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Political Notes

	November 07, 2005

Moves for a Third Front



The Samajwadi Party and the Left parties have decided to share a common platform in Lucknow on November 13 to protest against what they call the anti-national foreign policy of the UPA Government. The immediate provocation for the move is India’s vote against Iran at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Teheran’s nuclear programme.



Accordingly, they decided to hold a seminar titled “Swatantar Videsh Niti Apnao, Desh Bachao (Adopt an Independent Foreign Policy and Save the Country). Sharing the dais at the seminar will be UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat, CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan, Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas and RSP leader Abani Roy.



The two groups would be coming together after a gap of nearly 15 years. While support for each other had been muted during the intervening period, November 13 would see them supporting each other openly in their attack on the UPA Government.





Setback for Samajwadi Party in UP panchayat elections



The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) of Mayawati has recorded major victories in the Zila Panchayat and Bloc Development Committees in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP victories have been at the expense of Samajwadi Party candidates. BSP member of Parliament Bhalchander Yadav claimed last week that in Gorakhpur and Basti divisions, most Samajwadi Party candidates had been routed.



Commenting on the local bodies results, BSP chief Mayawati said, “This is a mandate against the misrule of the Mulayam Singh Yadav Government.” Talking to reporters in Lucknow she claimed that if the Government had allowed a free and fair poll, the Samajwadi Party would not have been able to open its account in the elections.



Meanwhile, day curfew in strife torn Mau town has been lifted after improvement in the situation. But the town still continues under night curfew.



BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi has defended Governor T.V.Rajeshwar’s visit to riot-torn Mau. He said that when persons of a particular community are being done to death by rioters, the Governor could not keep quiet. The ruling Samajwadi party had taken serious exception to the Governor’s visit to Mau and termed it as an unwarranted interference in the day to day functioning of the Government by a constitutional authority.





New Chief Justice takes over



Justice Yogesh Kumar Sabharwal took over as the Chief Justice of India on Tuesday, November 1. He was sworn in by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He will have a term of about 14 months.



Justice Sabharwal has assumed the high office at a time when an intense debate is on over the existence of death penalty in the penal code in the wake of the suggestion of President Kalam that a humanitarian approach should be adopted while dealing with the mercy petitions of condemned prisoners.



Interestingly, the new CJI has taken a different view of the issue than his predecessor Justice R.C. Lahoti, who on his last day of office strongly supported retention of the death penalty in the statute.





Maharashtra : Three Shiv Sena MLAs join the Congress



Three Shiv Sena MLAs resigned from the Maharashtra Assembly last week and were immediately inducted into the Congress. They are supporters of State Revenue Minister and former Shiv Sena leader Narain Rane. Pradesh Congress chief Prabha Rau told reporters that the three would be given Congress tickets when byelections are held. Narain Rane told reporters that seven more Shiv Sena MLAs are likely to resign before next month’s winter session of the state legislature.



With these resignations, the Shiv Sena strength in the 288-member Assembly has come down to 59. The Sena’s poll ally, the BJP, has 54 members in the House.





Gujarat : BJP MLA arrested in post-Godhra riot case



In Gujarat, BJP MLA Shankar Chaudhary was arrested in Ahmedabad on November 5 for his alleged role in the murder of two minority community members in a post-Godhra riot case. Earlier, he surrendered in a local court.



On March 1, 2002, Shankar Chaudhary is alleged to have led a mob in his constituency and opened fire on members of a minority community. Chaudhary’s alleged role came to light when a senior official probed the matter after the Supreme Court ordered reinvestigation of certain post-Godhra riot cases.