Even Congress was in bad shape before 2004 election.
Indian election is jaggarnaut, when rath will start ,everything will start rolling.
In general, urban population is very upset with current government.
Congress is banking on OBC or SC/ST or Muslims. They should know OBC, SC/ST votes will split among lot of yadavs, Paswans or Ramadoss type. Upper caste is lost cause for Congress. For now they are out COngree default kitty bag. There is difference between 1931 census which is COngress dooms day book and current demography of India. Three states are majority OBC/SC/ST. They will go to local parties PMK,DMK,Laltan etc. Rest of India is not OBC/SC/ST. Population is well distributed.
<b>Check out UPA's 'multiple organ failure'</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b> "Power cuts as long as 8 to 10 hours in the national capital alone coupled with the Congress-led administration's inability to check prices and food shortage in the country show that the government is suffering from multiple organ failure," </b>BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said.
He insisted that the current power crisis indicated that the<b> UPA would fail to keep its promise to add 100,000 megawatts to the country's power generation capacity by 2012</b>.
"Almost all states are suffering from massive power cuts. The government has to explain what has led to this crisis. We therefore demand a status report on the country's overall power situation," Javadekar said.
Also, he accused <b>the government of slowing down infrastructure projects, alleging the UPA government's average road laying has come down to 1.5 km a day from 4.5 km a day under the NDA administration</b>.
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<b>It has taken the Indian middle classes just over 25 months to formally terminate their honeymoon with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA Government. </b>The point of endurance had been unacceptably stretched during the kerfuffle over reservations in April and May but the flak had largely been directed at Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh. This month, the Rubicon has been crossed.
First, there was the Government's complete inability to cope with spiralling prices of daily necessities. The attempt by the Congress to be too clever by half and distance itself from its own Government also came a cropper. Few, if anyone, bought the ingenuous argument that consumers were paying more for dal, sugar and tomatoes because the previous Government erred some four years ago.
Second, the UPA's benign neglect of investment in infrastructure is beginning to manifest itself in bottlenecks and disruption. North India has been plagued by power cuts and business in Mumbai has been disrupted by the failure of successive Governments to upgrade the sewers.
Never mind fulfilling the Prime Minister's promise of replicating Shanghai, it is now doubtful whether India will be able to successfully host the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Meanwhile, Rs 40,000 crore is being poured into the cesspool of corruption under the guise of rural employment because someone wants to appear Lady Bountiful.
Third, the explosion of private agendas is making governance incoherent. If Arjun Singh's quota game wasn't bad enough, the past fortnight has witnessed a reckless Health Minister trying to govern through flights of whimsy. Coalitions have in-built uncertainties but by now every bit player has chosen to do his own thing. The PMK wants the AIIMS Director out; the DMK won't countenance a Cabinet resolution on a small divestment of Nyeveli Lignite Corporation; the I&B Minister is proceeding with legislation that will make Indian media as "free" as China's; and the Commerce Minister would rather he wasn't ridiculed by global media for putting football over WTO parleys.
Even foreign policy, hitherto the Centre's prerogative, appears to have been outsourced. The CPI(M) is cutting its deals with Nepali Maoists, with tacit approval of a section of the Government. The DMK is pressing for a U-turn in India's Sri Lanka policy - a move with catastrophic consequences. The Muslim lobby has coerced the Government into, yet again, endorsing the fanatics and suicide bombers in West Asia, over the one country that has been a consistent friend. And the National Security Adviser is busy playing the Kerala card in the UN and making India a laughing stock in the race for the Secretary-General's post.
Finally, the country seems in no mood to digest all those stories about serial unhappiness at Race Course Road. We heard that the PM was "unhappy" with Natwar Singh but he, nevertheless, issued him a clean chit on the Volcker Report. He was "unhappy" that his HRD Minister started another quota war but he hasn't moved his little finger to check the future onrush of divisive legislation. And now he is said to be "unhappy" and "anguished" that the DMK, backed by the Communists, has made a monkey of all plans to raise resources without imposing crippling new taxes. So severe was his distress that whereas M Karunanidhi asked for status quo on Neyveli Lignite, the Prime Minister ended up putting all divestment on hold.
With this phenomenal explosion of unhappiness, is it any wonder that every blackmailer is convinced there is a percentage in keeping Manmohan permanently aggrieved?
In less than a month, India has witnessed a subtle but important transformation. From a weak Congress-led coalition, the country has moved into a Third Front Government headed by the Congress. Those who missed out on the chance of experiencing Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, Deve Gowda, and I K Gujral or, for that matter, Muhammad Shah Rangila, have their opportunity to relive history.
<b>Itâs over </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> 6 July 2006: <b>The question that Manmohan Singh should ask himself is, when should he go, resign? Not if he should resign, by when...</b>
.......................
But it is not Karunanidhi alone or that unspeakable thug in health, the UPA government is going in as many different directions as there are cabinet ministers, a majority of them have declared independence from centralized, collective decision making. There is almost an unwritten compact in the cabinet among the more forceful ministers, there is no interference in one anotherâs territory, nobody stops nobody from taking decisions even if they have the potential to cause instability, to provoke a national crisis.
<b>The agriculture minister, Sharad Pawar, has played havoc with food security, and the PM was powerless to call him to account. Arjun Singh has let loose the quota genie that this hopelessly divided minority government cannot bottle again. Senior journalists who have covered Planning Commission meetings have observed the utter disdain that ministers like Pranab Mukherjee and the finance minister, P.Chidambaram, have for the PM. They show up after the PM, if at all, they are very late, and they postpone decisions even if the PM may be expecting one. âThe PM has been humiliated time after time,â said a senior journalist. âHe swallows the insults, and that is about all he can do.â</b> <!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<b>Now why Manmohan Singh wonât up and go has often been speculated, his slavish devotion for Sonia Gandhi, his inability to give up a responsibility, even if he is failing at it, and some even say he does not care any longer, that he has grown a hide, and so on</b>. But one doesnât know. Except, it should be clear to a man of his intelligence that he is advancing, if not pushing, everyoneâs agenda, and his vision, if he has any, is getting choked in the process. He has tried to be someone else after the Vidharba visit, the tragic farmersâ suicides would affect anybody, but he is talking about excess consumption, waste, etc, Western preoccupations today, when we are barely sustained on growth. His confusion will not make his job easier, and even while his ministers declare independence, the shackles get worse on him. How long can he survive this way?
There will be recrimination, the Left/ allies will bay for Congress blood, its ability to power a coalition government will be queried, and surely, the BJP will taunt it, the NDA couldnât be happier. But see the other side, going on like this is only delaying the inevitable, the Congress has no chance in the next election, better to force a situation where the party escapes with the least damage, and risks the future. But the Congress leadership is risk averse, Congress ministers wouldnât want to surrender the vices of office. What, though, is Manmohan Singh getting out of continuing? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I think everyone is giving too much credit to Manmohan singh. That he honest, unpretentious, not currupt etc. I think he is just another one of those babu clinger who would do anything for post. I think he does not have any shame at all and would bear any insult so long as he is the PM. That would totally explain his silence and how he capitulates to the demands of these scums.
Just like the way media idolises the italian's sacrifice, the spineless's honesty is being played up by the commie media.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I think he is just another one of those babu clinger who would do anything for post<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Exactly, shameless and pathetic human. Tail wagging.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>10 Janpath rules, Sonia makes it clear to PM </b>
Pioneer.com
Yogesh Vajpeyi | New Delhi
Ignoring the protests of a sulking Prime Minister, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has decided to make it clear that it is 10 Janpath and not 7 Race Course Road that will determine the UPA Government's roadmap from now on.
After last Friday's core group meeting, which witnessed some sharp exchanges between the Government and the party, it has been decided that the group will meet more often to monitor Government policies, sources said.
<b>Sonia has also decided to appoint key people to ensure that the Government's decisions are in sync with the party line</b>. These appointments are likely to be made within a week, when Sonia revamps the All India Congress Committee (AICC), shifting some leaders from the organisation to gubernatorial posts.
As Raj Bhavans in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are awaiting fresh nominees, this will be a handy excuse for a reshuffle, Sonia's political managers feel.
<b>The move is likely to bring little cheer in the Prime Minister's camp, which is under constant attack from old hands like ML Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Ajit Jogi, who feel that they are being marginalised in Singh's dispensation.</b>
After Sonia's re-election, Jogi had even mobilised a group of party MPs to demand that Singh step down to allow Sonia to take charge. At that time, the Congress establishment had tried to show as if it had nothing to do with the move. But <b>old party watchers had predicted that it was beginning of a subtle campaign undermining Manmohan Singh's position and suspected that the move had Sonia's tacit support</b>.
Since then, many developments have taken place corroborating this impression. The first unmistakable indication that Sonia was not exactly happy with the UPA Government's working was when she wrote to the Prime Minister in April this year advising him to "very carefully scrutinise" India-ASEAN Free Trade agreement to safeguard the interest of Indian farmers.
<b>The confrontation neared flash point when the Manmohan Singh Government went ahead with the hike in fuel prices despite Sonia's disapproval. And the battle lines were drawn when the Prime Minister would not go for even a partial role back as suggested by Sonia. </b>
The issue of the complicated 4-page saral (easy) form issued by the Income Tax Department of the Finance Ministry proved another irritant. The party wanted it abolished but the Government only made it optional.
<b>This galvanised senior Congressmen like Fotedar, Arjun Singh and Jogi </b>into action and they stepped up their campaign against Singh by asking Sonia to convene a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to discuss the Government's handling of the spurt in the prices of essential commodities.
They were joined by Jairam Ramesh, AK Anthony and Digvijay Singh who felt the Government was ignoring the political imperatives of the party. In this backdrop, the CWC meet on prices virtually turned out into a stinging indictment of the Government.
Most of them dismissed Finance Minister P Chidambaram's elaborate defence of the Government's policies. Singh tried to back his Chidambaram but found no takers of his view.
The subsequent meetings of the AICC office-bearers and the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled States did little to dispel the impression that the Manmohan Government was under scrutiny of those at the helm of affairs in the organisation.
Though the Congress Chief Ministers blamed a four-year-old order under Essential Commodities Act as the major hurdle in their efforts to contain prices, it was an indirect attack on the Centre for continuing the NDA policy even after the UPA Government's installation more than two years back.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Salman Khurshid represents the outfit though it was banned by his
party-led UPA govt in February this year.
Though the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre put a ban on
Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in February this year, it
has not stopped one of the party's senior leaders from vigorously
opposing the ban in the Supreme Court.
Uttar Pradesh Congress president Salman Khurshid represented the group
- widely suspected along with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) for Tuesday's
serial blasts in Mumbai - in the Supreme Court this week.
Khurshid, a senior SC lawyer, argued against the Centre's order to put
an immediate ban on the organisation.
The SIMI has, however, withdrawn the petition.
The UPA had set up a one-judge tribunal headed by Delhi High Court
judge B N Chaturvedi to adjudicate whether there was sufficient ground
to justify the ban.
The tribunal has since held hearings in Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Delhi.
Almost all these states, including Maharashtra, have alleged SIMI's
links with LeT, Hizbul Mujahideen (HuM) and other fundamentalist
outfits in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and West Asian countries.
In its 11-page-long affidavit filed by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) ACP
Datta Sambhaji Dhawale in May this year, the Maharashtra government
said, "SIMI, along with LeT, is continuously engaged in unlawful
activities to cause damage to national sovereignty, integrity and
religious harmony in India."
When contacted for his comments on the SIMI's alleged involvement in
the Mumbai blasts, Khurshid said, "Police have their job cut out.
They, along with the judiciary, have to decide on the case."
Asked if he is comfortable representing in court an organisation
allegedly behind terror attacks, he said he finds nothing wrong in it.
"We cannot hold any person or outfit guilty in advance. It is up to
the judiciary. <b>We as leaders are not competent to pronounce anyone
guilty or not guilty,"</b> Khurshid told Mumbai Mirror.
The whole nation seems to be waiting for the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. A down-to-earth man, Singh is in a fix. Badgered by his own men in the UPA Government day in and out, he appears very unhappy. His authority is being questioned every now and then.
The truth is that Manmohan Singh is a nice person. However, nice people can't run the world's largest democracy. What we have today is no governance. The common man is a mute witness to fraud, corruption and total break down of law and order.
The OBC reservations will destroy the very few good educational institutions. The Padmabhushan AIIMS Director Venugopal was shamefully dismissed by Health Minister A Ramadoss. Disinvestments are put on hold, thanks to the threat of the Congress allies from Tamil Nadu.
Now, between the Tamil Nadu local politics of DMK, PMK and Union Minister Chidambaram, who suffers? The DMK & PMK both have their nephews, sons-in-laws in the Union Government. Family politics dominates. Dynasty raj everywhere.
The way Uttar Pradesh is being handled is shameful. Central Ministers are fighting with each other in full view of the media, resignations and allegations are leaked.
Unemployment in the country is the main reason for the increase in criminal activities. Farmers are committing suicides even though the Prime Minister had announced a relief package for them. No one in the rest of the country seems to be bothered about the farmers. The National Advisory Committee set up by Indira Gandhi is finished.
The expectations that the common man had from the Prime Minister are demolished. Even he is showing signs of surrender. Looks like a clean good image on its own is not good enough. Today he has become a puppet in the hands of the people surrounding him. It would be better for him and his image if he was to resign today and say that he is incapable of handling bullies.
What India needs today is a man with strong leadership qualities, one who can stand up to the bullies. A person who has the ability to root out corruption by sacking inefficient and non-performing people.
In the last two years the UPA led Government headed by Congress has only added to the chaos and confusion. It is time for them to put their act together or the Third Front, which is waiting in the wings, will come and destroy whatever is left of the country.
<b>UPA in complicity with terror elements for poll gains: Jaswant </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Bangalore, July 16: Senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh today charged the UPA government with being in complicity with "terrorist elements" for electoral gains.
Singh, a Rajya Sabha member, alleged at a press conference here that in the last elections in Assam, the UPA had an "electoral understanding" with ULFA, while in Andhra Pradesh, it had encouraged Maoists, who had publicly made a statement that they had made an attempt on the life of former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
He said the government continued to neglect national security.
On the recent Mumbai blasts, Singh said the government's assertions of fighting terrorism are "empty' and termed its statements "ritual". These assertions and statements do not have the strength or supporting policies or conviction of action to deal with the situation.
He said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that the government would use all weapons to fight terrorism after the Mumbai blasts, was a "borrowed phrase" from the us. "He (the prime minister) should say what weapon he will use in India'.
Asked if it was "intelligence failure" that was responsible for Mumbai blasts, Singh said it was the "intelligence of the government that has failed".<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The guys are really loosing it India blocks Blogger, TypeAd and Geocities blogs and websites
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Indian Government has issued an order to all Indian ISPs for a ban on various blogging sites. While no official release has been made on this front, the reasons being attributed to this ban range from it being a preventive measure to stop sleeper terrorist cells from accessing instructions contained in blogs, to a new measure to try and control the spread of information through blogs. The order was issued by Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The known list of blocked domains is *.blogspot.com, *.typepad.com and geocities.com/*.
It leads me to wonder if this is a case of ISPs overreacting, which would not be the first. Three years ago, they had rather zealously blocked groups.yahoo.com in a similar manner when all they wanted to actually do was to block a particular group. As of now most of the large ISPs have already complied with the DoT order and a large population of Indian bloggers has been cut off from their own blogs. Keep checking back here, as we will post more news on this story whnever available.
Here is a a list of Indian ISPs who have already complied with this order.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>Censored: Govt signs out bloggers</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Various ISPs say they were asked to block access to a list of 20 odd websites, which these include sites like <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Dalitstan.org, Clickatell.com, Hinduunity.com, Princesskimberly.blogspot.com and Hinduhumanrights.org </span>- all sites that supposedly spread extreme views.
But trying to prevent access to extremist views seems to have backfired on the Government, because instead of blocking only those specific blogs and possibly escaping all this attention - the ISPs have gone ahead and blocked all blogs.
The result is a united front on the part of the bloggers who want to know what's going on for they could not access some of their favourite sites like Blogspot.com and Geocities.com.
However, ISPs say that they are not at fault for though a lot of the blocked sites are not on the list issued to them, there is a technical glitch as it's not possible to block certain pages, without blocking the entire site.
The order banning blog sites was issued on July 13 though it was not officially announced. <b>The Government alleges these blogsites were fuelling hatred and communalism.</b>
However, the Government also clarified its stand saying that they were not trying to censor free speech in the country but that these sites have been under security check much before the terrorist attacks
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
They will not find any Christian or Islamic site spreading hatred.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>UPA Govt gifts Mallika Sarabhai Rs 10 crore </b>
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
Dancer-socialite turns filmmaker at taxpayers' expense for Gujarat-bashing documentaries ---- Obsession with Narendra Modi's Gujarat has made the UPA Government persuade Doordarshan to dole out Rs 10 crore for a series of documentaries highlighting the condition of women in Gujarat. The decision is bound to enrage the Gujarat Chief Minister because the person chosen to carry out the assignment is his bitter critic - Mallika Sarabhai, more famous for her dance performances and lesser known for her skills behind the TV camera. Â
Mallika Sarabhai
<b>Sources said the Planning Commission had sent the outline of a two-page pilot project to Prasar Bharati to commission a Gujarat-centric programme on the economic status of women in rural and slum areas.</b> The matter was discussed in the last meeting of the Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation where it met with stiff opposition from at least two members.
They objected to Sarabhai's choice, pointing out her bitter relation with the Gujarat Government. Sarabhai had run a bitter campaign against Modi after the Gujarat riots and the State Government had launched several prosecution proceedings against her. The Prasar Bharati Broadcasting Corporation was told that assigning Sarabhai with a programme of such a nature would not be proper, objective criticism of the State Government might have to be an essential component.
"We were not opposed to the programme per se, but the way Mallika Sarabhai was handpicked for it in violation of all norms. We pointed that even if Mallika Sarabhai were to produce such a programme on Gujarat, it is bound to trigger a controversy and suffer from lack of credibility," a board member told The Pioneer.
The programme also came under critical scrutiny because of the amount involved. <b>A sum of Rs 10 crore for a commissioned programme for such State-centric documentaries may be unheard of</b>. More so, when Doordarshan is facing a financial crunch and there is greater thrust on programmes where the producer pays for the time slot.
"I find it difficult to believe that such large sums could be proposed for such programmes focussed on one State. I never heard of such a thing during my tenure as Minister for Information and Broadcasting," said Rajya Sabha member Ravishanker Prasad.
Sources said in the face of strong opposition, the Prasar Bharti Broadcasting Corporation decided to broaden the scope of the series of documentaris by offering to include two more States on a suggestion made by a member, ML Mehta.
When contacted by The Pioneer, Prasar Bharti chairman MV Klamath refused to be drawn into the controversy. " I'll place my view in the board's meeting on the issue," he said.
However, Prasar Bharti's Chief Executive Officer Navin Kumar defended the decision and justified the allotment of Rs 10 crore for the serials. "This is going be a year-long series touching various issue. It will cover Gujarat and Haryna and another State, which we are trying to identify," he said. "Considering the vast number of episodes, the sum of Rs 10 crore is not extraordinary," he said.
Kumar also denied that members had opposed Mallika Sarabhai commissioned for the documentaries. "I am not aware of any such dissent," he told The Pioneer.
However, a member told The Pioneer that if the Prasar Bharati was to make the proceedings of the last Board meeting public, the truth will come out. "We had strongly opposed and will take up the issue again at next board meeting," a member said.
Planning Commission sends outline of two-page pilot project to Prasar Bharati
<b>Opponents say dancer's bias against State Government may creep into proposed docu-serial
We had strongly opposed it... will take it up in next meeting: Prasar Bharati board member
Never heard of such a thing during my tenure as I&B Minister: Ravishanker Prasad </b><!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->UPA Govt gifts Mallika Sarabhai Rs 10 croreÂ
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What a waste of tax payer money. She'll rip of Rakesh Sharma's trash and pocket the Rs 10 crore.
New Delhi, July 21. (UNI): A US-based NRI forum has written a letter to Lok Sabha members asking them not to legalise the Office of Profit (Oop) bill.
The NRI Coalition For Social Justice said the Parliament should, instead, encourage the "one man one-post" formula to spread opportunities and widen inner-party democracy.
"We would request our lawmakers who are bent upon protecting their Offices of Profit and hence supporting the Government move, to not to challenge the wisdom of our forefathers who drafted and incorporated that law pertaining to Offices of Profit," it stated.
The NRIs believe the "Lawmakers should concentrate on their most honest duty of lawmaking, monitoring their implementation and analyzing their impact on the life of the nation".
A copy of the letter, addressed to Lok Sabha members through Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, was also forwarded to news organisations.
<img src='http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/Indian_censored_list.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />
<b>MORON awards goes to Minister Dayanidhi MARAN of Tamil Nadu.</b>
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->