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Political Notes

	September 17, 2007

PM undergoes surgery



Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sept. 15 underwent surgery of the prostate gland at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and is recovering well.



Doctors at the premier institute said the surgery for this “aging problem” was decided in advance and was not an emergency case. “It is something related to age. While some people can be treated with medicines, in his case surgery was recommended. He is doing fine and will be discharged from the hospital on Monday, Sept. 17,” said a senior doctor at AIIMS.



The endoscopic surgery was performed by a team of doctors led by Prof N P Gupta, Head of the Department of Urology at AIIMS.





BJP-Shiv Sena to continue alliance in Maharashtra



The BJP and the Shiv Sena, which had fallen out recently during the Presidential election, have decided to put their dif¬ferences aside and work to strengthen their alliance in the Lok Sabha elections and the Maharashtra Assembly elections. The agreement came at a lunch hosted by senior BJP leader L.K. Advani for Shiv Sena working president Udhav Thackrey in New Delhi on Sept. 11. The lunch was also attended by BJP president Rajnath Singh, BJP leaders from the state Gopi Nath Munde and Nitin Gad¬kari and Shiv Sena MP Manohar Joshi.



The BJP and the Shiv Sena had come close to calling it quits after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackrey broke NDA ranks to support the UPA nominee Pratibha Patil on the ground that she is from Maharashtra. Observers say that the two parties have now decided to stay together in view of the prospects of early Lok Sabha elections.





Death sentence of Let militant in the Red Fort attack case



The Delhi High Court has upheld the death sentence awarded to Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Mohd. Ashfaq in the Dec. 2000 Red Fort attack case. The court in its verdict on Thurs¬day, Sept. 13 observed that terrorists who have no value for human lives, deserve capital punishment. The court, however, acquitted six others convicted by a lower court in October 2005 for lack of evidence.



Five Lashkar militants had sneaked into the Red Fort on Dec. 22, 2000 and fired indiscriminately at the Guards. Three jawans were killed in the attack. While Ashfaq was arrested, four other militants were killed in various encounters.





Mayawati sacks 6,500 policemen



Over 6,500 policemen recruited during the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime have been sacked by the Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh. Simultaneously, 12 senior IPS officers including one Inspector General of Police, and nine DIGs have been suspended for alleged irregularities in the recruitment of PAC and police constables in the state. Disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against them.



The recruitment of over 6,500 fresh recruits who are under¬going training, was made in Sept. last year when Mulayam Singh Yadav was in power. The action taken last week is based on the findings of an inquiry committee which probed the appointments made by 14 recruitment boards.





Former Punjab DGP arrested



Former Punjab Director General of Police S.S. Virk was arrested on Sept. 9 on charges of corruption and amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income. Virk was presently posted in Maharashtra. He was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau in New Delhi and taken to Mohali near Chandigarh for questioning.



Virk has been charged with misusing his office to amass ill-gotten wealth through property dealings, sale and purchase of plots and colonisation. He has also been charged with patronis¬ing a private group of former terrorists like Sukhwinder Singh alias Sukhi. The properties allegedly amassed by him are worth Rs. 100 crore, says the FIR against him.



“The cases against me are false and fabricated,” said Virk. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, said to be close to the former DGP, said “the arrest was on frivolous grounds”, and the “motive stinks of political vendetta.”