NATIONAL POLITICS: Betrayed and befooled, BJP dumps Soren – long time coming ?!!

Sibu Soren - no Enquiry problems ?!!

 

BY RADHIKA RAMASESHAN AND
THE TELEGRAPH RANCHI BUREAU 

April 28: The JMM-led government in Jharkhand was reduced to a minority today after the BJP withdrew support to avenge the humiliation heaped by chief minister Shibu Soren who voted with the Congress yesterday and supped with Nitin Gadkari within a few hours. 

As the Congress suggested it preferred a short spell of President’s rule in the Maoist-infested state, the JMM went on the defensive late tonight and claimed that Soren’s vote was cast by “mistake”. 

Hemant, Soren’s son, expressed regret to the BJP leadership for his father’s “error”. He claimed the chief minister was ready to resign and urged the NDA to take a fresh initiative to form a government with a new leader. 

The BJP leadership insisted that deputy chief minister Raghubar Das would meet governor M..H. Farook tomorrow to formally withdraw support, but it also appeared to be keeping its options open. 

Asked whether Hemant’s “offer” would prompt a rethink, senior leader Venkaiah Naidu said: “We can hear out the father and son. We are going to meet the governor tomorrow. But we will also discuss with the party’s state unit and get a sense of what they feel.” 

Hemant said the state wasn’t ready to face another poll. “The JMM is ready to make a sacrifice for Guruji’s (Soren’s) mistake,” he said. 

Several senior leaders from the state, including MPs Yashwant Sinha and Arjun Munda, are opposed to striking another deal with Soren but deputy chief minister Das, who has the support of the BJP’s 18 MLAs, is said to be in favour of continuing the alliance. 

One formula being floated is to let Das take over as chief minister and let Hemant become his deputy. The elder Soren has to get elected to the Assembly in less than two months but so far, he was unable to find a safe seat. 

However, the BJP leadership in Delhi is wary of a fresh deal. Some leaders feel Soren and the Congress have already struck a deal but are not going public immediately. 

After the BJP’s pullout, the ruling coalition has been reduced to 28 from 46 in a House of 82. 

Vote & dinner shock 

Whatever the outcome of the current instability, the BJP has come out badly bruised from the cut-motion misadventure. A Delhi meeting, headed by party chief Nitin Gadkari, was quick to decide to withdraw support. 

Other BJP leaders are still struggling to come to terms with the “betrayal”. Lok Sabha Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj said she was specifically told by L.K. Advani that she should ensure Soren did not turn up to vote. In 1999, the Vajpayee-led government was voted out on a single ballot cast by Giridhar Gamang. 

So Advani said Soren should make himself scarce. “I told him that if he comes on his own and if his one vote is as useful as Gamang’s was to the Congress, we should allow him to press the button. But that was half in jest,” Sushma said. 

Sushma said she did not see Soren “sneak” into the House. But a sharp-eyed Nishikant Dubey, the Godda MP from the BJP, spotted Soren pressing the red button to negate the BJP-sponsored motion. Sushma’s jaw dropped when she was informed. 

Then the machine packed up and voting on slips began. Dubey, a first-time MP, went up to Soren, a veteran, to advise him to vote on the right slip. “He said, ‘Yes, yes, I probably made a mistake the first time’. But he sought the red slip,” a BJP leader said. 

Sushma tried to trace him after voting and was in for another shock. Soren was dining at the residence of BJP president Nitin Gadkari. “She was taken aback. He had just voted against the BJP and then he coolly ate with the party chief,” a leader said. 

Around 9pm, Gadkari had no idea of what had happened. 

This morning, when the BJP’s parliamentary board met in Sushma’s official chamber, Gadkari, who apparently looked a bit “sheepish”, called Soren a “masterly actor”. 

The rest agreed. 

‘Daulat ki beti’ and `Murti Devi’ is UPA’s darling now – but for how long ?!! 

Mayawati "daulat ki beti" - International laughing stock ?!!

 

From India Syndicate
By R Shankar 

April 28, 2010: On March 15, when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati was presented a garland of cash worth Rs 21 lakh (according to the Congress) to mark the 25th anniversary of the Bahujan Samaj Party, the Congress slammed her. 

AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is incharge of UP, had described Mayawati thus: She is no longer `Dalit ki beti’ (daughter of dalits) but daulat ki beti (daughter of wealth). 

Singh had alleged that the BSP was extracting money through illegal means in the name of party fund. Questioning the source of such huge sums of money to create the garland, Singh had demanded that a “thorough probe” is required into all the aspect of the matter. 

Rahul Gandhi - making a point ?!!

 

Then, on April 14, on Ambedkar jayanti, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had directly accused the Mayawati  government of misusing central government funds. The money given by Delhi for the poor in Uttar Pradesh stops at Lucknow and does not reach the needy, he had said. 

Eight days later, on April 22, Congress party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi had dubbed Mayawati as as “Murtidevi” (Goddess of statues) for her “outrageous reaction” on the non-availability of funds with the state government to implement the Right to Education (RTE) Act and that the Centre should provide the money. 

He had said that BSP government had money to spend on statues and memorials but not for funding the education of children. “It reflects the thinking of Mayawati which is non-development, anti-people and anti-children,” the spokesman had said, adding “it was a negative mindset”. 

But today, daulat ki beti and Murtidevi is a `friend’ of the Congress. It was Murtidevi who bailed out the UPA government over the cut motion moved by the Opposition over the hike on fuel prices. 

How did the Congress suddenly start worshipping Murtidevi? 

Though the official line of the Congress is that there was no deal, sources point out that there was indeed a deal. Without a deal, Mayawati would never move an inch, let alone make a U-turn. 

CBI - aka Congress Bureau of Investigation ?!!

 

Mayawati’s change of heart came just days after the CBI also had a change of heart. The investigating agency had told the Supreme Court that it was ready to reconsider the UP CM’s plea to close the investigation into her disproportionate assets case. In August, another crucial case against Mayawati is to come up – on her role in the misuse of DA. 

Mayawati too demanded her pound of flesh. Her main demand was that the Congress should ask Rahul Gandhi to tone down his rhetoric against the UP government. Also worrying Maya is the 10 yatras that Rahul Gandhi had flagged off on April 14. The rath yatras that the Congress launched from Ambedkarnagar constitute the most ambitious exercise the party has ever undertaken to capture UP’s political mindspace. 

The 10 yatras will be spread out over 103 days, and each will last 90 days. Between them, they will reach every one of the state’s 403 Assembly constituencies. 

Probably it is now time for the raths to apply the breaks. 

Though some in the Congress did expect the BSP to abstain from voting and thus bail out the UPA government over the cut motion issue, the sudden announcement of support by Mayawati herself in Lucknow caught many off guard. The BSP leader announced in Lucknow that she would not just abstain but she would “vote” with the government as she’s worried about “communal forces.” 

The Muslim's watchful Vote ?!!

 

Many see it as Mayawati’s way of getting back the crucial Muslim vote bank, now split between Mulayam Singh’s SP and the Congress. Mayawati had been CM thrice with BJP support. Mayawati has also campaigned for Narendra Modi in Gujarat. With elections coming up in 2012, Maya is probably doing some recalibration and a course correction. 

Some in the Congress feel that Maya may also be sending out a signal on a possible tie-up so that the dalit and Muslim votes do not get split. 

Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh too abstained and saved the UPA by taking the stand that they do not want to be seen voting along with the BJP. But on Feb 27, soon after Pranab Mukherjee announced a price increase for petroleum products, Lalu’s RJD and Mulayam’s SP walked out with the BJP and were seen holding hands together while announcing a nationwide agitation. 

The cut motion, ironically, was on reducing the fuel price. But this time, Lalu and Mulayan find the BJP too communal in nature. 

According to The Indian Express, the SP has been keen to distance itself from the Congress and look for space outside the Congress and the BSP after Amar Singh’s departure. The pro-Left positioning may have been adopted to help get some space now hard to secure in the complicating picture that UP presents as the battle begins to appear bi-polar, a choice between the BSP and Congress in the run-up to the Assembly polls in 2012. 

The SP and the RJD are lost without power both at the Centre and in their state. They have noted that the “fourth front” did not work in the 2009 polls and are keen to not go “too far” politically from the UPA. A toehold in the Centre is better than nothing. 

The RJD, with four MPs and an increasingly uncertain future, is keen to work on an alliance for the state elections due in a few months. Not wanting to be seen going against the Congress or the Left may mean a hope for some sort of electoral arrangement with either or both? Wanting to keep their Muslim constituents on board could be a common factor in not queering the anti-UPA pitch too high. 

Sources said that while Lalu was more inclined to vote against the UPA, Mulayam argued that the SP could not be seen to vote with the BJP. To buttress this point, Mulayam is learnt to have recounted his experience of Kalyan Singh saying that their association turned out to be too costly in the Lok Sabha elections. He is learnt to have told Lalu how his bahu (Dimple Yadav) lost to Congress in the Ferozabad by-polls as Muslims deserted him because of Kalyan Singh. 

Mulayam, sources said, quoted Ram Manohar Lohia to Lalu that smaller parties need to demonstrate “flexibility and pragmatism” when allied with large parties. 

But a key factor in the equation is the Women’s Bill, which hangs like a sword on the heads of both the Yadavs in the 15th Lok Sabha. Both are aware that now that it has been passed by the Rajya Sabha, and with the Congress, BJP and Left supportive of it, the chances of the Bill being introduced in the Lok Sabha suddenly, are high. The one way to ensure that it is not brought to the Lok Sabha is to ensure the Congress of a smooth run on all other issues. 

The SP has, on at least three other occasions, in 1999 when the Congress was in the running to form an alternative government, then in 2002 on Kalam’s candidature for the Presidentship and then again in 2008 on the nuclear deal, worked out deals abandoning Third Front constituents and somersaulting very visibly. This time, too, bailing the UPA out is not anything that embodies a break from the past. 

However, this time, with Mayawati too having actively walked into support the Centre, it may again complicate any sense of political space or identity that the SP may want to carve out in UP. 

Also, despite hopes of a political alliance that Lalu Prasad may have, with Rahul Gandhi having plans of leaving his imprint on Bihar as well, chances of a tie-up are very limited, if at all. Ironically, but, it was a combination of Kalyan Singh and Lohia’s principles that made SP chief Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad to beat a hasty retreat leaving the Left parties in lurch during the cut motion against the UPA II. 

With the 13-party grouping that they had stitched together faltering after the surprise turnaround by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad, the Left on Tuesday felt that the Yadav duo’s cleverly orchestrated walkout that helped the government defeat the cut motions was “extremely unfortunate”. 

While the Left was soft on Mulayam and Lalu owing to the political compulsions, it attacked the Congress for managing the numbers. Referring to the BSP’s surprise decision to support the government, Yechury said the ruling party had shown its “expertise in finding out who is vulnerable, when and where”.

ECONOMY: High food prices remain an irritant

Congress Economy - Indians swimming in 'political sauce' of apathy & corruption ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi, April 28: High food prices, which could ease in the coming weeks, remain a cause for concern as there are fears it can spill over to other sectors.

“The most worrisome feature of the economy is inflation, which agitates the House and people outside the House. I share the concern of the honourable members,” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told Parliament today.

Reserve Bank of India governor D. Subbarao had yesterday said inflation was a “big worry” for the economy and the authority planned to remove monetary stimulus in a phased manner to ensure sustained growth.

The country’s wholesale-price inflation accelerated to a 17-month high of 9.9 per cent in March, while consumer prices paid by industrial workers surged 14.9 per cent in February from a year earlier.

The RBI reacted by hiking the key rates by 25 basis points on April 20.

The repo, or the rate at which it lends to banks, was raised to 5.25 per cent, while the reverse repo, or the rate at which it absorbs surplus cash, was raised to 3.75 per cent. The cash reserve ratio, or the proportion of cash that banks have to keep with the RBI, was increased to 6 per cent.

“These measures are expected to anchor the inflationary expectations,” Mukherjee said. However, the government has adequate stocks of rice and wheat to meet local demand.

Rising food, fuel prices widen inflation to 17.65%

While farmers burn their potato harvests in protest of low state prices ?!!

Source: Reuters

New Delhi: India’s annual food and fuel inflation quickened in the week to April 10, putting upside pressure on the headline inflation and central bank to take action before its next policy review in July.

The food price index rose 17.65 percent in the 12 months to April 10, marginally higher than an annual rise of 17.22 percent in the previous week.

The fuel price index rose 12.45 percent in the 12 months to April 10, a tad higher than an annual rise of 12.43 percent in the previous week, data showed on Thursday.

Rising food and fuel prices risk fanning wider inflation as the companies look to pass on cost increases and could prompt the central bank to raise its key rates again ahead of its next policy review in July. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday raised key interest rates by 25 basis points and warned price pressures were fast becoming a demand-driven phenomenon.

A Reuters poll conducted after Tuesday’s policy review found a narrow majority of economists expect another increase in rates by the end of June, or before the RBI’s next quarterly review. Although the bank said an off-cycle policy action is unlikely, it did not rule that out either.

Government officials, however, keen to keep the economy on track to exceed 8 percent growth this year, said inflationary pressures were waning and played down the need for aggressive tightening. The Congress-led government is under pressure to stem rising prices.

At least 100,000 people backed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) marched towards parliament on Wednesday protesting steep price rises, demanding the government quit over food inflation.

HIMAL NEWS BRIEFS

FROM SHEEM SMS NEWS BRIEFS

Kalimpong, April 28, 21:50:26 HRS: Ashok Bhatacharya reached Gangtok on 3 days visit.

Kalimpong, April 28, 21:50:26 HRS: Ardhendu Sen, Home Secy 2 retire on 30 Apr

Kalimpong, April 28, 21:50:26 HRS: Truck submerged in Tista river at 29th Mile.

EARLIER

Kalimpong, April 27, 22:05:03 HRS: 1st Municipality election of Skm held peacefully.

Kalimpong, April 27, 22:05:03 HRS: Bangla-O-Bangla Bhasha Bachao comite caled bandh on May 14

BRIEFS FROM THE TELEGRAPH

Trampled to death in garden

Jaigaon, April 28: A 45-year-old worker of Patharjhora Tea Estate in Malbazar was trampled to death by a wild elephant yesterday.

Foresters said the elephant attacked Jasbir Oraon when he was returning home in the evening. The animal entered the tea estate from nearby Bhuttabari forest. Jasbir was rushed to the subdivisional hospital in Malbazar where doctors pronounced him dead.

Suicide

Islampur: Maslin Khatoon, 36, hanged herself at her residence in Kalugach in Islampur on Tuesday. Police suspect family dispute was the reason behind Maslin’s suicide.

Road mishap

Islampur: Md Samiruddin, a 50-year-old resident of Sahapur in Goalpokhor, died in a road accident on Tuesday evening. Police said he was hit by a motorcycle, leaving him dead on the spot. The motorcyclist, however, escaped.

Fest selection

Siliguri: The selection for Siliguri Utsav to be organised by the SMC, will commence at Mitra Sammilani auditorium here on April 30. It will continue till May 6 during which any resident of the town can participate in different cultural competitions to get selected for performing at the final. The SMC will also organise a Handicrafts Fair from May 4 to 8 at Baghajatin Park.

Hospital meals

Balurghat: The Yuva League, the youth wing of the Forward Bloc, demonstrated in front of the superintendent of the district hospital here and insisted that he taste the meals given to patients.

Hospital superintendent Tapas Kumar Das agreed that the meals were stale. He, however, said the food kept in the kitchen might not always be meant for the patients. “The kitchen staff also take food. I am not ready to believe that the same food is served to the patients,” Das told the demonstrators.

But he assured the Yuba League members that quality meals would be served to the patients.

Daily Call to Bengal CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee & Co. from Kanchanjunga – please come before its too late ‘by desertions’ for your ‘Ideal Legacy of Truth & Justice’ as you still currently hold ‘the power’ in Bengal …

Kanchanjunga's Majesty at Dusk – “Still Immortally Mysterious” even during the cool monsoons … (By famed photographer, Ratna Pradhan)

Dear Esteemed Readers of Himal News,  

If you, or anyone you know, would  also like to send invitations to Bengal’s Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee & his Government with Photos of Kanchanjunga – please email them to himalgroup@hotmail.com on jpg format. Your contributions will be displayed here with your captions –       

Thanking you in anticipation of your contributions….

The Editor,
Himal News.

SAARC SUMMIT IN BHUTAN: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s opening statement at the 16th SAARC Summit

Indian PM Manmohan Singh with Bhutanese PM Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley upon his arrival at Paro Airport in Bhutan (The Hindu)

From The Hindu

Thimpu: April 28, 2010: At the outset, I wish to congratulate His Excellency the Prime Minister of Bhutan Lyonchhen Jigmi Thinley for his election as Chairperson of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. I assure him of India’s fullest support.

I also take this opportunity to convey our deepest appreciation to His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and the Royal Government of Bhutan for the excellent arrangements made for the Summit.

It is a singular pleasure for me to visit Bhutan once again and to experience its pristine beauty and the warmth of its people.

I wish to welcome the two new Observer countries, Australia and Myanmar, to the SAARC fraternity.

This is a historic Summit. This year we mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of our organization. This is also the first time that we meet in Bhutan.

In the last few years Bhutan has witnessed momentous changes, and I take this opportunity to wish its people even greater prosperity, peace and progress.

Speaking at the first SAARC Summit in Dhaka in 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi described the establishment of SAARC as an act of faith. Based on our experience so far we can affirm that this was also an act of great foresight and statesmanship.

In these two and a half decades our sub-continent has been witness to much progress. Yet, each one of our countries, and our region as a whole, has a long way to go in fulfilling the aspirations of our people.

In looking back at these two and a half decades we can claim the glass is half full, and compliment ourselves, or, we can admit the glass is half empty and challenge ourselves.

I believe we should challenge ourselves by acknowledging that the glass of regional cooperation, regional development and regional integration is half empty.

Intra-regional trade flows have grown and transport and telecommunication links have expanded. Yet, the share of intra-regional trade and investment flows in total trade and investment flows in South Asia is far below what we see in East and South-east Asia. It is also well below the potential.

South Asia faces risk of marginalisation: Manmohan

Manmohan's warm welcome in Bhutan (The Hindu)

FROM THE PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Thimphu, April 28, 2010: Pitching for free movement of goods, services and people across South Asia, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday warned that the region faces the risk of “marginalisation and stagnation” if member countries fail to build South Asian Association For Regional Cooperation (SAARC) as a group that is better connected and better empowered.

Addressing the 16th SAARC Summit here, he regretted that the share of intra-regional trade and investment in total trade and investment flows in the region was far below that of the East and South-East Asia.

“The 21st century cannot be an Asian century unless South Asia marches together,” Dr. Singh said as he underlined the need for translating regional institutions into activities, conventions into programmes and official statements into popular sentiments.

“I have a vision of inclusive growth in South Asia both within our countries and for the region of South Asia as a whole,” Dr. Singh told the Summit attended by the leaders from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

“Regional and sub-regional imbalances in growth affect all of us in varying degrees, and have led to social unrest,” he said, adding “This will require much greater attention in the future, with an emphasis on development at the grassroots level.”

Pressing for greater regional cooperation, he said it should enable free movement of people, goods, services and ideas.

“It should help us re-discover our shared heritage and build our common future,” Dr. Singh said.

“We must ask ourselves what kind of South Asia we wish to create for our present and future generations? At this anniversary Summit we should renew our compact to build a region that is better connected, better empowered, better fed and better educated,” he said.

He said South Asia can once again become part of global trading routes and networks and “influence the global discourse” on issues of concern to the region. “If we do not, we run the risk of marginalisation and stagnation.”

Noting that SAARC member countries are able to cooperate individually as members in various international forums, he said, it was, however, “unfortunate that, together, the people of South Asia do not have the voice they should and could have in the global polity.”

Dr. Singh said over the last two-and-a-half decades South Asian sub-continent has witnessed much progress. “Yet, each one of our countries, and our region as a whole, has a long way to go in fulfilling the aspirations of our people,” he said.

“In looking back at these two-and-a-half decades we can claim the glass is half full, and compliment ourselves, or, we can admit the glass is half empty and challenge ourselves,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the SAARC countries should “challenge ourselves by acknowledging that the glass of regional cooperation, regional development and regional integration is half empty.”

Dr. Singh said that by rising to this challenge, “we will not only help ourselves but also become a net contributor to global economic prosperity.”

The Prime Minister said SAARC has created institutions for regional cooperation, “but we have not yet empowered them adequately to enable them to be more pro-active.”

He referred to the remarks of the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the first SAARC Summit in Dhaka in 1985, where he described the establishment of the body as an act of faith.

“Based on our experience so far, we can affirm that this was also an act of great foresight and statesmanship,” Dr. Singh said.

“We have opened new windows of cooperation,” he said, while describing the SAARC Development Fund, the Food Bank, the South Asian Free Trade Agreement and the South Asian University as “examples of new institutions that will knit our region more closely together.”

SAARC SUMMIT IN BHUTAN: Disaster response mechanism on hold

Council of of Ministers, Chairman and SAARC Secretary General respond to media queries (Kuensel)

From Kuensel
By Samten Wangchuk

28 April, 2010 – A natural disaster rapid response mechanism treaty for the SAARC region will not be signed in the upcoming summit with SAARC member states yet to reach a consensus on it.

Online media reports state bilateral diatribe between some of the neighbouring nations for failure to reach a consensus.

SAARC secretary general, Dr Sheel Kant Sharma, however, denied any bilateral problems and argued that the mechanism dealt with earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, which required consideration.

“The geographical boundaries the region shares bids us to adopt a common approach,” Dr Sheel Kant Sharma said yesterday evening in Thimphu, adding that some member states requested for more meetings of the expert groups from the member nations.

“The meeting of two expert groups on the agreement was not enough,” he said. “They want more time and meetings at expert group levels.”

He added the member nations would continue working towards the treaty and table it during the many meetings scheduled in the year following the Summit.

Foreign ministry officials said the agreement was not stalled but under consideration and discussion at all levels of experts groups.

“There’s commitment and recognition among the members of the SAARC, that such mechanism was useful in a disaster prone south Asia,” a foreign ministry official.

Although there was no set date, he said the meeting on the issue would be conducted soon.

The minister in charge of foreign affairs for the Summit, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, also reiterated that inter government experts would have to meet to develop mechanisms for the member states to arrive at a common position.

He also said that the council of ministers’ meeting had reviewed the Thimphu statement of climate change for endorsement by the leaders at the Summit.

Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk said they were confident that for COP 16, SAARC’s position would become clearer and receive an observer status to the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UN).

The framework, which the UN adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro some 17 years ago aimed at achieving stabilisation of green house concentrations in the atmosphere at a level.

“As an observer state we’ll be able to voice the region’s concerns,” he said.

Dr Sheel Kant Sharma said although the issue of climate change was a burning one, many a complexity were involved.

He explained that the Kyoto fund, which the protocol, set about realising the UN framework’s aims, failed to inject money while all SAARC countries were, in terms of per-capita, a developing nation.

MEANWHILE

EDUCATION: Awaiting summit endorsement – for SAARC University in Delhi

Prof GK Chadha

From Kuensel
By Phuntsho Choden

Bhutan, 28 April, 2010: If SAARC leaders in Thimphu this week endorse the final blueprint of the SAARC university in New Delhi, the university will start its academic programme by August this year.

“If all goes well in Thimphu, the university will begin its academic programmes on leased premises with 50 students in two master’s courses – development economics and computer applications,” said the former vice chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru university and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the SAARC university, professor GK Chadha, during a recent interaction with south Asian women journalists in New Delhi. “We’re anxiously waiting because the endorsement will formally bring the university into existence.”

Spread over a 100-acre plot, the campus facility costs about USD 300M, which is being borne entirely by India, said the CEO. While the construction is ongoing, he said that the first session of the university would be held at a rented campus in New Delhi.

“The operational cost of the university, however, would be shared by the eight SAARC member states, at least for the first five years,” he said. “The university is expected to be self sustaining with extensive public-private partnership models and linkages.”

Students for the university would be drawn from all eight countries, with no fewer than 4 percent of the enrolment from the small countries and a maximum of 50 percent for the host country. Ten percent of the students would be from non-SAARC countries.

“Tuition fee was fixed at a modest amount of USD 440 per semester,” professor G K Chadha said. “The university will have its own open-entrance tests.”

After five years of its establishment, the university will have close to 3,000 students, 300 teachers, 10 post-graduate faculties and a small faculty of undergraduates. “The documents submitted to the SAARC summit for approval have gone through intensive consultation and debate with working committee members from each country,” the CEO said. Royal university of Bhutan vice chancellor, Dasho Dr Pema Thinley, was one of the members. 

The teaching staff will also be largely drawn from SAARC countries and creating a “South Asian regional consciousness” would be a core objective that will be built into all programmes, the CEO said.

The university would also start offering engineering and medicine programmes after a few years of its inception. “The plan is also to make the university an institute of South Asian studies, which is expected to become a premier think tank, focusing on issues and challenges facing south Asia,” said professor Chadha.

The final blueprint also proposes the establishment of regional SAARC university campuses in other member countries.

SAARC SUMMIT IN BHUTAN: “Discussions must be kept going” PM Thinley on Butanese Refugees of Nepali Origin in Nepal

Bhutan PM Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley greets the Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal before the bilateral meeting in Thimphu (Kuensel)

From Kuensel
By Ugyen Penjore

Paro, Bhutan, 28 April, 2010: Nepal’s Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar Nepal and Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley during their bilateral talks held yesterday afternoon agreed that the bilateral discussions on the issue of the people in the camps in Nepal must be kept going.

At yesterday’s brief meeting the two leaders also discussed a range of issues from playing a tremendous role in mitigating climate change effect by harnessing and exporting their huge hydropower potential and providing clean and green energy to the region to renewing air services and bilateral trade agreements besides the issue of the people in the camps.

Responding to a question from an American journalist on the people in the camps, at a press conference yesterday the minister in charge of foreign affairs, Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk, said that since the issue was not of a ‘typical refugee issue’, the two governments would be in the best position to find a lasting solution.

“Regular dialogues and interactions are being held and we have agreed to pave a way forward for lasting solution,” said the minister in charge. He said the two governments are using every opportunity to interact and discuss the issue to find a solution based on the understanding the two governments had reached.

(Editors note: It was in October 1990 that the first batch of refugees reached eastern Nepal from Bhutan and the first camp was established with the help of the locals. From then on within a few months, the flow from Bhutan became a torrent and now over 100,000 Nepalese of Bhutanese origin are in seven camps, all in eastern Nepal. Another estimated 30,000 refugees are outside the camps in Nepal and India. Their whereabouts are not known. So far not one of the hundred thousand refugees from the camps has been repatriated.)

MEANWHILE

Lyonchhoen also holds bilateral meetings with other SAARC leaders

Lyonchhoen Jigmi Y Thinley also met with leaders from four SAARC countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives and Pakistan yesterday.

Meeting with the Bangladeshi president, Sheikh Hasina, the two leaders dwelt mainly on improving trading relations, including exploring avenues to create greater access to the Bangladeshi market through India. The two leaders also talked about higher education opportunities for Bhutanese students in Bangladesh, especially in medicine.

Pakistani prime minister, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, and Lyonchhen Jigmi Y thinley felt that the two countries must promote people-to-people contact, especially by further exploring the possibilities of using the birthplace of Guru Padmasambhava in Swat province, Pakistan, to draw Buddhist pilgrims from Bhutan. Pakistan could also learn from Bhutan in hydropower development, said Lyonchhoen.

President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan said there was much in common between Bhutan and Afghanistan and that he was very much looking forward to visiting the Kingdom. He said Afghanistan was witnessing symptoms of climate change in myriad ways and that it being the theme for the SAARC summit was most appropriate and timely.

The discussions between Lyonchhen and the president of Maldives, Mohamad Nasheed, hinged primarily on climate change. They agreed to support initiatives intended to combat climate change as both countries were equally vulnerable to climate change impacts. President Nasheed urged Bhutan to keep up with its hydropower development policy as a means of clean and green energy that can remove the use of fossil fuels in the region.

Climate Change Summit in 2011

Bhutan plans to host a Climate Change summit in 2011 in Thimphu amongst the four countries of Bhutan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh and informed the leaders accordingly.

Apart from the SAARC leaders, the prime minister also met with the leaders of delegations of observer countries to the SAARC summit. These included delegations from Japan, China, Australia, South Korea and the U.S..

Lyonchoen Jigmi Y Thinley expressed his appreciation to the SAARC leaders for coming to attend the 16th SAARC summit and said that the fact that they came to attend the summit in person, despite pressing works at home, reflected the great importance attached to ensuring the success of the summit.

He expressed hope that the informal setting created by Bhutan would bring the leaders together and closer beyond the official level so that it leads to ‘true friendship’, and builds trust and confidence.

GORKHA POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS: Focus on ‘unified’ Bengal – ‘FINE’ … then grant ‘INTERIM AUTONOMY’ and include ‘Siliguri Corridor’ for ‘National Security & Development’ ?!!

Bengal Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti - making fine sense ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, April 27: The Bengal chief secretary said today that the next round of political-level talks on the proposed interim set-up for the Darjeeling hills would lay stress on a “unified picture” of the state.

“The (tripartite) meeting will mainly lay stress on maintaining a unified picture of West Bengal. The talks will also address issues related to the development of the Darjeeling hills and call for the need to maintain harmony among the people of the Terai and the Dooars,” said chief secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti.

He was speaking to journalists after attending a meeting with chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee at Writers’ Buildings to discuss matters related to the next round of tripartite talks.

The meeting was also attended by urban development minister Asok Bhattacharya, health minister Surjya Kanta Mishra and home secretary Ardhendu Sen. The two ministers had represented the state government at the first round of the political-level talks which took place in Delhi on March 18.

The next round of tripartite meeting will be held in the middle of the next month in New Delhi.

GJM claims new ground, govt denies – Trues Lies for Bengal Consumption ?!!

Ashok Bhattacharya - still playing 'bete noire' - fine, then let Siliguri Corridor handle the KLO kidnappers ?!!

From Yahoo News

Wed, Apr 28 04:16 AM: Even though the state government says under no circumstances is it going to part with the three areas of Siliguri, Dooars and the Terai region to be included in the proposed Gorkhaland Regional Authority at Darjeeling, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) claimed the former has already agreed to give up some areas in the plains. 

State Minister for Urban Development Ashok Bhattacharya, who will be part of the next tripartite talks likely to be held on May 25 in Delhi, was prompt to refute the claim, saying the state government cannot give these areas to the GJM.

“It is not possible for us to agree to this demand. The chief minister has already made it clear. The Authority will comprise only three sub-divisions of Darjeeling,” he said.

GJM vice-president Amar Lama, however, said the state government had indeed agreed to concede some of the areas in the plains. “What the minister says is not correct. But I cannot tell you anything officially since we have not got anything in writing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today presided over a meeting at the Writers’ Buildings today to discuss the state government’s strategy for the next round of talks. Bhattacharya and Health Minister Suryakant Mishra, along with Chief Secretary Ashok Mohan Chakrabarti and Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen, were present at the meeting. “We will again stress on development and more financial autonomy to the Authority,” Bhattacharya said.

Before the political-level meeting, an official-level meeting will take place to prepare the ground.

“We have given a proposal for an interim set-up and are waiting for the government’s response,” Lama said.

Gen. Vijay Madan (retd) expressed his happiness over the development. “I am happy the talks are going on the right track,” Madan said over phone.

Meanwhile, the chief secretary praised the interlocutor for his role in trying to solve the Darjeeling problem. “Like us, he is also against any further division of Bengal and is talking about the development of the hills. We are happy about his role,” Chakrabarti said.

15 quit posts after chief censures, Morcha leaders give up portfolios – can’t please everyone ?!!

Gorkha Supremo, Bimal Gurung - 'Priorities must be right' for a stable future ?!!

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Darjeeling, April 27: Around 15 leaders of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha’s Rangbull unit have relinquished their posts after they received a dressing down from the outfit’s president Bimal Gurung.

The leaders will, however, remain with the party as ordinary members.

On April 25, while addressing a meeting on the Agriculture Farm premises, 14km from here, Gurung scolded the party workers for “only talking about the revival of the farm”.

“I think I am being brought here just to see the farm. You (leaders) have only been harping on the revival of this farm and seem to be least bothered about the bigger issue of the set-up (the interim arrangement for the hills). Once you lay your hands on the microphone, you don’t want to end your speeches. You are preventing the common people from meeting me. They now want to leave (the venue) because you had called them at 9.30am and now it is 3.30 in the afternoon. They have work to do but you are not concerned,” Gurung had told the gathering.

Later, however, he told the gathering about the set-up. “The interlocutor told me that the state government is willing to discuss the territory issue regarding Siliguri subdivision. I have told him that Siliguri has always been a part of Darjeeling district and I will not compromise on the areas north of the highway (NH31) in the Dooars.”

A Morcha leader of the Rangbull unit, today, said after Gurung’s rebuke, the people had ridiculed the local leadership. “People told us we had no self-respect, clinging on to posts even after receiving a thorough dressing down. It is then that we held a meeting at the Rangbull party office at 2.30pm yesterday, where we decided to relinquish our posts and remain as ordinary members.”

Ravindra Lama, the president of the Morcha’s Rangbull-Dooteriya block committee, has confirmed the resignations. “They said they were merely giving up their portfolios but would remain with the party. We are trying to sort out the matter.”

The Rangbull-Dooteriya block looks after Rangbull, Gorkha Busty, Upper Kalej Valley, Lower Kaley Valley, Balasun and Dooteriya I and II units.

The Agriculture Farm was established in 1859. It has remained defunct since its destroyed during the Gorkhaland agitation in the 1980s. “Around 600-700 people used to be employed with the farm once. When the DGHC took charge, it constructed only one godown but never really revived it,” said Lama.

The Rangbull unit of the Morcha wanted Gurung to intervene to help revive the farm.

Rs 5 crore suit – small enough for Madan Tamang ?!!

Madan Tamang - can figure this one out too ?!!

The Morcha today filed a defamation suit of Rs 5 crore against ABGL chief Madan Tamang for alleging at a media conference that the outfit had misappropriated Rs 1,200 crore from the DGHC.

Taranga Pandit, a lawyer and a central committee member of the party, said: “The case has been filed at the court of the civil judge (senior division) and will come up for hearing on May 5.”

Baton blows in season of change – Cops make way for Congress mayor

Policemen baton charge CPM supporters in front of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation on Tuesday. (Photo by Kundan Yolmo)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH BUREAU

Siliguri, April 27: Bandh supporters were baton charged by police in front of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation today to clear the entrance for the Congress mayor and her staff, indicating the winds of change sweeping across the state.

The incident has left the CPM smarting, and political observers in Siliguri claimed that today’s incident was the only one during the Left Front rule in the state in which the party and its supporters had a taste of police batons. The party has demanded action against the subdivisional officer of Siliguri, Rajat Saini, who had allegedly ordered the lathicharge that injured 19 people.

Since morning, CPM workers, led by party leaders like Shankar Ghosh, Mukul Sengupta and Partha Moitra, assembled in front of the SMC gate near Court More and started shouting slogans. Similar scenes were witnessed at all street corners of the town where government offices, banks, schools and markets remained shut.

The drama began at 11am when mayor Gangotri Dutta and Paritosh Roy, the commissioner of SMC, arrived. About 200 CPM supporters, led by Mukul Sengupta, a CPM councillor and party secretary of the Siliguri zonal committee, blocked the entrance under the banner of the Siliguri Municipal Employees’ and Workers’ Union.

After some time, Dutta, accompanied by commissioner Roy, deputy mayor Nantu Pal, and a host of civic employees tried to enter the premises but were stopped by the bandh supporters.

Around 11.30am, Saini reached the spot and tried to negotiate with both the groups. The situation, however, was far from normal and both sides continued with their verbal attacks.

Unreasonable arguments - then get wopped ?!!

When the situation reached the boiling point, policemen, armed with batons and shields, chased the CPM supporters, intending to disperse them. When they resisted, they were beaten up and the SMC entrance was cleared.

“Our workers were demonstrating peacefully when the mayor, along with the councillors and some outsiders, forcibly tried to enter the building. When we protested, the SDO ordered the police to disperse our supporters with lathis,” said Jibesh Sarkar, a CPM state committee member.

“Nineteen of our supporters have been injured. As a mark of protest, we will organise protests outside the SMC tomorrow and wear black badges. We have also demanded steps against the SDO and the police officers responsible for the action in the next 24 hours.”

The altercation and exchange of verbal abuse between the CPM and its rivals continued for about an hour or so till the inspector-general of police, north Bengal, K.L. Tamta, reached the SMC. The bandh supporters, who had swelled by then into a crowd of 400–odd people, continued shouting slogans.

And were was Communal Majumdar hiding ?!!

Tamta held talks with CPM leaders and also met the mayor. He assured the Left party that the additional superintendent of police of Siliguri would hold an inquiry into the lathicharge.

“As far as I have heard, there was no damage to public property or threat to any person and so the situation did not warrant a lathicharge,” Tamta said. “There was only an inspector of police posted here then and it would have been better if a senior officer had been called. Nevertheless, we will look into what prompted the police to resort to lathi-charge. The inspector concerned has told us that the SDO had ordered it.”

With Tamta’s assurance, the CPM workers left the spot at 2.35pm. The mayor said: “The Citu-affiliated employees of the SMC, along with outsiders, had closed the main gate. Later, however, we managed to enter with the intervention of the SDO and the police.”

Saini, against whom the CPM has demanded action, said: “When two rival groups confronted each other in front of the SMC building, the police just pulled the two sides apart. This led to a minor scuffle.”

Attack on bus, Australians stranded – no ‘National Indian Dignity’ ?!!

The bus carrying the foreigners after it was attacked at Raiganj on Tuesday morning. (Photo by Nantu Dey)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH BUREAU

April 27: Sporadic clashes, including an attack on a bus-load of foreign tourists in Raiganj early this morning, marked the bandh in north Bengal.

In Cooch Behar, at least 30 people were injured in clashes between the bandh supporters and those from the Trinamul Congress.

The hired bus of a group of 13 Australian tourists was stopped on NH34 at Siliguri More in North Dinajpur’s Raiganj and the windowpanes beside the driver were smashed by the protesters.

Around 7am, when the bus carrying the foreigners arrived at Siliguri More, it was surrounded by the protesters who demanded that the driver stop the vehicle on the roadside. Witnesses said as the driver was trying to persuade the bandh supporters to let him go, one of them threw a chair at the cabin, smashing the windowpanes.

Almost at once a force arrived from the Raiganj police station and brought the situation under control. The tourists were escorted to a nearby hotel where they whiled away the rest of the day. “No one was hurt in the incident and we will provide them protection as long as they are in the hotel,” a police officer said.

Sarah, one of the seven women among the tourists, said they had been touring India by road for the past two months. “Last night we were in Farakka and we left early today for Darjeeling and Sikkim. No one had warned us that we could be stopped. There was an altercation with our driver, but the local people and the police were nice to us. We were scared for a moment but now it’s alright,” Sarah said.

In Cooch Behar, four separate clashes were reported from Pasarihat, Sitalkuchi and Ghoksadanga in which 30 people were arrested and 15 of them admitted to different hospitals. Both Trinamul and the CPM accused each other of carrying arms. Cooch Behar superintendent of police Kalyan Banerjee, however, said none of the parties had any arms.

Police sources said two shops were damaged in Pasarihat where supporters of Trinamul and the CPM clashed. In Sitalkuchi’s Pansirhat, Trinamul activists allegedly ransacked a CPM office after their procession was attacked.

“The CPM rallyists attacked us with swords, bows and arrows at Pansirhat. One of our supporters, Makbul Hussain, received a cut on his arm,” said Khokan Miyan, a Trinamul leader.

Tamser Ali, the CPM MLA from Sitalkuchi, alleged that Trinamul was bent on creating tension. “They are carrying arms and indiscriminately torturing innocent people,” Ali said.

In South Dinajpur’s Balurghat, bandh supporters of the RSP tried to forcibly shut down several shops that had opened around 10am in the main market. Dolly Kundu, who runs a grocery store, alleged that the protesters threw away commodities, including a sack of rice. “The women with them also beat me and my sister Poppy, when we tried to resist,” she said.

The police arrived at the spot, but by then the shops had already downed shutters.

The RSP councillor of the area, Tapas Saha, denied the involvement of his party supporters in the incident. “Our party workers were not involved in the incident. Some criminals took the advantage of the situation,” he said.

EDUCATION: Traffic classes for hill riders – Gorkha students show more morality than Bengal Police ?!!

Students note down the number of a motorbike that flouted traffic rules in Darjeeling on Tuesday - how did the hill 'psyche' get so lax with the Bengal Police ?!! (Suman Tamang)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH
BY VIVEK CHHETRI

Darjeeling, April 27: Priya Sonam, an eighth grader at Municipal Girls’ School, and her friends reminded Darjeeling today that the law of the land must be followed at all times.

Not only that, on a day when traffic congestion was the least of the worries for the rest of the state, the hills struggled to rein in errant drivers.

All the more because policing has taken a beating in the hills, following the state government’s policy of minimal confrontation after the revival of the Gorkhaland agitation in October 2007.

Young bikers zipping around congested areas without helmets, overloaded jeeps with people perched on rooftops and drivers speaking on their cellphones have become accepted practices of late.

Today, Priya and her friends like Ambika Thami, showed that such practices would not be accepted.

Dressed in their school uniforms and accompanied by traffic constables, girls in groups of 10-15 waited at nine points across town to stop vehicles found flouting traffic rules. Surprised drivers were hauled up, asked to park their vehicles and made to answer a volley of queries.

“Why aren’t you wearing a helmet? Is driving without helmet cool and safe? Can you explain your act? Are you being responsible towards your near and dear ones?” were some of the questions thrown to the bikers.

As Darjeeling is a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha stronghold, the all-India strike called by the Left today to protest the price rise had no impact on the town.

“We are merely making an appeal to the drivers to follow traffic rules. Apart from stopping bikers without helmets, we are also telling (jeep) drivers that they cannot cramp passengers by squeezing four persons in the front seat. We are not allowing vehicles to carry people on their rooftops and are requesting drivers to park their vehicles if they want to speak on their cellphones,” said Priya.

Thami added: “We are noting down the names and the registration numbers of the vehicles that are flouting traffic norms. We will submit them to the traffic police in the evening.”

BENGAL POLITICS: Bandh prize goes to… – Ouch! The great betrayal ?!!

Bandh supporters burn tyres in Ranchi on Tuesday. (Photo by Manik Bose)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH BUREAU

April 27: Everybody loves a bandh in Bengal.

Correction: Everybody, except Mamata Banerjee.

One of the biggest betrayals in street politics unfolded today in Delhi when Mamata, once the champion of bandh champions, called the Left general strike “hooliganism”.

“In the name of Bharat bandh, hooliganism was unleashed. They locked the toilet at the (Calcutta) airport. It’s inhuman and a mockery of democracy. It was a state-sponsored strike in West Bengal,” an angry Mamata declared in Delhi, not forgetting to add: “The Trinamul Congress is not in favour of strikes.”

SMS DOING THE ROUNDS: Wish u a Happy, spicy, sleepy, foodie, wrklss, huryless, trafficless, pollution free…… BANDH

Many a pot has called the kettle black but this is a different kettle of politician, no longer a disrupter but a wannabe builder.

Mamata had declared before the Lok Sabha polls that she would not call bandhs at the drop of a hat — a promise she has kept since then.

Mamata last called a 12-hour bandh on April 21, 2008 — two years ago almost to the date. The issue then was the same as that of the Left now: soaring prices. But something else happened that Monday: she cut short the bandh by two hours, ostensibly because of the wedding season but actually because of lukewarm response from the ranks who did not like the way then newfound ally SUCI was enforcing the shutdown before the panchayat polls.

It makes political sense for Mamata to press ahead with an image makeover before the Assembly polls — remember: industrialisation is no longer a red rag and she was the first to speak about Presidency College autonomy. Economic logic is also on her side.

At the helm of the railways — once a favourite target of the Trinamul bandh brigade — Mamata has realised that the utility is at the receiving end of all forms of protest. On more than one occasion, she has said in Parliament that Maoist violence and bandhs had cost the railways over Rs 500 crore.

Today, she used the bandh to lash out at the CPM and project it as a destroyer in power.

“In Delhi, they (CPM leaders) showcase a clean image but in West Bengal, they are murdering democracy and the Constitution. Can you imagine that they closed the toilet at the airport? It is the duty of the state to provide relief but here the state forced the passengers to suffer,” she declared.

Cong attacks own home for alliance – well Bengal will only be Bengal, nothing strange ?!!

The computer room at the state Congress headquarters after the rampage. (Photo by Anindya Shankar Roy)

FROM THE TELEGRAPH SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Calcutta, April 27: Congress activists who want an alliance with Mamata Banerjee “at any cost” unleashed mayhem at their party headquarters three days after another group had done the same to warn the leadership against staking the party’s “honour” for the sake of a deal.

Some 50 men from Motijhil near Park Circus stormed into Bidhan Bhavan, empty but for a handful of leaders on a bandh afternoon.

They shouted “Jot chai, jot chai” and went room to room with cricket stumps and bamboo sticks to smash glass panes and snap telephone lines.

Congress Seva Dal chief Purna Chandra Ghosh had his left hand fractured by a blow from a stump when he tried to prevent them from entering state party working president Subrata Mukherjee’s chamber on the second floor.

Another working president, Pradip Bhattacharya, was then on the same floor, discussing with the party’s four Calcutta district chiefs the Trinamul Congress offer of only 25 of the 141 wards in the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

Barun De Sarkar, a leader from Beleghata, called up Entally police station, about 500 metres from Bidhan Bhavan.

But the attackers fled before the police came, smashing an aquarium outside the ground-floor lift door, killing dozens of fish, and the windscreens of two cars parked outside.

They allegedly owe their allegiance to state Youth Congress president Amitava Chakraborty, who tried to distance himself from the attack, saying he had petitioned the police demanding the arrest of those involved. “Youth Congress activists are being falsely blamed for today’s violence. I want a proper probe to get at the truth,” he added.

Working president Bhattacharya has lodged a police complaint blaming unknown persons. The police said five people had been arrested, but refused to name them.

“We condemn such vandalism. We want the police to arrest all those involved, irrespective of their political affiliations,” Bhattacharya said. He has briefed state Congress president Pranab Mukherjee about the development.

Asked who could have engineered the violence, Bhattacharya said: “I don’t know who. But we shall not tolerate this type of hooliganism. The incident has shown us in poor light before the elections to 81 civic bodies.”

Activists led by a man known to be close to MP Deepa Das Munshi had on Saturday smashed the windscreen of a car and locked up the party office’s gates to “send a message” to the leaders that they should not accept an alliance on Mamata’s terms. On Sunday night, Trinamul told its ally it could at best give 25 wards in response to its demand for 51.

Some Congress leaders today expressed surprise about the absence of working president Subrata during and after the violence. “He did not bother to come despite being in the city,” one of them said.

Subrata said he had “other preoccupations”.

Congress sources said Subrata and the Youth Congress’s Chakraborty were in favour of the alliance “at any cost”, unlike city leaders Pradip Ghosh, Nirbed Roy, Santosh Pathak and Pranab Basu, who were huddled together at the party office during the attack.

The alliance talks had their rumblings in Trinamul too with over 50 party supporters demonstrating in front of Mamata’s house this afternoon demanding that Ward 88 not be offered to the Congress. They argued that Mala Roy, who had won the ward on a Trinamul ticket in 2005, should not get nomination because “she had betrayed Didi by switching over to the Congress”.

Late tonight, Trinamul was learnt to have set a condition to its ally over Ward 88 — it could not field Roy there even it got to contest the seat.

Clarification

The Congress’s Mahua Moitra today denied the comment attributed to her in Tuesday’s paper saying the party would have to accept the “raw deal” being offered by Trinamul. “It is fabricated,” she said.

Bandh derails train services – Mamata targetted ?!!

TRUE LIES - Take the Truth Test, (not so) Gentlemen ?!!

FROM THE TELEGRAPH BUREAU

Ranchi/Jamshedpur/Dha-nbad, April 27: The Opposition-sponsored dawn-to-dusk Bharat bandh to protest against price rise took a heavy toll on train services today, with dozens of cancellations across the state.

The bandh threw normal life out of gear in the cities as buses stayed off roads and courts, banks and government offices recorded thin attendance. Most schools remained shut and college students skipped classes.

Though the bandh was by and large peaceful, clashes were reported from Ranchi and Jamshedpur. In the state capital, bandh supporters damaged cars, while in Jamshedpur, they clashed with vendors.

At least half a dozen trains including Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Black Diamond Express, Patna-Dhanbad Intercity Express, Ranchi-Howrah Intercity Express, Coal Field Express and Ranchi-Patna Janshatabdi Express were cancelled on the Dhanbad section, as were dozens of passenger trains.

The Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express, which managed to leave Dhanbad station at the scheduled time of 6.30am, was stopped by bandh supporters squatting on the tracks near Gaya Bridge, less than a kilometre away from the station. The train left for Asansol at 7.59am only after the arrival of a police party.

Passengers of the air-conditioned A-2 coach of Howrah Bombay Mail, which was stuck on platform No 2 of Dhanbad station, faced a harrowing time when the air-conditioning system stopped working for an hour.

In Jamshedpur, the trains cancelled were Tata-Howrah Steel Express, Tata-Danapur Express, Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express and Tata-Dhanbad Express.

About half-a-dozen passenger trains including Tata-Kharagpur Passenger,Asansol-Tata Passenger, Chakradharpur-Tata-Kharagpur Passenger and Tata-Chakradharpur Passenger, were all cancelled as well.

The Howrah-Kurla Ispat Express was short terminated at Tatanagar. The train left for its onward journey three hours behind schedule. The Howrah-Mumbai Geetanjali Express was running several hours late. The railway authorities at Tatanagar faced a tough time as passengers demanded refunds on cancellations.

In the state capital, the majority of business establishments remained closed while bus stands wore a deserted look. Attendance in colleges, courts and government offices remained thin.

President of Bus Owners Association, Mohan Singh, said 300 buses remained off the roads due to the bandh.

Bandh supporters congregated at Albert Ekka Chowk, Piska More, Ratu Road, Kanke and several other places since early morning. Breaking of car windscreens and tyre burning was reported from Hinoo and Piska More.

Some auto rickshaw drivers used the occasion to earn a quick buck. They charged double fares from passengers stranded at bus stands and station. City police superintendent Sambhu Thakur said 267 bandh supporters were arrested and released.

Though majority of schools remained closed for the bandh, classes for senior students did take place in DPS and DAV Schools, which remained open.

In Jamshedpur, members of 13 Opposition parties jointly took out a rally from Ambagan Ground in Sakchi around 8am. Bandh supporters, carrying flags and banners, forcibly downed shutters at Sakchi market.

A clash broke out between bandh supporters and hawkers at Sakchi. The bandh supporters were attacked by vendors when the former tried to dismantle the makeshift shops on the footpath. Four people were injured.

Wait for tracks to get normal – psychology of fear ?!!

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Siliguri, April 27: More than 1,500 passengers were stranded at the New Jalpaiguri station while another 500-600 waited at the terminal in Bagdogra airport throughout the day as 14 trains were rescheduled and three Calcutta-bound flights cancelled.

“We arrived here from Delhi around 12 noon and have been sitting at the airport since then,” said Parul Sethia, a tourist. “None of the drivers are ready to take us anywhere till the strike ends at 6pm.”

In Bagdogra, four flights bound for Delhi and Guwahati left at the scheduled time. “But of the four Calcutta-bound flights, three were cancelled,” said K.K. Bhowmik, the airport director of Bagdogra. “About 500-600 passengers have been stranded at the airport.”

At NJP, the passengers were either confined aboard the Guwahati-bound Kamrup Express or the Sealdah-bound Kanchenjungha Express or remained seated on the platforms. Others, who had arrived early morning to board trains from NJP, were also stranded because of the rescheduling of trains.

The NJP–Anand Vihar Express left New Jalpaiguri at 7pm instead of 8.15am and the Sealdah-bound Darjeeling Mail at 10pm, two hours behind schedule. Padatik Express was departure time was rescheduled to 11pm from 9pm.

In Alipurduar, the Teesta Torsa Express left at 10pm instead of 11.45am. The Sealdah-bound Uttarbanga Express will leave Cooch Behar at 1am tomorrow instead of 5.40pm today, while the Haldibari–Sealdah Teesta Torsa Express left Haldibari at 11.45pm instead of 1.15pm. The Radhikapur-Calcutta Express, which was supposed to depart Radhikapur at 5.50pm, left at 10pm.

G.D. Mondal, the station manager of NJP, said the Darjeeling Mail was stuck at Barsoi, the Guwahati-bound Rajdhani Express at Katihar and the New Delhi-bound Rajdhani at Bongaigaon station. NFR sources said it would take at least two days for services to become normal.

Members of Satya Sai, a local NGO of Malda, arrived at Malda station with milk and biscuits around 12 noon. Those were given to the children on the stranded trains. Adults were treated to puffed rice and tea. “Not a single shop was open at the Malda Town station,” said Abdul Motin, a passenger from Calcutta on the Katihar-bound Hatey-Bazaarey Express.

Blast minutes before train – and then slyly blame it on the Maoists, Naturally ?!!

The damaged tracks - blame the Maoists, naturally ?!! (Photo by Samir Mondal)

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Midnapore, April 27: Suspected Maoists triggered a blast and damaged railway tracks around the time a Howrah- bound train was supposed to pass through that stretch, 4km from Midnapore station, this morning.

For once, the usual late running of the Chakradharpur-Howrah Passenger proved a blessing.

A level crossing gateman heard the blast from a distance and alerted Midnapore station around 1.20am. An hour behind schedule, the train was stopped at Godapiashal station, 8km from the blast site.

“The train would have been thrown off the tracks had it passed through the damaged stretch,” said Sandip Rajbangshi, seniority security commissioner of the Railway Protection Force at Adra division.

“It had a providential escape,” said a South Eastern Railway official.

The explosion broke some of the Pandrol clips, which affix the tracks to the sleepers, and created a long crack on one side of the Down line.

Besides the gateman, a locomotive driver patrolling the tracks on an engine had felt a a jerk while passing the area around 1.20am.

Railway officials and police arrived at the spot in an inspection train around 2.30am and found another improvised explosive device (IED) in a steel can on the Up line.

“We also found some electrical wire, which we think was used to trigger the first blast,” said Rajbangshi.

Tuesday was the second day of a two-day bandh called by the Maoists in Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh to protest Operation Green Hunt, the Centre’s proposed offensive against the guerrillas which is already under way in Chhattisgarh.

A district police officer said the blast occurred 1,200 metres from where Maoists had triggered an explosion targeting chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s convoy on November 2, 2008.

The railways’ repair team reached the blast site around 5am and it took over four hours to complete the job. The train that was to have reached Howrah by Tuesday dawn was brought to Midnapore station at 9.30am.

There, it lay stuck through the rest of the day, thanks to the bandh.