select committee.
With members showing no signs of relenting, the minister agreed to refer the Bill to a joint select committee.
Opposition attacked the government for its failure to control the price situation and said prices of essential commodities and vegetables of mass consumption had shot up in recent weeks hitting the common man and those belonging to the middle class.
Opposing the Bill, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav (RJD) charged the government with bringing it "in a hurry" to ensure its vote bank and the "government knows it will not last long now", he said.

‘Declare Pakistan a terrorist state’
Tribune News Service
NEW DELHI, July 6 — Members in the Rajya Sabha today reiterated their demand for declaring Pakistan a terrorist state and condemned its unprovoked firing on Indian positions in which a number of jawans and civilians were killed.
The unprovoked firing in Jammu and Kashmir was a clear evidence of a proxy war by Pakistan which was endangering national security, BJP member V.K. Malhotra said.
Raising the matter through a special mention during zero hour, Mr Malhotra said Pakistan was spending crores of rupees to spread terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, which was a serious matter and part of a "big conspiracy".
He stressed the need for speeding up fencing along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir to check infiltration and terrorism in the state.
Congress member S.S. Ahluwalia, while agreeing with Mr Malhotra, wanted the government to take up the issue with world organisations.
Mr Shamsher Singh Surjewala (Congress) was critical of the government for not rushing paramilitary forces in time to Doda where 25 persons were gunned down by terrorists a few days ago.