Friday, August 20, 1999
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RJD, Congress, Left reach
poll accord |
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 Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha addresses a Press conference in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI
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Papers of Sonia, Sushma
found in order RLD adopts ‘Chakra
Haldhar’ symbol Tipnis for aeronautics policy Mulayam, Phoolan in first SP list JD(S) releases first list of
candidates Khurana, Tytler trade charges Harpal Singh is working chief of
Haryana Cong AISAD (Babbar) to oppose Tytler,
Nehru Delhi order on poll flags, banners Rs 20,000 relief for jail inmate
ordered Delhi order on poll flags, banners |
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Seat sharing in Bihar NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (PTI) — The Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress and the Left parties today reached an agreement on seat sharing for contesting the 54 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar to take on the BJP-JD(U) combine in the coming elections. This was announced by RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav who had extensive discussions with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the past few days and other party leaders. "We will fight as one. In each of the 54 seats, we will have a common candidate", he told reporters but declined to give details of the seat sharing accord. Party sources said that the RJD had agreed to give 13 of the 54 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in Bihar, four to the CPI and one each to CPM and the Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) as part of electoral arrangements among them to prevent split of non-BJP votes. Sources said the Congress had staked its claim for over 20 seats. They said RJD decided to give four seats to the CPI while in Ballia there was likely to be a "friendly fight" between the two parties as the RJD did not want to give up a sitting seat to the CPI which had done well there in the past. With the talks between the parties prolonging without yielding any result, CPM leader Harkishen Singh Surjeet entered the scene persuading the Bihar leader to come to the capital where leaders of all parties met and hammered out the agreement late last night. To repeated questions, Mr Yadav said the details would be announced from the "historic city of Patliputra (Patna)" tomorrow. While the Congress is understood to have demanded "a respectable number of seats" in the state, the RJD chief was not prepared to give anything more than 12 of the 54 seats to that party saying the Congress would do well to realise its strength and weaknesses in Bihar and not demand a share disproportionate to its voting capacity. Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said that seat adjustment talks were still on with the RJD president and expressed the hope that a decision would be taken shortly. Mr Mukherjee parried questions on the delay in the seat adjustments between the Congress and the RJD and said Jharkhand was not the reason behind the delay. "Laloo knows our stand very well and we his on the Jharkhand issue," he said adding that there were several common grounds between the two parties, including fight against communalism. During his talks with Mr
Surjeet, the former Bihar Chief Minister is also
understood to have shown his eagerness to contest one Lok
Sabha seat in Calcutta — Calcutta North West
constituency — with CPM’s support. However, the
matter was yet to be finalised, sources said. |
PM’s media entourage NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Bharatiya Janata Party today described the Election Commission’s decision to bar media personnel from accompanying the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in his official aircraft during election tours as "discriminatory" and said it would contest the directive. The Election Commission, however, clarified that the prohibition on carrying of mediapersons in the Prime Minister’s aircraft during elections was of long standing and applied to his predecessors as well. The BJP spokesman, Mr M. Venkaiah Naidu, however, said that this condition was not applied during the 1998 elections and it was applied only on Mr Vajpayee. The ban on mediapersons accompanying the Prime Minister in his official aircraft would put Mr Vajpayee at a disadvantage as Opposition leaders flying in private aircraft would have the additional advantage of carrying media teams. Mr Naidu said the Prime Minister could not use a private aircraft for security reasons. The BJP was in any case paying for the use of government aircraft for the Prime Minister during election tours and the ban on mediapersons accompanying him would mean the aircraft flying half empty. The party was prepared to pay for the accompanying media personnel and it would urge the EC to rescind the order, he added. The Election Commission, however, said in a statement here today "the commission wishes to make it clear that these instructions are of long standing and have been applied to successive Prime Ministers". It said Mr Vajpayee’s predecessor, Mr I.K. Gujral, was prevented from taking his wife in the official aircraft during an election tour. "The commission is bound to maintain a consistent stand, which is well known to all concerned", it added. The Prime Minister’s Office had recently sought the EC’s views on the Prime Minister taking mediapersons on his official aircraft during election campaigning. While turning down the
PM’s request, the EC said only a team from
Doordarshan could accompany the Prime Minister in his
official aircraft. |
Defence need first : Sinha NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, today said the cost of the Kargil conflict was still being worked out and any decision to mobilise additional resources for the Defence forces would have to wait till September-October, when a clear picture of the Government’s financial position was expected to emerge. Reiterating that the national security of the country was paramount in its list of priorities, Mr Sinha said by September-October the revenue trends, direct and indirect tax collections, would be clear and only after that the Government would be in a position to decide whether levying additional taxes was necessary to mobilise additional funds for the Defence forces. Releasing a Charter of Commitments and Achievements of the National Democratic Alliance, which is an expanded and detailed version of the common manifesto released by the BJP-led alliance on Monday, Mr Sinha said an exercise to work out the short, medium and long-term requirements of the Defence forces were on. The Government in order to meet the additional requirements of the Defence forces would cut expenditure in other areas, increase tax collections and broaden the tax base, he added. Mr Sinha, who gave a countdown of the Vajpayee Government’s achievements in the economic arena, said he was "satisfied" with the performance. The upturn in the economy had belied the Opposition’s prophecy of "gloom and doom" and the GDP growth rate was all set to touch the 7 per cent mark. Listing the six major challenges faced by the Government during the last 17 months, Mr Sinha said they were the Asian crises, sanctions imposed by several Western nations after the Pokhran tests, political uncertainty in 1999, Kargil invasion, rise in inflation and falling industrial growth. The Government had overcome each of these challenges and the economy today was looking up, he said. When asked the Government’s decision to release the draft of its nuclear doctrine at a time when the furore over the Pokhran nuclear blasts had yet to die down, Mr Sinha said India decided its security needs according to its own perceptions. He said the logic of the nuclear doctrine was very similar to the logic behind the decision to go in for the nuclear tests and that was the country’s security perception. He said India had survived the sanctions due its own inherent strength. He said diplomatic efforts were on to make other nations understand India’s viewpoint and in many cases it had succeeded. The Charter of Commitments spells out the promises made by the NDA in its National Agenda for Governance and the action taken by the Government on them during its short tenure. According to the Charter, the NDA would encourage Provident Fund investments in equities and create a strong mutual fund industry for channelising retail savings. The Charter has promised that pre-emption of provident and insurance funds by the Government would be reduced and institutional framework reformed to enable long term funds for infrastructure projects. Apart from mandating investments by Provident Funds and insurance companies in the equity markets, the NDA has also promised to encourage research in pharmaceutical sector and form an Investment Promotion Board which would be different in form and features from the present Foreign Investment Promotion Board. In agriculture, the NDA would earmark 60 per cent of Plan funds to agriculture, rural development and irrigation and subsidies would be given to maximise benefits to all sections of agricultural population. Promoting scientific animal husbandry with emphasis on the Constitutional provision of protecting and improving the breed of the cow and its progeny allows forms part of the agenda. On Trade and Commerce, the NDA would focus on specific products in exports growth, announce specific packages for horticulture and floriculture, and build a healthy commodity exchange system which would be managed in an autonomous way. For industry, the NDA has promised to create a separate tribunal called Commercial Insolvency Tribunal to take up cases relating to winding up of companies and their revival. Providing services, technology and marketing facilities to artisans, small scale, village handloom and handicrafts and similar other industries would also be the aim of the new Government. There is a commitment to set up a Food Development Bank of India, creating warehouse space and bulk handling facilities and prepare a draft National Storage Policy to enhance food security in the country. On the Swadeshi tilt to
the economy, Mr Sinha said Swadeshi was not against
liberalisation and it only meant that India’s
national interests were foremost. New investments would
not be at the cost of the domestic industry, he added. |
Papers of Sonia, Sushma found in order BANGALORE, Aug 19 (PTI) — Nominations of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj, Civil Aviation Minister Ananthkumar and 36 others were found in order after scrutiny today for the first phase of September 5 Lok Sabha poll in Karnataka, official sources said. After a high drama and suspense, Ms Sonia Gandhi had filed her papers for the Bellary parliamentary seat yesterday just before the deadline for filing of nominations. In an equally surprising move, the BJP fielded Sushma Swaraj against her. Mr Ananthkumar is seeking re-election from Bangalore South. The sources said, in Bellary, the nomination papers filed by Mr K.C. Kondiah (Congress), who had represented Bellary in dissolved Lok Sabha and was chosen as the Congress candidate earlier, were found to be invalid as "B" form was not submitted by him following Ms Sonia Gandhi's decision to contest from the seat. Similarly, the papers of
Mr Rajashekhara Murthy (BJP) were also rejected on the
same ground as the party decided to plump for Sushma
Swaraj in the last minute calculated move to counter Ms
Sonia Gandhi. |
RLD adopts ‘Chakra
Haldhar’ symbol NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Rashtriya Lok Dal of Mr Ajit Singh today adopted "Chakra Haldhar" of the Janata Party to contest the 1999 general election under the symbol. The president of the RLD, Mr Ajit Singh said since the merger would take a long process, his party had decided to contest the forthcoming elections on the symbol ( a person carrying a plough on his shoulder within a wheel that once belonged to the Bharatiya Lok Dal of Chaudhary Charan Singh. Mr Ajit Singh’s party has electoral understanding with the Congress and will contest in eight constituencies mostly in Western UP. He said the main objective of arriving at a pact with the Congress was to defeat the BJP. Mr Ajit Singh said while he would contest from Baghpat parliamentary constituency, a formal announcement regarding the party’s candidates would be made shortly. The RLD president also sought a ban on the publication of poll surveys stating that basing them on a select representative group did not articulate the opinion of the voters in the country. Mr Ajit Singh said the Congress and his party would perform better than these did in the last General Election in UP as in his opinion the people of the state were up against the state government. He also said that his
party could extend support to Congress candidates in
Haryana specially in areas where the Lok Dal supporters
were located. |
Tipnis for aeronautics policy NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis today suggested the formulation of a national aeronautics policy and the creation of a helicopter advisory board under the Civil Aviation Ministry so that efforts could be initiated to amend the existing aviation policy to suit the specific needs of civilian and military helicopter operations. Delivering his keynote address at the “Heli-India ’99” seminar, Air Chief Marshal Tipnis said the absence of heliports in India was a sad thing. He suggested the setting up of a heliport development wing under the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for planning and constructing heliports. Air Chief Marshal Tipnis touched upon the major role played by helicopters in the Kargil operations and said choppers were used as a force multiplier in every conceiveable manner - from combat and paradropping to reconnaissance, transportation, logistic and maintenance support. He lamented that there were only 106 choppers for civil use in the country with a population of about one billion when there were several areas like emergency medical services, police operations, maintenance of powerlines and even live news coverage where helicopters could be used. Calling for immediate and effective steps to rectify the situation, the Air Chief asked the industry to exploit the versatility of helicopters and raise public awareness of their use. He suggested popularisation of heli-tourism with planned trips to pilgrimage sites and package tours but said for this helipads had to be constructed every time. He said permanent helipads should be constructed at district headquarters which would also enable the administration or the private sector to operate from there. He also called upon chopper operators to ensure “clean, pollution-free-noise-free environment” while referring to a court case against helicopter operations along the Mumbai coastline by local environmental groups. Civil Aviation Secretary
P.V. Jayakrishnan, while inaugurating the seminar here,
said the government would soon come up with new sets of
rules, procedures and facilities to give a boost to
civilian helicopter operations. |
Mulayam, Phoolan in first SP list NEW DELHI, Aug 19 (PTI) — Former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, film producer director Muzaffar Ali and former dacoit Phoolan Devi figure in the Samajwadi Party’s first list of 94 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls released here today. The party, which announced the names of the candidates for 72 of the total 85 seats in Uttar Pradesh, is yet to declare the names of its candidates for 13 crucial seats including Lucknow and Amethi from where Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Congress President Sonia Gandhi are contesting respectively. Samajwadi Party spokesman Amar Singh told reporters here that the party would soon decide about the pending seats in Uttar Pradesh. “We are having talks with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for electoral adjustment in UP and we will take a final decision depending on the outcome of the deliberations”, he said in reply to a question. While party president Mulayam Singh Yadav will seek re-election from Sambhal, Muzaffar Ali, who became popular with his film “Umrao Jaan”, has been fielded from Nainital held by Ila Pant of the BJP in the 12th Lok Sabha. Mr Pant has already announced that she would not be contesting this time. Phoolan Devi, who was a member of the 11th Lok Sabha, will contest from Mirzapur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Mr Amar Singh said Mr Vijay Bahadur Singh Bhundela would contest from Khajurao in Madhya Pradesh if the Minister of State in the Vajpayee Government Uma Bharti sought re-election from there. He said the party would contest three of the seven Delhi seats. These are East Delhi, Delhi Sadar and Chandni Chowk. The first list contained
the names of candidates for nine seats in Rajasthan and
one each in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. |
JD(S) releases first list of
candidates NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Janata Dal (Secular) today released first list of 28 Lok Sabha candidates with former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda filing nomination papers from Hassan in Karnataka. Releasing the list, the member of the Janata Dal (Secular) Political Affairs Committee, Mr Surendra Mohan, said that the party was going to contest 60 Lok Sabha seats in the coming general election. In Punjab from Ferozepore parliamentary constituency, the JD(S) has fielded Prof Darshan Singh. For the Chandani Chowk seat in Delhi, the party has fielded again Mr Shoaib Iqbal. The list includes 16 candidates from Karnataka, four from Jammu and Kashmir, three from Tamil Nadu, two from Maharashtra and one each from Kerala, Delhi and Punjab, respectively. A Former Civil Aviation Minister in the United Front government, Mr C.M. Ibrahim, has been asked to contest from Calicut in Kerala. Another senior leader, Prof Madhu Dandwate is contesting from Rajapur in Maharashtra. When asked as why the
JD(S) had fielded Mr Mahalingappa from Bellary Lok Sabha
constituency from where the Congress President, Mrs Sonia
Gandhi was contesting as it would lead to division of
secular votes, Mr Mohan said that “We have
differences with the Congress on many aspects
particularly on economic and social justice issues”. |
Khurana, Tytler trade charges NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — A time-bound inquiry into the “clean chit” given to Mr Jagdish Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case should be conducted, the BJP candidate for the Delhi Sadar parliamentary constituency, Mr Madan Lal Khurana, demanded here today while the Congress candidate, Mr Jagdish Tytler, accused the BJP of “playing politics with the sentiments of the people”. The Delhi Government, the CBI and the Delhi Police had “colluded with each other” in giving a clean chit to Mr Tytler in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, Mr Khurana said, adding that he had already met the Home Minister, Mr L.K. Advani, in this regard. However, Mr Tytler said he had paid enough price politically in the past few years due to “false charges and media hype created over the allegations due to Mr Khurana’a manipulations”. Reacting to Mr Khurana’s recent statements that he would “take revenge” for his 1984 defeat from Mr Tytler, the Congress candidate said, “It was not me who defeated him. It was the people of Sadar and if today Mr Khurana is challenging them then he has had it”. Mr Khurana and Mr Tytler are contesting for the Delhi Sadar seat. While the BJP candidate has won the seat once earlier, the Congress nominee has won the seat twice. Mr Tytler said, “the BJP has been continuously using the Delhi Sadar constituency as a football. They have tried every possible man here. Starting from Mr V.K. Malhotra to Mr Vijay Goel, they have fielded every one only to be deserted”. He said, “Notwithstanding election results I stayed with the Sadar seat because of my commitment to the people”. Criticising Mr Khurana for the “fiasco” during his tenure in the Union Cabinet, Mr Tytler listed out his own achievements as Surface Transport Minister. He claimed a foreign agency had lauded him along with Dr Manmohan Singh and Mr P. Chidambaram as “only performing ministers” during the Narasimha Rao regime. The BJP candidate claimed “a poster with vulgar language and dirty remarks was found pasted in Kirti Nagar area of West Delhi and out of three persons arrested in the matter two are Congress party workers.” The Congress should refrain from adopting such cheap election gimmicks, he added. PTI adds: Mr Tytler on Thursday demanded an apology from Mr Khurana for alleging his involvement in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case and said he would move the court if it was not done. “My advocate has sent Khurana a notice and sought apology from him by this month-end for making defamatory charges against me in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots case,” Mr Tytler told reporters here. “If an apology is
not tendered, I will move the court”, he said. |
Harpal Singh is working chief
of NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — Mr Harpal Singh, former Haryana PCC chief has been appointed Working President of the State unit till the end of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, appointed Mr Harpal Singh in that capacity since the Pradesh Congress Committee chief, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda was contesting Lok Sabha election from Rohtak. Making the announcement,
the AICC General Secretary, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, said
that the party had also appointed former MP, Mr Shamesher
Singh Surjewala Chairman of the Campaign Committee for
the Lok Sabha election in Haryana. |
AISAD (Babbar) to oppose
Tytler, Nehru NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The All-India Shiromani Akali Dal (Babbar) has decided to campaign against Congress candidate for the Sadar seat Jagdish Tytler and Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Rae Bareilly constituency, Arun Nehru. The president of the AISAD (Babbar), Mr Gurcharan Singh Babbar, said that the party would campaign against Mr Jagdish Tytler and Mr Arun Nehru “as they were responsible for the carnage of 1984”. Mr Babbar said that they
were not going to campaign against any particular party
but against individuals who were responsible for the 1984
anti-Sikh riots. |
Delhi order on poll flags,
banners New Delhi, Aug 19 — The Delhi Government said today that candidates for the Lok Sabha elections would not be allowed to put up flags and banners across roads and public property. A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal, to review electoral arrangements and measures to enforce the model code of conduct for the September 5 polling, also decided that the use of loudspeakers would be permitted from 6 am to 10 pm. Posters can be put up on private property only after a written permission from the owners. The state government said, adding that all printers in the Capital had been informed that they had to print their names and addresses on election pamphlets and posters printed by them. The meeting was attended
by MCD Commissioner V.K. Duggal, Divisional Commissioner
S.P. Aggarwal, Principal Secretary (Home) Ashok Nath,
Engineer-in-Chief PWD, K.B. Rajoria. |
Rs 20,000 relief for jail
inmate ordered NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The National Human Rights Commission has directed the Haryana government to pay within a month an interim relief of Rs 20,000 to a jail inmate who lost her new-born child due to malnutrition. Sources in the NHRC said that Gyanwati, an inmate of Rohtak District jail deposed before the Commission that she was not given nutritious food in the jail despite the fact that she had to feed her new-born daughter. Sources said that the post-mortem report also clearly stated that the child died due to starvation. The state government, on the other hand stated that the magisterial inquiry did not hold anybody responsible for the death of the infant. Relying on the
post-mortem report and Gyanwati’s deposition, the
Commission concluded that the death of the infant could
not be attributed to "natural causes". The
Commission held that starvation due to the quality and
quantity of food given to the mother and the child was
the actual cause of death. |
Delhi order on poll flags,
banners NEW DELHI, Aug 19 — The Delhi Government said today that candidates for the Lok Sabha elections would not be allowed to put up flags and banners across roads and public property. A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Omesh Saigal, to review electoral arrangements and measures to enforce the model code of conduct for the September 5 polling, also decided that the use of loudspeakers would be permitted from 6 am to 10 pm. Posters can be put up on private property only after a written permission from the owners. The state government said, adding that all printers in the Capital had been informed that they had to print their names and addresses on election pamphlets and posters printed by them. The meeting was attended
by MCD Commissioner V.K. Duggal, Divisional Commissioner
S.P. Aggarwal, Principal Secretary (Home) Ashok Nath,
Engineer-in-Chief PWD, K.B. Rajoria. |
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| Naxal stoned to death HYDERABAD: A Naxalite of the banned People’s War Group was stoned to death while another was handed over to the police by villagers at Kangal in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh in the wee hours on Wednesday. The police said a group of villagers, who got vexed over the duo’s harassment of people, chased them even as one of the militants, G. Mallesh, hurled a bomb which did not explode. However, the villagers overpowered him and stoned him to death. — UNI ‘Tantrik’
held for woman’s death Samant’s
murder: 10 to face trial Threat to
Nilgiri bird species Businessman
robbed of Rs 1.55 lakh Bomb scare at
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