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After the Left has set a July 7 deadline for the government to clarify its position on whether it was going ahead on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Congress on Friday sought to reject the deadline. Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters that Sovereign governments or political parties cannot be subjected to deadlines.

Shighvi told that it is the time to work on triple objectives- to do a nuclear deal in national interest, to carry along our allies with us for that purpose and to go to elections as per the Constitutional schedule. Rejecting suggestions of an “unholy alliance”, Singhvi said, “Samajwadi Party and the Congress have never been mutually untouchable in the same sense as the Left and the BJP or the Congress and the BJP.”

Singhvi said the Congress had not changed its stand on the nuclear deal “by even one millimeter”.  He said that the deal is totally in national interest.

“We are happy that other parties in the national interest are slowly converging to our view point,” he said.

Left is strongly opposing the deal to happen. The party has threatened to withdraw support for the government if it seeks approval for the deal from IAEA, the next international move needed to operationalise the pact.

Yesterday Left parties gave a deadline to the government saying that it must tell by July 7 about its plans towards approaching the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for the safeguards agreement, if any.

“We wish to know definitely whether the government is proceeding to seek the approval of the safeguards agreement by the board of governors of the IAEA,” said Prakash Karat, CPI (M) General Secretary, reading out a letter addressed to the government.

The party said it would launch a national campaign from July 14 to explain its opposition to the nuclear deal and what it called “runaway” inflation.

Tags: BJP, Congress, India, Nuclear deal, Nuke Deal, Samajwadi Party, SP, US

All India shutdown called by the BJP-VHP on Thursday against J&K govt decision of revoking of the land donated to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board has disrupted normal life in most part of the country. The protest left two persons killed while most of the rail and road transport was blocked. After the revoke of the order of transferring forestland to Amarnath shrine board, BJP-VHP demanded removal of Governor N N Vohra.

Many incidents of violence were reported by the protesters affecting road and railway transport. Along with, all markets were closed on the day. Bandh supporters stopped the Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi express at Agra. BJP supporters blocked the major highways including Delhi-Amritsar highway at Shambhu Barrier and the Delhi-Noida-Delhi flyover in Delhi. Western Express Highway in Mumbai was also blocked. Many trains were also being targeted. Delhi-Bhopal Shatabdi Express has been stopped near Agra.

Jammu, the epicenter of the violence hit normal life in the state along with parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Assam and Jharkand. Meanwhile, in Jammu, curfew continued for the second day and pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi Shrine were among those stranded. The situation in Jammu remains tense with curfew remained in various parts of the state.

The VHP is also taking an active part in the bandh. “The forest act issue is just an excuse,” VHP general secretary Venkatesh Abdeo said. “This is a conspiracy to stop the Amarnath pilgrimage. Tomorrow it will be Vaishnodevi and Tirupati.”

The capital city was also affected largely by the bandh. There were violent incidents reported in the city in some regions. Shops were forcefully stopped in the Lakshmi Nagar area while whole market was closed in Karol Bagh too. Delhi Police assured that adequate security arrangements have been made in wake of the bandh and strict vigilance is going.

Similar scenario was viewed in financial capital Mumbai where protesters pelted buses with stones in suburban Kandivili damaging five best buses and blocked roads also. Important arterial roads at Vakola, Malad and Borivili in Northwest Mumbai and in the Northeast suburb of Ghatkopar were blocked.

In Thane, members of right wing Hindu organization were moving around the city since morning with flags in their hands forcing shop owners to down shutters. Even in Nagpur incidents of stone pelting were reported from Dighori and few places in south and eastern part of the city, said police. Some activists damaged about eight buses late last night in eastern part of city, they said.

Shops, business establishments and educational institutions were closed in most parts. Similar effects were seen in Karnataka state.

Tags: Amarnath Row, Bandh, BJP, India, India Bandh, Jammu, Kashmir, Land Deal, VHP

The order of transferring the controversial land to the Amarnath shrine board has been withdrawn by Jammu and Kashmir cabinet. The land has been transferred to the Tourism Department. The decision is taken in the meeting of the cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad while discussing the Amarnath land row which has lead to much protest in the state from anti and for quarters of the deal.

Section 144 was imposed in Jammu to prevent situation getting out of hand. Situation in the state is under control but still tense. Police had to fire in the air near Baltal in Sonamarg when some people tried to block Army vehicles en-route to Leh.

The state government had already written to Governor N N Vohra, who is also the Chairman of SASB, which it was in a better position to provide facilities to the pilgrims on a larger scale following which the shrine board gave up the claim on the land - an issue which had led to a series of protests in the valley.

This was the first time that the cabinet met formally without PDP ministers, who resigned during the weekend to protest over the hand over 39.88 hectares of land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).

This move by the ministers also surprised the Congress as the proposal was mooted by two ministers before the state cabinet and both of them belonged to the PDP.

As a preventive measure in the state, police has restricted the movement of some of separatist leaders including Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and Shabbir Shah.

Tags: Amarnath, BJP, Hurriyat, Jammu, Jammu Band, Kashmir, Police, Shiv Sena

In the fresh protest against the decision of hand over of forest land to the Amarnath Shrine Board by BJP and Shiv sena activists, 70 protesters were arrested during the clash which left 9 people injured.

Protesters were throwing stones to show their anger and also attacked houses of State Health Minister and senior Congress leader Mangat Ram Sharma and People’s Democratic Party legislator Shanti Devi as said by official sources. However, there was no major incident reported so far.

Ten activists were arrested in Jammu and 60 arrested in Kathua district. Police baton charged over 1,000 BJP activists to resort traffic on Tawi Bridge.

Effigies of Governor Vohra, CM Ghulam Nabi Azad, PDP patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and former deputy CM Muzaffar Hussain Baig were also burnt during the agitation.

Transport system was also affected due to the protest. Pathankot-Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was blocked at six places in Kathua, Samba, Jammu and Udhampur districts, where protestors put up barricades, thereby stranding over 2,000 vehicles.

It was reported that BJP and Shiv Sena activists clashed with police at Ragunath Bazaar, City Chowk, Bikram Chowk, Muthi, Kathua, R S Pura, Udhampur, Nagrota, Bari Brahamana, Vijaypur and Samba areas in Jammu district during the bandh.

“The situation is under control. There is no major incident reported from anywhere in Jammu region. Some preventive arrests were made,” Inspector General of Police Jammu K Rajindra said.

Tags: Amarnath, BJP, Jammu, Jammu Band, Kashmir, Police, Shiv Sena

Congress President Sonia Gandhi has buzzed the poll buzzer on Saturday asking the party to prepare for general elections during a meeting convened by her of top party functionaries.

The announcement clearly indicates that the party is willing to risk elections amid soaring inflation rate and dilemma of N-deal.  Sonia Gandhi directed senior leaders to draw up time-bound programs and strategies to re-energize the party in all states to get prepare for the polls.

“This meeting was about poll preparations. The Lok Sabha elections were also discussed, the party has to get ready for polls and everybody has been asked to draw up programs and submit the same at the next meeting,” AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.

The Congress president has given party men a time-table for building the party at all levels, Veerappa Moily, chairman of the AICC Media Cell said.

Sonia during the meet also directed Congress leaders to tell people about party’s achievements like the Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2008 Union Budget.

However, much talked N-deal is not subjected to discussion during the meet. “The issue has already been discussed at two working committee meetings,” a senior leader said.

Though the UPA constituents strongly favor the nuclear deal, they hold almost equally strident views against holding of early elections.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Thursday released its first list of candidates for the next Lok Sabha elections.  The list has names of five other candidates - Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar), Vinod Khanna (Gurdaspur), Shripad Y Naik (Panaji), Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur) and TPS Rawat (Pauri).

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani will contest from Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat. Lok Sabha elections are due around April next year.

Tags: BJP, Congress, Elections India, Gandhi, Poll, Sonia Gandhi

B S Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka on Friday. The new government will seek a trust vote in the Assembly June 6, Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said after taking office.

He is the first time Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader to write a new chapter in Karnataka`s political history.

The swearing-in ceremony was held at 1.50 pm in the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power, heralding the era of governance by the Saffron party in its maiden innings in south of Vindhyas.

The newly elected Assembly will meet June 4, 5 and 6, Yeddyurappa told reporters after the first meeting of his cabinet, sworn in earlier by Governor Rameshwar Thakur.

The first day of the three-day session will be devoted to the 224 members taking oath. The new Speaker will be elected the next day and the trust vote will be sought on the last day, as scheduled by the cabinet.

Yeddyurappa said, “My government is determined to implement in phased manner all the promises made in the election manifesto.”

The manifesto promises, among other things, free power to farmers and loans to farmers at an interest rate of three percent per annum. Yeddyurappa promised to give priority to education, health, nutrition and social justice.

“We will also implement former President APJ Abdul Kalam`s 2020 vision,” Yeddyurappa said.

BJP winning 110 seats out of 224 and falling short by three numbers for simple majority defeated the designs by Congress and JD(S) to block six independents from lending support by successfully netting them.

Tags: BJP, Chief Minister, Karnataka, Yeddyurappa

The BJP has finally registered its major victory in the Karnataka Assembly elections on Sunday. The first ever Bharatiya Janata Party government in the south bagged a simple majority by getting 111 seats out of 224-member State Assembly.

BJP chief ministerial candidate B S Yeddyurappa will take oath as chief minister on May 28. Delighted by his success Yeddyurappa said, “We are humbled by the people’s verdict. Development is our priority now.”

“It’s a victory for dalits, farmers and backwards. We will give equal impetus to development of rural as well as urban areas.” He said to the media in Banglore.

The election process ends by May 28 on the day the Election Commission was expected to notify the constitution of the 13th Legislative Assembly in Karnataka.

“The verdict is against the Congress, decisively against the JD(S) and substantially in the favor of the BJP,” BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

Congress emerged as the second largest party in the state, winning 79 seats, while JD(S) managed to win only 27 seats. Independents and others came out winners in six constituencies.

It is Congress party’s 16th loss in the four years that it returned to power at the Centre. India has seen 24 assembly elections since 2004, including four states that went to the polls along with that year’s general election.

The Congress party has won eight of those elections and lost 16.

Tags: Assembly Elections, BJP, Congress, Elections, Karnataka, Karnataka Assembly Elections, Yeddyurappa

Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil questioned the hanging of Afzal Guru, a condemned prisoner in Parliament attack while the Indian government is seeking the clemency for Sarabjit Singh facing death sentence in Pakistan.

Patil asked that how can the demand be made for the hanging of Afzal Guru, who had been ordered to be hanged till death by the Supreme Court, when we are saying to release Sarabjit?

“You want Afzal Guru to be hanged. (At the same time) you are saying that don’t hang a person who has gone to Pakistan (Singh),” Patil told reporters in Latur on Tuesday.

“These people want others to be hanged. What are you doing? You are saying don’t hang that person (Singh) and you say hang this person (Guru) here,” Patil said and added that law would take its own course.

Guru was accused of being involved in the criminal conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001. His clemency plea is pending with the government while Sarabjit is in Lahore jail for last 14 years, accused of being involved in Lahore blast which killed 14 people.

The statement of Patil is likely to stir a row with main the opposition BJP already slamming Patil for his “irresponsible” comments.

BJP says Patil’s comment as nonsense.

“The government which has been dithering on the execution of Afzal Guru is actually supporting and playing vote bank politics by giving such absurd reasons,” party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.

The “ill-informed Union home minister of the country does not even know that while Sarabjit Singh was a case of mistaken identity, Guru’s role and involvement in Parliament attack is proven,” he said.

He says that the cases of Afzal and Sarabjit are totally different.

“While Sarabjit’s was a case of mistaken identity, Afzal’s role and involvement in the Parliament attack is proven and he has been convicted by the court,” Javadekar added.

Tags: Afzal Guru, BJP, Congress, India, Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh, Shivraj Patil, UPA

Issue of terrorism is boiling among the political parties also. Congress hit BJP on the subject blaming the deaths of hundreds of Indians at the hands of terrorists were “soiled with the blood of BJP”.

BJP, earlier, targeted Congress on the issue and charged the party for going soft on terrorists. Now its turn to Congress, who raked up the Kandahar episode, recalling the release of three terrorists, including Maulana Masood Azhar, by the then NDA government in exchange for hijacked air passengers.

“Maulana Azhar after his release set up Jaish-e-Mohammed, which killed hundreds of people on this side of the border”, Congress spokesperson Kapil Sibal said.

“The Congress party can legitimately say that responsibility for deaths of hundreds of Indians, soldiers and civilians are soiled with the blood of BJP”, he said.

Blaming the BJP party, he added that if those terrorists had not been released, these terror acts would not have happened.

“You (BJP) released terrorists to the market”, Sibal said and accused the BJP of not “walking the talk” while “talking tough on terrorism”.

Charging the BJP with “double-speak`, he asked: “Where is the white-paper on terrorism that they (BJP) promised to release?”

Terrorism is a very critical issue for any country. Terror attacks are increasing day by day in India. Accusing each other will not give any solution to this critical issue. It is the responsibility of government to keep the citizens secure in every part of the country. Instead of blaming each other, government should use its energy to take necessary action to cease this problem. People should also be aware of their surrounding to avoid any mishappening of terrorist attack by giving intelligence inputs and forecasts to prevent any militants’ fabricated disasters.

Tags: BJP, Congress, India, Indians, NDA, Terrorism

The opposition NDA’s silent protest against Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee’s recent decision has worked as Chatterjee withdraws the notice referring 32 MPs, mostly from the BJP, to the Privileges Committee for their “unruly behavior”. Please see “Lok Sabha Speaker refers cases of 32 MPs to Privileges Committee!” for more information.

NDA on Monday decided to remain silent in the Lok Sabha for fours days beginning today as they termed this decision unfair. The decision was taken after the Lok Sabha was resumed followed by abrupt adjourn by the speaker till 2 pm today.

The alliance’s leaders had decided to remain silent in the Lok Sabha for fours days beginning today to protest against the decision referring to 32 leaders.

A meeting was held to resolve the issue where Chatterjee reportedly said that he was withdrawing the notice after MPs assured him of smooth conduct of the House.

Opposition leader L K Advani and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee formally urged him to do so and assured the Speaker that the Lower House would function smoothly without any disruptions. Chatterjee, on his part, said that he had taken the decision to refer the MPs to the Privileges Committee to ensure orderly conduct in the House. He also thanked Mukherjee and Advani for the assurance.

The adjournment came as Samajwadi Party leader Ramji Lal Suman sought to raise the issue of controversial anti-North Indian statements made by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray.

TDP leader K Yerrannaidu was also raised the issue of recent fire in the Guntur market, which destroyed produce worth crores of rupees.

Besides upsetting the BJP and its allies like the Shiv Sena, the Speaker`s action had also drawn flak from Samajwadi Party which said the chair was “neither a monarch, nor the members his subjects”.

Shiv Sena, a key constituent of NDA, whose two members have also been proceeded against, said that there was no question of being apologetic about raising a “burning” issue affecting the people.

Repeated disruptions in the House were seen and the immediate provocation was the incidents of April 24, which saw opposition members storming the well shouting slogans without paying heed to the chair.

Tags: Advani, BJP, India, Lok Sacha, NDA, Samajwadi Party, Somnath Chatterjee