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BJP : Senior leader shot at by brother

	April 24, 2006

BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan is fighting for his life after being shot at by his youngest brother Pravin, at his house in Mumbai on Saturday, April 22. Pravin Mahajan reportedly pumped three bullets into his eldest brother in a fit of rage, as he claimed later on account of his alleged ill-treatment.



Pramod Mahajan was injured badly in the liver, the lower chest and abdomen and was given over 20 bottles of blood when he was brought to hospital. His condition remains critical and doctors are keeping their fingers crossed.



Shortly after the incident, Pravin Mahajan surrendered to the police. He has been arrested for offences under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.



According to doctors, Pramod Mahajan received three bullet injuries and lost a great deal of blood by the time he was hospitalised. The surgery lasted four hours. While the doctors succeeded in stemming the bleeding, blood was still oozing from the extensively damaged liver. Mahajan was put on “ventilatory support.” Doctors said the bullets were still lodged in his body and a decision to conduct further surgeries could not be taken until the patient stabilised.



Nandkumar Rajurkar, Pravin Mahajan’s lawyer, told the media that Pravin was not aware of his action. He said Pravin was not in a condition to talk and claimed that he was mentally unstable.



However, Mumbai Police Commissioner A. N. Roy said Pravin Mahajan’s mental condition appeared to be stable.



Pravin Mahajan told the police that he did it in a “fit of rage” as he was “ill-treated” by his brother.



Repentant though of his action, Pravin alleged that Pramod treated him and his family “like dirt” and often heaped insults on them in public. “I have been seeking an appointment with Pramod for the last 15 days but in vain ... I, therefore, decided to visit him early in the morning to accost him for his behaviour,” Pravin said in a statement recorded by the Worli police soon after he surrendered.



“Life as brother of a prominent personality became a curse to me... I am a poor brother of a rich man,” Pravin said in his statement, police sources said.





BJP shocked - President, PM wish him speedy recovery



The attack on Pramod Mahajan has come as a big shock to the BJP and also the political class as a whole. BJP president Rajnath Singh and senior leader L.K. Advani broke their Bharat Suraksha yatras and rushed to Mumbai to be by Mahajan’s side.

President A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi have expressed deep shock at the attack and wished Pramod Mahajan an early recovery.



As general secretary and close aide to BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Mahajan was playing the all-important role of strategist-cum-organiser. After he was blamed for the BJP’s poor show at the 2004 general elections, recently Mahajan had been getting back in the reckoning.



In the aftermath of the Jinnah crisis, Mahajan quickly sided with the RSS and backed its choice of Rajnath Singh. He managed to get close to Singh, edging out other second-line leaders.



He was getting ready to plunge into UP and had accompanied party nominee Vinay Katiyar to file nomination papers on April 19. But with the need to project Kalyan Singh as CM, Mahajan was given charge of the neighbouring Uttaranchal, which also goes to polls in February 2007.



As in-charge of Assam for the recent Assembly elections, he had travelled across the state over the last two months. Mahajan had also pledged to make the BJP play an indispensable role after the results were announced on May 11.





Khurana quits



Former Delhi Chief Minister Madan Lal Khurana, who had been suspended from the BJP, resigned from the party on Thursday, April 20. Addressing a news conference, Khurana said that he would elaborate on his future plans in the coming days. But he threatened to unveil what he called sensational sex scandals involving various individuals in the BJP very soon. He declared that he had some very sensational information on the 1999 hijacking episode and would reveal details about it in the coming days.



Khurana launched a scathing attack on senior party leader L.K. Advani and accused him of being the main impediment in the construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya. He said Advani was to be blamed for the failure to build the much-talked about temple despite the BJP being in power at the Centre for six years.



Stating that the alleged sex scandal involving senior BJP leader and general secretary Sanjay Joshi was only the tip of the iceberg, Khurana said he had information on “sex scandals” involving the so-called directors of the BJP who had turned the party into a private limited company. “When these details are revealed, which I intend to do in the near future, they would bring out the true face of these leaders who have ruined the party in recent years and brought it to such a sorry state.”



Claiming that he had inside information about the 1999 hijacking episode, Khurana said he would reveal details of the behind-the-scenes activity at an appropriate time. “The conduct of Advani and the sex scandals involving party leaders was one of the major reasons for my decision to quit the BJP,” he added.





Kandahar remarks : Advani tries to pacify Vajpayee



Giving in to pressure to clarify his position on the Kandahar hijack, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani has blamed the media for distorting his observations and creating what he called a needless controversy. Speaking to the media at Hindupur on April 16, Advani said, “I had said it was a considered decision of the Government to bring the hostages back, and what Jaswant Singh, the then External Affairs Minister, did was to implement the Government’s collective decision.” An upset, former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had sought clarification from Advani after his reported remarks in Pune on April 11 indicating that he had opposed the release of three dreaded terrorists including Masood Azhar in exchange for passengers of the Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.



In his clarification, Advani said, “Whatever my opinion was, I had expressed it within the cabinet. I do not want to share it with the media. In any case, it is an old issue and there is no need to discuss it now.”



Expelled BJP leader Uma Bharti, reacting to Advani’s clarification, said that she was not convinced by it. Speaking in Bhopal on April 19, Uma Bharti wondered when she as a junior Minister in the NDA could persuade then Prime Minister Vajpayee to defer the proposal of a bus service between India and Bangladesh, why was it that the Home Minister (Advani) could not prevail upon the Government on the Kandahar issue. She said, had Advani lodged his protest effectively, she was sure that Vajpayee would have acceded to his view. Otherwise, Uma Bharti said, Advani should have resigned on the issue.





Congress “communalising” domestic policies : Advani



Meanwhile, Advani is continuing his attack on what he called the Congress and its allies communalising domestic policies. Addressing an election rally in Kerala, he said the Government is now proposing religion-based reservations even in the Army. Advani said that successive governments during the first 50 years after Independence could not realise the dreams of the freedom fighters because the rulers were not working for the welfare of the people; they were concerned only with their own welfare and votes.



Addressing a public meeting in Hyderabad on April 18, Advani said that after Naxalism and terrorism, infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals from across the border was the biggest threat to the country’s security. He alleged that more than one crore Bangladeshis are illegally staying in India.



Another point made by Advani during his Hyderabad visit was that India should not allow itself to be dictated by any country on its nuclear policy and the question of a minimum nuclear deterrent.



Advani used his visit to Andhra Pradesh to come out strongly in favour of creation of a separate Telengana state. He invited the Telengana Rashtriya Samithi to join the National Democratic Alliance and offered to support the TRS if it moved a Bill for a separate Telengana.





Babri Masjid demolition result of conspiracy : Centre



At long last, the Centre has filed its final written submission before the Liberhan commission probing the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. The submission filed on April 19 accuses the BJP, RSS, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena of having collaborated and connived to demolish the disputed structure at Ayodhya in a well planned manner. The submission filed by the UPA Government is in sharp contrast to that of its predecessor, the NDA which had told the Commission that the demolition was the result of sudden uncontrollable upsurge of karsevaks (volunteers) present at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.



The Centre’s submission says, “From the records it is apparently clear that the demolition... was clearly... an act of conspiracy between the State Government headed by the then Chief Minister Kalyan Singh, his Cabinet Colleagues, various prominent leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar including RSS, VHP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and Dharam Sansad etc.”



Prominent BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders accused of “acting in collusion and conspiracy” include L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, K.S. Sudarshan, Ashok Singhal, Giriraj Kishore, Vinay Katiyar, Uma Bharti, Sadhvi Ritambhara. Several senior officials of the state government have also been named.



The Centre said the demolition of the Babri Masjid was an act of national shame. “What was demolished was not merely an ancient structure, but the faith of the minorities in the sense of justice and fair play of majorities. It shook their faith in the rule of law and constitutional processes.”



The UPA Government alleged that security arrangements in Ayodhya and near the Ram Janambhoomi Babri Masjid complex were systematically removed and security diluted prior to the demolition in pursuance of a resolution passed at a meeting of the Kalyan Singh Cabinet. Defending the actions of the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao during the demolition, the UPA Government submitted that the Central Government had taken measures to defuse the situation and avoid a confrontational approach and bring about a reconciliation of various concerned parties.



Reacting to the Centre’s submission before the Liberhan Commission, the BJP alleged that the Government is indulging in cheap electoral politics. BJP general secretary Prakash Javadekar said the UPA Government had been interfering with the CBI that had filed a chargesheet in the Ayodhya case.







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Narasimha Rao speaks



A book titled Ayodhya 6 December, 1992, by late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who was at the helm of affairs in New Delhi at the time of the demolition of the Babri Masjid, gives out his version of what happened on the tragic date. Narasimha Rao had been bitterly criticised for his alleged indecision when the Babri Masjid was being brought down by Sangh Parivar activists on December 6, 1992.



Narasimha Rao explains why there could not have been any decision other than trying to persuade the UP government to make use of the central forces and stop the situation. “Was it possible for anyone to say that in spite of all the affidavits, all the affirmations, all the promises, the Government of India should have acted on the assumption that all the affidavits were false,” Rao wonders, referring to the assurances from the Sangh and the state government to the Supreme Court that the structure would be protected.



Closeness or not to Rao has long been a marker in Congress politics and, therefore, several party leaders refused to talk on the book. “I have paid a heavy price for my proximity with PVN and do not want to talk. But his position is factual and true,” a Congress senior said.



Leaders on the other side of the divide too preferred not to talk, since Rao is gradually being reinstated in the Congress heritage. Rao’s picture was prominent at the February AICC conclave in Hyderabad.





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Job reservations in the private sector : Industry up in arms



Both the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) have rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s proposal for voluntary caste quotas in the private sector. Addressing the CII on Tuesday, April 18, the Prime Minister had put the issue of job quotas in the private sector on the national agenda by calling on industry to voluntarly extend affirmative action. He said it was time companies acknowledged the value of diversity and broad-based their work force. Dr. Manmohan Singh said, “We all need to ensure no group feels excluded from enjoying the fruits of rapid economic growth. I urge Industry to seriously consider enhancing educational and employment opportunities for weaker sections in an affirmative manner.”



The Prime Minister’s remarks came a week before the Cabinet is scheduled to discuss the desirability of a law to introduce quotas in the private sector. The issue also finds place in the National Common Minimum Programme.



Both CII and FICCI picked holes in the advocacy for voluntary quotas arguing that the goal of affirmative action would be better served by focusing on training and education of those belonging to the scheduled castes and tribes and backward classes.



R. Seshasayee, the newly elected president of the CII said, “Mandatory reservation in any form is not conducive to the competitiveness of industry. It is not acceptable.”



Seshasayee, however, said Industry needed to take positive action to empower the backward classes and help them develop abilities to compete. “To ensure that SCs, STs and OBCs are able to compete and acquire job skills - and as our response to the government’s call for reservation in the private sector, we are setting up task force on affirmative action under the chairmanship of J.J. Irani”, he said.



FICCI president S.K. Poddar, in a statement said, “The issue will have to be addressed at the root and this cannot be done merely through reservation. FICCI offered to join hand with the government in imparting vocational training through ITIs, using the public-private partnership model.



Dalit groups have criticised what they called the Government’s soft pedaling of the job quotas issue. National Commission for Scheduled Castes chairman Suraj Bhan said, “When reservations had not been implemented in Government where it is subject to a law, how do you expect a hostile industry to do so on its own ?”



The Parliamentary Forum of OBC MPs is to meet this week and take up the issue of quotas in central educational institutions and in the private sector.





Left extremism : Naxal attacks continue



There is no let up in the Naxal attacks in Chhattisgarh and adjoining states. Over 400 Naxalites went on a rampage in South Bastar on April 16, gunning down 11 policemen including jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force.



Even as former Punjab Police Chief K.P.S. Gill took charge as security adviser to the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister, the Maoists made their presence felt by besieging a village in Bijapur district of the state. Reports say that nearly 3000 Maoists cordoned off the village in the morning on April 18 and kept a day long siege before retreating into the forest in the night. Luckily they did not harm anybody.



In Maharashtra, two policemen were killed when Naxalites fired at a police party in Gadchiroli district on April 19.



In Bihar, the Naxalites are digging hand pumps in drought-hit areas of Gaya district to enlist local support. The action comes as the Government, caught in red tape, has been dilly-dallying about providing drinking water in the drought hit areas.



Meanwhile, Army Chief Gen. J.J. Singh said that the Army is studying how to provide advice and training to the state police forces to counter Left wing terrorism. Speaking in New Delhi on April 20, Gen. Singh said some state governments are raising auxiliary forces of ex-servicemen to perform crucial tasks like mine detection.