Prime accused admitted to hospital

BILASPUR, Feb 10 (UNI) The prime accused in the murder of prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's grandnephew Manish Mishra was admitted to a hospital for medical check-up.

Railway police superintendent Rajkumar Devangan said Ramji Varma, was sent to the medical college hospital after being brought from Champa yesterday.

A complete medical examination of the accused was carried out.

A police team from Mathura is likely to arrive this evening to take the accused.

Varma had confessed the crime before railway police in an inebriated state on Sunday.

BJP leader in Haryana assembly fears arrest CHANDIGARH, Feb 10 (UNI) A day after the snapping of alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), BJP leader in the Haryana assembly Krishan Pal Gurjar today expressed apprehension that the Chautala government might arrest him in "some false case." Talking to reporters, Gurjar said he had a strong feeling that the government would implicate him in some false case and send him behind the bars.

The state BJP leader had been strongly opposing the move to continue the alliance with the INLD in the recent past.

He also hinted that the BJP high command must have turned down the proposal for continuing the alliance with INLD before Chautala finally made his announcement in this regard in Gurgaon yesterday.

Asked if the BJP high command was behind the breakup of the ties between the two parties, Gurjar pointed out that Chautala displayed a soft stance on the issue while speaking to reporters in Chandigarh yesterday afternoon and he "changed track" in Gurgaon late in the evening.

"Something might have happened between Chandigarh and Gurgaon that led to this change," he quipped but refused to divulge the details.

He also indicated that on the part of the INLD, efforts were on till the last minute to save the alliance.

"They were trying themselves and as well as through others," he added without specifying who the "others" were.

Gurjar scotched speculations that the BJP had reached some understanding with the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) of former chief minister Bansi Lal for the coming Lok Sabha elections and also ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the HVP.

"We have had no talks with the HVP for an alliance so far and there is no such possibily either," he added.

He criticised the INLD for its sudden change of opinion about the Vajpayee government at the centre.

While Chautala had in the past been praising the central government for doing a lot for the farmers, he was now dubbing it as "anti-farmer," he added.

The BJP leader challenged the Chautala government's claims that it had undertaken 44,000 developmentals works in the state.

"They are just claims and no brick had been laid on the ground." Sonia to meet Karunanidhi on Feb 13 CHENNAI, Feb 10 (UNI) Having revived the alliance and completed the seat-sharing along with other allies in the DMK-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) for the coming Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will meet DMK chief M Karunanidhi here on February 13.

Gandhi's meeting with Karunanidhi, which had been in the offing after the DMK revived its alliance with the Congress after a gap of 24 years, was officially announced by TNCC president G K Vasan.

Besides discussing the allotment of Pondicherry, the Congress bastion, to the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), a key ally in the DPA, Gandhi is also expected to work out the campaign strategy for the general elections.

However, according to Vasan, the official reason for Gandhi's Chennai visit is to unveil the statue of Congress stalwart and late chief minister K Kamaraj in the precincts of the Kamaraj memorial.

Habib Miyan becomes a Haji JAIPUR, Feb 10 (UNI) It took more than 125 years for Habib Miyan to get his share of the limelight.

The man, born May 20, 1878, played a clarinet in the Royal Band of the erstwhile Jaipur state, till his retirement in 1938.

He also worked briefly as "water man" in the state education department after independence.

It was a quiet life thereafter with his sons, grandsons and great grandsons, first in the old city and then in a small room in a resettlement colony on the city outskirts.

All that changed some three years back when officials of a State Bank of India branch from where he draws his monthly pension drew the media's attention to his age.

Moved by his story, Rajmata Gayatri Devi of the former royalty increased his pension, while a British businessman of Indian origin sent him a cheque for Rs 2.7 lakhs to support his Haj trip.

Last September, a visiting artist decided to paint his portrait, bringing the spotlight back on him.

In December, bathed in the glow of flashbulbs, he exercised his franchise at a booth in the Jauhari bazaar area of the city, becoming, perhaps, the oldest man ever to vote.

Near blind and toothless, Habib, who had left for Haj alongwith his daughter-in-law Munni Begum (90), and grandsons Mahmood and Chuttan on December 27, returned to the city early today.

"I prayed for all.

Everyone should live in peace," he said today sitting on a charpoy in his freshly whitewashed house.

Friends and relatives streamed into the house carrying garlands for the hajis.

Mahmood and Chuttan shared their experiences in Saudi Arabia and displayed the gifts they had received, among them a copy of the Quran and a framed sheild bearing words from the holy book gifted by the Saudi government.

"He wants his name in the Guinness Book now," Chuttan said as a tired-looking Habib nodded in agreement.

Though an official document records his date of birth as 20/5/1878, Habib claims that he was ten years old when Nawab Faiyyaz Ali of Aligarh had died while on a state visit to Jaipur.

The Nawab had died 124 years ago.

According to Chuttan, Habib was feted in Saudi Arabia all through the Haj period.

He stayed at an inn the former Nawab of Tonk (in Rajasthan) has in the Saudi kingdom while the host government took special care of his needs.

He returned to the state around 0030 hrs.

A special bus brought him here alongwith the other Hajis from Delhi, where their flight had landed yesterday.

Surrounded by his grandchildren and great grandchildren, he smiled as he posed for photographs.

Vajpayee, Naidu must bow before CEC: Cong HYDERABAD, Feb 10 (UNI) Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu must respect the remarks of new Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy on utilisation of public funds for elections, APCC chief spokesperson K Rosaiah said today.

Talking to mediapersons here, he said the CEC's remarks must act as an eye-opener for both the union and state governments.

On the contrary, Vajpayee was justifying that "political parties can canvass about development achieved by them." In the past too, when Naidu went to the centre after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India raised doubts about the state government's expenditure, Vajpayee tried to defend him, Rosaiah contended.

Noting that Vajpayee himself had accused the late prime minister Indira Gandhi of using All India Radio for publicity, he alleged that the party was now using public funds for publicity via mass media.

Rosaiah claimed that he had never, in his 50-year political career, come across any government at the centre or the state spending thousands of crores of rupees on advertising "non-issues." The centre, taking credit for 7.3 per cent economic growth rate in a quarter of a year was a farce, while actually India's ranking in the human development index of the UNDP had slipped from 121 to 127 in the last five years, he pointed out.

Vote for Cong to teach BJP a lesson: Sonia MAHARAJGANJ, UTTAR PRADESH, Feb 10 (UNI) Congress president Sonia Gandhi today called upon the people to vote for her party in the coming Lok Sabha polls "to save the country" and "teach a lesson" to the BJP.

Addressing a public meeting at the Pakdi circuit house near here on the second day of her 'Poorvanchal Kisaan Chetna Yatra', Gandhi rubbished the "feel good" claim of the BJP and said the Vajpayee government had launched a campaign to mislead the people with false claims of prosperity in the country.

She said poverty was apparent and widespread in the region.

"Now the only option before the people is to elevate the Congress to power with the unified efforts of all and teach BJP a lesson," she added.

Like yesterday, Gandhi stopped at various villages across the bumpy tracks of 'Poorvanchal' (Eastern UP) today even as she took on the public address system to come down heavily on the NDA for its "overall failure." Gandhi made several halts to interact with people standing on roadsides to have her glimpse, and at their doorsteps.

After the January 10-12 whirlwind tour of Western UP bordering Delhi, this is the second visit of Gandhi to the state, and perhaps the first public interaction after the 13th Lok Sabha was dissolved on February 6.

During her stay in the region, she is also slated to visit Siddharthnagar, Padrauna and Basti and interact with locals and farmers during the various halts.

I won't tell when I will join politics: Rao HYDERABAD, Feb 10 (UNI) After the court cleared him in the Lakubhai Pathak bribery case, the last of the cases involving him, former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao today indicated that he was "not averse" to returning to active politics.

Rao preferred to be silent when a group of journalists tried to speak to him at the Gandhi Bhavan, headquarters of the Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee here.

After laying the foundation stone for the mini-conference hall of the Gandhi Bhavan Trust, of which he is the chairman, when asked if he was coming to active politics, he said "I am very much in politics.

But I will not tell the press when I will be in active politics." Rao also brushed aside all questions about late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi being given a clean chit in the Bofors case by the Delhi High Court.

The former prime minister, after watching the cultural programmes for some time, left for the Raj Bhavan, where he was staying.

BJP meet to discuss election strategy NEW DELHI, Feb 10 (UNI) Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders today held several rounds of discussions to chalk out strategies for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The first meeting was that of union ministers, convened at the residence of BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu, where they took stock of the achievements of each ministry for projecting during campaigning.

Several party panels including the ones dealing with vision document, fund mobilisation, publicity and advertisements also held separate and collective discussions at Naidu's residence.

"The meetings are basically about strategies like publicity, advertisement and sharing of responsibilities," one of the attendee leaders said.

The party is likely to brief about the meetings later in the day.

Those present at the meetings included deputy prime minister L K Advani, law minister Arun Jaitley, agriculture minister Rajnath Singh, foreign minister Yashwant Sinha, BJP vice president Pyarelal Khandelwal, general secretaries Pramod Mahajan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

The BJP president said the party today reviewed the progress of a month-long "Atal Sandesh Yatra" launched on January 23 aimed at a massive party-people contact.

A BJP resolve to see India as the guiding nation in the world has gone down well with the masses and on that count the programme has been highly successful, he observed.

The party also finalised to hold Lok Sabha constituency-wise conferences besides holding 100 rallies, the first being the prime minister's in Faizabad on February 7 last, he said.

He said the party decided to organise various meetings with professional groups like doctors and lawyers as part of its sustained poll campaign meeting.

A panel comprising union ministers Murli Manohar Joshi, Arun Jaitely, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie has been constituted to hold professionals' meetings, he said.

All the state units were asked to collect poll assistance fund to the tune of Rs 25 crore through cash coupons in the denomination of Rs 10,000, Rs 5000, and Rs 1000, Naidu said.

PM urges states to help realize dreams of "Mungeri Lal" VAISHALIGARH, BIHAR, Feb 10 (UNI) Ahead of the 14th Lok Sabha hustings, prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today appealed to the states to shun political grievances and join hands with the centre in national development.

India was viewed in its completeness and each and every state should contribute to the development process, the prime minister said, while inaugurating construction work on the Hajipur-Sugauli rail line, on the last lap of the Buddhist circuit.

He suggested that political rivals go on self-introspection about their contribution towards development and said "Mungeri Lal's dreams" will come true in future in the `feel-good' atmosphere created by the NDA government.

Development was not only an issue of money but it also involved right mentality and approach, Vajpayee told the inaugural at this ancient citadel of the Lichchavi dynasty which had sent the message of democratic governance to the world.

The function was attended, among others by, defence minister George Fernandes, railway minister Nitish Kumar, union food and civil supply minister Sharad Yadav, minister of small scale industries and North East affairs C P Thakur, civil aviation minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy, information and broadcasting minister Ravishankar Prasad, union minister of state for agriculture Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav and Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi.

"We cannot afford to spoil our time but accelerate our efforts on speedy development," the prime minister said, adding, "we should not disappoint the global community." He said railway network had spread to the remote areas and lauded the efforts of the minister for railways Nitish Kumar.

Roads were equally important for economic development as they facilitate the quick transportation of foodgrains and industrial products to the market places.

Reiterating 'Mungeri Lal Ke Hasin Sapne Such Huye' (the dreams of the common man are coming true), Vajpayee stressed on the proper utilisation of the sufficient funds provided by the centre for construction of roads in towns and villages.

Hajipur-Sugauli rail line is in the last lap of the buddhist circuit, connecting major centres of buddhism including Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Vaishali, Kesaria, Areraj and Sarnath.

Barring Hajipur-Sugauli, all other lines under the Buddhist circuit like the Gaya-Rajgir line or the Patna-Hajipur section, had either been completed or was under completion.

The 148.3 KM long Hajipur-Sugauli line was sanctioned in the financial year of 2003-04 (supplementary budget) and would be laid at the cost of Rs 324.66 crores.

The prime minister identified the Buddhist circuit as a potential revenue earner through tourism and enumerated steps initiated by the centre to attract foreign travellers.

Vajpayee said the country had earned a whopping Rs 3,200 crore in foreign exchange during the current fiscal as the number of foreign tourists visiting the country shot up to more than three crores.

The prime minister noted that if proper rail and road communications were provided along with other facilities, foreign tourists would flock into Vaishali, from where lord Buddha had started propagation of his tenets.

Emphasising the need of rail and road development in boosting tourism, the prime minister said completion of the ambitious golden quadrilateral, as well as east-west and north-south corridor road projects, would remove hurdles on smooth mobility from one part of the country to another.

Besides other projects to cover remote and inaccessible areas under railway network, work was in progress to provide rail communications to Kashmir, Vajpayee added.

Hitting back at the Congress, Vajpayee said his government was able to do within five years what that party could not do during the past fifty years.

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