UP opposition fears state sponsored rigging in LS polls

LUCKNOW, Apr 12 (UNI) The entire opposition including the Congress, which is supporting the Uttar Pradesh government from outside, today complained to the Election Commission (EC) regarding the possible Samajwadi Party sponsored rigging during the Lok Sabha elections in the state.

During their separate meetings with the three member election commission headed by chief clection commissioner TS Krishnamurthy, the BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress charged the state government of hatching conspiracy to unleash reign of terror to influence voters in the state before the polls.

They urged the EC to intervene and make necessary arrangements to prevent the SP's 'evil designs'.

However, refuting the charges, SP state president Ram Sharan Das, who also met the CEC and other commissioners at the Raj Bhawan this afternoon, said the opposition parties were levelling wild charges without any base, "they are making such statements to counter the popularity wave of chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in the state." "Have the BJP, Congress and BSP forgotten their regime when they went to any extent to influence the voters," he claimed, "we have full faith in the democracy and people are free to vote," he said.

The SP also presented a seven-point charter of demands before the EC mostly related to the electoral rolls and the 'hardships' faced by the citizens due to strict implementation of the model code of conduct in wake of the upcoming poll.

While the BJP had asked the EC to deploy central forces in all the polling booths of the state, the Congress has specifically drawn the attention on the alleged state sponsored violation of election code in Pratapgarh.

The BSP also charged the state government with terrorising the voters.

The BJP delegation led by leader of the opposition Lalji Tandon handed over a 21-point memorandum to the EC.

Later, talking to mediapersons, BJP spokesman Hridya Narain Dikshit said the party leaders had informed the commission that about 15 districts in the state including Mainpuri, Etawah, Etah, Kannauj, Farrukahabad, Badaun, Sambhal and Pratapgarh were hyper-sensitive and steps be taken to prevent the SP from taking undue advantage.

The party also conveyed its concern that the state police was being used by the ruling party hence all the 100,000 polling booths in the state be manned by central forces, he added.

The Congress team led by its legislature party leader Pramod Tiwari apprised the EC on party's apprehensions for free and fair polls in the state.

Claiming that about 10 districts going to polls in the first phase of elections on April 26 were sensitive, Tiwari charged the state government with turning a Nelson's eye to the electioneering of SP candidate Akshay Pratap Singh from Pratapgarh which is being conducted from the jail.

Congress candidate from Pratapgarh Rajkumari Ratna Singh was also present.

Meanwhile, BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra raised the issue of involvement of state advocate general Virendra Bhatia in the election campaign for SP candidates.

He also objected to the SP manifesto stating it was a clear violation of the election code since it made some announcements on behalf of the state government.

Representatives of other parties also met the EC members during the two hour long meeting at the Raj Bhawan.

The three-member commission including chief election commissioner TS Krishnamurthy and election commissioners BB Tandon and N Gopalswami are on a day's visit to Lucknow to take stock of the arrangements made for smooth conduct of Lok Sabha poll in 80 seats of the state.

India has emerged a new power centre under Vajpayee: Advani KHARIAR ROAD, ORISSA, Apr 12 (UNI) Deputy prime minister LK Advani today said India has carved a niche for itself in the international arena and emerged as a new power centre under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Today, the world is taking note of India' progress.

Earlier, the country was never the focus of the international media but today it has attained such importance that all its achievements are being adequately covered.

Most countries are today backing India's candidature for permanent seat in the UN Security Council," Advani said addressing his first election meeting in Orissa.

Advani's Bharat Uday Yatra which is on its last leg entered the state this morning.

The deputy prime minister was given a send-off by Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and BJP leader VC Shukla near the Junk river on the Chhattigarh-Orissa border and recieved by chief minister Naveen Patnaik and BJP state president Manmohan Samal and others.

Advani said, "to sustain the present tempo of development, the National Democratic Alliance should be brought back to power.

We have resolved to provide drinking water, houses, electricity, health and education in six lakh villages across the country by 2020." Referring to the opposition criticism that the NDA government has not achieved desired results on several counts, he said, "we might be lagging behind in some sectors, but six years' time was not enough to complete our plans.

In any case, the Congress should be held responsible as they were in power for the past 40 years." Talking in favour of simultaneous elections to both the assemblies and the parliament, he suggested the political parties should agree to this as it saves the exchequer of lot of expenses.

During his three-day programme in the state, Advani is scheduled to address a series of election meetings in Western Orissa and the coastal belt.

The yatra will culminate at the holy town of Puri on its 33rd day.

Majlis asks Muslim to vote for Vajpayee NEW DELHI, Apr 12 (UNI) Bharti Majlis today decided to support prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lucknow, but urged the community to vote for the Congress, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal candidates elsewhere in the state in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Uttar Pradesh-based party will support Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri and RLD chief Ajit Singh in Baghpat, Bharti Majlis president Jawed Habeeb today said.

At the national level, the Majlis appealed to the Muslim community to vote for the Congress and its allies such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lok Janshakti, DMK and Nationalist Congress Party.

In West Bengal, the community should preferably support Left Front candidates, the Majlis said.

Keeping in view the greater interest of the minorities and the country, the Working Committee of Bharti Majlis appeals to the voters, particularly the Muslim voters, to for the Congress and its allies at the national level, said Habeeb.

Majlis will also support former prime minister Chandra Shekhar in Ballia and CPI candidate Atul Kumar Anjan in Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh.

Sonia has joined hands with Gandhi family detractors: Mahajan NAGPUR, Apr 12 (UNI) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Pramod Mahajan today ridiculed the Congress for having joined hands with those who criticised the Gandhi family, and questioned its president Sonia Gandhi for entering into electoral alliance with detractors.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the Congress had joined hands with those who always criticised the Gandhi family.

Gandhi had forged an alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu led by M Karunanidhi whom she had blamed for the assassination of her husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Mahajan said.

In Maharashtra too, the Congress had an electoral alliance with the NCP led by Sharad Pawar who had left the Congress demanding constitutional amendment to prevent a citizen of foreign origin from becoming the prime minister or president of this country, he added.

The Congress has also supported the candidature of eminent lawyer Ram Jethmalani, who had appeared in the court on behalf of the assassins of Indira Gandhi, from Lucknow.

Replying to a question on the Bofors affair, he refuted the reported statement of the Congress that the matter was 'planted' by deputy prime minister LK Advani after pressuring the CBI.

The CBI is an independent body set up to probe any affair whenever it was required, he noted.

SC to pass final order on monitoring of telecast of pol Adv today NEW DELHI, Apr 12 (UNI) The Supreme Court today clarified that it would pass its final order tomorrow on the monitoring of telecast of political advertisement in the electronic media.

A three judge bench comprising Chief Justice VN Khare , Justice SB Sinha and Justice SH Kapadia thereby adjoined the hearing till tomorrow on an appeal by the Union Information and Broadcasting ministry against the interim order of Andhra Pradesh High Court staying the operation of Rule 7(3) of the Cable TV Network Rules, 1994, banning political advertisement in the electronic media.

The Chief Justice told both the election commission and the centre that in case they were unable to sort out the problems relating to monitoring of political advertisement on the TV and cable network by tomorrow the court would tell them how to do it.

We are prepared to monitor them, senior counsel KK Venugopal appearing for the election commission told the court.

On Thursday last the court had asked the centre to file by Monday its response to the suggestions made by the election commission on monitoring such advertisement.

The centre ,however, wanted time till tomorrow to come out with its response which was granted by the court.

BODOS adopt professionalism in campaign style KOKRAJHAR, Apr 12 (UNI) The art of electioneering has been brought to a different level in the BODO Territorial Council with professionalism, discipline, sincerity and organisational skill ruling the roost.

The BODOS have Sansuma Khungur Bwismutiary as their common candidate, but there is no cacophony of music or slogans.

Yet, men are working round the clock in the central office with professional touch and complete discipline to carry forward the poll work.

There is a Central Election Committee for the candidate supported by the ABSU, CCBPO and other allied organisations, headed by Hemendra Nath Brahma, MLA.

But the real brain is UG Brahma, the Rajya Sabha member.

There are three teams under them.

The Group 'A' is led by Bishara Narzary, executive member of the BTC.

Group 'B' is led by Derbasa Mushary and Group 'C' by Kamal Borgoyari, both are executive members.

But there is also the central election campaign team, led by BTC chief Hagrama Mohilary, and consist of all big guns of the BODOS, including UG Brahma, Rabiram Nazrary, the ABSU chief, and Prameela Tani Brahma, the veteran MLA.

The main campaigning group is basically concentrating outside the three assembly segments of Kokrajhar (East), Kokrajhar (West) and Sidli because in other seven assembly segments the presence of non-BODOS are equal and they are not taking any chances.

They move in groups, while the A, B and C fan out every morning in the BODO-dominated areas in and around Kokrajhar district.

For a change nobody is concerned over candidate Sansuma Khungurr Bwismutiary.

All of them are concerned over the BODO cause, so that their elected representatives can help them from the centre to make up for the time lost during the bloody BODO agitation.

Ayodhya issue in NDA manifesto a positive sign: Nitish NEW DELHI, Apr 12 (UNI) Railway minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar sees no wrong in the mention of Ayodhya in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) manifesto, though he denied that it meant that other allies have now accepted the BJP agenda.

"There is no question of accepting anyone's agenda.

The declared stand of the NDA on Ayodhya is that this dispute be solved either by the final verdict of the court or mutual talks.

The NDA manifesto this time says precisely this, which means that the collective stand of NDA has now been put on paper for all to see," he said in an interview with BBC Hindi special programme `Aapki Baat, BBC Ke Saath.' Nitish Kumar said it showed that the NDA as a whole could not now deviate from this stated position, as it was a bigger commitment.

The former Samata Party leader and now the JD(U) leader (as the former party has merged into the latter), said if there were to be any deviation from this stand, the majority of the allies in the NDA would not accept it.

"There is no question at all of deviation this includes my party as well, that we ,the JD (U) are not in a position to accept anything else than the above mentioned position, and therefore this in the written form is a positive sign," Kumar said.

When reminded of the statements of top BJP leadership that if they were to get a majority on their own, they would go for temple construction and have got mentioned the Ayodhya issue in the NDA manifesto for the first time, he said, "see, the BJP's acceptance of the NDA position that the Ayodhya dispute be solved either by the court verdict or through mutual talks is a development, which should be welcomed by all.

This is the stand of all.

Tell me, what else is the stand of the Congress and the Communists, who claim to be secular?" He reiterated that "for the NDA allies, which include my party the JD(U), we are not in a position to accept anything else than the position that the Ayodhya issue be solved either through the court verdict or mutual talks." In reply to a question about what NDA had done for the development of Bihar during the five years, Nitish Kumar said the centre had cleared a lot of projects especially in the infrastructure sector for the betterment of the state.

Railways, roads, electricity and agriculture research are the sectors given priority by the centre.

Responding to a query from a listener about trains between many stations in Bihar were stopped midway, and passengers despite paying full fares did not get to travel even for half of their journies, he said, "see, the railway ministry can run trains, but for these to run smoothly on tracks, this can only be done with the support from all.

Law and order is a state subject, and if due to lawlessness passenger trains are stopped midway, the accountability has to be of the state government." Raising a question or two on the efeficiency of Bihar government, he said for smooth running of the trains, the state governments set-up the state railway police, and receive 50 percent of the money from the centre, but the responsibility of law and order is of the state governments, infact it is their constitutional duty.

Kumar also pointed out that in such caases the railway ministry was (also) a victim.

'The department runs trains and if these are stopped the railway ministry incurs a huge loss," he said.

The leader of JD(U) defended his action of contesting Lok Sabha elections from two parliamentary seats of Nalanda and Barh this time and refusing to accept this was due to the fact that he had won the Barh seat with a very slender margin last time.

"I have won from Barh five times, and the people of Barh would elect me for the sixth time as well.

I am having to contest from Nalanda due to extraordinary circumstances," he said while admiting that he had said in the past that there should be a law to Bar leaders from contesting two seats.

Since party leader George Fernandes, who represented Nalanda in the past,decided to contest from Muzaffarpur, despite his request to him to stick to Nalanda, the people of Nalanda wanted him to contest from here as well, Nitish said.

"I have no hesitation in admitting that I was reluctant to contest from two seats, but my party directed me to do so, and I have obeyed it.

I will win from Barh and Nalanda both," he said even as being evasive on the query which seat he would retain after the results.

Kumar denied that Bihar had suffered owing to political rivalry between the centre and the state.

"See, the rules for providing central assistance to states are uniform, and there cannot be special rules for any single state.

There is a finance commission, which in consultation with the states, decides the grants for each state, which is in lieu of its revenue generation.

Also, an estimate is made to provide assistance to the states, which is done only in consultation with the states.

All subjects are clearly demarcated for the centre and states," he said.

Asked if it was true that the Bihar government had not received adequate central assistance, Kumar dismissed it as baseless saying this was the campaign of the Laloo Yadav-led alliance.

"I am saying there are rules for grants and investments, see such grants are given when they are utilised.

States have to prove themselves, they have to utilise the money given," he said, recalling that Bihar was at one time considered among the best governed states.

Kumar also dismissed charges that Patna did not have an international airport due to the centre's apathy.

He said it was because the state government did not agree to the extra land required for this purpose.

Planes cannot land in summers.

Please ask the state government why? He said, adding "and do not forget Gaya is an international airport.

He said railway bridges are coming up in a big way in Bihar, electricity projects are coming up with central assistance, but then distribution and generation is the work of the state the centre is doing all it can.

Demand for abolishing reservation in parliament PHAGWARA, Apr 12 (UNI) The General Categories Welfare Federation, Punjab has urged the president, the union government, the election commission and to the candidates aspiring for seats in parliament to actively work for abolishing reservation of seats in Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.

Addressng a press conference here, the federation president Shyam Lal Sharma and general secretary Nirmal Singh said the constitution provided reservation in parliament only for ten years, but this was still continuing due to politics of selfishness and hatred of different parties which were working only for 'vote politics'.

They said that 120 out of total 543 Lok Sabha seats and 1081 out of 4091 assembly seats of different states were still reserved.

They stated that this reservation policy was unjustified and being implemented just to please two per cent Dalits.

The reservation policy had failed to maintain equality in the Indian society, they added.

Jogi's condition stable, say doctors MUMBAI, Apr 12 (UNI) The condition of former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, who underwent a successful spinal cord surgery at the Bombay Hospital here last night, is stable, doctors attending on him said today.

Jogi who was seriously injured in a road accident near Raipur yesterday had been removed to Mumbai for advanced treatment.

Dr BK Goyal, leading cardiologist of at the Bombay Hospital, told UNI that Jogi was still in ICU and would be kept there for the next couple of days.

He has been advised complete bed rest.

Though Jogi is conscious, no visitors are being allowed to see him.

He would be discharged from the hospital over a week's time, Dr Goyal added.

Jogi was operated upon to decompress the spinal cord.

The operation lasted a little more than three hours, Dr Goyal informed.

He said Jogi's body parameters were normal and satisfactory.

Apart from Dr Goyal, the operation was supervised by spinal surgeon Dr Sameer Dalvi, chief neurologist of Bombay Hospital BA Singhal, neurosurgeon Dr Dev Poojari and Dr Rajeev Shah.

After the operation, Maharashtra chief minister Sushilkumar Shinde called upon Jogi at the hospital.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi also rang up the hospital to inquire about his well being.

His family members were also present at the hospital.

Jogi, was injured when his car lost control and rammed into a wayside tree near Ghariaband, about 45 kms from the Chhattisgarh capital, while on his way back from Mahasamund from where he is contesting the Lok Sabha elections.

He had sustained severe 'spinal shock' and minor head injuries and was flown to Mumbai last evening in a special state aircraft after preliminary treatment at a hospital in Raipur.

Bombay Hospital sources said that in view of the improving health condition of Jogi, the panel of doctors are now trying to remove the ventilator support.

"We are happy over the progress of health condition of Mr Jogi," the sources said.

A senior Congress leader is also expected to arrive here in the evening and meet the doctors attending on Jogi.

Proof of Rane-Munde involvement in stamps scam with CBI: Bhujbal SANGLI, MAHARASHTRA, Apr 12 (UNI) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal has claimed that proofs regarding the involvement of opposition leaders Narayan Rane and Gopinath Munde in the multi-crore fake stamp papers scam were now with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Addressing a press conference here yesterday, Bhujbal said he had submitted the proofs to the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which had now handed over the same to the CBI.

Bhujbal, who was here to address an election meeting for Congress candidate in the Sangli Lok Sabha constituency Prakashbapu Patil, charged that Rane and Munde had so far been targetting him by levelling false allegations to hide their own involvement in the scam and divert public attention.

He said the SIT had asked him 25 questions but he had submitted to it certain papers as proofs of complicity of the two leaders along with SJP MLA Anil Gote, at present in jail in connection with the scam.

He alleged that the two leaders in collusion with Gote had attempted to use funds from prime accused Abdul Karim Telgi to topple the ruling Democratic Front (DF) government in the state.

Bhujbal wondered why Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray had kept mum about the links of Rane and Munde with Telgi .

PM will allocate Rs 50 crore for Panchmahal: Modi GODHRA, Apr 12 (UNI) Prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has earmarked Rs 50 crore for the development of Panchmahal and surrounding tribal districts of Gujarat, chief minister Narendra Modi said here today.

Modi while addressing a public meet here said, "Atalji has promised to allocate rs 50 crore for the development of Panchmahal and the nearby tribal regions of Gujarat." The chief minister spoke about various development projects undertaken in the region.

"BJP has completed many development projects in the last five years, which the Congress could not do during their fifty years or rule", Modi said.

"The roads that Atalji is building are not mere tar roads, but are paths which will lead the country to economic progress", he quipped.

CBSE PMT to be held on April 17, probe ordered NEW DELHI, Apr 12 (UNI) The All India Pre-Medical Entrance Examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education, will now be held on April 17, CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly today said.

The examination was cancelled on Saturday following leak of question papers.

He said that the board has set up an inquiry committee to look into the paper leak in which 2.5 lakh students from all over the country were to appear.

The Delhi police was already conducting its inquiry while Human Resources Development minister Murli Manohar Joshi had announced a CBI inquiry in to the matter yesterday.

Ganguly said the new date has been finalised on Saturday keeping in view the schedule of other examinations and the time required for the result of the preliminary test to be declared so that the next phase of examination could be held on schedule on may 16.

The centres for the examinations would remain the same for students.

Replying to a question about the cause of the leakage, he said that though many precautions were taken, there might be some black sheep within the system.

"Moreover, since it is a massive operation involving many stakeholders from outside the system, one never knows who succumbs to temptations and betrays the trust." However, many steps are being taken to plug the loopholes in the system and minimise the gaps.

Massive measures are being taken to make the system fool-proof.

Details are being worked out to improve the system and many confidential measures are being taken to make the process above board.

About the proposal to send the papers online to examination centres just an hour before the test, the CBSE chairman said it was not feasible at present.

There are so many problems in networking in a country like India.

Though CBSE has taken care that the examination date does not clash with other exams being held in the country, the screening test for admission to iits was secheduled just for the next day, which would not give the students opting for both medical and engineering entrance much time gap between the two.

The leakage of the paper came to light with the arrest of two persons in East Delhi on Saturday night.

The papers seized from two people matched with the original set of papers.

Agitated over the leakage, students yesterday demonstrated outside the cbse office demanding firm steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.

Students, who had come from suburbs and remote areas, said the cancellation has caused a waste of time and money for them.

This the fourth incident of leakage of entrance examination beginning with the leakage of CATS entrance examination for Indian Institute of Managements last year, followed by B.Com examinations in Maharashtra and more recently Government School Examinations in Delhi.