My Scribles

Raising the pitch for Third Front, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday said welfare of people will only take place when a government of 'third force' is installed at the Centre. The former UP chief minister said, "Welfare of people will only take place when there was a government of the third force at Delhi." "Congress or BJP will not form government at the Centre, instead a third force will come to the power. Both the parties will not get majority any longer," Mulayam said while addressing a joint meeting of the office-bearers of youth frontal organisations at the SP headquarters in Lucknow. The SP supremo claimed that a canard was being spread regarding law and order situation in the state. "Delhi is the centre of crime, but Uttar Pradesh is being defamed," he alleged. Highlighting achievements of the SP government, Mulayam said that the party will go to the people with it in Lok Sabha elections. Alleging that there was a wea...

read this article in Rediffmail... In my column of November 13, 2009, I had extracted references to India [ Images ] from the affidavits filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the Chicago court. Some of the other significant extracts are reproduced below: On July 3, 2009, Lashkar-e-Tayiba [ Images ] Member A sent Headley an email saying, 'I need to see you for some new investment plans.' On July 8, 2009, Headley sent Member A an email which stated, in part: 'What do you want me to do? Where are you interested in making investments?' In another email on July 8, 2009, Headley told Member A, 'I think when we get a chance we should revisit our last location again and say hi to Rahul.' Following his arrest, Headley acknowledged that, in this email, 'Rahul' refers to a prominent Indian actor with the first name 'Rahul'. Member A replied to the above email on July 8, 2009, and told Headley in an email that 'to see Rahul is a good idea coz h...

- India has finally signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) after years of delay that will include tariff cuts on an estimated 4,000 products. The FTA is expected to boost trade between the two to US$50 billion by next year. “The agreement with ASEAN is well-balanced and is in harmony with India’s ‘Look East’ policy,” said Commerce and Industry minister Anand Sharma in a statement after the signing ceremony in Bangkok yesterday. The agreement will be implemented beginning January 1, 2010 and will take take out duties on about 3,200 products by December 2013, while duties on the remaining 800 products will be brought down to zero or near zero levels by December 2016 says The Economic Times.

Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM is at cross roads, both in national level and in Kerala.  With the party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan figuring in the list of prime accused in the the 374-crore Lavalin power scam, the image of the CPM has taken a beating. The electoral debacle of the CPM in the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala owes a decent share of reasons to the CBI move to charge sheet Pinarayi Vijayan in the case. However, it is not exactly the magnitude of the scam or the public conviction on the allegations that brought shame to the CPM. But, it is the way the Centre and state leadership of the party prefers to respond to the allegations that put the CPM under cloud. Never before in the history, the CPM centre leadership succumbed to pressures of inner party politics and failed to assess the ground realities. Rather than making any efforts to initiate a cleanup process, the  Centre leadership of the CPM led by Prakash Karat  resorts to balancing acts and patch up formulas between the...

Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday signaled Congress inclination to do business with Left parties, but made it clear that Manmohan Singh’s status as the UPA’s prime ministerial candidate was non-negotiable. The Congress scion also reached out to potential new allies like the TDP and JD(U), suggesting party calculations that the UPA may not be able to muster the required numbers. Praising TDP and JD(U) leadership, Rahul said Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu were among those who had given priority to development. “I respect Naidu. He has done a good job... maybe he focused on Hyderabad too much but he has done work,” he said. During the hour-long press conference, a relaxed and confident Gandhi refused to go into numbers except to say that the Congress would do better than it did in the last elections when it won 145 seats on its own. Rahul’s categorical assertion that the UPA leadership including the Left will have little choice but to accept Dr Manmohan Singh’s candidature is certain to ruffle ...

Press Release The Central Committee of the CPI(M) warmly greets the people of Tripura who have created history. First by 92 per cent polling which is a record for the country and then delivering more than 80 per cent of the seats to the CPI(M) and the Left Front. The Left Front has won 49 out of the 60 seats in the assembly compared to 41 in the last assembly. The stage has been set for the sixth Left Front government in the state.The Central Committee congratulates the CPI(M) and Left Front cadres and activists for their remarkable success. Due to the outstanding record of the Left Front government, all sections of the working people, tribal and non-tribal and even supporters of the Congress have extended support to the Party. The people have rejected the opportunist alliance of the Congress with the extremist INPT.The Central Committee is confident that the new Left Front government will continue the work of developing the state and raising the living standards of the people.

Press Statement Attack on Central Committee Office CondemnedThe Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the planned attack on its national headquarters by the BJP-RSS. The Central Committee meeting of the Party was in session at that time. Four Central Committee members and other office staff were injured in the attack. The attackers brought stones alongwith them and damaged the office building and vehicles parked outside. This unprovoked violence should be condemned by all political parties and such attacks can have no place in our politics. The few policemen who were there on the spot did nothing much to control the situation.The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demand that the BJP-RSS persons who were involved in this dastardly attack should be immediately arrested.