bjp-l-digest Wednesday, August 13 1997 Volume 01 : Number 358
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News, Opinion, Analysis and Publications Digest
Today's Topics
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Tired & uncertain - Where does the Congress go from here?
Bihar rife for President Rule: High Court
Congress hidden agenda exposed, says BJP
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Title: Tired and uncertain - Where does the Congress go from here?
Author: Editorial
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: August 12, 1997
On its return from what was supposed to be a historic plenary in Calcutta,
the Congress looks tired and uncertain. In short, it looks. no different
from the party of a week ago. That the organisation has no intention of
reforming itself is obvious from the fact that all its energies were
expended in the tussle for seats on the Congress Working Committee. If
party workers were hoping for new beginnings and a firm sense of direction,
they will be bitterly disappointed. Fifty years on from Independence and on
the threshold of the next century, the grand old party stares its own
demise in the face and has no idea what to do about it. There was nothing
at the plenary to suggest the Congress can recapture something of the
spirit of 50 years ago when it bestrode the country like a colossus and
encapsulated the dreams of millions. The rhetoric does go back in political
and economic resolutions to the hoary principles of secularism and primacy
for the downtrodden. But the chasm between words and action remains and
the country has grown too cynical to be taken in by tired formulae and
quasi-apologies. When Congress leaders reveal weak-mindedness about their
economic prescriptions of yesterday, they remove the last shreds of the
party's credibility. Even the appearance of unity eludes the party.
Over the last half century, the Congress has fallen from grace on
innumerable occasions but it has also done much to be proud about. Its
blackest day was the Emergency. But it also nurtured democracy and built
institutions to underpin it. Despite several counter trends, its core
vision of a pluralistic society has stood the country in good stead.
Widespread poverty survives but large-scale famine and starvation have been
averted. Its economic policies before the 1980s are now much reviled, often
with good reason, but it cannot be forgotten that the country's unity and
stability and its future potential are in part a function of the physical
infrastructure and the middle-classes created by those policies. The
Congress can also take credit for recognising, if belatedly, that a closed
economy was no longer in the country's best interests and for showing the
courage to strike out in new directions.
Indira Gandhi's legacy of centralising control in the party president was
the single most destructive tendency in the Congress. It has never been
able to return to democratic methods of functioning. As a consequence, it
has lost its moorings among the people, its rank and file have become more
and more irrelevant and its main business has became holding on to power at
any cost, even if by proxy. Decay is inevitable. The Congress has shrunk
into a shadow of its former self because it has come to represent no one
but some power-hungry politicians. Pessimism is hard to avoid given the
bankruptcy of ideas among the present leadership. Gandhiji had advised
disbanding the party after Independence. It is ironic how the Congress has
been following those words of wisdom inexorably decade after decade despite
its will to survive.
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Date: August 13, 1997
SOurce: Hindustan Times
Bihar fit case for Art. 356: High Court
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PATNA, Aug. 12 (HT Legal Correspondent) The Patna High Court today observed
that Bihar presents a fit case for the imposition of President's rule. While
severely criticising at the style of functioning of State Government, the
court told the Advocate-General that the Article 356 of the Constitutional
could be applied in the State not only on the advice of the Governor but
also on the High Court's report.
The court also pulled up the State bureaucracy for conniving with the
politicians. It was most unfortunate that most of the bureaucrats were
trying to shield the politicians, it observed.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice B. M. Lal and Justice Shashank
Kumar Singh made these observations while hearing a public interest
peitition filed by the Sanyukta Nagrik Manch.
The Manch has sought the intervention of court in the alleged
misappropriation of government funds to the tune of crores of rupees, in the
rural Engineering Organisation of the State Government in Pakur and
Sahebganj districts.
The judges became extremely agitated after going through the report of the
Comptroller and Auditor General on the issue. The report showed
misappropriation of around ten crore rupee in the last two financial years
only while these schemes had been going on for the last several years.
The whole story started unfolding on Nov. 21, 1996, when Executive Engineer
Mechan Ram lodged an FIR citing massive misappropriation of funds by using
the muster roll system in the project being carried out by the Rural
Engineering Organisation (RBO) in two district. The Deputy Commissioners of
both the districts along with a host of other senior Government officials of
the department were alleged to have been put under the needle of suspicion.
However, within 15 days of lodging of the FIR, Mr Bechan Ram, and
Superintendent of Police Arvind Kumar Pandey were transferred. This was done
in spite of the fact that both of them had been recently posted there.
This was done apparently to close the case. However before it could happen,
the matter was brought to the notice of the High Court.
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Date: August 13, 1997
Source: Hindutan Times
Cong hidden agenda exposed, says BJP
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CHENNAI, Aug. 12 (UNI) Congress president Sitaram Kesri's assertion at the
party plenary in Calcutta that a Congressman would hoist the national flag
at the Red Fort next year, has exposed the Congress's hidden agenda to
topple the United Front Government at the Centre Bharatiya Janata Party
general secretary Venkaiah Naidu said today.
Addressing a Press conference here Mr Naidu said while the Congress
maintained that it would continue to support the UF Government efforts were
on to engineer a realignment in the UF and the Congress force an election
and grab power.
He said the "hollowness" of the Congress had been exposed as not a single
Dalit or woman member had been elected to the Congress Working Committee
(CWC).
Referring to the resolution adopted at the plenary expressing regret for the
demolition of the Babri Masjid Mr Naidu said it was deliberately intended to
whip up communal feelings and appease the minority vote bank.
He asserted that no force on earth would be able to rebuild the demolished
structure.
On the call to Ms Sonia Gandhi to lead the Congress Mr Naidu said it showed
the bankruptcy of the party. Ms Gandhi had joined the Congress only recently
after the CBI started investigating the involvement of her late husband
Rajiv Gandhi and family friend Quattrocchi in the Bofors scandal. She did
not even care to become an Indian citizen until very recently, he charged.
The BJP would benefit immensely if Ms Gandhi led the Congress he said.
Mr Naidu said his party was evolving a strategy to capture power at the
Centre on its own but it would continue to have the existing alliance with
other parties.
He said the Centre should release the list of loan takers in the Indian Bank
since it was suspected that the Government was shielding those involved in
the banks scam.
Asked if the BJP would support Ms Mamata Banerjee who organised a parallel
Congress rally , Mr Naidu said his party was willing to work with anybody
prepared to fight the Leftists in West Bengal.
If any party formed an alliance with Congress it would soon be disenchanted
he added.
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End of bjp-l-digest V1 #358
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