Whose slave?
Dr. Singh, in his reply to the debate on the trust vote, said the Left parties wanted to treat him like a bonded slave. Well, Dr. Singh seems to have broken the shackles of slavery by winning the confidence motion, using all means, to become a bonded slave of imperialist U.S. Time will tell whose bonded slave India is set to become.
D. Udaykumar,
Tirupati
* * *
While the haste in operationalising the nuclear deal is in itself an act of slavery to his American master, Dr. Singh, strangely, has accused the Left parties. He has become a slave of not only the U.S. but also the smaller parties and leaders on whose support he won.
S. Raman,
Vellore
<b>
Udupi BJP stages protest</b>
Staff Correspondent
Udupi: Members of the district unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest near the Service Bus Stand here on Thursday demanding the resignation of Manorama Madhwaraj, MP,who has been expelled from the BJP, for âhaving betrayed the party and abstained from voting in the trust voteâ moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Lok Sabha on July 22. Chairman of Third Finance Commission A.G. Kodgi, president of Udupi City Municipal Council Dinakar Shetty, BJP leaders K. Shankar Poojary, Udaykumar Shetty, G.P. Nayak, and others were present.
In a press release issued here, the BJP asked Ms. Madhwaraj to resign as MP within July 26, failing which the party workers would stage a dharna in front of her house.
<b> Manorama for CBI probe into bribery charges</b>
Staff Correspondent
She refuses to resign as MP until the allegations made by certain BJP leaders are proved
<b>
Udupi: Manorama Madhwaraj, MP, who has been expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party, on Thursday urged Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to recommend to the Union Government to order a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the allegations made by certain BJP leaders that she had taken money to abstain from the trust vote moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Lok Sabha on July 22.</b>
Addressing presspersons here, Ms. Madhwaraj said that she had written a letter to the Chief Minister in this regard.
She said that the setting up of 1,015 MW coal-based Udupi Thermal Power Project (formerly known as Nagarjuna Thermal Power Project) at Yellur in Udupi district was being strongly opposed by the people in her constituency as it would damage the environment and affect fish in the Arabian Sea. This was a serious problem, which she had opposed since she became a MP, she said.
Change of tune
Before the BJP came to power in the State, almost all the BJP leaders opposed the thermal power project. But they had all changed tune and started supporting it. âBut I did not fall for the inducements offered to support the project and have opposed it steadfast, despite the fact it would affect me politically,â she said.
Ms. Madhwaraj said that earlier she too had reservations about the Hyde Act. But a letter by Ram Jethmalani, MP, giving details about the nuclear agreement, made her realise that it was beneficial for the country. It was better to have power from nuclear plants than from the highly polluting coal-based thermal power plants.
The nuclear deal would solve the power problem of the country with minimal pollution when compared to the coal-based thermal power plants, she said.. âI had made it clear to BJP general secretary H.N. Ananth Kumar on July 22 that I will be abstaining in the House. However, since allegations have been made, a CBI probe will reveal the truth. I do not want the people to harbour suspicions about me,â she said.
Not quitting
In reply to a question, she said that she would not resign as MP unless the allegations against were investigated and the truth revealed. She said that the letter of expulsion had reached her New Delhi residence. To a query, she said it was the Vajpayee Government which took the preliminary steps for the nuclear agreement.
She said that the three BJP MPs showing wads of cash on the floor of the Lok Sabha appeared to be âstage-managed.â Mr. Singh is a good and intelligent person with the best interests of the nation in his heart,â she added.
<b>
'Bribed' BJP MPs asked to file formal complaints </b>
Posted online: Thursday , July 24, 2008 at 02:03:02
Updated: Thursday , July 24, 2008 at 02:03:02
New Delhi, July 24: The three BJP MPs who alleged they were offered Rs three crore each for abstaining in the trust vote have been asked to give a formal complaint by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
In a communication to the three MPs -- Ashok Argal, Mahavir Bhagora and Fagan Singh Kulste -- last night, the Secretariat asked them to present their version officially to enable it to take the case forward, official sources said.
The Lok Sabha witnessed unprecedented drama on July 22 when the BJP members walked in the middle of the House flashing wads of currency notes claiming that it was given by a Samajwadi Party leader as bribe for absenting himself from the trust vote.
Speaker Somnath Chatterjee had said on Wednesday that nobody will be spared if found guilty in the allegations of bribery to three BJP MPs for abstaining from the vote of confidence.
Describing the incident when one of the MPs displayed bundles of currency allegedly given to him as bribe as "most unfortunate and a very sad day in the history of Parliament", the Speaker promised that all possible steps will be taken as custodian of the House.
Advani's Error
Doesn't the leader of opposition realise that Bofors style agitation is passé? And does he not bear some responsibility for elevating to Parliament such dubious characters that are open to allurement? ...
Rajinder Puri on L.K. Advani
Incensed by defections managed through bribes, frustrated by the governmentâs victory in Parliamentâs trust motion, L.K. Advani has sounded the bugle for a nationwide revolt to compel an early general election. He recalled the Bofors agitation which ousted Rajiv Gandhi through a mid-term poll. He has asked all opposition MPs to resign from Parliament. He believes that such an agitation will succeed as effectively as it did against Rajiv Gandhi.
He could be mistaken. Indian politics has seen much during the last two decades. Public perception has changed. Doubtless defections effected through political or monetary allurement is extremely disgusting. Doubtless the public shares the disgust expressed by Advani, Karat and other opposition stalwarts.
But there is one important difference. Opposition leaders are disgusted with the government. The public is disgusted with the government as well as the opposition. It has revulsion for the entire political class. Opposition leaders, apart from expressing disgust for the government, could do with some self-disgust too.
<b>
If the victors stooped to low methods to procure votes did not opposition MPs who defected collude in the same low methods? And were not defections managed through several opposition parties, mostly from Advaniâs own party? And does not Advani bear some responsibility for elevating to Parliament such dubious characters that are open to allurement? Let Advani refresh his memory.</b>
The first brazen defection from the BJP in the current crisis occurred when Brij Bhushan Saran Singh, its MP from Gonda, walked across to Mulayam Singhâs party. While Amar Singh waxed eloquent before media, fellow Thakur Brij Bhushan sat smugly by his side. Should Advani be surprised that this MP defected? There was a delicious irony in the event.
Brij Bhushan Saran Singh as the MP from Gonda led the biggest contingent of activists to demolish the Babri Masjid in December 1992 when Kalyan Singh was UP Chief Minister. Saran Singh then was the darling of the Sangh Parivar and a thorn for Mulayam Singh. A few years later the CBI probing a TADA case against the Dawood Ibrahim gang stumbled on Saran Singhâs links with Dawood. He was charged and arrested under TADA. While in jail the election was held. The BJP could not field him. It fielded his wife in his place to exhibit its continued loyalty to the muscle man.
During the time when these events took place this scribe highlighted these facts to reveal the BJPâs hollow pretensions about clean politics. Where was Advani then? Later this scribe chanced upon a meeting with the RSS chief. When the latter extolled the high moral values of Hinduism propagated by his organization this scribe referred to the Gonda MPâs episode. The RSS chief mumbled a few words about politics being different and lapsed into silence.
Advani should reflect. The country is in a moral crisis. If politicians behave immorally they are not necessarily evil people. They are petty creatures of circumstance seeking individual advancement in a system so debased and corrupt that only evil is allowed to triumph. The system needs to be seriously reappraised. All senior politicians cutting across parties of both the government and the opposition need to put their heads together. To bring this about the leader of the opposition can play a very crucial role.
<b>Congress has last laugh in Karnataka</b>
Statesman News Service
BANGALORE, July 23: The Congress party in the state is laughing the loudest at the discomfiture of the BJP which saw three of its MPs from Karnataka either voting with the UPA government on the confidence vote or abstaining.
Even as the Central leadership of the BJP has been quick to punish the rebels, the cross voting by its MPs has embarrassed it no end.
More so, as it has given the local unit of the Congress enough reason to gloat at the discomfiture of its arch rival in a tit for tat situation.
For, around the start of this month, the BJP was able to woo three Congress MLAs into its fold, even giving two of them ministerial berths, while accommodating another as the chief of the slum board.
<b>
The sudden shift in the loyalty of its MLAs had taken the Congress by surprise, highlighting the sad state of affairs in the party particularly in the state unit.
Smarting at the humiliation, the Congress leadership was waiting for a chance to get back at its rival. The cross voting by BJP MPs, Mr HT Sangliana, and Manjunath Kunnur during the confidence vote provided the much needed relief to the Congress in the state. It got a bonus when another MP, Mrs Manorama Madhawaraj, decided to abstain from voting.</b>
It was the formidable Reddy brothers and their associate, Mr Sriramulu, who played a major role in engineering the defection of the Congress MLAs into the BJP camp. The luring of the Congress MLAs had come at a time when the BJP, which had managed to get only 110 seats in a house of 224, needed a few more numbers to gain majority. For this it had managed to get the support of six Independents. At the same time, the party remained uncertain as it feared that the Independents could be enticed to leave its fold. It was precisely to scuttle such attempts that the BJP successfully raided the Congress MLAs.
Yesterday's voting in the Lok Sabha, however, saw the BJP get a taste of its own medicine, much to the glee of the Congress.
<b>
Manmohan Confidence Vote - A Pyrrhic Victory</b>
What a roller coaster that was ?
After all the tack of dealmaking, abstentions and surprises finally some real action on the floor of the house with 3 BJP MPs baring the fixer and broker in chiefâs morality for the whole world to witness.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wanted this motion of confidence to be a judgement on his 4 year record. Let us pay close attention to how this confidence or lack of was expressed.
First let us play close attention to Manmohan Singhâs vituperative attack to L.K. Advani
The Leader of Opposition, Shri L.K. Advani has chosen to use all manner of abusive objectives to describe my performance. He has described me as the weakest Prime Minister, a nikamma PM, and of having devalued the office of PM. To fulfill his ambitions, he has made at least three attempts to topple our government. But on each occasion his astrologers have misled him. This pattern, I am sure, will be repeated today. At his ripe old age, I do not expect Shri Advani to change his thinking. But for his sake and Indiaâs sake, I urge him at least to change his astrologers so that he gets more accurate predictions of things to come.
As for Shri Advaniâs various charges, I do not wish to waste the time of the House in rebutting them. All I can say is that before leveling charges of incompetence on others, Shri Advani should do some introspection. Can our nation forgive a Home Minister who slept when the terrorists were knocking at the doors of our Parliament? Can our nation forgive a person who single handedly provided the inspiration for the destruction of the Babri Masjid with all the terrible consequences that followed? To atone for his sins, he suddenly decided to visit Pakistan and there he discovered new virtues in Mr. Jinnah. Alas, his own party and his mentors in the RSS disowned him on this issue. Can our nation approve the conduct of a Home Minister who was sleeping while Gujarat was burning leading to the loss of thousands of innocent lives? Our friends in the Left Front should ponder over the company they are forced to keep because of miscalculations by their General Secretary.
<b>
All fury no fire Dr. Singh, you did not have the courage to even say all of this on the floor of the house. All of this invective apart the facts of your record Dysfunctional Governance dont change, the reality of your Electile Dysfunctional Leadership dont change.</b>
Your vote of confidence was bought by going to bed with fixers and brokers who are incapable of speaking the language of decency, bred as they were in the gutter.
The final tally says it all with 275 for the motion 256 against the motion with 10 abstentions.
You were right to pursue the strategic intent of getting India out of the nuclear winter it has been in. But sir you did not convince any political formation to express confidence on the merits of your record. You did not convince a significant number of individual members cutting across party lines to express confidence on the voice of their conscience. Rooted in questionable abstentions this is a pyrrhic victory and it is beginning of the end of your Ultimate Perverse Alliance that saw you accidentally occupy this august office.
<b>Amar Singh involved in bribing BJP MPs: Argal</b>
Divyamanu Chaudhry / CNN-IBN
TimePublished on Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 15:58, Updated at Thu, Jul 24, 2008 in Nation section
MR CLEAN: Argal says he will soon submit a written complaint to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
MR CLEAN: Argal says he will soon submit a written complaint to Speaker Somnath Chatterjee.
New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from Morena in Madhya Pradesh Ashok Argal has claimed that Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh was directly involved in efforts to bribe him ahead of the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on July 22.
Argal spoke exclusively to CNN-IBN's Divyamanu Chaudhary.
He also says that he will submit a written complaint, as demanded by Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, by Thursday evening.
CNN-IBN: The Speaker has sent you a letter saying you should file a formal written complaint?
Ashok Argal: I have received Speaker's letter. I will reply to the Speaker by this evening. On July 22, we went to Amar Singh's house and came back to our home. Then from my home we went to Parliament with the token money of Rs 1 crore. MP Faggan Singh Kulaste was with me while Mahavir Bhagora was in the other car. Two former MPs accompanied us.
CNN-IBN: So you are accusing Amar Singh. He was involved in this?
Ashok Argal: Yes! I don't lie. Amar Singh spoke to us. We spoke to Ahmed Patel from Amar Singh's mobile phone. But Ahmed Patel spoke only in yes and no.
On Tuesday, Argal, Kulaste (MP from Mandla in Madhya Pradesh) and Bhagora (MP from Salumber in Rajasthan) shocked the Lok Sabha by walking into the well with a bag full of currency notes.
They claimed the money was given to them in return for their support in the trust vote.
Placing a bag on the table of the Secretary General in front of the Speaker's podium, the three MPs fished out 10 bundles of currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination. Shouting "shame, shame" and alleging horse trading by the Samajwadi Party, the members took turns to flash the money, prompting Deputy Speaker Charanjit Atwal to adjourn the House hurriedly.
When the House reconvened, L K Advani got up to say that that three of his MP's were offered Rs 3 crore for abstentions.
"They were given Rs 1 crore initially and the rest of the money was to be given to them after the trust vote is over. We want to demand of the Speaker that the issue should be investigated thoroughly," Advani said.
He said, "The three MP's approached me and said that they have been given money and that should they bring this money to Parliament. I allowed them to bring the money to Parliament."
Acting firmly, MDMK and JD (U) on Thursday expelled two MPs each for backing the UPA during Tuesday's trust motion in Lok Sabha.
In Chandigarh, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) last night ousted its Ropar MP Sukhdev Singh Libra from the party for supporting the government in the trial of strength and defying the party whip.
With this, a total of 17 MPs have been expelled by BJP and other parties for defying whips during the trust vote.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Politi...how/3274678.cms
All this expelling wont it reduce the NDA strength such that a further no confidence motion cant be brought in if any new lafada comes up? I mean is 1 MPs are expelled then the total strength comes down to 541-17 = 524 and half +1 is 263 for UPA which is comfortable to meet.
From Deccan Chronicle, 25 July 2008
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TD has proof, MP denies
Â
Hyderabad July 24: The Telugu Desam is hesitating to take action against party MP, Mr D.K. Adikeshavulu Naidu, for allegedly violating the party code during the July 22 trust vote though sources said it had âproofâ that he had cross-voted. <b>Telugu Desam sources said the party had confirmed it through inquiries with the Lok Sabha secretariat, but the Telugu Desam MP said that he had not crossvoted. âI did not cross-vote, nor did I cross the TD line. I did not vote for the UPA government. Itâs a media creation,â Adikesavulu told this correspondent over telephone from Bengaluru.</b> <!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo-->
He said he would continue to âsailâ with the Telugu Desam but added, âI am in favour of the nuclear deal, because it is in the interests of our country. I support the deal.â <b>He agreed that at one stage he was âpressurisedâ by the Congress but refused to elaborate.</b> Mr Adikesavulu Naidu took strong exception over reports that he would join the Congress. âThey are baseless reports,â he said. Asked whether the Telugu Desam parliamentary leader, <b>Mr K. Yerrannaidu, tried to manhandle him in order to prevent him from crossing the fence, he said, âit is the height of media creation.â</b>
<b>Asked why the furore when he did not cross-vote, he replied, âthe situation was so tense at that time. One of our colleagues (Dr M. Jagannatham) cross-voted and another one (Mr P, Chalapati Rao) got his shirt torn. Even some MPs of opposition parties cross-voted. Some members of the BJP brought currency notes into the House which led to chaos.â </b>Some TD workers staged a dharna in front of the residence of Dr Jagannatham. Some workers of the Congress held a sit-in at the same place to support the MP. <b>Security was beefed up at his residence in New Delhi in the wake of attacks on the houses of MPs who had cross-voted.</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The guy did something but is afraid to go out of TDP.
<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> Discipline is the watchword; so, expulsions were called for.
Moreover, NCM does not seem to be anywhere in anybody's mind.
Right now, blame game is going on e.g.
1. Mayawati says that neither UPA nor NDA wants her to be PM.
2. BJP says that Som(read Shanichar) should have been expelled prior to Trust vote which might have had salutary effect and nobody might have dared to cross Lakshman rekha.
3. CPM says that BJP has engineered it's own members to defeat the trust vote.
4. Nitish(Bihar) became Yudhishithar or satyawadi Harish Chander otherwise, it was very easy to break Lalu's RJD.
Sena expels 'rebel' Renge Patil
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray issued the expulsion order late Wednesday, saying Renge-Patil has been expelled from the party for his "anti party activities"<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is the very same Balls Thackeray who supported Prathiba Patil for President against the wishes of his coalition partners.
And here's Renge Patil:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Shiv Sena MP Tukaram Renge-Patil on Thursday said he skipped the trust vote in the Lok Sabha as he was fed up with being sidelined in the party in the last three to four years.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why I skipped trust vote: Shiv Sena MP
Well, the dicatorial attitude of Thackeray clan provides a convincing cop out.
07-25-2008, 12:22 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-25-2008, 12:23 PM by dhu.)
<b> Doctor Bushmohan Singh</b>
Tarun Vijay
Itâs unfortunate that a government is collapsing on the issue of a deal and the nation has been turned into a mandi of MPs. Should we allow that to happen? In such a murky political atmosphere Indo-US relations are being marred by politicians for whom strategic alliances mean buying an MP or protecting a criminal for a power gain.
The nationalists have tried to make sure that they do not share a platform with the communal and violent Islamist lobby's rabid anti-Americanism or Marxists' pathological âdown with anything Americanâ rhetoric basically raised to help their buddies, the Chinese. I am sure if the deal was discussed threadbare in the beginning and the serious obstacles and objections raised by well-meaning scientists and analysts concerning our nuclear future and security interests were addressed to satisfactorily, the nationalist camp would have taken a different stand. A grand strategic partnership with US or accepting it as a natural ally against terrorism would have been achieved if the US was less self-obsessed. Still it would be proper if the new governments soon taking over the reins in the White House and South Block re-negotiate the deal on equal terms.
The arrogance of the Bush administration, which is going down as the most discredited one, and their counterparts in the hateful South Block did everything possible to mar such possibilities. And now the die has been cast. Bush, as Bushmohan Singh, may love him but I doubt he has won the hearts of Indians.
Chances are the government may seek martyrdom on the floor of the house and go to the villagers saying: âLook, we were bringing bijli (electricity) for you, and these BJP-CPM wallahs brought us down because they are anti-poor. Jokes run wild in election time and mostly it's the illogical and the farce that enthralls and entertains the crowds. Though I am sure inflation â economists say it will soar to 17 per cent â corruption and communally surcharged governance will take heavier toll.
Definitely it's difficult still to attack Dr Manmohan Singh personally. We have had a number of lacklustre prime ministers like Deve Gowda and Gujral, but Singh is different. I admire his cool attitude and capability and patience in going on a Japan tour for improving bilateral relations â it was a very important visit as he being an old Japan hand who is highly respected there must have known if he misses this time, the other time may be too far. Sadly this tour got clouded under the domestic political developments.
But political accountability is a ruthless game and his governance falls short of even bare passing marks. If we have to look at the balance sheet of his governance and ask âIs this right way to exitâ, it will be difficult to defend him. Even if by hook or by crook his government is saved, he would have bought only two months. If it falls, the elections would be in November- December if not in March. Is it good to allow such vicious and nauseating horsetrading of the so-called honourable MPs just to buy 60 more days of humiliating survival?
When the government was being sworn in, the media was singing paeans to Sonia's âqurbani (sacrifice)â and put her âdeviâ- like image on the front pages. Now what's the scenario? The plot is thickening by the day. The devi is nowhere to be seen wearing the halo; Parliament is being compared to a mandi and below-the-belt attacks on each other remind us of what India would have been in the pre-East India Company era. It's sickening to read morning newspapers these days.
No government has had such a dismal and disappointing record like the UPA. Not a single major infrastructure project has been contributed, work on the Golden Quadrangle was abysmally slowed down, energy requirements were not met, options like non-conventional and hydro-power generation were not pushed, (forget the US treaty â even if inked today, that would give us the first spark of energy 20 years down the line), farmers have committed suicide from Andhra Pradesh to Punjab and the monetary relief announced helped banks alone. The Prime Minister has absolutely no control on his ministers â they all brief Sonia and take orders from her. Ministers announced communally-focused divisive schemes after schemes and even the budget was Islamised as if India were an Islamic country and terror centres are relieved.
More than the real executions of the plan and programme it's the perception that decides the fate of a government. Vajpayee's image was bright, futuristic and hard on terror. Still he was adored as an amenable and democratic leader who was the boss and controlled the government. Manmohan Singh was always on two stools, his words never carried weight and he seemed to be looking backwards â towards 10 Janpath every time anything big was announced. That was not the PM Indians had mandated. We had voted to have a Prime Minister. My sources say Manmohan was against the destruction of Ram Setu but couldn't do anything; he was against Arjun Singh's self-defeating communal schemes, but couldn't even discuss the matter, leave aside stop him. He was trying to do so many things but you know, madam.
Did he ever want to assert his authority? I doubt it. He always felt too obliged to be nominated as a Prime Minister. The US humiliated him by publishing his photo with Rumsfeld in a less than a quarter of a page but Sonia was given one full page of a smiling pose in an official embassy publication. Even now, China has invited Sonia as a guest to attend the Olympics inauguration, but not the official Prime Minister. It hurts an average Indian to see his CEO being treated shabbily by his own party supremo.
Under such a dispensation, policies are focused on pleasing one personality alone â who rules and the authority of the state reduces to the whims of a selected few not exactly under the PM. Never in the past has the CEO of the nation been so weak and powerless and the polity so communalised.
1. The biggest failure of the govt. is on the poverty eradication front. Food security was shattered and import of wheat became a murky scandal to the tune of thousands of crores. Rural areas are reeling under an unprecedented food crunch and vegetables and pulses have gone beyond the reach of the aam aadmi. Farmers' suicides are continuing alarmingly while the business class sets new records in ostentatious living.
2. SEZs have become the new tool to make political money and while farmers get a boot and bullet Nandigrams and Singur become new signpost of a nexus between insensitive industrial class and the thick-skinned ruler.
3. The IT revolution is proving a big hoax as the new technology is suited only to a handful of those who can read and write English. The large parts of our population remain outside the realm of the brave new world since the government has not cared to make the technology people-friendly and compatible with Indian languages.
4. Issues of national integration and geographical fortification have been left unattended; Indianness is at its lowest edge and to be anything except that proves politically beneficial. Thousands of km of border fencing lies unfinished and whatever has been claimed as completed has large parts without proper barbs because of corruption.
5. Under this governance the distinction between friend and foe has blurred and there is hardly any perception about preparing to face the growing military challenges in the next 10 or 20 years and how to combat the real security threats emerging on all sides of border â the latest addition being Nepal with its Maoist-led government taking over. India has become the most threatened country in the world, which has 90 per cent of its border with Pakistan and China still unsettled and the majority of security force deployment is to combat internal threats to sovereignty. India has been left with almost no friends around â neither in the neighbourhod nor in the Far East or Europe.
6. Indian hardware and manufacturing sector is nobody's baby which keeps our power engines years behind our immediate rivals. Science study is given very low preference and engineering colleges are either running vacant classes or with sub-standard faculty. Fatigued political masters, tired of counting ill-gotten wealth keep on opening new IITs and IIMs with provisions of reservations without ensuring quality education. They never get interested in structuring schools of excellence for the economically poor so that students from disadvantaged classes are empowered at the initial stage to qualify at par and with self esteem for admissions to professional institutions without needing reservation crutches at the higher level.
7. On two extreme corners of the nation, one in Kashmir and the other in Mizoram, more than six lakh patriotic people were compelled to flee and seek refuge in different parts of their motherland leaving their original homes as the communal violent groups threatened their lives. Decades have passed and the govt hasn't done anything to ensure their safe and honorable return.
8. No attention has ever been paid to basic reforms in the administration foremost being the police reforms. We still work in British shoes and through redundant laws and colonial method and attitude towards our own people.
9. Ram Setu and the Amarnath land row were completely illogical and unnecessary, but were allowed to snowball .
10. The Kanchi Shankaracharya was arrested on wild allegations while performing puja on Diwali night under the guise of law and announcing that the statute is above all. But the Congress government refused to execute the non-bailable warrants against the Imam Bukhari through an affidavit filed in court.
11. Danish cartoons about the prophet were denounced and the govt expressed âconcernâ. And all of us agreed. But when M F Husain drew an obscene picture of Mother India and other Hindu goddesses, nothing happened. Doesn't Mother India belong to all of her children â Hindus, Muslims, and Christians alike? Similarly no govt statement of âconcernâ came out on the ugly depiction of Devi Durga by an Athens ad agency.
12. In the case of Aligarh Muslim University, when the Supreme Court said it can't be declared a minority institute, the minister refuses to accept it and comforts his vote bank that a law will be passed to annul court's decision.
13. In the case of the infamous IMDT Act in Assam, which protects Bangladeshi infiltrators rather than to facilitate their ouster, the Supreme Court ruling was again flayed and the chairperson of the ruling combine assures in Assam that the same will remain in vogue.
14. The Hajj is helped through lavish grants while Hindu pilgrims to Kailas Mansarovar are not.
15. Negotiations on Kashmir have been reduced to a Muslim-alone platform and all the permits, Aman Setu and talks revolved around Muslim outfits while Kashmiri Hindus remain as neglected as ever. These Hindus have been turned refugees in their own free and secular nation. No plans or announcements are made even to remotely suggest that they will go back home soon. Imagine what this govt and the powerful secular press might have done if Muslims were made to flee from a Hindu majority state in India?
16. The Iran vote by India and even the nuke deal with US was turned into a Muslim issue. On the other hand when a neighbouring Hindu monarchy and its citizens were assaulted by the Communist terrorist group, it becomes a question of democracy and the killers are projected and interviewed as heroes of a so-called mass revolution.
17. The same govt invites the Saudi King as chief guest at its Republic Day parade, knowing well that there is no individual freedom or human rights in the kingdom and Hindus are not allowed to practice their pujas even in the private precincts there.
18. The Andhra govt announces job reservations for Muslims alone in the face of adverse judgments by Andhra High Court and Supreme Court.
19. A congregation of Hindu tribals to rise above social discriminations and ill practices of the caste and regionalism for safeguarding religious identity is condemned as an affront to other religions and pronounced as a 'war' on the secular right to convert Hindus. That the high priests of Hindu society mingled with the so-called low caste people and tried to erase the stigmas is not found even worth mentioning.
No doubt things have improved in comparison to what they were 10 years before, but the question is what parameter should we adopt to gauge the progress? Compare with India of 1960 or with China of 2008?
You may add on a couple of more issues or perhaps say, well Manmohan Singh did extremely well but he was not allowed to take decisions. Both ways he comes out as a PM who didn't represent India's aspirations as a whole and a cry to be bold and fair. The mood of the nation says something else â beyond party lines â Oh god, let India rise into a new realm of a courageous and bold leadership, let us have a prime minister who is master of his mind and gives hope of a resurgence we have been waiting for too long. Let us change the destiny of nation through the greatest power we have â ballot.
<i>The author is the Director, Dr Syamaprasad Mookerjee Research Foundation.</i>
<!--emo&  --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> In a startling revelation, BJP on Friday claimed that as many as 50 of its MPs were "contacted" to vote in favour of the government.
"Fifty of our MPs were contacted and offers were made by the other side. The party appreciates that the offers were rejected and three of them even came out to expose it," deputy leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, told reporters here on Friday.
He, however, said the party was "ashamed" of the eight MPs who cross-voted or abstained during the trust vote.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/5...how/3281023.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Jul 25 2008, 05:38 AM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Jul 25 2008, 05:38 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->Acharya: see my note.
Delete this later.
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Check my email
acharya: Check your email
<!--emo&:blink:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/blink.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='blink.gif' /><!--endemo--> Under attack for the cash-for-vote scandal, Samajwadi Party on Friday demanded that the tapes be made public and that allegations be proved.
SP general secretary Amar Singh told reporters that he had nothing to do with bribery and he had not met the three BJP MPs who had made the charge. Calling it a BJP-BSP conspiracy to malign him, he said he would leave public life if the charges were proved. âLet the tapes be made public,â he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/M...how/3281972.cms
sad.gif "Sibu Soren who was taken into the Cabinet and shown the door twice would be inducted for the third time. Another leader from his party would be sworn in as a Minister of State. And his son would be made the Deputy CM in Jharkhand. This is what he sought in return of his party's support to the UPA," Malhotra said.
He described as 'unethical' the Congress' decision to take support of the PDP, which brought down the coalition Government in Jammu and Kashmir and allegedly has links with terror outfits.
"It is also shameful that the Government took the support of three convicted MPs, who have been sentenced to imprisonment in charges like murder. Will they come out of jail to save the Government every time it is in crisis?" Malhotra asked.
He said it was also to be seen what was the wish list of the Samajwadi Party and how the Congress was going to fulfil it.(taken from other news: 4-6 berths)
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp...nter_img=1 <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--emo& --><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Trust vote
The image of Manmohan Singh, assiduously promoted by the Congress, has taken a severe drubbing after the trust vote. As long as he needed the support of the Left parties, he was friendly with them and enjoyed the power and prestige associated with the high office of Prime Minister. After making a deal with former enemies of his party, he not only breached the trust of his benefactors but also turned around and accused them of treating him as their âbonded slave.â What prevented him from freeing himself earlier? Why did he prefer to cling to power with their help for four years?
Ananda Murti Vemuri,
Visakhapatnam
* * *
The run-up to the trust vote in the Lok Sabha and the sense of deja vu at the end of it reminded me of Christopher Marlowâs Doctor Faustus, who sold his soul for knowledge and power. We have an anti-defection law and the party whip to keep legislators tied to one camp but the crafty floor managers keep finding ways of circumventing the law. The observation in the editorial (July 24) on how the government should have lost by 16 votes instead of winning by 19 votes had the formal decisions of the parties been adhered to speaks volumes about the political morality or the lack of it.
Col. P.S.V. Ramana (retd.),
Secunderabad
* * *
Amid a hue and cry outside and inside Parliament, the government won the confidence vote by a comfortable margin, thanks to cross-voting. The question is: how effective is our anti-defection law in checking defections and ensuring the stability of a government?
Y.N. Murthy,
Bangalore
* * *
The gentle, polite, sober and soft spoken Manmohan Singh, often described by the opposition as the weakest Prime Minister, has struck back. With his deft moves which flummoxed the opposition, he won the trust vote hands down. At last, he is free of baggage and can act expeditiously to complete his unfinished agenda of economic reform. The opposition lost a golden opportunity to convince the people against the nuclear deal. Instead, its leaders indulged in personal attack using invectives, making gestures and snide remarks.
B.C. Bhowmick,
Asansol
* * *
It is heartening to note that Dr. Singh is interested in pushing the reforms, which were hitherto blocked by the Left parties.
V.S. Ganeshan,
Bangalore
* * *
The nation has been spared an impending political chaos. What was evident during the run-up to, and on the day of, the trust vote was: the ruling alliance lacked credibility and could not handle the issue outside Parliament politically; the main opposition behaved in an uncivilised manner with its leader indulging in vilification; and the Left partiesâ objection to the Indo-American nuclear deal was based only on their hatred for anything American.
J. John Sundararaj,
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