Narendra Modi completes 10 years in office today

Ahmedabad: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi completes 10 years in office on Thursday. Does his government’s focus on development explain a surge in his popularity?

As Modi begins his tenth year in office on Thursday the talk is only of the state’s growth and development. CNN-IBN explains the significance of some fundamental political changes that are now becoming increasingly visible in Narendra’s Modi’s Gujarat.

“The BJP is in Gujarat and everybody is benefiting. We thought why should we be left out,” said Ayub Chauhan, voter.
Words that are being interpreted as indicative of a fundamental change in Gujarat. Chauhan is among growing numbers of Muslim voters who appear to be voting for Narendra Modi. The BJP’s first ever victory in the Kathlal assembly seat in the recently concluded bypolls being the biggest indicator with a 65 per cent Muslim voter base – the BJP had never won the seat in over 50 years. Modi believes the credit for this tectonic shift should go to development.

“The past one decade has been a decade of growth. Gujarat has scaled new heights in the past decade,” said Narendra Modi.

Modi rode to power in the communally charged 2002 assembly elections, held in the backdrop of the 2002 riots. Despite widespread condemnation, Modi repeated the victory in the 2007 elections.

Barring the Junagadh Municipal Corporation that the BJP lost, Modi’s party has been able to hold all other civic bodies in the past decade.

In the past nine years, Modi has focused on an inclusive growth and development model. But many feel Modi’s dictatorial and confrontationist approach stands against democratic values.

The Kathlal victory has trickled down changes in ticket distribution too. Modi has given tickets to as many as 51 Muslim candidates for the forthcoming civic elections across the state – the highest ever in the state’s history. One of them – BJP candidate A I Saiyed says voters know what is best.

“My honourable chief minister has assured us that peace security and development will be the only issues that will be on our agenda in this area,” assured A.I. Saiyyed, retired Additional DGP and BJP Candidate.

But not everyone is convinced that the change is down to the core. Political scientist Hemantkumar Shah says political success is insignificant unless the core values of democracy are upheld. He even questions the growth rate saying it’s lower than what it was in the 80s.

.”Hitler was also successful and so were Stalin and Indira Gandhi. But democracy concerns values and these have not been protected in Gujarat,” opined Hemantkumar Shah, political analyst.

Modi’s detractors may never forgive him for the 2002 riots, but there is enough evidence that Modi’s popularity has increased over the past decade.

High drama in Bihar ahead of Assembly polls

High drama was witnessed in Bihar ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, as JDU workers who have been denied tickets, started burning effigies of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and performed his symbolic last rites.

The party workers who have been denied tickets in the upcoming Assembly elections shaved off their head and indulged in pind daan, as part of performing the last rites of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. All this happened right at the doorstep of the JDU office in Patna.

These agitated workers are going to the extent of continuing this ritual at Gaya. They are even organising a mass bhoj for all disgruntled workers.

Resentment over ticket distribution has come to the fore in all political parties only the method of protest differs. Recently the RJD party office was ransacked, senior Congress leaders were attacked. Even the Congress office was torched at Purnia. The pressure is showing on senior leaders. RJD chief Lalu Yadav is staying on at a plush Patna hotel just to avoid ticket seekers.

Tackling and pacifying these discontented political workers would be the real challenge for all senior leaders before the campaign commences.

Meanwhile, as many as 234 candidates filed their nominations on the penultimate day of filing nominations on Tuesday, for the second phase of the Bihar Assembly polls in 45 seats, scheduled to be held on October 24.

Additional Chief Electoral Officer Kumar Anshumali said with this, the number of candidates having filed their nominations for the second phase poll rose to 367.

Thirty-two candidates also filed their papers on the second day of filing of nomination for 48 constituencies in Bihar where polling will be held in the third phase on October 28.

The last date of filing papers for the second phase of polls is October six and the last date for withdrawal is October 9.

Family comes first for politicians of Bihar

Assembly election in Bihar is just round the corner and one controversy after another seems to be getting embroiled in the state polls.

Over 40 political leaders of various political parties have succeeded in obtaining tickets for their relatives and hence it seems the only thing bigger than political parties in Bihar is the role that politicians’ families have begun to play in the polls.

Even though the politicians of the state have kept state development on top of their agenda, a peep behind the curtain gives a completely different picture. For majority of Bihar politicians, it’s not the state or the people, which matters, but their family members.

The ‘kin syndrome’ has gripped all political parties and leaders of all ranks. The one leading this tribe is LJP chief Ram Vilash Passwan.

His two brothers and two of his sons-in-law are in political arena this time on his own party ticket.

RJD MP Jagdanand Singh’s son is contesting on BJP ticket while senior RJD Leader Raghuwansh Prasad Singh’s brother is the Congress candidate from Mahnar and JDU MP Sushil Singh’s brother is a RJD candidate from Aurangabad.

Heavy weight JDU Leader Munna Shukla has succeeded in getting ticket for his wife while former MP Pappu Yadav’s wife Ranjita Ranjan is again in fray this time for assembly seats.

The list is quite long and acts as an eye-opener.

A closer look at the list shows how wives, brothers, sons and in-laws of senior politicians are making back door entry into politics

When it comes to empty talks, development, fighting corruption and welfare of Bihar top the agenda of Bihar’s politicians but when it comes to actual execution of policies, it’s the welfare of one’s own family, which figures above all this.

Large numbers of political leaders cutting across parties have succeeded in procuring tickets for their family members ignoring the legitimate claims of ground workers. This has created an army of disgruntled party workers who have finally turned rebels.

Contrary to the claims of service above self, these leaders are unable to see beyond their own family.

Rahul has committed a political crime: BJP

Patna: The BJP on Thursday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for describing the RSS and SIMI as similar entities and said he had committed a ‘political crime’ gripped with a ‘sick mindset’ and should withdraw his comments.

“By equating a socio-cultural outfit like RSS with a banned communal outfit like SIMI, Rahul has committed a political crime,” the BJP National Vice-President Kiran Ghai said in a statement here and asked Gandhi to withdraw his remarks.

The AICC General Secretary should have done his home work before speaking about the RSS and equating it with the banned outfit, she said.

“The RSS has always been eager to make any sacrifice in the service of the nation during a crisis, while the SIMI has collaborated with terrorist and anti-national forces to create a security problem,” she said.

Alleging that vote bank ‘virus’ had blurred Gandhi’s vision in distinguishing between nationalist and anti-national forces, Ghai said the comments of the Congress leader had hurt the sentiments of “crores of people” having faith in its nationalist ideology.

Reminding the Amethi MP that the RSS volunteers had supplied rations to Indian soldiers during 1965 Indo-Pak war, Ghai claimed that the RSS was the first apolitical outfit to run relief camps for flood-affected people of Kosi region two years ago and helped without making distinction on the basis of religion.

Congress' Karnataka legislators brought to Lonavala

All the Congress legislators in Karnataka were brought to a resort in Maharashtra's Lonavala town Friday to prevent poaching by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the confidence vote by the B.S. Yeddyurappa government.

The 73-strong group of Congress legislators, accompanied by several party workers, came from Bangalore to Pune around 2 a.m. by a Jet Airways flight.

Parrikar meets Karnataka dissidents MLAs, says crisis will be solved by Saturday

Former Goa Chief Minsiter and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Manohar Parrikar met Karnataka dissidents MLAs here on Friday and exuded confidence about the crisis being solved in the state by Saturday.


Talking to reporters after the meeting, Parrikar said: "I met everyone, including Independents and discussed their grievances. It is a dispute within the party and it will be resolved by tomorrow."


Parrikar said: "The legislators have no demands but "certain issues" which can be solved at the party forum.


"I am heading the Good Governance cell and its my responsibility that BJP governments work smoothly," he added.


Karnataka's Excise Minister M P Renukacharya was among the legislators who held talks with Parrikar.


Last night, the Taj Exotica Resort at Benaulim was turned into a fortress after 15 MLAs, including nine from BJP, checked into it.


Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy also arrived at the resort where Karnataka rebels MLAs were camping.


Kumaraswamy's appearance created a near-volatile situation after angry BJP workers gheraoed his car and roughed up his aide.


The BJP claimed that Karnataka's Tourism Minister Janardhan Reddy, who had come to hold talks with rebels MLAs, was not allowed to meet them by Congress leaders, including Goa Home Minister Ravi Naik.


"Our MLAs are kept under house arrest. This is very bad. The whole country is watching the development," said Janardhan Reddy.


Karnataka Government plunged into crisis after 14 BJP and five Independent MLAs withdrew support to it, prompting State Governor H R Bharadwaj to ask Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to seek a trust vote by October 12.


Despite the crisis, a confident Yeddyurappa said he would prove his majority in the House by October 11, a day ahead of the Governor's deadline.


"I talked to the Governor... the House will meet on October 11... the MLAs who have gone out of town will be back soon. I am confident of proving majority, " said Yeddyurappa.


In the 224-member Assembly, BJP and Independents together have a strength of 123 members. With Wednesday's developments it has been reduced to 104 members. The BJP now requires the support of 113 members to prove its majority.


The BJP earlier had 117 MLAs including the Speaker, followed by Congress 73, JDS 28 and independents six

Son denied poll ticket, miffed Bihar BJP chief resigns

The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Bihar unit president C.P. Thakur Friday resigned from the party post after his son was denied a ticket to contest the upcoming state assembly elections. His supporters too launched protests.

Thakur told reporters here that he has sent in his resignation to BJP national president Nitin Gadkari but was yet to receive any response.

Protests in J&K Assembly over Omar's remarks

SRINAGAR: Pandemonium today broke out in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly after opposition BJP and National Panthers Party MLAs tried to storm into the well of the House over Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's speech. 

The protesting MLAs were forcibly taken out by the marshals when they tried to storm into the well of the House. 

Karnataka: 20 MLAs withdraw support after 4 ministers dropped

Bangalore, Oct 6 (IBNS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka on Wednesday plunged into a grave crisis as 20 MLAs, including party legislators, withdrawing support to the government, hours after Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa dropped four dissident ministers.

Reports quoting rebel leader PM Narendraswamy, who was dropped from the ministry, claimed that 20 MLAs have submitted a letter to Governor HR Bharadwaj, declaring their withdrawal of support to the government.

CWC meet after Ayodhya verdict

New Delhi, Oct 5 : The Congress Working Committee on Tuesday discussed the party's strategy and future course in the aftermath of the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suit case, party sources said.

The CWC, party's supreme decision making body, was meeting here for the first time after the Sept 30 verdict on the case.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are among the top leaders participating in the meet which is also expected to discuss the situation in the Kashmir Valley.

The party is expected to come out with a strategy on the Ayodhya issue at a time when parties like Samajwadi Party and LJP are trying to win support of Muslims on the matter.

The two parties have expressed their disappointment over the verdict.

The CWC is also expected to underline its policy aiming at elections in some states, including Bihar.

Singhvi likely to face disciplinary action

New Delhi, Oct 5 : Congress spokesperson and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi is likely to face disciplinary action for defending in the Kerala High Court a lottery distributor accused of irregularities, a top party leader said here Tuesday.

"According to our information, the high command will take disciplinary action against Singhvi to save at least its own face in Kerala. The CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) has already made it a big issue. They are alleging that Singhvi defended the distributor with the knowledge of the high command," a senior Kerala leader told IANS on the condition of anonymity.

Party leaders in Delhi also indicated that the matter may be referred to the All India Congress Committee (AICC) disciplinary committee, headed by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who is also a former Kerala chief minister.

Singhvi last week appeared for Megha Distributors, an agent for lotteries of Sikkim and Bhutan and is accused of irregularies. This upset Congress leaders in Kerala, who have consistently alleged that the firm's owner was linked to the state's ruling CPI-M.

The Congress-led opposition has been campaigning against lotteries from outside the state.

Congress leaders in the state, preparing for crucial polls to local bodies, feel that Singhvi's action has undermined them, even though he subsequently withdrew from the case.

"We had built a strong case against the Marxists' nexus with the distributor. It was being used as a weapon to attack the LDF (Left Democratic Front) government to defeat it in the upcoming local body elections. But Singhvi spoilt it," the leader said.

"The damage is already done. An action is a must as he appeared for the controversial distributor undermining our plea not to appear. Otherwise, the party will face huge setback in the local body elections," he said.

State Congress chief Ramesh Chennithala and Leader of Opposition in the Kerala assembly Oommen Chandy have demanded strong action against the party spokesperson.

Congress general secretary and its media cell chief Janardan Dwivedi has said that the party high command had taken serious note of the issue.

"Though he has already said he has withdrawn from the case, the party has taken serious note of it. The matter is under consideration," Dwivedi told reporters here Monday.

Left leaders in Kerala, including Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, have alleged that Singhvi took on the case with the full knowledge of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

The Jammu and Kashmir situation - A primer for the interlocutors

By Salim Haq, New Delhi, Oct. 5 : The Government of India's decision to appoint interlocutors to seek out various shades of opinion in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to break the deadlock in the state could not have come a moment too soon.

The separatists call the shots and dictate the daily schedule of the people and the government. The mainstream political parties have been marginalised. There is no meeting ground between what the separatists want and what the government is willing to concede. Normalcy is measured on day to day, if not on an hourly basis.

Where the separatists score points is by their argument that Kashmir is a political problem and not about economic packages or jobs; that Delhi is not serious about the resolution of the problem; that Delhi makes a pretence of talking only when faced with an adverse ground situation; and that once the situation improves, even the pretence is dropped; that's why India has to be blackmailed though violence to address the issue and, the violence has to be sustained, to ensure that Delhi remains interested and engaged.

Delhi's position that it can talk only when the ground situation becomes normal, though logical, has very few takers simply because of Delhi's past track record of not doing anything once the situation improves. With Vajpayee's "within the ambit of humanity", Narasimha Rao's " Sky is the limit" rhetoric coming to naught, it is hardly surprising that Manmohan Singh's "Anything within the parameters of the Indian Constitution" does not strike a chord.

Measures merely to restore normalcy, announcing economic and employment packages, important as they are, have not lead to sustainable normalcy for decades. For that, the basic issue of the sentiment of azadi, of the alienation, of the perceived reneging on promises of plebiscite would have to be addressed. In a word, the separatists continue to flourish precisely because Delhi continues to shy away from addressing the political aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

This time, however, the position could be different because of the multi-track approach that Delhi has adopted. A positive beginning has been made by the visit of the All Party Delegation (APD) and followed up by the announcement of an eight-point package. These, if implemented, would restore a semblance of normality while the proposed appointment of interlocutors has the potential to address the political problem.

The interlocutors who are to be appointed must be men/women of stature, integrity and credibility and seen to represent the country as a whole. Only then, would they be able to genuinely engage the various shades of opinion in Jammu and Kashmir. The worst thing the government can do is to appoint interlocutors on the basis of party politics or with an eye on electoral politics in India.

The interlocutors would have their job cut out for them. They could do well to focus on two broad areas --. One -- finding ways and means to address the political problem of Kashmir; and the second, to undercut the separatist strength.

The starting point for addressing the political issue is to recognise that there is a problem. By merely calling Kashmir 'atoot ang' hasn't made it an 'ang' let alone an 'atoot ang'. India can no longer adopt an ostrich-like attitude and pretend that a problem doesn't exist or that it will go away on its own. It won't. 63 years should have been a long enough time to convince anyone that without addressing the issue head on, it will continue to fester.

As the Babri Masjid verdict has shown, India has come a long way. Just as the people of India want the Mandir-Masjid issue put behind them, so too, Kashmir must be put behind us if we are to prosper. There is enough maturity in India today to allow the Kashmir issue and calls for azadi to be addressed head on. The continued side-stepping the issue does not do India proud anymore. And, neither does the continued use of the gun. This has only further alienated the people and totally dimmed any positive idea of India from their imagination.

The next step is to evolve a consensus, cutting across party lines, on what the problem is and its diverse strands - Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism, UN resolutions, continuing lack of emotional attachment to India, persistent azadi sentiments, lack of governance, Article 370, dilution of autonomy, portions of the state being under Pakistan's illegal occupation, Kashmiriyat being replaced by increasing Islamic overtones and so on.

Once there is a broad national consensus on the contours of the problem, discussions can be held on how to address each of these issues. There is enough political acumen and wisdom in India to do so.

The interlocutors must determine why is the sentiment of azadi so persistent and what does it actually mean and to whom. My two part article titled The Jammu and Kashmir Situation - the Azadi Debate has some pointers.

The second area for the interlocutors to look at is how to narrow the space for the separatists so that the ordinary people of the Valley are able to live their lives peacefully and in a sustainable manner.

How? The very fact of addressing the political issue openly, not shying away from uncomfortable questions and issues, would take the wind out of the sails of the separatists. Not addressing such issues in the past has conveyed the impression that perhaps the state's accession was dubious. It is time to put at rest any such residual doubts that are being kept alive by Pakistan and the separatists.

The one danger is of the interlocutors playing off the azadi sentiments in a section of the Valley Muslims against the 'atoot ang' sentiment of the Jammu population, Hindus and Muslims alike. On the contrary, what needs to be done is to unify the Jammu sentiment of being with India with those in the Valley who neither want a merger with Pakistan nor want an azadi whose colour is green. It is this sentiment that is at present underground, scared of articulating its point of view that has to be identified, nurtured and emboldened. The interlocutors must be aware of this essential constituency, actively seek it out and give it a voice.

The interlocutors must also factor in that a conducive atmosphere sought to be created by the package has been opposed and dismissed out of hand by the separatists precisely because they cannot thrive in an atmosphere of normalcy. While the people want a return to normalcy to pursue their lives, the separatists will not let them. The interlocutors must, therefore, reach out to the people and motivate them to oppose the continuing calendar of protests. The people have to be convinced and assured that it is only by marginalising the separatists, that they would be able to access the benefits of secularism, democracy, equal opportunity and economic growth that India has to offer.

The interlocutors have a tough task ahead of them. The sooner they begin, the better it would be all around.

The time has come for a mature India to address the Kashmir issue squarely, resolve it and put it behind us. It is only then that we could justifiably say with pride that Kashmir is our 'atoot ang' and the people of the Valley accept that they are indeed so

Top Congress committee discusses Ayodhya, CWG and Kashmir

New Delhi, Oct 5 : The Congress Steering Committee, chaired by party president Sonia Gandhi, met here Tuesday and discussed the Ayodhya verdict and the successful inauguration of the Commonwealth Games, party sources said.

The meeting also discussed the situation in conflict-ridden Kashmir, the source added.

The steering committee, as the policy-making working committee has been rechristened after Sonia Gandhi's re-election as the party chief Sep 3, was held at the party headquarters. It was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Home Minister P. Chidambaram and other leaders.

Party sources said Chidambaram gave details on the three major issues to the top party panel.

The meeting is understood to have expressed its satisfaction at the "mature reaction" by the nation to the Ayodhya verdict.

Some leaders are understood to have epressed the view to "wait and watch" the situation for three months, during which period the Allahabad High Court has asked for a status quo to be maintained at the disputed land in Ayodhya.

Regarding the Commonwealth Games, the meeting expressed satisfaction that the ceremonial inauguration went off well and earned praises of the international community, sources said. This, they felt, helped to erase complaints of delays and irregularities.

The steps to defuse the volatile situation in Kashmir also came for discussion, sources said. As per the eight-point peace formula announced by the union government recently, a team of interlocutors is to be appointed soon to talk to the people of Kashmir, especially the separatist leaders.

A three-member bench of the Allahabad High Court Sep 30 ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided equally among the three litigants - the Sunni Central Wakf Board, the Ram temple, and the Nirmohi Akhara, a Hindu sect.

Rabri to contest from two seats in Bihar polls

Patna: RJD supremo Lalu Prasad on Monday nominated his wife Rabri Devi for two Assembly seats as he released the second list of candidates for the third and fourth phase of polls in Bihar. 
Prasad put up former Union minister and his trusted lieutenant Jaiprakash Narain Yadav to take on Putul Devi, widow of independent MP Digvijay Singh in the by-poll to the Banka Parliamentary constituency. 

"We offered Putul ji to contest on our party symbol but she refused. So we decided to field Jaiprakash Narain Yadav as our official nominee," he told reporters here. 
Defending his decision to field his wife and former chief minister Rabri Devi both from Raghopur and Sonepur, the RJD leader said "it has been done in conformity with the people's demand". 
Ramanuj Prasad, party's sitting MLA from Sonepur, had requested Devi to fight the elections from his constituency, he said. 
"I am sure she will have people's support in both the constituencies where she will emerge victorious," Prasad said. 

BJP defeats Congress in Chhattisgarh by-poll

Raipur: Chhattisgarh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) pulled off an impressive victory Monday in the state assembly by-election from the Bhatgaon constitueny in Surguja district, handing over one of the worst defeats to arch rival Congress in recent years. 

BJP candidate Rajni Tripathi won the seat by a margin of over 35,000 votes, defeating her nearest rival, Congress candidate U.S. Singhdeo. The poolls to the seat were held Oct 1 and there were 12 candidates in the fray. 

The seat fell vacant following the death of the BJP's sitting legislator Ravi Shankar Tripathi, 55, in a car crash in April and the BJP fielded his widow while the Congress picked a member of the erstwhile royal family of Surguja as its candidate. The Bhatgaon constituency, some 400 km north of state capital Raipur in Surguja district, recorded over 75 percent votes in peaceful polling. 

Buoyed by the victory, the BJP has described the win as the "people's approval of our development policy". 

"People have reiterated faith in the BJP and has given a thumbs-up to the party to carry on the development policy and welfare schemes for poor and downtrodden people with more commitment," Chief Minister Raman Singh said as he reacted to the party's success. 

The Congress, which had high hopes from the by-election, did not have much to say after the defeat. 

State party president Dhanendra Sahu said: "We will analyse in detail as to what went wrong." 

With the impressive victory, the BJP's strength in the 90-member state assembly has risen to 48 while the Congress remains on 39. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has two members. 

The by-election to the Balod assembly constituency in Durg district is set to be held soon following the death of the BJP's sitting legislator Madanlal Sahu in August. 

Left unity fails in Bihar

The claims of a wider Left unity to take on the NDA, the RJD-LJP combine and the Congress came a cropper in Bihar with none of the major allies willing to yield in the seat sharing process.

So, the major Left parties -- CPI-ML (Liberation), CPI and CPI-M -- have ignored the interests of five smaller parties like All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) and Revolutionary Socialist party (RSP), both constituents of the ruling Left Front in West Bengal.

Besides AIFB and RSP, Socialist Unity Centre of India-Communist (SUCI-C), CPI-ML and Marxist Communist Party of India-United (MCPI-U) have announced to contest in 97 seats to protest the 'big brother attitude' of the three major parties.

Though the three had announced on September 2 that they will fight jointly to avoid fragmentation of votes, it failed to happen.

These parties reached a seat-sharing agreement for 171 seats so far and kept the option open for friendly fight in the rest 72 of the total 243 seats in Bihar.

CPI-ML (L) office secretary Santosh Sahar said the three parties would contest 171 seats in alliance and "There will be friendly fight in at least 30 constituencies".

The CPI has so far released a list 58 candidates with desire to contest in a few more seats.

"Our party has tried its best to fully comply with the seat-sharing agreement with the CPI-ML (L) and the CPI (M). But the party has also decided to field a few candidates against their nominees in friendly fight," said CPI state secretary Badri Narayan Lal.

CPI national executive member U N Mishra said though total alliance in 243 seats did not work out, the positive aspect was that the party was contesting with two other Left parties for the first time on common issues like corruption, land reforms, price rise and recurring floods and drought.

CPI-ML (L) general secretary Deepankar Bhattacharya too said it was a good sign that the Left parties were showing an inclination for a united fight.

While the CPI-ML (L) has released a list of 48 candidates for the first three phases, the CPI-M has announced names of 26 candidates and intends to contest Runisaidpur in the second phase, Lauriya in West Champaran in the third phase and Sasaram and Buxar in the sixth phase.

The CPI and the CPI(M) which earlier had spurned the CPI-ML (L)'s offer for greater Left unity seemed to have realized that they lost much ground to the latter in the post-Lalu Prasad scenario as compared to their status before 1990.

Till the '90s, CPI used to send its representatives to Lok Sabha from seats like Madhubani, Begusarai, Buxar, Jehanabad, Nalanda and Motihari.

CPI-M's Subodh Rai too had won the Bhagalpur LS seat once. Rai has now deserted the party and joined JD(U) to contest from Sultanganj assembly seat this time.

The CPI had won 35 seats in alliance with Congress in 972.

However, in 1977 it managed to win in only 21 seats. In 1980 it won 22 out of 324 assembly seats in undivided Bihar, but fared poorly in 1985 winning just 12 seats. Five years later, CPI in alliance with Lalu Prasad's Janata Dal won 23 seats and got three more seats in alliance with RJD in 1995.

The party continued its alliance with RJD in 2000 and could win only five seats. This declined to three seats in 2005 when it allied with LJP.

The CPI(M) on the other had won three seats in 1967, and four each in 1969 and 1977. The party's tally rose to six seats in 1990, which it retained even in 1995, following its alliance with the RJD. In 2000 the party won just one seat (Bibhutipur) and managed to retain it in 2005.

The CPI-ML(L), earlier known as Indian Peoples' Front, since coming over ground in 1990 won seven out of 82 seats it contested. In 1995, 2000 and 2005 the party won six, five and five seats respectively.

Meanwhile, the five smaller Left parties AIFB, RSP, SUCI(C), CPI-ML and MCPI(U) have declared that they would contest 97 assembly seats in protest against the 'big brother' attitude of the three major Left parties.

CPI-ML coordinator for Bihar and Jharkhand Arvind Sinha charged the three Left parties with not taking smaller parties into confidence before finalising the seat sharing arrangements among themselves.

SUCI (C) secretary Arun Kumar Singh claimed that the alliance of smaller left parties would give the three big brothers a run for their money.

CWG critics failed to judge new India: Nasheed

NEW DELHI: Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed, who witnessed opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, on Monday hailed the arrangements for the sporting event and dismissed the criticism that preceded it as creation of "old and established" media which failed to judge "new" India. 

He said it was not fair to project the image of entire CWG through one dirty "toilet" as some hitches are bound to be there in preparations for any mega event. 

"They (critics) wanted to judge India, may be through the image of India (as was) in 80s or previous generation's idea of India. It is different India," Nasheed said. 

"It is difficult for some of the people especially media, old and established, to judge India....I think it is their difficulty to understand how India has evolved," he said, adding some people have to "certainly understand that new India is different. They are also going through a learning curve." 

Nasheed specifically came here to witness the opening ceremony of the Games at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium last night. 

"It was very spectacular and very beautiful", said the extremely impressed Maldivian President, whose country is among 71 participants in the mega sporting event. 

He expressed confidence that the Games will be as "perfect and as good" as they would have been at any other place in the world. 

On widespread criticism in international media over the preparations for the Games, Nasheed said there must be reasons for perception that the CWG will not be "efficient" but to "generally highlight the whole image of the Games with one toilet is ludicrous. I don't think, it was responsible or clever either." 

The international media had severely criticised and raised question over India's capability to host such an event. 

"The Games will be good, of course it is going to have some hitches here, a broken spring there and so on but by and large I am sure the Games are going to as perfect as any games anywhere else," the visiting President said
.

Chidambaram: Babri Masjid demolition remains a criminal act

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Friday expressed satisfaction with the peaceful law and order situation across the country in the wake of the Allahabad High Court’s verdict in the Ayodhya dispute, saying people’s response to it was “respectful and dignified.”

Quoting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s statement on the judgment that “the correct conclusion, at this stage, is that the status quo will be maintained until the cases are taken up by the Supreme Court,” Mr. Chidambaram said the Centre “is pleased and satisfied that the response of the people… to the judgment has been… “respectful and dignified.”

The Centre had no role in the issue, except maintaining the status quo and ensuring law and order, he said at his monthly press briefing.

It was a fair assumption that the verdict would go to the Supreme Court, which might pass some interim order and take it up for hearing. “Therefore, there is no need for commenting on the judgment. There is no role for the Centre now. The judges have ordered that status quo will be maintained. As of now, the judgment is not operational and status quo as decreed in an earlier Supreme Court order will be maintained.”

Mr. Chidambaram appealed to the media, especially television channels, not to “over-interpret” the judgment and devote extraordinary space and time to it.

Asked whether the judgment would in any way weaken the case relating to the demolition of the Babri Masjid, he said it had nothing to do with the December 6, 1992 demolition. “That act was completely unacceptable, and it was an act done by people who took the law into their own hands. This judgment in no way interferes with the demolition that remains a criminal act.”

To a query on Chief Minister Mayawati’s allegation that the Centre did not provide adequate police forces, he said, “I thought the Uttar Pradesh government is maintaining law and order with the assistance of the forces provided by the Central government. If the State government thinks that the Centre should maintain law and order with the assistance of the U.P. police, so be it.”

In his opening statement, Mr. Chidambaram said that in anticipation of the judgment, 52 companies of the paramilitary forces were deployed in the State. These included 40 companies of the CRPF and 12 companies of the Rapid Action Force. Paramilitary forces were also deployed in other States. Some companies were kept in reserve for any emergency. The Indian Air Force was on standby to rush these personnel to trouble spots, he noted.