bjp-l-digest Monday, February 23 1998 Volume 02 : Number 070
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News and Analysis Digest
Topics:
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President seeks legal advice, awaits ruling
Vajpayee, on fast, blasts governor
Two Loktantrik Congress ministers dispute Pal's claim
Defeat this conspiracy
Mulayam behind Kalyan's ouster
Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
HC defers Kalyan's hearing till Monday
Kalyan might have queered his own pitch
Sonia ignorant on Hindutva, says Atal
RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
More bombs recovered in Coimbatore
RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
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Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 23:14:53 -0600 (CST)
From: Rajiv Varma <RVarma@iName.Com>
Subject: President seeks legal advice, awaits ruling
Title: President seeks legal advice, awaits ruling
Author: ENS & AGENCIES
Publication: Indian Express
Date: 23 February 1998
NEW DELHI, FEB 22: The battle over Uttar Pradesh has shifted to Delhi with
Rashtrapati Bhavan once again becoming the epicentre of political activity
after Governor Romesh Bhandari created another constitutional crisis by
sacking the Kalyan Singh government. However, with a two-judge Bench of
Allahabad High Court adjourning the hearing of a writ petition challenging
Bhandari's decision till tomorrow, the President K R Narayanan has
apparently decided to wait for its verdict. In the meantime, he has had
consultations with the Attorney General Ashok Desai and other legal
luminaries.
The Bench, comprising Justice B Dixit and Justice D K Seth, heard
arguments of both sides the whole day today. Higher Education Minister in
the sacked Kalyan Singh Government N K S Gaur filed the petition late last
night challenging the Governor's action but a difference of opinion
between the two judges led to the Bench deciding on further hearing the
case today.
Justice Seth observed last night this was a fit case forrestoring the
status quo ante while Justice Dixit felt new Chief Minister's counsel
should be given an opportunity to express his views.
Chief Minister Jagdambika Pal's counsel S P Gupta argued today the Bench
had no jurisdiction to hear the matter as there was a difference of
opinion between the judges over granting of interim stay.
Petitioner's counsel Yatindra Singh said the Governor's action was
arbitrary as he should have asked Kalyan Singh to prove his majority on
the floor of the House.
He said the Governor had not given any reason why he gave an opportunity
to pal to prove his majority and not to Kalyan Singh.
In the evening, the petitioner moved an amended application pleading the
Governor's order should be quashed.
The earlier petition prayed for restraining Bhandari from installing Pal
as Chief Minister till Kalyan Singh faced the trial of strength.
Pal's counsel raised an objection that the Governor had not been impleaded
as party. He further submitted no amendment had been moved bythe
petitioner for quashing the order of the governor and, therefore, no order
could be passed by the court.
He said the Governor was told 221 members were in favour of Pal and after
that he passed the order dismissing the government.
The petitioner's counsel submitted even assuming that Kalyan Singh was in
minority, the governor was duty-bound to ask him to prove his majority in
the assembly.
Narayanan seeks legal advice
Elsewhere in New Delhi, President K R Narayanan began consultations with
political parties and constitutional experts. However, the BJP versus
anti-BJP lineup that has emerged has made his task far more difficult than
the last time he was forced to intervene in the State, when the BSP
withdrew support to the Kalyan Government in October 1997.
The battle lines drawn over UP are possibly also an indication of the
shape of things to come in the post-poll scenario in case no party gets a
majority in the ongoing general elections. The fight for the Centre has
thus begun even before the results are in.
A Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson made it clear in the evening that the
President will not act on the UP crisis till the Allahabad High Court
gives its judgment on the BJP petition challenging UP Governor Romesh
Bhandari's dismissal of Kalyan Singh. With the court adjourning the
hearing till tomorrow, the President will continue his consultations to
ensure ``as wide a range of opinions as possible'', he stated.
The President's dilemma is acute. The BJP has demanded Bhandari's head and
party president L.K. Advani appraised Narayanan this afternoon of the
fast-unto-death undertaken by its shadow prime minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee on this issue.
Simultaneously, the non-BJP parties came together to assert that they
fully approved of Bhandari's action. They cited former UP Governor
Motilal Vohra's dismissal of the Mulayam Singh Government in June 1995
without a floor test as the justification.
Two separate delegations, one led by CPM general secretary Harkishan Singh
Surjeet and another comprising four senior Congress leaders including
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Pranab Mukherjee, met the President later in the day
to drive home this point.
In the evening, the United Front's mentor, V.P. Singh, issued a statement
welcoming the consolidation of the various political parties in UP to
bring down the BJP Government. Narayanan, however, cannot obviously take a
political view of the situation and as the constitutional head of the
country, he will have to look at the legal and constitutional picture. His
personal inclinations in the matter were made clear in a letter to Prime
Minister I.K. Gujral yesterday advising a test of strength in the Assembly
before dismissing the Government in UP.
The letter was faxed to Bhandari who seems to have ignored the President's
advice. This has created an untenable situation in which the UP Governor
could be charged with having lost the confidence of the Head of State whom
he represents.
Narayanan's consultations with Attorney General Ashok Desai and Prime
Minister Gujral today revolved around this and he is believed to have
sought a written opinion from Desai. Gujral is also in a bind. He would
like to play by the rules and he has the additional burden of having taken
the support of the BJP-Akali Dal combine to fight the Jalandhar seat.
Bhandari ignored Narayanan's fax
Romesh Bhandari ignored the President' fax message asking him not to take
decision on dismissal of Kalyan Govt on poll eve. He has, however,
justified his decision saying he was left with ``no other option'' as it
had lost its majority in the State Assembly. He said he did not want to
recommend imposition of President's Rule and wanted to ``continue the
democratic process''.
All non-BJP parties supporting the newly-formed Jagdambika Pal government
have moved a notice for a no-confidence motion against UP Vidhan Sabha
Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi.
Union Home Minister Indrajit Gupta said tonight that his ministry had
``no role'' in toppling the Kalyan Singh government. He also expressed the
fear that there might be law and order problems in UP if the Allahabad
High Court reinstated it.
The BJP has called a bandh in Uttar Pradesh tomorrow and has announced a
series of agitations to protest the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh
government and press for Bhandari's recall.
Copyright 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 22:40:02 -0600 (CST)
From: Rajiv Varma <RVarma@iName.Com>
Subject: Vajpayee, on fast, blasts governor
Title: Vajpayee, on fast, blasts governor
Author: UNI
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 22, 1998
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Sunday demanded the
dismissal of Uttar Pradesh governor Romesh Bhandari for having "subverted
and assaulted" the Constitution by not giving the Kalyan Singh government
an opportunity to prove its majority on the floor of the assembly.
Vajpayee, who is on an indefinite fast in protest against the governor's
"unconstitutional action", urged President K R Narayanan to "immediately
invoke Article 156 of the Constitution" and sack Bhandari.
"To allow Bhandari to continue in office will be tantamount to continued
defilement and denigration of the Constitution," he told a crowded press
conference at his home in Delhi on his return from Lucknow. However, the
BJP leader refrained from asking for the reinstallation of the Kalyan
Singh government saying, "We will leave the matter to the President to
decide."
Accusing the governor of hatching a conspiracy with the BJP's political
adversaries, Vajpayee lambasted Bhandari for deciding the fate of the
five-month-old Kalyan Singh governement in Raj Bhavan rather than on the
floor of the House.
Vajpayee said the governor had never asked Kalyan Singh to resign. He
straightaway dismissed the government at the behest of "political
mentors". The dismissal had put a question mark on conducting a free and
fair election in Uttar Pradesh where polling was held on Sunday for 33
constituencies, he said.
The new government's first act was to conduct a raid at the house of
opponents of Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh
Yadav. "Is this why the new government had been installed?"
The BJP leader said the President's intervention was necessary as the
governor was not accountable to the caretaker government. Bhandari did
not heed the reported advice of the President who had recommended caution
and application of the by now well established principle that the strength
of a government can be tested only on the floor of the assembly.
"The only guiding principle for the governor was the political interests
of the anti-BJP parties who, in a desperate attempt to thwart our victory
in this election have conspired to derail the constitutional rule of law.
Romesh Bhandari today stands exposed, "though not for the first time," as
one of the co-conspirators in this "treacherous assault on the very basis
of our democratic polity."
Vajpayee said there should be a code of ethics for the governor and it had
been demanded several times. In Gujarat the governor did the opposite. He
said that even though the Constitution provided impeachment of several
officials, the governor could not be impeached.
He said he had undertaken the fast as his "conscience did not compromise"
with the UP developments. This was the time when a strong step was needed
to protect democracy which had been "torn apart".
Asked how long would he continue with the fast he said, "So long as my
physical strength permits me."
He said the governor's explanation that he acted as per the provisions of
Article 164 of the Constitution raises more questions than it answers. "It
is nothing short of seeking refuge in constitutionalism after violating
the very essence of the Constitution of our republic. His action is a
negation of both the letter and spirit of the Supreme Court judgment in
the S R Bommai case. His violation of democratic norms and practices is a
repudiation of the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations."
UNI
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 08:02:33 -0600 (CST)
From: editor@ofbjp.org
Subject: Two Loktantrik Congress ministers dispute Pal's claim
Title: Two Loktantrik Congress ministers dispute Pal's claim
Author: UNI
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 21, 1998
Two ministers from the Loktantrik Congress in the Kalyan Singh government
today disputed the party leadership's decision to withdraw support to the
state government, claiming most of its ministers have reposed faith in the
chief minister.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Hukum Singh and Minister of State for
Environment Vivek Singh told reporters at the chief minister's home that
the decision to withdraw support was announced without taking the majority
of Loktantrik Congress ministers into confidence.
At least 11 ministers, they said, had disputed the decision and expressed
faith in the Kalyan Singh government. The duo claimed most ministers were
in their constituencies and would reach Lucknow only later tonight.
They said there was no formal meeting of the Loktantrik Congress regarding
withdrawal of support. They claimed they did not know how and when
Jagdambika Pal was declared the party's leader.
They claimed Diwakar Vikram Singh, Harishankar Tewari, Amar Mani Tripathi,
Fateh Bahadur Singh, Virendra Singh, Baccha Pathak, Chaudhary Dalbir
Singh, Satish Sharma and Laxmi Narain, all ministers, had expressed their
faith in the government.
Hukum Singh and Vivek Singh, who accompanied Chief Minister Kalyan Singh
to Raj Bhavan, said they had also communicated this to Governor Romesh
Bhandari. They said the governor had accepted that there was only a letter
from Jagdambika Pal without giving a list of any names.
Moreover, they said, all the Loktantrik Congress members whose support Pal
claimed were also ministers in the Kalyan Singh government. These
ministers should have resigned if support was truly being withdrawn. Only
then would clear numbers have been available, the ministers said.
Asked why Naresh Agarwal and Pal had tried to withdraw support, the two
ministers put it down to "overambition".
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 23:04:26 -0600 (CST)
From: editor <editor@ofbjp.org>
Subject: Defeat this conspiracy
Title: Defeat this conspiracy
Author: Chandan Mitra
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 22, 1998
This is undoubtedly the darkest hour in the history of the cradle of
Indian civilisation, Uttar Pradesh.
The State has been witness to the systematic devaluation of every norm of
civilised behaviour in politics over the last decade, but what Governor
Romesh Bhandari has committed on Saturday must go down as the most heinous
outrage ever attempted on the democratic process. In October, he had
similarly attempted a public rape of democracy, but President KR
Narayanan's eleventh-hour intervention just about saved it from gross
dishonour. But Mr Bhandari was obviously waiting for another opportunity
to satiate his lust. This time he was determined not to give the sentinel
a chance. That a man of such dubious antecedents as one Jagdambika Pal has
actually been sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh should make
every citizen of that State hang their heads in shame. It is of a piece
with the appointment of one Satish Prasad Singh in 1968 as Chief Minister
of Bihar for 48 hours, whose only job was to nominate BP Mandal to the
Legislative Council so that he could become the Chief Minister. UP's
electorate, however, cannot entirely evade responsibility for the farce
that is currently being enacted. After all, they have elected such people
as their representatives.
That a Governor, entrusted to defend the Constitution should gleefully
lead its gang-rape is a shocking indictment of a system that allows the
nomination of mohalla-level musclemen to such august offices. This just
reaffirms that outward accourtements, such as indulgence in golf and other
pursuits of the idle rich, cannot alter a person's basic upbringing. In
callous disregard of the Supreme Court judgement in the SR Bommai case, he
has not bothered to give Mr Kalyan Singh a chance to prove his majority.
The conspirators' game plan is to derail the democratic process itself by
conducting a coup less than 24 hours before polling stations open in the
remaining 33 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State.
Paradoxically, this also provides an opportunity to the electorate. The
time has come for the people to assert their disgust against this kind of
political opportunism and ensure that Uttar Pradesh gets a Government that
does something else besides diverting public funds into private pockets. A
judicious exercise of the franchise might turn the tide yet and prevent
the State from disappearing into a black hole towards which it is hurtling
at a frightening pace.
The PM-in-waiting from Lucknow, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is already on a
fast-unto-death, reminiscent of Morarji Desai's fast in 1975 which forced
Indira Gandhi to eat humble pie in Gujarat. Beyond the immediate issue of
an illicit Government having been conspiratorially installed, lies the
larger question of democratic norms, constitutional propriety and judicial
authority. Without any further delay, the President and, if necessary, the
Supreme court must instruct the rogue authority in Lucknow to reinstate Mr
Kalyan Singh. Simultaneously, he must be asked to face a vote of
confidence in the Assembly within 15 days, in accordance with the
precedent set for the Dilip Parikh Government in Gujarat. Most
importantly, however, every voter who enters a polling booth in UP today
must remember that India looks to him to save democracy in its hour of
dishonour.
Today, every elector in UP is not merely a voter; he is a crusader, called
upon to discharge a duty so that democracy might live in India.
------------------------------
Date: Sat, 21 Feb 1998 23:01:28 -0600 (CST)
From: editor <editor@ofbjp.org>
Subject: Mulayam behind Kalyan's ouster
Title: Mulayam behind Kalyan's ouster
Author: Alok Sharma
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 22, 1998
The question of political survival of Samajawadi Party boss Mulayam Singh
Yadav, who is perhaps facing the toughest political battle of his life in
the Sambhal constituency, appears to be one of the main factors that
contributed to the toppling of the Kalyan Singh Government and
installation of Jagdambika Pal as Chief Minister.
All the parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party, ranging from the
Congress to the Bahujan Samaj Party, who are fighting each other at the
hustings, came together against Mr Kalyan Singh. However, sources point
out that it was a question of political survival for SP President Mulayam
Singh Yadav in particular, who had apprehended that the administration
under Mr Kalyan Singh would leave no stone unturned to ensure his defeat
in Sambhal, which made the SP resort to fire-fighting measures and topple
Mr Kalyan Singh.
Besides, there was a general feeling in the United Front and even in the
Congress that Mr Mulayam Singh's defeat from Sambhal would send a very
wrong signal for the secular forces.
Though parties opposed to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh had
been aiming for a political coup in the state even before the election
campaign began, they could agree on the candidature of Jagdambika Pal for
chief ministership only on Saturday, just a day before Sambhal and 32
other constituencies in UP go to polls.
Signinifcantly, Mr Kalyan Singh had visited Sambhal, where Loktantrik
Bahujan Samaj Party (LBSP) candidate DP Yadav supported by the BJP is
giving a tough fight to Mr Mulayam Singh, on Friday and given directions
to the officials there.
Mr Kalyan Singh is reported to have said at public meetings and at other
places that at no cost should Mr Mulayam Singh be allowed to win from
Sambhal.
On his part, Mr Mulayam Singh had written a letter to Chief Election
Commissioner M S Gill earlier on Saturday apprehending large-scale
rigging, booth capturing and violence in Sambhal during the polling on
Sunday.
He had apprehended that the Kalyan Singh government was "conspiring" to
trigger violence in Sambhal so that the elections there could be
countermanded." He told the EC in the letter that Mr Kalyan Singh was
openly exhorting the BJP workers not to be afraid of the EC.
In fact, two ministers of the Kalyan Singh government, Raghuraj Pratap
Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and Hari Shankar Tiwari were camping in Sambhal
when the politcal coup in Lucknow took place.
Mr Mulayam Singh had alleged that the duo, who had criminal records, had
entered the constituency with armed goons and 200 vehicles to create
problems during the polling.
UF sources say that earlier, Loktantrik Congress leader Naresh Aggarwal's
name was floated but there could be no consensus within the non-BJP
parties on his name.
"Had there been a consensus on a candidate, we would have toppled the
government even before the first phase of polling on February 16," said a
UF leader.
Significantly, Mr Jagdambika Pal is a Thakur and is close to Mr Mulayam
Singh's associate, Mr Amar Singh, who played an active role in
masterminding the plot. Mr Pal is also close to Congress leader Arjun
Singh, who is known for his cordial relations with Bahujan Samaj Party
leader Kanshi Ram.
The differences within the LC on ticket distribution is one of the reasons
behind the "delay" in the coup which is being attributed by UF circles.
There were serious differences between Mr Pal and Mr Aggarwal over the
four Lok Sabha seats which were offered by the BJP to them in
seat-distribution. Following the differences, the LC did not field any
candidates and the BJP was left with no option but to field its own
nominees there.
However, UF sources say that the differences between the two LC leaders
were sorted out and Congress leader Pramod Tiwari is said to have played
an important role in this.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 22:43:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Rajiv Varma <RVarma@iName.Com>
Subject: Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
Title: Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
Author: George Iype
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 22, 1998
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's political survival was said to
be one factor that led to the toppling of the Kalyan Singh government in
Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Close associates of the SP chief said the defence minister agreed to prop
up Jagdambika Pal as UP chief minister as he feared that the Kalyan Singh
government would have left no stone unturned to ensure his defeat in
Sambhal.
The SP president faced the toughest electoral battle of his life in the
Sambhal constituency where he was pitted against the BJP-supported
Loktantrik Bahujan Samaj Party candidate D P Yadav.
Mulayam Singh feared that if Kalyan Singh remained the chief minister, the
UP administration would ensure D P Yadav's victory through largescale
booth capturing, rigging and violence.
The ousted UP chief minister, along with his two controversial ministers
Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and Hari Shankar Tiwari, had
visited Sambhal constituency on Friday.
They had reportedly directed the police and administrative officials that
Mulayam Singh should not be allowed to win from Sambhal at any cost. Both
Raja Bhaiyya and Tiwari had allegedly entered the constituency with armed
goons and 400 vehicles to create problems on the polling day.
While Kalyan Singh returned to Lucknow on Friday, the two ministers were
campaigning in Sambhal when the political coup in Lucknow took place.
Sambhal, along with 32 other constituencies in UP, went to the polls on
Sunday. But polling in this prestigious constituency was by and large
peaceful.
Fearing that the Kalyan Singh government was conspiring to trigger off
violence in Sambhal, Mulayam Singh had written to the Chief Election
Commissioner Dr M S Gill, asking him to ensure a free and fair election in
his constituency.
The defence minister is said to have begun his political moves to topple
the Kalyan Singh regime after D P Yadav filed his nomination papers from
Sambhal.
Sources in the United Front said there was a general consensus in the
Front as well as in the Congress party that Mulayam Singh's defeat from
Sambhal would be a blow to the anti-BJP forces in the country.
Mulayam Singh and SP general secretary Amar Singh have been negotiating
with non-BJP leaders in the state for some days now.
All the parties had agreed to a political coup against the BJP in UP even
before the election campaign begun, but the only difference of opinion was
about the next chief ministerial candidature. There was no consensus on
Loktantrik Congress chief Naresh Aggarwal's name.
Finally, just one day before polling in Sambhal took place, Mulayam
Singh's efforts succeeded and Jagdambika Pal emerged as the consensus
candidate for the chief minister's post.
Pal is a Thakur and a close associate of Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, a
Thakur himself.
The new UP chief minister is also close to senior Congress leader Arjun
Singh who has cordial relations with Bahujan Samaj Party president Kanshi
Ram and is said to have convinced the BSP leadership about the need to
throw out the BJP government during the course of the Lok Sabha election.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 22:49:06 -0600 (CST)
From: Rajiv Varma <RVarma@iName.Com>
Subject: HC defers Kalyan's hearing till Monday
Title: HC defers Kalyan's hearing till Monday
Author:
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 22, 1998
A division bench of the Allahabad high court deferred till Monday, hearing
of the arguments against the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh government and
administering of oath to Jagdambika Pal as the chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh.
The court, comprising Justices B N Dixit and D K Seth, passed the order on
a writ petition filed by Narendra Kumar Singh Gaur, the higher education
minister, UP, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the state government
and the Union of India to act in accordance with law, and that the
government of Kalyan Singh should not be dismissed until he loses the
confidence of a majority on the floor of the House.
The petitioner also prayed that the governor be restrained from
administering the oath to Jagdambika Pal as chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh. He also prayed that the governor should be restrained from
interfering in the working of the Kalyan Singh government.
S P Gupta, counsel for Jagdambika Pal, opposed the writ petition saying it
was not maintainable as all the three reliefs sought from the court were
no longer in existence.
He also contended that the governor's order of dismissal was passed after
looking into all aspects of the matter, and considering the ample
evidence, his order, passed under Article 163 (2) of the Constitution, was
right.
Yatindra Singh, the petitioner's counsel, in his arguments said the
governor's order was passed in violation of the Constitution as also
against the law laid down in S R Bommai case.
However, at present, there is only an interim stay order in the
petitioner's favour. The court will hear the case on the point of interim
stay order tomorrow.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 07:59:12 -0600 (CST)
From: editor@ofbjp.org
Subject: Kalyan might have queered his own pitch
Title: Kalyan might have queered his own pitch
Author: R R Nair
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 21, 1998
Chief Minister Kalyan Singh himself may be to blame for the current
political developments in Uttar Pradesh.
Kalyan Singh, it is learnt, had plans to dissolve the assembly after the
general elections, a plan that was even unacceptable to his own party, the
Bharatiya Janata Party.
The chief minister had apparently hoped to go to the electorate and seek a
fresh mandate that would help him shake loose charges of horse-trading
attached to him ever since he formed the ministry last October along with
defectors and criminals.
The BJP victory in the legislative council election lightened his mood,
and reports that the party was improving its tally nationwide boosted his
spirits to the point that he expected his party could win by a simple
majority if the assembly was dissolved. If the BJP came to power at the
Centre, it was far more likely that his party would win since both the
state machinery and the Centre would come to his aid, he reasoned.
The Loktantrik Congress leaders apparently got wind of his scheme and
acted in haste to avoid dissolution of the assembly when things were
beyond their control. They apparently realised that if the BJP won by a
simple majority, it would pare down its huge cabinet, putting the
Loktantrik Congress members on the casualty list.
A BJP national executive member told Rediff On The NeT, "It was expected.
Whatever others may say, Kalyan Singh is a man of principles. Even when he
had the alliance with Mayawati we knew that he would somehow come out of
it unscathed. Now he had to prove that he is the same old Kalyan Singh who
stands by his principles. It was expected that he would seek a fresh
mandate after the parliamentary election."
And since it was a matter of keeping the BJP out, even arch rivals Mulayam
Singh and Mayawati came together to back Jagadambika Pal, the Loktantrik
Congress leader who successfully staked his claim to form a government.
Naresh Agarwal, the man who broke away from the Congress with 22 members
last October, had been hobnobbing with Mayawati ever since the new
ministry was formed. His stature had suffered after Kalyan Singh
accommodated all defectors in his jumbo cabinet. But Agarwal realised he
could not form a government without Mulayam Singh's support.
There was also Governor Romesh Bhandari.
"The governor wanted a showdown with the government since he knew the BJP
might form a government at the Centre. In any case, he might have realised
that his days in power were numbered. That is why he plotted to bring
together the elements to form a government," one BJP leader claimed.
In an extreme case, BJP sources said, the party would seek dissolution of
the assembly and fresh elections. "The President would not be sympathetic
to these people who till yesterday supported the BJP government. Is there
any guarantee that these Loktantrik MLAs will not cross over again to give
BJP support after a couple of months," they asked.
Though fissures between BJP and the Loktantrik Congress developed early,
it was the distribution of tickets that caused the most heartburn. The BJP
had refused tickets to most of the kith and kin of the Loktantrik Party
members. That was when the party of defectors began berating their
leader, Naresh Agarwal. for not taking up their cause effectively with the
BJP.
The Sonia factor too seemed to be preying on their minds. As the Congress
improved its prospects, the group found itself increasingly marginalised,
especially in the absence of a charismatic leader, someone like Mamata
Bannerjee in West Bengal.
And it was this combination of insecurity and frustration that finally
found vent on election eve...
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:00:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Madhu Reddy <reddy@ecsuc.ctstateu.edu>
Subject: Sonia ignorant on Hindutva, says Atal
Sonia ignorant on Hindutva, says Atal
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE =20
NEW DELHI, February 19: BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Atal Bihari
Vajpayee has come down heavily on Sonia Gandhi for saying that that the
country would disintegrate if the Hindutva party was voted to power.
"False claims, malicious allegations and little knowledge do not contribute
to electoral success," the veteran BJP little leader said in a statement on
Wednesday. "Sonia Gandhi's statement would have been laughable, but for the
fact that it shows how ignorant she is about the strength and resilience of
the nation."
"The greatest injury that was inflicted on this country was its partition,"
Vajpayee asserted, "The Congress was as much to blame for the division of
our motherland as the Muslim League and the British. Even today, the
Congress continues to have the Muslim League as its ally. But India has
survived the partition, not because of, but despite, the Congress."
The veteran BJP leader also lashed out heavily on the Congress for
perpetrating a dynastic rule. "Democracy does not need a dynastyto survive.
India is much larger than a family. The aspirations of 930 million people
are not the same as the desire of descendants of any lineage."
"Spineless Congressmen no doubt have great expectations from, and faith in,
the dynasty. But the people neither have faith in the Congress and its
leaders nor do they expect anything from a party that has ruled for 45 of
the last 50 years and is directly responsible for the mess in which India
finds herself today," he added.
Vajpayee also ridiculed Sonia for invoking the issues of swadeshi and
Uttarakhand in her speeches. "The Congress Government at the Centre did not
lift a finger to come to the aid of the Uttarakhandis when then Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav unleashed a state of repression
on them. The BJP passed a resolution in 1991 for a separate state of
Uttarakhand. Yet the Congress today pretends to be a champion of
Uttarakhandis," he said.
Copyright =A9 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:00:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Madhu Reddy <reddy@ecsuc.ctstateu.edu>
Subject: RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
Arati R Jerath =20
NEW DELHI, Feb 19: The decision of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to
take on Congress president Sitaram Kesri in a public battle has surprised
political circles, more used to the tendency of the organisation to keep a
low profile. BJP insiders said that this is one of the rare instances that
the RSS has moved court to sue for defamation. Usually, it stays out of
controversy by letting the BJP defend it against charges from other
political parties.
This time, RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiya not only decided that the organisation
would take legal action but he even appeared on a private television
channel to deny Kesri's allegations. The legal case against Kesri is bound
to embroil the Sangh in a protracted dispute, bringing uncomfortable
publicity to a body which has traditionally kept out of the limelight. BJP
circles attribute this unusually strong reaction from the Sangh to the
gravity of Kesri's allegations. ``The charges are very serious and the RSS
feels that it should not keep quiet. It is probably fed up ofthe libellous
allegations it has faced for so many years,'' explained one functionary.
However, more than the nature of the accusations, the Sangh's move is
indicative of the changes seeping into the organisation as it gears itself
to keep pace with the phenomenal political growth of the BJP over the past
decade.
In recent years, the Sangh leadership has flummoxed the BJP by giving
access to the uninitiated, something which was simply not done when
`Guruji' (Golwalkar) headed the organisation. In those days, it was
cloistered body which prided itself on its exclusivist character Things
began changing after the RSS joined Jayprakash Narayan's movement against
the Congress in 1975 and the BJP's earlier incarnation, the Jan Sangh,
merged itself with the Janata Party in the historic 1977 elections. This
set the Sangh on the road to acquiring a higher profile, both socially and
politically. Today, with Rajju Bhaiya at the helm, it has become conscious
of the importance of public relations.
Copyright =A9 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 09:27:08 -0500 (EST)
From: Madhu Reddy <reddy@ecsuc.ctstateu.edu>
Subject: More bombs recovered in Coimbatore
More bombs recovered in Coimbatore
The Coimbatore rural police recovered 75 petrol bombs from a bush near
Salamat street in suburban Karumbukkadi during combing operations late on
Thursday night.
Following the recovery of the bombs, the police continued their combing
operations in the area, on Friday morning.
All vehicles bound for Kerala and other places from the outskirts of
Coimbatore were thoroughly checked following a tip-off that the extremists
behind the serial bomb blasts were trying to smuggle out the bombs hidden
in the textile city.
Earlier on Thursday, in the biggest ever haul in the city, the police
seized a huge cache of explosives from a petty shop in Thirumal street,
close to the building where six extremists were killed in their hideout in
an explosion on Sunday last.
Deputy Commissioner of Police J M Arumugam said 200 gelatine sticks, 500
pipe bombs, an equal number of petrol bombs and 1000 electrical detonators,
packed in three gunny bags, were recovered from the shop which had remained
closed since the serial bomb blasts on Saturday last. The shop owner,
Kadher, is absconding, he said.
In Madras, a delegation of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who
visited Coimbatore, scene of the serial bomb blasts, on a fact-finding
mission charged Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi with covering up
the real nature of the blasts and said the nation expected an apology from
him in this regard.
Addressing a press conference, K R Malkani, Vijaykumar Malhotra, both
members of the Rajya Sabha, and party national vice president Jana
Krishnamurthy, said while Karunanidhi sought to maintain that there was no
human bomb targeted at BJP president L K Advani, who was to have addressed
a campaign meeting at Coimbatore on February 14, Assistant Commissioner of
Police Antony Selvaraj had told the BJP state secretary the next day a
<14blast1.htm>human bomb, who was to have targeted Advani, blew himself
up when chased by the police near the stage.
The BJP leaders alleged that while the chief minister and the friends of
the government maintained that the explosions took place 800 metres away
from the stage, the explosions had occurred within 150 to 250 feet from the
stage.
UNI in Coimbatore
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 10:00:10 -0500 (EST)
From: Madhu Reddy <reddy@ecsuc.ctstateu.edu>
Subject: RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
RSS stance on Kesri flummoxes political bosses
Arati R Jerath =20
NEW DELHI, Feb 19: The decision of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to
take on Congress president Sitaram Kesri in a public battle has surprised
political circles, more used to the tendency of the organisation to keep a
low profile. BJP insiders said that this is one of the rare instances that
the RSS has moved court to sue for defamation. Usually, it stays out of
controversy by letting the BJP defend it against charges from other
political parties.
This time, RSS Chief Rajju Bhaiya not only decided that the organisation
would take legal action but he even appeared on a private television
channel to deny Kesri's allegations. The legal case against Kesri is bound
to embroil the Sangh in a protracted dispute, bringing uncomfortable
publicity to a body which has traditionally kept out of the limelight. BJP
circles attribute this unusually strong reaction from the Sangh to the
gravity of Kesri's allegations. ``The charges are very serious and the RSS
feels that it should not keep quiet. It is probably fed up ofthe libellous
allegations it has faced for so many years,'' explained one functionary.
However, more than the nature of the accusations, the Sangh's move is
indicative of the changes seeping into the organisation as it gears itself
to keep pace with the phenomenal political growth of the BJP over the past
decade.
In recent years, the Sangh leadership has flummoxed the BJP by giving
access to the uninitiated, something which was simply not done when
`Guruji' (Golwalkar) headed the organisation. In those days, it was
cloistered body which prided itself on its exclusivist character Things
began changing after the RSS joined Jayprakash Narayan's movement against
the Congress in 1975 and the BJP's earlier incarnation, the Jan Sangh,
merged itself with the Janata Party in the historic 1977 elections. This
set the Sangh on the road to acquiring a higher profile, both socially and
politically. Today, with Rajju Bhaiya at the helm, it has become conscious
of the importance of public relations.
Copyright =A9 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 22:43:59 -0600 (CST)
From: Rajiv Varma <RVarma@iname.com>
Subject: Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
Title: Mulayam abetted UP coup to win in Sambhal
Author: George Iype
Publication: ReDiff on the Net
Date: February 22, 1998
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav's political survival was said to
be one factor that led to the toppling of the Kalyan Singh government in
Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Close associates of the SP chief said the defence minister agreed to prop
up Jagdambika Pal as UP chief minister as he feared that the Kalyan Singh
government would have left no stone unturned to ensure his defeat in
Sambhal.
The SP president faced the toughest electoral battle of his life in the
Sambhal constituency where he was pitted against the BJP-supported
Loktantrik Bahujan Samaj Party candidate D P Yadav.
Mulayam Singh feared that if Kalyan Singh remained the chief minister, the
UP administration would ensure D P Yadav's victory through largescale
booth capturing, rigging and violence.
The ousted UP chief minister, along with his two controversial ministers
Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya and Hari Shankar Tiwari, had
visited Sambhal constituency on Friday.
They had reportedly directed the police and administrative officials that
Mulayam Singh should not be allowed to win from Sambhal at any cost. Both
Raja Bhaiyya and Tiwari had allegedly entered the constituency with armed
goons and 400 vehicles to create problems on the polling day.
While Kalyan Singh returned to Lucknow on Friday, the two ministers were
campaigning in Sambhal when the political coup in Lucknow took place.
Sambhal, along with 32 other constituencies in UP, went to the polls on
Sunday. But polling in this prestigious constituency was by and large
peaceful.
Fearing that the Kalyan Singh government was conspiring to trigger off
violence in Sambhal, Mulayam Singh had written to the Chief Election
Commissioner Dr M S Gill, asking him to ensure a free and fair election in
his constituency.
The defence minister is said to have begun his political moves to topple
the Kalyan Singh regime after D P Yadav filed his nomination papers from
Sambhal.
Sources in the United Front said there was a general consensus in the
Front as well as in the Congress party that Mulayam Singh's defeat from
Sambhal would be a blow to the anti-BJP forces in the country.
Mulayam Singh and SP general secretary Amar Singh have been negotiating
with non-BJP leaders in the state for some days now.
All the parties had agreed to a political coup against the BJP in UP even
before the election campaign begun, but the only difference of opinion was
about the next chief ministerial candidature. There was no consensus on
Loktantrik Congress chief Naresh Aggarwal's name.
Finally, just one day before polling in Sambhal took place, Mulayam
Singh's efforts succeeded and Jagdambika Pal emerged as the consensus
candidate for the chief minister's post.
Pal is a Thakur and a close associate of Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, a
Thakur himself.
The new UP chief minister is also close to senior Congress leader Arjun
Singh who has cordial relations with Bahujan Samaj Party president Kanshi
Ram and is said to have convinced the BSP leadership about the need to
throw out the BJP government during the course of the Lok Sabha election.
------------------------------
End of bjp-l-digest V2 #70
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