2009 Poll Prospects And Alignments

[Guest]

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.Monday, June 30, 2008  Updated: 03:53 am . 
Pioneer.com
Monsoon god disowns 'god's own country'
VJ Jayaraj | Thiruvananthapuram
Farmers and the power sector are in panic as Kerala is in for a monsoon crisis with the weathermen warning of scant rains in July too. Since the start of the southwest monsoon on May 31, there has been a drop in rainfall of more than 38 per cent from the normal and farmers of several areas in the State, which is already facing a foodgrain crunch, are unable to start or maintain agricultural activities. 

The power sector is also in the doldrums, with the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) having already imposed a half-hour peak time load shedding due to a grave drop in water levels of the hydel reservoirs.

The weather monitoring wing of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) do not see any chances of improvement in the monsoon. They say that the chances are that the June trend might prevail in July also, which would pose serious problems to the farming as well as power sectors.
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Bad news for Congress

[acharya]

<b>
Advani: seek vote of confidence</b>

Neena Vyas

“Government has lost moral legitimacy to rule”

— Photo: V. Sudershan

On the offensive: BJP leaders L.K. Advani (left) and Jaswant Singh addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani on Saturday demanded that the Manmohan Singh government convene Parliament “immediately” and “seek the confidence of the House by moving a vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha” as for “all practical purposes the government had lost its majority” barring a formal withdrawal of support by the Left parties expected in a day or two.

Mr. Advani’s charge — made at a crowded press conference addressed by him jointly with Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh — was that the government had lost its “moral legitimacy” to rule and “whether it had the numbers or not to prove its majority could only be determined through a floor test.” There were reports, he noted, that the government would opt for the floor test, but if it failed to do so the BJP would ask the President to direct the government to prove its majority. Without a confidence vote the government had no right to continue in office. “The country should decide afresh” through a Lok Sabha poll, Mr. Advani suggested.
<b>
Describing recent political happenings as “theatre of the absurd” and a “charade,” he said “the credibility of the Congress and the Samajwadi Party” lay in “shambles.” The two parties had come together in the last one week on “unprincipled deals of convenience” which had turned “yesterday’s adversaries” into “today’s allies.” The government, he said, had stopped governing and was only interested in its own survival.</b>

Mr. Advani said this minutes before Mr. Jaswant Singh virtually dropped a political bombshell by confirming that in the run-up to the presidential poll, the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance had offered its support to “any prime ministerial candidate of the United National Progressive Alliance’s (UNPA’s) choice [of which the SP is a major constituent]” if the Manmohan Singh government were to fall.

On the proposed Indo-United States nuclear deal, Mr. Advani said the government did not have the authority to execute any binding international agreements. The BJP would “renegotiate” the deal if it came to power.

Mr. Advani was asked what the BJP’s credibility was when it said it would renegotiate a possible nuclear deal as it had said in 1995 it would “throw the Enron project into the Arabian Sea” but had gone ahead with it, and again at the time of India entering the World Trade Organisation the party had said when the BJP came to power India would walk out of the arrangement, but did nothing. Mr. Advani’s response was that he was now talking about the nuclear deal, not Enron or the WTO and “the people will determine our credibility.”

In a joint statement, the two BJP leaders made it clear their party favoured a strategic alliance with the United States but it was opposed to the nuclear deal as it was “ill-conceived, ill-timed, ill-negotiated and hastily pushed through …”

[acharya]

<b>‘Advani bigger danger than Bush’</b>

Sandeep Dikshit

Amar Singh says SP is for nuclear deal, but it will not commit itself to an alliance

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Saturday indicated that it would go with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the nuclear deal, since fundamentalism was a bigger enemy than imperialism. However, it said it would not commit itself to an alliance.
<span style='color:red'>
Describing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a bigger danger than the U.S</span>., SP general secretary Amar Singh told newspersons here, “for us communalism is a bigger danger than imperialism. Advani is a bigger danger than Bush …. It [the nuclear deal] is neither a Muslim deal nor a Hindu deal.”

“Today the Left parties, the BSP, the BJP and Indian National Lok Dal leader Om Prakash Chautala may vote together. If our friends from the Left want to defeat the government with the BSP and the BJP, we don’t want to say anything. But we can’t do this work.”

“Let the confidence motion come and then we will decide,” he observed on being queried about the party’s stand in case of a trial of strength in Parliament. Asked which side would the party favour — secular or communal — Mr. Singh described both the UPA and the Left as secular.

Maintaining that there had been no talks with the Congress on an alliance, he said, “neither have they asked for our support nor have we committed ours. We are outsiders till now. CPIM general secretary Prakash Karat and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi are insiders. They have formed the government and are running it. There is no divorce as yet. They left have only given a warning. This warning has been going on for a year.”

“There is no deal with the Congress,” said the SP general secretary, adding that if Ram Vilas Paswan with just three MPs could become a Cabinet Minister, the SP with 39 Lok Sabha MPs could have gone much further. The SP, he said, had never been with the fundamentalists. At the same time, it had never been with the Congress.

[acharya]

<b> NDA made a bid to topple UPA government in 2007</b>

Special Correspondent

Jaswant discloses proposal to install UNPA-led coalition

NDA deputed Jaswant to meet UNPA leaders to elicit their support for Shekhawat

With Shiv Sena breaking ranks, NDA failed to get on its side even its own allies

NEW DELHI: In the run-up to the Presidential contest in July 2007, Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance had hoped to topple the Manmohan Singh government to install a government led by the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) supported from outside by the NDA, senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh confirmed here on Saturday.

Responding to questions from reporters at a press conference addressed by him jointly with the Leader of the Opposition L.K. Advani, Mr. Singh said he was “authorised and deputed by the NDA” to meet UNPA leaders to elicit their support for the NDA-backed Presidential candidate, then Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

“I met [AIADMK chief] Jayalalithaa at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel [in Delhi] and conveyed to her the BJP-led NDA would offer outside support to a government led by the UNPA with any Prime Ministerial candidate of the UNPA’s choice.” He added that he individually met other UNPA leaders as well.

He suggested the BJP was ready to do this deal with the UNPA in return for the favour of its vote for Mr. Shekhawat. The BJP, party sources disclosed, expected the Manmohan Singh government to fall if it was unable to get the United Progressive Alliance and Left-supported Presidential candidate Pratibha Patil elected to the highest office.

In the event, however, the NDA failed to get on its side even its own allies, for the Shiv Sena broke ranks with its MPs and MLAs voting for Ms. Patil.

Mr. Jaswant Singh said Ms. Jayalalithaa – at that time her party was part of the UNPA — told him that she would discuss the offer with her colleagues in the UNPA and get back to him. “I had told her then if you have a Prime Ministerial candidate, whoever is your candidate, we will give outside support.”

Just minutes earlier, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Advani had talked about the Manmohan Singh government having lost all moral authority and credibility as a result of the “unprincipled deals” it had made with the Samajwadi Party [till Friday a prominent member of the UNPA] resulting in “yesterday’s adversaries” – the Congress and the SP — becoming “today’s allies.”
‘Offer was for Mulayam’
<span style='color:red'>
Political observers said the open offer to the UNPA — to have a Prime Minister of its choice – was in fact an offer to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh, whose party was the only one in the UNPA to have a substantial number of MPs.</span>

The AIADMK and the Indian National Lok Dal of Om Prakash Chautala have no Lok Sabha MPs, the Asom Gana Parishad has 2, the Telugu Desam Party at that time had 4 and the National Conference 2. The SP alone had a double-digit figure of 38.

SP leader Amar Singh recently claimed that the BJP had offered to support Mr. Mulayam Singh for the Prime Minister’s job, a claim that the BJP rubbished as a “day dream” and a “figment of Amar Singh’s wild imagination.”

[acharya]

<b>

UNPA heads for split as parties reject SP move</b>

Gargi Parsai

“There was consensus only on a national debate”

TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu refutes

Amar Singh’s claim

Nuclear deal anti-national, anti-secular: Chautala

NEW DELHI: Cracks have appeared in the United National Progressive Alliance with the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal and the Asom Gana Parishad distancing themselves from the Samajwadi Party’s decision to support the government on the India-U.S. nuclear deal.

With 48 hours of making a show of solidarity at a press conference, the alliance appeared to be on the brink of a split.

TDP spokesman and Rajya Sabha member M.V. Mysoora Reddy told The Hindu that the UNPA was formed as a non-Congress, non-BJP alliance. “If Mr. Mulayam Singh has gone with the Congress how can he be a part of this alliance?”

He refuted the claim of SP leader, Amar Singh, that the party informed TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu about supporting the deal. “It is not correct.”

In the July 3 meeting there was consensus only on seeking a “national debate” and expert opinion. “The opinion of the former President A.P.J Abdul Kalam on the nuclear deal is well-known and there was opposition to his name. However, the SP went ahead with it. We still want a national debate.”

He said the UNPA would support a no-confidence motion and oppose a trust vote in Parliament. The TDP has five members in the Lok Sabha.

Speaking to journalists here, Mr. Chautala said anyone who supported the deal had no place in the UNPA. <span style='color:red'>“The nuclear deal is anti-national and anti-secular. Mulayam Singh was insulted earlier by the Congress and will be insulted again. The UNPA does not see eye-to-eye with the Samajwadi Party any more.”</span>
<b>
He said the decision of Mr. Mulayam Singh — a founding member of the UNPA — had “shocked” him. “Mulayam Singh is a good politician and is rooted to the ground. It is not known who got him to commit the mistake,” he said.</b>

On the endorsement of the deal by Dr. Kalam he said, “Dr. Kalam was already a supporter of the deal. So what was the point in consulting him? His name came up in the UNPA meeting. However, I suggested that some renowned scientist should be consulted on the issue. But the SP chose to consult Dr. Kalam,” he rued.

Claiming that the SP chief did not meet him either before or after meeting UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Chautala said there had been no talks with Mr. Mulayam Singh after the UNPA meeting.

He said: “We are against the nuclear deal and oppose the Congress. SP’s support to the nuclear deal is good neither for the party nor for the country.”

[acharya]

<b>
Congress attacks Advani for seeking trust vote</b>

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday came down heavily on Leader of the Opposition L K Advani, for demanding a trust vote in Parliament.

"No one has withdrawn support from the government as of now. So where is the question of trust vote?" said Congress spokesman Manish Tiwary.
<b>
He charged Advani of making an irresponsible statement when the prime minister is going for the G-8 summit in Japan. "Why is Advani creating an instability with such demands?" asked Tiwary.

"There is no instability in the government and politics in the country. If there is any instability it is in the mind of the leader of the Opposition," he said.

"The nuclear deal is an issue of national importance and getting energy and any party which supports us is welcome," he said dismissing charges of political opportunism levelled against his party. </b>

[acharya]

<b>

Venkaiah: what’s the deal behind the deal?</b>

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday termed the coming together of the United Progressive Alliance and the Samajwadi Party “unholy” and “biggest ever opportunistic politics”

Addressing journalists here, the former BJP national president, M. Venkaiah Naidu, said: “The UPA and the SP should tell the country what clinched the deal. We want to know what is the deal behind the deal.”
Speculation

“There is a speculation in political circles that some prominent ministerial portfolios might be changed in the wake of the political realignment. Hence, we want to know from the UPA if there are any such conditions to this new alignment.” SP president Mulayam Singh had not only opposed the nuclear deal signed by the UPA government but was also in the forefront of anti-Congress agitations. More than anything else, he was the chairman of the United National Progressive Alliance, which was supposed to be an alternative to the Congress and the BJP. Hence the country had the right to demand an answer from Mr. Singh for his U-turn.
“A sinking ship”

The BJP leader said the UPA government would not stay for long even with SP support. “UPA is a sinking ship. If not today, it will sink tomorrow.” Asked whether the BJP would move a vote of no confidence against the government, Mr. Naidu said: “We have our own plans.”

[acharya]

Enlightened Mulayam, Amar sing paeans of nuclear deal

Govt engaged in talks with NSG countries for waiver: Menon

[acharya]

<b>

BJP creates spectre of instability: Congress</b>

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for “creating a spectre of instability in the United Progressive Alliance government, when there was none.”
“Government stable”

Reacting to the BJP demand for a “trust vote” in Parliament, Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said: “The government is stable. Nobody has withdrawn support, so where is the question of a trust vote? Even constitutionally it is only the President who can ask the government to go for a trust vote.”

Senior Congress leader and AICC general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said the need for a “trust vote” would arise only when the Left parties write to the President that they were withdrawing support to the UPA government. “That has not happened so far, so why is the BJP jumping the gun?”

Mr. Tewari said: “The real theatre of the absurd is that the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha [L.K. Advani] has chosen a moment [to raise a demand for confidence vote in Parliament] when the Prime Minister is planning to travel abroad and engage in serious diplomacy.”

Responding to Mr. Advani’s charge that there had been uncertainty in the government for the last 18 months over the India-U.S. nuclear deal, he said the government was not in turmoil “except in his own mind.” The government was functioning in a cohesive manner.
Differing perceptions

In any coalition, there could be a difference of perception which could not be qualified as turmoil or instability. The BJP was opposing the deal because it was not doing it, he said.
Economic emergency

On the charge of Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh that the country was heading towards an “economic emergency” on account of inflation, Mr. Tewari said Mr. Singh had the reputation of being a wordsmith.

“I would have expected that he would have used his words more carefully. Economic emergency is not a term that should be bandied about loosely.”

[acharya]

<b>

Bardhan hits back at Singhvi
</b>
Special Correspondent

KOLKATA: “If someone wants to precipitate a crisis, we might have to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government even before the Prime Minister returns from Japan,” CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan told a press conference here on Saturday.

He was asked to comment on the reported statement of Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi that sovereign governments or political parties cannot be subjected to deadlines.

Mr. Singhvi made the statement in New Delhi on Friday in the wake of the Left parties setting a July 7 deadline for the UPA government for clarification on approaching the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the safeguards agreement related to the India-U.S nuclear deal.

On reports that Mr. Singhvi had described the setting of deadlines as “discourteous,” Mr. Bardhan said: “We did not want to pull the rug from under the government. Who is teaching us courtesy? We do not want lessons in courtesy from the Congress.”

He said it had been decided at the last Left-UPA committee meeting that before going to the IAEA, the government would show the text of its proposals to the Left parties. This it had failed to do.

Asked what the Left parties would do if the government ignored the July 7 deadline, he said they would meet either on July 8 or 9 to decide on the next course of action.

On BJP president L.K. Advani’s demand that the Manmohan government take a confidence vote in the wake of the Left’s threat, Mr. Bardhan said the government should seek it once the Left parties formally withdrew support.

On whether the Left parties would be politically isolated if they withdrew support over the nuclear issue rather than the rise in prices of essential items, he said: “As far as the Left is concerned, isolation means isolation from the people; there is no such isolation.”

[acharya]

<img src='http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/3803/unpadr2.jpg' border='0' alt='user posted image' />

Left to right: N Chandrababu Naidu (TDP); Brindaban Goswami (AGP); Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP); Amar Singh (SP); Babulal Marandi (JVM); Om Prakash Chautala (INLD). (Illustration: Neelabh)

<b>
SP's U-turn: 24 hours that saved the nuke deal</b>


6 Jul 2008, 0001 hrs IST, Rajeev Deshpande,TNN


There are few better practitioners of the art of making necessity sound like a virtue than Samajwadi Party’s canny general secretary Amar Singh. Quizzed by a Telegu Desam Party leader over SP’s U-turn on the India-US nuclear deal, the bespectacled politician said in matter-of-fact manner: ‘‘In your state, you face Congress. We need power to counter our rival and Congress is not a factor in UP.’’

SP’s dramatic move to desert the Left-UNPA corner and team up with the Congress is yet another telling example of there being no permanent foes in politics. And if politics is also about timing, few can hold a candle to SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh. In just about 24 hours, from Thursday forenoon to Friday noon, they had jumped ship leaving a fractured UNPA and a shocked Left in their wake.

When SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh met their ‘third front’ or UNPA partners on Thursday, the Samajwadis had all but signed their deal with Congress to rescue the nuclear pact. Yet, the meeting which lasted more than four hours, droned on with the discussion moving from inflation to expelled BJP leader Babulal Marandi expounding on the political situation in Jharkhand.

Finally, when the conversation turned to the real reason why TDP’s N Chandrababu Naidu, INLD leader Om Prakash Chautala, Asom Gana Parishad chief Brindaban Goswami and Marandi had gathered at Amar Singh’s Lodhi Road residence in Delhi, SP’s top duo was prepared to be fairly candid. Apart from ‘new facts’ on the nuclear deal the government had placed on the table through National Security Advisor M K Narayanan, the SP could not lose sight of its ‘compulsions’ — shorthand for BSP.

With BSP successfully poaching minority votes from SP in UP and adding upper castes as well to its own SC base, Mayawati’s outfit was showing no signs of a slowing down. She was also busy leaning hard on the SP and despite a handsome 39 MPs in Lok Sabha, SP was locked out of the power game at the Centre, a situation that was growing more acute each passing day -- after being ousted in UP even old courtiers were deserting the SP leaders. Added to these political factors were disproportionate assets case against Mulayam and I-T inquiries into the affairs of Amar Singh and his friends.

In their interactions with the Left, SP leaders have strenuously discounted suggestions that their move towards the Congress could be influenced by the cases filed against them. On one occasion Amar Singh made the point that hardly anyone could be more meticulous in tax payments than he had been, having contributed handsomely to the exchequer. In turn he asked the comrades whether the could there be no view on the deal apart from that offered by the Left.

As the SP-Congress engagement picked momentum after the ill-tempered meeting of the Left-UPA panel on the deal on June 25, the deadlines were fairly self-evident. For one, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would need the political backing, not the least in terms of numbers in Lok Sabha, so that he could deliver a ‘positive’ report on the deal when he met US president George Bush in Japan during the July 7-9 G-8 summit. This was crucial as no Congress ally was ready for sacrificing the government to go to the hustings.

After informing the Americans that the domestic logjam over the deal had been broken, the PM was keen to move the International Atomic Energy Agency for ratification of a safeguards agreement no later than mid-July. He does have a bit more time to do so, but Singh has urged the Congress leadership that the deal be moved to the next stage as soon as possible. ‘‘He has said how long can we wait for Left to change its position when we know that is not possible,’’ said a prime ministerial aide.

Even though not too enthused about taking on the Left over the deal, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi heard out the PM’s arguments. It is possible that she felt that a break with the Left on some issue or the other ahead of the next general election was inevitable. She may also have seen some merit in the argument that a half-done nuclear deal would make the government — and Congress as well — butt of ridicule. Then again, PM’s pressure tactics with careful worded reports on his wish to quit rattled the leadership.
<b>
The first public evidence that Congress was looking to mend fences with the Samajwadis came when they were extended an invitation to the dinner hosted by the PM on UPA completing its fourth year in power in May.</b> Amar Singh’s presence was very much noticed even as the PM discreetly suggested that the voluble SP leader have a word with Sonia Gandhi who was seated not too far away. The ice was broken after years of mutual recrimination.

[acharya]

<b>
Congress document accuses SP of misleading Muslims</b>

New Delhi (PTI): The Congress may have built a new friendship with Samajwadi Party but the leader of its minority cell some time back brought out a document attacking Mulayam Singh Yadav and his outfit for always misleading Muslims for "petty political gains". In the booklet titled "Why Muslims with Congress?", AICC Minority Department Chairman Imran Kidwai also accused SP of exploiting the situation caused by the demolition of Babri Masjid.

The Congress, in the document, has sought to take credit for providing an amenable atmosphere to the minority community seen from the emergence of Azim Premji as one of the richest industrialists, frontline actors ranging from Dilip Kumar to Shahrukh Khan as also artistes like Bismillah Khan to Amjad Ali Khan and a host of players including Sania Mirza.

"May it be the Samajwadi Party or the BSP, they did nothing for the Muslims but only made tall claims, mislead the Muslims by creating confusion in the community and took advantage of Congress failures," the document has said.

Kidwai said that it was Jawaharlal Nehru and the Congress Government that ensured the Minorities to have their personal laws. They also ensured equal rights to Muslims despite the demands from certain quarters that the minorities should be discriminated against in view of the creation of Pakistan.

In the recently brought out document, the AICC office bearer regretted that the first non-Congress rule at the Centre in the form of the Janata party experiment proved that the Congress could be defeated if attempts are made to drive away Muslims and Dalits from the party. (MORE) PTI SPG SC ETB 07061702 DEL

Keyword CONG-SP Reference Filename ptis1143 Source ID ptis Seq. No. 1143 Take No. Source PTIS Cat. Code PTIS-DEL Priority Words Time 16:55 Date 06 Jul '08w4ptis1

[acharya]

<b>
BJP condemns Amar Singh's comments on Advani</b>

New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Sunday termed Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh's comments that "Advani is a greater danger than Bush" as "an outlandish statement" aimed to conceal a "private deal." "A man who is doing a deal within a deal is trying to glorify himself by making outlandish statements," party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said in a statement here.

Rudy alleged that the SP has entered into a "deal" with the Congress to save an another "deal". "The country knows Amar Singh in and out with or without his utterances. This is simply a ploy to conceal a private deal of the Samajwadi Party with the Congress to save another deal," he said.

Singh in a press conference on Saturday had said that BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani was a bigger threat than American President George Bush for the country. He also said that communalism was the most dangerous among all the problems faced by the country, seeking to justify his party's stand of moving closer to the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government which is pursuing the Indo-US nuclear deal. Singh also said Samajwadi Party's move was aimed at keeping communal parties (like BJP) away from power.

[Guest]

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Inept UPA sign out: LK </b>
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
Government must seek trust vote, demands strident Advani
As the UPA Government prepared contingency plan to deal with life after Left, the BJP accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of surrendering before the American interest on the nuclear deal and asked him to seek an immediate vote of confidence in Lok Sabha. 

<b>The main opposition party also questioned the "opportunistic" alliance between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress.</b>

With the Left and UPA all set to sign their divorce papers after four years of an uneasy relationship, Leader of Opposition LK Advani on Saturday asserted that the UPA lacked both numerical majority and moral authority to push through an international agreement with far-reaching implications for the future of the country.

<b>"As the UPA is now a minority, it has no right to execute any binding, international agreement. The BJP demands that the Government immediately call Parliament into session and take it fully into confidence. It must obtain Parliament's approval by first obtaining a vote of confidence from the House," </b>Advani said, addressing a joint Press conference with senior party leader Jaswant Singh.

A combative Advani launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister and the Congress leadership, condemning Manmohan Singh's 'supine' surrender to American interest and his party's unprincipled pact with the SP.

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[acharya]

<b>
Samajwadi Party can't bail out UPA govt: BJP</b>

Lucknow (PTI): The BJP on Monday said the UPA government is heading towards a minority even with Samajwadi Party support as it faces a revolt-like situation on the nuclear deal issue and it will be best for it to seek a vote of confidence in Lok Sabha before moving ahead on the deal.

"In the event of Left parties withdrawing support, the UPA government will be in minority even with the support of the 39-member SP as there has been a revolt-like situation in the parliamentary party," BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters here. "It would be morally right for the UPA government to seek a confidence vote before advancing in the nuclear deal," Naqvi said.

He said the "midnight deal" between the Congress and SP is more dangerous than the N-deal and people should know why the party which had been opposing the deal and harping on "anti- Congress" slogan for which it formed the UNPA did a U-turn.

On senior leader Jaswant Singh's admission on the offer to UNPA leaders to form a government under in its leadership by toppling the UPA government, Naqvi said Singh said that as the Centre was following anti-people policies.

Naqvi refused to give a direct reply to speculations that number of parties in the NDA would go up with the UNPA falling apart saying "NDA constituents are firmly with us". He said his party would have no truck with either the BSP or SP in Uttar Pradesh as governments of both the parties have merely been looting the people of the state.

He also termed developments in Jammu and Kashmir over the issue of transfer of forest land to the Amarnath shrine board resulting in the fall of the Ghulam Nabi Azad government as "conspiracy of Congress and PDP to prove to the terrorists and separatists that they were sympathetic to them".

[acharya]

<b>No threat to UPA govt. if Left decides to part ways: Arjun Singh</b>

Morena (MP) (PTI): Asserting that Indo-US nuclear deal was in the best interest of the nation, Union Minister for Human Resource Development Arjun Singh on Monday said there was no threat to the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre even if Left decided to part ways.

"This deal is in the interest of the country. That is why Congress party is supporting it. If Left parties are withdrawing their support on the issue, even then the UPA government will not collapse and will prove its majority in the Parliament," the senior party leader told reporters here. On L K Advani's statement that the UPA government was in minority following Left party's decision on the issue, the HRD Minister said, "It seems, Advani is in a hurry to become Prime Minister".

To a question on the issue of Congress-led Jammu and Kashmir Government's decision to revoke allotment of land to Amarnath Shrine Board, he said BJP was trying to communalise the issue for its narrow political ends.

Squarely blaming the saffron party for the communal violence at Indore during the bandh call given by the BJP and its sister organisations, the Union Minister said arrest of party leaders Digvijay Singh, Narayansami, Kantilal Bhuria, Suresh Pachouri and others could have lead to law and order problem.

[acharya]

<b>CPI accuses UPA of plunging country into crisis</b>

New Delhi (PTI): The CPI on Monday accused the UPA of plunging the country into a "political crisis" by raking up "unnecessary" issues like the nuclear deal to "hoodwink" the public at a time when the nation is facing far more serious problems like price rise and inflation.

In a hard-hitting editorial in the latest issue of party mouthpiece 'New Age', CPI alleged that the trio of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia were not paying heed to "any sane advice" to tackle issues concerning the common man.

"...It (Government) is raking up unnecessary issues and plunging the country into a political crisis to hoodwink common people. Indo-US nuclear deal is one such issue that the Prime Minister has all of a sudden raked up and made it an obsession," the editorial said.

Noting that people would judge the Government by measures to curb price rise and not by a "doubtful deal", it asked if the Prime Minister was in a hurry to plunge the nation into a political crisis to hide failures of his government on the economic front, particularly in curbing rising prices.

Accusing the UPA of taking just "cosmetic" steps to control inflation, the party said that the prices of not only eatables and essential commodities have risen but also that of cement, steel and life saving drugs.

The CPI alleged that the Government is indulging in a "disinformation" campaign to justify the prise rise, attributing it to ever rising prices of crude oil in the international market.

[Guest]

<b>Furious at govt's 'lie', Left may withdraw support on Tuesday</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Left parties, in their meeting on Friday, had decided to pull out as soon as India goes to the International Atomic Energy Agency to sign the safegaurds agreement with its board of directors.

CPI leader D Raja said that the Left parties would meet in New Delhi on 11.30 am on Tuesday to decide on the withdrawal of support. They have also sought time from the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the same day, so that they can give the letter of withdrawal of support to President Pratibha Patil

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Though the Congress has reportedly mustered the requisite numbers�from the SP and other regional parties-- to make up for the Left's 59 MPs, party chief Sonia Gandhi [Images] does not want to take any chances. She had promised the UPA allies that parliamentary elections would not be held before 2009.

<b>Sources say that she is skeptical about the SP's support, as its leaders make new demands every day. On Monday, SP general secretary Amar Singh demanded an electoral alliance with the Congress in not only Uttar Pradesh but also in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, for the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress had bargained for a deal only in Uttar Pradesh and had not anticipated the SP's demands about other states.</b>

Once the IAEA safeguards agreement is finalised on July 28, India would approach the Nuclear Suppliers Group for its approval to the Indo-US nuclear deal. India wants to finish the formalities with the NSG before the Parliament's monsoon session starts on August 11
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Not India wanted, but traitors wanted to sell India before Monsoon season.
Why Moron Singh refuse to bring this critical bill before parliament, last I heard India is a democracy not a whore of Moron SIngh or his boss Queen?

[acharya]

<b> BJP “charge sheet” against UPA</b>

Special Correspondent

Says it is time for the government to go

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday released a 118-page booklet charging the United Progressive Alliance government with reneging on its poll promises made to the people through its manifesto and deviating from the agreed Common Minimum Programme.

It was time for the government to go and time for the people to get an opportunity to vote, the party said in the booklet released here by its spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

The BJP’s “charge sheet” was released soon after it became known that the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was preparing such “charge sheet.”

The BJP listed the charges as follows:

The UPA government has failed to check terrorism thus worsening the internal security scenario, “appeasing the minorities” and “insulting the majority community,” hurting the common man by allowing prices to rise, betraying farmers as the debt relief had left untouched those who had borrowed from private money-lenders, allowing China to aggressively maintain pressure on India by downplaying Chinese snubs and incursions into Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, messing up the Kashmir scene by “surrendering to Muslim fundamentalists” on the land-for-Amarnath Shrine Board issue and, finally allowing the Prime Minister’s Office to become “irrelevant.”

Mr. Rudy sidestepped a question on how he could describe the Prime Minister’s Office as “irrelevant” when in fact it was the Prime Minister, who pushed the India-U.S. nuclear deal agenda leading to a realignment of political forces.
<b>
The BJP spokesperson spoke derisively of Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh’s own “1 2 3 agreement with the Congress party.” He alleged that the SP wanted the Congress to withdraw cases against its leaders, it wanted the ouster of the Finance Minister and the Petroleum Minister from the Cabinet, and it wanted to get the Centre’s help to “crush” its political opponents in Uttar Pradesh.</b>

Asked about an agreement that senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh wanted to broker with Mr. Amar Singh in the run-up to the presidential contest in June-July 2007, Mr. Rudy said: “The BJP’s tentative offer of prime ministership to the United National Progressive Alliance was dependent on the Alliance committing its vote in favour of [the then vice-president] Bhairon Singh Shekhawat [contesting for the President’s office against UPA candidate Pratibha Patil].”

[acharya]

<b>
Most Muslim MPs of SP back Mulayam</b>
Atiq Khan
Munawar Hasan revolts against party for supporting nuclear deal
Muslims have been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy: Samajwadi Party MPs

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party is counting on its Muslim MPs in the Lok Sabha from Uttar Pradesh to defeat the Bahujan Samaj Party’s design to create a rift among them on the issue of the nuclear deal and the Muslims.

The Muslim card was played by Chief Minister Mayawati, who said the nuclear deal had angered the minority community. Reacting quickly to it, the Samajwadi Party MP from Muzaffarnagar, Munawar Hasan, raised a banner of revolt against his party president Mulayam Singh for brokering the nuclear deal with the Congress.

Accusing Mr. Singh of backstabbing the Muslims, Mr. Hasan, who said he would defy the party whip, claimed that the number of Muslim MPs opposed to the deal would grow if and when a no trust motion is moved in Parliament against the UPA government.

Perhaps, taking cue from this, recent reports have suggested that the BSP president’s game plan was heading towards its logical conclusion.

Mr. Hasan, sources said, is assured of a BSP ticket from Muzaffarnagar in the next Lok Sabha elections. The Phulpur MP, Atiq Ahmed, who has been expelled from the party by Mr. Singh and is currently in jail, was the only other MP who seemed to support the BSP.

The SP has eight Muslim MPs from Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha while the BSP has three. The SP MPs contacted by The Hindu deplored the Muslim angle given to the nuclear deal and said the community has been unnecessarily dragged into the controversy. “What is good for the country also holds good for the Muslims, it is rather unfortunate that a Muslim flavour has been added to the nuclear deal. It is not at all linked to the Muslims and those who are saying so should concentrate on the welfare of the minority community,” said Salim Sherwani, MP from Badaun. Backing Mr. Mulayam Singh on the issue, Mr. Sherwani ruled out the possibility of his stepping out of line.

Talking over the phone, Moradabad MP Shafiqur Rehman Barq reiterated that the nuclear deal has no linkage with the Muslims. “Since the communal forces would be weakened and the secular forces strengthened following the Samajwadi Party’s pact with the Congress, a political propaganda has been launched against the party,” Dr. Barq said.

He said the SP-Congress pact would prevent the division of Muslim votes and would ensure that they were not wasted. Dr. Barq dismissed reports of deserting Mr. Singh as baseless.

The reported opinion of two leading clerics representing the Deoband and Bareilly schools of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh, Maulana Abdul Khaliq Madrasi and Maulana Tauqeer Reza Khan Barelvi, supports the view of the nuclear deal having no relation with the Muslim cause. “Aitami qaraar mulk ke haq mein hai” (the nuclear deal will be to the benefit of the country), said Maulana Khaliq, who is the Naib Mohtammim of Darul Uloom, Deoband, told The Hindu on Monday.

Maulana Tauqeer Reza, president of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (Jadeed), assailed the religious colour given to the controversy. “In the event of a pact between two sovereign nations the effect is on the country and not on a community,” the Maulana said from Bareilly.

In Lucknow, the working committee meeting of the U.P. unit of Jamiat Ulema –i- Hind (JUH) held on Sunday night said the Muslims had nothing to do with the nuclear deal. A resolution passed at the meeting said the deal was the prerogative of the politicians and scientists. The ulemas and religious leaders should maintain a distance from the issue. Maulana Kalimullah Khan Qasmi, secretary of the organisation, said the Muslims should devote attention to the education of their children.