New Delhi: Sheila Dikshit, a former three-term Chief Minister of Delhi, was today appointed Governor of Kerala within three months of her defeat in the recent Assembly polls.
AFP
Highly placed sources said tonight that the decision has been conveyed to 75-year-old Dikshit, who will succeed Nikhil Kumar, a former Delhi Police Commissioner.
PTI
Mumbai: The Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chose to downplay Shiv Sena's criticism over the meeting between Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Navnirmana Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday and termed that it is a 'closed chapter' for BJP.
"Following the meeting with Raj Thackeray, Gadkari explained the reason behind the meeting. The Shiv Sena has responded to it also. We don't want comment any further, it's a closed chapter for us," said Devendra Fadnavis, chief of Maharashtra BJP unit on Tuesday evening. He was speaking to media persons after a meeting of state BJP leaders in its headquarters in Nariman Point, Mumbai.
Nitin Gadkari. Agencies.
He also refused to comment on the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray's comment about 'communication gap in BJP'. "BJP leader Gopinath Munde is visiting his Beed constituency and meeting the farmers affected due to the hailstorm in past few days," he said responding to a query over Munde's absence in today's meeting.
Gadkari met Thackeray at the plush Four Seasons Hotel in central Mumbai and reportedly asked him not to field any candidates against the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance so that all anti-Congress votes go to them. "If MNS does not field the candidates in Lok Sabha elections, it will ultimately benefit both BJP and Shiv Sena and will help to make Narendra Modi as PM and to bring NDA into power," added Fadnavis.
When asked about whether the party endorses Gadkari's visit, he said, "Gadkari is a national leader of the party and his meetings are in the interest of the party. The national leaders of the BJP keep meeting other political party leaders."
Fadnavis also dismissed reports that he was summoned by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over the meeting. "My meeting with Uddhav Thackeray was pre-planned to discuss couple of issues related to seat sharing and holding a rally in Vidarbha. It has nothing to do with Gadkari-Raj Thackeray visit and there was no conversation on it in our meeting," explained Fadnavis.
New Delhi: Congress is likely to announce its first list for Lok Sabha polls tomorrow after discussing candidates for a number of seats in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
At a meeting of Congress Election Committee, chaired by party President Sonia Gandhi today, the list of probable candidates for the three states having 154 seats (80 in UP, 48 in Maharashtra and 26 in Gujarat) figured.
AFP
Sources said nearly 30 per cent of these seats were discussed by the party's apex decision-making body.
On these seats, the party had received reports from the Scrutiny Committees from the states concerned.
The party has decided not to filed any candidate facing any grave criminal charges.
Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, party Vice President Rahul Gandhi are among the top leaders who are members of the committee which decides the nominations.
The first meeting of the CEC had taken place on 17 February. Today's meeting took place a day before Election Commission is to announce the poll dates.
The party had earlier decided to declare the first list of candidates by first week of February.
Early finalisation of candidates for elections was a key recommendation of the A K Antony Committee, which Rahul is keen to implement in the general elections.
Party leaders have been maintaining that the nominations for those seats will be finalised early which are at present not with the Congress. The party had won 206 seats in the last Lok Sabha polls.
Candidate selection process has been fast tracked this time unlike in recent decades when the nominees were finalised at the last minute. The idea was to ensure that candidates get least two months' time to prepare for the elections.
In the first CEC meeting, a number of seats in many states including 20 odd in Uttar Pradesh, several in Bihar, Karnataka, Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh as also in Himachal Pradesh and some northeastern states were taken up for finalisation. Discussion had taken place for over 100 seats that time.
PTI
New Delhi: BJP today said there are good reasons to believe that a "reluctant" President Pranab Mukherjee scuttled the government's move to promulgate a set of anti-graft ordinances and lauded him as constitutionalist who can set a great precedent for the future. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said the government's consideration was driven by the desire of Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to push certain laws so that he can claim to be a part of the "anti-corruption crusade".
Pranab Mukherjee. AFP.
"If media reports are to be believed, the government's decision to promulgate a certain set of ordinances under Article 123 was scuttled by a reluctant President Pranab Mukherjee. There are good reasons to believe that the media reports are correct," he wrote on his blog. "Why were these bills not approved earlier? Why can't they wait for the June session of Parliament? These are relevant questions which the President is entitled to ask," he said.
Noting that the President is vested with an undefined and unstated moral authority, Jaitley said Mukherjee might have consulted experts and different political parties or sent back the ordinances for reconsideration.
"All this would have raised doubts about the constitutional fairness of the government, an impression which an already weak government could ill-afford. The constitutionalist as the President can set a great precedent for the future," he said.
Heaping praise on Mukherjee, he said only a President, who has the stature of a statesman commanding public respect, can exercise this moral authority. "He is amongst the most experienced parliamentarians. His memory for precedents and propriety has been unparalleled."
PTI
New Delhi: BJP, if voted to power, will try to abolish most of the taxes currently in place to generate more revenue and reduce inflation, its senior leader Nitin Gadkari said here today.
"Out of the 34 taxes currently paid, we will try and abolish maximum number of them and put an end to the license raj. This is how we can increase the revenues between 25 percent and 30 per cent," the former BJP President said at an event here.
This measure, he claimed, would also bring down the inflation rate while enhancing 100 percent transparency.
AP
"I want to assure everyone that we will build up a tax system that will reduce inflation by 25 percent and there will be 100 per cent transparency," he said.
He, however, did not specify which taxes would be abolished. Slamming the government for failing to contain price rise, Gadkari said inflation has not crossed four percent anywhere in the world.
He took a jibe at the UPA government, saying "The gold medal would go to Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, if there is a competition held to ascertain the maximum inflation rate in any country of the world."
Gadkari also talked about solutions to boost exports and minimise imports in a bid to improve the economy of the country.
PTI
New Delhi: Mamata Banerjee is unfazed by her exclusion in the recently-formed Third Front which she rubbishes as an unviable "tired front" and is confident that a different kind of Federal Front will rule the country after the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo is also keeping open the option of whether she is a contender for the prime ministership, saying "people will decide".
Mamata Banerjee. Reuters
She ruled out any truck with Congress or BJP and hoped that people would "reward" her party "abundantly" in the polls.
"No matter. Any force with the Communists in it is not viable because the people have rejected the CPI(M). So,... it is not Third Front, it is Tired Front," she told PTI in an email interview.
Mamata was responding when asked how she sees coming together recently of 11 parties to form the Third Front which includes Left parties, Samajwadi Party, JD(U) and JD(S).
Asked whether she felt left out as she was not included in the 'Third Front', Mamata replied, "Nothing like that."
She insisted that "any Front of significance (including Trinamool) will only come together after the results are announced... We are hopeful that a Federal Front government will lead this nation."
Questioned as to how this was possible and who could be her allies after elections, she remained vague. "Making empty noise now is one thing. It is not important. What is important is to come to Delhi in May with many dozens of Lok Sabha seats. The Federal Front will take shape with this model, on the plank of common policies."
On whether she will be a candidate for the prime ministership in case a 'Federal Front' is formed, the Trinamool chief said, "Throughout my three decades of struggle, people have always been my motivation and inspiration, not 'kursis' (chair)."
At the same time, the former Union minister dropped enough hints about her ambition. "I have experience of working at the Centre, I have also experience of working in a state. In a democracy, people will decide."
Commenting on the current political scene, Mamata contended that "Congress is not the alternative to BJP and BJP is not the alternative to Congress."
Hitting out at Congress with which she had an alliance till about two years ago, she said, "People are tired of corruption. People are tired of dynasty."
She also targeted BJP, saying "People are tired of parties that encourage riots."
Maintaining that people of the country want development, peace and progress for the nation and for the states to happen hand in hand, the West Bengal Chief Minister said she has been focussing on these issues only.
"Our focus has been on developing Bengal so that the people will reward us abundantly in the Lok Sabha elections," she said.
Besides West Bengal, Trinamool will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and Jharkhand, she said.
"As you know, we are the principal Opposition party in Manipur and also have our MLAs in Assam, Arunachal and UP. We have already announced that we are putting up candidates in Delhi, Jharkhand and some other states," Mamata added.
Asked whether there was a possibility of Trinamool allying with BJP, she replied, "Let me make it very clear. We are fighting these elections against the Left, the Congress and the BJP."
Whether she could again have alliance with Congress with which her party split on a bitter note, Mamata reflected her contempt for that party.
"The Congress will get just between 60 and 70 (Lok Sabha) seats. The country is fed up with their anti-people policies. So where is the question of forgiving and forgetting? Because we are always with the people," she claimed.
On BJP's poll prospects, she projected that the party would get close to 150-160.
PTI
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was left red-faced on Tuesday when his father and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav chose a public platform to reprimand him.
In a perform-or-perish style warning, the senior Yadav told his son at a function that it was high time he proved his worth.
Akhilesh Yadav with Mulayam Singh Yadav. Agencies.
"Ai Mukhyamantri suno! (Listen chief minister)," he told a visibly embarrassed Akhilesh Yadav, adding that he was surrounded by self-seeking bureaucrats and 'chaploos' (sycophants).
He warned him that anyone who did not pay heed to well wishers always got into trouble. "This is not good for your image," he added, as Akhilesh Yadav smiled.
In the past too, the Yadav senior has been harsh on his son. On two occasions he rebuked him for his alleged non-performance.
While close aides concede that Mulayam Singh Yadav was not too happy with his son's performance, a senior leader said the former was restless due to fears that the party may do badly in the Lok Sabha polls.
IANS
In the long struggle for statehood for Telangana, some might say that KCR (Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao, president of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi) suffered immense humiliation. Yet, as a true leader he managed to remain dignified throughout the conflict. And now, after the formation of Telangana, he possibly sees hope of realising his political ambitions with a little help from Narendra Modi, though he has not made any such inclination very obvious yet. However, TRS' decision to not form and alliance with the Congress does have a story to tell.
When he launched his sub-regional political outfit, TRS in 2001, after revolting against his boss N Chandrababu Naidu, KCR possibly never imagined that his agitation would bear fruit and culminate in the formation of Telangana.
Soon enough, to his utter surprise, he found the movement gaining ground with leaders of the Congress lending tacit support, albeit, from behind the scenes. In less than a year, he moved closer to the Congress. But since then, TRS' relationship with the Congress set off on a bumpy road.
K Chandrasekhar Rao. AFP.
Ever since, the TRS's courtship with the Congress always traversed a bumpy road.
For now, as KCR claimed, TRS has metamorphosed from being a 'movement' into a full-fledged political party to safeguard the interests of Telangana. The reasons KCR listed out for a face-off with the Congress are too many and all too well known.
But KCR is angered by the Congress on two counts: 1. The Congress did not take the initiative to bring him to a negotiation table to strike a deal, as it construed the merger of the TRS would be obvious and automatic. 2. The Congress leaders of Telangana cornered him and demanded he merge TRS with their own party.
The breach of an unwritten protocol by the Congress at all levels turned out to be a bitter pill which KCR and his followers refused to swallow, even grudgingly.
Besides, a merger with a national party that has huge presence in the region would shut the door for many things, many leaders and many opportunities for the TRS. If TRS leaders have to forgo their seats and make compromises under Congress pressure, some of them might leave the party and join other political hawks waiting to swoop down on Telangana.
By creating a committee under TRS general secretary K Keshav Rao and declaring that whichever national party wants to ally with them should approach this committee first, KCR tried to give an impression that he has an upper hand on the BJP and Congress in the region.
But the Congress doesn't seem willing to bend backwards for an alliance with the TRS. Senior Congress leader Shabbir Ali quickly retorted that KCR was in no way responsible for the formation of a separate Telangana. He recalled that KCR had never offered any amendment to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2013 during its debate in the Parliament, even as Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddi Owaisi came up with a few amendments.
Shabbir sought to know as to why KCR didn't raise any of the objections he talked about on Monday night during the Parliament debate.
KCR's sarcastic remark at a news conference: "Who had the people felicitated for achieving Independence to India? Had they feted Gandhi, Nehru and Patel or had they honoured Queen Elizabeth for declaring Independence to India," too angered the Congress leaders.
Though KCR apparently pulled the plug and wanted to go it alone, he raised the bar as he feels his bargaining power soared. Any national party would have to play a second fiddle to him in the region. Or, at least, that is what he thinks. But the wacky ways of the Telangana crusader did not surprise anybody.
KCR's wish to go it alone or lead an alliance as a senior partner crystallized when his son and MLA K T Rama Rao asserted that there could neither be a merger nor an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming elections. Senior party leader and former MP B Vinod Kumar aired a similar view.
Now, KCR plays it safe with the BJP and Narendra Modi. He says people of Telangana need a political party to speak for them at national level in the next 10 formative years, for there were too many conditions that might turn out to be detrimental to the interests of the people of Telangana.
KCR is bold and fearless. He doesn't mind being charged with adopting double standards. Now the ball is in the court of the Congress, which should think why KCR would let the title of 'Telangana Chevalier' slip into someone else's lap.
Bhopal: Even as farmers in Madhya Pradesh run pillar to post seeking compensation for a bad farm year due to unseasonal rains, the Congress and BJP are trying their best to make the loudest political noise at the behest of the farming community. The ruling BJP has threatened to shut the state for half a day on 6 March unless the Centre releases Rs 5,000 crore to pay to the farmers affected by the recent hail-storm that damaged the crops in 49 out of the state's 51 districts. The damage has been extensive in 18 districts. The Congress, however, sees it as just posturing to escape the farmers' ire over the government's failure to mitigate their misery.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. PTI
It can be pointed out that Congress is resorting to same tactics in the Assembly as the BJP did in Parliament. Reduced t0 a hopeless minority of 58 in a House 230 the Congress is trying to make up for the loss of numbers by raising the decibel level. It stalled the proceedings for the second day running on Tuesday in the three-day summer session. While the ruling BJP was keen to discuss the recent extensive damage to the wheat crop in the state the Opposition forced an abrupt adjournment through noisy scenes.
The Congress has also kept its focus over the professional examination board scam which the government is trying to push under the carpet. The needle of suspicion points to higher ups in the government, the ruling party and its parent organisation the RSS and that has forced the government to avoid CBI into matter. The treasury benches have avoided a discussion over the matter in the House. The Opposition has through some pointed questions extracted an admission from the ruling party about the involvement of the former higher education and culture minister Lakshmikant Sharma, who was once a close confidant of the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Sharma who lost the election has been named by the special task force of the state police but has not been arrested. Mysteriously the STF has not even charged the numerous accused in the case for corruption. The Congress claims the scam is worth Rs 2,000 cr and has deprived 80,000 eligible youths of jobs.
Earlier the ruling BJP was striving to pre-empt the Congress from turning the recent calamity on agricultural front into an election issue. But the Congress would not let go of the opportunity. The BJP therefore countered the Congress move by calling for half a day bandh in the state on 6 March.
With the general elections just over two months away Chouhan has been working overtime to comfort the farmers, who were earlier devastated by excess rain during the extended monsoon that hit the soybean crop and now by the recent hail storm. Last week's rain and hail hit the farmers harder just when the state was preparing for a bumper crop. The Congress is calling the chief minister's effort just a photo op. The observation is not wide of the mark as the state government's PR department is dishing out everyday pictures of Chouhan sitting grim-faced with the farmers in one region or the other. Chouhan has capped the theatrics by lobbing the ball in the Centre's court with an ultimatum to shut the state.
Just as a good monsoon can be a guarantee for good electoral harvest, two successive crop failures can cause immense worries to the ruling party. The BJP was lucky the winter harvest loss not as high and was felt after the elections. But the farmers are angry as the promised compensation package for the soybean crop losses has not been paid so far. There are reports of corruption in the disbursement of compensation which worries the BJP leaders. Even after the recent hail storm there are reports of corruption in the surveys to assess the damage.
Just a few weeks ago Madhya Pradesh received the national agricultural productivity award and the ruling party acquired all bragging rights. Now it is clamouring for Central assistance package of Rs 5,000 crore to pay the farmers. Of the supplementary budgetary demands for Rs 51,000 crore cleared by the Assembly the state government has earmarked Rs 2,000 crore for relief to the farmers.
While the Congress is bringing all negative factors to the fore the BJP accuses the opposition of fishing in troubled waters. Questions are being asked on Congress' ground level efforts to help the farmers in such crisis? There is also an opinion that instead of just embarrassing the ruling party the Congress should help the state get the Central assistance and earn the farmers' goodwill.
Chennai: Continuing her diatribe against the Congress-led UPA government, AIADMK supremo and Chief Minister Jayalalithaa today accused it of failing to modernise the Indian armed forces and turning the Defence sector a 'defenceless' one.
Virtually targeting Defence Minister AK Antony and the government in entirety, Jayalalithaa said the Centre's alleged inaction to modernise the defence sector had resulted in issues including dwindling strength of naval fleet and manpower.
J Jayalalithaa. AFP
Referring to two submarine accidents that claimed about 20 lives, Jayalalithaa said "Naval Chief Admiral D K Joshi resigned owning moral responsibility for these mishaps. But I wonder why those responsible for this are still clinging to power", she said but did not mention Antony's name.
She said despite CAG's observation in 2009 no anti-fire equipment were purchased for navy submarines which had resulted in fatal fire accidents in INS Sindhurakshak and INS Sindhuratna.
The Navy and Air Force were suffering from depleted fleet strength while army was even facing manpower shortage, she said at an election rally at suburban Meenambakkam.
"Congress-led Central government has made the Defence department defenceless. The Defence Department has been ignored," she said and reminded people that the Lok Sabha polls was an opportunity for them to rewrite their destiny. The coming elections are also an opportunity to "throw out" UPA government and also teach a lesson to DMK, which had supported the Government at the Centre, she said.
Jayalalithaa, during her about an hour long address to a well-attended gathering, focused her attention on the Centre ignoring the sentiments of Tamils on various issues including demand for boycotting CHOGM, retrieval of Katchatheevu island, among others.
"Do you need such a government? I am confident that you will remove this government and ensure that AIADMK would have a greater role in the next government at the Centre to fulfill aspirations of people of Tamil Nadu", she said.
PTI
New Delhi: The Election Commission is likely to announce the dates for the Lok Sabha election Wednesday.
The term of the current Lok Sabha expires 1 June. A new house has to be constituted by 31 May.
Representational image. AFP
An estimated 814 million voters will be eligible to vote, with 97.1 million new voters added since the 2009 election.
The "None of the Above" (NOTA) option will be given to voters — for the first time in a parliamentary contest.
About 800,000 polling stations will be set up across the country, according to Election Commission sources.
Around 1.2 million electronic voting machines will be used in the election and another 250,000 have been ordered from public sector companies.
In 2009, there were 714 million voters and 671 million in 2004.
IANS
Even before Congress could heave a sigh of relief after bamboozling Parliament to create India's 29th state of Telangana, it is not clear if it will reap the fruits of its efforts fully. A Lokniti-IBN National Election Tracker Survey suggests that while the Congress is ahead of the pack in the Lok Sabha polls in the new state, followed closely by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), in the assembly elections the situation could be just the opposite.
Telangana will vote schizophrenically in its very first election after creation. This could be one reason why the K Chandrasekhar-led TRS has declined to merger with Congress.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) President K Chandrashekar Rao with party General Secretary K Keshava Rao at the party's politburo meeting in Hyderabad on Monday. PTI
It appears that the last 10 years of dilly-dallying on Telangana are likely to cost the Congress heavily if the Assembly polls are held today. The national party went ahead to create Telangana despite stiff opposition from its own cadre in Andhra and Rayalaseema regions in the hope that it would get the majority of the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming elections. However, with the TRS refusing to merge, this sweep is unlikely. The party has already lost hope of any electoral victory in the Seemandhra region. Andhra Pradesh as a whole has 42 Lok Sabha seats.
The Lokniti-IBN survey was conducted in Andhra Pradesh in January and February 2014. It found that 42 percent of the respondents were willing to vote for TRS in Telangana if the Assembly elections were held today. Only 20 percent decided to cast their votes in favour of Congress. The sample size in Telangana was 719 in January while it was 695 in February. With TRS getting more than double its vote share, the national party is likely to go into a tizzy. The survey discovered that the credit for the creation of Telangana had mostly gone to the TRS followed by the Central government. The Congress party per se could hardly gain from it. In the Lok Sabha, the Congress voteshare in Telangana is reckoned to be 32 percent to TRS's 26 percent.
In Seemandhra, YSR Congress is on a high with 45 percent of the respondents willing to vote for it, followed closely by the Chandrababu Naidu-led Telugu Desam Party with 39 percent. The Congress languishes at 12 percent as per the survey. The sample size for Seemandhra in January was 787 while it was 763 in February.
From the last minute hurry that the Congress top brass in New Delhi showed to pitch for the creation of Telangana, it was obvious that it was ready to bulldoze even Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was against the bifurcation of the state. The sit-in drama that Reddy let loose in the National Capital to protest the bifurcation earned him support from 35 percent in February, a 10 percent leap from last month. In fact, 37 percent of the sample in Seemandhra blamed the highest Congress leadership for the bifurcatuion while 21 percent considered the TRS to be behind it. The UPA government at the Centre was blamed by 18 percent.
There is no doubt that lack of political farsightedness and acute indecisiveness robbed Congress of an opportunity to scoop the largest bite of the Telangana pie. Now there is a fear that it might make a negative impact on the Congress voteshare in the region. Among the respondents in Telangana, 55 percent agreed that Congress left the decision on bifurcation till it was too late and that it should have happened earlier. The only respite for Congress is that 40 percent of the Telangana respondents in February appreciated the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh, a big jump from 30 percent in January. The level of dissatisfaction also fell from 56 percent in January to 44 percent in February. Adding some more comfort to the Congress, 46 percent in February from Telangana complimented the party for deft handling of the issue.
But those in Seemadhra have a completely opposite story to narrate. Congress fortunes in Seemandhra are going down the tube and it is unlikely that the party will be able to revive itself soon. The party leadership in the region is in complete disarray with chief minister Reddy resigning both from the post and the party. Other senior leaders like Lagadapati Rajagopal also left the party. The anger with the Congress in Seemandhra is apparent with 56 percent of the respondents of the region expressing dissatisfaction with the state government. However, the Centre has now imposed President's Rule in the state. Unlike their Telangana counterparts, 63 percent of the sample in February lashed out at the Congress for mishandling the Telangana turmoil. Although the number has come down from a staggerring 79 percent in January, this will provide very little solace to the national party.
Telangana always wanted a separate state for itself with 96 percent of the sample there supporting the creation of the new state. As expected, Seemandhra opposed it with 77 percent voting against the bifurcation. Congress did manage to divide a linguistic state, fulfilling the aspirations of a section probably at the cost of the other, but it remains to be seen how it will shape the political history of the party in near future.
An NRI is often pilloried for running away from the country instead of serving it. Implicit in the criticism is his role in the festering problem of brain drain and accentuating it. But the government itself takes a kinder view of his supposed abdication of his duties as citizen. It allows him to hold bank accounts in India denominated both in Indian rupees as well as in a hard foreign currency besides allowing him to purchase any property including immovable anywhere in India except Jammu and Kashmir which in any case is out of bounds for residents of other states in India.
Time to get ready for polls. Reuters
There are two kinds of NRIs---those still holding the Indian passport and those who hold a foreign passport which effectively means they have severed their umbilical chords with the country, as it were. Those holding Indian passports are allowed to vote in Indian elections for the simple reason they are very much citizens of India. The Indian government allows Indians holding foreign passports of select countries to hold dual passports so that they can enter and exit both the countries at will without having to bother about visas. But having renounced their Indian citizenship they are not allowed to vote in India. Be that as it may.
The Election Commission of India (EC) in fact encourages NRIs holding Indian passports to register online through its website so that they can exercise their franchises from time to time. But it almost in the same breath cautions them that they will have to make a pilgrimage, so to speak, to India whenever election takes place so that they can vote. For, the website makes it clear that they cannot vote through post or at Indian missions abroad nor is there any online voting facility available for them.
It is urged that the Election Commission, in league with the Ministry of External Affairs, immediately swing into action and allow NRIs with Indian passports to vote at Indian missions abroad lest their right to vote is rendered meaningless if not farcical. For, it will not just be economical and otherwise feasible for an NRI to visit India just to cast his vote each time there is a general or state election. The problem would be compounded if he has a large family with each one imbued with a nationalistic spirit to vote.
The EC is right in denying them online voting facility given the fact that such a dispensation is simply not in place. Perhaps it would be in place should Nandan Nilkeni and his dedicated team design robust and comprehensive software that can withstand tremendous and simultaneous pressure exerted on it a la the IRCTC software that now has the capability to take on around 10,000 bookings/cancellations simultaneously. The point is the EC simply cannot put in place a dispensation catering exclusively to NRIs. They will therefore have to bide their time along with the rooted-in-India net savvy citizens.
Postal ballot, as it is, is permitted only for government servants on the move and operates with ample safeguards. It is bristles with dangers of bogus and multiple voting if extended across the board to everyone including the NRIs besides throwing the election process pell-mell.
In the event, the only meaningful option available to the EC is to permit our NRI brethren to vote at Indian missions abroad. Of course there is no guarantee that NRIs will make a beeline to Indian consulates abroad on the election day to cast their franchise given the fact that while extension of a passport that has expired is a matter of survival for them with the grim prospect of being thrown away from the foreign country besides being unwelcome back home thus impelling them to rush to the nearest Indian consulate, there is no such urgency or importance attached to voting especially when considerable distance separates an NRI's place of residence and the nearest Indian consulate. Yet, the EC must permit it lest its exhortation to NRIs to register themselves is rendered meaningless if not farcical. No law or measure must be introduced that contains seeds of withering away and becoming a butt of ridicule or joke in the absence of a credible implementation mechanism.
Of course, in Indian consulates abroad there cannot be electronic voting machines because voters' addresses back home would warrant making available EVMs of all the constituencies. Necessarily therefore the whole exercise will have to be handled manually with constituencies where they can vote discerned from the identify card provided by the Election Commission which too must be produced along with the passport for being eligible to vote. The consulate officials will then download the ballot paper from the EC's website. Admittedly, the process would be arduous, demanding and has to be tinker-proof but gone through nevertheless given the very large number of Indian passport holders abroad to whom right to vote cannot be denied.
Otherwise, an NRI's right to vote won't be worth the paper it is written on. Visit to India for the nonce is too much to expect not even when his near and dear one is contesting the election because the expenditure and inconvenience involved is too much. In short, the existing dispensation would beckon an NRI to the polling booth only if he happens to be in India through happenstance -- holiday, wedding in the family, purchase of property etc.
Hyderabad: Dashing the hopes of Congress, Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) on Monday night ruled out any merger with the national party and even refused to commit to an electoral alliance, ending days of speculation about the prospects of the two parties coming together.
K Chandrashekhar Rao. PTI
TRS also appointed a committee of senior leaders, headed by K Keshav Rao, to take a call on an alliance if any party approaches it, including Congress, TRS supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters after a marathon general body meeting of the party which unanimously decided against merger with Congress.
"TRS has unanimously decided not to merge with Congress. We have appointed a committee to look into the issue of alliance, if anyone approaches us," he said, adding TRS MPs could support Congress after Lok Sabha elections.
Lashing out at Congress, he alleged not even a single major demand of TRS was considered.
"We were not taken on board," he said. TRS had approached the Prime Minister and the Group of Ministers tasked with roadmap for the formation of Telangana with a charter of demands but in vain.
He criticised Congress for coming out with an ordinance handing over certain villages facing submergence due to Polavaram multi-purpose irrigation project, to Seemandhra, and making Hyderabad a joint capital as well as allocating Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in Delhi to the residual state.
"AP Bhavan is our hereditary property and Hyderabad has been made joint capital for ten years. The distribution of employees is also not good for Telangana. The Governor has been made a super-cabinet with law and order being entrusted to him," Rao said.
He said his offer to merge TRS with Congress came with a rider that it should be unconditional but now a number of conditions have been imposed.
Telangana should have a strong regional party with a strength of 15 MPs (out of 17 in Telangana) and 100 MLAs (out of 119) to bargain with the Centre to get mega development projects, he said, indicating his party would keep its options open in a post-poll scenario.
He denied it's political opportunism on his part regarding the refusal to merge with Congress. With Telangana seeing the light of the day, TRS is not just a political movement any longer but is in fact a pure political party and behaves so, he said.
Asked if he considers BJP to be a potential ally, he said the appointed committee would take a call on the matter.
Rao hit out at Union Minister Jairam Ramesh for reportedly comparing TRS with Aam Aadmi Party, which the latter said was good in agitation but proved to be a disaster in administration. He also claimed some Congress leaders misguided Sonia Gandhi on the Telangana issue.
Asked how many seats TRS would stake claim to in an alliance, he merely said "TRS should come to power," adding his party would win a substantial number of seats as projected by some pre-poll surveys.
He sharply criticised Congress for admitting TRS MLA G Aravind Reddy and expelled TRS MP Vijayashanti to its fold even as it tried to join forces with TRS.
PTI
New Delhi: Congress today put a brave face on former Supreme Court Judge KT Thomas turning down the offer to head the Lokpal search committee, days after jurist Fali Nariman opted out of panel.
"Where is the question of government being embarrassed. I do not find any head or tail of this question. It is a statutory body. Each position on this has to be fulfilled," party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi told reporters.
Representational image. Reuters
"Giving or not giving consent cannot be linked to government. These are private decisions. People can say yes or no for many reasons. How you can blame government for this?"
Singhvi's reaction came after Thomas turned down the offer to head Lokpal search committee.
"The reason is when I went through the rules, our committee which is called the search committee was to recommend names to select committee. The select committee need or need not to accept those names. So it was not worth while to have this search committee," the former judge said giving reasons for his opting out.
Thomas was a judge in the apex court between 29 March, 1996 to 1 January, 2002.
Singhvi said whatever objections about the procedure for the appointments of Lokpal should have been raised when the Lokpal legislation was being passed.
PTI
New Delhi: Rejoicing over the victory of its youth wing in Gujarat University elections, Congress today targeted Narendra Modi saying a person, who has not been able to keep his own house in order is going across the country claiming a wave for him in Lok Sabha polls.
Congress students' wing, the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) won six out of eight seats in Gujarat University polls, while the BJP's student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) managed to win two seats.
PTI
The good news for Congress from Modi-ruled Gujarat came at a time when the party is down in the dumps and one after another opinion poll is giving a clear edge to Modi-led BJP in the next general elections.
Party vice president Rahul Gandhi, who looks after all the frontal wings of the party will meet the victorious candidates of the NSUI to convey his best wishes to them at party office tomorrow.
At the AICC conference, party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said that the victory of NSUI in Gujarat University elections coming after a similar result in M S University Students Union (MSUSU) in Vadodara shows that the Congress youth wing won the polls despite full state support to BJP's student wing in these polls.
"This is not a flash in the pan. It is very significant. A person, who has not been able to keep his own house in order is going across the nation claiming a wave for himself. People of the nation cannot be misled," he said.
The AICC briefing also saw some minority leaders from Deoband and those belonging to Samajwadi Party and BSP joining Congress in presence of AICC Minority Department Chairman Khurshid Ahmed Saiyed.
PTI
