Making a strong pitch

The just-concluded national executive and national council meeting of the BJP have brought some more clarity to the question of who will be the party's prime ministerial candidate. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra, who of late emerged as a strong contender for the post after India Inc's open endorsement of his candidature at the Vibrant Gujarat summit, is in no hurry to upset Advani's applecart. Making a strong pitch for LK Advani as the next Prime Minister, Modi said at the national executive meet that what the country was needing was a "strong" leader like the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate and "not like Manmohan Singh whose presence is not felt" despite he occupying the top post.On his part, Advani heaped praises on Modi for his performance as Gujarat Chief Minister. Advani said the party was "proud of Modi's popularity".
"A journalist once asked me if Narendra Modi was becoming larger than the party. I replied that if a family member is becoming more popular than the head of the family, then it is a proud moment for the entire family," Advani said. "The same was once said about (former prime minister Atal Bihari) Vajpayee," Advani added.
BJP meeting has reconciled itself to the possibility of the Congress ultimately fielding Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate. Although Sonia Gandhi has obliquely hinted that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is well qualified to continue for another term, BJP hopes that the the choice may finally fall on Rahul. That is why the BJP tried to draw a comparison between Advani and Rahul. The party affiremd that `brand Advani is more credible than brand Rahul' and said there is no substitute for experience both in governance and delivery.
"Advani's tall stature, maturity and holistic approach is before the people to see. Enthusiastic party cadres are on the job to take to the people, the BJP's message and the choice of Advani for the top post", said a party spokesman after the national council meeting.
Rising cross-border terrorism, adverse fallouts of economic slowdown and construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya form the main poll plank of the BJP.
Though the BJP held the `poor economic management' of the UPA government responsible for the slowdown, the national council failed to come out with an action plan to beat slowdown. Instead, its main focus was on terrorism and Ram temple.
Addressing the national council members, Advani said the continuation of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government posed a "threat to the vital interests of the country". He said the government's soft and compromising approach to cross-border terrorism, further weakened by the virus of votebank considerations, has endangered India's internal security like never before. Advani said the five years of UPA's rule witnessed the "highest number of terrorist incidents and casualties since the onset of terrorism in India in the early 1980s". "Secure in the knowledge that the government in New Delhi has neither the political will nor the clarity of policy to fight terrorism, the enemies of India have felt so emboldened that they mounted one barbaric attack after another," he asserted. The "most audacious assault till date" was the Nov 26 strike in Mumbai and the revelations later showed that it was not a case of intelligence failure but more of a government failure.
The Congress-led governments at the centre and in Maharashtra were sleeping in spite of having full information that the terrorists could use the sea route," he said.
The party leaders expressed the hope that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would come to power because of the Congress' failure on internal security and "all fronts".
Advani said it was wrong to believe that his party had "returned to Ram" because it had never abandoned the god. "Be it Ram Setu or Ram temple (in Ayodhya), we have never abandoned Ram," Advani said. And he said that the true victory of Ram would be when a "magnificent temple" is constructed in Ayodhya. Aam admi', or the common man, will be the focus of Congress party's campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a massive gathering of the party's district chiefs and grassroots workers at Ramlila Grounds in Delhi on Sunday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said: "The aam admi has been the overriding force of our economic policy. We have worked towards the welfare of farmers, the empowerment of women and welfare of weaker sections."

"We want people to reaffirm faith in the Congress. We are ready, we are prepared, we are confident," Gandhi told the gathering.

Detailing the programmes of the UPA, she said the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme had been very effective and was "historic". "It is improving the lives of the poorest sections". The Right to Information Act has made administration transparent, accountable and enabled participation of people, she said.

She also said the mid day meal scheme was providing nourishment to children and making going to school more attractive. The Sarva Siksha Abhiyan was providing education to children, while the National Rural Health Mission had made healthcare more accessible.

Gandhi said every state, including the opposition National Democratic Alliance-ruled states, had received "unprecedented funding" for developmental activities, which was unlike when the NDA was in power, she added, taking a swipe at the opposition.

She also detailed the government's loan waiver scheme and other welfare schemes for people.

Accusing the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party of not supporting the government in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Sunday said those who want to divide society cannot fight terrorism. Gandhi said that during the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime, "we had stood by the government during the terror attacks. But the same thing cannot be said about the BJP. They disturbed parliament, and delayed formation of important laws regarding fighting terrorism."

Making a reference to the BJP's reiteration of commitment to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Gandhi said: "Those who want to divide society, create polarisation on the basis of religion and use the name of Lord Ram are against religion and cannot fight terrorism."

"Terrorism is a big challenge and I want to tell people across the border that they should not mistake our calmness as our weakness, they would be given a befitting answer. We have to fight this (terrorism) unitedly."

Signalling how the party would use the youth cadre, she said: "Today we have to use the experience of senior leaders and the energy of youth. We have many youth in the party, many get the benefit of family background, but many do not. We have to provide opportunity to youth from every section of society."

Detailing the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's programmes during the past five years, she said workers must highlight these during the election campaign.

"Five years ago, we went to the people on the basis of our pledges. Now, we go to them on the strength of our performance. The aam admi (common man) has been the overriding force of our economic policy. We have worked towards the welfare of farmers, the empowerment of women and welfare of weaker sections."
"We want people to reaffirm faith in the Congress. We are ready, we are prepared, we are confident," Gandhi told the gathering at the Ramlila Ground.

SURPRISE SHOCKER FOR SALEM!

Singer Monia Bedi

BY VAIDEHI SACHIN AND PHILIP VARGHESE

Monica Bedi’s debut as a singer seems to have surprised don Abu Salem, who has been in jail for so many years. As usual Monica’s new ventures have given sweet surprises to don. Her entry in big boss, her alleged relations with Rahul Mahajan and now as singer has come as a shocker for Salem. Salem's claim in public about the alleged relationship between the two comes in the backdrop of the actress' earlier attempts to refute the don's stand that the two were married. Earlier, Bedi in her interviews had said that although she knew Salem for several years they had never got married. Salem and Bedi's friendship has also seen some legal drama earlier. He had served a legal notice on Bedi saying that he was ‘deeply hurt’ and ‘distressed’ by her statements denying their marriage.
Monica Bedi, who made a comeback into the entertainment industry with Bigg Boss 2, has turned singer. The Bollywood starlet has rendered her voice for a spiritual album ‘Ek Onkaar’, which is a compilation of one of the revered mantras of the Guru Granth Sahib. The album will be released by Universal Music. In an exclusive tete-a-tete with Samay, Monica said that it was her image that won her this opportunity.
“People look at me as a strong woman who has gone through trials and tribulations in life and has bounced back. But it was my faith and belief in God and the fact that I surrendered myself to Him and started praying, that has seen me through the darkest period of my life. Through this album, I want to spread the message that belief and faith in God will help solve all life's problems,” the actress says humbly.
For someone who has had no professional training in singing, she sailed through the recording. Now she has decided to take classical training in music.
“It was an absolutely new experience for me, and an extremely exciting one, but I did a decent job,” laughs Monica. So would she consider a career in singing in the near future? “For that, I would require proper training, but after doing this, I have got immense confidence in my capabilities. And it's good to learn singing because it helps you develop so many expressions, so it's a plus point for any actor.”
Asked about her 'good friend' Rahul Mahajan, she tells us that she is too caught up with work - her two films and another reality show - to meet him, or any of her other friends from the Bigg Boss 2 show. But for now, Monica is singing another tune, and she's loving every sur and taal of it.
Life behind bars has not dimmed underworld don Abu Salem's attraction towards actress and former lover Monia Bedi as today he once again publicly said that she was his wife, a claim which has been refuted by her on several occasions. In his notice, he had claimed that the duo got married in a mosque at Los Angeles in November 2000. Salem had said that his anguish has been “multiplied manifold” since he was unable to communicate with Bedi. Salem has been lodged at the Arthur road jail in Central Mumbai, ever since his deportation from Portugal in November 2005.

SHOULD RAM TEMPLE BE ALLOWED TO BE BUILT ON DISPUTED SITE IN AYODHYA?

Virtually launching the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today accused the BJP-led NDA of causing "grave damage" to the country's secular fabric and economy and said the saffron party was "misleading" people in the name of Lord Rama.
Addressing party's district and block-level office-bearers in New Delhi, she charged BJP with trying to make political capital out of terrorism and said "those who mobilise people on religious lines, mislead people in the name of Ram cannot become an effective force against terror."
Gandhi's attack on BJP for using the name of Lord Rama comes a day after the saffron party chief Rajnath Singh again raked up the issue of building Ram temple in Ayodhya, apparently with an eye on the elections.
Accusing BJP of conducting "divisive politics", she said, "Grave damage has been done to our secular polity, society and economy by BJP-led NDA. Theirs is a voice of polarisation, of division, of hatred." The Congress, on the other hand, "is a voice of social justice, communal harmony and inclusiveness," she said. Seeking to blunt BJP's allegation that the Congress is soft on terror, Gandhi said "a party which has lost two of its popular leaders to terrorism does not need a certificate from others".
At the same time, the UPA chairperson issued a veiled warning to Pakistan, saying those abetting terrorism in India from across the borders will be given a "befitting reply" and they should not construe New Delhi's "restraint" as weakness.
Describing terrorism as one of the major challenges, Gandhi said, "The recent barbaric terror attacks of Mumbai and Assam remind us of the pain we are going through. But we have no doubt that we will overcome this difficult situation."
She asserted that the UPA government will tackle the problem of terrorism "without any discrimination," apparently responding to BJP's allegation that Congress was appeasing the minorities. In this fight, she said the UPA government drew inspiration from late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
Alleging that BJP-led NDA was trying to make political capital out of the issue of terrorism, she said "the opposition created hurdles in Parliamentary functioning and also caused undue delay in passing of the anti-terror law."
She, however, said the Congress did not take any "political advantage" of the terrorism issue when it was in opposition.
The Congress president also accused the BJP-led NDA of playing communal politics.
Gandhi said Congress was the only party which believes that communal harmony and economic development were two sides of the same coin.
Seeking a fresh mandate for the UPA on the basis of "our solid and substantial accomplishments", the Congress president said BJP-NDA speaks for the "privileged few" while the Congress was the voice of the multitude and the aam aadmi (common man)".
She insisted that the government had fulfilled most of the promises made in the Common Minimum Programme and in this regard listed the programmes undertaken for the benefit of minorities, farmers, women, socially and economically downtrodden and others during the last four years.
She highlighted the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which led to end of the country's isolation in the field, as one of the major achievements of the Manmohan Singh government and said it would benefit even the rural areas of the country.
Referring to the global financial crisis, Gandhi said while the world was going through the economic recession, India is "demonstrating resilience" because of the policies of previous and present Congress government's policies.
But "There is no room for complacency," she said.

Government Keen to keep farmers happy, after 19000 farmers commiting suicide

Blessing in disguise

The problems of farmers and completion of development projects in state have suddenly become most important issues. In view of the forthcoming elections, the state Government keen on keeping everyone happy.
After the suicide deaths of so many farmers in the state, Home Minister Jayant Patil has finally announced that, “The State government has taken the initiative to implement a scheme and 23.39 lakh farmers who have taken loan up to Rs.20,000 will get the benefit of a 100 per cent waiver. Rs 2,881 crore will be paid to banks through cheque for principal amount and not the interest.”
Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had already announced a financial package of Rs.6,208 crore to farmers who were left out by the Central government loan waiver package.
Another scheme is for farmers whose loan amounts are above Rs.20,000 and 16.76 lakh farmers will be covered under this. Rs.3,327 crore will be released for this from April one to June 30 this year. “As many as 78 lakh farmers in Maharashtra will be benefited by Rs.14,189 crore loan waiver package of both Central and State governments,” said Maharashtra Co-operatives Minister, Harshwardhan Patil. “Under the Central government scheme, Rs 3,012 crore will be utilized for the farmer loan waiver,” Patil said. NABARD is implementing the loan waiver scheme through Co-operatives Department. Nearly 4,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in the year 2008. The figures for the period 1995-2005 stand at an appalling 32,000, with nearly 19,000 farmers committing suicide after 2001. 500 cotton farmers have committed suicide since June 2005. Of the roughly 1.5 lakh farmers who killed themselves across the country, every fifth one was from Maharashtra. Maharashtra is one of the country’s richest states and its capital, Mumbai, is home to 25,000 of India’s 100,000 dollar millionaires.
An embarrassed government has started working on a mega loan waiver package worth over Rs.65,000 crore for the agricultural sector, which would hopefully support 600 million out of the massive 1.1 billion population. The package would be borne by nationalised and cooperative banks, as per the official sources. Whether the funds needed should be raised by levying a “farmers’ rehabilitation cess or surcharge” or through a budgetary provision by diverting resources, will be discussed at the prime ministerial level. The total outgo over four years is expected to be about Rs.70,000 crore and could well increase the burden on the taxpayers. Whether the move is election-motivated or genuinely intended for the welfare of farmers and saving them from committing suicide, there is no doubt that the farmers will benefit from this historic loan waiver proposal.
Kishor Tiwari, a human rights activist said, “The government has made no effort to get to the root of the problem. Whatever campaigns are announced never go to the heart of the matter, they only tackle side issues.”
Lower incomes of farmers, caused by the low productivity, leads them into taking incremental debts from local moneylenders. Because of their illiteracy and many other reasons, they hesitate to take loans from banks and ultimately starvation forces them to commit suicide. Several factors such as disastrous policies, no access to affordable credit, greedy and corrupt middlemen, and indifferent administrations have pushed farmers to their breaking point.

Political will and responsibility?

Will the Mumbai terrorist mayhem persuade the various political parties to unite at least for the security of the country? The Mumbaikars will mourn their dead, their losses, and gradually go back to life. But the lamentable personification of Mumbai as a resilient city should not make one forget the horrific tragedies of terrorism. Some incorrigible politicians still cannot resist a possible opportunity to score points over Mumbai’s dead. Gujarat chief Minister Narendra Modi arrived at the home of the late Hemant Karkare with an offer of compensation to the family. Modi’s act to say the least, was ghoulish. He had unleashed a relentless character assassination campaign against Karkare for his investigation into the Malegaon blast. BJP leader and Prime Minister in waiting, L.K.Advani did not exactly cover himself with a non-partisan position. Mr. Advani, as an elder statesman and politician should have led his party by example to form a political coalition across the board on the issue of terrorism irrespective of any religious position. Unfortunately, elections and votes are not too far away from the minds of politicians. It is a pity that the response of the Indian political actors across the board has been appeasement, finger pointing, political scoring, shifting blame and hand wringing. The vote bank always looms large in the political spectrum.
BJP Foreign Minister Yashwant Singh went to Kabul in 1999 to get Indian hostages released from the hijacked IC-814 Indian Airlines flight in exchange for the release of three hardened terrorists. One of them, Omar Sheik Saeed later went on to abduct journalist Daniel Pearl who was beheaded. Another, Maulana Masood Azar, the religious mentor of erstwhile Harkat-ul-Ansar, went on to form the Jaish-e-Mohammad with the help of the ISI. The third was Mustaq Ahmed Zargar who mowed down a large number of men, women and children in Kashmir.
Earlier, the Congress had released a number of terrorists in exchange for Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayed’s abducted daughter. The Indian Parliament was attacked in 2002, and that has been followed by periodic terrorist attacks, uncovering of SIMI’s role, birth of the Indian Mujahideen, revelation of the Hindu militant organization Abhinav Bharat and their acts of terrorism, culminating in the devastation of Mumbai. It is people’s outrage which forced the government and the ruling party to initiate some long delayed steps. Unfortunately, however, politicians are still rearing to get at each other’s throats, looking at the parliamentary elections in early 2009. This disease is unlikely to go away anytime soon. Perhaps at the cost of being repetitive, the role of Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilas Rao Deshmukh and Home Minister R.R. Patil in connection with the Mumbai carnage must be highlighted as an example of political callousness. For once, there was enough intelligence available in advance to take some precautionary steps. It appears both were so obtuse as not even to call for a security meeting. Both reflect the general quality of India’s political community today. In connection with the Mumbai horror, statements by two politicians must be recorded for posterity. After being turned away from the home of NSG Commando Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Kerala Chief Minister Achutanandan remarked that if had not been for Sandeep, “not even a dog would have visited the house”. And commenting on the outrage against politicians in Mumbai, BJP Vice President Muktar Naqvi retorted that a few people “Wearing lipstick and powder” and “tie and coat” holding candles do not represent the people of the country. Can anything be more deplorable? These are quintessential politicians. The political parties must now apply themselves to weed out the rotten ones from their midst.
"In a democracy we need political parties with the right kind of politicians".