SC bars Sanjay Dutt from contesting LS polls
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has rejected Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt's plea to contest this year's Lok Sabha polls. Dutt was to be the Samajwadi Party candidate from Lucknow.
Supreme Court refused to stay his conviction in connection with the 1993 Mumbai blasts case. Dutt was convicted under the Arms Act and sentenced to six years in jail by a TADA court. He is out on bail at present.
"We are not inclined to suspend his conviction," a Bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan said, according to PTI.
"It is not a fit case to grant stay of conviction," the Bench also comprising Justices P Sathasivam and R M Lodha said.
The court said that Dutt was convicted for "serious offence" and that the actor's case could not be equated with that of BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu whose conviction and sentence in a road rage case was stayed by the apex court to enable him to contest the Amritsar by-elections in 2007.
The Bench said that Dutt was disqualified from contesting the elections under the Section 8 (3) of the Representation of People Act, which debars a person sentenced to two or more years of imprisonment, from standing for polls.
The judges said that the power of the court to suspend the conviction of a person to enable him to contest the elections has to be exercised rarely.
The apex court had on Monday reserved its order after hearing the contentions of the actor and the CBI which is opposing the actor's plea.
I would like to thank Justices P Sathasivam and R M Lodha for having taken a very correct decision.
I am also sure the people of India appreciate it.
Personally I have nothing against Sanjay.
I admired his parents, Nargis and Sunil Dutt.
I enjoyed his two movies on Munnabhai.
But having got into wrong company and having committed a crime he should do penance.
He should not be seen in the company of people like Mulayum Singh who is infamous for supporting criminals in their political ambition.
After completing his sentence and if he is still interested he should stand as an Independent candidate..
For too long have our corrupt politicians taken the people forgranted and ran roughshod over all norms of decency.
I would now like our election commission also to take necessary action so that forms of the politicians are rejected outright.
In the final step I would ask the people to vote for only honest people.
The party has no difference at present.
The policy of all parties are the same.
Encourage corruption.
SO CHOSE ONLY HONEST POLITICIANS.
Of course, I know very few of our politicians are honest.
Well, chose the least dishonest crook
Radheshyam
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Scientific Rigging in Haldia
No comments from me on the following.
It is self explanatory.
The CPM has put its plan for "Scientific Rigging" in action in Haldia
Desperately seeking poll ID on Seth’s turf
Biswabrata Goswami
HALDIA, March. 28: Fearing a backlash of the Nandigram carnage in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, thousands of CPI-M backed students and Citu backed labourers have suddenly made a beeline to the electoral rolls in the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, on the pretext of ensuring victory for their party candidate, Mr Laxman Seth.
The sub-divisional office in Haldia has been flooded with around 4,000 applications for inclusion of name in the electoral rolls over the past few days. Most of these applications lack proof of identity.
According to documents submitted to the electoral office, around 300 of the 4,000 applicants are students of Haldia Institute of Technology (HIT), most of them in the 22-25 age group. The three-time CPI-M MP and Haldia strongman, Mr Laxman Seth, is himself a chairman of the institute’s Board of Governors.
The remaining applicants are mainly from labourers who work in various industrial units in Haldia. Those labourers who owe allegiance to Citu-backed labour unions, are mostly residents of other states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
Ms Reshmi Kamal, sub-divisional officer of Haldia, said: “So far, we have received around 4,000 applications and the trend looks set to continue. Most of the applicants do not have any proof of identity. Even during the hearing session, the majority could not satisfy our electoral registration officers. We are looking into the matter, but will not issue any Epics to those who already have them.”
An HIT student whose name is already on the voter’s list in Midnapore town, said: “Recently, we received instructions from party leaders to file application for inclusion of our names in the voter’s list here. After the humiliating defeat in the last panchayat polls and the Nandigram by-election, the party is now uncertain about the prospect of Mr Seth in the Lok Sabha polls. The party is fanning panic among HIT employees that if Mr Seth fails to win the election, those who were employed on the strength of Mr Seth's persuasion may lose their jobs.”
Mr Ashok Patnaik, a Citu state committee leader in Haldia, said: “If any one stays at a place for more than six months, he or she may apply for inclusion of his or her name in the voter list according to the constitutional provision. So, how can I resist them?”
It is self explanatory.
The CPM has put its plan for "Scientific Rigging" in action in Haldia
Desperately seeking poll ID on Seth’s turf
Biswabrata Goswami
HALDIA, March. 28: Fearing a backlash of the Nandigram carnage in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections, thousands of CPI-M backed students and Citu backed labourers have suddenly made a beeline to the electoral rolls in the Tamluk Lok Sabha constituency, on the pretext of ensuring victory for their party candidate, Mr Laxman Seth.
The sub-divisional office in Haldia has been flooded with around 4,000 applications for inclusion of name in the electoral rolls over the past few days. Most of these applications lack proof of identity.
According to documents submitted to the electoral office, around 300 of the 4,000 applicants are students of Haldia Institute of Technology (HIT), most of them in the 22-25 age group. The three-time CPI-M MP and Haldia strongman, Mr Laxman Seth, is himself a chairman of the institute’s Board of Governors.
The remaining applicants are mainly from labourers who work in various industrial units in Haldia. Those labourers who owe allegiance to Citu-backed labour unions, are mostly residents of other states, including Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh.
Ms Reshmi Kamal, sub-divisional officer of Haldia, said: “So far, we have received around 4,000 applications and the trend looks set to continue. Most of the applicants do not have any proof of identity. Even during the hearing session, the majority could not satisfy our electoral registration officers. We are looking into the matter, but will not issue any Epics to those who already have them.”
An HIT student whose name is already on the voter’s list in Midnapore town, said: “Recently, we received instructions from party leaders to file application for inclusion of our names in the voter’s list here. After the humiliating defeat in the last panchayat polls and the Nandigram by-election, the party is now uncertain about the prospect of Mr Seth in the Lok Sabha polls. The party is fanning panic among HIT employees that if Mr Seth fails to win the election, those who were employed on the strength of Mr Seth's persuasion may lose their jobs.”
Mr Ashok Patnaik, a Citu state committee leader in Haldia, said: “If any one stays at a place for more than six months, he or she may apply for inclusion of his or her name in the voter list according to the constitutional provision. So, how can I resist them?”
Talibanisation nipped in the bud
‘Taliban’ rap for beard
OUR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, March 30: A Supreme Court judge today told a Muslim boy he would not permit Talibanisation and threw out his plea against his school that expelled him for wearing a beard against rules.
Justice Markandeya Katju, one of the judges on the bench, chastised Mohammed Salim and his lawyer, saying: “We don’t want to have Taliban in the country. Tomorrow a girl student may come and say that she wants to wear a burqa, can we allow it?”
B.A. Khan, Salim’s counsel, said keeping a beard was essential to a Muslim’s religious beliefs. But the judge shot back, telling Khan: “But you don’t sport a beard.”
I would like to congratulate Justice Markandaya Karju for a very appropriate and wise judgment.
There is nothing religious about keeping a beard.
If it was so then the terrorists who downed the twin towers of the World Trade Centres would have sported beards, but if you noticed, they were all clean shaven.
All rituals and dresses have come down for generations because our forefathers followed them because of geographical and historical necessities
We do not question the context in which they did what they did.
The beard was sported in Mohammed's time for two reasons.
1) Water is very scarce in Saudi Arabia and all the areas where Mohammed lived. If they did not conserve water and used it for shaving, they would not have any water for drinking.
2) Mohammed was always at war with the other tribes. If people wasted time in shaving, the war effort would suffer.
So out of necessity, they kept beards.
But now, living in India and living a peaceful life, they continue to grow beards citing faith, it is untenable in general schools.
They can do so in schools run by their communities and the madarasars. But they should not be allowed so in generals schools run by the government to stand out as sore thumbs.
They should learn to merge with the population instead of separately.
During my last visit to Ahmedabad, a Muslim family also travelled with us.
Their habits, dress and get up did not give away the fact that they were muslims. It was only when the children called their father Abbu, that we realized that they were Muslims.
People should learn to live like the Muslim family and merge with everybody as one family and not divide India on the basis of religion, caste and language.
It is good that the spark of talibanisation has been nipped in the bud.
Radheshyam
OUR LEGAL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, March 30: A Supreme Court judge today told a Muslim boy he would not permit Talibanisation and threw out his plea against his school that expelled him for wearing a beard against rules.
Justice Markandeya Katju, one of the judges on the bench, chastised Mohammed Salim and his lawyer, saying: “We don’t want to have Taliban in the country. Tomorrow a girl student may come and say that she wants to wear a burqa, can we allow it?”
B.A. Khan, Salim’s counsel, said keeping a beard was essential to a Muslim’s religious beliefs. But the judge shot back, telling Khan: “But you don’t sport a beard.”
I would like to congratulate Justice Markandaya Karju for a very appropriate and wise judgment.
There is nothing religious about keeping a beard.
If it was so then the terrorists who downed the twin towers of the World Trade Centres would have sported beards, but if you noticed, they were all clean shaven.
All rituals and dresses have come down for generations because our forefathers followed them because of geographical and historical necessities
We do not question the context in which they did what they did.
The beard was sported in Mohammed's time for two reasons.
1) Water is very scarce in Saudi Arabia and all the areas where Mohammed lived. If they did not conserve water and used it for shaving, they would not have any water for drinking.
2) Mohammed was always at war with the other tribes. If people wasted time in shaving, the war effort would suffer.
So out of necessity, they kept beards.
But now, living in India and living a peaceful life, they continue to grow beards citing faith, it is untenable in general schools.
They can do so in schools run by their communities and the madarasars. But they should not be allowed so in generals schools run by the government to stand out as sore thumbs.
They should learn to merge with the population instead of separately.
During my last visit to Ahmedabad, a Muslim family also travelled with us.
Their habits, dress and get up did not give away the fact that they were muslims. It was only when the children called their father Abbu, that we realized that they were Muslims.
People should learn to live like the Muslim family and merge with everybody as one family and not divide India on the basis of religion, caste and language.
It is good that the spark of talibanisation has been nipped in the bud.
Radheshyam
Memories of the Raj
This has been sent by Viraj Thacker from the "Times".
Brings back all the nostalgia for the British
It’s ‘all’ the Raj again………………………………
Nostalgia for Imperial India is all around us, but our misty-eyed view of the sub-continent needs an update …..
Can we ever get India out of our blood? It is 58 years since the last British troops paraded past the Gateway to India landmark, boarded the steamer at Bombay and lowered the flag on the British Raj amid poverty, partition and bloodshed. But now we are back.
On the West End stage, red-coated officers toast Queen Victoria and the Empire as lovers nightly cross the racial divide to pour out their yearnings in the musical of The Far Pavilions. On Radio 4, The Jewel in the Crown, Paul Scott’s compelling drama of the end of British rule, is bringing alive again the confusion, prejudices and snobbery of two societies intertwined in hatred and in love. A new biography has been published of General Reginald Dyer, the “ Butcher of Amritsar”, whose order to shoot unarmed protesters in 1919 was the atrocity that, more than anything, made British rule untenable.
Museum exhibitions record the wary reactions of Britons and Indians to each other in the early days of European exploration. Travel agents tempt tourists back to the maharajahs’ palaces and the remnants of imperial glory.
For Britons, India, like the Second World War, is a bottomless well of nostalgia. But unlike the war, it is not simply an escape to a cause that was noble and a victory that was heroic. The Raj was far from heroic — and all the moral ambiguities, the opportunism, racism and anguish are wonderfully woven together in the BBC radio production, a series every bit as evocative as the majestic 1984 ITV version.
Yes, the Empire is a defining part of our history — but no longer one in which the jingoism of “Our Island Story” governs our reactions. Maybe instead it is the masochism that we now enjoy: we wince when we hear the references to “wogs” and “darkies”; we can see why so many Indians must have hated us in the 1940s. Yet we insist on returning to that confusing time when the old order was crumbling.
The current India obsession is odd. We have got over some of the colonial guilt. We travel to India in huge numbers. We have made Indian food, music, design and literature part of our culture. We live with Indians as fellow citizens, work in their firms and our children marry each other. But still the idea of India for Britons is the India of the past. We barely associate British Indians any more with India — and nor, increasingly, do they.
Modern India scarcely features in this picture. Of course there are the call-centres, Bollywood and its colourful extremes. We read about India producing the bomb and breaking out of its post-independence isolation, we respect Indian expertise in high-tech, but we barely know anything of its teeming, fissiparous society.
We treat India rather as the Americans treat little old England — a country deeply ingrained in our history, but one that exists mostly in the clichés of our mind. When we go there, we want the past — the Delhi of Lutyens, the Calcutta of Clive and the old steam train to Simla. We want to laugh at anachronisms and quaint Indian English, discover our influence in Indian tastes for whisky and cricket and wonder which was the greater disaster: 300 years of British rule or 30 years of socialism learnt at the LSE.
But just as Americans now factor in the Beatles, football hooliganism, Margaret Thatcher and the London theatre, so we are also trying to update our image of India. We assume we know about the country because we know our fellow Indian citizens. It is deeply misleading. British Indians are a successful, much admired influence: from balti houses in Birmingham and surgeons in the NHS to the Kumars, Lakshmi Mittal and the Indian nouveaux riches, their influence is pervasive. But Bend it Like Beckham is not modern India. It is modern Britain. And modern India has thrown away the British connection and looks to America.
So what of the attempts to marry our nostalgia for the Raj with today’s republic of one billion? Frankly, they fall flat. The re-creation of the past looks ever more absurd — and nowhere more so than at the Shaftesbury Theatre. As a film The Far Pavilions was a swirling, star-studded blockbuster; as a musical it is a clichéd extravaganza that crashes between two stools — neither Bollywood nor Empire nostalgia. The leaden lyrics contain such gems as “ An empire must be built on belief, an empire be built on its past”, “The Empire has its heroes, but none so brave as he”, and “With dignity and valour, we’ll civilise these lands”.
The cast includes every stock character from the Raj: the sneering English racist, the dewy-eyed Indian idealist and the cast of memsahibs, maharajahs and the gallant soldiers of the Queen. But when the order comes to march on Kabul and the assembled chorus wails “Afghanistan! I never thought they’d send you there!” audience credulity is badly strained. Not even Bollywood would be so crass.
How much better is the painstaking, understated radio version of Scott’s monumental Raj Quartet. That, too, contains a racist central character, Ronald Merrick. But he is a fully realised character, a swirling contradiction of high ideals, narrow horizons and repressed emotion. In part Scott based him on General Dyer, a man whose tragedy was that, brought up in India, he thought he understood Indian mentality but could never overcome the race and class divide.
Such nuances are too much for most India myths today, however. Nostalgia is a comfort blanket that shelters us from the cold realities of the past. The Jewel in the Crown was written in 1966; the further the Raj recedes, the more honeyed its treatment.
The real comfort from historical mistiness is that as old animosities fade, Britons and Indians again discover each other, here and in India, on a more equal, more humane basis. For either side, the attraction endures.
Brings back all the nostalgia for the British
It’s ‘all’ the Raj again………………………………
Nostalgia for Imperial India is all around us, but our misty-eyed view of the sub-continent needs an update …..
Can we ever get India out of our blood? It is 58 years since the last British troops paraded past the Gateway to India landmark, boarded the steamer at Bombay and lowered the flag on the British Raj amid poverty, partition and bloodshed. But now we are back.
On the West End stage, red-coated officers toast Queen Victoria and the Empire as lovers nightly cross the racial divide to pour out their yearnings in the musical of The Far Pavilions. On Radio 4, The Jewel in the Crown, Paul Scott’s compelling drama of the end of British rule, is bringing alive again the confusion, prejudices and snobbery of two societies intertwined in hatred and in love. A new biography has been published of General Reginald Dyer, the “ Butcher of Amritsar”, whose order to shoot unarmed protesters in 1919 was the atrocity that, more than anything, made British rule untenable.
Museum exhibitions record the wary reactions of Britons and Indians to each other in the early days of European exploration. Travel agents tempt tourists back to the maharajahs’ palaces and the remnants of imperial glory.
For Britons, India, like the Second World War, is a bottomless well of nostalgia. But unlike the war, it is not simply an escape to a cause that was noble and a victory that was heroic. The Raj was far from heroic — and all the moral ambiguities, the opportunism, racism and anguish are wonderfully woven together in the BBC radio production, a series every bit as evocative as the majestic 1984 ITV version.
Yes, the Empire is a defining part of our history — but no longer one in which the jingoism of “Our Island Story” governs our reactions. Maybe instead it is the masochism that we now enjoy: we wince when we hear the references to “wogs” and “darkies”; we can see why so many Indians must have hated us in the 1940s. Yet we insist on returning to that confusing time when the old order was crumbling.
The current India obsession is odd. We have got over some of the colonial guilt. We travel to India in huge numbers. We have made Indian food, music, design and literature part of our culture. We live with Indians as fellow citizens, work in their firms and our children marry each other. But still the idea of India for Britons is the India of the past. We barely associate British Indians any more with India — and nor, increasingly, do they.
Modern India scarcely features in this picture. Of course there are the call-centres, Bollywood and its colourful extremes. We read about India producing the bomb and breaking out of its post-independence isolation, we respect Indian expertise in high-tech, but we barely know anything of its teeming, fissiparous society.
We treat India rather as the Americans treat little old England — a country deeply ingrained in our history, but one that exists mostly in the clichés of our mind. When we go there, we want the past — the Delhi of Lutyens, the Calcutta of Clive and the old steam train to Simla. We want to laugh at anachronisms and quaint Indian English, discover our influence in Indian tastes for whisky and cricket and wonder which was the greater disaster: 300 years of British rule or 30 years of socialism learnt at the LSE.
But just as Americans now factor in the Beatles, football hooliganism, Margaret Thatcher and the London theatre, so we are also trying to update our image of India. We assume we know about the country because we know our fellow Indian citizens. It is deeply misleading. British Indians are a successful, much admired influence: from balti houses in Birmingham and surgeons in the NHS to the Kumars, Lakshmi Mittal and the Indian nouveaux riches, their influence is pervasive. But Bend it Like Beckham is not modern India. It is modern Britain. And modern India has thrown away the British connection and looks to America.
So what of the attempts to marry our nostalgia for the Raj with today’s republic of one billion? Frankly, they fall flat. The re-creation of the past looks ever more absurd — and nowhere more so than at the Shaftesbury Theatre. As a film The Far Pavilions was a swirling, star-studded blockbuster; as a musical it is a clichéd extravaganza that crashes between two stools — neither Bollywood nor Empire nostalgia. The leaden lyrics contain such gems as “ An empire must be built on belief, an empire be built on its past”, “The Empire has its heroes, but none so brave as he”, and “With dignity and valour, we’ll civilise these lands”.
The cast includes every stock character from the Raj: the sneering English racist, the dewy-eyed Indian idealist and the cast of memsahibs, maharajahs and the gallant soldiers of the Queen. But when the order comes to march on Kabul and the assembled chorus wails “Afghanistan! I never thought they’d send you there!” audience credulity is badly strained. Not even Bollywood would be so crass.
How much better is the painstaking, understated radio version of Scott’s monumental Raj Quartet. That, too, contains a racist central character, Ronald Merrick. But he is a fully realised character, a swirling contradiction of high ideals, narrow horizons and repressed emotion. In part Scott based him on General Dyer, a man whose tragedy was that, brought up in India, he thought he understood Indian mentality but could never overcome the race and class divide.
Such nuances are too much for most India myths today, however. Nostalgia is a comfort blanket that shelters us from the cold realities of the past. The Jewel in the Crown was written in 1966; the further the Raj recedes, the more honeyed its treatment.
The real comfort from historical mistiness is that as old animosities fade, Britons and Indians again discover each other, here and in India, on a more equal, more humane basis. For either side, the attraction endures.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Bihar Govt attempts to stem the rot
Unfair means to attract swift retribution
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
Call it image makeover or sincere efforts to improve the prevailing situation in Bihar, the State Government in a recent decision has announced that cases related to voter intimidation, booth capturing and rigging of election in the State would be taken up for speedy trial. The Government also made it clear that no one, irrespective of his/her political affiliation, would be spared.
After a high-level meeting of State’s top police officials, chaired by State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah, it was also decided that the Maoist-affected districts would be provided with adequate security. Districts bordering Nepal would also be under strict security.
“We’ll not allow the democratic process in the State to be stalled,” said State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah after the meeting. The State police chief DN Gautam was also present at the meeting.
Amanullah said that strict action would be taken against those found guilty of rigging elections. “Those intimidating voters or trying to stall the election process will be booked and speedy trials will be conducted in their cases so that they are not able to contest the election next time, whenever it is held,” said Amanullah.
“We’ll not hesitate from countermanding or recommending re-election in any constituency if such malpractices are reported,” said Amanullah. He also said that the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of all the districts in the State have been directed to take appropriate action against those found found guilty.
Meanwhile, in pre-poll operation since March 4, nearly 1.80 lakh people have been booked under sections 107 and 116 CrPC. Over 276 illegal arms and 1,595 cartridges were seized and around 33 mini gun factories were unearthed. Over 38,000 non bailable warrants have also been issued in the State.
I have always said that Nitish Kumar, C M of Bihar, gets results without much fan fare.
He maintains a very low profile and is not used to blowing his own trumpet, very unlike the pompous Lalu.
Nitish lets the results speak for themselves.
Being in power, any other chief minister, like lalu, would have loved to and found it very easy to rig the elections.
However, Nitish himself has taken the initiative to hold fair elections.
What a difference from the CPM in Bengal.
They go about capturing booths and use their cadres to stamp the symbols of their candidates on the ballot papers.
They have a name for it, SCIENTIFIC RIGGING.
If any central forces were required for elections, it is in Bengal.
However, this time, the people are so fed up of them that inspite of their "scientific rigging",they will lose because of the common mass is completely disgusted with them.
Radheshyam
Amarnath Tewary | Patna
Call it image makeover or sincere efforts to improve the prevailing situation in Bihar, the State Government in a recent decision has announced that cases related to voter intimidation, booth capturing and rigging of election in the State would be taken up for speedy trial. The Government also made it clear that no one, irrespective of his/her political affiliation, would be spared.
After a high-level meeting of State’s top police officials, chaired by State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah, it was also decided that the Maoist-affected districts would be provided with adequate security. Districts bordering Nepal would also be under strict security.
“We’ll not allow the democratic process in the State to be stalled,” said State Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah after the meeting. The State police chief DN Gautam was also present at the meeting.
Amanullah said that strict action would be taken against those found guilty of rigging elections. “Those intimidating voters or trying to stall the election process will be booked and speedy trials will be conducted in their cases so that they are not able to contest the election next time, whenever it is held,” said Amanullah.
“We’ll not hesitate from countermanding or recommending re-election in any constituency if such malpractices are reported,” said Amanullah. He also said that the District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police of all the districts in the State have been directed to take appropriate action against those found found guilty.
Meanwhile, in pre-poll operation since March 4, nearly 1.80 lakh people have been booked under sections 107 and 116 CrPC. Over 276 illegal arms and 1,595 cartridges were seized and around 33 mini gun factories were unearthed. Over 38,000 non bailable warrants have also been issued in the State.
I have always said that Nitish Kumar, C M of Bihar, gets results without much fan fare.
He maintains a very low profile and is not used to blowing his own trumpet, very unlike the pompous Lalu.
Nitish lets the results speak for themselves.
Being in power, any other chief minister, like lalu, would have loved to and found it very easy to rig the elections.
However, Nitish himself has taken the initiative to hold fair elections.
What a difference from the CPM in Bengal.
They go about capturing booths and use their cadres to stamp the symbols of their candidates on the ballot papers.
They have a name for it, SCIENTIFIC RIGGING.
If any central forces were required for elections, it is in Bengal.
However, this time, the people are so fed up of them that inspite of their "scientific rigging",they will lose because of the common mass is completely disgusted with them.
Radheshyam
Congress Manifesto - A view
The following is an Editorial from the Sentinal, a paper published from Assam, on 30.03.2009
It says what I have been trying to say, very well. I couldn't beat it.
Jairam Ramesh, who has recently quit Union Cabinet to devote full-time to the Congress’ election strategy team, says that election manifestos are not a ‘‘vote-catcher’’ but have ‘‘a certain value attached to them’’.
But what he has forgotten is that in the Indian scheme of things, election manifestos are an excellent design to catch votes — and only to catch votes — and, therefore, are bereft of any value whatsoever.
Our post-independence history is a standing testimony to that fact of life.
Talking to a newspaper after the release of the Congress’ manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Ramesh refuted allegations that the manifesto is populist: ‘‘Don’t call it populism, it is people-oriented. If money is given for fat cats, it is bailouts/stimulus, and if it is for the aam aadmi, it is dubbed populism. If being pro-poor is populism, then we plead guilty.’’
Well put, that. But why does it fail Ramesh that his party is indeed guilty of playing with poverty and perpetuating it just because that fetches the votes of the politically unconscious and gullible among the electorate, who form the vast majority of voters in the country?
Why does it fail him that it is the Congress that has ruled the country for the best part of the last six decades, and that if the party had been really sincere in alleviating poverty, by this time the face of rural India would have looked so incredibly different?
Why does it fail him that in the name of aam aadmi the Congress has all along been insulting them by politicizing poverty?
As columnist Tavleen Singh says in her piece today, the Congress’ much-hyped ‘pro-poor’ manifesto only goes on to reflect on the abysmally poor track record of India’s oldest but perversely dynasty-centric party in countering the vicious cycle of poverty and backwardness and in the matter of inclusive development that the party would otherwise showcase as its greatest achievement to hoodwink a well-targeted constituency.
Populism is in full play when it comes especially to the quota regime that the Congress has promised in its manifesto.
Hear what Ramesh says: ‘‘Ours is a quota society. Reservation has become a permanent feature even if (our) founding fathers did not see it last beyond a few years... Ultimately, the baggage of 3,000 years can’t go away with 60 years of development.’’ How wrong — and populist!
What does the Congress mean by a ‘‘quota society’’?
Does it not militate against talent in a progressive society that the party talks about?
The Congress should realize that if today we are a ‘‘quota society’’ it is because of its expert perpetuation of backwardness and consolidation of a casteist constituency for the sheer greed for power. And does not the Congress contradict itself when it talks of quota society on the one hand and progressive society on the other?
In fact, on this count every single political party in the country is guilty of perpetuating backwardness in the name of caste-based quotas and of treading a path so retrogressive that we can never imagine of effecting a truly egalitarian society marching ahead in accordance with the principles of meritocracy.
If development is real and tangible, and if the society is free from the scourge of corruption and the brand of populist politics in vogue, ‘‘the baggage of 3,000 years’’ — of discrimination as Ramesh means — can be undone in just 10 years.
But for that you need leaders who mean business.
The Congress cannot fool all of the people all of the time as it seems to be trying at its populist best.
Meanwhile, how will the party save Asom from a Bangladeshi takeover?
Is Sonia Gandhi even aware of the threat?
It says what I have been trying to say, very well. I couldn't beat it.
Jairam Ramesh, who has recently quit Union Cabinet to devote full-time to the Congress’ election strategy team, says that election manifestos are not a ‘‘vote-catcher’’ but have ‘‘a certain value attached to them’’.
But what he has forgotten is that in the Indian scheme of things, election manifestos are an excellent design to catch votes — and only to catch votes — and, therefore, are bereft of any value whatsoever.
Our post-independence history is a standing testimony to that fact of life.
Talking to a newspaper after the release of the Congress’ manifesto for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, Ramesh refuted allegations that the manifesto is populist: ‘‘Don’t call it populism, it is people-oriented. If money is given for fat cats, it is bailouts/stimulus, and if it is for the aam aadmi, it is dubbed populism. If being pro-poor is populism, then we plead guilty.’’
Well put, that. But why does it fail Ramesh that his party is indeed guilty of playing with poverty and perpetuating it just because that fetches the votes of the politically unconscious and gullible among the electorate, who form the vast majority of voters in the country?
Why does it fail him that it is the Congress that has ruled the country for the best part of the last six decades, and that if the party had been really sincere in alleviating poverty, by this time the face of rural India would have looked so incredibly different?
Why does it fail him that in the name of aam aadmi the Congress has all along been insulting them by politicizing poverty?
As columnist Tavleen Singh says in her piece today, the Congress’ much-hyped ‘pro-poor’ manifesto only goes on to reflect on the abysmally poor track record of India’s oldest but perversely dynasty-centric party in countering the vicious cycle of poverty and backwardness and in the matter of inclusive development that the party would otherwise showcase as its greatest achievement to hoodwink a well-targeted constituency.
Populism is in full play when it comes especially to the quota regime that the Congress has promised in its manifesto.
Hear what Ramesh says: ‘‘Ours is a quota society. Reservation has become a permanent feature even if (our) founding fathers did not see it last beyond a few years... Ultimately, the baggage of 3,000 years can’t go away with 60 years of development.’’ How wrong — and populist!
What does the Congress mean by a ‘‘quota society’’?
Does it not militate against talent in a progressive society that the party talks about?
The Congress should realize that if today we are a ‘‘quota society’’ it is because of its expert perpetuation of backwardness and consolidation of a casteist constituency for the sheer greed for power. And does not the Congress contradict itself when it talks of quota society on the one hand and progressive society on the other?
In fact, on this count every single political party in the country is guilty of perpetuating backwardness in the name of caste-based quotas and of treading a path so retrogressive that we can never imagine of effecting a truly egalitarian society marching ahead in accordance with the principles of meritocracy.
If development is real and tangible, and if the society is free from the scourge of corruption and the brand of populist politics in vogue, ‘‘the baggage of 3,000 years’’ — of discrimination as Ramesh means — can be undone in just 10 years.
But for that you need leaders who mean business.
The Congress cannot fool all of the people all of the time as it seems to be trying at its populist best.
Meanwhile, how will the party save Asom from a Bangladeshi takeover?
Is Sonia Gandhi even aware of the threat?
Swiss bank Account - A promise from Advani
BJP targets Swiss bank accounts
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 29
Switzerland is known as much for its chocolate and cheese as its secret bank accounts. And the BJP president Lal Krishna Advani today set the cat among the pigeons by demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raise the issue forcefully at the G-20 summit in London.
Mr Advani also declared that the NDA, if voted to power, will bring back all Indian money held in secret bank accounts in tax havens abroad. He was, however, silent on the question of giving amnesty to the account holders.
Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal, in his initial reaction, wondered why the BJP chief never raised the issue in Parliament. “ He could have raised it in Parliament and the PM would have replied,” he said.
US federal agencies, however, have already offered to reduce penalties and no criminal prosecution provided US account holders voluntarily come forward to disclose amounts stashed in Swiss banks and pay taxes at reduced rates during the next six months. Other countries are expected to follow the US example.
Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws have come under increasing scrutiny and Switzerland’s largest private bank, UBS, was forced, this year, to divulge details to US agencies investigating tax fraud and tax evasion.
Reports last week quoted Swiss bankers to confirm that top executives have been asked not to travel abroad because of fears they will be detained as part of a global crackdown on bank secrecy.
Janata Dal (U) chief Sharad Yadav had also raised the issue of Indians’ accounts in Swiss banks, which, he alleged, amounted to 13 times the foreign debt and eight times the national budget. If the money is brought back to the country, he had said, India would be able to repay all the foreign debts and still be left with a huge, foreign exchange reserves.
The Swiss Banking Association was reported last year as stating that Indians had a whopping US $ 1,456 billion in secret accounts, which was more than the balance held by all other nationalities taken together. According to the report, Russians held US $470 billion, UK $ 390 billion and China $ 96 billion.
Quick to borrow the issue of secret bank accounts abroad from the Left and JD-U who raised it first, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani said the NDA, if voted, would take all legal and executive measures to get the illegal money back to India for investment.
“I don’t expect anything from the UPA, because to act on this front, the government has to be clean,” said Advani, demanding a cabinet meeting on the issue before the PM left for London.
The BJP is, meanwhile, geared to fan the issue which Advani described as a “political storm”. Party’s state units will on April 6 conduct mass polls on the subject; BJP chief ministers will seek from the Centre details of secret account holders from their states and the party will form a taskforce to suggest ways of reclaiming the secret money, which the BJP today compared to RDX that can fund global terror and destroy financial institutions.
Interesting was to see Advani citing the Wikipedia to claim Rs 25 lakh crore to Rs 70 lakh crore worth of Indian wealth was hoarded in Swiss accounts and other tax havens. He questioned India’s silence on the issue, saying: “Last year, I had written to the PM about the need to get the names of Indians, presumed to have secret accounts in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein in Germany. What I got was an evasive reply from the then Finance Minister.”
The BJP also referred to Transparency International’s comment that India had maintained “a stoic silence over the issue”, and said secret Indian money equalled 10 times country’s overseas debt, and 50 to 120 per cent of its GDP. Earlier, the NDA partner JDU had also made similar claims but now the entire alliance seems united on the issue, with Advani today saying what India could do with that much money: “It’s sufficient to waive off entire farmer debt; build world-class roads; eliminate power shortage and ensure potable water to all villages.”
The BJP leader described the matter as urgent, saying illicit money was a mix of political bribes, crime money and venal business. Here, he cited National Security Adviser MK Narayanan’s earlier comment that terror money could be operating through fund flows.
“If people elect us, we assure them of joining the global effort to end banking secrecy and getting back sovereign wealth of India,” Advani said.
Well, well, well.
At last our politicians are moving on the corruption front.
Better late than never.
Advani has promised to fulfil one of our demands that he
bring back all the tainted money stashed away in Switzerland
I just wonder, what he was doing this last six months.
The e-mails were doing the round for the last 6 months.
Why did they not take it up in parliament then?
No, because, their near and dear ones were involved.
Now that elections are here, they can promise us the moon and fail in all their promises and get away with it.
The next elections are 5 years away.
By that time the people will forget this promise, they hope.
People say
You can fool some of the people all the time
All the people some of the time but
You cannot fool all the people all the time.
Our politicians are trying the 3rd on us.
But what about our second demand that he declare that no criminals have been given tickets from his party to fight the elections?
Radheshyam
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 29
Switzerland is known as much for its chocolate and cheese as its secret bank accounts. And the BJP president Lal Krishna Advani today set the cat among the pigeons by demanding that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raise the issue forcefully at the G-20 summit in London.
Mr Advani also declared that the NDA, if voted to power, will bring back all Indian money held in secret bank accounts in tax havens abroad. He was, however, silent on the question of giving amnesty to the account holders.
Congress spokesman Kapil Sibal, in his initial reaction, wondered why the BJP chief never raised the issue in Parliament. “ He could have raised it in Parliament and the PM would have replied,” he said.
US federal agencies, however, have already offered to reduce penalties and no criminal prosecution provided US account holders voluntarily come forward to disclose amounts stashed in Swiss banks and pay taxes at reduced rates during the next six months. Other countries are expected to follow the US example.
Switzerland’s bank secrecy laws have come under increasing scrutiny and Switzerland’s largest private bank, UBS, was forced, this year, to divulge details to US agencies investigating tax fraud and tax evasion.
Reports last week quoted Swiss bankers to confirm that top executives have been asked not to travel abroad because of fears they will be detained as part of a global crackdown on bank secrecy.
Janata Dal (U) chief Sharad Yadav had also raised the issue of Indians’ accounts in Swiss banks, which, he alleged, amounted to 13 times the foreign debt and eight times the national budget. If the money is brought back to the country, he had said, India would be able to repay all the foreign debts and still be left with a huge, foreign exchange reserves.
The Swiss Banking Association was reported last year as stating that Indians had a whopping US $ 1,456 billion in secret accounts, which was more than the balance held by all other nationalities taken together. According to the report, Russians held US $470 billion, UK $ 390 billion and China $ 96 billion.
Quick to borrow the issue of secret bank accounts abroad from the Left and JD-U who raised it first, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani said the NDA, if voted, would take all legal and executive measures to get the illegal money back to India for investment.
“I don’t expect anything from the UPA, because to act on this front, the government has to be clean,” said Advani, demanding a cabinet meeting on the issue before the PM left for London.
The BJP is, meanwhile, geared to fan the issue which Advani described as a “political storm”. Party’s state units will on April 6 conduct mass polls on the subject; BJP chief ministers will seek from the Centre details of secret account holders from their states and the party will form a taskforce to suggest ways of reclaiming the secret money, which the BJP today compared to RDX that can fund global terror and destroy financial institutions.
Interesting was to see Advani citing the Wikipedia to claim Rs 25 lakh crore to Rs 70 lakh crore worth of Indian wealth was hoarded in Swiss accounts and other tax havens. He questioned India’s silence on the issue, saying: “Last year, I had written to the PM about the need to get the names of Indians, presumed to have secret accounts in LGT Bank in Liechtenstein in Germany. What I got was an evasive reply from the then Finance Minister.”
The BJP also referred to Transparency International’s comment that India had maintained “a stoic silence over the issue”, and said secret Indian money equalled 10 times country’s overseas debt, and 50 to 120 per cent of its GDP. Earlier, the NDA partner JDU had also made similar claims but now the entire alliance seems united on the issue, with Advani today saying what India could do with that much money: “It’s sufficient to waive off entire farmer debt; build world-class roads; eliminate power shortage and ensure potable water to all villages.”
The BJP leader described the matter as urgent, saying illicit money was a mix of political bribes, crime money and venal business. Here, he cited National Security Adviser MK Narayanan’s earlier comment that terror money could be operating through fund flows.
“If people elect us, we assure them of joining the global effort to end banking secrecy and getting back sovereign wealth of India,” Advani said.
Well, well, well.
At last our politicians are moving on the corruption front.
Better late than never.
Advani has promised to fulfil one of our demands that he
bring back all the tainted money stashed away in Switzerland
I just wonder, what he was doing this last six months.
The e-mails were doing the round for the last 6 months.
Why did they not take it up in parliament then?
No, because, their near and dear ones were involved.
Now that elections are here, they can promise us the moon and fail in all their promises and get away with it.
The next elections are 5 years away.
By that time the people will forget this promise, they hope.
People say
You can fool some of the people all the time
All the people some of the time but
You cannot fool all the people all the time.
Our politicians are trying the 3rd on us.
But what about our second demand that he declare that no criminals have been given tickets from his party to fight the elections?
Radheshyam
Mohammed Taslimuddin
Mohammed Taslimuddin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohammed Taslimuddin or simply Taslimuddin (born 4 January 1943) is an Indian criminal-politician and a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Kishanganj constituency of Bihar and is a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party.
A powerful ganglord with several murder and rape charges pending against him, he is presently the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
From 1969 to 1996, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly six times. In between, in 1989, he became a member of the 9th Lok Sabha. He has been a member of the 11th (1996), 12th(1998), and 14th Lok Sabhas (2004-present) [1].
In June 1996, he became a member of the Deve Gowda cabinet on the recommendation of Laloo Yadav. However, public anger in Bihar had forced an embarrassed Deve Gowda to prevail upon him to resign in the very next month[2].
Despite the Manmohan Singh government aspiring to a higher ethical standard, he was appointed Minister of State for the potentially lucrative Public Distribution ministry in May 2004. Unlike in 1996, there does not appear to have been much protest.
Taslimuddun is the third MP from Bihar who has had a long criminal history.
The others Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav have already been covered by me.
All three have two things in common.
They are from Bihar and all three have Lalu Yadav as their godfather.
They were made ministers on the recommendation of Lalu Yadav.
What is surprising is that Taslimuddin was dropped from the cabinet by Deve Gowda but Manmohan Singh found nothing wrong with him.
Had he reformed or were Manmohan Singh's idea of what he considered corruption much lower than Deve Gowda's.
And we considered Manmohan Singh an upright man.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mohammed Taslimuddin or simply Taslimuddin (born 4 January 1943) is an Indian criminal-politician and a member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India. He represents the Kishanganj constituency of Bihar and is a member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party.
A powerful ganglord with several murder and rape charges pending against him, he is presently the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
From 1969 to 1996, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly six times. In between, in 1989, he became a member of the 9th Lok Sabha. He has been a member of the 11th (1996), 12th(1998), and 14th Lok Sabhas (2004-present) [1].
In June 1996, he became a member of the Deve Gowda cabinet on the recommendation of Laloo Yadav. However, public anger in Bihar had forced an embarrassed Deve Gowda to prevail upon him to resign in the very next month[2].
Despite the Manmohan Singh government aspiring to a higher ethical standard, he was appointed Minister of State for the potentially lucrative Public Distribution ministry in May 2004. Unlike in 1996, there does not appear to have been much protest.
Taslimuddun is the third MP from Bihar who has had a long criminal history.
The others Shahabuddin and Pappu Yadav have already been covered by me.
All three have two things in common.
They are from Bihar and all three have Lalu Yadav as their godfather.
They were made ministers on the recommendation of Lalu Yadav.
What is surprising is that Taslimuddin was dropped from the cabinet by Deve Gowda but Manmohan Singh found nothing wrong with him.
Had he reformed or were Manmohan Singh's idea of what he considered corruption much lower than Deve Gowda's.
And we considered Manmohan Singh an upright man.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Price of a M P ticket
‘Crores for seat’ spill from nominee mouth
G.S. RADHAKRISHNA
Hyderabad, March 28: The Telengana Rashtra Samiti candidate for Secunderabad announced on camera last evening that he had “bought” the Lok Sabha ticket for Rs 10 crore, landing his party in the eye of a storm and himself in hospital.
S. Venkat Reddy, a realtor who made his money during the 2005-07 real estate boom, thought he was among friends at Telengana Bhavan when he let slip that he had paid to get the seat. But word spread, and when TV journalists arrived to confirm the news, Venkat said on camera: “Yes, I have paid money to the party to get the ticket.”
Aspirants already angry at being left out of the fourth list of candidates, released yesterday, erupted. S. Rambabu, one of them, and his supporters thrashed Venkat and chased him out of the office. He is in hospital with leg injuries.
Venkat today denied he had “bought” the seat that includes the better part of metropolitan Hyderabad, including the upscale Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.
“The charge is ridiculous. I only confided that I had made contributions to the party fund and not to leaders individually,” he said in hospital.
But party workers were not buying the claim. A huge number gathered at the TRS headquarters in Banjara Hills, demanding an explanation, amid allegations that many more had paid for tickets.
The workers burnt an effigy of TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who could not move around because of the protests. Women workers covered the face of a statue of “Telengana Talli (Mother Telengana)” at the party office, saying: “Telengana Talli would be ashamed to see the happenings around her.”
The Election Commission has issued notices to Rao and Venkat, the chief electoral officer said this evening.
Rao could not be reached for comment. Allies Telugu Desam, CPM and the CPI, who had left 9 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and 48 of the 294 Assembly seats to the TRS, also would not comment.
Another realtor alleged he had paid Rs 7 crore for the Serilingampally Assembly seat but didn’t get the ticket. Supporters of yet another aspirant, N. Venkateswarlu, who allegedly paid a huge sum but did not get the Bhupalapalli seat, ransacked the home of MP Vinod Kumar, accusing him of making the deal but not delivering. “The MP should now pay us back with interest as he has kept the money for over six months,” a supporter said.
Similar demands for repayment have come from aspirants for the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha seat and the Jedcherla and Gajwel Assembly seats.
Rao today decided to contest from Medak. Actress Vijayshanti has been proposed for Mahbubnagar, which Rao was expected to contest.
The allegation that seats were being sold also hit Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party, whose workers today ransacked offices in Anantpur, Warangal and Vijayawada.
In one of my earlier posts I had mentioned that Transfers and Posting was the fountainhead of Corruption.
I was wrong.
The price a candidate pays to get a ticket from his party and the amount he spends in an election is the root cause.
This gentleman, if I may call him so, although his profession "realtor" would not have allowed him to remain one, has spent 10 crores for getting the ticket and he would be spending another 50 crores or so to fight the elections.
He has not spent that money to serve the people.
He has to recover the money.
So, he will use 1) transfers and postings, 2) to push throught deals for businessmen through ministries concerned, 3) raise issues in parliament on payment, 4) submit false bills for telephone, electricity, travel and miscellaneous (This Misc expenses is a very powerful tool to take money from the exchequer) and yes 5) the 2 crore they get every year to spend on their constituency against MPLADs, Courtsey P V Narsimha Rao.
Of course, PV initiated this scheme when he himself was accused of having taken one crore bribe from a broker in a suitcase. To keep the MP's mouth he started giving each MP 1 crore. That has been now increased to 2 crore and Inshallh, you can rest assured it will increase to 5 crores when the next lot of corrupt politicans come to parliament. They know how to line their nests.
I am giving a piece from the Wikepedia on how this MPLADs are used
"Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a scheme formalated by Government of India that provides that each member of parliament of India has the choice to suggest to the Head of the District works to the tune of Rs.1 crore per year, to be taken up in his/her constituency. Elected Members of Rajya Sabha representing the whole of the State as they do, may select works for implementation in one or more district(s) as they may choose. Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may also select works for implementation in one or more districts, anywhere in the country. The allocation per MP per year stands increased to Rs.2 crores from the year 1998-1999.
Since start there have been reports of malpractices in running the scheme and there have been demands to scrap it. In 2006, a scandal was exposed by a TV Channel, that showed MPs taking bribe for handing over project work under the MPLADS. A 7 member committee was set up to probe the matter".
I wonder what happened to the probe. Probably nothing as during crisis, birds of a feather flock together, to protect their interests.
HOW DO YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
By bringing back election expenses to reasonable limits.
At this rate, no matter how qualified a person is, he would never be able to stand for elections. Only the moneyed class would be able to stand. The money of course would have come from illegal means.
At the rate our government taxes us, nobody who paid his taxes honestly could accumulate the money required to fight the present election in 3-lifetimes, leave alone one lifetime.
WHEN THE FOUNDATION IS WEAK, HOW CAN YOU PUT UP A ROBUST DEMOCRACY.
Radheshyam
G.S. RADHAKRISHNA
Hyderabad, March 28: The Telengana Rashtra Samiti candidate for Secunderabad announced on camera last evening that he had “bought” the Lok Sabha ticket for Rs 10 crore, landing his party in the eye of a storm and himself in hospital.
S. Venkat Reddy, a realtor who made his money during the 2005-07 real estate boom, thought he was among friends at Telengana Bhavan when he let slip that he had paid to get the seat. But word spread, and when TV journalists arrived to confirm the news, Venkat said on camera: “Yes, I have paid money to the party to get the ticket.”
Aspirants already angry at being left out of the fourth list of candidates, released yesterday, erupted. S. Rambabu, one of them, and his supporters thrashed Venkat and chased him out of the office. He is in hospital with leg injuries.
Venkat today denied he had “bought” the seat that includes the better part of metropolitan Hyderabad, including the upscale Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.
“The charge is ridiculous. I only confided that I had made contributions to the party fund and not to leaders individually,” he said in hospital.
But party workers were not buying the claim. A huge number gathered at the TRS headquarters in Banjara Hills, demanding an explanation, amid allegations that many more had paid for tickets.
The workers burnt an effigy of TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who could not move around because of the protests. Women workers covered the face of a statue of “Telengana Talli (Mother Telengana)” at the party office, saying: “Telengana Talli would be ashamed to see the happenings around her.”
The Election Commission has issued notices to Rao and Venkat, the chief electoral officer said this evening.
Rao could not be reached for comment. Allies Telugu Desam, CPM and the CPI, who had left 9 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats and 48 of the 294 Assembly seats to the TRS, also would not comment.
Another realtor alleged he had paid Rs 7 crore for the Serilingampally Assembly seat but didn’t get the ticket. Supporters of yet another aspirant, N. Venkateswarlu, who allegedly paid a huge sum but did not get the Bhupalapalli seat, ransacked the home of MP Vinod Kumar, accusing him of making the deal but not delivering. “The MP should now pay us back with interest as he has kept the money for over six months,” a supporter said.
Similar demands for repayment have come from aspirants for the Zaheerabad Lok Sabha seat and the Jedcherla and Gajwel Assembly seats.
Rao today decided to contest from Medak. Actress Vijayshanti has been proposed for Mahbubnagar, which Rao was expected to contest.
The allegation that seats were being sold also hit Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party, whose workers today ransacked offices in Anantpur, Warangal and Vijayawada.
In one of my earlier posts I had mentioned that Transfers and Posting was the fountainhead of Corruption.
I was wrong.
The price a candidate pays to get a ticket from his party and the amount he spends in an election is the root cause.
This gentleman, if I may call him so, although his profession "realtor" would not have allowed him to remain one, has spent 10 crores for getting the ticket and he would be spending another 50 crores or so to fight the elections.
He has not spent that money to serve the people.
He has to recover the money.
So, he will use 1) transfers and postings, 2) to push throught deals for businessmen through ministries concerned, 3) raise issues in parliament on payment, 4) submit false bills for telephone, electricity, travel and miscellaneous (This Misc expenses is a very powerful tool to take money from the exchequer) and yes 5) the 2 crore they get every year to spend on their constituency against MPLADs, Courtsey P V Narsimha Rao.
Of course, PV initiated this scheme when he himself was accused of having taken one crore bribe from a broker in a suitcase. To keep the MP's mouth he started giving each MP 1 crore. That has been now increased to 2 crore and Inshallh, you can rest assured it will increase to 5 crores when the next lot of corrupt politicans come to parliament. They know how to line their nests.
I am giving a piece from the Wikepedia on how this MPLADs are used
"Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a scheme formalated by Government of India that provides that each member of parliament of India has the choice to suggest to the Head of the District works to the tune of Rs.1 crore per year, to be taken up in his/her constituency. Elected Members of Rajya Sabha representing the whole of the State as they do, may select works for implementation in one or more district(s) as they may choose. Nominated Members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha may also select works for implementation in one or more districts, anywhere in the country. The allocation per MP per year stands increased to Rs.2 crores from the year 1998-1999.
Since start there have been reports of malpractices in running the scheme and there have been demands to scrap it. In 2006, a scandal was exposed by a TV Channel, that showed MPs taking bribe for handing over project work under the MPLADS. A 7 member committee was set up to probe the matter".
I wonder what happened to the probe. Probably nothing as during crisis, birds of a feather flock together, to protect their interests.
HOW DO YOU SOLVE THIS PROBLEM?
By bringing back election expenses to reasonable limits.
At this rate, no matter how qualified a person is, he would never be able to stand for elections. Only the moneyed class would be able to stand. The money of course would have come from illegal means.
At the rate our government taxes us, nobody who paid his taxes honestly could accumulate the money required to fight the present election in 3-lifetimes, leave alone one lifetime.
WHEN THE FOUNDATION IS WEAK, HOW CAN YOU PUT UP A ROBUST DEMOCRACY.
Radheshyam
CBI Tail Wagging Dog of Central Government - 3
‘Clean chit’ to Tytler
OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, March 28: The CBI is believed to have given Congress leader Jagdish Tytler a clean chit in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saving the party embarrassment before elections since it has already given him a ticket from Delhi.
Although the CBI is yet to make public the final investigation report it filed before a Delhi court today, sources said the agency had failed to find proof of the former minister’s involvement in the riots. The court will take up the report on April 2.
“The moment Congress gave Tytler a ticket for the general election, it was clear that the government would force the CBI to give him a clean chit,” senior Supreme Court lawyer H.S. Phoolka, representing the riot victims, said.
“The report is still sealed and in court and Tytler already knows that he has been cleared. The fact that the accused knows the outcome of the case before the proceedings are over, casts a shadow on the premier investigating agency of the country itself. We have witnesses who have named him. What more does the CBI need?” he added.
Hundreds of Sikhs chanted “Hang the culprits” outside the court when the CBI filed its report in a sealed cover before metropolitan magistrate Ram Lal Meena.
The report was filed after the CBI examined Jasbir Singh, a California-based witness who in an affidavit told the Nanavati Commission inquiring into the riots that on November 3, 1984, he had overheard Tytler commenting on the killing of Sikhs in his constituency.
The case against Tytler relates to a mob attack on Gurdwara Pulbangash on November 1, 1984, killing three persons. In September 2007, the CBI had sought to close the case saying witness Jasbir was untraceable. But the court on December 19, 2007, asked it to file the investigation report after Jasbir came forward and offered to depose.
The Sikh community is upset with the Congress for giving tickets to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, another riots accused, and riot victims have even submitted a memorandum to Sonia Gandhi.
Now that Sajjan Kumar “has been given a ticket, the chargesheet against him will be further delayed by the CBI,” Phoolka said.
In two of my earlier posts I had mentioned how the CBI was a tail wagging dog of the central government.
Here is further proof, if any proof was required.
I will continue to submit proofs whenever the CBI acts in a partisan manner
Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were two notorious goondas of the congrees party who roamed the streets of Delhi.
Scores of people had seen them and must have been witness to their involvement. Yet the CBI has failed to find proof of their involvement. So the CBI has given them a clean chit so that they can stand for elections in Delhi.
For the same reason, the CBI is delaying the filing of cheargesheet against Sajjan Kumar.
Unless the CBI is made completely immune to the pulls of the Central government, it can never act independently and will always be manipulated.
The people of India have no faith in the veracity of the CBI's report.
OUR CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, March 28: The CBI is believed to have given Congress leader Jagdish Tytler a clean chit in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, saving the party embarrassment before elections since it has already given him a ticket from Delhi.
Although the CBI is yet to make public the final investigation report it filed before a Delhi court today, sources said the agency had failed to find proof of the former minister’s involvement in the riots. The court will take up the report on April 2.
“The moment Congress gave Tytler a ticket for the general election, it was clear that the government would force the CBI to give him a clean chit,” senior Supreme Court lawyer H.S. Phoolka, representing the riot victims, said.
“The report is still sealed and in court and Tytler already knows that he has been cleared. The fact that the accused knows the outcome of the case before the proceedings are over, casts a shadow on the premier investigating agency of the country itself. We have witnesses who have named him. What more does the CBI need?” he added.
Hundreds of Sikhs chanted “Hang the culprits” outside the court when the CBI filed its report in a sealed cover before metropolitan magistrate Ram Lal Meena.
The report was filed after the CBI examined Jasbir Singh, a California-based witness who in an affidavit told the Nanavati Commission inquiring into the riots that on November 3, 1984, he had overheard Tytler commenting on the killing of Sikhs in his constituency.
The case against Tytler relates to a mob attack on Gurdwara Pulbangash on November 1, 1984, killing three persons. In September 2007, the CBI had sought to close the case saying witness Jasbir was untraceable. But the court on December 19, 2007, asked it to file the investigation report after Jasbir came forward and offered to depose.
The Sikh community is upset with the Congress for giving tickets to Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, another riots accused, and riot victims have even submitted a memorandum to Sonia Gandhi.
Now that Sajjan Kumar “has been given a ticket, the chargesheet against him will be further delayed by the CBI,” Phoolka said.
In two of my earlier posts I had mentioned how the CBI was a tail wagging dog of the central government.
Here is further proof, if any proof was required.
I will continue to submit proofs whenever the CBI acts in a partisan manner
Sajjan Kumar and Jagdish Tytler were two notorious goondas of the congrees party who roamed the streets of Delhi.
Scores of people had seen them and must have been witness to their involvement. Yet the CBI has failed to find proof of their involvement. So the CBI has given them a clean chit so that they can stand for elections in Delhi.
For the same reason, the CBI is delaying the filing of cheargesheet against Sajjan Kumar.
Unless the CBI is made completely immune to the pulls of the Central government, it can never act independently and will always be manipulated.
The people of India have no faith in the veracity of the CBI's report.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Msgs from Friends 12
Msg from Jennifer Kerwinja
Thanks,
I don't know you, but this is interesting, informative and very funny at the end. Thanks - I have shared this with friends.
Cheers,
Jennifer Kerwin
It is always heart-warming to read some good Sardarji Jokes.
Here are some really good ones, I am reading for the first time.
A joke is a joke only the first time.
I hope it is the first time for most of you.
Sent by my friend Alok Sureka
Boss: Where were you born?
Sardar: Punjab ..
Boss: which part?
Sardar: Kya which part? Whole body born in Punjab .
2 sardar were fixing a bomb in a car.
Sardar 1: What would you do if the bomb
explodes while fixing.
Sardar 2: Dont worry , I have one more.
Sardar: What is the name of your car?
Lady: I forgot the name , but is starts with 'T'.
Sardar: Oye Kamaal ki gaadi hai , Tea se start hoti hai. Hamaara gaadi petrol se start hoti hai.
Sardar joined new job. 1st day he worked till late evening on the computer.
Boss was happy and asked what you did till evening.
Sardar: Keyboard alphabets were not in order , so I made it alright.
Museum Administrator: That's a 500-year-old statue u've broken.
Banta: Thanks God! I thought it was a new one.
At the scene of an accident a man was crying: O God! I have lost my hand , oh!
Santa: Control yourself. Don't cry. See that man. He has lost his head. Is he crying?
Banta: U cheated me...
Shopkeeper: No , I sold a good radio to u.
Banta: Radio label shows Made in Japan but radio says this is all India Radio!
NOW THE LAST TWO ULTIMATE:
In an interview , Interviewer: How does an electric motor run?
Santa: Dhhuuuurrrrrrrrrr. ......
Inteviewer shouts: Stop it.
Santa: Dhhuurrrr dhup dhup dhup...
Tourist: Whose skeleton is that?
Santa: Tipu's skeleton.
Tourist: Who's that smaller skeleton next to it?
Santa: That was Tipu's skeleton when he was child
Thanks,
I don't know you, but this is interesting, informative and very funny at the end. Thanks - I have shared this with friends.
Cheers,
Jennifer Kerwin
It is always heart-warming to read some good Sardarji Jokes.
Here are some really good ones, I am reading for the first time.
A joke is a joke only the first time.
I hope it is the first time for most of you.
Sent by my friend Alok Sureka
Boss: Where were you born?
Sardar: Punjab ..
Boss: which part?
Sardar: Kya which part? Whole body born in Punjab .
2 sardar were fixing a bomb in a car.
Sardar 1: What would you do if the bomb
explodes while fixing.
Sardar 2: Dont worry , I have one more.
Sardar: What is the name of your car?
Lady: I forgot the name , but is starts with 'T'.
Sardar: Oye Kamaal ki gaadi hai , Tea se start hoti hai. Hamaara gaadi petrol se start hoti hai.
Sardar joined new job. 1st day he worked till late evening on the computer.
Boss was happy and asked what you did till evening.
Sardar: Keyboard alphabets were not in order , so I made it alright.
Museum Administrator: That's a 500-year-old statue u've broken.
Banta: Thanks God! I thought it was a new one.
At the scene of an accident a man was crying: O God! I have lost my hand , oh!
Santa: Control yourself. Don't cry. See that man. He has lost his head. Is he crying?
Banta: U cheated me...
Shopkeeper: No , I sold a good radio to u.
Banta: Radio label shows Made in Japan but radio says this is all India Radio!
NOW THE LAST TWO ULTIMATE:
In an interview , Interviewer: How does an electric motor run?
Santa: Dhhuuuurrrrrrrrrr. ......
Inteviewer shouts: Stop it.
Santa: Dhhuurrrr dhup dhup dhup...
Tourist: Whose skeleton is that?
Santa: Tipu's skeleton.
Tourist: Who's that smaller skeleton next to it?
Santa: That was Tipu's skeleton when he was child
Doctor Shigeaki Hinohara
This has been sent by Partha Sengupta.
Hope it encourages you to a more meaninful life.
Doctor Shigeaki Hinohara
At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-servingphysicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo ; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one"Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.
Some of his views are given below
Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.
We all remember how as children, when we were having fun,
we often forgot to eat or sleep.
I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too.
It's best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.
All people who live long regardless of nationality,
race or gender share one thing in common:
None are overweight...
For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on mywork.. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100grams of lean meat.. Always plan ahead.
My schedule book is already full until 2014, with lectures and my usual hospital work.
In 2016 I'll have some fun, though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!
There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100...
Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.
When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone.So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery.
I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.
To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.
My inspiration is Robert Browning's poem"Abt Vogler." My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch;the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.
Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it.If a child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or she immediately forgets the pain.
Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke's we have music and animal therapies, and art classes. Don't be crazy about amassing material things.Remember: You don'tknow when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the next place.
Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St.... Luke's so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought I wascrazy to prepare for a catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one person, but wesaved 739 lives.
Science alone can't cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.
Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the body slowed down in a crisis.
Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at Duke University in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes. Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask myself how they would deal with the problem.
It's wonderful to live long. Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one's family and to achieve one's goals. But in our later years, we should strive to contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a volunteer.I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every minute of it..
Hope it encourages you to a more meaninful life.
Doctor Shigeaki Hinohara
At the age of 97 years and 4 months, Shigeaki Hinohara is one of the world's longest-servingphysicians and educators. Hinohara's magic touch is legendary: Since 1941 he has been healing patients at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo and teaching at St. Luke's College of Nursing. After World War II, he envisioned a world-class hospital and college springing from the ruins of Tokyo ; thanks to his pioneering spirit and business savvy, the doctor turned these institutions into the nation's top medical facility and nursing school. Today he serves as chairman of the board of trustees at both organizations. Always willing to try new things, he has published around 150 books since his 75th birthday, including one"Living Long, Living Good" that has sold more than 1.2 million copies. As the founder of the New Elderly Movement, Hinohara encourages others to live a long and happy life, a quest in which no role model is better than the doctor himself.
Some of his views are given below
Energy comes from feeling good, not from eating well or sleeping a lot.
We all remember how as children, when we were having fun,
we often forgot to eat or sleep.
I believe that we can keep that attitude as adults, too.
It's best not to tire the body with too many rules such as lunchtime and bedtime.
All people who live long regardless of nationality,
race or gender share one thing in common:
None are overweight...
For breakfast I drink coffee, a glass of milk and some orange juice with a tablespoon of olive oil in it. Olive oil is great for the arteries and keeps my skin healthy. Lunch is milk and a few cookies, or nothing when I am too busy to eat. I never get hungry because I focus on mywork.. Dinner is veggies, a bit of fish and rice, and, twice a week, 100grams of lean meat.. Always plan ahead.
My schedule book is already full until 2014, with lectures and my usual hospital work.
In 2016 I'll have some fun, though: I plan to attend the Tokyo Olympics!
There is no need to ever retire, but if one must, it should be a lot later than 65. The current retirement age was set at 65 half a century ago, when the average life-expectancy in Japan was 68 years and only 125 Japanese were over 100 years old. Today, Japanese women live to be around 86 and men 80, and we have 36,000 centenarians in our country. In 20 years we will have about 50,000 people over the age of 100...
Share what you know. I give 150 lectures a year, some for 100 elementary-school children, others for 4,500 business people. I usually speak for 60 to 90 minutes, standing, to stay strong.
When a doctor recommends you take a test or have some surgery, ask whether the doctor would suggest that his or her spouse or children go through such a procedure. Contrary to popular belief, doctors can't cure everyone.So why cause unnecessary pain with surgery.
I think music and animal therapy can help more than most doctors imagine.
To stay healthy, always take the stairs and carry your own stuff. I take two stairs at a time, to get my muscles moving.
My inspiration is Robert Browning's poem"Abt Vogler." My father used to read it to me. It encourages us to make big art, not small scribbles. It says to try to draw a circle so huge that there is no way we can finish it while we are alive. All we see is an arch;the rest is beyond our vision but it is there in the distance.
Pain is mysterious, and having fun is the best way to forget it.If a child has a toothache, and you start playing a game together, he or she immediately forgets the pain.
Hospitals must cater to the basic need of patients: We all want to have fun. At St. Luke's we have music and animal therapies, and art classes. Don't be crazy about amassing material things.Remember: You don'tknow when your number is up, and you can't take it with you to the next place.
Hospitals must be designed and prepared for major disasters, and they must accept every patient who appears at their doors. We designed St.... Luke's so we can operate anywhere: in the basement, in the corridors, in the chapel. Most people thought I wascrazy to prepare for a catastrophe, but on March 20, 1995, I was unfortunately proven right when members of the Aum Shinrikyu religious cult launched a terrorist attack in the Tokyo subway. We accepted 740 victims and in two hours figured out that it was sarin gas that had hit them. Sadly we lost one person, but wesaved 739 lives.
Science alone can't cure or help people. Science lumps us all together, but illness is individual. Each person is unique, and diseases are connected to their hearts. To know the illness and help people, we need liberal and visual arts, not just medical ones.
Life is filled with incidents. On March 31, 1970, when I was 59 years old, I boarded the Yodogo, a flight from Tokyo to Fukuoka. It was a beautiful sunny morning, and as Mount Fuji came into sight, the plane was hijacked by the Japanese Communist League-Red Army Faction. I spent the next four days handcuffed to my seat in 40-degree heat. As a doctor, I looked at it all as an experiment and was amazed at how the body slowed down in a crisis.
Find a role model and aim to achieve even more than they could ever do. My father went to the United States in 1900 to study at Duke University in North Carolina. He was a pioneer and one of my heroes. Later I found a few more life guides, and when I am stuck, I ask myself how they would deal with the problem.
It's wonderful to live long. Until one is 60 years old, it is easy to work for one's family and to achieve one's goals. But in our later years, we should strive to contribute to society. Since the age of 65, I have worked as a volunteer.I still put in 18 hours seven days a week and love every minute of it..
Friday, March 27, 2009
Advani Challenges Manmohan
Advani debate dare
Seppa, Arunachal Pradesh, March 26 (PTI): L.K. Advani today dared Manmohan Singh to a live TV debate, similar to the ones presidential rivals have in the US.
Advani (in picture) threw the gauntlet at an election rally here, where he again dubbed the Congress leader the “weakest Prime Minister the country ever had”.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said he was ready for a live televised debate on an entire range of issues. Advani also said Singh should enter Parliament by contesting Lok Sabha polls, instead of taking the Rajya Sabha route.
He said Singh would be more acceptable to the common people if he became a member of the lower House.
Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said it showed the BJP seemed to be “obsessed with everything US”, but added that it was up to the Prime Minister to respond to the challenge.
Advani is giving the example of the USA in asking a debate with Manmohan Singh.
When it suits them our corrupt politicians wants to follow the USA, otherwise they go in the opposite direction.
The USA has asked the Swiss Banks to divulge the name of persons having accounts in swiss Banks.
Why are all our politicians silent on this topic?
Does he know that before becoming a member of the President's team in the USA each member is so thoroughly quizzed that any person who has any negative points in their CV, drops out by himself. But in India, a hardened criminal like Shahabuddin becomes Minister of state, Home, in the centre.
What an irony?
Instead of challenging Manmohan Singh to a debate to score brownie points, it would be better if Advani pledged that he would bring back the 1.4 billion USD that have been stacked away by our corrupt politicians and businessmen in Switzerland and other tax havens.
It would be more meaningfull if he assured that not a single criminal had been given a election ticket by the BJP.
Instead of raising divisive slogans like the Ram Temple to fool the people,it would be better if his party did some constructive work in raising the living standards of 60 million or so people living on Rs 300 per month.
Instead of handing over power to younger people, this superannuated person is dreaming of leading India.
Not that the Congress is any better.
Manmohan Singh is just as useless.
Can he or Sonia Gandhi give the above assurances?
Or can Mulayum, or Mayawati or Paswan or Lalu or Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi or Karat?
If yes, then why have they not done so till now?
Why did they not raise the matter in parliament?
They are all useless corrupt persons, the whole gang, since they encourage corruption.
All of them!!
Seppa, Arunachal Pradesh, March 26 (PTI): L.K. Advani today dared Manmohan Singh to a live TV debate, similar to the ones presidential rivals have in the US.
Advani (in picture) threw the gauntlet at an election rally here, where he again dubbed the Congress leader the “weakest Prime Minister the country ever had”.
The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate said he was ready for a live televised debate on an entire range of issues. Advani also said Singh should enter Parliament by contesting Lok Sabha polls, instead of taking the Rajya Sabha route.
He said Singh would be more acceptable to the common people if he became a member of the lower House.
Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan said it showed the BJP seemed to be “obsessed with everything US”, but added that it was up to the Prime Minister to respond to the challenge.
Advani is giving the example of the USA in asking a debate with Manmohan Singh.
When it suits them our corrupt politicians wants to follow the USA, otherwise they go in the opposite direction.
The USA has asked the Swiss Banks to divulge the name of persons having accounts in swiss Banks.
Why are all our politicians silent on this topic?
Does he know that before becoming a member of the President's team in the USA each member is so thoroughly quizzed that any person who has any negative points in their CV, drops out by himself. But in India, a hardened criminal like Shahabuddin becomes Minister of state, Home, in the centre.
What an irony?
Instead of challenging Manmohan Singh to a debate to score brownie points, it would be better if Advani pledged that he would bring back the 1.4 billion USD that have been stacked away by our corrupt politicians and businessmen in Switzerland and other tax havens.
It would be more meaningfull if he assured that not a single criminal had been given a election ticket by the BJP.
Instead of raising divisive slogans like the Ram Temple to fool the people,it would be better if his party did some constructive work in raising the living standards of 60 million or so people living on Rs 300 per month.
Instead of handing over power to younger people, this superannuated person is dreaming of leading India.
Not that the Congress is any better.
Manmohan Singh is just as useless.
Can he or Sonia Gandhi give the above assurances?
Or can Mulayum, or Mayawati or Paswan or Lalu or Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi or Karat?
If yes, then why have they not done so till now?
Why did they not raise the matter in parliament?
They are all useless corrupt persons, the whole gang, since they encourage corruption.
All of them!!
Earth Hour
The following has been sent by Kamlesh Kallani
EARTH HOUR is regularly organized by WWF in which several countries participates worldwide, but unfortunately INDIA, so far, did not participated in it. This time we need to show the world that we are equally concerned about the Gloabal Warming and that we can make difference too. All we need to do is just to switch of all the lights and electrical appliances just for an hour. It’s not another protest, but just a little step to SAVE the EARTH from global warming.
Another one of the stunts of the Western World.
The whole year through they will guzzle energy.
Then for one hour in a year, they will show to the world that they care for the environment.
Just like the Father's Day and Mother's Day which they observe one day in a year and forget them for the rest of the year.
It is better if you save energy throughout the year.
The West will emit the maximum carbon and expect others to reduce it.
Former US President was the greatest culprit.
Use low wattage lamps where it is feasible.
Switch off lights and fans when you leave the rooms.
Use smaller cars and pool cars where it is possible.
Practise this throughout the year instead of just one hour per year.
Shut off water flowing uselessly through taps.
If our government was serious, they should arrange to provide CFL lamps at about 2 to 3 times the price of an incandescent lamp and not at 5 to 6 times
We Indians are frugal not by choice but because we have no choice.
But for those who can afford there is no frugality.
If you watch the street lights being kept on up to 9.00 am, you would never guess that there was an energy crisis.
Radheshyam
EARTH HOUR is regularly organized by WWF in which several countries participates worldwide, but unfortunately INDIA, so far, did not participated in it. This time we need to show the world that we are equally concerned about the Gloabal Warming and that we can make difference too. All we need to do is just to switch of all the lights and electrical appliances just for an hour. It’s not another protest, but just a little step to SAVE the EARTH from global warming.
Another one of the stunts of the Western World.
The whole year through they will guzzle energy.
Then for one hour in a year, they will show to the world that they care for the environment.
Just like the Father's Day and Mother's Day which they observe one day in a year and forget them for the rest of the year.
It is better if you save energy throughout the year.
The West will emit the maximum carbon and expect others to reduce it.
Former US President was the greatest culprit.
Use low wattage lamps where it is feasible.
Switch off lights and fans when you leave the rooms.
Use smaller cars and pool cars where it is possible.
Practise this throughout the year instead of just one hour per year.
Shut off water flowing uselessly through taps.
If our government was serious, they should arrange to provide CFL lamps at about 2 to 3 times the price of an incandescent lamp and not at 5 to 6 times
We Indians are frugal not by choice but because we have no choice.
But for those who can afford there is no frugality.
If you watch the street lights being kept on up to 9.00 am, you would never guess that there was an energy crisis.
Radheshyam
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Somethings not Done by Prayers
Pilot jailed for Sicily air crash
An Italian court has jailed a Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before ditching his plane, killing 16 people.
A fuel gauge fault was partly to blame for the crash off Sicily in 2005 but judges convicted Chafik Garbi of manslaughter, jailing him for 10 years.
Six others, including the co-pilot and head of the airline Tuninter, were jailed for between eight and 10 years.
The accused will not spend time in jail until the appeals process is completed.
''This was an unprecedented sentence but we have always maintained that it was an unprecedented incident,'' Niky Persico, a lawyer for one of the victims, told Italy's Ansa news agency.
''Never before in the history of aviation disasters has there been such a chain of events and counter-events.''
Fuel gauge
The twin-engined Tuninter ATR-72 turboprop aeroplane was flying from the Italian city of Bari to the Tunisian island of Djerba on 6 August 2005, when it ran out of fuel and came down in the sea some 13km (eight miles) off the northern coast of Sicily.
Out of the total of 34 passengers and five crew on board, 23 survived. Many had to swim for their lives, while others clung on to floating pieces of the fuselage.
The Italian National Air Safety Board (ANSV) found in 2007 that the plane had run out of fuel because it had failed to take on enough before leaving Bari.
It said this was the result of a faulty fuel gauge, which had been installed the previous day by the maintenance arm of Tunisair, owner of Tuninter.
Ground crew had installed a fuel gauge designed for the ATR-42, which is similar to the ATR-72 but has smaller fuel tanks, the ANSV found. The same conclusions were reached by the manufacturer.
Prosecutors say that after both the plane's engines cut out, the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land in the Mediterranean instead of trying to reach the nearest airport.
This has been sent by Lalit Narayan
I think it was G K Chesterton who said more things are done by prayer than this world thinks of.
Well, this is one accident that was not avoided by prayer and the person saying the prayer was punished.
If the pilot had not said his prayers, and concentrated on the job in hand, maybe he could have landed nearer the shore like the Canadian pilot who landed on the lakes in Canada and valuable lives could have been sent.
God says you should first do karma and then leave everything to God, because He does everything through humans.
Radheshyam
An Italian court has jailed a Tunisian pilot who paused to pray instead of taking emergency measures before ditching his plane, killing 16 people.
A fuel gauge fault was partly to blame for the crash off Sicily in 2005 but judges convicted Chafik Garbi of manslaughter, jailing him for 10 years.
Six others, including the co-pilot and head of the airline Tuninter, were jailed for between eight and 10 years.
The accused will not spend time in jail until the appeals process is completed.
''This was an unprecedented sentence but we have always maintained that it was an unprecedented incident,'' Niky Persico, a lawyer for one of the victims, told Italy's Ansa news agency.
''Never before in the history of aviation disasters has there been such a chain of events and counter-events.''
Fuel gauge
The twin-engined Tuninter ATR-72 turboprop aeroplane was flying from the Italian city of Bari to the Tunisian island of Djerba on 6 August 2005, when it ran out of fuel and came down in the sea some 13km (eight miles) off the northern coast of Sicily.
Out of the total of 34 passengers and five crew on board, 23 survived. Many had to swim for their lives, while others clung on to floating pieces of the fuselage.
The Italian National Air Safety Board (ANSV) found in 2007 that the plane had run out of fuel because it had failed to take on enough before leaving Bari.
It said this was the result of a faulty fuel gauge, which had been installed the previous day by the maintenance arm of Tunisair, owner of Tuninter.
Ground crew had installed a fuel gauge designed for the ATR-42, which is similar to the ATR-72 but has smaller fuel tanks, the ANSV found. The same conclusions were reached by the manufacturer.
Prosecutors say that after both the plane's engines cut out, the pilot succumbed to panic, praying out loud instead of following emergency procedures and then opting to crash-land in the Mediterranean instead of trying to reach the nearest airport.
This has been sent by Lalit Narayan
I think it was G K Chesterton who said more things are done by prayer than this world thinks of.
Well, this is one accident that was not avoided by prayer and the person saying the prayer was punished.
If the pilot had not said his prayers, and concentrated on the job in hand, maybe he could have landed nearer the shore like the Canadian pilot who landed on the lakes in Canada and valuable lives could have been sent.
God says you should first do karma and then leave everything to God, because He does everything through humans.
Radheshyam
Lost - An Appeal,
This has been sent by Keith Hayward.
Please see if you can help the girl
This little girl is at the PHUKET HOSPITAL - She does not remember her own name or anything about herself.. She has lost her parents, please forward this EMAIL to all your contacts - someone might recognise her. She was a victim of the tidal wave disaster in Phuket , Thailand and nobody knows who she is. So we are hoping if we distribute this EMAIL around the world someone, God willing, will recognize her.
Please don't just delete this - your contribution could be the one that solves this little girl's problem
Even if you are one of the people who believes that it is always someone else's obligation to help the misfortunate, please know that forwarding this will cost you nothing. Let's help!! Forward this to everyone you can.
Please see if you can help the girl
This little girl is at the PHUKET HOSPITAL - She does not remember her own name or anything about herself.. She has lost her parents, please forward this EMAIL to all your contacts - someone might recognise her. She was a victim of the tidal wave disaster in Phuket , Thailand and nobody knows who she is. So we are hoping if we distribute this EMAIL around the world someone, God willing, will recognize her.
Please don't just delete this - your contribution could be the one that solves this little girl's problem
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Illegal Immigrants
Assam Assembly rocked by Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue
Guwahati, Jan 12 :
The North East Tribune
The Assam Assembly was today rocked by the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue as both the Opposition and Treasury benches clashed over the matter, trying in vain to reach a consensus over the issuance of identity cards to Indian citizens living in Assam.
The debate assumed significance as Union Home Minister P Chidambaram yesterday expressed concern over the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue, saying that the demographic pattern of the state was being changed because of infiltration.
The issue came up for discussion during Question Hour today on the supplementary raised by independent MLA Pranab Kalita, who accused the Congress of protecting the Bangladeshis and using them as a vote bank.
This comment sparked the debate as the Treasury bench refuted the allegation while the Opposition came to the rescue of the Independent MLA and clashed with the Treasury bench.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi intervened into the debate at least three times and mooted the idea of issuing temporary identity cards to the people living in Assam till the preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was completed.
However, the Opposition parties objected to this and leader of the opposition Chandra Mohan Patowary said identity cards should be issued only after the complete preparation of the NRC.
Intervening in the heated debate, Assam Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain said the border outpost was being strengthened and second line of defence was also being put up to stop the menace.
But that did not satisfy the opposition as they picked up the cue from Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement.
Chidambaram, speaking to a private TV channel last night, voiced concern over the ''ineffective'' monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India returned after his visa expired or stayed on.
Asked about steps to end illegal immigration, he said, ''I am now looking into what is happening on our borders and passport control points. I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month. There is no reason to issue so many visas.
And there is very ineffective monitoring system to check whether the person has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here.'' Chidambaram said porous borders and illegal immigration were causing ''unexpected demographic changes and a lot of angst'' among the native population of Assam and West Bengal.
The shadow boxing goes on in Assam the Assembly the state which is most affected.
Our Bgovernment welcomes then with open arms.
Our Central Government sits on the proposal to hang Afzal Guru.
Whom do you blame?
Our boarder security force which is supposed to guard our boarders allows these infiltators to enter India for paltry sums of Rs 100/- or
The village sarpanch or local MLA or the BDO who allots a Ration Card or other Identity proof to prove that they are Indian citizens.
Vote Bank Politics has destroyed India.
As per Swami Ramdeo there are 4 crore bangladeshis in India and I don't doubt his figure.Advani has said there are 2 crores
This problem will never be solved unless these corrupt politicians are removed.
Radheshyam
Guwahati, Jan 12 :
The North East Tribune
The Assam Assembly was today rocked by the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue as both the Opposition and Treasury benches clashed over the matter, trying in vain to reach a consensus over the issuance of identity cards to Indian citizens living in Assam.
The debate assumed significance as Union Home Minister P Chidambaram yesterday expressed concern over the Bangladeshi illegal immigrants issue, saying that the demographic pattern of the state was being changed because of infiltration.
The issue came up for discussion during Question Hour today on the supplementary raised by independent MLA Pranab Kalita, who accused the Congress of protecting the Bangladeshis and using them as a vote bank.
This comment sparked the debate as the Treasury bench refuted the allegation while the Opposition came to the rescue of the Independent MLA and clashed with the Treasury bench.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi intervened into the debate at least three times and mooted the idea of issuing temporary identity cards to the people living in Assam till the preparation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) was completed.
However, the Opposition parties objected to this and leader of the opposition Chandra Mohan Patowary said identity cards should be issued only after the complete preparation of the NRC.
Intervening in the heated debate, Assam Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain said the border outpost was being strengthened and second line of defence was also being put up to stop the menace.
But that did not satisfy the opposition as they picked up the cue from Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's statement.
Chidambaram, speaking to a private TV channel last night, voiced concern over the ''ineffective'' monitoring system to check whether a Bangladeshi coming to India returned after his visa expired or stayed on.
Asked about steps to end illegal immigration, he said, ''I am now looking into what is happening on our borders and passport control points. I think we issue a very large number of visas to Bangladeshis every month. There is no reason to issue so many visas.
And there is very ineffective monitoring system to check whether the person has gone back to Bangladesh or remained here.'' Chidambaram said porous borders and illegal immigration were causing ''unexpected demographic changes and a lot of angst'' among the native population of Assam and West Bengal.
The shadow boxing goes on in Assam the Assembly the state which is most affected.
Our Bgovernment welcomes then with open arms.
Our Central Government sits on the proposal to hang Afzal Guru.
Whom do you blame?
Our boarder security force which is supposed to guard our boarders allows these infiltators to enter India for paltry sums of Rs 100/- or
The village sarpanch or local MLA or the BDO who allots a Ration Card or other Identity proof to prove that they are Indian citizens.
Vote Bank Politics has destroyed India.
As per Swami Ramdeo there are 4 crore bangladeshis in India and I don't doubt his figure.Advani has said there are 2 crores
This problem will never be solved unless these corrupt politicians are removed.
Radheshyam
Mukhtar Ansari's Electoral Aspirations shot down
Ansari barred from polls
LUCKNOW, March 25: The Allahabad High Court has denied permission to jailed mafia don Mukhtar Ansari to file his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election. The Bahujan Samaj Party had named Ansari its LS candidate from Varanasi. Ansari is currently lodged in Ghazipur Jail for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. He was supposed to file his nomination papers tomorrow.Responding to Ansari’s application, the Court said that since he was under judicial custody, his voting rights are automatically suspended. The jailed don has over two dozen criminal charges pending against him, including murder, attempt to murder, loot, land grabbing and extortion. n SNS
After Patna High Court shooting down Shahabuddin's electoral aspirations, Allahbad High Cout has followed suit by killing Mukhtar Ansari's hopes.
I must thank both the High Courts for having done their duty.
But the question arises as to how these type of criminals could make such appeals.
Persons who have committed heinous crimes against the nation or against humanity should not have recourse to such appeals.
Among these crimes could be:
Dacoity, rape, murder or attempt to murder, terrorism, drug traficking, manufacture or selling of spurious drugs, adulteration of food items which could result in death or disablement, extortion with threat of death, smuggling or dealing in counterfeit currency to destroy India's economy.
All the above crimes should be non-bailable and debar a person from elections.
Radheshyam
LUCKNOW, March 25: The Allahabad High Court has denied permission to jailed mafia don Mukhtar Ansari to file his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election. The Bahujan Samaj Party had named Ansari its LS candidate from Varanasi. Ansari is currently lodged in Ghazipur Jail for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. He was supposed to file his nomination papers tomorrow.Responding to Ansari’s application, the Court said that since he was under judicial custody, his voting rights are automatically suspended. The jailed don has over two dozen criminal charges pending against him, including murder, attempt to murder, loot, land grabbing and extortion. n SNS
After Patna High Court shooting down Shahabuddin's electoral aspirations, Allahbad High Cout has followed suit by killing Mukhtar Ansari's hopes.
I must thank both the High Courts for having done their duty.
But the question arises as to how these type of criminals could make such appeals.
Persons who have committed heinous crimes against the nation or against humanity should not have recourse to such appeals.
Among these crimes could be:
Dacoity, rape, murder or attempt to murder, terrorism, drug traficking, manufacture or selling of spurious drugs, adulteration of food items which could result in death or disablement, extortion with threat of death, smuggling or dealing in counterfeit currency to destroy India's economy.
All the above crimes should be non-bailable and debar a person from elections.
Radheshyam
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Why should politicians stand from multiple constituencies?
Lalu struggling to keep up?
Manoj Chaurasia from "The Statesman"
Patna, March 24: Is the RJD chief Mr Lalu Prasad, who calls himself the champion of the downtrodden, really a “mass leader? Does he hold the charisma to win from any seat in Bihar or he is too scared of defeat?
What has triggered this debate in political circles ahead of the polls is the way the RJD chief has been changing his political constituencies, ignoring the voters who melted after listening to his emotional appeals and lent their support to him. In the last 32 years, since he started his political career as one of the youngest MPs in the country in Chapra in 1977, Mr Prasad has travelled to almost half of the north Bihar districts ~ Chapra, Sonepur (Saran), Danapur (Patna), Raghopur (Vaishali), Madhepura, and Pataliputra (Patna) ~ looking for a constituencies to settle down permanently. His quest for such a place is yet to succeed.
This time, the “Global Management Guru” ~ an epithet given to him after he was credited with turning the sick Indian railways into a milking cow as Union railway minister ~ will contest from two seats in Bihar, bringing the total number of constituencies he has contested to six. He is currently contesting from Patliputra ~ the new parliamentary seat which has come into being after the delimitation exercise ~ in addition to Chapra (now Saran). He announced this yesterday when releasing the list of party candidates for the 25 seats, of a total 28, that the RJD will be contesting in Bihar. Strangely, he laid claim to two seats at a time when the party faces revolt from within due to the denial of party tickets to sitting MPs and old party leaders.
Observers are surprised at the way that, even after three decades of his political career, the RJD president has been unable to find a constituency he can call his own. He has perpetually been wandering like a nomad looking for a safe place to pitch his tent for another five years. What has astounded them further is the way that Mr Prasad has switched to a new constituency now, despite after claiming to have moved the world by scripting the success of Indian railways.
“He (Mr Prasad) is short on confidence and does not have faith in his abilities to win from one seat,” the chief minister Mr Nitish Kumar commented. The general message has not gone down well either. The common man, reacting through the newspapers, has sought to discourage outsiders purporting to be have the voters' best interests at heart only during the election season.
Most politicians in Bihar, political experts say, nurse one or two constituencies which they call their own. Mr Prasad is unique in Bihar in changing his constituencies frequently. He can’t say any constituency is his with confidence, they said.
Most of the constituencies from where he tried his luck in the past, official records show, have been dominated by his fellow Yadav caste voters. This negates his claim to be a mass leader or representative of every section of society. “If Mr Prasad does not have the confidence to win at a time when the entire world is singing his paens over the railway success story and foreign business schools are conducting research on his charisma, then when (will he have an easy win)?” asked a political expert from Patna BN College.
Mr Prasad contested the last polls from Chapra and Madhepura seats and won both comfortable margins, but he vacated Madhepura later. He was reportedly annoyed with the people of Madhepura, who backed his rival Mr Sharad Yadav in the 1999 Lok Sabha polls and caused an embarrassing defeat.
This time he has abandoned his old constituency Madhepura forever and reached Pataliputra, perhaps looking for some permanence. This could allow him to conduct the final round of politics from the state capital, although Chapra (Saran) is still in his mind. Yet the people are not sure if Mr Prasad will retain Chapra if he wins both seats. He has a history of forgetting the old seat he won last time.
I do not understand why our corrupt politicians should be allowed to stand for elections from more than one constituency. In case the person wins from both constituency he has to vacate one of the seats which again goes for elections. Thies requires expenses for both the government and the candidates.
Depending upon his party a person may spend anywhere between 10 lachs to 5 crores for a MP election and between 5 lakhs to 50 lakhs for an MLA election.
If a person wants to stand from more than one Parliament seat, he should be made to pay Rs 5.0 crore extra for each additional constuency he files his nomination from and Rs 1.0 crore for an Assembly seat.
This money should be distributed betwwen the state and those candidates who spent their money and lost in that constituency.
These corrupt leaders who promise the electorate the moon and then run away to fool other electorates should be punished
Beware your Roadside Eatery
It's in INDIA - Karnataka - Bangalore
A 10 year old boy, had eaten pineapple about 15 days back,
A 10 year old boy, had eaten pineapple about 15 days back,
and fell sick, from the day he had eaten.
Later when he had his Health check
done..... doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS.
His parents couldn't believe it...
Later when he had his Health check
done..... doctors diagnosed that he had AIDS.
His parents couldn't believe it...
Then the entire family under went a checkup...
none of them suffered from Aids.
So the doctors checked again
with the boy if he had eaten out....The boy said 'yes'.
So the doctors checked again
with the boy if he had eaten out....The boy said 'yes'.
He had pineapple that evening.
Immediately a group from the hospital went to the
pineapple vendor to check.
They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger
Immediately a group from the hospital went to the
pineapple vendor to check.
They found the pineapple seller had a cut on his finger
while cutting the pineapple; his blood had spread into the fruit.
When they had his blood checked...the guy was suffering from AIDS...
But he himself was NOT aware.
Unfortunately the boy is suffering from it now.
Please take care while you eat on the road side
When they had his blood checked...the guy was suffering from AIDS...
But he himself was NOT aware.
Unfortunately the boy is suffering from it now.
Please take care while you eat on the road side
(particularly tasty vada pav & Paani Puri).
PEOPLE PLEASE TAKE CARE
PEOPLE PLEASE TAKE CARE
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
What Ails Bengal ?
Bengal won't forgive Mamata for Nano exit: LF chairman
PTITuesday, March 24, 2009 18:41
Berhampore (WB): During the coming election, people of West Bengal would not forgive Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for forcing the Tatas to exit from Singur from where Nano could have been rolled out, Left Front chairman Biman Bose today said
"The people of Bengal are unhappy at Nano's rollout from Mumbai.... They will not forgive Mamata Banerjee,"Bose said reffering to the Mamata Banerjee-led opposition at Singur which Ratan Tata had held responsible for the project's shift to Sanand in Gujarat.
He blamed prime minister Manmohan Singh for his 'wrong approach' in handling foreign policy and developmental issues.
"There has been no development in the country during the last five years of UPA rule," Bose, also the CPI(M) state secretary, told reporters here.
He said the Third Front was formed keeping in mind the overall development, peace and harmony of the country. Many parties are leaving the UPA and the NDA
to partner with the Third Front, he claimed. He was at Berhampore in Murshidabad district to attend a district level meeting of Left parties workers, where RSP State secretary Debabrata Bandhopadhyay, Socialist Party's state secretary Kiran Moi Nanda were also present.
Biman Bose is right when he says the people of Bengal will not forgive Mamata Banerjee for Nano Exit.
He should also have added that the same people of Bengal will not forgive Jyoti Basu and the Left Front government for driving out all industries from Bengal since 1967.
Mamata is just following Jyoti Basu's footsteps.
I wish Jyoti Basu lives to a ripe old age of at least 150 so that he continues to see the mess he has created.
PTITuesday, March 24, 2009 18:41
Berhampore (WB): During the coming election, people of West Bengal would not forgive Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee for forcing the Tatas to exit from Singur from where Nano could have been rolled out, Left Front chairman Biman Bose today said
"The people of Bengal are unhappy at Nano's rollout from Mumbai.... They will not forgive Mamata Banerjee,"Bose said reffering to the Mamata Banerjee-led opposition at Singur which Ratan Tata had held responsible for the project's shift to Sanand in Gujarat.
He blamed prime minister Manmohan Singh for his 'wrong approach' in handling foreign policy and developmental issues.
"There has been no development in the country during the last five years of UPA rule," Bose, also the CPI(M) state secretary, told reporters here.
He said the Third Front was formed keeping in mind the overall development, peace and harmony of the country. Many parties are leaving the UPA and the NDA
to partner with the Third Front, he claimed. He was at Berhampore in Murshidabad district to attend a district level meeting of Left parties workers, where RSP State secretary Debabrata Bandhopadhyay, Socialist Party's state secretary Kiran Moi Nanda were also present.
Biman Bose is right when he says the people of Bengal will not forgive Mamata Banerjee for Nano Exit.
He should also have added that the same people of Bengal will not forgive Jyoti Basu and the Left Front government for driving out all industries from Bengal since 1967.
Mamata is just following Jyoti Basu's footsteps.
I wish Jyoti Basu lives to a ripe old age of at least 150 so that he continues to see the mess he has created.
Shahabuddin's Appeal rejected
Patna HC stops Shahabuddin from contesting
Patna: Patna High Court disallowed controversial RJD MP from Siwan Mohd Shahabuddin's petition seeking to contest Lok Sabha polls in Bihar by refusing to stay his conviction in a kidnap and murder case but granted him regular bail in it.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Shivakirti Singh and Sheema Ali Khan refused to stay the conviction and disallowed him to fight the elections.
The court had on March 16 reserved its order on two interlocutory applications of the MP seeking bail and suspension of a lower court order convicting him in a kidnap and murder case to pave the way for his contesting the elections from Siwan.
The court ordered the RJD MP to file a bail bond of Rs 10,000 with two sureties of like amount to obtain bail from the trial court.
It also directed Shahabuddin not to leave the Siwan district limits till the trial of the case in superior courts. Though the court's order allowing bail came as a major reprieve for Shahabuddin, he will continue to be in judicial custody in some other cases in which he has already been convicted by the lower court.
I am thankful to the Patna High court for refusing to stay the conviction.
However, why should bail be granted to a person accused of such heinous crimes and that too with a paltry sum of Rs 10000.00 bond. This is chicken feed for a person who deals in crores.
They should be made to rot in jails as long as they continue to file appeals against their conviction. Otherwise they come out and threaten the witnesses and make them change their statements.
They are making a joke of the judicial system of the country.
Once convicted, they should not be allowed to stand for elections notwithstanding any appeals they may make in higher courts.
Patna: Patna High Court disallowed controversial RJD MP from Siwan Mohd Shahabuddin's petition seeking to contest Lok Sabha polls in Bihar by refusing to stay his conviction in a kidnap and murder case but granted him regular bail in it.
A division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Shivakirti Singh and Sheema Ali Khan refused to stay the conviction and disallowed him to fight the elections.
The court had on March 16 reserved its order on two interlocutory applications of the MP seeking bail and suspension of a lower court order convicting him in a kidnap and murder case to pave the way for his contesting the elections from Siwan.
The court ordered the RJD MP to file a bail bond of Rs 10,000 with two sureties of like amount to obtain bail from the trial court.
It also directed Shahabuddin not to leave the Siwan district limits till the trial of the case in superior courts. Though the court's order allowing bail came as a major reprieve for Shahabuddin, he will continue to be in judicial custody in some other cases in which he has already been convicted by the lower court.
I am thankful to the Patna High court for refusing to stay the conviction.
However, why should bail be granted to a person accused of such heinous crimes and that too with a paltry sum of Rs 10000.00 bond. This is chicken feed for a person who deals in crores.
They should be made to rot in jails as long as they continue to file appeals against their conviction. Otherwise they come out and threaten the witnesses and make them change their statements.
They are making a joke of the judicial system of the country.
Once convicted, they should not be allowed to stand for elections notwithstanding any appeals they may make in higher courts.
If you cannot stand, prop up your wife
The new fad is if you cannot stand for elections because of your criminal record, put up your wife to keep the seat warm until your return.
Lalu set the ball rolling when his wife Rabri ruled Bihar while he was in jail.
Can his trusted lieutenant, Shahabuddin be much behind.
He too has put up his wife.
Read on
Jailed MP’s wife on Lalu list
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Patna, March 23: Voters willing, the wife of a convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal MP will take over from her husband in his stronghold that has a large number of Muslims.
Mohammad Shahabuddin’s wife Heena Sahab figures on the list of candidates that RJD boss Lalu Prasad announced here today.
She is the nominee from Siwan, a seat that her don-turned-MP husband has been winning since 1996.
Shahabuddin, whose appeal for suspension of his conviction is still pending, had requested Lalu Prasad to contest the seat himself. But the RJD boss appears to have decided that Heena will be a “better” choice.
Lalu Prasad will himself contest from Saran and Pataliputra. He had won Saran and Madhepura in 2004 but kept the former.
This time, he has preferred Pataliputra, a new Yadav-dominated constituency carved out as a result of delimitation. Saran (old Chapra) has been his stronghold.
Abdul Bari Sidiqui, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Lallan Paswan will be the RJD nominees from Madhubani, Aurangabad and Sasaram. These had been left to the Congress last week and were won by the party in 2004.
The announcement could further rankle the Congress, which has decided not to name nominees against Lalu Prasad in his two seats and Ram Vilas Paswan in Hajipur.
The RJD, which listed 25 candidates today, has not taken a decision on Maharajganj, Patna Saheb and Madhepura, from where Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav will be in the fray.
Who is this Shahabuddin?
For those who do not know here is a report when he was convicted
March 23, 2009RJD MP Shahabuddin sentenced to 10 years jail
News Desk - September 26, 2008
A special court in Siwan on Friday awarded 10 years of jail to Rashtriya Janata Dal MP, Mohammed Shahabuddin, for illegal possession of arms.
In 2001, police had found sophisticated firearms, including hand grenades and AK-46 rifles, from Shahabuddin’s ancestral house in Pratappur in Siwan district. A case was then filed against him under the Arms Act at the Hussainganj police station.
Earlier in May a court pronounced him guilty under section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) in the case relating to kidnapping of CPI-ML worker Chote Lal Gupta on February 7, 1999. He was awarded life imprisonment in the case.
Mohammad Shahabuddin, one of India’s most notorious criminal-politicians, is the Member of Parliament from Siwan. He is a close associate of RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav.
He is facing trial in more than thirty criminal cases including eight of murder, twenty of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, possession of illegal arms of foreign make, unaccounted foreign currency and violation of Wildlife Act, pending against him.
He has been winning Lok Sabha elections from Siwan since 1996, prior to which he was elected twice to the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Few opponents dare campaign publicly for fear; in addition, he is widely believed to have rigged many polling stations in the past.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government
As a leading member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, he is part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance government of Manmohan Singh.
For those who would like to know more, here is his biography from the Wikipedia.
Personal life
Md. Shahabuddin is married and has a son (Osama) and two daughters (Tasleem and Herah).
Criminal career
Shahabuddin came into the criminal-political limelight while at college in the 1980s; he came to be known for his daredevil fighting and his opposition to the growing reach of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML). He came to be known as Shaabu-AK 47, based on his mastery of this assault machine-gun[6].
Unlike many other criminal-politicians from Bihar, however, he emerged relatively free from vice; it is said he does not drink, and is straight with women. He reads extensively and believes in bodybuilding[4]. He is a devout muslim, but does not campaign based on religion; in any event Siwan is only 15% Muslim. At one point he ordered the boundary wall of a mosque demolished because it was encroaching on public space.
The first criminal case against Shahabuddin was filed in 1985. Since then, Shahabuddin has accumulated an extensive criminal record, primarily in the Hussain Ganj police station at Siwan, where he is listed as a "history sheeter type A" (a hardened criminal with a history of crime). Type A is taken to indicate criminals who are beyond reform.
Political career
In the early 1990s, Shahabuddin came into the political limelight, joining the Janata Dal under Lalu Prasad Yadav. He won several elections to the state legislature, and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996, after which he grew in stature.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, but he had to be dropped after the media highlighted his criminal background [7].
With Lalu Prasad continuing at the state level government, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, Shahabuddin's power increased dramatically. A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 2001 states:
The patronage and defacto immunity from legal action offered to him by the RJD government gradually made him a law unto himself and gave him an aura of invincibility. Since the police turned a blind eye to his criminal activities and allowed him to turn Siwan district into his fiefdom where his fiat ran.... Shahabuddin's reign of terror has been so complete that nobody dared depose against him in cases in which he was an accused.[8]
Police-Shahabuddin Firefight (March 2001)
Shahabuddin became extremely arrogant against the police and other bodies, slapping police officers and even shooting at them.
In March 2001 the police were executing a warrant on Mr. Manoj Kumar Pappu, the president of the local RJD unit, when Shahabuddin objected and slapped the arresting officer Sanjiv Kumar[8], while his men beat up the police. The police then re-grouped in strength and a pitched battle was launched on Shahabuddin's house, with help being sought from other police units in the vicinity, including one from Uttar Pradesh.
In the extensive fire exchange that followed, two policemen and eight others were killed[8], with three AK-47s and other weapons being found near several of the deceased. Shahabuddin and his men escaped, setting fire to three police jeeps, and firing continuously to cover their movements. Neither Shahabuddin nor Manoj Kumar could be arrested. After this episode, several more cases were filed against Shahabuddin; however he could not be arrested.
By the early 2000s, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding "kangaroo courts" to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors’ consultancy fees, and arbitrating on marital problems[9].
Vivid descriptions of Shahabuddin's style of operation were reported in the media in the runup to the 2004 elections.
Elections, April 2004 (from Prison)
In late 2003, eight months before the Indian general elections, 2004, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of kidnapping a CPI(ML) worker in 1999, who was then never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he managed to get shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds, and where a complete floor was set aside for him. Here he conducted meetings organizing his elections, and anyone could walk in to meet him, subject to checks by his bodyguards. Every afternoon at four, he held audience for his subjects, who arrived to meet their Saheb (boss), and to get their problems resolved[3]. One petitioner turned out to be a policeman seeking a promotion[4]; Sahabuddin called up the police bosses on his mobile phone and arranged things on the spot. For another petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, brought him a rifle as a gift, right there in his prison[4].
Although the elections saw little activity by the opposition - every shop carried a photograph of the Saheb, and according to a BBC report:
There is almost no sign of the opposition campaigning in the constituency. One villager, pleading that his identity should not be disclosed, said: "Do you want to get us hanged by telling you what we feel about elections here and who we would like to vote for?"[3]
In fact, several phone booth owners and other businessmen were killed after putting up banners or posters of opponents[10].
However, many voters were also clearly happy with Shahabuddin for having improved the roads, and for having made healthcare more accessible (earlier, doctors would often play truant). Shahabuddin himself feels he wins on merit: "I will win because I have ensured development and law and order in my region."[11].
A few days before the election, the Patna High Court directed the state government to ensure that Shahabuddin was properly jailed, instead of the hospital floor[12].
During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations[10] and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India.
Results and Aftermath
When the election results were announced, it turned out that although Shahabuddin won comfortably, his nearest Janata Dal (United) opponent, Om Prakash Yadav, a man whom Shahabuddin had once badly beaten up in a public place, had managed to get two lakh votes, about 33.5% of the electorate. In the 1999 elections, JD(U) had polled only 7.5% of the vote[13] , so this was a huge gain for them.
Within days of these results being announced, nine party workers of the JD(U) were killed, and a large number were beaten up; it is widely believed that this was a retaliation for daring to put up a credible fight[4].
Harendra Kushawaha, the mukhia (chief of Panchayat or village council) of the Bhanta Pokhar village where Om Prakash Yadav had a strong majority, was shot dead at a government office[10].
After several bullets were fired at Om Prakash Yadav's house, the civil authorities assigned him a posse of eight armed policemen as bodyguards.[4]
Well after the elections, a case was filed against Shahabuddin that he had lied in his electoral declaration; whereas he had said he had been named in 19 cases, at the time, there were 34 cases pending against him[14].
Home Arsenal (April 2005)
Despite being the elected representative of the region, he was barred from entering Siwan for many months in 2005, since he was perceived as a security threat[2].
In April 2005, a police raid led by SP Ratn Sanjay on Shahabuddin's house in Pratappur revealed illegal arms such as AK-47s, as well as other military weaponry authorized for possession only by the army, including night-vision goggles, Laser-guided guns, etc.[14]. Some of the arms had the markings of Pakistan ordinance factories, and the then Chief of Police (DGP), Bihar, D.P. Ojha alleged in a report[15] that Shahabuddin had ties with the Pakistan intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Subsequently, eight non-bailable warrants were issued for arresting Shahabuddin.
However, his party was part of the United Progressive Alliance headed by Manmohan Singh, and clearly he had considerable clout. Thus, although he was living in his official assigned quarter in Delhi, and attending parliament, the Delhi police and a special team sent from Bihar could not arrest him for over three months[16]. However, a team from Bihar, without informing anyone, was finally able to arrest him from his official residence in New Delhi in November 2005. Subsequently, he was refused bail by the Supreme Court of India[17], where he was asked at one point:
By virtue of being an MP, are you entitled to keep these weapons, including a night vision device, when even the police, CRPF and other security agencies do not have it and only the army possesses it?[18]
Criminal Trials
In May 2006, Nitish Kumar's National Democratic Alliance government set up a number of special courts for trying criminal-dons including Suraj Bhan Singh (mafia don/MP), and MP Prabhunath Singh from Nitish Kumar's own party, Janata Dal (United).
However, Shahabuddin claimed to have suffered a slipped disc, and was not in a position to appear in court[19]. Medical reports however, indicated that he was fit to walk. In any event, two special courts were set up inside Siwan Jail to try the cases pending against him[20].
There were more than thirty criminal cases pending, including eight of murder, and 20 of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, etc.[2]. Of these, charges were initially framed in eight cases.
Besides these police-registered cases, many other crimes are unreported. These include a large number of "disappearances" from Siwan; reports in the media allege that as many as a hundred bodies may be buried on the grounds of Shahabuddin's well-fortified Pratappur palace[21], the venue where the entire Bihar state police had to retreat after a fierce firefight while attempting to serve a warrant in 2001 (the three policemen killed in this battle also figure in the list of cases against him).
Attempts to Intimidate the Legal Process
In July 2006, one of the session judges trying the cases, V.B. Gupta, was threatened by lawyer Mahtab Alam, who initially offered "allurements" for "rescuing" Shahabuddin. When this did not work, he threatened to eliminate the judge[22]. Subsequently the Patna High Court ordered that a charge be registered against the lawyer Mahtab Alam[23].
In August 2006, while undergoing treatment in New Delhi, some supporters of Shahabuddin were prevented from entering by the Assistant Jailor of Patna's Beur Jail Vashisht Rai, then on deputation at the ward in AIIMS. Apparently Shahabuddin told Rai:
Your family lives in Baniapur (near Chhabra, Bihar). No one will survive.[24]
Early in May 2007, the RJD the central minister Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi came to Siwan jail to meet Shahabuddin. However, Shahabuddin wanted the meeting in his jail cell, and not in the visitor's area, which is against jail rules. When this was not permitted by jail officials, Fatmi left. Shahabuddin then threatened sub-inspector DK Pandey in court:
Bahut din se tum logon ki pitai nahin hui hai. Bail hone do peet ke rakh denge (you people have not been beaten up for a long time. Let me come out on bail and I will thrash you)"[25]
The very next day, he again threatened jailor Sanjeev Kumar:
Tadpa tadpa ke maarenge (I will torture you slowly to death).[26]
Both these incidents were formally registered as First Information Reports under the code relating to criminal intimidation, and deterring a public servant from discharge of his duty.
Convictions
Shahabuddin is possibly the most prominent criminal-politician in India today; his is the standard to which other criminal-politicians are compared. For instance, Mukhtar Ansari, who killed his opponent BJP politician Krishanand Rai and is now occupying that Ghazipur seat, is commonly referred to as "the Shahabuddin of UP"[27].
Consequently, the Nitish Kumar government felt it important to bring some convictions against this noted criminal, thus re-inforcing its clean image.
Two years for assault on CPI-ML Office (Mar 2007)
In March 2007, Magistrate V V Gupta in a Siwan court (running inside the prison) sentenced Mohammad Shahabuddin to two years imprisonment for the assault on the CPI-ML offices in Siwan on September 19, 1998. Shahabuddin and his armed supporters had bombed the premises and assaulted office secretary Keshav Baitha, who was brutally beaten up and suffered splinter injuries from the bomb blast. The court has also fined him Rs 1,000[28] (about USD 20. Indian fines follow antiquated laws, and are often very paltry in today's terms).
Life Sentence for Kidnapping leading to murder (May 2007)
In May 2007, he was convicted of the abduction of the trader and CPI(ML) worker, Chhote Lal Gupta, in February 1999, who was never seen thereafter and is widely presumed to have been killed.
While it could be established that Shahabuddin with his gang had kidnapped Chhotelal (an witness could identify him), the dead body was never recovered, so charges of murder could not be upheld. Justice Gyaneshwar Srivastava sentenced him to life imprisonment[29] [30] under Article 164 (abduction with intent to murder).
The verdict has been challenged in Patna High court; some of the points noted are that the conviction relied on a lone witness, who identified Shahabuddin in court, after a gap of seven years, without the benefit of a prior identification parade[31].
Under Indian law (section 8(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951), a person is disqualified from contesting elections if sentenced for more than two years[32]. However, Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah has stated that this conviction needs to be after all appeals are exhaustedNDTV Correspondent, Siwan (May 8, 2007). "Siwan court sentences Shahabuddin for life". NDTV. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070011293. Retrieved on 2007-06-04. , but it is likely that the Election Commission may have considerable latitude in this matter.
Thus he may be barred from the 2009 elections; however, he continues to be a member of the present Parliament.
Pending Cases
Meanwhile, other trials are progressing in eight other cases in Siwan where charges have been filed, these cover the following articles from the Indian Penal Code:
302 (murder),
307 (attempts to murder),
364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder),
365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person),
379 (punishment for theft),
147 (punishment for rioting),
148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and
324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means)[33]
In addition, charges are yet to be taken up in another 23 cases.
Simultaneously cases are also under trial in other parts of the country, including a triple murder case in Jamshedpur[2].
One of the important trials is in regard to the abduction and murder of CPI-ML activist Munna Choudhary in 2001[34], in which witness Rajkumar Sharma, himself a criminal, has surrendered to the police, and is said to have recorded a statement identifying Shahabuddin:
Sharma said on January 6, 2001, he was roaming around on a motorcycle with his friend Munna Chowdhary in Vishunpur village when Shahabuddin, accompanied by his goons Rama Chowdhary, Manoj Das, Jawahar Chowdhary, and Pappu Srivastava arrived in three separate cars and opened indiscriminate firing at them.
One bullet struck the tire of the motorcycle causing them to hit the ground. Shahabuddin then fired one shot at Munna Chowdhary's leg and then dragged him into one of the vehicles and fled, Sharma told the police.
"Later, I learnt that Munna was killed and dumped into an abandoned chimney," he said.[35]
If Sharma stands by this testimony, perhaps more verdicts will be coming up against Shahabuddin (witnesses are often bumped off, even inside court premises, or may be induced to change their statements, e.g. see the Manu Sharma or Sanjeev Nanda trials).
Weakening of Clout
Following these verdicts, it appears that some of Shahabuddin's clout may have weakened. Contrary to the situation in April 2004, he is in a real prison now, and several mobile phones have been recovered from him and his henchmen in the jail by police officials[36]. This resulted in yet another case being lodged against him for violation of jail rules, and two police constables being suspended[37].
These are the people we have been electing.
RISE INDIA RISE.
Chose only honest people without any criminal record.
The THIRD WAR OF INDEPENDENCE is on against these corrupt politicians.
Lalu set the ball rolling when his wife Rabri ruled Bihar while he was in jail.
Can his trusted lieutenant, Shahabuddin be much behind.
He too has put up his wife.
Read on
Jailed MP’s wife on Lalu list
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Patna, March 23: Voters willing, the wife of a convicted Rashtriya Janata Dal MP will take over from her husband in his stronghold that has a large number of Muslims.
Mohammad Shahabuddin’s wife Heena Sahab figures on the list of candidates that RJD boss Lalu Prasad announced here today.
She is the nominee from Siwan, a seat that her don-turned-MP husband has been winning since 1996.
Shahabuddin, whose appeal for suspension of his conviction is still pending, had requested Lalu Prasad to contest the seat himself. But the RJD boss appears to have decided that Heena will be a “better” choice.
Lalu Prasad will himself contest from Saran and Pataliputra. He had won Saran and Madhepura in 2004 but kept the former.
This time, he has preferred Pataliputra, a new Yadav-dominated constituency carved out as a result of delimitation. Saran (old Chapra) has been his stronghold.
Abdul Bari Sidiqui, Shakeel Ahmad Khan and Lallan Paswan will be the RJD nominees from Madhubani, Aurangabad and Sasaram. These had been left to the Congress last week and were won by the party in 2004.
The announcement could further rankle the Congress, which has decided not to name nominees against Lalu Prasad in his two seats and Ram Vilas Paswan in Hajipur.
The RJD, which listed 25 candidates today, has not taken a decision on Maharajganj, Patna Saheb and Madhepura, from where Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav will be in the fray.
Who is this Shahabuddin?
For those who do not know here is a report when he was convicted
March 23, 2009RJD MP Shahabuddin sentenced to 10 years jail
News Desk - September 26, 2008
A special court in Siwan on Friday awarded 10 years of jail to Rashtriya Janata Dal MP, Mohammed Shahabuddin, for illegal possession of arms.
In 2001, police had found sophisticated firearms, including hand grenades and AK-46 rifles, from Shahabuddin’s ancestral house in Pratappur in Siwan district. A case was then filed against him under the Arms Act at the Hussainganj police station.
Earlier in May a court pronounced him guilty under section 364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder) in the case relating to kidnapping of CPI-ML worker Chote Lal Gupta on February 7, 1999. He was awarded life imprisonment in the case.
Mohammad Shahabuddin, one of India’s most notorious criminal-politicians, is the Member of Parliament from Siwan. He is a close associate of RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav.
He is facing trial in more than thirty criminal cases including eight of murder, twenty of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, possession of illegal arms of foreign make, unaccounted foreign currency and violation of Wildlife Act, pending against him.
He has been winning Lok Sabha elections from Siwan since 1996, prior to which he was elected twice to the Bihar Legislative Assembly. Few opponents dare campaign publicly for fear; in addition, he is widely believed to have rigged many polling stations in the past.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government
As a leading member of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) political party headed by Lalu Prasad Yadav, he is part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance government of Manmohan Singh.
For those who would like to know more, here is his biography from the Wikipedia.
Personal life
Md. Shahabuddin is married and has a son (Osama) and two daughters (Tasleem and Herah).
Criminal career
Shahabuddin came into the criminal-political limelight while at college in the 1980s; he came to be known for his daredevil fighting and his opposition to the growing reach of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML). He came to be known as Shaabu-AK 47, based on his mastery of this assault machine-gun[6].
Unlike many other criminal-politicians from Bihar, however, he emerged relatively free from vice; it is said he does not drink, and is straight with women. He reads extensively and believes in bodybuilding[4]. He is a devout muslim, but does not campaign based on religion; in any event Siwan is only 15% Muslim. At one point he ordered the boundary wall of a mosque demolished because it was encroaching on public space.
The first criminal case against Shahabuddin was filed in 1985. Since then, Shahabuddin has accumulated an extensive criminal record, primarily in the Hussain Ganj police station at Siwan, where he is listed as a "history sheeter type A" (a hardened criminal with a history of crime). Type A is taken to indicate criminals who are beyond reform.
Political career
In the early 1990s, Shahabuddin came into the political limelight, joining the Janata Dal under Lalu Prasad Yadav. He won several elections to the state legislature, and was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1996, after which he grew in stature.
In 1996, Shahabuddin was named as a Minister of State for the Home Ministry (which oversees law and order) in the H.D. Deve Gowda government, but he had to be dropped after the media highlighted his criminal background [7].
With Lalu Prasad continuing at the state level government, and the formation of the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997, Shahabuddin's power increased dramatically. A report by the People's Union for Civil Liberties in 2001 states:
The patronage and defacto immunity from legal action offered to him by the RJD government gradually made him a law unto himself and gave him an aura of invincibility. Since the police turned a blind eye to his criminal activities and allowed him to turn Siwan district into his fiefdom where his fiat ran.... Shahabuddin's reign of terror has been so complete that nobody dared depose against him in cases in which he was an accused.[8]
Police-Shahabuddin Firefight (March 2001)
Shahabuddin became extremely arrogant against the police and other bodies, slapping police officers and even shooting at them.
In March 2001 the police were executing a warrant on Mr. Manoj Kumar Pappu, the president of the local RJD unit, when Shahabuddin objected and slapped the arresting officer Sanjiv Kumar[8], while his men beat up the police. The police then re-grouped in strength and a pitched battle was launched on Shahabuddin's house, with help being sought from other police units in the vicinity, including one from Uttar Pradesh.
In the extensive fire exchange that followed, two policemen and eight others were killed[8], with three AK-47s and other weapons being found near several of the deceased. Shahabuddin and his men escaped, setting fire to three police jeeps, and firing continuously to cover their movements. Neither Shahabuddin nor Manoj Kumar could be arrested. After this episode, several more cases were filed against Shahabuddin; however he could not be arrested.
By the early 2000s, Shahabuddin was running a parallel administration in Siwan, holding "kangaroo courts" to settle family and land disputes, fixing doctors’ consultancy fees, and arbitrating on marital problems[9].
Vivid descriptions of Shahabuddin's style of operation were reported in the media in the runup to the 2004 elections.
Elections, April 2004 (from Prison)
In late 2003, eight months before the Indian general elections, 2004, Shahabuddin was arrested on charges of kidnapping a CPI(ML) worker in 1999, who was then never seen again. Instead of staying in prison, he managed to get shifted to the Siwan hospital on medical grounds, and where a complete floor was set aside for him. Here he conducted meetings organizing his elections, and anyone could walk in to meet him, subject to checks by his bodyguards. Every afternoon at four, he held audience for his subjects, who arrived to meet their Saheb (boss), and to get their problems resolved[3]. One petitioner turned out to be a policeman seeking a promotion[4]; Sahabuddin called up the police bosses on his mobile phone and arranged things on the spot. For another petitioner, he called up a minister in Delhi. Another petitioner, wishing to resolve a land dispute, brought him a rifle as a gift, right there in his prison[4].
Although the elections saw little activity by the opposition - every shop carried a photograph of the Saheb, and according to a BBC report:
There is almost no sign of the opposition campaigning in the constituency. One villager, pleading that his identity should not be disclosed, said: "Do you want to get us hanged by telling you what we feel about elections here and who we would like to vote for?"[3]
In fact, several phone booth owners and other businessmen were killed after putting up banners or posters of opponents[10].
However, many voters were also clearly happy with Shahabuddin for having improved the roads, and for having made healthcare more accessible (earlier, doctors would often play truant). Shahabuddin himself feels he wins on merit: "I will win because I have ensured development and law and order in my region."[11].
A few days before the election, the Patna High Court directed the state government to ensure that Shahabuddin was properly jailed, instead of the hospital floor[12].
During the elections, largescale rigging and booth capturing were reported from as many as 500 polling stations[10] and re-polling was ordered by the autonomous election conducting body, Election Commission of India.
Results and Aftermath
When the election results were announced, it turned out that although Shahabuddin won comfortably, his nearest Janata Dal (United) opponent, Om Prakash Yadav, a man whom Shahabuddin had once badly beaten up in a public place, had managed to get two lakh votes, about 33.5% of the electorate. In the 1999 elections, JD(U) had polled only 7.5% of the vote[13] , so this was a huge gain for them.
Within days of these results being announced, nine party workers of the JD(U) were killed, and a large number were beaten up; it is widely believed that this was a retaliation for daring to put up a credible fight[4].
Harendra Kushawaha, the mukhia (chief of Panchayat or village council) of the Bhanta Pokhar village where Om Prakash Yadav had a strong majority, was shot dead at a government office[10].
After several bullets were fired at Om Prakash Yadav's house, the civil authorities assigned him a posse of eight armed policemen as bodyguards.[4]
Well after the elections, a case was filed against Shahabuddin that he had lied in his electoral declaration; whereas he had said he had been named in 19 cases, at the time, there were 34 cases pending against him[14].
Home Arsenal (April 2005)
Despite being the elected representative of the region, he was barred from entering Siwan for many months in 2005, since he was perceived as a security threat[2].
In April 2005, a police raid led by SP Ratn Sanjay on Shahabuddin's house in Pratappur revealed illegal arms such as AK-47s, as well as other military weaponry authorized for possession only by the army, including night-vision goggles, Laser-guided guns, etc.[14]. Some of the arms had the markings of Pakistan ordinance factories, and the then Chief of Police (DGP), Bihar, D.P. Ojha alleged in a report[15] that Shahabuddin had ties with the Pakistan intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Subsequently, eight non-bailable warrants were issued for arresting Shahabuddin.
However, his party was part of the United Progressive Alliance headed by Manmohan Singh, and clearly he had considerable clout. Thus, although he was living in his official assigned quarter in Delhi, and attending parliament, the Delhi police and a special team sent from Bihar could not arrest him for over three months[16]. However, a team from Bihar, without informing anyone, was finally able to arrest him from his official residence in New Delhi in November 2005. Subsequently, he was refused bail by the Supreme Court of India[17], where he was asked at one point:
By virtue of being an MP, are you entitled to keep these weapons, including a night vision device, when even the police, CRPF and other security agencies do not have it and only the army possesses it?[18]
Criminal Trials
In May 2006, Nitish Kumar's National Democratic Alliance government set up a number of special courts for trying criminal-dons including Suraj Bhan Singh (mafia don/MP), and MP Prabhunath Singh from Nitish Kumar's own party, Janata Dal (United).
However, Shahabuddin claimed to have suffered a slipped disc, and was not in a position to appear in court[19]. Medical reports however, indicated that he was fit to walk. In any event, two special courts were set up inside Siwan Jail to try the cases pending against him[20].
There were more than thirty criminal cases pending, including eight of murder, and 20 of attempted murder, as well as kidnapping, extortion, etc.[2]. Of these, charges were initially framed in eight cases.
Besides these police-registered cases, many other crimes are unreported. These include a large number of "disappearances" from Siwan; reports in the media allege that as many as a hundred bodies may be buried on the grounds of Shahabuddin's well-fortified Pratappur palace[21], the venue where the entire Bihar state police had to retreat after a fierce firefight while attempting to serve a warrant in 2001 (the three policemen killed in this battle also figure in the list of cases against him).
Attempts to Intimidate the Legal Process
In July 2006, one of the session judges trying the cases, V.B. Gupta, was threatened by lawyer Mahtab Alam, who initially offered "allurements" for "rescuing" Shahabuddin. When this did not work, he threatened to eliminate the judge[22]. Subsequently the Patna High Court ordered that a charge be registered against the lawyer Mahtab Alam[23].
In August 2006, while undergoing treatment in New Delhi, some supporters of Shahabuddin were prevented from entering by the Assistant Jailor of Patna's Beur Jail Vashisht Rai, then on deputation at the ward in AIIMS. Apparently Shahabuddin told Rai:
Your family lives in Baniapur (near Chhabra, Bihar). No one will survive.[24]
Early in May 2007, the RJD the central minister Md Ali Ashraf Fatmi came to Siwan jail to meet Shahabuddin. However, Shahabuddin wanted the meeting in his jail cell, and not in the visitor's area, which is against jail rules. When this was not permitted by jail officials, Fatmi left. Shahabuddin then threatened sub-inspector DK Pandey in court:
Bahut din se tum logon ki pitai nahin hui hai. Bail hone do peet ke rakh denge (you people have not been beaten up for a long time. Let me come out on bail and I will thrash you)"[25]
The very next day, he again threatened jailor Sanjeev Kumar:
Tadpa tadpa ke maarenge (I will torture you slowly to death).[26]
Both these incidents were formally registered as First Information Reports under the code relating to criminal intimidation, and deterring a public servant from discharge of his duty.
Convictions
Shahabuddin is possibly the most prominent criminal-politician in India today; his is the standard to which other criminal-politicians are compared. For instance, Mukhtar Ansari, who killed his opponent BJP politician Krishanand Rai and is now occupying that Ghazipur seat, is commonly referred to as "the Shahabuddin of UP"[27].
Consequently, the Nitish Kumar government felt it important to bring some convictions against this noted criminal, thus re-inforcing its clean image.
Two years for assault on CPI-ML Office (Mar 2007)
In March 2007, Magistrate V V Gupta in a Siwan court (running inside the prison) sentenced Mohammad Shahabuddin to two years imprisonment for the assault on the CPI-ML offices in Siwan on September 19, 1998. Shahabuddin and his armed supporters had bombed the premises and assaulted office secretary Keshav Baitha, who was brutally beaten up and suffered splinter injuries from the bomb blast. The court has also fined him Rs 1,000[28] (about USD 20. Indian fines follow antiquated laws, and are often very paltry in today's terms).
Life Sentence for Kidnapping leading to murder (May 2007)
In May 2007, he was convicted of the abduction of the trader and CPI(ML) worker, Chhote Lal Gupta, in February 1999, who was never seen thereafter and is widely presumed to have been killed.
While it could be established that Shahabuddin with his gang had kidnapped Chhotelal (an witness could identify him), the dead body was never recovered, so charges of murder could not be upheld. Justice Gyaneshwar Srivastava sentenced him to life imprisonment[29] [30] under Article 164 (abduction with intent to murder).
The verdict has been challenged in Patna High court; some of the points noted are that the conviction relied on a lone witness, who identified Shahabuddin in court, after a gap of seven years, without the benefit of a prior identification parade[31].
Under Indian law (section 8(3) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1951), a person is disqualified from contesting elections if sentenced for more than two years[32]. However, Bihar Home Secretary Afzal Amanullah has stated that this conviction needs to be after all appeals are exhaustedNDTV Correspondent, Siwan (May 8, 2007). "Siwan court sentences Shahabuddin for life". NDTV. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070011293. Retrieved on 2007-06-04. , but it is likely that the Election Commission may have considerable latitude in this matter.
Thus he may be barred from the 2009 elections; however, he continues to be a member of the present Parliament.
Pending Cases
Meanwhile, other trials are progressing in eight other cases in Siwan where charges have been filed, these cover the following articles from the Indian Penal Code:
302 (murder),
307 (attempts to murder),
364 (kidnapping or abducting in order to murder),
365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person),
379 (punishment for theft),
147 (punishment for rioting),
148 (rioting armed with deadly weapon) and
324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means)[33]
In addition, charges are yet to be taken up in another 23 cases.
Simultaneously cases are also under trial in other parts of the country, including a triple murder case in Jamshedpur[2].
One of the important trials is in regard to the abduction and murder of CPI-ML activist Munna Choudhary in 2001[34], in which witness Rajkumar Sharma, himself a criminal, has surrendered to the police, and is said to have recorded a statement identifying Shahabuddin:
Sharma said on January 6, 2001, he was roaming around on a motorcycle with his friend Munna Chowdhary in Vishunpur village when Shahabuddin, accompanied by his goons Rama Chowdhary, Manoj Das, Jawahar Chowdhary, and Pappu Srivastava arrived in three separate cars and opened indiscriminate firing at them.
One bullet struck the tire of the motorcycle causing them to hit the ground. Shahabuddin then fired one shot at Munna Chowdhary's leg and then dragged him into one of the vehicles and fled, Sharma told the police.
"Later, I learnt that Munna was killed and dumped into an abandoned chimney," he said.[35]
If Sharma stands by this testimony, perhaps more verdicts will be coming up against Shahabuddin (witnesses are often bumped off, even inside court premises, or may be induced to change their statements, e.g. see the Manu Sharma or Sanjeev Nanda trials).
Weakening of Clout
Following these verdicts, it appears that some of Shahabuddin's clout may have weakened. Contrary to the situation in April 2004, he is in a real prison now, and several mobile phones have been recovered from him and his henchmen in the jail by police officials[36]. This resulted in yet another case being lodged against him for violation of jail rules, and two police constables being suspended[37].
These are the people we have been electing.
RISE INDIA RISE.
Chose only honest people without any criminal record.
The THIRD WAR OF INDEPENDENCE is on against these corrupt politicians.
Monday, March 23, 2009
IPL goes out of India
OUT OF INDIA
England, SA in race to host IPL
Forced to shift: BCCI
Batting now: blame game
NCP at odds with ally
Sponsors to rejig field ad strategy
Board and beginners stand to lose
The above are some of the headlines in today's "Telegraph" after IPL's decision on shifting the tournament outside India.
I am my self not a cricket watching fan although I played cricket throughout my school and college days. I consider, watching cricket a waste of time.
However, even I do not accept the decision of IPL to shift venue outside India.
Postponing the matches by about a month or 15 days would not have brought down the heavens but by shifting the match outside India, they are giving wrong signal that India is an unsafe country.
Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley should stop playing politics with national security.If anybody is killed by terrorists, it will be the common man while they will be surrounded by Z class security.
I commend the Home Minister in sticking to his stand that security for the elections is the prime concern and the IPL tamasha should wait.
Everybody is aware that we are having our elections but the IPL decides not to be aware of the security required even after seeing the carnage in Mumbai and Karachi.
If they shift, well and good. But the people of India have now seen through their selfish motives.
The Indian Government should follow the USA which has taxed at the rate of 90%, the bonus being received by employees of companies who are receiving aid from the government.
The earnings of both BCCI and the IPL should be taxed at 90%, since these earning are being financed by the people of India who are there largest viewers.
The government should also stop bending backwards in accomodating their every whims.
All expenses incurred for security and infrastructure development should be charged to these two organisations.
England, SA in race to host IPL
Forced to shift: BCCI
Batting now: blame game
NCP at odds with ally
Sponsors to rejig field ad strategy
Board and beginners stand to lose
The above are some of the headlines in today's "Telegraph" after IPL's decision on shifting the tournament outside India.
I am my self not a cricket watching fan although I played cricket throughout my school and college days. I consider, watching cricket a waste of time.
However, even I do not accept the decision of IPL to shift venue outside India.
Postponing the matches by about a month or 15 days would not have brought down the heavens but by shifting the match outside India, they are giving wrong signal that India is an unsafe country.
Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley should stop playing politics with national security.If anybody is killed by terrorists, it will be the common man while they will be surrounded by Z class security.
I commend the Home Minister in sticking to his stand that security for the elections is the prime concern and the IPL tamasha should wait.
Everybody is aware that we are having our elections but the IPL decides not to be aware of the security required even after seeing the carnage in Mumbai and Karachi.
If they shift, well and good. But the people of India have now seen through their selfish motives.
The Indian Government should follow the USA which has taxed at the rate of 90%, the bonus being received by employees of companies who are receiving aid from the government.
The earnings of both BCCI and the IPL should be taxed at 90%, since these earning are being financed by the people of India who are there largest viewers.
The government should also stop bending backwards in accomodating their every whims.
All expenses incurred for security and infrastructure development should be charged to these two organisations.
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