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Political Notes

	April 17, 2006

Narmada dam talks deadlocked



The Union Water Resources Ministry has proposed suspension of the construction work to increase the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam until rehabilitation of the project-affected families was completed. The review committee of the Narmada Control Authority (NCA) which met in New Delhi on April 15, failed to reach a consensus on the proposal. The matter has now been reported to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for taking a final decision. The dam issue is also coming up in the Supreme court today, April 17. The Government said: “It was open to the Supreme Court to consider whether the construction of the dam should be temporarily suspended till such time as rehabilitation and resettlement of the project-affected families is done in consonance with its directions.”



The Centre moved the proposal based on the report of the three-member Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, which visited rehabilitation sites in Madhya Pradesh last week.



The meeting saw a vertical spilt along party lines with the BJP-ruled Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan opposing the Centre’s resolution, and the Ministers of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, Saifuddin Soz and A. Raja, and the Chief Minister of the Congress-ruled Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh, supporting it.



Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi criticised the UPA Government for attempting to stall construction in the face of the fast by Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar. He has started a 51-hour fast on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad.



Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said his state was committed to the rehabilitation of the displaced people.



The NBA said it was not unexpected that there would be no conclusive decision. “The tie is between truth and untruth, between democratic values and selfish party politics.” Patkar, whose condition worsened on the 18th day of her fast on Saturday, would continue the protest seeking justice for the dam-displaced population.





Reservation issue : EC seeks further clarifications on quota



The Election Commission has sought further clarifications from Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on his statement regarding the proposed 27 per cent reservation for other backward classes in educational institutions. In his earlier reply to the EC notice, Arjun Singh denied making any statement about the exact percentage of reservation while seeking to know which provisions of the Model Code of Conduct the Commission had in view that were violated. Taking a dim view of the reply, the EC held that Arjun Singh had no need to disclose that there was a proposal for quota with the Cabinet Secretary in the first place.



Sources said the Commission had sought clarifications on several counts to ascertain the extent and impact of the decision with respect to the current Assembly polls.



Arjun Singh had categorically denied any breach of the model code of conduct on the issue of the proposal. He said the Cabinet is yet to take a decision on the quota issue.





Sonia Gandhi resigns from all posts of profit



Congress president Sonia Gandhi has resigned from all socio-cultural organisations which she heads or patronises. These include all those connected with the Nehru-Gandhi family. She has now put in her papers as head of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust, Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Trust, Indian Council of Child Welfare and Nehru Trust for Cambridge University. The Congress president had resigned form the Lok Sabha and the National Advisory Council when the opposition sought her disqualification on the ground that she was holding an office of profit. Sonia Gandhi has also packed off two of her personal aides drawing salaries from the Government.



With this the stage is set for her filing nominations for the Lok Sabha by-election for the Rae Bareli seat to be held on May 8.



The Samajwadi Party has put up a greenhorn, Raj Kumar Chaudhary, to oppose Sonia Gandhi in the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha by-election.



The Election Commission, in the meantime, has said that the Prime Minister had not violated the model code of conduct by allegedly announcing a Rs. 602 crore financial package during electioneering in Assam. Deputy Election Commissioner R. Bhattacharya said on April 10, that after examining the issue in detail, the Commission did not find any evidence or substance as the speech of the Prime Minister did not contain any specific announcement of a financial package.





Ghani Khan passes away



Veteran Congress leader and former Union Minister A.B.A. Ghani Khan Choudhury passed away in Kolkata on Friday, April 14. He was 78. A leading figure in West Bengal politics, Choudhury served as a Minister both in the State government and at the Centre in different stages of his career. Choudhury’s death is a major setback to the Congress in the state, now in the midst of Assembly elections.



Choudhury held the portfolios of Coal and Energy, Railways and Programme Implementation in the Union Cabinet. He was a Minister in the State Cabinet from 1971-77.



Born on November 1, 1927, he first became an MLA in 1952. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for eight consecutive terms and to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly five times. He contributed in a large way to the development of Malda district and played a major role in the construction of the metro rail in Kolkata.





Bangalore violence after film actor’s death



Bangalore faced its worst ever violence in ten years after fans of deceased Kannada cinema actor Raj Kumar, went on a rampage. Four people were killed in police firing to control the rioting mobs. The number of vehicles damaged and policemen injured in bomb attacks on Thursday, April 13, was unprecedented. Four petrol stations were set on fire and a hotel torched. IT industry establishments suffered damage running into tens of crores of rupees.



Repeated appeals from Raj Kumar family members and prominent film personalities to maintain calm did not have any impact on the fans.



Raj Kumar died at a hospital in Bangalore on April 12 following cardiac arrest. Bangalore and several other cities observed a spontaneous bandh. Thousands of his fans made a beeline for his residence in Bangalore. He was a role model and a father figure of Kannada youth.





Ram Jethmalani nominated to the Rajya Sabha



Eighty-three year old lawyer-politician Ram Jethmalani has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha by President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the recommendation of the Union Government. His tenure will be upto August 26, 2009. Though Jethmalani led the attack on Rajiv Gandhi on the Bofors issue in the late 1980s, he has been critical of the BJP for dragging Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s name in the Bofors investigation. Earlier, he had been elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent with Shiv Sena support and was for some time Law Minister in the Vajpayee Government. During the last Lok Sabha elections held in 2004, Jethmalani surprised the entire nation with his decision to contest against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as an Independent in Lucknow constituency