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MARCH 22
BJP tries to rope in smaller parties
It is learnt that a BJP heavyweight from Maharashtra had approached the Republican Party of India, which has four MPs, for its support. But the RPI reportedly spurned the overtures.
Vajpayee will lose trust vote: Mulayam
"I will ensure the fall of the government," said the former Union defence minister. "In any case, do you think this kind of government, with an edge of just one seat, can last?"
14 Orissa ministers quit
The Congress Legislature Party, after a five-hour-long
meeting, demanded that all ministers resign, so that Chief Minister J B Patnaik can reconstitute his ministry.
Jaya is angling for another berth for PMK: Ramadoss
The PMK chief also blamed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi for the widespread bomb culture in the state and demanded that he resign owning 'moral responsibility' for the same.
'Swadeshi is a totally
outdated concept. As outdated as Marxism is'
Subramanian Swamy, the man who almost prevented the BJP from forming a government, explains why the saffron brigade hates him.
3 elected unopposed to RS from Kerala
A Vijayaraghavan, Vakkachan Mattathil and Korambayil Ahmed
Haji have made it to the Upper House.
Marak quits as Meghalaya CLP leader
Former chief minister D D Lapang took over from him.
OTHER REPORTS:
Pak stand may jeopardise peace talks
Prospects of the Indo-Pakistan peace dialogue getting to a fresh start under the new government seem to be receding in the light of Pakistan's aggressive posture towards the Bharatiya Janata Party's nuclear policy.
Pak PM ready to 'go the extra mile'
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief today said his country was ready to 'go the extra mile' in building cooperative and good neighbourly relations with India.
MINISTERS'S PROFILES:
Minister of state for 'settling Jayalalitha's scores'
Union Minister of State for Finance (Insurance and Banking) R K Kumar. The man chosen by AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha, allegedly to fix her 'enemies' in the Tamil Maanila Congress.
MARCH 21
Vajpayee shows a generous hand to Jayalalitha in new portfolio allocation
Jayalalitha, who bargained hard on the finance portfolio for her party, has succeeded in
virtually bifurcating the ministry with her close confidant and chartered accountant Kumar taking charge of
revenue, banking and insurance.
UF keen on tripping BJP in speaker's election
Technically, if the BJP were to lose the speaker's election slated for March 24, it need not wait for the trust vote to prove its majority. This is why the party has been trying to woo the TDP on one hand while opening negotiations with the Congress on the other.
BJP national agenda makes big noise, but gives TN little
On the crucial Cauvery waters row, the agenda has not conceded Tamil Nadu's demand -- of implementing the Cauvery waters tribunal's interim award. But seems to be attesting the controversial stand of the rival Karnataka state.
BSP to vote against Vajpayee
Friday was a day of announcements and allegations for BSP supremo Kanshi Ram. He reiterated support to secular forces, announced his exile from electoral contests till 2003, accused the BJP of trying to bribe Mayawati and others -- and claimed the BJP government may fall within 10 days.
4 Akali-BJP leaders elected to RS
All the four ruling Akali Dal-BJP alliance nominees, including Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra, were elected unoposed to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
EMS wanted 'limited understanding' with Congress to oust BJP
In his last article, completed just before he was rushed
to the hospital, CPI-M patriarch E M S Namboodiripad stressed the need for ousting the BJP during the speaker election or vote of confidence.
'We will give the BJP time'
"Are these conditions unreasonable? No. These are conditions which have been in existence for several years. If you don't fulfil and protect these rights, you can never rule. Such type of cold feet was never expected from the BJP. I would say that this is a lesson for them that in order to ensure a stable government, they have to ensure our rights too, our people's rights, our state's rights." AIADMK organising secretary Selvaganapathy explains his leader's blow-hot blow-cold attitude to the BJP.
OTHER REPORTS:
'Pacifist' George Fernandes talks tough on N-bomb and Agni
India will not fight shy of inducting nuclear weapons or conducting repeated tests of the Agni ballistic missile, if necessary, to ensure its security, territorial integrity
and unity, Defence Minister George Fernandes said.
No new taxes in Rs 2.38 billion deficit AP budget
No fresh taxes were proposed in the Rs 2.38 billion deficit budget presented to the Andhra Pradesh assembly by Finance Minister P Ashok Gajapathi Raju today.
Meghalaya to add another minister
Chief Minister B B Lyngdoh said legislator Mihsalan Suchiang would be sworn in this week.
MINISTERS'S PROFILES:
BJP's rising star from Assam
Kabindra Purkayastha lost the 1996 election from Silchar to Santosh Mohan Deb, but avenged that defeat by comprehensively beating Deb by a margin of over 20,000 votes in the elections to the 12th Lok Sabha.
Bakht is not the Muslim 'mukhota' of the BJP
Sikander Bakht was appointed urban affairs and employment minister in the 1996 Vajpayee ministry. However, he was dissatisfied with the portfolio and refused to attend office for about a week. After hectic parleys, the party leadership gave in and made him the external affairs minister, a post which he held for another six days.
The youngest minister
Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang's son Omak Apang, a first timer in politics, is the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee ministry.
Jawad lawyer gets labour portfolio
Union Labour Minister Satyanarayan Jatiya is an agriculturist and lawyer by profession.
Dr Minister
Debendra Pradhan, minister of state and first-timer in Parliament, took to active politics after serving the medical profession for nearly two decades.
Another son of the soil
Ramesh Bais, BJP Madhya Pradesh
unit's former vice-president, is an agriculturist.
TODAY'S COLUMN
Why is the CPI-M desperate to pull down Vajpayee?
The Big Brother of the Left Front, says T V R Shenoy, wonders if Mamata Banerjee's successful revolt has inspired the RSP and the Front Bloc. Decisions were effectively taken by the CPI-M alone. But with the Congress reduced to 'the CPI-M's B-team' (Bannerjee's telling phrase), the RSP and the Forward Bloc had nowhere to go. Now they do...
Trapped!
The electorate is caught in a trap. While the vote is only a rejection of the current governing party, it simultaneously conveys acceptance of another. Thus, Sharad Pawar sees the rejection of the BJP-Shiv Sena in Maharashtra as the acceptance of him and Jayalalitha believes the Tamil voter wants the grand days of 'Amma's rule' back... Shalab Kumar on the message from Results '98.
Delhi: Showcause notice for police chief
Nagaland: S C Jamir inducts 21 more ministers
Tamil Nadu: Reward announced for info on absconding woman in blasts case
Tripura: CPI-M man elected
unopposed to RS
MARCH 20
Finance for Sinha, defence for Fernandes
Home for Advani. Commerce for Hegde. HRD for Joshi. Industry for Bakht. Steel for Patnaik. Railways for Nitish Kumar. I&B for Sushma. The PM keeps external affairs. There are plenty of surprises in the 21-member Cabinet.
Raw deal for 17 states, UTs
Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu get the lion's share of seven berths each in the A B Vajpayee ministry, while the states that go unrepresented include West Bengal, Kerala, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. In plain terms, only 14 states find a berth in the council of ministers.
Cabinet expansion after trust vote
Announcing this, A B Vajpayee said he will prove his majority before March 29.
Trust vote on March 27-28
The newly-elected members will take oath on March 23 and 24. The new Speaker will be elected on March 24. President K R Narayanan will
address both Houses of Parliament on March 25.
Family ties rule the roost
The Vajpayee ministry represents a medley of sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of the country's prominent leaders.
Cong hunts for AICC meet venue
The party was earlier hopeful of hosting the AICC session at the Talkatora stadium, but has now realised that it has already been booked for another function. So, as of now, the party has finalised the date and agenda of the AICC meet; all that remains is to find a place to host the session.
BJP MLA elected Gujarat speaker
Legislator Dhirubhai Shah was on Thursday unanimously elected speaker of the 10th Vidhan Sabha in Gujarat.
THE REDIFF SPECIAL
The Inner Circle
Far away from the glare of publicity lives the prime minister's sisters, nephews, nieces and their children. Archana Masih and photographer Jewella C Miranda travelled to Gwalior to discover an Atal Bihari Vajpayee only his family knows.
MINISTERS'S PROFILES:
The most dynamic saffron leader
Lal Kishinchand Advani has steered the BJP's fortunes for the most part of its existence, leading it to power for a second time, although in seas that remain choppy.
His Father's Legacy
Naveen Patnaik, greenhorn politician and BJD president, is now a Union minister.
The professor who taught two ex-PMs
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi is a professor of physics from Allahabad University, with two prime ministers -- V P Singh and Chandra Shekhar -- among his students, even though they do not often see eye to eye in things political.
By George, just how does one classify him?
Flamboyant iconoclast, trade unionist, Lohia-ite socialist, quick-change artist... George Fernandes has often tested chroniclers trying to capture him in words.
At the pinnacle, without enemies!
With a vast reservoir of political expertise gathered over four decades, Surjeet Singh Barnala once again steps in for a larger role in central politics.
The return of Khurana
Just a few months ago, Madan Lal Khurana, the dethroned Delhi chief minister, was sad. Terribly sad. So sad, in fact, that he
wanted to desert politics.
Man the Shiv Sena banks on
A former chairman of the Maharashtra Planning Commission,
Prabhu joined the Shiv Sena following the expiry of his term as
chairman of the Saraswat Co-operative Bank in 1994. He is a two-term MP from Rajapur in Maharashtra.
Bombay rail commuter's voice in LS
Four-time MP Ram Naik has been championing the cause of
Bombay's suburban railway commuters, both inside and outside
Parliament.
For Kumaramangalam, politics is a family business
Rangarajan's father Mohan served as minister for steel and mines in the Indira Gandhi Cabinet till his death in a plane crash in 1973, while his grandfather P Subbaroyan was
communications minister from 1957 to 1962 under Jawaharlal Nehru.
JD faced no fury like Hegde scorned
Involved deeply in a love-hate relationship with H D Deve Gowda that saw the popularity curve of the Janata Dal dip till it
reached a new low in the recent election, Ramakrishna Hegde has found a new ally in the BJP, which he had stated was no more 'untouchable'.
Second-timer makes it to Cabinet
Anant Kumar, MP from Bangalore South, plunged into politics while a student...
The man who brought down Ajit Singh
Economist, lawyer and agriculturalist rolled into one, Som Pal brings to office rich administrative experience.
A liberal among some archaic mindsets
It was Yashwant Sinha's meetings with Jayaprakash Narayan in the late '60s and early '70s and his tenures as principal secretary to two Bihar chief ministers -- the Lok Dal's Karpoori Thakur and the Janata Party's Ram Sundar Dass -- that attracted him to politics.
Laloo's nemesis begins second ministerial term
Firebrand Samata Party leader Nitish Kumar began his second term as a Union minister today.
Vocal Hindutva spokesperson
For BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj, it has been a long haul from Ambala cantonment.
All about winning friends and votes
An avid supporter of Jayalalitha, Vazhappadi Ramamoorthy was a key
player in forging the alliance between the AIADMK and the Congress in the 1989 and 1991 elections.
Tribulations mark Buta's spectacular rise
Buta Singh was excommunicated from the Sikh Panth for his role in rebuilding a 'sarkari' Akal Takht. And took the flak for allowing the saffron brigade to take shilanyasto the disputed Ayodhya site.
The man behind AP's saffron success
If the BJP has won four seats in the recent election in the state, it is largely because of Bandaru Dattatreya's efforts.
OTHER REPORTS:
E M S Namboodiripad dead
Master theoretician. A renowned Communist. A revolutionary in percept but a Gandhian in practice. Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad, who passed into ages on Thursday afternoon, was all that.
Vajpayee watches hockey to make peace with Pakistan
The prime minister 's first engagement after assuming office was to visit the National stadium in Delhi to watch the India-Pakistan hockey match.
Madras police to shoot at sight
The Madras police will shoot at sight any person
setting off or assembling an explosive during
combing operations, city police commissioner P Kalimuthu said.
TODAY'S COLUMN
Why is the CPI-M desperate to pull down Vajpayee?
The Big Brother of the Left Front, says T V R Shenoy, wonders if Mamata Banerjee's successful revolt has inspired the RSP and the Front Bloc. Decisions were effectively taken by the CPI-M alone. But with the Congress reduced to 'the CPI-M's B-team' (Bannerjee's telling phrase), the RSP and the Forward Bloc had nowhere to go. Now they do…
MARCH 19
Allies gain, BJP loses in agenda
Though the allies have extracted their pound of flesh from the BJP, A B Vajpayee was at a loss when asked to spell out at least two areas where they made a compromise to the BJP.
Indians will build India with a little help from others: BJP
Though the BJP's national agenda promises to continue the reform process, the thrust will be protection to the Indian industry.
Sonia sparks Congress anger
Resentment is brewing in the Congress over Sonia Gandhi's first official decision -- to nominate two of her confidants Oscar Fernandes and Santosh Mohan Deb to the Rajya Sabha.
Naidu adamant about 'fighting BJP'
Asserting he had not told President K R Narayanan that he was backing a BJP government, the Andhra Pradesh chief minister said there is no change in the TDP stand of fighting Hindutva at the national level.
Kerala CPI-M divided over taking Congress support at Centre
The three-day session of its state committee failed to arrive at a consensus.
BJP, Trinamul to tie up for panchayat poll in Bengal
BJP's West Bengal unit chief Tapan Sikdar said the party and the Trinamul Congress would jointly contest all the seats in the panchayati raj institutions, numbering about 72,000.
Renuka peeved at denial of renomination to RS, may part ways with TDP
For the minister of state for health and family welfare, who dominated the national scene as one of the more eloquent women MPs, Chandrababu Naidu's refusal to renominate her cuts deeply.
Vedike rebels dare JD to serve whip on them
The ruling party had issued a whip to all other JD MLAs to vote in favour of the motion of thanks for the governor's address. Patel had challenged the opposition to pull down his government, saying it was a test of majority.
Udhampur polls leave 12 injured
Low voter turnout, and a bomb explosion which left a dozen civilians wounded, marked the polling in Jammu and Kashmir's hilly Udhampur constituency on Wednesday.
OTHER REPORTS:
17 dead in Bombay building crash
Eye-witnesses said all the six floors of the building at Malad east came tumbling down all of a sudden, catching the residents and onlookers by surprise. The building housed 36 families, who were recently issued a notice by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to vacate it, sources said.
NCW moves SC against capital punishment to woman
Ram Shri, independent India's first woman to be sentenced to death, will go to the gallows at 0430 hours, on April 6. Unless the Supreme Court grants a stay.
Controversial contraceptive banned
The Central government bows to a Supreme Court order over the use of the dangerous quinacrine for sterilisation.
OIC meet raps India on
the knuckles over Kashmir
In the final communique issued at the end of their three-day
conference in Doha yesterday evening, the ministers condemned the "continuing massive violations of human rights of the Kashmiri people".
'Step up aggression to regain Kashmir'
Pakistan's former army chief Aslam Baig has urged the government to adopt a parallel military and political
strategy on Kashmir with help from jihadi and political groups.
TN opposes CBI probe into blasts
The government would not hesitate to seek the CBI's services whenever the need arises, it said in a counter-affidavit against Jayalalitha's petition, seeking to transfer the investigation into the blasts to the central agency.
Rs 7.8 billion WB aid for improving agricultural technology
The project is expected to benefit poor farmers by
improving practical agricultural technologies.
Curfew in Hubli
More than 300 people, including 70 policemen, were injured when groups belonging to two communities clashed in the Karnataka city.
Karnataka: 6 killed, 3 hurt in explosion
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Court allows 10-year-old to sit for graduate exam
Tathagat would take the Bachelor of Science examination at Patna university.
MARCH 18
BJP not to dilute economic agenda
"We will not change the basic structure of our economic policies. There would be a cautious approach towards foreign investment," said a BJP economic ideologue. The party's national agenda will be released on Wednesday.
Pressure on Sonia to enter Rajya Sabha
Biennial elections to the Upper House are to be held in April, and senior Congress leaders want Sonia to be nominated as an MP.
Pawar is Congress leader in LS
Former Union defence minister Sharad Pawar and former Union finance minister Dr Manmohan Singh will head the Congress's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha wings respectively
SP to boycott Vajpayee's swearing-in
SP general secretary Amar Singh said his party was of the view that the BJP had no faith in the Constitution of India, and hence they did not want to be witness to the "false oath on the Constitution".
'Do not expel Naidu without UF debate'
DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's sharp reaction is seen as a rebuff to the reported talks in the UF that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and combine's convenor Nara Chandrababu Naidu should be shown the door.
5 Orissa JD MPs cross over to BJD
The Janata Dal today suffered another major blow when five of its 11 members in the Rajya Sabha decided to join the Biju Janata Dal.
Bommai, Oscar and Naidu will make it to RS
Union Minister S R Bommai, All India Congress Committee general secretary Oscar Fernandes and Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Venkaiah Naidu are likely to be elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
BJP trying for consensus over speaker's post
BJP insiders confirmed that Ram Naik, the MP from Bombay North, has emerged as the most favoured candidate from the BJP's side for this post.
Congress, not UF, should decide on speaker's election, says Paswan
The Union Railway Minister said the Congress could take a decision about the speaker's election and consult the United Front, as it would not be able to get its candidate elected without the combine's support.
The Man People Love to Hate
'In Subramanian Swamy, have we found the ultimate exemplar of the chaos theory? Destroy whatever you see, destroy anything and everything that comes up, in the hope -- or belief -- that when all else is ruin and rubble, you alone will remain whole. And, by default, become leader, even if you are left with aught else but rubble to rule over?' Prem Panicker on the leader the BJP refused to accommodate in the Union Cabinet.
Vajpayee's swearing-in to take place in Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt
Prime minister-designate A B Vajpayee, who had earlier in the day called on the President, expressed his desire to have the swearing-in ceremony in the forecourt as the BJP and its allies would like to invite several supporters. Prior to this, only Chandra Shekhar has been sworn-in at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Swamy asks Vajpayee to keep Hegde out of cabinet
The Janata Party chief said the inclusion of Ramakrishna Hegde in the cabinet would embarrass the country and the governing coalition as Hegde was embroiled in a number of lawsuits.
Jaya won't be part of Vajpayee ministry
The AIADMK supremo rules out joining the BJP-led government herself, but reserves seats for party colleagues.
'Tell me, what have I done for Mulayam Singh Yadav that they keep accusing me like this?'
"I will expose the double standards of politicians in my book. It will be a reference for constitutional experts because I will explain the rationale behind my actions that were labelled as controversial. And it will thus, also speak at length about why UP is in such a pathetic state today." Former Uttar Pradesh governor Romesh Bhandari hits out at his detractors.
Qureishi takes over as UP governor
Mohammad Shafi Qureishi, who is also the MP governor, was administered the oath by Justice D P Mohapatra, chief justice of the Allahabad high court.
OTHER REPORTS:
Al-Umma's plot to set off blasts in Madras foiled, six arrested
On interrogation, the six Al-Umma activists told the police that the explosives were meant to be set off in various parts of the city on March 19, when the Bharatiya Janata Party government led by A B Vajpayee would be sworn in.
27 Congress MLAs suspended for unruly behaviour in AP assembly
Amid uproarious scenes, all the 27 opposition Congress members present in the Andhra Pradesh assembly were today suspended for a day for obstructing the proceedings of the House.
Special task force to protect Poonch border
Eight hundred and ninetytwo special police officers have been recruited to curb infiltration and insurgency in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.
Bansi Lal reintroduces licence to drink in Haryana
Today, the cabinet scrapped the 20-month-old prohibition.
IAF likely to get 'flying tankers' with Vajpayee as PM
The air-to-air refuellers would enhance India's war power significantly.
TODAY'S COLUMNS
The Home Coming
Imagine a couple of 60-somethings, the quintessential Indian couple reared in deference and parochial stereotypes. Add to this a complete unfamiliarity with the land; neither of them has ever been to India before. Throw in a garbled tongue that passes for Hindi, which is all they speak... Ashwin Mahesh on the pull of
Mother India.
Maharashtra:1 killed, 11 hurt in Bombay building collapse
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Love's Labour Gained
Wherein a Juliet went on hungerstrike to marry her Romeo.
MARCH 17
Sonia elected CPP chairperson
Sonia Gandhi was unanimously elected CPP chairperson after her name was proposed by Sitaram Kesri and seconded by Sharad Pawar.
After alliances, the BJP now wrestles with ministry allocation
Nearly 15 ministers are likely to be sworn in along with Vajpayee on Thursday. BJP sources said it may include some six cabinet-level ministers from the BJP itself, while the rest would come from the alliance partners.
Romesh Bhandari quits
Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari said he was quitting as ''the new government at the Centre may not have faith in me. If this feeling is there, one should quit the post.''
UF gunning for Naidu
The United Front is gearing up to shunt out Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu as the combine's convenor.
Sonia sets off scenes in Rajasthan assembly
Unruly scenes were witnessed in the Rajasthan assembly over the issue of Sonia Gandhi taking over as the Congress president.
Fear of DMK going soft on BJP forced Jaya's hand
"We were alerted about the possibility of the DMK and six Janata Dal MPs joining the TDP in abstaining during the vote," said a source close to the AIADMK leadership. "And we took the best possible decision -- namely, of joining a BJP government."
Don't use water disputes to hook Jaya, Nayanar tells BJP
Reacting to reports that the Mullaperiyar and Cauvery river water disputes figured in the BJP-AIADMK discussions on government formation at the Centre, the Kerala chief minister said he would vehemently oppose any unilateral decision on the issues.
UF will not abstain during trust vote, says Deve Gowda
Deve Gowda described as "baseless, imaginary and intending to harm the interests of the United Front", the media reports that he might be among the UF leaders to abstain from voting.
Secure Udhampur awaits March 18 polls
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in
this Jammu and Kashmir constituency, the second largest one
in the state.
OTHER REPORTS:
Sikhs can't tie the knot anymore in hotels, marriage palaces
Led by Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh, the Sikh clergy on Monday issued a directive banning solemnisation of marriages in hotels and marriage palaces.
Congressmen force AP governor to flee house
Congress members, waving black flags, raised slogans and
tore up copies of the governor's address. A copy of the address,
thrown by a protesting Congress member, almost hit Dr C Rangarajan.
UP panel recommends sacking 'unparliamentary' MLAs
The single-member Commission -- constituted to enquire into the October 21 violence in the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha -- has recommended that the erring legislators should get the axe.
New liquor policy brews heady trouble for Kerala govt
The ruling LDF wants to open new wine and beer parlours in the land of partial prohibition. But social activists won't have any of that: it would corrupt the youth, addict the women, and, thus, bring about largescale prostitution.
Nayanar promises to constitute Lok Ayukta by April
An ordinance to constitute the body, to replace the Kerala Public Men's Corruption (Investigation and Inquiries) Commission, would be promulgated after the conclusion of the current assembly session on April 16.
TODAY'S COLUMNS
The BJP must abandon its loony fringe
The BJP, says Amberish K Diwanji, would do well to remember that no party with extreme views (left or right) can survive as a major national party. Even the Communists had to abandon much of their rhetoric (whatever happened to the revolution?) to emerge as a force in Indian
politics.
Hobson's Choice
Caught between two revolting, blackmailing women the usually
tough-talking, browbeating BJP is at a loss for words. If it succumbs, it will learn (as all victims of blackmail learn the hard way) that the demands of blackmailers never stop. They only grow and grow and grow... Pritish Nandy on the BJP's
helplessness.
Karnataka: Venkaiah Naidu files papers for Rajya Sabha
Karnataka: 3 killed, 31 hurt in IIS building collapse
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