I hardly think that the ITALIAN MAFIA is ready to face the eloctrate right now. They have been exposed and the image of the MAFIA CHIEF SONIA carefully built by the PRESS (who think that they are serving the secular cause with no understanding that she is a DESPOT and FASCIST and her hatred for Hindu India knows no bounds) such as TimesOfItaly, Italian Express has taken a beating. CONmen thought that by renunciation gimmick SONIA enhanced her image so much that CONmen can increase their vote share in Northern India and pick up 60-70 seats. But the facts stare right in their eyes and now they can't risk losing power. If the SHROUD loses power, she LOSES all halo. She has everything going good. MMS is the face and people can't question his integrity. She can do all back room manuovering and get away with any thing with the help of ITALIAN EXPRESS, TIMES OF ITALY, HINDU and other COMMIE-infected news papers. Now that the image has been dented with GOA and JARKHAND, she will wait until every one forget the SCANDALS and then hope to come up with a better timing to GRAB absolute POWER.
Elections will not happen until Rahul Gandhi becomes 35, thus attains the legal age limit to become the PM of India. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What I dont understand is how Reliance that helped form the UPA is getting slapped left and right? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Founder of C-DOT, NRI and Rajeev Gandhi budy is behind, can't recall his name. He is back in India and want to recapture market for his company.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Mar 5 2005, 01:32 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Mar 5 2005, 01:32 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> <!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->What I dont understand is how Reliance that helped form the UPA is getting slapped left and right? <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Founder of C-DOT, NRI and Rajeev Gandhi budy is behind, can't recall his name. He is back in India and want to recapture market for his company. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> Sam Pitroda.
I believe regional parties is not good for the country. Two party system is better for India. Anyway, the reaons why we have regional parties is just to satsify the ego and selfish political interests on leaders. Once they establish parties, aren't they following the same policies of either BJP or Congress. IN addition to that, with too many parties, there are too many leaders who are involved in govt. formation and decision making. It is making he country progress slowly. Look how many people shikhandi Manmohan Singh has to consult before he signs each file. Is that how we are supposed to progress? Also, having a PM and another person as leader of the party is not good either. One man one post should be made an exception to the top post. When Vajpayee, Rajiv and Indira were PM's people didn't worry about dual centers of power. Now our PM was made so irrelevant, I sometimes doubt if India has a working PM at all. In theory, one man one post sounds relevant but in practice, especially in India, it doesn't work. Look at the spectacle of how 5 elected MLA's were trying to avoid some states friendly to Congress to reach Rashtrapathi Bhavan. How is that these MLA's became criminals on some states and heroes on other states? Wasn't India one nation? Don't we have one criminal justice system? Then what is this? Isn't it obvious that regional parties are administering their own criminal justice system and politicizing it.
It also explains the need for a federal police force in the lines of FBI.
We also need to move to the system of direct election to PM and CM's post and elect legislature seperately, basically a Presidential form of govt. The only reason why communists are against this proposal is that, they will loose leverage in govt. formation and resulting loss of power and relevancy. It is time we choose out chief executive rather than let some Italian mafia lady appoint someone of her wish.
<b>Third front sees Delhi hope, not BJP</b> <!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy and Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh were seen closeted in Parliamentâs central hall for much of this week after it became clear that the cracks in the UPA had deepened with Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ram Vilas Paswan parting ways irrevocably.
The trio â reportedly unhappy with the Centre for their own reasons â worked on the calculation that the time was âripeâ to put in place a âthird frontâ government, propped up by the BJP. George Fernandes was seen as the âperfectâ candidate to head it.
Their hopes surged after Laloo Prasad became bitter for being âdone inâ by the Congress in Bihar, Sharad Pawar for not getting his man as Maharashtra chief minister and the DMK because a central Congress minister had needled its chief M. Karunanidhi with his âcasteistâ remarks and because of a suspicion that the Congress was out to split the party and take away the PMK and the MDMK. To top that, the Left was restive with the Congressâs reforms agenda.
But the three excluded the Left and Laloo Prasad from the oust-UPA blueprint and were looking at <b>a non-Congress, non-Bahujan Samaj Party government</b>, which, they claimed, had the numbers if the BJP agreed to back it. The BJP, they added, was all too willing to play ball.
The BJP had a more pragmatic take on the scenario. Sources said while <b>the gubernatorial controversies in Panaji and Ranchi had âchippedâ away at Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singhâs images and restored to the BJP the âmoral groundâ </b>it had lost after the Lok Sabha polls, there was no âreal threatâ to the Centre â âat least not for a whileâ.
The partyâs assessment was that even if Paswan and Shibu Soren left the UPA, it would be safe numerically. âIf you recall, the NDA followed the same trajectory. Smaller parties like the NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) and Ajit Singhâs Indian National Lok Dal walked out. While we had the numbers, the underpinning was slightly weakened,â said a BJP functionary.
The unravelling would start only if Laloo Prasad is mishandled. âHow they tackle Laloo Prasad and how he tackles them has to be watched,â a source said<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Now TN Jaya will change her strategy again. Secular terrorist lost election and moral right to rule states, now Jaya will try to make U-turn of Seer episode. We may see all case withdrawn and Premkumar will be escape goat before mid-term poll.
The Congress has always held itself as an imperial party with all rights to rule India. In fact, it still thinks that only they have the 'legitimate' right to rule the country. I heard Girija Vyas stating sometime back in one of the news channels- " we are good as rulers and they are better in opposition". she obviously indicated the NDA. The biggest problem in India is that the majority of its citizens are illiterate and lack proper knowledge in history and politics. Hence it becomes even more difficult to actually communicate to these people about the dangers of handing over the reins of a free nation to a foreign born lady. In fact, the root cause of all probelms in our country is lack of education and extreme poverty. Political parties have ensured that the populace remains illiterate so that they can make them dance to their tunes and they are cashing in on the illiteracy factor of Indian population.
IMO, the Congress is actually digging its own grave. It has failed earlier and still hasn't learned a lesson that the era of single party rule has gone for good and the only way to remain in power is to hang on with the allies. Sonia Gandhi's ambition to become PM will be a very good reason for the Congress to lose power and it might never return back. It might also become a very good reason for a new revolution in the country. Fortunately if at all it happens, her larger than life image will take a beating. I personally feel that Sonia has been the reason for the rise of Congress post Bofors and she alone will be the reason for its downfall from where it might never ever bounce back. I personally wish it happens.
Only thing that is uniting the UPA allies is their immense hatred for BJP. Look at the extent they are going to protect and accomodate the "Congress president". Absolute slave mentality at display. They also realize that Congress is the only alternative national party that is capable of forming a government in terms of numbers. In other words, the UPA allies will have to accept the Big Brother role of the Congress in the government.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Allies keep Delhi out of battles
K. SUBRAHMANYA
New Delhi, March 8: The Congress leadership has managed to keep the ruling United Progressive Alliance insulated at the Centre from state-level troubles involving some of the allies.
The post-Assembly poll developments in Bihar leading to Presidentâs rule yesterday have brought the Congressâs coalition management skills into focus.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal, which is the second largest UPA constituent after the Congress, and the Lok Janshakti Party, its Bihar rival, have resolved to co-exist in the UPA at the national level despite bitterness for each other in Bihar.
RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav may be angry that the Congress leadership had covertly egged on his LJP counterpart Ram Vilas Paswan to ruin his re-election prospects, <b>âbut he has no grievance against the Congress presidentâ</b>, said a party functionary. <b>âNor is he going to embarrass the UPA government.â</b>
So far, there has been no indication that âaggrievedâ junior partners would unite themselves within the ruling coalition to weaken the Congressâs authority.
There is also no talk of any ginger group, like the âfederal frontâ that operated in the erstwhile United Front, or an informal pressure group of junior parties in the National Democratic Alliance when it was in power.
Sections within the Congress had feared that the allies could seek to strengthen themselves by bringing âlike-minded junior partnersâ together. That is now unlikely to happen. Congress leaders feel relieved that Laloo Prasad, who could have proved to be the nucleus for such a pressure group, has not gone for such an approach.
Among the UPA partners, a kind of neutrality prevails when it comes to dealing with state issues involving an ally and the Congress.
Last October, Sharad Pawarâs Nationalist Congress Party had tried to bring together the UPA partners to exert pressure on the Congress to concede the Maharashtra chief ministership to the NCP nominee. The NCP had expected the RJD and Left parties to express solidarity. But a senior NCP functionary said: <b>âThe response from the allies and the Left were disappointing. âWe were alone when we expected others to stand up and be counted though we were privately assured of their support.â</b>
The Telengana Rashtra Samiti, the Congressâs Andhra Pradesh ally, also experienced a similar problem when it tried to place its statehood demand on the UPAâs priority list. TRS leader and Union minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao was made to understand that he would have to deal with Sonia on a one-to-one basis.
In Bihar, the NCP has maintained its neutrality, though the party extended the support of its three MLAs to the RJD, said a party leader.
The DMK, the third largest constituent in the UPA, too prefers to sort out its problems with the Congress on its own instead of taking every issue to the UPA co-ordination committee. âIt ensures that individual problems involving one or the other ally stays confined to the state where the ally has its base. The UPA at the national level does not get into the picture. Which is why we believe that the Bihar developments would have no adverse impact on the ruling UPA at the national level,â said a Congress leader.
Therefore, it is no surprise that there has been no demand from the allies for a UPA co-ordination committee meeting to sort out problems in Bihar or Jharkhand, he added.
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I agree with you Dev. It is this slavery mentality of the Congress that will spell doom for the entire nation. They want to remain in power at any and every cost under the pretext of saving 'secularism' and 'democracy'. The Congress has self- appointed itself as the guardian of democracy and secularism. I bet not even one-fourth of the members in INC follow these principles. They are all cashing in on the popularity of the foreign lady. Look at the way they handle media. They have almost all news channels talking in favor of them.
The way the high command of INC, though there's only the foreign lady up there, has tried to fiddle with democracy in Jharkhand indicates the long term plans of the autocratic party. It is also felt by most of the top politicians and political analysts that the INC is clearing it's way to become the only party with clear mojority. They can only achieve it by grabbing power in all the states. It happend in Jharkhand, Bihar and Goa and will happen in UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan and MP. Just wait and see.
If Congress gets hold of power in all the states in India, there will be nothing to stop it from becoming the only party with majority. If this happens then there will be nothing to stop Sonia Gandhi from becoming PM. In other words, clearly Ms. Sonia Maino 'Gandhi' is in process of becoming dictator of our country. And if she becomes a dictator, you know who rules our country? No it's not Italy. Apparently, they are not interested. It starts with U, ends with A and has 'S' in the middle.
http://www.newsinsight.net/nati2.asp?recno=3220
The UP chief minister and Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav, has advised his core group of MPs to concentrate again on their constituencies in preparation for Lok Sabha elections in October.
Sources could not point to any provocation for this extraordinary counsel, since the UPA government in the Centre has survived the upheavals, constitutional deadlocks, and confrontations with the judiciary in Goa, Jharkhand and Bihar, but the extraordinary political cunning of Mulayam is forcing political rivals to do a double take on this development.
Mulayam is close to the Left leadership, especially CPI-M general secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who is unhappy with the Congress leadership over the developments in Bihar, where it allied with Ram Vilas Paswanâs LJP to defeat Laloo Prasad Yadav.
Mulayam has also build new links with Paswan, in the hope of cutting into Mayawatiâs Dalit votebank in UP, and sources said Samajwadi Party poll preparations could have links to the Paswan and Surjeet connections.
In Bihar, despite Lalooâs show of warmth for Congress president Sonia Gandhi, her party could be undercutting the RJD, by planning a long spell of Presidentâs rule to showcase the advantages of being governed by a national party like the Congress.
In the event of prolonged direct rule in Bihar, one of the internal Congress party recommendations, Laloo-Congress relations would be directly hit, leading him to carry out his threat of quitting the UPA, and this would conceivably force general elections, if the Left pulls out with the RJD.
âAnything is possible,â said a political stalwart, âthe situation is very fluid, and it is very likely that Mulayam has scented a change early.â
The chinks within the UPA are growing wider by the day. Till now the ruling 'family's' discord was debated in the media and co-ordination committee of the Congress-led alliance. But during the last 48 hours, the UPA's disharmony has surfaced in the Parliament twice, much to the embarrassment of the Manmohan Singh government.
Monday also exposed Left parties duplicity on two crucial issues which squarely went against the declared Communist agenda. While Left walked out during the introduction of the pension fund regulatory bill and vowed to vote against it, the communists looked ready to sail with the government on the Patent (amendment) bill.
Realising that the NDA was taking just the opposite stand on these two bills--supporting the pension bill and opposing the patent bill-- the Left parties cleverly adopted a two-pronged strategy to save UPA government from losing on the floor of the House if the Opposition pressed for a division on these two bills.
Barely two after the RJD MPs walked out of the Lok Sabha against a decision of the UPA government of which it is as an ally, the Left parties followed suit on Monday by trooping out of the Lower House during the introduction of the pension regulatory authority Bill.
The RJD's decision to walk-out on the issue of imposition of President rule in Bihar, is particularly galling for the Government. This may be one of the rarest of rare instance in the Parliament when an ally of the government with eight ministers in the Union Cabinet, had walked out to protest against a decision endorsed by the very Cabinet.
For the UPA government, which is already facing embarrassment because of the daily slugfest between RJD chief Lalu Prasad and LJP president Ramvilas Paswan, it was a difficult task to answer opposition criticism on breach of collective responsibility of the cabinet.
In a damage-control exercise, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Monday tried to clarify in the Rajya Sabha that the decision to bring Bihar under President's rule was a collective responsibility of the Cabinet and there was no problem within the UPA partners. Intervening in the discussion on bringing President's rule in Bihar, the Home Minister said the decision had been taken on principles of 'collective responsibility'.
Even as Mr Patil accused the Opposition of trying to create a cleavage between UPA BJP's Ravi Shanker Prasad demanded that the Prime Minister ask Railway Minister Lalu Prasad to resign on the issue of RJD's walkout.'
"It is a clear case of infraction of collective responsibility," Mr Prasad said, adding, "this is a serious issue and has happened for the first time in the country.
The Left's final plan may ensure that the government was able to push the two bill through, but the " barking' squad caused enough embarrassment to the government.
The CPI(M) clearly said the left parties would vote against the pension bill if the centre pushed it in its present form. The CPI(M), which led other left parties to stage a walkout when the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha, said it was vehemently opposed to handing over the pension fund to private players.
"We had opposed when the present pension scheme was introduced, and we will continue to oppose it in parliament--for consideration and passing," CPI(M) leader in the Lok Sabha Basudeb Acharia told reporters. He said pension was the only social security scheme available to employees and no move should be made which could hamper the interest of the
At the same time, the Left parties have decided to reluctantly support the Patents (Amendment) Bill, likely to be debated in Parliament on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who till Monday morning, was seen to be bearing the brunt of Left's criticism, seemed to have convinced the angry comrades that at the end of the day, all Left demands had been accommodated in the intended legislation.
"We have read the official amendment to the patents bill and feel satisfied knowing that our suggestions have been incorporated. We will vote for the bill's passage in coming days," Forward Bloc general secretary Debrabata Biswas told The Pioneer.
Meanwhile, the BJP and its allies have issued whip to its members to be present in Lok Sabha and vote against it, in the event of a division. The issue would also figure prominently at the BJP parliamentary party meeting on Tuesday morning to be followed by a meeting of senior NDA leaders.
"Both BJP and allies have issued whip to their members to be present in the house tomorrow. We will press for division, if necessary", BJP parliamentary party spokesman V K Malhotra told reporters here.
He said it has been the party's consistent stand that the Bill should be referred to a standing committee or select joint committee of parliament and "if this is not accepted by the government, we will vociferously oppose it".
Charging the Left parties with "bargaining" with the government, he said, "we don't have the details but they have agreed on some amendments. This goes against their public posture".
Mr Malhotra said the party did not agree with the government's contention that the country would have to face "international repercussions" if it does not meet the April eight deadline for passing the patent legislation.
On the Pension bill, he said the party wanted the government to remove all apprehensions and ensure that the hard-earned money of the people gets an "assured income".
He also alleged that commerce minister Kamal Nath "did not get back" to BJP after his initial discussions with party leaders on the Patent bill last Friday.
Ajit Singh equation seems difficult. Paswan represent Dalits, Congress will keep him. He was able to get 14% vote share in Bihar and Mayawati vote share was less than 2% and she is losing ground pretty fast.
<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Mar 21 2005, 11:46 PM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Mar 21 2005, 11:46 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> Ajit Singh equation seems difficult. Paswan represent Dalits, Congress will keep him. He was able to get 14% vote share in Bihar and Mayawati vote share was less than 2% and she is losing ground pretty fast. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How about in UP? I thought Mayawati has much more than 3% in UP like 15-20%. Am I wrong in my assumption?
The patent and the pension bills are a good opportunity for the Opposition to play their cards right and bring down the UPA govt by getting the bills voted down. The Left wont vote for the Pension reform bills and will support the Patents bill with amendments. The NDA on the other hand wants to support the Pension reform bill and vote against the Patents bill. The NDA should support the Left on one of the bills.
MAHARASHTRA
Like Split Atoms
The Congress-NCP was always a wicker in hot wax; the Sawant report on NCP corruption has come as a spark
SMRUTI KOPPIKAR
The Congress-NCP tie-up in Maharashtra was always a marriage of convenience. At best a tough relationship, now it is an uneasy one. Chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and his deputy, NCP's R.R. Patil, can't see eye to eye on a slew of issues. <b>NCP chief Sharad Pawar's unhappiness at the way Sonia Gandhi treats allies in Delhi and NCP's reply to that in Maharashtra are taking the two parties to the edge</b>. Add to it the Sawant Commission report that indicted three ministersâall from the NCPâfor corruption. <b>What's worse is the speed with which the CM tabled the report in the assembly, forcing the NCP to advise two of its ministers in the cabinet to quit</b>.
Sawant's report was accepted, tabled and a task force set up in one week.
Manifestations of the ill-will between Congress and NCP are unmistakable. PM Manmohan Singh's visit to Pune last week left the Congressmen highly agitated. Reason: his itinerary ignored the Congress. It included a visit to the Chitale confectionery plant, attending the 75th anniversary celebration of Cosmos Bank, gracing a local college's function and another at the office of Marathi newspaper Sakal, followed by dinner with select guests. The party was nowhere on the list. Says an angry Congressman, "The first two groups are Sangh supporters and the rest were organised by Sharad Pawar. After we protested, the pmo included a 10-minute stop at Congress House. At this rate, we will be rolling out the red carpet for the NCP only."
The unease between the two parties seen in Pune is common. All along the Konkan coast, local leaders are literally at war with each other. The alacrity with which Deshmukh tabled the Sawant report is seen by most NCP leaders as a move to embarrass their party. They point out that governments are known to drag their feet on a commission of inquiry report but Sawant's report was accepted, tabled and a task force set up to suggest action in one week alone. At a press conference, the Congress "reminded the people that Congress ministers caught in such situations had willingly resigned"âa tactic to pressurise the NCP to follow suit.
With the opposition Shiv Sena-BJP calling for the ministers' arrest, the NCP was left with no option but to advise Suresh Jain and Nawab Malik to resign. Dr Padamsinh Patil, a Pawar confidant, was not in the cabinet this time. The fourth, Vijay Kumar Gavit, was found guilty of maladministration, not corruption, so he keeps his ministerial berth. "We may have backed the ministers more but the Democratic Front coalition wouldn't. The truth is we are in a coalition led by the Congress," said an NCP leader. <b>The senior leadership is nursing its wounds of how, despite its higher numbers, they had to give in to Sonia's insistence on having her own CM.</b>
What rankles in Delhi and Mumbai goes all the way down. <b>The Congress abstained from the vote during the recent zila parishad president polls in Alibaug. The result: the NCP candidate lost to the Sena-led alliance.</b> In the civic elections to be held on April 10, among them in the Sena-dominated Aurangabad and Navi Mumbai, separate candidates are being fielded. The outcome is likely to favour the Sena-BJP.
It only gets tougher for Deshmukh. Once he was perceived as eating humble pie over the slum demolition issue in Mumbai. His operation against unauthorised slums was stopped by Sonia. Union petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar's observationâat being prevented by a Sena mob from attending a private ceremony in a five-star hotelâthat <b>the Congress no longer has the clout to fight the Sena or NCP on Mumbai's streets raised Deshmukh's hackles</b>. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Deshmukh dismisses it as "compulsions of a coalition". Even so, the two parties' ambitions to outgrow the other is hurting the coalition. In the government, they co-exist, outside it they are rivals. It's a contradiction that neither Sonia nor Pawar has bothered to address.
Once the UPA govt falls, the govts in Maharashtra and Karnataka will follow suit. The govt in Karnataka is barely functioning given the antics of Congress and JD(S) leaderships there. I doubt whether NCP will continue in the UPA once the central govt falls.
22 March 2005: Following M.Karunanidhiâs refusal to share power in Tamil Nadu, the Congress has opened negotiations with J.Jayalalithaa, but she has demanded that the UPA sever links with the DMK in the Centre.
Already daily threatened by Laloo Prasad Yadav for the imposed Presidentâs rule in Bihar, sources said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi does not want to take any new gamble in Tamil Nadu, because Karunanidhi is already in talks with the Bihar strongman to revive the Third Front with Sharad Pawar and Mulayam Singh Yadav.
Sources said that despite an outward show of hostility, Mulayam is coaxing Laloo to quit the UPA for a Third Front government, the idea being that if the DMK, Sharad Pawarâs NCP, Samajwadi Party and RJD give notice of opting out, the Left would be forced to join them, therefore automatically collapsing the arrangement in the Centre.
The anti-Congress parties in the UPA feel that the Congress will not abandon attempts to grow in North India and in other states of its allies, and this growth can only be at their cost, which cannot be tolerated.
Ramana,<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Mar 21 2005, 03:58 PM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Mar 21 2005, 03:58 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin--> The NDA on the other hand wants to support the Pension reform bill and vote against the Patents bill. The NDA should support the Left on one of the bills. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--> Patents Bill passed in Lok Sabha
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