Samajwadi Party targets opportunistic Congress, but says will support UPA

Agra (Uttar Pradesh) Aug.21 (ANI): Concluding a three-day National Conference here on Friday, a sulking Samajwadi Party leadership accused the Congress of being “opportunistic” and announced a mass agitation programme against UPA government, but ruled out withdrawal of outside support to it for now.

Having lost in four Assembly seats where bypolls were held in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party in a resolution also targeted the Mayawati Government in the state, saying it and the UPA were pursuing “anti-people” and “anti-national” policies.

It said that the Samajwadi Party had supported the Congress-led coalition at the Centre to weaken communal forces.

“But the government after announcing revolutionary steps to end unemployment, educational reforms and foodgrains support in 100 days, had done nothing so far in this regard,” it alleged, while announcing the agitation against the Centre and UP government in January next year.

However, party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, asserted that “there is no question of withdrawing support from UPA as of now.

“We will take to the streets against both Congress and BSP. We will launch a ‘Jail Bharo’ agitation between January 19 and 23, 2010 against BSP, during which both me and Kalyan Singh will court arrest,” Yadav told reporters on Friday.

The political and economic resolution cleared by the party’s national executive made no reference to SP withdrawing support from the UPA.

Asked about the results of bypolls to four assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, where two seats were wrested from it, Yadav said, “this is not the people’s verdict. State government officials ensured BSP’s victory. They had arrested our cadre to ensure our defeat.”

The results are being seen as a setback for the party, which is trying to regain its position in the state after the 2007 assembly polls and the recent general elections.

“We want to make people aware why there is a need for an agitation against BSP in Uttar Pradesh. During this period, our party workers will hold meetings with the people at grassroot levels where they will highlight the weaknesses of the BSP government in UP,” Yadav said.

He also cited the ongoing farming season as a reason for the timing of the agitation.

The SP lamented India “kowtowing to foreign powers and sacrificing the country’s economic interests”.

The government, the party resolution alleged, had failed to boost agricultural production, control prices, take action against food adulteration, tackle unemployment and give Indian languages their rightful place in official and court work.

It criticised the US and other developed countries for their “double standards” on the issue of greenhouse emissions.

It also referred to the alleged attempts by China to disturb the flow of Himalayan rivers which could result in environmental disaster for India. (ANI)

Chief Ministers of Naxal-affected states to meet in August

New Delhi, July 7 (ANI): Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has said that a meeting of Chief Ministers of Naxal-affected states will be held next month to discuss their menace.

The Maoist problem will be discussed in detail during the meeting and plans to tackle the threat posed by the Naxals to internal security will also be fine-tuned, Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The Home Minister also asked the Chief Ministers of the affected states to renew their appeal to the Naxal leaders to lay down arms and come to the negotiating table.

The appeal came at the suggestion of SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who claimed that he had successfully resolved the problem in some districts in Uttar Pradesh through talks.

The chief ministers will be briefed about the plans drawn up to tackle the Naxal menace, Chidambaram said admitting that the problem has become intense and grave in the last two months.

Chidambaram said there was no concrete evidence about Naxals getting funds from foreign countries.

The Naxals are able to collect money from within the country using illegal means like looting banks and armouries, and also from tribals who support them, he said.

Chidambaram said the Centre has allocated Rs 1250 crore to the states for modernisation of the police forces. (ANI)

Naxal-hit states Chief Ministers to meet in August

New Delhi, July 7 (ANI): Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the meeting of Chief Ministers of Naxal-hit states will be held in August to discuss the menace which has increasing in some states.

Replying to supplementaries in the Lok Sabha, Chidambaram said the meeting will discuss the strategy to tackle the threat posed by the Naxals in some states.

He also asked the Chief Ministers of the affected states to renew their appeal to the Naxal leaders to lay down arms and come to the negotiation.

The appeal came at the suggestion of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who claimed that he had successfully resolved the problem in some districts in Uttar Pradesh through talks. (ANI)

Nepal Parliament resumes, paves way for new budget session|World[Kathmandu {Kathmandu, July 7 (ANI): After months of obstruction, Nepal Parliament has resumed on Monday.

The session was prorogued after the Unified CPN (Maoist), obstructed normal proceedings of the House for more than two months it has now allowed the resumption of the House following a four-point agreement among the three largest parties in the Constituent Assembly (CA).

Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist chairman Prachanda addressed the resumed session.

Prachanda said his party adopted maximum flexibility to allow the House work for the welfare of the country and that the obstruction of the House would resume after a month if the agreements are not fulfilled by then.

The parties have agreed to categorically define Prime Minister’s and President’s jurisdiction and forge a consensus among the parties about the same within a month.

Prime Minister Nepal vowed to address the issue of defining powers of the President and Prime Minister within a month in consultation with other parties.

Addressing the Maoist demand of maintaining civil supremacy, Nepal said nobody is in favour of military supremacy. The very idea of republican set up is to maintain civil supremacy.

In his address, Prachanda said his party has agreed to end the disruption of the House to speed up the process of concluding the peace process and drafting of the new Constitution.

Prachanda however warned that his party would launch an aggressive agitation if the government failed to reach an understanding to resolve the issue of Army Chief issue.

The resumption of the normal functioning of parliament will pave the way for the President Dr. Ram Bran Yadav to allow the presentation of the new budget before the current fiscal year ends on 15th of this month.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Surendra Pande has said that the preparations for the next fiscal year’s budget is almost over.

The size of the next budget is likely to be about Rs 280 billion,” he said, nepalnews reported. (ANI)

Money for statues should have been used for the poor: Congress

New Delhi, June 29 (ANI): The Congress party on Monday said the money used for installing statues of Dalit icons by Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Mayawati could have been used for upliftment of the poor and backwards in the state.

Stating that the party was not against installing statues of national heroes, Congress said, but it was against “overdoing” it.

“We feel the money (spent on statues) could have been used for upliftment of the poor and backwards in the state,” Shakeel Ahmed, Congress spokesman said in the national capital.

“We are not against memorials for national heroes…But when it is overdone, it becomes problematic,” Ahmed added.

Meanwhile, reacting on Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s comments of bulldozing the statues if he could, Ahmed said this could be his (SP chief’s) thinking but certainly not that of the Congress party.

When asked Congress party’s reaction to Mayawati’s comments stating making Meira Kumar the Speaker of Lok Sabha would not help Dalits, the Congress spokeman said: “If someone cannot understand the importance of the post of the Speaker, what can we say?” (ANI)

Munnabhai, Nafisa no icons of socialism, says Fernandes

New Delhi, May 27 (ANI): Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt and former national women’s swimming champion Nafisa Ali are, by no stretch of imagination, socialists, and it is a shame that the Samajwadi Party, which is led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is projecting both as icons of socialism, says veteran politician George Fernandes.

“The biggest shame is to see the likes of socialites or film stars like Nafisa Ali or Sanjay Dutt sporting the red topi of the socialist working class movement like a fashion accessory just because they are campaigning for the Samajwadi Party. It is indeed sad that Mulayam Singh Yadav allows such mockery to take place under his Samajwadi banner,” says Fernandes in an article for the socialist journal “The Other Side”.

Appealing for genuine socialists to get together to promote the politics of integrity and ideology, Fernandes says practicing politicians must take the lead and adds that senior leaders of the socialist movement can inspire through their past legacies and moral character.

“There is hardly any room left for brilliant oratory… and some like Nafisa Ali and Mallika Sarabhai thought their media ilan and glamour could replace the (socialist) system by becoming candidates. The media must stop acting as if they are solely in charge of the political discourse of the country,” he adds.

He concludes with a warning that apathy and arrogance only breeds more of the same rubbish that the current crop of leaders often rail against. (ANI)

UP Government to start process to reinstate sacked cops

Lucknow, May 25 (ANI): The Mayawati Government today said it will start the process to reinstate the terminated policemen with immediate effect after the Supreme Court ordered to give provisional appointment to sacked policemen recruited during Samajwadi Party’s rule.

“As the Supreme Court has not given a stay to the state government, services of the cops terminated earlier, would be reinstated as per the order issued by a two-judge bench of the Allahabad High Court on December 8 last year,” Special Secretary (Home) D K Gupta told reporters here.

He said that as per the HC order an exercise to segregate tainted policemen from the non-tainted ones would be undertaken and a committee would be constituted for this.

Asked about the exact number of policemen to be reinstated, Gupta said over 18,000 policemen were recruited through 42 recruitment boards in PAC, civil police and wireless in 2007.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to provide provisional appointments to over 22,000 police constables whom Chief Minister Mayawati sacked in 2007.

Those sacked had been appointed by the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime.

The Mayawati government alleged large-scale anomalies in appointments as soon as it came to power in 2007.

Following the Supreme Court order, Mulayam Singh Yadav lashed out at the state government, and demanded Mayawati’s resignation.

“After the Supreme Court’s decision, if Mayawati has some morality, she should immediately resign from the post of Chief Minister,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav. (ANI)

SC directs Mayawati to provide provisional appointment to sacked constables

New Delhi, May 25 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh Government to provide provisional appointments to over 22,000 police constables whom Chief Minister Mayawati sacked in 2007.

Those sacked had been appointed by the Mulayam Singh Yadav regime.

The Mayawati government alleged large scale anomalies in appointments as soon as it came to power in 2007.

Earlier, the Allahabad High Court had issued a contempt notice against the UP Government for failing to reinstate the constables.

Following the Supreme Court order, Mulayam Singh Yadav lashed out at the state government and demanded Mayawati’s resignation.

‘After the Supreme Court’s decision, if Mayawati has some morality, she should immediately resign from the post of chief minister,’ said Mulayam Singh Yadav, President of the Samajwadi Party.

“If Mayawati does not resign, we will meet the Governor and the President to demand the dismissal of her government,” he added. (ANI)

Samajwadi Party to support UPA

New Delhi, May 19 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) General Secretary Amar Singh on Tuesday submitted a letter pledging support for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to President Pratibha Devisingh Patil.

“I have been authorised and directed by the SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav to offer our support for the formation of new UPA Government under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh,” Amar Singh told reporters here.

The SP had extended outside support to the UPA Government after the Left parties pulled out over nuclear deal with the US last year.

Amar Singh further said that extension of outside support to the UPA by the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was an act of ‘political opportunism’.

“On this I have to say this that when we are fully supporting, Mayawati’s support is political opportunism,” Singh added.

Earlier in the day, BSP chief Mayawati said that her party would give outside support to UPA. (ANI)

New government begins taking shape

New Delhi, May 19 (ANI): Political activity in the national capital has picked up with various parties jostling and lobbying for their representatives’ inclusion in the new cabinet.

With the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) convening a meeting of its victorious parliamentarians in Parliament House, the major contenders bidding for inclusion are Rashtriya Janata Dal chief and former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav, who has been a steady supporter of the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief and former Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), which defied political odds and emerged victorious in the general elections.

The Congress, which has achieved a decisive popular mandate, is debating over whether it needs to include Samajwadi Party supreme Mulayam Singh Yadav in the cabinet, as his party, which is ready to offer outside support, played a crucial role in extending support to the UPA during the debate over the US-India nuclear cooperation deal.

There is speculation by certain elements within the Congress, who feel that the Samajwadi Party wavered during the elections, and that it would be a better option to rely on leaders of smaller parties like Ajit Singh of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, H D Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Omar Abdullah of the National Conference.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which is led by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, has said today that it is ready to extend outside support to the UPA Government.

The Congress will also have to be mindful of the fact that it does not enjoy majority status in the Rajya Sabha and that the inclusion of some of these groups in the government would help the Congress to push its program through the Upper House.

Within the Congress, there is a possibility that younger elements like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Milind Deora and Sachin Pilot may be accommodated in the Cabinet.

Insofar as the profile of the cabinet is concerned, the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will have to take crucial decisions like who he would like as his Railway and HRD Ministers and whether to include or not to include Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee in the cabinet. There is also speculation that former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and Dr. Singh’s close confidant, Dr. Montek Singh Alhuwalia, will be made the Finance Minister.

As far as the profile of the Prime Minister’s Office is concerned, the expectation is that National Security Adviser M.K.Narayanan will continue in the same assignment as he has been able to maintain an even keel during the management of several crises, and has a background as Director of the Intelligence Bureau and head of the Joint Intelligence Group.

Former PIO and now media adviser to the PM, Deepak Sandhu, is also expected to be retained. The new government will also be on the lookout for a new Home Secretary, as the present incumbent, Madhukar Gupta is to superannuate after receiving an extension. A new Foreign Secretary is expected to be in place by July with the superannuation of present incumbent Shiv Shankar Menon.

Among other expected to get fresh assignments are former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, who played a notable role in finalizing the US-India civil nuclear cooperation deal. (ANI)

Azam Khan has betrayed Samajwadi Party: Mulayam

New Delhi, May 9 (ANI): Samjawadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday came out in defence of party general secretary Amar Singh by saying that Azam Khan, the Muslim face of the Samajwadi Party, was indulging in acts of indiscipline.

Reacting to Azam Khan’s comments on Amar Singh being a petty politician, Mulayam Singh said: “Azam Khan has betrayed the party. What he has done is anti-party.”

Mulayam Singh’s comments comes after Amar Singh had threatened to quit the party over the Azam Khan issue.

Amar Singh was reportedly upset with Azam Khan opposing Jaya Prada’s candidature from Rampur. (ANI)

Mulayam has run-in with election official in Mainpuri

Mainpuri (UP), May 7 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had a run-in with an election official in Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Mulayam, who was in Manipuri to cast his vote, was not allowed to enter the polling booth with his bodyguards.

The election official asked Mulayam’s guards to wait outside the polling booth, even as the former Chief Minister continuously remonstrated with an election official, who when asked, said he was from Karnataka. (ANI)

Polling for fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections begins

New Delhi, May 7 (ANI): Polling for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections began today amid tight security.

In this phase, the election is being held in 85 constituencies spread across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi.

Polling for all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase.
Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

As many as 9.46 crore people are eligible to vote in this phase.

Polling, which commenced at 7: 00 a.m., is being held across 1.29 lakh booths.

Security has been tightened in New Delhi as police erected barricades and frisked passengers entering the capital.

Vehicles coming in and going out of New Delhi were being stopped on the border and strict security checks were being conducted to keep a check on any untoward activity.

Following militant threats to disrupt elections, security forces are on a high alert and are taking all possible steps to ensure that the massive election exercise in which more than 714 million people are eligible to vote, passes off without any untoward incident.

Maoist violence hit the first two rounds of voting in the general election, killing at least 21 people as rebels targeted police and polling officials.

The first, second and third phases of polling were held on April 16, 23 and 30 respectively.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)

Security beefed up across India for fourth phase of elections

New Delhi/Patna/Oraiya (Uttar Pradesh), May 6 (ANI): Tight security arrangements have been made across the country for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on Thursday.

A total of 85 parliamentary constituencies across the states of Bihar, West Bengal, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and New Delhi will go to polls.

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase that will witness polling to 85 Lok Sabha seats in eight states and union territories.

Polling for all 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha constituency, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

In Patna, Border Security Personnel (BSF) personnel of staged a flag march on the streets of Pataliputra parliamentary constituency to ensure fair polling.

“We want people to know that we have enough forces and have made proper arrangements for their security so that they fearlessly cast their votes,” said R Malgar Giri, Senior Superintendent of Police, Patna.

Voters said that were satisfied with the security arrangement.

“Administration has made good security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling. BSF personnel have been deployed. We also want that there should be peaceful polling,” said Mohammad Miraj Akhtar, a resident.

BSF personnel also staged a flag march in Oraiya region of Uttar Pradesh.

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)

Campaigning for fourth phase of Lok Sabha polls ends today

New Delhi, May 5 (ANI): Campaigning in 85 constituencies spread over eight states that will go to polling in the fourth phase of polls on May 7 will end on Tuesday evening,

A total of 1,315 candidates, including 119 women, are in the fray in this phase that will witness polling to 85 Lok Sabha seats in eight states and union territories.

Polling for all the 25 seats in Rajasthan, 10 in Haryana and seven in Delhi will be completed in one-go.

Prominent among the candidates are BJP President Rajnath Singh contesting from Ghaziabad Lok Sabha, Congress’ Pranab Mukherjee from Jangipura, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav from Mainpuri and RJD chief Lalu Prasad from Saran and Pataliputra.

The other prominent candidates are National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah (Srinagar), Congress’ Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer), Shekar Suman (Patna Saheb), BJP’s Shatrugan Sinha (Patna Saheb) and HJC’s Bhajan Lal (Hisar).

The counting of votes will take place on May 16.

The 543-member House will be constituted before June 2. (ANI)

Kalyan Singh says BJP kept him in dark about Babri demolition

Lucknow, May 02 (ANI): Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh on Saturday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for keeping him in “dark” about Babri Masjid demolition in 1992.

Claiming that the BJP had hatched a conspiracy against him to throw him out of the party, Singh said, “Senior BJP leaders said no demolition will take place. I believed them… It was a conspiracy against me by the BJP leaders. It was a conspiracy to oust me. I was kept in the dark (about the demolition).”

Singh further asserted that the BJP did not consider him a suitable party member as he came from the backward class.

Singh’s statement came in contrast with his own statement last month in which he took upon himself the “total” responsibility for Babri Masjid’s demolition, as the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 1992.

“I will leave no stone unturned to defeat the BJP. I will work for the complete destruction of the BJP and stop all possibilities of the formation of a BJP-led NDA government at the Centre,” he had said.

Just before the Lok Sabha polls, Kalyan Singh had quit the BJP to join hands with his erstwhile bete noire Mulayam Singh Yadav and has been campaigning for the latter’s Samajwadi Party candidates in Uttar Pradesh.

Meanwhile, talking to reporters in Patna today, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav called Kalyan Singh “a convict” in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

“He (Kalyan) is a convict in the demolition of the Babri Masjid. He is not a member of the SP. Is he a member of SP?” Lalu said, when asked to comment on the former UP CM’s call to Muslims to defeat the BJP. (ANI)

Mind your language, Amartya Sen tells Mulayam Singh Yadav

London, April 20 (IANS) Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Monday criticised Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav’s campaign pledge to banish the use of English in Uttar Pradesh, saying such a move would only deepen existing divisions between the haves and have-nots in the state.

‘I don’t know what Mulayam Singh Yadav has in mind… I don’t really see what the problem is about because it’s a language that’s widely used,’ Sen told an international gathering of leading writers, publishers and academics at the London Book Fair.

Answering a question after delivering the ‘Chairman’s breakfast speech’ that traditionally opens the Fair, the Harvard University professor of economics and philosophy reminded his audience that a similar attempt by West Bengal’s Communist government had failed three decades ago after proving deeply unpopular.

‘In the late 70s there was an attempt by the Communists to de-emphasise English and move towards a Bengali-based education, but that’s all been entirely reversed for the simple practical reason that the children didn’t want it and the parents didn’t want it,’ Sen said.

However, he said, there was ‘a very different issue’, about existing social and economic disparities in India, which had taken the form of English becoming the language of the elite.

‘There is an elite which is much more familiar with English, which is not the case with many other people,’ he said, but added that the way to eradicate such divisions was to bring more people into education, including English education, rather than ban the use of the language.

‘That’s an argument why others who are excluded from it ought to have the opportunity to do it (learn English),’ said Sen, who is an expert in public policy issues and has long criticised Indian politicians for not giving elementary education the same priority as higher education.

Sen said English had become the language of currency in many areas of life – from Internet surfing to job hunting.

‘Now, one way of excluding people from doing English is to keep the division between the English-speaking haves and the non-English speaking have-nots.

‘So rather than being an egalitarian force, the exclusion – if it is carried out – will have exactly the opposite effect: that is to keep the stratification as it is. Because obviously Mulayam Singh Yadav will not be able to prevent people from doing English in India as the language of commerce, industry, rule of law and public use.’

Sen also reminded Yadav that at the end of the day English was an ‘Indian language’ as much as any of the others that are in use.

‘An Indian language would be that which is in use in India and English language has been in use for quite a long time,’ he said, while pointing out a lesser-known fact – that many of the other Indian languages are full of ‘foreign’ influences and words.

‘Just look at the ancestry of our language. Sanskrit itself came from abroad in around 1500 BC. There are lots of influences coming to India. There’s the influence of Persian, Arabic, Chinese.

‘Arab, French, Portuguese words are quite common even today,’ Sen said.

This year’s London Book Fair has an India focus and is being attended by some 50 Indian writers and 90 publishers.
Dipankar De Sarkar

Samajwadi Party to join new govt., if voted to power

Allahabad, Apr 20 (ANI): The Samajwadi Party has said that it would join the government if the coalition came back to power.

“I am also saying that I will not repeat my mistake, either I will participate in the Central Government or sit in opposition. I won’t repeat my role as a middleman,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav, chief of Samajwadi Party.

Though an UPA ally, SP and two other regional parties — the Rashtriya Janta Dal and Lok Janshakti Party-have formed an ‘alliance within an alliance’.

SP came to the rescue of the UPA after its Communists allies pulled out over the India-US civil nuclear deal last year. (ANI)

Mulayam Singh Yadav files his nomination from Mainpuri

Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh), Apr 17 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav on Friday filed his nomination for the Mainpuri parliamentary constituency here.

After filing nomination, Yadav dispelled the allegations that his party’s election manifesto has any controversy.

“There is no controversy in our manifesto. Some ignorant people are creating unnecessary issues over it,” Yadav told reporters here.

According to the sources, actor-turned-politician Sanjay Dutt and party General Secretary Amar Singh accompanied Yadav to file his nomination papers. (ANI)

Terrorism can adversely affect economic progress: Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Apr 15 (ANI): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday expressed his concern on the ill-effects of terrorism on the nation and admitted that if the world economy fails to tackle terrorism, it can adversely affect the investment scenario and economic progress of the country.

Meeting with members of the Editor’s Guild here, Dr. Singh, however, said that the consensus among world leaders is that the global economy will be in a much better position by September.

Dismissing the possibility of holding a composite dialogue with Islamabad, Dr. Singh said there is no hope for discussions until Pakistan dismantles the terror infrastructure within its territory.

“So long as Pakistan chooses to allow its territory to be used against India, no negotiation can take place…We are for engagement with Pakistan but Pakistan must prove its sincerity by bringing the perpetrators of 26/11 attacks to book,” he said.

Talking on regionalism in politics, Dr. Singh said that regional parties can act as an obstacle to growth. He said that the country needs a political party with national perspective and a strong and stable government.

He further pointed out that communalism can destroy the country. Singh warned that disaster awaits India if people are divided and even a few adopt the path of terrorism.

Commenting on the ‘personal remarks’ against him by the Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani, Dr. Singh said his decision to answer back Advani was a conscious choice.

Manmohan Singh, who had repeatedly been called a “weak Prime Minister” by Advani said, “Any serious political observer knows my remarks on Advani are true. I owe it to myself and the people of India to show where the shoe pinches. Enough is enough.”

When asked about alliances, Dr. Singh said that the future of Congress and Left parties coming together would depend on circumstances.

Remembering his experiences as a politician, Singh said he has dealt with the Left, RJD’s Lalu Prasad Yadav, SP’s Mulayam Singh Yadav, AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa, the PDP, and had managed them all well. (ANI)