Congress Undemocratic Ideology - 2

03-09-2006, 03:51 AM

QUOTE(Bhootnath @ Mar 2 2006, 02:04 PM)http://www.samachar.com/features/010306-features.html

The issues Sonia Gandhi must address

By Rajinder Puri

Mrs Sonia Gandhi has been criticized by several people on account of her foreign origin. She lived in Cambridge, England, where she met Rajiv Gandhi. She eventually married into Indiaâs most famous family. After marriage she successfully assimilated into an Indian lifestyle. Since entering politics her conduct has been dignified and gracious...
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So innocent.. WHy would SHE? The garbage of India led by COMMIES and bloddy COMMIE journalists are so shameless and anti-national that if SONIA gets caught on tape handing nuclear plans to Italy, they will be busy licking her botton and bashing BJP. I was aghast to see all this anti-national media bashing BJP right after varnasi blasts. They are more worried about what might happen to this SCOUNDREL WOMAN's garbage alliance in wake of blasts rather than how dangerous this heinous, anti-national COMMIES, CON(gress) men, LALOO, MULYAM have become to national security. The COMMIES, MULYAM in order to make sure that muslims don't run to ITALIAN WOMAN have started encouraging fanatic islamists in the name of IRAN, BUSH, CARTOON etc. The CON(gress) men led by CON woman are trying to woo them by anti-national measures such as reservation, Assam illegal alient protection scheme, and army count. Meanwhile anti-national media elements aer sh!t scared about hindu reaction. I am hoping this garbage is thrown out in the next election.

03-09-2006, 05:00 AM

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/specool.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='specool.gif' /> Post-Varanasi, Cong nervous about changing UP equations
Politics As BSP woos upper castes, Left fears polarisation may push SP to BJP

NEERJA CHOWDHURY
Posted online: Thursday, March 09, 2006 at 0138 hours IST
NEW DELHI, MARCH 8: The Congress has betrayed a nervousness in the aftermath of the Varanasi bomb blasts, which have the potential to change political equations in Uttar Pradesh. Even as Sonia Gandhi along with Home Minister Shivraj Patil airdashed to Varanasi within hours of the blasts and Congress leaders gave a rhetorical rebuttal to L K Advaniâs announcement of another nationwide yatra, the party seems to have no plan to deal with the emerging scenario.

Close on the heels of the BJPâs Yatra, came the BSP call for a UP bandh. BSP chief Mayawati lost no time in trying to cash in on the hurt feelings of the Hindus, particularly the upper castes. She has been wooing the Brahmins in recent weeks with a section of the upper castes gravitating towards her, making her the frontrunner in the electoral battle that lies ahead.

The only thing that may give comfort to the Congress is the subtle change among Left leaders. With the threat of communal divide looming large on the political horizon, the Left has given every indication of inching closer to the Congress, whom the former has put on the mat in recent months. It was the communal polarisation in the wake of Mandal during the 90s that had decimated the Congress in the Hindi heartland.

Hinting at the possibility of a greater proximity, CPI(M) MP and Politburo member Sitaram Yechury has said that it has been possible to take up ââkey issuesââ relating to the economy and foreign policy in the last two years because the communal temperatures have come down, even though the communal agenda has by no means been given up.

The Left supporters in West Bengal and Kerala understood the issue on which they were opposing the Congress and those on which they were acting in unison. Though there had been a âdivergenceâ of opinion between the Left and the Congress ââon the USââ and on foreign policy, he said ââthere has never been a distance between us and the Congress on defeating the BJPââ.

The Left is apprehensive that with a polarisation, the Samajwadi Party is playing into the hands of the BJP. Though the CPI(M) may not break with Mulayam in the forthcoming UP elections, having concluded that SP is the largest secular force in UP, Yechury also admitted that ââat the present moment the objectives of the SP and the BJP dovetailââ. The CPI(M) Politburo meeting during March 10-12 will decide the strategy towards Mulayam and take stock of the latest situation.

The BJP has been quick to smell an opportunity in Varanasi to âreigniteââ the sagging morale of its cadres, unite the party, oust the Left from the position it has come to acquire and come into reckoning once again in Uttar Pradesh.

With some of the Congress decisions in recent months like Army census on religious lines, setting up a Ministry for Minority Affairs headed by a Muslim, reservation for Muslims in Andhra Pradesh, ensuring the minority character of the Aligarh Muslim University despite the court verdict to the contrary, amendment in the Foreignerâs Act, which have agitated Hindus, the BJP feels it has enough ammunition against the Congress and the UPA to attack its policy of âminorityismâ and create a Hindu backlash.

So what would be the political fallout of Varanasi? A wag quipped, ââThe upper castes may also vote tactically like the Muslims.ââ In other words, the upper caste vote may get divided between the BSP and the BJP, if the BJP gets a response. This could also mean Advantage SP, which has found itself on the backfoot with a deteriorating law and order situation, crime and scandals, the phone tapping scandal, and a restiveness among Muslims unless, of course, the Congress can come up with a way of going on a counter-offensive.

03-20-2006, 10:10 PM

Advani's yatra may create tension: PM

They have no problem when Muslim take out rally or daily commie show down on streets but they have problem when some Hindus take out Yatra. This is called "Secularims of COngress".

03-24-2006, 06:05 AM

Gandhi's 'dysfunctional' party QUOTEIndia may be the world's biggest democracy, but most of its political parties have little democracy to show for in their functioning and decision-making. 

Leading this pack of what political scientists call the "leader-centric, leader-driven party" is the country's Grand Old Party, the Congress which has been mostly ruled by the Nehru-Gandhi clan.

When the present edition of the Congress, led by Sonia Gandhi, talked about updating by ordinance or decree a law that bans MPs from holding other salaried public positions, the main opposition BJP party screamed that the Congress had not changed its spots.

The BJP saw it as a move to exempt Mrs Gandhi from the law.

Congress is the party responsible for imposing India's only post-independence emergency, suspending civil liberties in the 1970s with a host of draconian measures. 

So changing a law without consulting the parliament had a dark sense of dÃ©jÃ vu about it.

Buckling under pressure, and again attempting to take the higher moral ground, Mrs Gandhi has now resigned from parliament - because she holds another position covered by the law - to take the wind out of the newly-energised BJP's offensive.

Avoidable

The Congress leaders have been again praising their "sacrificial leader" who can do no wrong.

But for others, the kerfuffle could have been easily avoided and deftly managed if Ms Gandhi had more independent and thoughtful advisers.

Was she right to resign?Â

Analyst Mahesh Rangarajan says: "The Congress party is in a state of disrepair. It urgently needs to be modernised." 

This is a paradox of sorts - a party which is credited with shedding old socialist shibboleths and ushering in modern economic reforms in India is itself a sclerotic, archaic organisation without real inner-party democracy.

Coterie

To many observers, the political culture of the Congress party is steeped in a single minded, unthinking and embarrassingly sycophantic dynastic "follow-the-leader" ethos. 

Congress members thronged her residence in Delhi

The picture, they say, is of a leader guided by a coterie of crusty, trusted - and usually spineless - political associates who control access to the leader.

In this suffocating culture, even clerks and secretaries who work in the leader's office rise to de facto powerful positions, controlling people's access to the leader, and cutting deals.

Not surprisingly, the argument goes, political strategising by such a coterie always works towards pleasing their leader at all costs - and sometimes settling scores with their individual adversaries.

When they botch up, it is the Congress party leader who usually has to clear the mess up. That seems to be what happened with Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

Analysts in Delhi wonder why the Congress party think-tank failed to see the consequences in modern India of trying to bring in an ordinance on MPs holding other jobs without consulting parliament. 

"They started something without realising that it could engulf them," says political philosopher Pratap Bhanu Mehta. 

Television news programmes are being leaked "information" that Sonia Gandhi never favoured such a change to the law and had spoken against it at a late-night party meeting on Wednesday.

So was she kept out of the loop by the coterie of advisers who went ahead and pushed the law?

Or did Mrs Gandhi lend her support to test the political waters, and, when she found it could singe her and her party, did she perform a second "sacrificial" act to deflate the opposition? (She famously sacrificed taking the post of prime minister after winning the 2004 elections because her "inner voice" told her not to take the job.)

Or is there a genuine communication gap between the leader and party minions?

'Mysterious'

Nobody really has a clue about where the truth lies.

"There is an aura of total mystery of how Sonia Gandhi operates and communicates within the party. She is the mysterious single leader," says Mahesh Rangarajan. 

All that people know is she meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh every Friday in Delhi to discuss government. 

Sonia Gandhi is such an enigma that the opposition BJP also seems to have failed to read her mind.

The BJP was expecting the law to come in and push Mrs Gandhi into a corner, but she seems to have turned the tables and done the unexpected again by resigning as an MP.

The only non-Gandhi Congress Prime Minister, the late PV Narasimha Rao, once wrote that democracy in India is a recent tradition after centuries of monarchical rule. 

With the exception of cadre-based parties like the main opposition BJP and the Communist parties, most parties are leader-centric, and suffer from a lack of healthy intra-party democracy.

In Congress, for example, real democracy is equated with dissension and splits.

Until modern India rubs off on Congress's political culture, the party - and its leader - may well continue to get embroiled in such wasteful controversies.

03-27-2006, 08:35 PM

QUOTEwww.deccan.com/home/homed...%20pocketâ
Ministers in Q pocketâ New Delhi, March 26: Controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and his wife Maria, who had direct access to the Prime Ministerâs House when the late Rajiv Gandhi was in power, had also established a powerful network among top Congress leaders and ministers. This was revealed in statements made before the CBI by the drivers who used to work for the Quattrocchis. These statements, recorded by the CBI, went on to claim that the Italian businessman had often boasted that âall Indian ministers were in his pocket.â

The statements, attached as annexures, have been summoned by the Supreme Court from a trial court on the basis of a public interest litigation case moved by advocate Ajay K. Agrawal. It was through the Gandhis that Ottavio Quattrocchi reportedly gained access to the corridors of power in New Delhi, if the statements made by the personal staff of the Quattrocchi family are any indication. Mr Quattrocchi, one of the key accused in the Rs 64-crores Bofors payoffs case, had met then law minister H.R. Bharadwaj, former information and broadcasting minister Vasant Sathe, and powerful Congress leaders like Satish Sharma, R.K. Dhawan, Dinesh Singh and Arun Nehru.

Sasi Dharan, who drove Mr Quattrocchiâs car, told the CBI: âHe (Quattrocchi) used to visit most of the Congress ministers.â He added: âI had also driven both Mr and Mrs Quattrocchi to the bungalows of various ministers. Vasant Sathe was living at 2, Krishna Menon Marg, Dinesh Singh at 1, Thyagraj Marg and K.P. Unnikrishnan at 19, Teen Murti Marg.â He also gives details of the houses of other key players in the government, where he had chauffeured Mr Quattrocchi.

Mr Quattrocchiâs other driver, Surendra Singh, had said: âQuattrocchi used to say that all Indian ministers were in his pocket.â He added: âQuattrocchi used to send gifts to ministers through me.â The driversâ statements mentioned that at times, and particularly at nights, Mr Quattrocchi drove himself to the houses of ministers, often to deliver the gifts personally.

03-27-2006, 09:04 PM

QUOTESonia: run away lady
Sandhya JainÂ
Â Â Â Â Â Â Contrary to the assertions of her spin doctors, this is actually the fourth time Ms. Sonia Gandhi has run away from an uncomfortable situation in her life in India. The first was in 1977 when her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi lost to the Janata conglomerate. Panicked at a possible post-Mussolini scenario in this land, Sonia Gandhi dragged her pilot husband and two children to the Italian Embassy for refuge; newspaper pictures of her sour countenance remain etched in my memory. Sonia returned home very reluctantly after the entire Gandhi family persuaded her to see reason. No doubt her countrymen (she was still an Italian national) also advised her that Indians were not vindictive and her personal safety was not in danger.

Â Â Â Â Â Â The second time the lady fled a difficult situation was in 1999 when, after ruthlessly ousting the then Congress president Sitaram Kesri, she found Sharad Pawar and P.A. Sangma questioning her authority, particularly her desire to project herself as candidate for the Prime Ministerâs office. Rather than answer the questions raised, the lady quit in a sulk and her lieutenants then hustled up support for her, roughing up possible dissidents in the Working Committee, and organizing a bogus AICC meeting to endorse her coup.

Â Â Â Â Â Â The third time - which her media bards seek to project as the first time - was in May 2004 when President APJ Abdul Kalam gently advised her not to press her claim to be sworn in, owing to certain ambiguities in the Citizenship Act. At that time, she had procured letters of support from slavish UPA allies and supporting parties, and announced to a televised press conference that normally the leader of the majority alliance was sworn-in as Prime Minister. But this land is Bharat Mata, and somewhere an ageless Vikramaditya decided whom it would just not tolerate to sit upon its throne. Doubtless to her own surprise, Sonia Gandhi had to make a virtue of necessity. A televised renunciation drama was enacted, and Dr. Manmohan Singh was soon in the saddle.

Now, for the fourth time, Sonia Gandhi has run away from a thorny situation of her own making. Even friendly media analysts find it difficult to support the surreptitious manner in which both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Wednesday, when an all-party meeting had decided on the recess and resumption of the budget session. This, combined with a news leak about a proposed ordinance to protect the UPA chairperson from certain disqualification from the Lok Sabha, had former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rushing with a protest delegation to President Kalam.

Â Â Â Â Â Â This put the spotlight uncomfortably upon Ms. Gandhi, because many of her actions as UPA and National Advisory Council chairperson are questionable. Ms. Gandhi has a propensity to settle scores with those who have incurred her personal wrath, even if they are not direct political foes, and this has landed her in her present predicament. The genesis of the present crisis lies in her soured relations with the family of megastar Amitabh Bachchan, which came into the open when the lattersâ wife, Jaya, made an oblique reference to the fact that no one defended her husband when incorrect insinuations were made about his involvement in the Bofors payoff scandal, the shadow of which falls squarely on Ms. Gandhi and her close friends.

Mrs. Jaya Bachchan later entered the Rajya Sabha as a member of the Samajwadi Party, with which Ms. Gandhi has a running dispute. Thereafter, a few things happened in quick succession. Mrs. Bachchanâs membership of the Rajya Sabha was terminated on the ground that she held an âoffice of profitâ as chairperson of the UP Film Development Council; a gleeful Congress said it would gun for SP ideological supremo, Dr. Amar Singh. Superstar Amitabh Bachchan, who was invited to inaugurate the international film festival in Congress-ruled Goa last year, was dis-invited from the function. He was also served a gigantic income tax notice while battling for his life in a Mumbai hospital.

But the humiliation of Mrs. Jaya Bachchan boomeranged when non-Congress parties decided to hit back. Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee became vulnerable as the Trinamool Congress complained about his chairmanship of the Sriniketan-Shantiniketan Development Corporation in West Bengal. Several MPs are equally vulnerable on this count, which jurists concede is a grey area of the constitution.

But Sonia Gandhi has wielded real power of patronage as chairperson of the National Advisory Council, with Cabinet rank, and owes the nation an explanation. Her hand was seen in the scandalous drama which saw the Italian Ottavio Quattrochi making off with the Bofors kickback payments. When the matter became public, she left it to the hapless Prime Minister and others to protect her from the flak.

Since the UPA came to power, Ms. Gandhi has announced Government largesse to victims of tragedies and natural disasters, such as the victims of a fire in a Tamil Nadu school and the Tsunami victims in Tamil Nadu and Port Blair. In fact, she has a penchant for upstaging the Prime Minister and other competent authorities by reaching tragedy spots first and announcing government relief. More recently, after the public outcry against verdict in the Jessica Lall case, she directed Home Minister Shivraj Patil to amend the Criminal Procedure Code suitably to protect witnesses in criminal cases.

Since the budget for her ârecommendatoryâ office of NAC chairperson comes out of Government funds, there is little doubt that Ms. Gandhi draws benefits from the public exchequer for all her activities, and thus holds an âoffice of profitâ, that too, one which appears to have little constitutional justification. Thus, when the chips were down, she was actually the most vulnerable of those being targetted for disqualification by respective political rivals.

Her resignation should not prevent the Election Commission from deciding the issue of the legality of her presence in the Lok Sabha on merits, as in the case of Mrs. Jaya Bachchan. This means the EC must adjudicate if Ms. Gandhiâs interventions in the House, like those of Mrs. Bachchan, must be expunged, and her salary and emoluments returned to Parliament. And before Ms. Gandhi returns to the NAC, presuming it is exempted from the definition of âoffice of profit,â there must be a public debate on the relevance of that office, its powers and privileges, and budgetary support.Â

04-10-2006, 11:12 PM

Must read article in Sify Congress is fountainhead of corruption
QUOTEThe current crisis over the Ordinance controversy impels one to recall events. On May 16, 1999 The Statesman carried a report, which said that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had attempted to set up a joint training programme between Indian and Italian intelligence agencies.

The original proposal came from the Italians. Sonia Gandhi's Italian brother-in-law had links with Italian intelligence. He put up the proposal. RAW officials shot down the idea.

They pointed out that Italy was a conduit for nuclear technology to Pakistan. Therefore the proposed venture contained security risks. The information in the newspaper report came from B Raman, who had served in the cabinet secretariat as a senior official. Today, Raman is recognised as a distinguished authority on security affairs.Â Â

When the present UPA government assumed office, media outlets trumpeted that Sonia Gandhi had declined the post of Prime Minister. She was compared to Mahatma Gandhi, the Buddha and Mother Teresa.

Outlook weekly described her as Saint Sonia. In that same weekly I questioned the fact that she had declined the post. I suggested that she received no offer.

I quoted the B Raman report in The Statesman. According to sources, the President on the basis of intelligence reports sought assurance that no security risks would be involved if she became Prime Minister. He wanted some clarifications from Mrs Gandhi.

According to some media reports at that time some sections in the armed forces enquired whether as PM she could access information about the nation's nuclear programme. Mrs Gandhi decided not to become PM. She echoed Mahatma Gandhi to say that she had heeded her "inner voice".

In Outlook weekly, dated June 7, 2004, I wrote: "Why should the President have held back? Is it because she could have been a security risk? And hence she could not be given access to India's nuclear secrets making her thereby untenable as PM? Will Rashtrapati Bhawan tell us?"

Rashtrapati Bhawan said nothing. It did tell off others who had raised questions about Mrs Gandhi being debarred because of her foreign origins. However, even if too much is not read in Rashtrapati Bhawan's silence, there is the question of Mrs Gandhi's subsequent conduct.

Apparently her inner voice remained silent after that first one message. As Congress President she amended the party constitution, created an extra-constitutional post of Chairperson in newly created National Advisory Council to oversee the government's work, and remained Chairperson of the UPA alliance.

She got cabinet rank. At first Congress leaders claimed she would have access to all government files. Legal impediments prevented that. In short, through these measures and the supine acquiescence of her senior colleagues Mrs Gandhi concentrated all powers in her own hands.

She became the Prime Minister's remote control. Mahatma Gandhi, it might be recalled, never accepted any post in party or government.

Very soon the UPA government ran into trouble. First, there was the unconstitutional dissolution of the Bihar Assembly. The cabinet took a panic decision and promulgated an ordinance to pre-empt Nitish Kumar from forming a government.

In a wholly inadequate Supreme Court judgment the Bihar Governor was castigated. The judgment failed to elaborate on its observation that the cabinet had acted with undue haste.

In fact, both the PM and the President were as much responsible as the Governor. The Court failed to state this in clear terms. I wrote then suggesting that both the President and the PM should resign.

Then came the Volcker Report. The oil-for-food scam erupted, where the Congress party was named, and therefore the Congress President's culpability. Mrs Gandhi's close confidant, former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, had to resign.

Soon the government's decision to unfreeze the frozen London bank accounts of Mrs Gandhi's close family friend, Ottavio Quattrochi, became public. The Volcker affair and Quattrochi's case are still under scrutiny.

Before they could be disposed of, the Scorpene submarine scandal erupted. In that deal once again a family friend of Mrs Gandhi has allegedly received illegal commission on behalf of the Congress Party. The Defence Minister's denial in Parliament of any wrongdoing by government in this deal notwithstanding, this affair is likely to escalate.Â Â Â

By any standard this is a formidable record for less than two years of power. And now the system has been clobbered by the government's decision to suddenly adjourn Parliament in mid-session to allow an Ordinance intended to protect Sonia Gandhi and other luminaries from disqualification as MPs.

This was done to avoid the fate that befell Jaya Bachchan, who was disqualified as MP because she occupied an office of profit. The contrast between the glee of Congress leaders over Bachchan's disqualification and their panic over application of the same law to themselves was nothing short of contemptible.

At the moment of writing, Jaya Bachchan's plea before the Supreme Court to clearly define an office of profit awaits consideration. The Constitution has not defined it. Article 102(1) (a) of the Constitution, which debars MPs from holding an office of profit states that an office of profit need not bestow pecuniary advantage.

It is sufficient if it bestows administrative and executive powers. In the absence of further clarification in the Constitution it is Supreme Court rulings on the subject that determine what constitutes an office of profit.

Successive SC rulings have created an exacting definition. All perks are considered equivalent to remuneration. Apart from executive or judicial powers even influence and patronage accruing to a government appointment renders it an office of profit.

Sonia Gandhi's resignation from Parliament to pre-empt disqualification was meaningless. It was similar to her rejection of the PM's post. Mrs Gandhi's attempt to seize the high moral ground by making virtue out of necessity became transparent from the sequence of events.

She stayed put while Parliament was adjourned and the Ordinance was being planned. Then the President forwarded all petitions against MPs to the Election Commission. The CEC said the law was equal for all.

Mrs Gandhi knew the game was up. She played the script of renunciation she had learnt earlier. After she resigned the Congress denied it had planned the Ordinance. This lie was transparent.

If no Ordinance was intended why was Parliament's recess converted to an adjournment? The Congress had egg all over its face. Mrs Gandhi challenged the opposition and announced she would seek re-election from Rae Bareilly. Will she contest a by-election or a mid-term poll? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, all Indians should reflect. How much longer can they tolerate the present political culture? It has polluted all parties. But the Congress is its fountainhead.

India's economic and diplomatic breakthroughs have been jeopardised by misgovernance and destruction of democracy. Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh alone are not responsible.

A century of Congress culture brought this about. The seeds of the decadent and dynastic Congress culture were planted a century ago. From Allen Octavian Hume to Sonia Gandhi, spanning icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, it has been a history of decline and abject subservience to foreigners.

The Congress degenerated from a movement to a party, from a party to a dynasty. Today India stands on the threshold of a new multi-polar world. To play its rightful role it will have to undo the spirit of the Partition.

Can the Congress, the very instrument of imperialist Britain to partition the subcontinent, summon the mindset to undo its own work? It has outlived its role. It must be consigned to the dustbin of history. India needs a new party, a new political culture and a new freedom struggle.

04-10-2006, 11:17 PM

Sonia "sacrifices" her chair from all socio-cultural organisations Yet is to be seen if she'll sacrifice some of her $ for the polls in Rae Bairelly, after all this was imposed upon the public by ever sacrificial Sonia.

04-11-2006, 12:21 AM

QUOTEOn the rampage 
The Pioneer Edit Desk
While not an agreeable pastime, reading Mr Arjun Singh's mind is not rocket science either. It is quite clear that apart from indulging in crude identity politics, the Human Resource Development Minister's intention in foisting a 27 per cent quota - he has now retreated somewhat on the figure, but not on the imposition - on higher educational institutions under the Union Government was possibly an act of vendetta aimed at the Prime Minister. Mr Manmohan Singh, after all, is Mr Arjun Singh's junior in politics and has got a job that the one-time Madhya Pradesh strongman believes should have come to him as early as 1991, or so he and his acolytes believe.

In the past week, Mr Arjun Singh has cocked a snook at Mr Manmohan Singh, dismissively telling the Press that he had kept the Prime Minister informed of the fresh quotas in the IIMs and IITs and if the latter now denied this, then too bad. In acting thus, Mr Arjun Singh calculated that his notional boss was too weak to hit back. Sadly, Mr Manmohan Singh only proved him right. What would have been termed insubordination by any other Prime Minister and fetched swift retribution, has been quietly accepted by Mr Manmohan Singh, though this is not the first time that the Prime Minister has been let down by one of his colleagues; in the past two years, we have seen this happen more than once.

Now Mr Arjun Singh is taking his battle to new frontiers. Accused by the Election Commission of breaking the electoral code of conduct, he has written what can be described as an impudent letter to Nirvachan Sadan, demanding to know which clause he has breached. Is he speaking for himself or the entire UPA Government?

Only the Prime Minister can enlighten us on this point, but given his record, he will probably keep silent, allowing his media handlers to put out stories to the effect that he had been "kept in the dark" about this latest letter as well. As a farce, this would have been fine; as it happens, it's a Government that is being discussed - or discounted by its critics.

What is Mr Arjun Singh up to? He has a political mission, of course. Given his pandering to "politically correct" minorityism and his crowding of HRD Ministry agencies with every type of fellow traveller, he knows he has great equity with the Left and professional 'secularists'. Since the UPA Government has been the target of attack from these quarters, especially on the issue of India's vote at the IAEA on Iran's runaway nuclear programme and the civilian nuclear deal with America, he may be dreaming of the Prime Minister being replaced after the current Assembly elections. Mr Arjun Singh could then present himself for the job he craves.

Whatever his motives, the fact is Mr Arjun Singh is now widely perceived as a politician whose ideas and political instincts - remember how successfully he destabilised the alliance with Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav before the Bihar Assembly election of February 2005? - are way past their sell-by date.

As HRD Minister, he has resorted to partisan patronage and indulged in pet obsessions that are ruinous for the future of India. He has done nothing, though, to facilitate a modern schooling system, or to prepare a blueprint to make India a global higher education hub. On the contrary, he has imperiously gone about wrecking all that is good and can be built upon regardless of the consequences of his ill-conceived actions.


Interesting read, crooks are working full time to screw India.

05-03-2006, 07:59 PM

QUOTEWhy Haryana AG makes Arjun see red 
Sandipan Sharma
Posted online: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print Email
Hawa Singh Hooda, picked by CM, is RSS counsel in case against Arjun

JAIPUR, MAY 1: It was meant to be a legal battle between a Congress warhorse and the RSS. But it is fast turning into a fight between HRD minister Arjun Singh and the Haryana government.
Singh is at loggerheads with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hoodas government for appointing an RSSman as the states advocate general (AG). The ministers grouse is not only ideological but also personal: Haryana AG Hawa Singh Hooda, a man said to be handpicked by the CM, is the RSS counsel in a criminal case against the HRD minister.
In August 2004, the RSS had filed two criminal cases against the minister after he had linked the Sanghs name with the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. One of these cases, filed in Chennai, was thrown out by the court. But the other cafiled under sections 499 and 500 of the IPC by the RSS through Darshan Lal Jain, a local Sangh functionaryis pending in a court in Jagadhari, Haryana. Senior advocate Hooda is RSS counsel in the case.
A few days ago, while speaking to his lawyers about the progress of the case, Singh was reportedly shocked to hear that the Congress-led Haryana Government had appointed his legal adversary as the AG for the state.
According to sources, Singh called up the Haryana Government on Saturday to express his displeasure with the appointment. CM Hooda had pacified the minister with an assurance of taking necessary corrective action, said sources. Singh has also taken up the matter with the Congress leadership, arguing that people without an ideological commitment to the Congress were enjoying the fruits of the Congress rule.
When contacted, AG Hooda said the RSS had mentioned his name as their counsel without his permission. They had approached me to plead their case in 2004. But I had refused point blank. They must have presumed my consent and mentioned my name as their counsel in the petition filed in the Court, he said, adding neither he nor any of his juniors had ever appeared in the court to plead the case.
It means rest of non-congress junta should be kicked out or punished. What a great ideology?

05-04-2006, 01:45 AM

QUOTEdailypioneer.com/indexn12...nter_img=5
The conspiracy of selective silence
Op-Ed, The Pioneer

When a mosque was demolished in India there was an international outcry, but nothing when a temple was destroyed in Malaysia, says Seema Sarin

A century-old Hindu temple was demolished in Malaysia despite devotees pleading with the authorities to stop the operations. Though the Malaysian Hindus were understandably upset, the Hindus in India did not react, which is fine.

The Government of India did not react, which might have been right, had it not officially objected to the Danish Government about the publication of the Prophet's cartoons in a Danish newspaper. The UPA Government had even suggested the Danish Prime Minister to postpone his visit to India.

The International Herald Tribune published a cartoon depicting US President George Bush as Lord Shiva. Though an organisation, Indiacause, did find the cartoon offensive, most Hindus did not react to it. When Mohammed's offensive cartoons were published, Muslims all over the world, including in India, protested. One must not forget that the cartoons were first published in September and the protests occurred months later.

Hindus did not react similarly when the Malaimel Sri Selva Kaliamman temple was destroyed in Malaysia, nor when a Krishna temple was demolished in Moscow. Hindus are not obliged to react like Muslims when such incidents occur. Even many Muslims, though they might have been offended by the Danish cartoon, did not participate in the protests. But should not have the Government of India reacted in similar manner to these religious incidents?

Secularism means treating all religions equally. If the Government can officially object to the point of postponing a prime ministerial visit on cartoons of the Prophet being published in a Danish newspaper (which had nothing to do with the Government), how can it claim to be secular when it says nothing to another (Malaysian) country about demolition of a Hindu temple - an act which done by the Malaysian authorities?

Perhaps the best policy would be not to react to religious incidents abroad, be it related to Hindus or Muslims. Religious occurrences abroad are not the affair of the Government of India, whether they involve the publication of offensive cartoons or demolition of Hindu temples. The UPA Government does seem to observe that policy, except in the case of Muslims. Is it fair to have different policies for different religions in a secular country?

As for the world and the media, these too seem to have double standards when it comes to religion. There was a huge outcry when an unfrequented mosque was demolished in India, but nothing happened when a well-frequented temple was destroyed in Malaysia. Never mind that the temple was destroyed at a time when 300 devotees were praying there.

Now the Indian press has found some justification for reacting to the first incident, while ignoring the second - because the former incident happened in India, while the second occurred in a foreign country. But why should the global media create such a hue and cry over the destruction of a mosque in India, but remain silent over the demolition of a temple in Malaysia?

05-05-2006, 10:19 PM

http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?m...t&counter_img=3

Sonia accuses SP of casteism

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' />

In a veiled attack on the Samajawadi Party, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said a political party was trying to divide the society on caste lines as it does not understand the importance of principles in public life. <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ROTFL.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ROTFL.gif' />

"Those who try to split the society on caste lines will not understand what principles in public life mean," she said at an election meeting in an obvious reference to Samajwadi Party.

Accusing the Uttar Pradesh Government of "not cooperating" with the Centre in implementation of developmental projects in her Rae Bareli constituency, Gandhi said the Congress-led UPA Government had offered Rs 265 crore for the cleaning of the Indira canal but the State Government refused to accept the fund.

"Perhaps, the UP Government believes that Rae Bareli is not in the State," she said, adding the State Government's move has deprived thousands of people of irrigation water.

She charged the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government with indulging in "personal politics".

Maintaining that politics was not only for the sake of posts and power, Gandhi said "politics showed the path to service. This path is slightly difficult but it definitely ushers peoples love and affection. I know I have your love."

On the second day of her two-day electioneering in the constituency, she said the large gathering, despite the scorching heat, was enough proof that "you are fighting for me and I have nothing to worry".

"You know Congress is not merely a political party. It is an ideology, a policy,
an ideal, a principle and culture."

Seeking the vote from women, Gandhi said she would fight for them. Asserting that this was not an ordinary election, the Congress president said it was a fight for principles.

Explaining the circumstances that led to her resignation, she said her decision to step down and re-contest from Rae Bareli was a strong signal to her political opponents that she was not the one to run away from the field come what may.

Before addressing a public meeting in Dalmau assembly segment, Gandhi visited a century old Durga temple and offered prayers there.

Old timers say the temple was constructed by King Rana Beni Madhav, who had fought against the British in the days of freedom struggle.

People believe that whenever the king used to invoke the blessings of the goddess, the deity would appear before him in person and offer a sword to fight the war.

05-05-2006, 11:51 PM

vijayk,
this is for you, Enjoy it!!!!!!!!
QUOTENautch girls pull heat, crowd for Sonia's rally 
Pioneer.com
Man Mohan Rai | Lucknow
Garishly made-up nautch girls dancing to the tune of blaring Hindi and Bhojpuri songs is the last thing you would expect at an election rally to be addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

But that is precisely what happened on Thursday when people who had gathered for a Congress election rally in Rae Bareli were treated to a dance show while they waited for Gandhi's arrival. Ostensibly, the show was staged to prevent the crowd from getting restive.

Ms Gandhi, who resigned from the Lok Sabha in the wake of the office-of-profit controversy, is seeking re-election from Rae Bareli.

The Congress president has been addressing a series of election meetings every day, On Thursday, she was late for a particular meeting and in a desperate bid to hold back the restive crowd that had gathered on a hot afternoon, Bhojpuri singer Baleshwar Yadav and his troupe of young dancers were asked to take the stage.

As stunned people watched and 24x7 news channel cameras zoomed in, the dancers, clad in costumes identified with rural nautanki, provocatively swayed to loud music. After a while, the crowd joined the tamasha, clapping and whistling for more.

When news channels began beaming images of the show, Congress leaders at the party headquarters in Lucknow realised that perhaps the organisers of the rally had overdone the entertainment bit. Disowning responsibility, they said Sonia Gandhi was unaware of the show.

Inquiries reveal that the organisers had planned the dance in advance. Baleshwar Yadav, when contacted by the Pioneer, said his troupe had been booked by Jagdeesh Piyush, a Congress leader of Rae Bareli, to stage a performance at the venue of the rally. According to him, it's a common practice.

Congress's political opponents have, however, termed the show as "bawdy." On their part, embarrassed Congress leaders are trying to justify the show, saying it was staged by a "cultural troupe of the region".

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />
Hahaha!!
Sonia can bring troupes from Italy.

05-05-2006, 11:59 PM

QUOTE(Mudy @ May 5 2006, 11:51 PM)vijayk,
this is for you, Enjoy it!!!!!!!!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTENautch girls pull heat, crowd for Sonia's rally 
Pioneer.com
Man Mohan Rai | Lucknow
Garishly made-up nautch girls dancing to the tune of blaring Hindi and Bhojpuri songs is the last thing you would expect at an election rally to be addressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

But that is precisely what happened on Thursday when people who had gathered for a Congress election rally in Rae Bareli were treated to a dance show while they waited for Gandhi's arrival. Ostensibly, the show was staged to prevent the crowd from getting restive.

Ms Gandhi, who resigned from the Lok Sabha in the wake of the office-of-profit controversy, is seeking re-election from Rae Bareli.

The Congress president has been addressing a series of election meetings every day, On Thursday, she was late for a particular meeting and in a desperate bid to hold back the restive crowd that had gathered on a hot afternoon, Bhojpuri singer Baleshwar Yadav and his troupe of young dancers were asked to take the stage.

As stunned people watched and 24x7 news channel cameras zoomed in, the dancers, clad in costumes identified with rural nautanki, provocatively swayed to loud music. After a while, the crowd joined the tamasha, clapping and whistling for more.

When news channels began beaming images of the show, Congress leaders at the party headquarters in Lucknow realised that perhaps the organisers of the rally had overdone the entertainment bit. Disowning responsibility, they said Sonia Gandhi was unaware of the show.

Inquiries reveal that the organisers had planned the dance in advance. Baleshwar Yadav, when contacted by the Pioneer, said his troupe had been booked by Jagdeesh Piyush, a Congress leader of Rae Bareli, to stage a performance at the venue of the rally. According to him, it's a common practice.

Congress's political opponents have, however, termed the show as "bawdy." On their part, embarrassed Congress leaders are trying to justify the show, saying it was staged by a "cultural troupe of the region".

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='laugh.gif' />
Hahaha!!
Sonia can bring troupes from Italy.
[right][snapback]50721[/snapback][/right]
</div>

<img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' /> <img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/clap.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='clap.gif' />

Thanks Mudy... I can always enjoy a hearty laugh....

The ITALIAN GARBAGE WOMAN made my day twice today...

05-08-2006, 08:03 AM

QUOTEPriyanka plans to capture booths: SP
Rae Bareli
Amidst trading of charges between Congress, whose party chief Sonia Gandhi is seeking re-election from this Lok Sabha constituency, and Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party, the stage was set on Sunday for balloting in Mondayâs by-poll amidst tight security. Samajwadi Party State unit chief Ram Saran Das shot off a letter to Election Commission alleging that Sonia's election agent Priyanka had hatched a conspiracy to indulge in booth-capturing in the by-poll and the younger Gandhi should be ordered out of the constituency immediately, said party General Secretary Beni Prasad Verma, whose son-in-law is SP nominee in the poll, at a Press conference in Lucknow.

05-08-2006, 09:13 PM

Only 43% voters show up in Rae BareliQUOTEThe polling passed off nearly peacefully, barring the attack on a Samajwadi Party leader.

SP State executive member Jaishanker Bajpai received gunshot injuries when unidentified masked men fired at his vehicle.


It means 57% voters are not happy with Sonia. Lets see how many votes she gets.

05-08-2006, 10:59 PM

<!--emo&

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /> Elections end, Left to win, Sonia may be hit
Source: IANS.

New Delhi, May 8 :India's staggered assembly elections ended Monday with predictions of a record-making Left sweep in West Bengal and a low turnout possibly hitting Congress president Sonia Gandhi's bid to re-enter parliament from Rae Bareli with a whopping majority.

The one-day balloting in Tamil Nadu and the final rounds in West Bengal and Pondicherry marked the end of a month-long electoral exercise whose outcome may cast a shadow on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government if the Congress party loses Assam besides suffering an expected rout in Kerala.

Over 60 percent of the electorate voted in Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and West Bengal despite a scorching heat. But in Rae Bareli, less than 45 percent of 1.3 million voters exercised their franchise, dealing a blow to Gandhi's chances of bettering her previous winning margin of 250,000 votes.

Congress leaders in Rae Bareli, a farming region 700 km east of here in Uttar Pradesh, could not hide their disappointment and claimed that the low voting was also because Gandhi faced no formidable opponent.

Two final exit polls in West Bengal predicted an easy win for the Left Front, which has ruled the state since June 1977, saying it would get 195-210 seats in the 294-member assembly.

The Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were tipped to get 44-56 seats while the Congress would settle for 30-35 seats.

"We will win elections in West Bengal for a record seventh time and we also expect a big victory for the LDF (Left Democratic Front) in Kerala," Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat told IANS here. "Both these states will have Left-led governments."

And he added: "We are confident these results will strengthen the Left at the national level."

The six West Bengal which went to the polls Monday accounted for 49 seats - 12 in Jalpaiguri, nine in Cooch Behar, five in Darjeeling, seven in Uttar Dinajpur, five in Dakshin Dinajpur and 11 in Malda. There were 306 candidates in the final round.

05-09-2006, 09:17 PM

Sonia scorched, by turnoutQUOTEBy half past one, everyone at the Congressâs control room was panicky. The information was that there had only been 27 per cent polling till then, one point less than in 2004.

âMadam is angry and Priyanka is worried,â said state Congress vice-president Satyadev Tripathi.

A young associate of Rahul Gandhi was monitoring the information from the various booths on two cellphones and text-messaging him. Tripathi asked the workers to fan out across the villages but was ignored.

By 3 pm, a blame game of sorts had begun. âMulayam has achieved what he set out to,â said Deepak Vajpayee, a Congress worker from Devanandpur in Sadar Assembly constituency.

But a senior functionary, who didnât want to be quoted, was more realistic: âRahul sweated it out, but you know what the Congress is like. Our people like their leaders to slog and reap the profits without doing anything.â <!--emo& Big Grin

--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' />

05-10-2006, 04:27 AM

QUOTETitle: Sonia's red signal
Author: Editorial
Publication: Free Press Journal
Date: May 9, 2006

http://www.samachar.com/features/090506-editorial.html

Is it intervention or is it interference? Sonia Gandhiâs letter to the PrimeÂ Minister that he could not rush free trade policies with Indiaâs Asian neighbours is an extraordinary document. She has proved that the suspicions expressed about her exerting pressure on the government from the wings are true after all.

The UPA governmentâs free trade policy has been widely discussed in the cabinetÂ and the party. In fact, free trade agreements exist with most SAARC countries. The Prime Minister has indicated that he would sign such a treaty even with Pakistan at the right time.

Among the ASEAN group of countries, India has already signed free trade agreements with both Singapore and Thailand. Other ASEAN countries are awaiting such free trade pacts. After all this, Sonia Gandhi writes to the Prime Minister that he should âvery carefully scrutinise: the proposal to enter into free trade agreements with ASEAN countries.

The primary impropriety of the letter lies in the fact that she has made theÂ letter public. Which is an affront to the dignity of the office of the PrimeÂ Minister. It has only one meaning. She is going on record to tell the country who the real boss is. 

One has no doubt that the Congress party would have discussed free trade policies of the government at length. At such discussions, Sonia Gandhi would have presided. Why has she been keeping mum on all such occasions? She should have made her mind clear at such meetings. Which is the right forum to iron out policy differencesand evolve a consensus.

Was Sonia Gandhi playing to the gallery while electioneering in Rae Bareli? Perhaps the message may be relevant to the farmers of West Bengal too. Or was she re-stating the policy of Aam Admi? But the method she adopted for such a re statement is questionable which deals a body blow to the prestige of the head of government. Or was she second-guessing the leftists who are supporting the government?

No such vocal objection has emanated from the left groups supporting theÂ government. Even if the leftists did raise objections, the way to tackle them isÂ not by embarrassing the Prime Minister. Did the opposition make an issue of it during the election campaign to attack Sonia Gandhi? Hardly. That the farmers are passing through a parlous state is known to all policy makers.

By and large, the causes that have led to the pathetic situation on the farm front have been analysed. Remedies are being proposed and farm policies are recast. Unless moneylenders are eliminated from the rural areas who charge exorbitant rates of interest (75 to 100 per cent) and loans at concessional rates are extended to the farmers, the revival of the farm front is going to be difficult.

Pricing, procurement policies, supply of seed, water and fertilizer too have to be looked into. States like Maharashtra have made a beginning in this direction. Punjab and other major agricultural states deserve immediate attention.

Instead, to blame the dismal scene on the farm front on free trade does not show an adequate understanding of economics. Washing dirty linen in public by the party chief can do a lot harm to the government and the party.

05-11-2006, 01:14 AM

Election Commission indicts Arjun SinghQUOTENew Delhi: In a strong indictment of HRD Minister Arjun Singh for his remarks on reservation in elite educational institutions, the Election Commission on Wednesday night said he had not acted with a sense of higher responsibility. The commission refrained from holding him violating the model code of conduct for lack of conclusive evidence.

In a five-page ruling, the commission said in the upholding of the model code of conduct, âthe party and persons in power have.....higher responsibility and they are expected not only to uphold it but should also be perceived to be so doing. In the instant case, the commission has come to the sad conclusion that they cannot be perceived to have done so."


Shame on Congress, they will repeat again.

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