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Political Notes

	March 21, 2005

Denial of visa : Modi gets reprieve from party in-fighting

The American action of denying visa to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has had the unintended consequence of silencing dissidents within the BJP’s state unit. In recent weeks, the dissidents had stepped up their campaign for Modi’s ouster as Chief Minister. The rebels in Gujarat appear to be falling in line with the party’s central leadership to take on the US Government from a position of strength. The rebels are expected to hold their fire and rally behind Narendra Modi, rather than make things difficult for him.

Earlier, party president L.K. Advani had met former Chief Minister Keshubhai Patel, who was emerging as the rallying point for the dissidents, and asked him to rein in the rebels.



Supreme Court Judge approached in Fodder Scam Case



There was a flutter in the Supreme Court on March 15 when Justice S.N. Variava said that he had been approached by someone from the Patna High Court for changing the trial judge hearing the multi-crore rupee Fodder Scam case against Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and others. Justice Variava heading a three judge Bench said, ‘ Someone contacted him from the High Court and indirectly wanted to know whether the trial judge can be changed’.

The hearing was on a petition by BJP MP Sushil Modi and JD(U) MP Rajiv Ranjan seeking cancellation of bail for Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife, Rabri Devi in the disproportionate assets case. Counsel of the two petitioners, Mukul Rohatgi said that he had expressed apprehension during the last hearing that the trial judge might be changed. He said the game plan appears to be to promote the trial judge and shift him out as political heavyweights are involved in the fodder scam and disproportionate assets cases.

The apex court later said that it would deal on merits with the issue relating to the allegation that the trial judge in the fodder scam cases was sought to be transferred. The matter was adjourned till April 12.

On March 17, Justice Variava, however, set at rest the controversy by clarifying that there was absolutely no pressure on him to change the trial judge. He said his original inference that there was an attempt to influence him was wrong. The judge said, the clarification was to clear up the misunderstanding following his observations on March 15.

The BJP and other constituents of the National Democratic Alliance, NDA have been claiming that fodder scam and other cases against Lalu Prasad Yadav and others are being soft-pedalled, especially after the Manmohan Singh government assumed office at the Centre. They alleged that the attempt is to save Lalu Prasad Yadav and his wife Rabri Devi. Already, the court has taken exception to closing of cases by the Income tax Department against Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi. The Court has sought every possible detail of the proceedings in these cases to determine whether the cases had been closed in a hurried manner and without proper justification.



Maharashtra Inquiry Commission indicts social activist Anna Hazare and former Ministers



The Sawant Inquiry Commission in Maharashtra has indicted three former

Ministers for their involvement in corrupt practices and maladministration. A minister in the Deshpande Democratic Front Government has, however, been exonerated of corruption charges. The Commission Report tabled in the Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday, March 15, also held social activist Anna Hazare guilty of involvement in corrupt practices. The Commission itself was set up in 2003 to inquire into the allegations by Anna Hazare against four persons who were ministers or had been ministers in the state government. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said that a Task Force is being set up to go into the report and give its recommendations on the action to be taken.

The Sawant report found Anna Hazare guilty of corrupt practices for misusing the funds of an NGO, Hind Swaraj Trust.

The report said more than two lakh rupees was drawn from the trust for the social activist’s birthday celebrations. The Commission also said that there are at least a dozen cases of wrong administrative decisions taken by Anna Hazare , that resulted in losses.



Apex Court asks the Centre to spell out the action taken on Bangladeshi influx



The Supreme Court has taken serious note of the large scale illegal immigration from Bangladesh and given the Centre two weeks time to spell out the action taken by it on the report submitted in 1998 by the then Governor of Assam, Lt. General S.K. Sinha revealing alarming facts about the demographic changes brought about by the illegal influx.

The direction came from a bench headed by Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, which was hearing a bunch of complaints on the problem of growing influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants. The court also asked if the Centre has taken any step to prepare a national register of Indian citizens and issue multi-purpose National Identity Cards to stop illegal immigration. The matter was posted for further hearing on March 30.

The then Assam Governor Lt. General S.K. Sinha, in his report, had expressed serious concern over large scale illegal Bangladeshi immigration into the state. He had pointed out in the report how the Muslim population of Assam grew by 77.42 per cent between 1971 and 1991. The increase in the Hindu population during the same period was of 41.89 per cent. Detailing the demographic impact on the Bangladeshi influx, Lt. General Sinha said, at least four districts of Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta and Hailakandi had become Muslim majority by 1991 and three other districts were fast approaching that status.

He had pointed out that the illegal immigrants coming after 1971 was almost exclusively Muslims and the silent and systematic invasion of Assam was resulting in loss of geo-strategically important wide district of lower Assam. The governor said that it was only a matter of time before there is a demand for their merger with Bangladesh, posing a greater threat not only to the people of Assam but also to national security.



Naxalites getting ISI supplied arms



Intelligence agencies have warned the Manmohan Singh Government that weapons supplied by Pakistan’s ISI to Assam’s insurgent outfit, ULFA, are finding their way to Naxalite groups across eleven states. A report prepared by the agencies said the ISI is supplying the arms to ULFA through certain agencies in Bangladesh. It has been reported that the AK series rifles and self-loading rifles are now common with Naxalite groups. Even the landmine blasts carried out by these groups in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand show a considerable advancement of technology. The report says that from the late 1990s, the ISI has been trying to woo Naxalite groups by meeting their leaders in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, with Naxalites stepping up violence in Andhra Pradesh, the State Government appears to have given the nod to the police to do everything necessary to protect the law and order in the State. The Police force is seething with anger at the attack on a police station in Guntur district earlier this month in which seven people including four policemen were killed. While asking the police to take steps to protect law and order, the Chief Minister is reported to be keeping the door open for talks with the Naxalites. He has expressed the hope that the Naxalites will introspect and re-evaluate their policy of killing the people.



Storm in Andhra Pradesh over naming of Hyderabad airport



The Telugu Desam Party and the BJP have criticised the naming of the country’s first green field airport at Hyderabad after Rajiv Gandhi. Congress President Sonia Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the airport on March 16. Speaking on the occasion she said that the new airport is a tribute to Rajiv’s dream of a new India. She said, “Rajiv Gandhi was a leader of the youth who dreamt of a new India. He lived for the country and gave up his life for the country.” Sonia Gandhi sought to pacify Andhra sentiments by praising late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao in her speech. She said, “We are proud of Rao’s immense contribution towards the development of the country and Andhra Pradesh, intellectuals like him are rare in politics.”

Despite Sonia Gandhi laying the foundation stone of the airport, Telugu Desam leaders continued to press with their demand for naming the airport after their founder leader N.T. Ramarao. A delegation of the party met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to review the decision on the naming of the new international airport. Parliament’s functioning was also disrupted briefly on March 15 when TDP members raised the matter.



RSS asks BJP to build its own base



The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the mother organisations of the Sangh Parivar, has asked the BJP to build its own base. On the final day of the three-day National Council meeting of the RSS in Mangalore, the outfit expressed reservations over the BJP’s commitment to the ideals of Hinduism. The meeting decided that none of the RSS affiliate bodies including the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will talk of forming a separate political party. RSS spokesman Ram Madhav, briefing the media, refused to spell out the reasons for the RSS decision to distance itself from the BJP. But it is common knowledge that RSS affiliates like the VHP and the Bajrang Dal have been unhappy with the BJP. They have been accusing the BJP of not fulfilling its commitment to Hindu ideals.

In another significant move, the RSS said that it is opposed to quotas for scheduled caste converts. The outfit said if the demand for reservation for the schedule castes converted to Islam or Christianity is conceded, it would be a great injustice to the scheduled castes people as the converts would grab a larger share of the benefit.



Dissidence in Kerala unit of the Congress continues



Former Kerala Chief Minister and Congress dissident leader K. Karunakaran met party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on March 19 to discuss the state of party affairs in Kerala. He is understood to have apprised her of the circumstances that compelled him to hold two rallies in Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram, in defiance of the party high command. There are reports that the party is reluctant to take action against Kakrunakaran though his son Murlidharan has been suspended from the party. Karunakaran is reportedly being given a long rope in view of the Assembly elections scheduled to be held in Kerala next year. The dissident leader is also reported to be keen to mend fences with the leadership so that his son Murlidharan and daughter Padmaja continue in the Congress. Sonia Gandhi has asked Union Programme Implementation Minister Oscar Fernandes to meet Karunakaran to sort out differences in the party unit in Kerala. Karunakaran on his part said he is optimistic of the central leadership finding a solution to the stalemate in the faction-ridden state unit.



Multi-national Company castigated for wrong labeling



The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration, FDA has served notices on multi-national Johnson and Johnson asking it to remove the word ‘baby’ from its baby oil, baby shampoo and baby lotion products. The action came after the FDA tested the products and found that they contained liquid paraffin oil that was not mentioned on the label. FDA Commissioner A. Ramakrishna said ‘ You do not use mineral oil on babies.’ The company has been given 15 days time to respond to the notice.

Asked if it tested the products, the company said, the products had been tested on people in the age group 18 to 51 years. Ramakrishna said the company should have tested the products on babies 18 to 51 days old.

The Maharashtra FDA also issued notices to several other companies including Wipro on similar allegations. Ramakrishna said that his office had requested the Drug Controller of India to ask all Drug Commissioners in the country to ensure that the popular baby, oil lotion and shampoo products of multi-national Johnson and Johnson do not use the term ‘ baby’. A consumer had complained to the Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration that his child had an adverse reaction on using these products. The problem was traced to the presence of mineral oil.



Prime Minister intervenes to save tigers



The Manmohan Singh government has decided to set up a Special Task Force to look into the management of tiger reserves across the country. Concerned over the disappearance of tigers from the reserves, the Prime Minister has also told the Central Bureau of Investigation, CBI, to probe the cause of the missing tigers in the Sariska Wild Life Park in Rajasthan. Manmohan Singh announced the decision when he chaired the meeting of the National Board for Wildlife on Thursday, March 17. The meeting was called following newspaper reports that dozens of tigers are missing in Sariska Park and other tiger reserves in the country.

A gang of suspected poachers has confessed to killing of at least 10 tigers in Sariska park during the period 2002-2004. While one tiger was shot dead using buffallo bait, the rest were trapped in metal contraptions before being killed.

Forest Ministry sources in New Delhi say that the gang members have also confessed to killing leopards in the reserve. Forest officials and police arrested the suspected poachers during intensive raids after newspaper reports on the missing tigers.

The CBI has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the Sariska Tiger crisis. Simultaneously, the Empowered Committee for Forests and Wildlife set up by the Rajasthan Government has declared a red alert and emergency in the Ranthambore reserve after admitting that the Sariska tigers have been completely wiped out by poachers.

In a related development, the Assam government has proposed the creation of five Special Elephant Reserves. The state government says that this may be the only way to tackle the problem of man-elephant conflict. There have been many incidents in the recent past of wild elephants straying into inhabited areas, destroying crops and trampling human beings.



Ten IPR Chairs to be set up



In a move with far reaching implications, the Human Resource Development Ministry has set up 10 chairs of Intellectual Property Rights, IPR at leading institutions. The Ministry said that with IPR issues becoming significant the world over, there is need for awareness and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights. The 10 IPR chairs are being established at the three leading Indian Institutes of Management, IIMs of Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata, five major Indian Institutes of Technology, IITs at Kanpur, Kharagpur, Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and the Delhi School of Economics and the School for Economic Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The IIMs will focus specifically on Intellectual Property Management while the IITs will specialise in areas pertaining to Patents, Trade Marks, Industrial Business and Geographical Indicators.



Ranbaxy founder asks the government to keep in abeyance his Padma Vibhushan Award

Ranbaxy founder Bhai Mohan Singh has requested the Central Government to keep the Padma Vibhushan Award bestowed on him in abeyance till the two cases pending against him are settled. In a letter to the Prime Minister, he has requested that his name be deleted from the list of awardees invited for rehearsal and award investiture function. Bhai Mohan Singh said that he has deemed this necessary after seeing the story in a newspaper about the cases pending against him and the President expressing reservations on the issue. The two cases pending against him are under Sections 138 and 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act in his capacity as the non-executive Chairman of Montari Industries Limited. Bhai Mohan Singh said the company is managed by his younger son Manjeet Singh, who in his capacity as Managing Director of the firm, had issued cheques which remained dishonoured. He said the vital point whether he, as non-executive chairman, has any actionable responsibility in these cases, is pending before a court of law.