Bangalore: The Election Commission of India on January 24 published
the draft photo electoral list of all the 21 Assembly constituencies of
Bangalore city.
The draft lists have been published in the offices of the electoral
registration officers, assistant electoral registration officer
(revenue officers and assistant revenue officers) and respective ward
offices.
The list is available on www.ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in.
The voters
can go through the list and submit relevant application forms for
inclusion or deletion of names, change of address and corrections in
the above mentioned offices on or before January 31, said a press
release issued by the Special Officer (Elections).
To
The Chief Election Commissioner
Government of India
Just 2 days time is insufficient for
inclusion or deletion of names, change of address and corrections to be done
on or before January 31 and it is illegal as more than 40 % of the voters names are not found in the voters list.Such an illegal action may only help the BJP.
It is suggested that no elections be conducted unless all the eligible voters names are included in the voters list.
2. Since there are lots of complaints on EVMs. It must be mandatory to publish the source code used in the program of the micro chip used in the EVMs and all the people involved in the election process be trained on the subject.
3. Chief Election Commission must also be covered under the RTI in the larger interest of free and fair elections and total transparency and protect the largest Democracy of the world.
This may be treated as PIL by the Honourable Chief Justice of India
The Honourable Supreme Court of India.
Or I am willing to join any one who is interested to go PIL.
Press Information Bureau (C.M. Information Campus)
Information and Public Relations Department, U.P.
Republic Day celebrated with full fervour and enthusiasm Governor took salute at Vidhan Bhawan on Republic Day Several programmes highlighted feeling of Unity and Integrity Lucknow : January 27, 2009 Republic Day was celebrated with full fervour and enthusiasm in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. The U.P. Governor, Mr. T.V. Rajeswar took the salute of Parade at Vidhan Bhawan. The U.P. Chief Minister, Ms. Mayawati greeted the Governor, Mr. T.V. Rajeswar and extended her good wishes on Republic Day. The main programme organised in front of Vidhan Bhawan seemed to be the projection of entire Country and State giving the message of unity in diversity. Republic Day celebrations and tableaux exhibited the feeling of facing the challenges of terrorism in united manner. It gave the message of peace, progress, commitment to ‘Sarvajan Hitai, Sarvajan Sukhai’, welfare schemes for the development of weaker sections of Sarv Samaj, steps towards development, energy and awareness towards environment conservation in the State. Students of different schools presented attractive cultural programmes and several folk dances. The tableaux of Information & Public Relations Department which titled “Har Beti Ke Jivan Mein Khushiyon Bhara Savera” exhibited two schemes “Maha Maya Garib Balika Ashirwad Yojana” and “Savitri Bai Phule Balika Shiksha Madad Yojana” launched by Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati on January 15 in attractive manner. It may be mentioned that these schemes were launched in view of providing honour to girls in society and continuing their education. Republic Day cultural programmes presented in front of Vidhan Bhawan projected themes of freedom struggle, National Unity and Integrity, challenge of terrorism, social change, glorious traditions and rich cultural heritage of the country. The students of different schools presented cultural programmes such as Pragati Chakra, Jai Jawan Jai Kisan, Ekta Desh, Amader Desh Nritya, Hindi-Urdu Bhasha Nritya, Azadi ki Dulhan, Azadi ke Diwane, Rangilo Rajsthan, Salame Hind, Yuwa Shakti, Ab Jag Uthe Hain Hum, Maa Tujhe Salaam, Anekta me Ekta, Saksharta Drill, Bhangara, Shahide Watan, Garwali Lok Nritya, Peace Drill, Marshal art etc. The parade of Republic Day was led by Col. Navdeep Dahiya of 12th Kumaon Battalion. On this occasion, T-72 tank of Indian Army, Armed Engineer Vehicle, Combat Engineer Tractor, 105 MM Light Field Gun, PMS Bridge, NBC Protection and bomb disposal team, Anti Tank Guided Missile, 7.62 mm medium Machine Gun and VMP etc. were projected. Kumayun Regiment, 1/11 Gorakha Rifles, Ex. Soldiers Welfare Corporation, CRPF, ITBPF, SSB, 11th , 32nd , 35th battalion of PAC, UP Police, Home Guard, PRD took part in parade. The students of different schools and colleges of city also took part in March Past. On this occasion, U.P. Tourism Department, Horticulture and Food Processing Department, CMS, Ram Swaroop Memorial College of Engineering and Management, Aminabad Inter College, Forest Department, SBI, Rajya Suchana Shikska Sanchar Bureau, LPS, Eram Education Society, Akhil Vishwa Gayatri Pariwar, Alternative Energy Development Institute, UPPCL, SUDA and LDA, Information and Public Relations Department tableaux were exhibited. The Chairman of State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, several Ministers, MLAs, freedom fighters, eminent citizens were present besides, Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey including Senior Government and Police officers and eminent citizens in large numbers. ——–
CM Grieved Lucknow : January 27, 2009 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms. Mayawati has expressed profound grief over the demise of former President of India Mr. R. Venkatraman. In a condolence message, Ms. Mayawati said that in his death the country had lost an able and experienced statesman. She said that he had carried out his responsibilities in an efficient manner both as Vice President and a Union Minister. The country would always remember the services rendered by him, she said. The Chief Minister has conveyed her heartfelt condolences and deep sympathies to the bereaved family and prayed for peace to the departed soul. It may be recalled that the 98-year-old Mr. Venkatraman was President of the country from 25 July 1987 to 25 July 1992. He had been ailing for the past some time and was being treated at the Army Hospital, New Delhi. *******
Colourful R-Day celebrations held in Uttar Pradesh
January 26th, 2009 - 3:34 pm ICT by IANS
-
Lucknow, Jan 26 (IANS) A march past by security forces, colourful
tableaux and dances by school students marked the Republic Day
celebrations held in the Uttar Pradesh capital Monday. The main
function was held at the Vidhan Sabha Marg where Governor T.V. Rajeswar
hoisted the national flag and took the salute at an impressive march
past in front of the state assembly. Chief Minister Mayawati was also
present at the nearly two-hour long function that started at 10 a.m.
Contingents of the Armed Constabulary, different wings of the Uttar
Pradesh police, Home Guards and National Cadet Corps participated in
the parade.
The parade started from the Charbagh area, covering a five-km route
to reach the state assembly in Hazratganj in the heart of Lucknow.
Children from various city schools enacted scenes of security
personnel repulsing terrorist attacks. Students also presented lively
dances and showcased tableaux highlighting the rich cultural heritage
of the state.
The state was on high alert in the wake of two suspected Pakistani
terrorists being killed Sunday in Noida, a town adjoining New Delhi,
officials said.
“Armed security personnel and snipers were deployed at important
vantage points (in Lucknow),” said district police chief Akhil Kumar.
Press Information Bureau (C.M. Information Campus) Information and Public Relations Department, U.P. C.M. requests P.M. to provide Visa to Haj pilgrims for 2009 on special passport C.M. demands withdrawal of new directives of Haj Committee of India and restoration of special passport system
U.P. Government Committed to ensure hassle-free Haj pilgrimage — Mayawati Lucknow : January 25, 2009 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has requested the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh to restore the provision of Visa on special passport to Haj pilgrims for 2009, so that Haj pilgrims do not face any difficulty. In a letter sent to Prime Minister today in this regard she referred to the letter sent by Haj Committee of India to Uttar Pradesh State Haj Committee, which states that the Committee has decided to replace the current provision of visa on special passport with visa on international passport for Haj pilgrims from the year 2009. The Chief Minister said that if this directive of Haj Committee of India, an institution of External Affairs Ministry, is not amended nor any alternate arrangement is made for providing visa and passport to Haj pilgrims in time, then Haj pilgrims would face extreme hardships and difficulties. She said that out of the total number of pilgrims from the country performing Haj, approximately 20 to 25 per cent Haj pilgrims belong to Uttar Pradesh. She said that the State Government is committed to ensure hassle-free Haj pilgrimage. She said that because of this new arrangement by the Government of India, the State Government would not be able to honour its commitment. In her letter, Ms. Mayawati has also stated that previously the facility of special passport was provided to Haj pilgrims, so as to exempt them from various procedures required for getting passport, so that they can perform Haj in least difficulties. She said that if passport and visa were not made available to Haj pilgrims in a convenient manner, then they would face maximum difficulty and a large number of people desirous of the holy Haj pilgrimage would be left out. She said that issuing such directives without making any alternate arrangement in the process of passport and visa, has caused discontent among citizens. The Chief Minister in her letter has also referred to the fact that for the Haj of 2008, Haj Committee of India had not timely provided the passports and visas due to which the Haj pilgrims of the State had to face numerous problems. She said that because of this situation the State Government had to sent its officers to Mumbai several times via special vehicle for solving the problems of visa and passport. In spite of it Haj pilgrims had faced difficulties. *******
Allahabad, Jan 24: Terming the Samajwadi Party’s
recent tie-up with Kalyan Singh as “an eye-opener for Muslims of the
country”, the Bahujan Samaj Party on Saturday asked the minority
community to “teach a befitting lesson” to the Mulayam Singh-led party
in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
“We have always been calling bluff the Mulayam Singh
Yadav’s claims of secularism. By joining hands with Kalyan
Singh, he has shown his true colours,” BSP national general
secretary and senior member of the Uttar Pradesh cabinet
Nasimudding Siddiqui said here.
He was addressing a party meeting organised with a view
to mobilising the minority community in favour of the BSP.
“Muslims must not forget that Kalyan Singh was the very
person during whose chief ministership Babri mosque was
demolished. Besides, although he has resigned from the BJP he
has never ever expressed regret over the incident of December
6, 1992,” Siddiqui said.
“Now, Yadav, the self-proclaimed champion of Muslims, has
rubbed salt into the community’s wounds by openly stating that
Mandir-Masjid is a non-issue. Muslims of Uttar Pradesh must
teach him and his party a befitting lesson in the Lok Sabha
elections,” Siddiqui added.
Speaking on the occasion, UP Social Welfare Minister
Indrajit Saroj, who also holds the party general secretary’s
post, said the BSP was the only party which was committed to
the interests of Muslims.
“Our Muslim brethren never had any doubts about the BJP.
The Congress has exposed its own weakness and so it has lost
your confidence as well.
“Now, Mulayam too has demonstrated the hollowness of his
so-called secular credentials. We, therefore, request our
Muslim brethren to strengthen themselves politically by voting
for behenji’s (Mayawati’s) party in the coming elections,” she
added.
Election of 38 Madhya Pradesh legislators challenged
Bhopal,
Jan 23 (IANS) The election of 38 legislators, including former
ministers and chairpersons of state-run corporations, in the November
2008 assembly polls has been challenged in the Madhya Pradesh High
Court, data compiled from court records show.
Manipulation in the counting of votes polled, both
through Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and postal ballots, is the
major charge against the legislators, apart from their being accused to
corrupt practices, booth capturing and terrorising voters.
While 23 petitions have been filed in the Jabalpur bench of the
Madhya Pradesh High Court, eight have been filed in the Gwalior bench
and seven in the Indore bench.
Among those whose election has been challenged is Neena Verma of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who beat her Congress rival Bal Mukund
Gautam in the Dhar constituency by just one vote. Gautam has alleged
irregularities in the counting of postal ballots to ensure her victory.
Congress legislator Brijendra Singh’s election from Prithvipur
(Tikamgarh) has also been challenged. BJP candidate Sunil Nayak, a
former minister, was killed Nov 27, 2008 soon after polling ended in
the constituency. Dinesh Nayak, a close relative of the vicitm, has
accused Singh and his supporters of booth capturing and terrorising
voters by firing in the air.
Congress leader Munnalal Goyal has challenged the election of Public
Health Engineering Minister Anoop Mishra (BJP) from Gwalior (East),
alleging manipulation in the counting of postal ballots.
Other petitions include that of Madan Lal (BJP), who has challenged
the election of Vijay Laxmi Sadho (Congress) from Maheshwar (Khargone
district), and of Rajesh Patel (Congress), who has challenged election
of the BJP’s Surendra Patwa from Bhojpur (Raisen district).
This apart, petitions have been filed challenging election of BJP
legislators Vishwas Sarang from Narela (Bhopal) and Dhruv Narayan Singh
from Bhopal (Central) under the Office of Profit Act.
Sarang and Singh are chairmen of state-run corporations.
Losing contestants from political parties that have little or no base have also knocked on the doors of the court.
Former legislator Rajendra Bharti, whose Bahujan Samaj Party failed
to make an impact despite speaking about social engineering on the
lines of that in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, has urged the court to set
aside the election of the former minister Narottam Mishra (BJP) from
Datia, saying he adopted corrupt practices to influence the outcome.
Mukesh Nayak of Uma Bharati’s Bharatiya Jan Shakti (BJS) party has
challenged the election of Brijendra Pratap Singh (BJP) from Pawai
(Panna) even though the party fared poorly.
Similarly, Doman Singh Nagpure of the Gondwana Ganatantra Party
(GGP) has challenged the election of Pradeep Jaiswal (Congress) from
Waraseoni (Balaghat). Nagpure’s party has a nominal presence in the
state.
Joint rallies of ‘third alternative’ in State capitals
GET A VOTE AND A NOTE ! FOR THE BSP ! DONT WAIT! BUT BAIT ! FOR THE MASTER KEY !
It was resolved by www.ambedkar and http://sarvajan.ambedkar.org as follows:
www.ambedkar.org
will be collecting Rs.500 per month from its supporters to be handed
over to the Sarvajan Hitaya Sarvajan Sukhhaya Movement through
http://sarvajan.ambedkar to enable to get the Master Key. The Karnataka
State Cadres will work hard for a Vote and and a Note campaignby collecting Rs.10 from each member.
Bahujan Samaj Party
Make me PM Write Down on the Wall was Dr. Ambedkar’s Sign !
Two Thousand Nine !
Will Be Mine !
- Says Ms Mayawati Bahen !
Now is all that you have!
By voting to BSP, the Nation you save!
2008 Bahen Mayawati the UP Chief Minister !
2009 Prabuddha Bharatha Matha the Prime Minister !
Chulachomklao of Siam Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, 1893, 39 Volumes, in the International Tipitaka Hall
World Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman Script (40 volumes)
Silver punch-mark coins of
the Mauryan empire, bear Buddhist symbols such as the Dharmacakra, the elephant (previous form of the Buddha), the tree under which enlightenment happened, and the burial mound where the Buddha died (obverse). 3rd century BC.
NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party supremo
Mulayam Singh Yadav appears to be in for some tough times in the Supreme Court
ahead of the general elections.
Close on the heels of it questioning
the CBI’s volte face to close the DA cases against Yadav and his kin, the apex
court on Monday admitted a petition by BSP leader Barkhu Ram Varma questioning
the acquittal of the former chief minister in the case under the SC/ST
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act for the alleged manhandling of BSP supremo
Mayawati in a Lucknow guest house in 1995.
When Mulayam Singh Yadav
was in power, the Allahabad High Court had on January 28, 2004, quashed the
charges under the SC/ST Act against Yadav and others saying the offending words
were used in Yadav’s residence, which was not a public place and that the public
was not present at that time.
The HC, taking a lenient view, had
termed that it was a mere heated discussion between two rival parties and that
there was no evidence to indicate that the accused had an intention to humiliate
members of the SC community.
The HC had quashed the chargesheet
against Yadav, Azam Khan, Masood Ahmad, Beni Prasad Verma, Dhani Ram Verma, Baby
Ram Yadav, Uma Kant Yadav, Mohammad Arshad, Sangram SIngh, Shiv Pal Yadav and
Mohsin Khan.
Appearing for the Mayawati government, senior advocate
K K Venugopal and additional advocate general Shail Kumar Dwivedi, argued that
the HC erred completely in construing what is a public place under the SC/ST
Act. “If the chief minister’s residence, accessed most of the time of the day by
people from various walks of life, was not a public place, then it would be a
complete misreading of the Act,” they argued.
A Bench comprising
Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam, after hearing the
counsel, agreed to admit the appeal for detailed hearing and posted it for
hearing in the first week of May, which in all possibility could have a close
proximity to the general elections giving a chance to Mayawati to whip up the
issue politically.
Press Information Bureau (Chief Minister Information Campus) Information and Public Relations Department, U.P. Committee headed by Chief Secretary to look into the demands of officers/employees’ associations
Lucknow : January 20, 2009
A 5-member Committee, headed by the Chief Secretary, has been set up by the Uttar Pradesh Government to look into the various problems and demands of the officers/employees’ associations. This committee would look into the problems/demands made by employees’ associations of various cadres of the State.
The committee includes Principal Secretary Personnel, Principal Secretary Finance and Principal Secretary/Secretary of the concerning departments as members, while Secretary Finance has been nominated as Member-Secretary.
The committee would hold meetings from time to time to consider the demands of the employees’ unions. The representatives of the unions would also be invited at the meetings. The committee after considering the demands/problems would forward its recommendations to the Government.
It may be recalled that the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati had ordered constitution of Rizvi Committee for the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission for the State employees. U.P. is the first State, which took lead in implementing recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission.
The Rizvi Committee had forwarded its recommendations for the Urban Local Bodies, Zila Panchayats, Development Authorities, Autonomous Institutions and Junior Doctors. Besides, the committee had also submitted its recommendations for the Government and aided college teachers.
*******
Large number of people come to greet C.M. on New Year
Lucknow: January 01, 2009
A large number of prominent citizens, belonging to different sections of the society, arrived at the official residence of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Ms. Mayawati to greet her on the occasion of New Year. Those who came to greet the Chief Minister included Chairman of the State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, several members of the State Council of Ministers including Mr. Nasimuddin Siddiqqi, Swami Prasad Maurya, Indra Jeet Saroj, etc. Besides, several MPs, legislators and Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shankar Pandey, Principal Secretaries to C.M. Mr. J.N. Chamber and Mr. Shailesh Krishna, Principal Secretary Home Mr. Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, Secretaries to C.M. Mr. Navneet Sehgal and Mr. Vijay Singh and other senior officers of Government and Administration and DGP Mr. Vikaram Singh also came to greet the C.M.
*******
Ensure employment for 10 lakh families under employment oriented schemes of Rural Development by the end of financial year—Chief Minister
121 remote villages having more than 1,000 population should be connected with metalled roads Chairman State Advisory Council reviews progress and works of Rural Development Department
Lucknow : January 01, 2009 On the directives of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, the Chairman State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, here today reviewed the works and progress of the Rural Development Department at his Annexe auditorium and apprised the Chief Minister of the important decisions taken at the meeting. Thereafter, the Chief Minister, in a high-level meeting, directed the officers to ensure 100 days of employment for at least 10 lakh families under employment oriented schemes of the Rural Development by the end of the current financial year. The Chief Minister said that 121 remote villages having more than 1,000 population, which could not be connected with the metalled roads because construction of bridges etc. was needed, should be connected with the metalled roads in next three years by preparing an action plan. She said that all the schemes of the Rural Development Department were important. Therefore, the rural people and people’s representatives should be properly informed about these schemes, so that proper implementation of these schemes could be ensured and rural areas could become prosperous. Ms. Mayawati said that a work plan should be chalked out for giving training to rural people, so that they can evolve into efficient craftsmen and in this way they could get employment at the village and block level. This would stop their migration towards urban areas and they would not be required to run from pillar to post in search of employment, she pointed out. The Chief Minister said that the funds required by the Gram Panchayats should be directly provided to them by Rural Development Department at the district level. She said that electronic money transfer should be strictly enforced. She said that the roads of the rural areas, which could be constructed under PMGSY, should not be constructed under any other scheme. Ms. Mayawati directed the officers to ensure filling of the large number of vacancies of the Rural Development Department as it was hampering the progress of development works. Besides, special efforts should be made to get the amount released for the Centrally Aided Schemes. She also directed the officers to quickly implement other schemes of rural development. The Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shanker Pandey, Principal Secretary Finance Mr. Anoop Mishra, Principal Secretary to CM Mr. Shailesh Krishna, Principal Secretary Planning Mr. Manjeet Singh, Principal Secretary Rural Development Mr. Rohit Nandan, Secretary State Advisory Council Mr. R.P. Singh, Secretary to C.M. Mr. Navneet Sehgal and other related officers were present at the meeting.
*******
Important Cabinet Decisions
Lucknow : 31 December 2008
Following important decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting presided over by the U.P. Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati here today :— The State Cabinet has decided to implement one time settlement scheme for the power consumers of rural areas of the State. Giving big relief to the rural power consumers, the Cabinet decided to implement this scheme for the period ending on 30 September, 2008 for settling their power dues. This scheme would benefit largely small farmers having energised private tube-wells and rural domestic consumers. About 8 lakh private tube-well owners and 43 lakh rural domestic consumers would be benefited by this historical decision of the State Government. In another decision, it was decided to provide Government guarantee against Rs. 139.60 crore loan sanctioned by Hudco for Harduaganj and Parichha Thermal Power Project Units. The State Cabinet decided not to charge any guarantee fee in this connection. The guarantee has been given for installing
new ESPs in the Unit No. 3,5 and 7 of the Harduaganj Thermal Project and Unit No. 1 and 2 of the 110 M.W. Units of the Parichha Thermal Project. This decision would help in timely completion of these projects, which in turn would give relief in power shortage. The Cabinet also decided to extend the relaxation in stamp fee being provided under the Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission Scheme for the next six months. The State Cabinet has approved the proposal of a new scheme for the construction of hostels in the premises of aided non-government degree colleges run by voluntary organisations/ government degree colleges and universities for the students belonging to SC/ST category. A provision of Rs. 5.5 crore has been made in the current fiscal 2008-09. The Cabinet also approved the proposal to abolish additional conditions put up by the State Government under the Forest (Protection) Act-1980 for widening of National Highways. The Cabinet decided to make the payment of Rs. 2.17 crore belonging to the U.P. Bunkar Bahbudi Fund and rested with the PICUP. The State Cabinet further approved the RPF draft of the Integrated Urban Rejuvenation Scheme for
getting the infrastructure related works done on public- private-partnership (PPP) basis under this scheme. The Cabinet has also accepted the suggestions made by the committee headed by the State Chief Secretary for dealing with the challenge of the economic recession. The recommendations of the committee would be applicable on the properties given through bid and allotment and belonging to Industrial Development Authorities (except Yamuna Express-way Industrial Development Authority and U.P. Expressways Industrial Development Authority) and Housing Development Authority and Housing Development Board. The State Cabinet has decided to convert the 50 per cent of the D.A. of the personnel of U.P. State Bridge Corporation in dearness pay with certain conditions. The Cabinet has also approved the proposal to provide one daily newspaper to all the post holders of the sanctioned posts of group ‘D’ on the Government expenses. ******* 1.01 lakh houses being constructed under Manywar Shri Kanshiram Ji Shahari Garib Awas Yojana should be completed within stipulated time frame—Chief Minister
Payment of house tax, water tax and other dues should be made on-line for convenience of people Lucknow : December 31, 2008 On the directives of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, the Chairman State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, here today reviewed the works and progress of the Urban Development Department at his Annexe auditorium and apprised the Chief Minister of the important decisions taken at the meeting. Thereafter, the Chief Minister, in a high-level meeting, directed the officers to make the payment of house tax, water tax and other dues on-line for convenience of the people, so that they could get the information regarding their tax dues easily and make payments timely. All the 12 Nagar Nigams should complete this work by 31 March 2009 and other local bodies should complete it by 31 December 2009 compulsorily. The Chief Minister said that 1.01 lakh houses being constructed under Manywar Shri Kanshiram Ji Shahari Garib Awas Yojana in 71 districts at a cost of Rs. 2270 crore should be completed within stipulated time frame. She said that the quality of the construction should be maintained at all costs. The selection of the beneficiaries under this scheme should be completed by 31 January 2009. Ms. Mayawati directed the officers to ensure implementation of schemes related to drinking water supply, sewer, solid waste management and drainage in a time bound and qualitative manner and keeping an eye on the requirements of the next 30 years. These schemes would be implemented in 7 cities of Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Varanasi, Meerut, Allahabad and Mathura at a cost of Rs. 2949.51 crore under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance Scheme for the development and improvement of urban infrastructure. Besides, the C.M. said that the implementation of schemes related to drinking water supply, sewer, solid waste management and drainage should be ensured in a time bound and qualitative manner in the selected cities keeping an eye on the requirements of the next 30 years. These schemes would be implemented at a cost of Rs. 983.30 crore under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) on priority basis. Regarding various announcements of the Chief Minister, it was informed at the meeting that the work was under progress. Besides, she also gave directions regarding the cleaning of Gomti river, Lucknow Drinking Water Supply Scheme, to stop the backflow of Sarkata Nullah, construction of 345 MLD STP in Lucknow, expansion in the capacity of Daulatganj STP, construction of STP in Jaunpur, Sultanpur and Sitapur. The Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shanker Pandey, Principal Secretary to CM Mr. Shailesh Krishna, Principal Secretary Finance Mr. Anoop Mishra, Principal Secretary Planning Mr. Manjeet Singh, Principal Secretary Urban Development Mr. Alok Ranjan, Secretary to C.M. Mr. Navneet Sehgal, Secretary State Advisory Council Mr. R.P. Singh and other related officers were present at the meeting. ******* Aganbadi Centres should be run from primary school premises to enusre their effective functioning—Chief Minister Children, adolescent girls and pregnant women should be provided nutritious diet in fixed quantity Chairman State Advisory Council reviews works of Women Welfare and Child Development Department
Lucknow : December 30, 2008
On the directives of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, the Chairman State Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, here today reviewed the works and progress of the Women Welfare and Child Development Department at his Annexe auditorium and apprised the Chief Minister of the important decisions taken at the meeting. Thereafter, the Chief Minister, in a high-level meeting, directed the officers to set up Aganbadi Centres in the premises of primary schools for their proper and effective functioning. Besides, the children, adolescent girls and pregnant women should be provided nutritious diet in fixed quantity. The Chief Minister said that effective implementation of Kishori Shakti Yojana should be ensured with an objective of making girls aware about the problems related to reproduction and health and also to provide them technical training to make them self-sufficient. Besides, better implementation of the scheme for providing foodgrains to malnourished adolescent girls belonging to Mirzapur and Sonebhadra districts should be undertaken on pilot basis. Moreover, better implementation of Balika Shri Yojana should be made to ensure all-round development of girls and to make them financially independent. Regarding various annonucements of the Chief Minister, it was informed at the meeting that arrangement of training at the development block level was being made to provide employment related training to women. Mahila Ashrams were being set up at division level in Varanasi, Kanpur and Allahabad divisions for poor destitute women. Besides, posts were being created for the State Women Commission as per its requirement. Action would be taken in next 15 days. The Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Additional Cabinet Secretary Mr. Vijay Shanker Pandey, Principal Secretary Finanace Mr. Anoop Mishra, Social Welfare Commissioner Mr. R.K. Mittal, Principal Secretary Health Ms. Neeta Chaudari, Principal Secretary to CM Mr. Shailesh Krishna, Principal Secretary Planning Mr. Manjeet Singh, Secretary State Advisory Council Mr. R.P. Singh, Secretary Women Welfare and Child Development Mr. R.S.Verma and other related officers were present at the meeting. ******* Centre should reduce petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 10 per litre to bring them at par with year-2004 level : Chief Minister Instead of providing relief from price rise and recession to the public, Central Government favouring capitalists : Mayawati Lucknow : December 27, 2008 The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati in a strongly worded letter to the Central Government has demanded that the price of Petrol and Diesel be reduced by bringing their prices to the year-2004 level so as to ensure a minimum 10 Rs. per litre reduction in their costs. While giving this information to media representatives at Lucknow today, the C.M. said that the Central Government was not making any special effort to lessen the burden of the middle class, poor families and farmers from rising prices. Ms. Mayawati said that due to global recession a crisis of employment has emerged for the educated youth and middle class families. Simultaneously plummeting stock market because of exit of capital coupled with heavy profit by the foreign financial institutions resulted in a loss of thousands crore of rupees of small investors. She said that instead of providing relief to the middle class and poor farmers by formulating policies in the interests of these classes the Central Government is making policies favouring the capitalists. The Chief Minister while providing comparative detail of oil prices in international and domestic markets in support of her statement, said that when the present Central Government came to power, in June, 2004 the price of crude oil in international market was 34.22 dollars per barrel, and in the domestic market petrol was available at Rs. 35.71 per litre while diesel was available at cost of Rs. 22.74 per litre. She said that on various occasions the Central Government from time to time hiked the price of petrol and diesel on the pretext of increasing international oil prices and in the latest increase during June, 2008 the price of petrol was raised to Rs. 50.56 per litre and that of diesel to Rs. 34.80 per litre. Ms. Mayawati said that the Central Government was putting extra burden on the citizens on the false excuse of rising oil prices in the international market and now when the crude oil prices in the international market have nearly reached the year-2004 level, the move of the Central Government of reducing petrol prices by Rs. 5 and that of diesel by Rs. 2 was merely a sham. She said that prior to this decision of the Central Government; the public had already suffered from the woe of recession because of which its sufferings had doubled. The Chief Minister said that because of this, her Government has asked the Central Government to bring the domestic oil prices to that of year 2004 level and to minimally reduce petrol and diesel prices by Rs. 10 per litre for both. *******
CM lays foundation of 49
schemes worth Rs. 948.98 crore
for all round development
of Varanasi and Kannauj
Foundation of schemes more
than
Rs. 800 crore for Varanasi and Rs. 148
crore for Kannauj laid
Heritage Plan of Varanasi to be completed
in next 6 months
Lucknow : 20 December 2008
The
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, while laying the foundation of
schemes worth Rs. 948.98 crore for the all-round development of Varanasi and Kannauj,
said that urban regeneration was the top priority of her Government. She said
that during one and a half year long tenure of her Government several important
steps had been taken in this direction. These steps included schemes for the
all-round development of Vrindavan, which is an important tourist place and
laying the foundation of schemes worth Rs. 250 crore on the 6th
August last for providing basic facilities to the poor sections of the society.
She expressed the hope that along with the common people the tourists would
also be benefited by these schemes. She laid foundation of 28 schemes costing more
than Rs. 800 crore for Varanasi
and 21 schemes costing more than Rs. 148 crore for Kannauj.
Addressing
a function organised at her 5-Kalidas Marg official residence here today for
laying the foundation of these schemes, she said that financial arrangements
had been made for these schemes. She said that the previous governments made
only announcements, but never issued financial sanctions in time, that was the
reason why most of the schemes were confined to paper only. She said that her
Government always honoured its words. She directed the Chief Secretary, Cabinet
Secretary and Additional Cabinet Secretary to monitor these schemes besides
monitoring schemes announced for Mathura-Vrindavan, so that these schemes could
be completed within stipulated time. She said that the Chairman of the State
Advisory Council Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra would review the progress of these
schemes from time to time and apprise her of their progress. She said that
time-bound implementation of development schemes was the top priority of the
Government and any laxity in it would invite tough action against the guilty.
She said that the State Government, despite its limited resources, wanted to
carry out all round development of important cities of the State. She said that
the Government had demanded Rs. 80,000 crore package from the Centre for the
all round development of the State, but the Centre had not provided even a
single penny so far.
Ms. Mayawati said that the State
Government had decided to develop Varanasi
as an international tourist spot. It has also decided to develop the Buddhist
Circuit. Besides, the State Government also intends to provide high quality
infrastructure and community services to the people of Varanasi. With
this objective, the foundation of flyovers,
construction/repair/widening/ strengthening/beautification of roads, drinking
water supply, sewerage, drainage system, solid waste management, improvement in
the power supply of the historical places etc. costing Rs. 800.68 crore had
been laid. She said that on the February 21 last, on the occasion of Sant
Ravidas Jayanti, she had announced several developmental works for the Varanasi district,
besides completion of works announced by previous governments had also been
ordered in a time-bound and qualitative manner. She said that all these
projects were going on full swing.
Elaborating
upon the important decisions taken for the development of Varanasi,
the C.M. said that action had been initiated on the Heritage Plan of Varanasi
so that it could be developed as an International Heritage and TouristCity and also to keep its mythological
character intact. The Heritage Plan would be completed in the next six months. The
State Government, with a view to preserving the world famous zari work, had decided to place zari craftsmen along side the weavers
for power dues. She further said that directives had been issued to invite
financial bids for the construction of multi-level underground car parking
projects at Beniabagh, Shaheed Udhyan and Maidagin on
public-private-partnership (PPP) basis costing Rs. 142 crore so that the
traffic system of Varanasi could be improved.
Ms.
Mayawati said that she had laid foundation of various schemes costing more than
Rs. 148 crore for the development of Kannauj so that the lost glory of this
place could be restored. She reminded that Kannauj was made a district on 18
September 1997 during her second tenure. She had formulated various schemes for
the all round development of Kannauj at that time, but she didn’t get much time
to translate them into reality. She said that now those development schemes
were being launched again and after their completion the people of Kannauj
would get a lot of facilities. She said that the M.P. elected from Kannauj had
also ignored his constituency.
It may
be recalled that during 2008-09 the Government launched development schemes on
a large scale for the all-round development of the State. Under it, Rs. 396
crore schemes for Agra, Rs. 250 crore schemes
for Vrindavan-Mathura, Rs. 170 crore schemes for Lucknow have been included. Besides, the
Chief Minister inaugurated/laid foundation/announced 48 schemes worth Rs. 8,500
crore on May 13 last on the completion of one year of the present Government. The
State Government has set a target of construction of 1,01,000 houses under the
Manyawar Shri Kanshiram Ji Shahari Garib Awas Yojana to provide two room houses
to the urban poor living below the poverty line for the current financial year.
An amount of Rs. 1800 crore had been sanctioned for the purpose.
The
Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta thanked the Chief Minister and the guests.
Several
members of the U.P. Council of Ministers, Chairman U.P. State Advisory Council
Mr. Satish Chandra Mishra, Cabinet Secretary Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh and a
large number of senior officers were present on the occasion.
*******
Notable success achieved by
police in drive launched against criminals
Ten notorious criminals killed last week,
8 out of them carrying reward on their heads
91 award carrying criminals killed
this year and 1646 criminals captured
Lucknow: December 22 2008
The Uttar
Pradesh police has achieved notable success last week in the drive launched
against criminals on the directives of the Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati.
Notorious criminal Kalu alias Narendra, carrying Rs. 20,000 reward on his head
and wanted in ruthless killing of traders in Baghpat district, was killed in a
police encounter in Gautam Buddh Nagar district and his accomplice Sonu was
arrested from Baghpat. He is carrying a reward of Rs. 10,000 reward on his
head. It may be recalled that the Chief Minister has accorded top priority to
establish rule of law by the law and had issued detailed instructions to the
police officers from time to time.
The Chief
Minister, on coming to power, had assured of the people of the State that the
criminals would be put behind the bars. The State police has achieved
remarkable success against criminals by launching an extensive drive against
them during the last one year. Ten notorious criminals were killed last week in
police encounters and 8 out of them were carrying reward on their heads. Lavkush
Kewat and Mool Chandra Kewat carrying a reward of Rs. 10,000 each on their
heads were killed in Lucknow, while Neeraj alias
Titu Gupta and Pawan alias Goldi were killed in Ghaziabad district. Besides, four criminals
in Gorakhpur,
which included Raja Pandey, Dhram Pal Dadhi, Pradeep and Virendra Yadav and
Shokha Yadav, were gunned down by police. Out of these criminals, the first two
were carrying a reward of Rs. 5,000 each on their heads. In Meerut district Upendra alias Chiku carrying
a reward of Rs. 5,000 was killed during this period.
The police
successfully recovered fake currency worth Rs. 3.23 lakh from Maharajganj
district in its drive against counterfeit currency during the last year. Important
success was achieved in action against terrorist and anti-national elements
Abdul Jabbar alias Sikandar, an ISI agent of Pakistan, was arrested by ATS
during this week. Besides, a Hawala accused Mohd. Shoaib alias Sameer was
arrested by ATS in the month of September and Rs. 15 lakh were recovered from
him.
As
many as 91 criminals carrying rewards on their heads were killed and 1646
reward carrying criminals were arrested between January 01 and November 30 this
year. Rs. 5 lakh reward carrying dreaded brigand Thokia
alias Ambika
Patel was gunned down in a police encounter during this period. It may be
recalled that the police was successful in eliminating notorious dacoit Dadua
earlier. Police also eliminated criminals coming from other states and Musafir
Yadav of Bihar, carrying a reward of Rs. 2
lakh on his head, was killed in Kushinagar district in a police encounter. Four
notorious criminals carrying a reward of Rs. 50,000 each on their heads were
killed in police encounters. These criminals included Naresha (Shahjahanpur),
Natthu alias Chela (Chitrakoot), Umar Kewath (Fatehpur) and Mohd. Shah Alam of
Haryana (killed in Ghazipur district). Besides, police was also successful in
eliminating 7 criminals carrying a reward of Rs. 20,000 each on their heads.
The State
police took effective action against terrorists and anti-social elements this
year. Arif alias Abdul Kadeer, an accused of 2007 Lucknow Court Campus bomb blasts and
also an accused of Ahemdabad blasts, was arrested by ATS from Azamgarh in
September last. Earlier, a Pakistani national Imran Ahamad was arrested from Allahabad in the month of
August. In the same month Abul Bashar of Azamgarh, suspect of Ahemdabad blasts,
was arrested from Azamgarh by ATS and Gujarat
police.
Police was
successful in recovering fake currency about worth Rs. 1.56 crore this year.
The STF also unearthed a nexus between fake currency distributors and laid bare
the involvement of a bank cashier of Dumariaganj, Siddharthnagar in fake currency racket. The police came to
know about his involvement in this activity through an arrest made in July. The
officers of the Reserve Bank recovered fake currency worth Rs. 4.2 crore from
the currency chest during their raid on bank premises. Besides, the Reserve
Bank authorities also recovered fake Indian currency from other banks.
On the
directives of the Chief Minister, an extensive drive to check the activities of
police personnel, was carried out. It also aimed to discipline the erring
policemen, so that the entire police set up could be made responsible and
clean. As many as 188 policemen were expelled from the services this year and
3895 policemen were suspended. Owing to strict control, the number of incidents
of accused fleeing from the police custody has come down this year. The police
has also been vigilant towards the cases of human rights and owing to it the
complaints being received from National Human Rights Commission had come down
notably. The number of custodial deaths had also come down as only 3 such
deaths were reported till November 15 this year, while 11 such deaths were
reported in 2007 and 6 incidents were reported 2006.
Notable
success was also achieved in the recovery of drugs/narcotics this year as 83
kg. of heroine, 14 kg. morphine, 9 quintals of charas, 28 quintals of Nepali
charas, 1 quintal opium, 21 kg. smack, 3 kg. brown sugar, 20 quintals of opium
peel/doda, 18 bags of doda opium and 22 quintals of ganja was confiscated.
*******
Orders given to take
punitive action against those
responsible for killing
of Executive Engineer under Dibiyapur Thana
Nobody will be allowed
to disturb law and order of the State
— Government Spokesman
Rs. 5 lakh financial
assistance for family of deceased,
orders also given to
provide government job to his wife
Lucknow:
December 24, 2008
A
Government spokesman, while terming the killing of Executive Engineer of P.W.D.
Mr. Manoj Gupta under the Dibiyapur police station in Auraiyya district today
as unfortunate, said that orders had been given to take punitive action against
all the guilty persons immediately. He said that all the persons named in this
incident, including the local MLA, would be arrested immediately and brought to
book.
The spokesman said that the Chief
Minister had given explicit order that nobody was above law even if one
belonged to the ruling party. Therefore, the police officers had been given
clear cut orders that the guilty should be arrested immediately and put behind
the bars. He said that nobody would be allowed to disturb the law and order of
the State and if any one tries to disturb it then he would be booked immediately.
He said that the criminals did not belong to any particular caste or religion.
The spokesman said that the F.I.R.
against the guilty had been registered under Section 342, 323, 457, 364, 302 of
I.P.C. and Section-7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act. The crime number is
299/08. Punitive action had been initiated against all the guilty persons. The
I.G. Zone, Commissioner Kanpur, D.I.G. Range and other senior
officers were present on the spot to maintain peace. Besides, additional police
force has also been deployed.
The spokesman said that the Chief
Minister has ordered to provide Rs. 5 lakh assistance to the family members of
the deceased and a government job to the wife of the deceased.
BANGALORE: President of Bangalore Tamil Sangam and truck operator
A.P. Shanmuga Sundaram, who played a key role in the release of
thespian Dr. Rajkumar from forest brigand Veerappan, died here on
Tuesday. He had been unwell for the past three months.
Mr. Sundaram was the owner of Shanmugha Roadways. He was
founder-secretary and later became president of the Bangalore City
Lorry Transporters’ and Agents’ Association.
He served as president of Karnataka Goods Transporters’ Association
and one of the directors of the D. Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal at
Yeshwantapur.
The Federation of Karnataka State Lorry Owners’ and Agents’
Association said the services of Mr. Sundaram for the transport
industry would be remembered for ever.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said the death of Mr. Sundaram was a loss to the Tamil community.
Janata Dal (United) president M.
Nadagoud, former Janata Dal
(United) president B. Somashekar and former MLA Michael Fernandes
BAMCEF Karnataka State in-charge Chengappa, CV Raman Nagar in-charge
Ethiraj, Karnataka BSP Secretaries, Gopinath, Mahesh, Mohan Raj, BBMP
Secretary Jagatheesan Chandrasekharan mourned Mr. Sundaram’s death.
International Federation for Freedom of Aboriginal Inhabitants and Migrates (IFFAIM)
Our aspiration in life is to see entire people triumph over the suppressive
forces of ignorance, un-satisfactoriness, hatred, anger, jealousy,
delusion, superstition (false religious teaching) and tyranny.
Therefore, we have sworn to confront these influences wherever they
arise. Being spellbound for thousands of years is long enough! In our
age, the battles for freedom and supremacy are being waged on the
mental planes. In order to fulfill prophecy and emerge victorious, we
must be armed with an over standing of our origins, history and the
machinations of those who conspire against us. Any part that we can
play in such a revolution of consciousness is our willing service to a
resurgent Pure Land.
Once there was man who was traveling in a rowboat across a lake in a thick fog. The fog was so dense that he couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead of him.
In the distance, he noticed a large shape looming towards him, and he became very worried that the object was another boat that couldn’t see him, and would crash right into his small wood vessel. He shouted out to the crew of the other boat, but received no reply. He began to become frantic, and screamed at the top of his lungs for the boat to give way and avoid a crash.
In his mind he was furious at the driver of the boat who surely was not paying attention to his way, or even worse, maliciously was aiming to hit him.
He worked himself up into a rage, fueled by fear, as the other boat came within clear sight and passed by his own, missing it by a tiny distance.
As the larger boat passed, he peered into its hull to give a good chastising to the driver, but found that the vessel was empty. Its mooring had slipped off the dock, and the boat had drifted out into the lake. All the anger the man had against the phantom driver of the other boat immediately vanished, and he laughed.
This simple story reflects the way we often act in our lives, and in the way we deal with others, especially during threatening situations.
We see something that disturbs us, or we feel confronted by a threat, and we become full of fear which instantly turns into anger and hostility.
It happens so quickly that we don’t even notice that we have chosen to go down that route, but rather it seems justified that we feel the way we do.
In this story, the fog of the day represents the delusions with which we live our lives, particularly all the ideas and opinions we have about others and the way the world should be. Those ideas often blind us to the way the world actually is, which always is something of a surprise.
The most basic teaching of Buddhism is that of impermanence, that everything changes, and is constantly doing so.
That means our ideas about the world become obsolete pretty quickly if we don’t change with the changes, and open our minds to reality here and now, in this very moment.
We can build up a whole story about what someone, another group, or another whole country of people are like, but it is like the boat approaching, we actually don’t really know what’s inside.
I mean not just what’s inside the other group or country, but what’s inside the minds, hearts and souls of those who we view as ‘other’ and who we take as a threat to our existence.
One of the ways of letting go of our ideas that generate a lot of reactions, such as anger and fear, is to approach life with more of a ‘don’t know’ mind, an open and flexible attitude that doesn’t presume to know all about the other boat or its owners.
Grounding ourselves in an awareness of the present moment helps release the fog of all our ideas and opinions, and lets us discover just how new and unexpected this life is. The renowned Zen teacher Thich Nhat Hanh teaches that the roots of anger are in the lack of understanding of ourselves.
He avoids looking to others for the causes of anger, but rather points us to ourselves and our deep-seated habitual reactions.
In Buddhism the self is empty, meaning empty of a single enduring essence, but full of the changing conditions of reality. It is like the boat, made up of parts and pushed by the currents and breezes, but no one is found as the owner.
Realizing this means that we no longer have to be so bound by our ideas of who and what we are. When this hard-won identity looses its grasp on our minds, then we aren’t so frightened when something comes along that challenges it. Understanding that the self is also impermanent at every moment also means that we don’t have to grasp so tightly to our ideas of who we are. When we release our grip on ourselves, then we can become less angry and fearful, as we don’t fear losing ourselves as things change, for better or worse.
By focusing our awareness and mindfulness on what simply is here and now, we can better retain our inner balance when the outside world seems to have lost all sanity.
All conditions in the world are connected, and isolating one factor as the source of blame simply ignores the unity that exists in everything.
Thich Nhat Hanh uses the example of lettuce, saying that if you plant lettuce seeds and a bad lettuce grows, you can’t blame the lettuce.
You have to look at all the conditions, the rain and sun, the seeds and the earth, the fertilizer and the care given. There is no blame to be given to any one of them, but a figuring out of what can be done better for a more healthy plant. We are like the lettuce, and if there is a person or a group that disturbs us greatly, we need to examine all the conditions.
With an attitude of the ‘don’t know’ mind that doesn’t presume to know all the causes of the problems in the world and who is to blame for them, we can investigate mindfully the present moment and the conditions that have contributed to it.
The factors that come together to make up a person, or a whole people, are truly many, and only by seeing the unity of all conditions and choosing to care for all of them can any real positive change happen. Seeing the connections we all have to each other, to the whole world, naturally brings forth compassion. This compassion is that which understands the suffering of all sides during times of conflict and war, whether it is within oneself, a family, a community, or between nations.
When we look closely at who and what we are, let go of our ideas that don’t stand up to an ever-changing reality, and acknowledge the unity that binds all people, then our compassion will flourish for all the suffering that exists. Then blame give way to a caring responsibility.
Kanshi Ram was born in 1934 as a Raedasi Sikh, a community of Punjabi Chamars converted to Sikhism. The family had 4 or 5 acres of land, some of it inherited and the rest acquired through government allocation after Independence, a small landed background is characteristic of many Scheduled Caste legislators but remains a comparative rarity for Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC/STs)in general. Kanshi Ram’s father was himself ’slightly’ literate, and he managed to educate all his four daughters and three sons. Kanshi Ram, the eldest, is the only graduate. He was given a reserved position in the Survey of India after completing his BSc degree, and in 1958 he transferred to the Department of Defence Production as a scientific assistant in amunitions factory in Poona. Kanshi Ram had encountered no Untouchability as a child, and overt discrimination was not a phenomenon within the educated circles of his adult life. But his outlook underwent a sudden change in 1965 when he became caught up in a struggle initiated by other Scheduled Caste employees to prevent the abolition of a holiday commemorating Dr Anibedkar’s birthday.
During this conflict Kanshi Ram encountered a depth of high-caste prejudice and hostility towards Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC/STs) that was a revelation to him. His almost instant radicalisation was completed soon after by a reading of Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste: he read the book three times in one night, going entirely without sleep.
Kanshi Ram’s introduction to the political ideas of Ambedkar - was through his Mahar Buddhist colleague and friend at the amunitions factory, D. K. Khaparde. Together the two of them began formulating ideas for an organisation to be built by educated employees from the Scheduled and Backward castes. Such an organisation would work against harassment and oppression by high-caste officers, and also enable the often inward-looking occupants of reserved postions to give something back to their own communities. So Kanshi Ram and Khaparde began to contact likely recruits in Poona. At about this time Kanshi Ram abandoned any thought of marriage, largely because it did not fit into a life he now wanted to dedicate to public concerns. He had also quite lost interest in his career, though he continued in the job until about 1971. He finally left after a severe conflict over the non-appointment of an apparently qualified Scheduled Caste young woman. During this conflict he had gone so far as to strike a senior official, and he did not even bother attending most of the ensuing disciplinary pro-ceedings. He had already made up his mind to become a full-time activist, and the movement was by then strong enough to meet his modest needs.
In 1971 Kanshi Ram and his colleagues established the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities Employees Welfare Association, which was duly registered under the Poona Charity Commissioner. Their primary object was: To subject our problems to close scrutiny and find out quick and equitable solu-tions to the problems of injustice and harassment of our employees in general and the educated employees in particular.
Despite the Association’s inclusive reach, its aggressively Ambedkarite stance ensured that most of its members were Mahar Buddhists. Within a year of its establishment there were more than one thousand members and it was able to open an office in Poona: many of the members were from the Defence and Post and Telegraph Departments, and their first annual conference was addressed by the then Defence Minister, Jagjivan Ram. Kanshi Ram’s next organisational step was to create the basis of a national association of Scheduled Caste government servants. As early as 1973 he and his colleagues established the All India Backward and Minority Employees Federation (BAMCEF), and a functioning office was established in Delhi in 1976. BAMCEF was relaunched with greater fanfare on 6 December 1978, the anniversary of Ambedkar’s death, with claims of two thousand delegates joining a procession to the Boat Club Lawns in New Delhi . Although the stated objects of the new organisation were essentially the same as those of the earlier body, the rhetoric had grown bolder. It was not merely the oppressors who came in the line of fire, but also many of the reserved office holders too:
As all the avenues of advance are closed to them in the field of agriculture, trade, commerce and industry almost all the educated persons from these oppressed communities are trapped in Govt. services. About 2 million educated oppressed Indians have already joined various types of sobs during the last 26 years. Civil Service Conduct rules put some restrictions on them. But their inherent timidity, cowardice, selfishness and lack of desire for Social Service to their own creed have made them exceptionally useless to the general mass of the oppressed Indians.The only ray of hope is that almost everywhere in the country there are some edu-cated employees who feel deeply agitated about the miserable existence of their brethren.
By the mid-1970s Kanshi Ram had established a broad if not dense network of contacts throughout Maharashtra and adjacent regions. During his frequent train trips from Poona to Delhi, he adopted the habit of getting down at major stations along the way - Nagpur, Jabalpur and Bhopal, among others - to contact likely sympathisers and to try to recruit them to the organisation . Once he had moved to Delhi he pushed into Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, as well as further into Madhya Pradesh. Parallel to his work among edu-cated employees Kanshi Ram was also contacting a wider audience with simple presentations of Ambedkar’s teachings. Thus in 1980 he put together a roadshow called ‘Ambedkar Mela on Wheels’. This was an oral and pictorial account of Ambedkar’s life and views, together with con-temporary material on oppression, atrocities and poverty. Between April and June 1980 the show was carted to thirty-four destinations in nine
States of the north. Jang Bahadur Patel, a Kurmi (Backward Caste) and President of the Uttar Pradesh Branch of the Bahujana Samaj Party until late 1995, recalls meeting Kanshi Ram for the first time when he brought his roadshow to Lucknow (Interview: 25 November 1995). Kanshi Ram talked persuasively about how Ambedkar had struggled for all the down-trodden classes, and how the Scheduled Castes, Tribes and also the Backwards and Minorities were all victims of Brahminism. Because of their weight of numbers, these people had the potential to convert them-selves from ‘beggars to rulers’. It was all a matter of organisation. Patel immediately joined BAMCEF, though he was in a distinct minority as a non-Untouchable: Untouchables constituted about 90 per cent of the membership, with the other io per cent being split between tribals and Backward Caste people.
BAMCEF’s motto, ‘Educate, Organise and Agitate’, was adopted from Ambedkar, and its activities were formally divided into a number of welfare and proselytising objects. But increasingly Kanshi Ram’s agita-tional activities were leading him into politics. By the late 70S he was no longer content with being the leader of reserved office holders, a class for whom he had less than complete respect. Kanshi Ram’s first attempt to create a radical political vehicle capable of mobilising the larger body of Dalits was the Dalit SoshitSamaj Sangharsh Samiti (DS4) formed in 1981. This was conceived as a political organisation parallel to BAMCEF: it shared the same President in Kanshi Ram, the same office, and many of the same members. DS4 was a quasi- rather than fully fledged political party, partly because government servants were forbidden to take part in electoral politics. But DS4 made little concrete progress, and late in 1984 Kanshi Ram took the plunge and formed the Bahujana Samaj Party (a variant on the name of Phule’s nineteenth-century organisation). Inevitably, this caused major strains in BAMCEF ranks. Their agitational activities had placed many of his colleagues from the Poona and early Delhi periods in a delicate position as government servants and, in any case, the political loyalty of many of them was to the several strands of the Republican Party. There were also strains arising from Kanshi Ram’s will to total domination of all three organisations. And the need for money was rising with the push into politics: one of the Maharashtra workers recalls delivering Kanshi Ram a purse of forty thousand rupees collected from Maharashtra in 1984. These several strains grew more severe over the next two years, and early in 1986 a major split took place. Kanshi Ram announced at that time that he was no longer willing to work for any organisation other than the Bahujana Samaj Party. His transition from social worker to politician was complete.
Kanshi Ram is more an organiser and political strategist than an innov-ative thinker or charismatic public speaker. While his Ambedkarite ideol-ogy has remained constant and lacking in any innovation, there has been a progressive sharpening of his rhetoric. The early issues of BAMCEF’s monthly magazine, The Oppressed Indian, were full of his didactic exposi-tions of Ambedkar’s views on Indian society. These have now given way to simpler formulations, repeated in numerous newspaper accounts and both public and private speech. The central proposition is that Indian society is characterised by the self-interested rule of io per cent over the other 90 per cent (the bahujan samaj or common people). Although the ruling io per cent is composed of several castes, they derive their legiti-macy and ruling ideology from Brahminism. All the institutions of society reflect this ruling ideology and distortion, including the press. These institutions can therefore be termed Manuwadi (after the great Brahmin-inspired text) or Brahminwadi. In the marketplace of elections, such simplicity has been further reduced to crudeness and epithet. A slogan coined after the formation of DS4 was, ‘Brahmin, Bania, Thakur Chor, Baki Sab Hem DS-Four’. Loosely translated, this rhyme states that Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs are thieves, while the rest of society are their victims. The epithets reached their height during the election cam-paign for the UP Assembly in 1993, the most notorious being: ‘Tilak, Taraju, Talwar. Maaro Unko Joote Char’. This slogan, with its insistent rhythm in Hindi, advocates that Brahmins, Banias and Rajputs, each identified by a slighting term, be beaten four times with a shoe - a tradi-tionally demeaning form of punishment because of the ritual impurity of leather. While Kanshi Ram and Mayawati denied authorship of such slogans, they served as a simple and dramatically offensive marker of the party’s ideological position.
Kanshi Ram’s strategy and his larger understanding of social change are now considerably evolved. He no longer believes in the primacy of social reform. Rather, expenditure of effort on any object other than the capture of government is seen to be superfluous. It is administrative power that will bring about desired social change, not vice versa. So he declines to spell out policies on basic issues such as the liberalisation of the Indian economy or on land reforms. His view is that such issues are irrelevant to the project of gaining power, and that the appropriate poli-cies will fall into place once power is attained. His picture of India is of a kind of holy war on the part of the bahujan samaj against their Brahminwadi oppressors. In the context of this war debates about policy are almost frivolities. This is a stance of pure fundamentalism, but it also frees him to engage in the most ruthless pragmatism in the name of capturing power.
Consistent with this stance, Kanshi Ram has become increasingly critical of the institution of reservation in government employment. Reservation is a ‘crutch’ - useful for a cripple, but a positive handicap for someone who wants to run on his own two feet (Kanshi Ram interview:1996). He now throws off the line that once the bahujan samaj get to power throughout India, it will be they who can condescend to the Brahmins by giving them reservation proportional to their own meagre population. There is more than a little bravado in this, but there is no doubt that Kanshi Ram is now hostile to the system of institutional preference that was the indispensable basis of his own personal and polit-ical career. It seems that he believes that reservation has now done enough for the Scheduled Castes. He notes that of some 500 Indian Admin-istrative Service (LAS) Officers in
Uttar Pradesh, 137 are from the Scheduled Castes. By comparison, there are only seven lAS officers from the Backward Castes, six of them Yadavs (Hindustan Times, 6 April 1994). His point is not that there are now too many Scheduled Caste officers -their number conforms strictly to the legal quota - but too few from the Backward Castes. He apparently assumes that the capture of political power will automatically transform the composition of the bureaucratic elite.
The Bahujana Samaj Party first made headway in Punjab, Kanshi Ram’s home State, but his primary political task was to wean the Chamars of Uttar Pradesh from Congress. It was Kanshi Ram’s fortune that he built the party at the historical moment that the long-term Congress decline became a landslide. The formal entry of his party into Uttar Pradesh was in a by-election in 1985 for the Lok Sabha seat of Bijinor, in which its candidate was Mayawati. She is a Jatav (or Chamar), the daughter of a minor government official in Delhi, and had completed a BA and LLB from the University of Delhi. Mayawati had made contact with Kanshi Ram in 1977 while she was a student, and had gradually been drawn into his organisation. Her opponents in Bijinor included Ram Vilas Paswan - the two have had poor relations since this contest - and Meira Kumar, Jagjivan Ram’s daughter, representing Congress. Rajiv Gandhi was at the height of his popularity at the time, and Meira Kumar won the seat easily. But by 1989 the Bahujana Samaj Party had put in five years of solid organising work in UP and also in the neighbouring regions of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, and parts of Haryana. And mean-while the Congress Party had slumped in popularity. Kanshi Ram had prepared the ground carefully. He had selected organisers and candidates from a variety of social backgrounds. One of his organisers was Dr Mahsood Ahmed, a temporary lecturer in history at Aligarh Muslim University. Mahsood had become disillusioned with Congress when Indira Gandhi made her infamous tilt towards the Hindus in the early 1980s (Mahsood interview: 27 November 1995). He joined BAMCEF and then switched to DS4 in 1983 as a full-time organiser and fund raiser. Mahsood was later put in charge of the whole of eastern Uttar Pradesh for the Bahujana Samaj Party.
The years of organisation bore fruit in 1989 and 1991. In the four State Assembly and Parliamentary (Lok Sabha) polls for Uttar Pradesh between 1989 and 1991 the Bahujana Samaj Party’s share of the vote varied only marginally between 8.7 and 9.4 per cent. But this impressive vote produced a disappointing number of seats - in 1989 the party won thirteen out of 425 State Assembly seats, and in 1991 it won twelve. The party won only two Parliamentary seats in 1989, and one in 1991; Kanshi Ram himself subsequently won a by-election from UP in 1992. Both the strength and the weakness of the party is that its primary ‘vote bank’, the Chamars, are relatively evenly spread across the State. This spread gives the Bahujana Samaj a chance in a large number of seats, but also make it logically impossible to win even a single seat without strong support from other communities. Although it has attracted a measure of Muslim, Backward Caste and other Scheduled Caste support, it has encountered considerable resistance in these target communities. We need to look more closely at this problem.
First, there is the question of why the majority of Jatavs of western UP deviated from their kinfolk in the eastern part of the State, and continued to vote Congress in 1989 and 1991. The answer to this question is not entirely clear. Some have blamed the result on the poor organising capac-ities of Mayawati - she was in charge of this region - but the deeper reason may be the Jatavs’ historical association with B. P. Maurya. In a move of some desperation, Congress resurrected the 70-year-old Maurya as one of four national Vice-Presidents in the run-up to the 1996 elections. But by then Mayawati had become an electorally popular figure in eastern UP. As to the Scheduled Castes other than the Chamars/Jatavs, only Pasis appear to have voted for Kanshi Ram’s party in large numbers. The Valmikis (formerly known as Bhangis) voted solidly for the BJP in the 1993 Assembly elections, and the sole Valmiki in the Lok Sabha elected in 1991 represented the BJP (though in 1980 he had been elected for the Janata Party). Mangal Ram Premi MP - his biography is sketched in chapter 8- accounts for the Valmiki support of the BJP by simply advert-ing to the community’s dislike of the Chamars (Interview: 4 November 1995). The Chamars are more numerous, better educated and more successful in acquiring reserved positions than the Valmikis, and this tends to produce resentment. Many of the Dhobis too have recently voted for the BJP. In short, Kanshi Ram’s party has not solved the problem of how to mobilise all or even most of the Scheduled Castes. The problem that dogged Ambedkar has thus repeated itself in Uttar Pradesh, though Kanshi Ram’s Chamars are both more numerous and numerically more dominant among the Untouchables than were Ambedkar’s Mahars in the western part of the country.
Among Backward Castes, Kanshi Ram’s strongest support has come from the Kurmis. In Bihar, this is an upwardly mobile peasant commu-nity responsible for several of the worst atrocities against Dalits. But in Uttar Pradesh the Kurmis are comparatively low on the scale of prosper-ity. Moreover, they have had a history of anti-Brahmin radicalism - Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur remains a source of inspiration to some of them. And a sprinkling of them had been members of the Republican Party. The Kurmis could see advantage in being associated with a party that was not dominated by the more numerous Yadavs (whose firm affiliation is with Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party). As to the large number of other Backward Castes in UP, over the last several years there has been an intense three-way tussle between the BJP, the Bahujana Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party to capture their support. All three have had some success, but perhaps the larger part of this vote is a floating one that will flow with the main political current of the time. The last community to consider is the Muslims. In the aftermath of the destruction of the Babri Masjid the Muslims have been politically leaderless. They have shunned Congress for what they see to have been its culpable failure to prevent the demolition of the mosque, and have given considerable support to Mulayam Singh’s Samajwadi Party and some support to Kanshi Ram. Thus in the municipal elections of Uttar Pradesh in November 1995 and in the national and UP elections of 1996 it seems that UP Muslims were prepared to vote for whichever party was locally the strongest anti-BJP force. In short, the politics of post-Congress Uttar Pradesh are currently cast largely in terms of community vote banks. Political strategy is a matter of positioning one’s party so as to retain one s core vote bank and also attract others at the margins. At least as much as any other player, Kanshi Ram has adapted to this game with calculating skill.
Mayawati will become the first Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabudha Bharath woman Prime Minister of Prabuddha Bharath - Three Baskets Study Circle
Mayawati,the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has now set her eyes on Delhi.She has spelt her intention in no uncertain terms and has started fine tuning her strategy .The lady luck is also smiling on her and after the Confidence vote fiasco,she is the undisputed leader of any kind of third front or any other political combination.
Mayawati would be emboldened to know that her party would be able to form the government, considering the present political alignment.She seems to be aware of this and is gearing up to exploit the situation to her advantage.A few years ago it would have been labeled as “her hallucination” to be the Prime Minister of Prabuddha Bharath, but not now,considering the state of affairs of the National Parties. It is altogether a different matter how her ascendancy will improve Prabuddha Bharath’s march towards prosperity and its rightful place among developed nations of the world.
Mayawati is also tryng to replicate her success formula in other states .She has started to woo Brahmin’s in Maharashtra. Next on the list are minorities, especially muslims. Considering the disarray in the Samajwadi Party, she his hopeful of making a dent in that community too. She has given the Central Government the ultimatum to implement reservation in Private sector. So,she hopes to benefit from that account as well. According to the survey, the Rashtriya Janta Dal of Lalu Prashad Yadav would be wiped out from Bihar this time; So will be the Lok Jan Shakti of Ram Vilas Paswan. But in the all India scenario, BSP would emerge as the biggest beneficiary and cross the 225 mark .So Mayawati would form the government.
The position of Left in Kerala is very precarious and it will loose there heavily .The same can happen in West Bengal too, if Mamta Banerjee joins hands with Congress. Bhartiya Janta Party will be sidelined after its shameful stance over the Nuclear Deal now.The supporters of BJP are dismayed over its double-speak. It will suffer most because its voters are relatively literate and aware of the International affairs. “BJP has kissed death”.
Politicians like Mayawati would like to maintain their status quo,forever.
Ruler Mayawati, engineer of UP election
ANALYSIS
Ruler Mayawati, engineer of the UP elections
Mayawati has turned India’s electoral politics on its head, and not many saw it coming. She now has her sights focused on the larger prize – prime minister of India.
By Pratap Somvanshi
( Editor of prominent Indian Hindi daily newspaper Amar Ujala)
–
The results of the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly polls herald the arrival of a unique political formula, one which will have a forceful impact on electoral politics throughout India for years to come. As the largest and politically most significant state in India, Uttar Pradesh has long paved the way for new political ideologies – be it the saffron wave or the bahujan politics that banked on the votes of the majority, the former untouchable castes, the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath. With the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) gaining a thumping majority in mid-May, a newfound alliance of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath and upper castes (mostly Brahmin and Bania) has proved to be a formidable combination. In its aftermath, political pundits are lauding the victory of this unlikely coalition as an innovative experiment in social engineering, as overseen by BSP supremo Mayawati.
Mayawati, India’s first Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath woman chief minister, has now been sworn in to the post in Uttar Pradesh for a fourth time. With the BSP’s clear majority of 206 out of 403 assembly seats, UP is experiencing its first single-party majority in 17 years, since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in power at the height of the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ movement. The most significant change to come about in recent elections has been the decisive entry of deprived castes into mainstream politics, and today there appears to be a realistic opportunity for the Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath-majority BSP to play a critical role in national politics. Most immediately, this refers to the election of the next president of India, coming up in June. For their part, Mayawati’s supporters have already begun to chant: “Now New Delhi!”
A significant part of the BSP’s success can, of course, be put down to anti-incumbency sentiment. Poor governance has not helped the Samajwadi Party’s image – in particular, the breakdown in law enforcement as made evident in the Nithari child-murders case, the recent murders of several politicians, and the sheer hooliganism of Chief Minister Mulayam Singh’s administration. Even film star Amitabh Bachchan’s much-advertised slogan ‘UP mein hai dum, kyonki jurm yahan hai kum’ (UP is powerful, because there is less crime here) did little to change the discontent directed at Mulayam.
Another factor in the BSP’s favour was the proactive role of the Election Commission, in ensuring that Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath could vote in large numbers in the seven rounds of phased polling. The elections also saw a large paramilitary presence – almost 500,000 personnel – which some say was the largest deployment of security forces to have taken place in an Indian election. Such a security cover undoubtedly contributed to another record: for perhaps the first time since Independence, no violence occurred during the UP polls. In certain pockets of eastern UP, Dalits were able to cast their votes for the first time ever.
Rise of regional parties
The political transition in Uttar Pradesh between 1999 and 2007 is fairly easy to trace. During that period, people in the marginalised sections of society became politically aware and united. This was also a period of the progressive weakening of the Congress party. From Independence until 1980, the Congress was the undisputed strongman among Indian political parties, and was largely propped up by a vote bank of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath, Muslims and Brahmins. This was a period of upper-caste supremacy, when the Brahmins and Kshatriyas had the upper hand and played a decisive role in the larger Indian political system, as well as in the powerhouse of Uttar Pradesh. For years, the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath languished, but their search for political identity, self-empowerment and political power steadily strengthened. It was when the Congress began to lose the longstanding support of these groups in the late 1980s that its power rapidly declined.
V P Singh’s decision to implement the report of the Mandal Commission in 1990, recommending reservation for Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in educational institutions and government jobs, acted as a significant catalyst, particularly within the lower and ‘backward’ castes. Their attempts to gain power subsequently became significantly more vocal. A new era of politics was thus emerging. At the national level, the Third Front of non-Congress and non-BJP parties came into being, and a new face, H D Deve Gowda, became prime minister – the first time a state-level politician had reached such a high office. Regional parties started to flex their muscles, and began to look for ways to shake up the political system in Uttar Pradesh. Thereafter, every regional party felt free to dream – and scheme – of having its own prime minister.
This was also the beginning of hung assemblies in UP, with no political party able to win a clear majority. But political analysts who predicted that such a situation would continue for decades have now been proved wrong. The BSP’s win in May has turned longstanding political formulas on their heads: the ‘royal sceptre’ has been decisively placed in the hand of a Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath ki beti, a daughter of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath, this time unfettered by coalition partners and sharing arrangements that constrained her previous stints as chief minister.
Bahujan to sarvajan
Caste has long been the basis of Indian election formulas. The BSP had also subscribed to the arithmetic of caste, with its perspective that a small number of upper castes were exploiting and reigning over 85 percent of UP’s population – the backward and Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath castes. The strength of the regional parties that began to sprout during the late 1990s was based on Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath and minorities.While the Congress and the BJP proclaimed that they did not believe in the caste formula, behind the scenes they played the same game, and prepared to respond to the strategy of the regional parties.
In the lead-up to the recent election, however, the BSP had changed its stance. It abandoned its policy of cursing Manuwad, the ascription of all upper-caste evil to the sage Manu, and the party’s members instead began to talk of sarvajan (all the people), not only bahujan (the majority). Satish Chandra Mishra, an upper-caste lawyer, is credited with the successful implementation of this strategy. As Mishra gained her confidence, Mayawati had made him Advocate General of Uttar Pradesh in 2002. Since this was the period when the BSP was trying to woo the upper castes, Mayawati found in Mishra the most acceptable Brahmin face, and she eventually made him a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house in the national parliament, and then general secretary of the BSP. Mishra was instrumental in bringing in more Brahmins to the BSP, and 48 out of 86 Brahmin BSP candidates won the 2007 election.
The BSP’s campaign slogans from the past election also reflected this shift in caste alignment and the use of the party’s symbol of the elephant over time. From ‘Chad gundo ki chaati par – mohar lagegi hathi par’ (Knocking down ruffians – the seal will be put on the elephant), the attempt to woo the upper caste was apparent in the religious symbolism of ‘Hathi nahi Ganesh hai – Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh hai’ (It is not an elephant, but lord Ganesh – the creator, the preserver and the destroyer.) and ‘Brahmin Shankh bajayega – hathi badta jayega’ (The Brahmin will blow the conch – the elephant will surge forward).
The BSP is now 23 years old. When Mayawati’s mentor Kanshi Ram founded the party, he coined the slogan, “Share at par with involvement”, and the goal of the BSP was political representation in proportion to population size. Initially, the party had to rely on tenuous alliances to make any headway in state politics. In 1993, the BSP came to power and formed a government with the Samajwadi Party, which had a hold on the OBCs, particularly the Yadavs. In the evolving formulation of UP politics, the upper-caste-leaning BJP actually supported the BSP in the 1997 elections, and Mayawati subsequently became chief minister for the first time. Now, a decade later, the BSP has reached a position of being able to form a government by itself. It has been a slow, steady and strategic build up of strength in India’s politically most-significant state.
In UP, the ability of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath and the upper castes, particularly Brahmins, to coalesce, marks a great change in the social and political equation, and holds the promise of a stable formula, according to some. Furthermore, this success has set the regional parties’ sights even higher. If in coming parliamentary elections, after a year and a half, the BSP were to win 60 more seats in UP, Mayawati’s chances of becoming prime minister of India would be very strong. Although seven past prime ministers have hailed from UP, during times of hung assemblies and parliaments the state’s politics became weak, and left the field open for regional parties of South India to play a more prominent role in New Delhi. Led by Mayawati, the resurgence of one-party domination in UP now signals the return of the state as the kingmaker.
Muslim vote bank
In the BJP-led coalition government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, politicians from Andhra Pradesh were very powerful in the Centre. The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Manmohan Singh owes its gratitude to the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) and the left parties, who are currently extremely influential.
Many now say that if Mayawati’s government is able to strengthen Uttar Pradesh in central politics, the perceptions of minorities could simultaneously change. Up to this point, the minority vote bank has been scattered, largely attached to various state-level regional parties, and with the Congress at the national level. In the mid-1990s in UP, with a weak Congress party and the opportunistic alliance of the BJP and the BSP, minority votes went increasingly to the Samajwadi Party and whosoever else was perceived to be secular. The so-called Muslim parties were unsuccessful in wooing the UP vote bank, and failed to win the sympathy even of the Muslims. Now, the Muslim vote bank in UP again seems to be turning towards the BSP – and the party leadership is keeping a careful watch over these voters. Said to be very close to Mayawati, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, the popular youth leader from Banda District, has become the minority face of the BSP.
In the aftermath of the recent elections, attention must be paid to the failures of the Samajwadi Party, the BJP and Congress in UP. Their trump cards have proved ineffective. The high-profile road show of Rahul Gandhi, as well as the campaigning by his mother and sister, did not make a dent in the triumphant march of the elephant. In May 2007, the Congress won a mere 21 seats – two less, even, than in 2002.
While the Congress saw the worst results in the UP polls, the BJP’s dreams also came crashing to the ground. After gaining power in Punjab and Uttarakhand, the BJP was expecting significantly better results in UP. Party leaders were hoping that the saffron wave would sweep India. Indeed, a UP win could have paved the way for clinching Goa, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat – and the road to Delhi would have been clear. Instead, the BJP has to take a hard look at its poll strategy, and perhaps remodel its party structure in UP. In 2002, the BJP won 88 seats in Uttar Pradesh; this time, it could gain no more than 50. The fall-guy for the BJP would be the party’s national president, Rajnath Singh, who could not even save the party in his own state.
The same may happen with the Samajwadi Party, which only won 97 out of 404 seats in the state assembly. SP leaders are now seriously thinking about how to restructure the party. During the run-up to the May elections, chief ministers from various South Indian states streamed up to UP to campaign for Mulayam Singh Yadav, who had been dreaming of forming a Third Front with these states for the next Lok Sabha parliamentary elections in 2009. This dream, too, now lies in tatters.
While the UP elections of 2007 have clearly marked a significant shift in how Indian political parties will fashion their political formulas in the days to come, there is, however, little hope for an overall change in the system. Parties in power in the past, after all, have made hundreds of promises during election campaigns, many of which remain flagrantly unfulfilled to this day. While one hopes that Mayawati’s new government atop the elephant will not tread the same path, the Indian masses have developed a wary view of the politicians of any political party – and to break that mindset will require a long, long ride. What the public of UP hopes is that four-time Chief Minister Mayawati will be as good in governance this time as it is in forging winning alliances.
Foggy prognostication
Exit and opinion polls were a flop once again in the recent UP election. No major political pundit predicted the BSP winning a full majority, including those at Star News, the Indian Express, CNN, IBN7, NDTV, India TV or Sahara TV. Instead, each of these foresaw a hung assembly, suggesting that the BSP would get between 103 and 168 seats. Quite a few surveys gave the BJP more than 100 seats, although it eventually won just half that. While many put the BSP and the SP in the same range, the SP eventually wound up with less than half of the BSP’s seats. Besides the fact that psephology is an inexact science, one might suggest class and caste bias leads to such skewed predictions, perhaps?
Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister Awadh Pal Singh Yadav of the Mayawati-led government Monday said if the number of cases being lodged against somebody were the yardstick to term him a criminal, then Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru were criminals too.
Yadav was asked by reporters at Etawah as to why his party had fielded D.P. Yadav. He reportedly said: ‘I do not think D.P. Yadav is a criminal. Any politician can be called a criminal because there are a number of cases filed against them. In this regard, the first criminal would be Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Chandra Bose, Pandit Nehru.’
State police chief Vikram Singh has maintained that the engineer was killed because he refused to buckle under the legislator’s pressure to award contracts to his henchmen.
The one decision to construct Greater Noida-Balia Expressway by Mayawati Government can change the entire landscape of Uttar Pradesh.Despite being embroiled in Taj Expressway controversy for years,Mayawati’s thought about this mammoth project,only exemplifies her hidden developmental streak.Nobody even dared to think about this earlier but Mayawati not only conceptualised this and hopefully, will be able to complete in time also.
Had the central government taken such imitative then the state selected would have been either any southern state or north-western state.U.P andBihar come last in the reckoning, always.
This is more significant for the simple reason that a state chief minister has taken initiative of her own and if other chief ministers also follow her, then, the infrastructure woes of the country will be greatly reduced quickly.Nobody knows how much time National Highways Authority of India,NHAI, will take to provide better motorable roads to the citizens of this country.
As the U.P and Bihar have non-UPA governments,it would deliberately not speed up construction activities due to internal pressure.The condition of roads in U.P is not bad but it is far worse inBihar, mainly because of NHAI apathy.NHAI never bothers to repair even existing National Highways. So, constructing newer ones is asking for far too much.It is the state government ofBihar which is managing even NHAI roads.The reasons for NHAI’s discriminatory attitude is known to everyone.Under the pressure of Rashtriya Janta Dal,NRJD, NHAI is skirting its responsibility.RJD,would obviously not want to see the contrasting picture under Nitish Kumar Government.Under its 16 years rule, RJD had ensured that no stretch of road remained motorable, so that Charwaha vidyalayas and bullock-cart transportation could be popularised.Nitish Kumar has constructed most of the state highways and peripheral roads but NHAI has ensured that the National Highways remain in such condition that deter any one from travelling on that path.
The proposed Expressways will pass through many ancient Pilgrimage centers.Travelling between Delhi-Kanpur,Kanpur-Allahabad,Allahabad-Varanasi would become a breeze and millions of reluctant people will finally start visiting the most sacred places on this earth.There will be all round developmental activities and millions of employment opportunities would be generated.
Mayawati has tremendous hold over bureaucracy and she is most likely to achieve this ambitious feat ,but politicians are already roaming with open daggers in their hands.They are most likely to stab from behind at the very first opportunity they get.LikeRJD of Bihar they would never like to see Mayawati as a chief minister who transformed U.P of her very own will.
If U.P. and Bihar have to come out of the rut then the respective state governments have to take bold and path braking initiatives.Bundelkhand has been facing famine for years now but no concrete measures were taken to improve the situation.Similarly,Kosi has been flooding a large part of Bihar but no measures to provide some solace to the victims were ever tried.One or two trains for Bihar announced by railway minister invites widespread derision and criticism but they fail to appreciate how this state has been overlooked for decades.
There are many aspects of Mayawati which can be debated and criticised but she should also be praised for what is due to her and this she deserves completely.
Once there was a general of the imperial Japanese army, a brave samuri, who wanted to learn the essence of Zen. He sought out the advice of the renowned master Baso who lived alone in a mountain hut. He approached the master as he was meditating on a rock, and asked him, “What is the meaning of heaven and hell, honourable master?”
Baso stood up and spat in the general’s face. The general was astonished and overcome with rage. He unsheathed his long sword and raised it above the master’s head, readying to strike a mortal blow.
Baso lifted his finger and said, “You are now at the gates of hell.” The general’s face relaxed and he lowered the sword. Baso continued, “You are now at the gates of heaven.” The general became a disciple of master Baso and soon achieved true awakening.
What is the source of anger? This Zen story teaches us how the problem of anger exists on several different levels.
The general was a warrior who had lived his whole life training to channel his anger into acts of violence in order to subdue others. That’s what war is all about - violence is resorted to as a means of gaining victory over people.
Such is the soldier’s way, and whole societies come to understand violence, and its source, self-righteous anger, as a justified norm. On the most basic level, master Baso spits in the face of that norm. He rejects the general and all he represents, the expression of anger and the killing which comes out of it.
Anger is essentially impatient, wanting to force a change now and not wait for any process to fulfill itself. The general wants an immediate answer to his question, he wants to understand Zen and the path of life in an instant, to force his way through the door of heaven, so to speak.
He is used to getting his way, and if his will is opposed, he beats his opponent down. Doesn”t he sound very familiar? When we look around, and inside ourselves, we can find many examples of this form of anger. The general didn’t ask the master for a spiritual practice, or a teaching that will guide him, he just wanted to strike gold in one shot.
He wanted the meaning of life without any effort, a kind of fast-food enlightenment. Just bring it all on. He made his trek up the mountain, wasn’t that enough?
We take a course in meditation, sit for a few weeks, and then wonder, what’s wrong? Why aren’t I enlightened yet? That impatience is another form of anger lurking under the surface, aroused when life and other people don”t serve us what we ordered and expected.
The deeper teaching master Baso succeeds in transmitting to the general is of what anger does to the person who feels it. Most bluntly, it makes a hell for him or her. Even though it can create a rush of energy which is usually thrust into destructive action, anger always burns whoever experiences it.
It makes an enemy of the world, with other people as threats. It completely warps our judgment, just like the general who was about to kill the master just because he felt insulted. If his mind wasn’t deluded by anger, would he have resorted to the sword, or would it have been more effective for him to just laugh at the situation? He missed the humour of a small, defenceless monk spitting at a huge, armed warrior.
Anger alienates us from the world and from our own ability to look at life and ourselves with less defensiveness. It burns up our sense of perspective. Anger hurts.
What would we be like without anger? Well, master Baso points this out to the samuri: life would be paradise. Not the paradise of an oasis with beautiful music, people, and perfect conditions, but the paradise of being able to live with an open, receptive heart and mind.
A mind unobstructed by the flames of anger is a beautiful thing. Of course, the master tells the general when he drops his anger that he is at the gates of paradise. That doesn’t mean he has entered paradise. Letting go of anger places us at the entrance of other qualities we want to cultivate, like lovingkindness and compassion.
Ending anger is the initial step which readies us for other spiritual practices and insights. That is why the samuri became a disciple of Baso after he let go of his anger, for he was able to more clearly perceive just how much he could receive from this teacher, and how much he had to learn.
In his anger he was still attached to his own sense of being right (meaning someone else had to be wrong,) and when he released his anger he no longer had to be in the position of right or wrong. He became a simple student of life.
You don’t have to want to kill someone to know the effects of anger in your life. It arises any time we’re sure we are right, and someone else is wrong. And more than that, we want to show them we’re right and change them. We want to win, and for them to lose. But beyond winning and losing, being right and wrong, there is a unity we can only begin to perceive after we have let go of our anger. That places us at the gates of paradise.
To get to that point we first have to explore our experience of anger and become acquainted with all the ways it arises. How do you feel when things don’t go according your expectations? What is your response when someone says something difficult or upsetting, or just plain rude, to you? What does anger do to your body and mind?
How does anger affect your ability to decide and act? And, more importantly, how do you feel when you let the anger evaporate? What does it feel like the moment anger vanishes? How do others appear to you when anger is totally absent?
If there is one thing master Baso teaches, it is that heaven and hell aren’t out there somewhere, but they are conditions of the mind itself. Anger is hell, love is paradise.
A Rs250 crore package to revamp Mathura was announced in August; now Rs800 crore has been allocated for Varanasi
New Delhi: To win both the hearts and minds of voters across the country as India gets ready for the national elections in April, Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati is deliberately targeting an overhaul of urban infrastructure in pilgrim towns, such as Varanasi and Mathura, which see a large influx of Hindu pilgrims.
Poll sops? BSP leader Mayawati. Nand Kumar / PTI
After announcing a Rs250 crore package for Mathura in August, Mayawati announced an Rs800 crore revamp plan for Varanasi last week.
“By announcing these, Mayawati is telling the people—especially the non-Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath—that they should not judge her or the BSP by their past (as a party that catered mainly to those at the bottom of India’s caste pyramid) and, instead, think of the future they are trying to create by catering to wider sections,” says Dalit writer Chandra Bhan Prasad.
Both Mathura and Varanasi are already covered under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) a Rs50,000 crore Centrally funded scheme that ties grants for urban renewal projects to a set of mandatory reforms that municipalities have to enact to be eligible to receive the grants.
As of 30 June, Varanasi had one water supply and one solid waste management project worth a combined Rs159 crore granted under JNNURM, while Mathura had one solid waste management project.
The urban infrastructure development package for Varanasi includes drinking water, sewerage and solid waste disposal schemes, apart from improving power supply to places of tourist interest, including the ghats along the banks of the Ganga river.
The Mathura-specific projects that were announced earlier in August included improvement in tourist facilities and new road projects.
In the 2007 assembly elections, of the total 12 seats in Mathura and Varanasi districts, the BSP, which won four seats, was the only party that gained seats compared with the previous elections in 2002, when it had won just one seat.
The main opposition at the Centre, the Bharatiya Janata Party, lost one and the Congress party, the Central ruling coalition leader, managed to retain the lone seat it had won in Mathura in 2002.
A senior priest with the Sankat Mochan temple in Varanasi said it was quite likely that Mayawati would benefit if she were to carry out the planned works.
“Caste politics has been played by all political parties, where promises specific to interest groups are made before polls. So there is nothing wrong in Mayawati announcing more development of temple towns keeping the upcoming elections in mind. At the end of the day, people want development. Let us see what Mayawati can do,” said this religious leader who didn’t want to be identified.
Mayawati and senior BSP leader S.C. Mishra couldn’t be contacted despite repeated attempts.
A study conducted by the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) showed that the BSP had increased its share of upper-caste votes in Uttar Pradesh from 23% in the 2002 assembly elections to 31% in 2007. The share of Brahmin votes for the party increased from 6% in 2003 to 17% in 2007, after it handed out tickets to Brahmins and other backward class (OBC) candidates.
“It is interesting to note that among Brahmins, 27% of poor Brahmins voted for the BSP, while only 12% of the rich voted for it,” said Pravin Rai, an analyst with CSDS.
Ajoy Bose, the author of Behenji, a biography of Mayawati, has noted that of the 206 seats the BSP had won in 2007, 51 were held by Brahmins.
Judiciary asserts its primacy
Legal Correspondent
New Delhi: The just-concluded year witnessed a major stand-off between the judiciary and the executive over appointment of judges to the Supreme Court. In the end, the court collegium asserted its primacy, rejecting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s request that three names it recommended for elevation be reconsidered.
Following the court’s decision, President Pratibha Patil appointed Justices A.K. Ganguly, R.M. Lodha and H.L. Dattu Supreme Court judges.
The Supreme Court upheld the appointment of Justice Ashok Kumar as judge of the Madras High Court, who was later shifted to the Andhra Pradesh High Court as permanent judge. It held that the Chief Justice of India (CJI) was not bound to consult other judges in the collegium while appointing an additional judge as permanent judge.
To weed out corrupt elements in the subordinate judiciary, the CJI asked the Chief Justices of the High Courts to periodically review the performance of district judges, assess their character and integrity and, if found unsuitable, to compulsorily retire them.
In the Ghaziabad Provident Fund scam, the CJI permitted the Central Bureau of Investigation to probe the allegation that Rs. 15 lakh in cash was deposited at the residence of a sitting judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The CJI also ordered an in-house probe by a committee of three-judges and he is examining its report.
The apex court expanded the scope of Article 21 (right to life and liberty), saying a person’s reputation is a facet of his ‘right to life’ and to protect this right, illegal preventive detention orders could be quashed even at the pre-execution stage through habeas corpus petitions.
“If a person against whom a preventive detention order has been passed can show to the court that the order is clearly illegal, why should he be compelled to go to jail? To tell such a person that although the detention order is illegal he must yet go to jail and he will be released later is a meaningless and futile exercise. If the person is sent to jail then, even if he is subsequently released, his reputation may be irreparably tarnished. The liberty of a person is a precious fundamental right under Article 21 and should not be transgressed.”
Despite an earlier ruling that public interest litigation should not be used to settle political scores, political issues cropped up before the apex court. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati moved the court to restrain the CBI from prosecuting her in a disproportionate assets case. According to her, after the Bahujan Samaj Party withdrew support to the United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, the CBI said it had evidence to prosecute her in the disproportionate assets case of 2003.
However, after the Samajwadi Party extended support to the UPA government in the July 22 confidence vote, the CBI, on the Centre’s advice, filed an affidavit seeking to withdraw an application against the party chief, Mulayam Singh, in a disproportionate assets case in which it earlier found evidence to proceed against him.
The Centre and the CBI also came out in support of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi, opposing the Bihar government’s stand on filing an appeal against their acquittal by a trial court in a disproportionate assets case resulting from the multi-crore fodder scam.
Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin came up before the court and the Centre asserted that there was no bar on her holding a constitutional post though she acquired citizenship through naturalisation and not by birth.
Setback to Anbumani
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss suffered a setback when the court quashed his decision to bring in a law aimed at removing cardio thoracic surgeon P. Venugopal as director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. The court criticised the manner in which the law was enacted to target an individual.
The CJI took the initiative to conduct three Lok Adalats to settle disputes over motor vehicle accident claims, family matters and land acquisition.
Workshops were held in Delhi, Kochi and Mumbai to train journalists in court reporting.
A 12-year plan for UP police
LUCKNOW: Chief minister Mayawati’s announcement of recruiting 1 lakh constables does promise a better-equipped UP Police. But, not at least in the
near future. With a maximum capacity to train 6,000 constable recruits every nine months, it will take more than 12 years for the state police to complete the exercise.
Even if the state government spares all 40 police training centres, including nine meant for training of deputy superintendents of police (DSP), inspectors, sub-inspectors, head constables and other specific short term courses for the upper ranks, and then too it will take at least nine years to complete the basic
training of new recruits before they can be called constables.
The state police have nine fully equipped training centres for different ranks ranging from deputy superintendent of police (DSP) to constables. Courses like those for armourer, traffic police and ministerial branches are also available at these centres. These include the Police Academy and Police Training
College (PTC) at Moradabad, PTC and Arms Training College at Sitapur, a Regional Training College (RTC) at Chunar and a PTS each at Meerut, Moradabad, Unnao and Gorakhpur which have a total training capacity of 4,096 persons.
This apart, the state police have 18 Recruit Training Centres and
Schools (RTCS) at the PAC battalions and one each at the reserve police lines of 13 different districts. Each of these centres offers a training capacity of an average of 200 recruits for the basic course spreading over a period of nine months. Put together, all these RTCS will offer training opportunity for 6,200 recruits every nine months.
“We can set up RTCS at every district in case the count of recruits goes up,” says a senior IPS officer of the training wing of UP Police. “Each of these reserve police lines already has posts for instructors and trainers. With barracks at every police lines in place, the problem of accommodation can also be dealt with,” the officer points out.
Though the proposal appears impractical, still by this account a total of 14,200 recruits can be trained every nine months at all the 71 RTCS. This means at least six years will be required to train the 1 lakh recruits. It may be mentioned here that the officers of the Police Training wing themselves admit that the training imparted at these 71 RTCS will not be of the required quality and may only serve the purpose of completing a mere formality.
Even if all the police training colleges and schools in the state are spared to train constable recruits, which appear practically impossible, then too a total of 19,000 recruits can be trained every nine months thereby meaning that at least five years will be spent to touch the figure of 1 lakh constable recruits.
Sources in the state police though claim that the government was toying with the idea of enhancing the training capacities of the present PTCs and PTSs but the move would prove a herculean task. Primarily because it will not only require to double the present infrastructure but also the numbers of trainers and other such mandatory elements like firearms and bullets for arms training. So, most of the officers admit that the addition of 1 lakh constables in the UP police likely to remain a pipe dream.
Jaipur, Jan 3 (IANS) The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan won a vote of confidence in the state assembly Saturday.
The Congress, falling short of the clear majority, had won 96 of the 200 assembly seats in Rajasthan and Governor S.K. Singh had asked the government to prove its majority in the house in a month’s time.
Eleven of the independent lawmakers had announced their support to the government. Gehlot has given ministerial berth to four of these legislators.
To the surprise of many, six of the Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also supported the Congress government in the state assembly when the trust vote motion was moved.
Rajendra Singh Gudha, leader of the BSP legislature party, said the party’s support would be issue based.
Soon after winning the trust vote, Gehlot said some of the decisions taken by the former Bharatiya Janata Party government would be re-examined.
He said his party’s aim is to provide a sensitive and transparent government.
Gehlot, 57, acknowledged as the main architect of the Congress’ comeback in the state, was Dec 13 sworn in as the Rajasthan chief minister.
Indian ‘Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (Untouchable(SC/STs))’ aims for top job
To her supporters, she is India’s answer to Barack Obama: the “Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC) queen” fighting to overcome centuries of disdain for her “Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (untouchable(SC/STs))” caste by becoming prime minister.
Mayawati (second from left) attends a prayer in front of statues, including one of of herself (top left)
Supporters of Bahujan Samaj Party carry a portrait of their party president Mayawati on December 10Photo: AP
Kumari Mayawati’s opponents, however, believe she is a dangerous populist whose imperious manner, spendthrift ways and grandiose statues carry the whiff of megalomania.
Her ambition has already propelled Mayawati to become chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.
It has also driven her to construct five enormous parks, at an estimated cost of £650 million, celebrating Aboriginal Inhabitant of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath(SC/STs) history in the state capital, Lucknow, where 14,000 labourers are shaping mountains of pink, Rajasthani sandstone into huge statues. “Seeing these monuments makes me so proud,” said Inderpal Verma, a dalit rickshaw wallah. “Behenji [sister] is doing things that even the Brahmins could not imagine.”
Under normal circumstances, the diminutive Mayawati (always known by this name alone) would not be a candidate to replace Manmohan Singh as prime minister next year. Her Bahujan Samaj Party is only a fraction of the size of Mr Singh’s Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which are running neck-and-neck in the polls just months before the May general election.
But Mayawati is banking on a hung parliament, a result she believes would allow her to sail into power with the support of India’s powerful Left-wing.
To this end she has been expanding her base beyond Uttar Pradesh, contesting elections in five other states to mark herself out as a national figure.
Her opponents in both parties have looked on in dismay.
Her monuments are intended to erase the humiliation of 5,000 years of “untouchability”.
Despite laws banning “untouchability”, India’s 165 million Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC/STs)are, in practice, still persecuted by higher Hindu castes.
These statues are meant to etch into history the name of Mayawati, whose image also stands 15 feet atop classical plinths in each of the parks.
During her rare press conferences, she reads out a statement and leaves, refusing to take questions. Nor is anyone in her party permitted to talk to the media.
Mindless of the controversies swirling around her, Mayawati lives a reclusive life in Lucknow. She has never married, never drinks, eats frugal vegetarian meals, works till midnight, does not read books or listen to music, has no social life, and never takes a holiday.
Mayawati rarely emerges from behind the high walls of her home or official residence except to travel to, and from, Lucknow airport.
Barack Obama’s success, however, has reinforced Mayawati’s belief in her greatness.
Whereas he has erased only a couple of centuries of discrimination, she wants to be known for wiping out a far longer legacy of bigotry if she becomes prime minister. Though she is not the first “untouchable” to reach high in Indian political circles. Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar became law minister of the government of India in 1947, until 1951.
“She feels Obama is a kindred spirit,” said an aide. “She was so thrilled that she sent him a message of congratulations.”
UP police to arrest suspended policeman for engineer’s killing
Lucknow Dec 30 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh police would soon arrest a suspended police official, whom Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati suspected to have close ties with Samajwadi Party leaders, in connection with the killing of the PWD engineer allegedly by a ruling BSP MLA and recovered two vehicles used in the crime. Hoshiyar Singh, the suspended station officer of Dibiyapur police station in Auriya district where engineer M K Gupta was lynched for refusing to pay money for Mayawati’s birthday celebrations, would be arrested soon in connection with the incident, Director General of Police Vikram Singh told newspersons here.
He said Hoshiyar Singh is prima facie an accused in the case and would be arrested soon in order to ascertain his exact role in the crime.
“When such a crime is committed under the very nose of a police official, it is either his involvement or deriliction of duty and it would be ascertained after his arrest,” the DGP said.
BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari and his supporters allegedly lynched Gupta at his residence and dumped his body before Hoshiyar Singh who had taken the victim to hospital where he was declared as brought dead.
Mayawati had raised a question mark on the role of Hoshiyar Singh saying he had been posted at the police station during the previous Mulayam Singh Yadav rule and had very close ties with SP leaders. She had also hinted at some political conspiracy in the crime.
Two jeeps used in the crime, a Tavera and a Scorpio, have been seized while a Honda city car that was also recovered belongs to the BSP MLA though it was not not used in the crime, the two officials said. PTI
State police chief Vikram Singh Saturday maintained that the engineer was killed because he refused to buckle under the legislator’s pressure to award contracts to his henchmen.
‘The slain engineer also declined to pay extortion money to the MLA’s goons,’ Vikram Singh told a press conference.
He could track down four key accused in the murder - BSP Auraiya district president Yogendra Dohre alias Bhatia and three others including inspector Hoshiar Singh.
‘We will get them soon,’ he said.
‘We have announced a reward of Rs.2,500 on Dohre, and we will soon announce a reward on the inspector also.’
Mayawati suspects ‘drunkard’ legislator was ‘used’ by opposition 12/27/2008 10:43:00 PM
Lucknow, Dec 27 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh’s opposition Samajwadi Party had apparently ‘used’ a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator to ‘get involved’ in the murder of a government engineer, Chief Minister Mayawati said here Saturday.
‘In their bid to defame my government, the opposition has apparently used BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari to indulge in vandalism and get involved in the murder of PWD executive engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta,’ BSP chief Mayawati told a press conference here.
Tiwari has been arrested for his alleged role in the murder of Gupta who was lynched in Auraiya, about 250 km from here, early Wednesday.
‘I have a reason to suspect some mischief on the part of the opposition because Shekhar Tiwari is a party hopper and had switched loyalties from the Samajwadi Party to our party. Being a drunkard, he could have been easily used by the Samajwadi Party to indulge in criminal acts to defame the BSP,’ she said.
‘I am thinking of getting him subjected to a narco-analysis test to get to the bottom of the whole thing,’ she said.
‘Revelations about Tiwari’s alcoholism and criminal antecedents were brought before me only after the unfortunate incident,’ she added.
However, she skirted a query about who was responsible for Tiwari’s induction into the party.
‘We are trying to find that out,’ she quipped, before dismissing the press conference.
For Tiwari’s criminal background too, she sought to pass the buck on the opposition.
‘Tiwari had his roots in the Congress after which he did a stint in the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), before joining the Samajwadi Party, where he got a free hand to build a criminal career,’ she said.
She added: ‘He had not indulged in any criminal activity after joining BSP.’
Asserting that her government was committed to bringing the guilty to book under all circumstances, she said: ‘There is no way such a person would get reprieve from my administration. We have already sent him to jail and slapped all the stringent laws on him. The police have also sought his remand now.’
“Concrete evidence including verbal, circumstantial and scientific have been collected by investigators,” the DGP said.
On the motive of the crime, Singh claimed that Shekhar had ‘confessed’ that he wanted Gupta to give some contract work to his associates.
“The MLA was also angry with Gupta because unlike his predecessors, he never came to meet him nor provided him with money to the tune of Rs 50,000 to 70,000 that was demanded frequently,” the DGP said.
“Gupta was also not clearing the bills of some contractors, who used to provide money to the MLA on a regular basis,” he said.
On the role of the dismissed Station House Officer Hoshiyaar Singh, the DGP said, “He was in regular touch with the MLA at the time of crime and had also failed to take prompt action when the body was dumped at the police station.”
The DGP said that Hoshiyar has been charged with criminal conspiracy and connivance in the crime.
On the role of MLA’s wife Vibha, who alongwith four others has been accused of being involved of criminal conspiracy, he claimed that she was present at the time of crime as well and visited it later to destroy the evidence and had also been in touch with Hoshiyar.
![[Bahujan Samaj Party Flag]](http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/images/i/in%7Dbsp.gif)
Bahujan Samaj Party
