Soren set to become Jharkhand CM

NEW DELHI: Shibu Soren is tantalizingly close to realising his aspiration to be the chief minister of Jharkhand — a state he helped form — with the UPA leadership successfully persuading incumbent Madhu Koda to step down for 'Guruji'.

Koda is expected to announce his resignation on Saturday. The agreement with Koda capped hectic parleys among UPA partners to facilitate Soren's ascension.

A power-sharing arrangement has been worked out which centres on maintaining the status quo with the significant exception of change at the helm.

All members of the Koda ministry — the two deputy chief ministers and the seven Independents who play 'kingmaker' — are proposed to be retained while the outgoing CM may be given charge of the UPA steering committee.

The committee will not be mere cosmetic as RJD, which was loath to support Soren and came around only at the instance of the Congress leadership, expects it to protect its interests in the state.

While Soren's decision to pull out of the coalition government had looked as ill-timed bravado, he managed to pull it off with the help of the Congress leadership which needs his five votes in the Lok Sabha and is keen to repeat the alliance with the JMM and RJD which helped it sweep all but one of the 14 seats Jharkhand has in the Lower House.

Stephen Marandi, who was till recently a Soren loyalist, remains a holdout, but the UPA managers are confident of bringing him around.

Fears of early assembly polls — a certain prospect if Soren is not made the chief minister — may prove the calculation right. The Koda government failed to perform and those associated with it are likely to pay a heavy price at the hustings. Jharkhand watchers don't expect the change to ring in anything different, but are apprehensive that the arrival of a new chief minister and the proximity of polls may lead to a fresh scramble for mining leases in the resource-rich state.


Source : Times Of India

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BJP calls Cong, SP, BSP 'cheerleaders of terror'

NEW DELHI: Opposition BJP on Friday lashed out at Congress, SP and BSP for sympathizing with Ahmedabad blast accused and SIMI activist Abu Bashar and accused them of playing the "minority appeasement" card, following the visit of MPs from the three parties to Bashar's village in Uttar Pradesh, from where he was picked up by Gujarat police.

BJP called the three parties "cheerleaders of terrorism" for coming out in support of the SIMI activist arrested in connection with Ahmedabad serial blasts. "The BJP's charge that the UPA and its allies are soft on terror now witnesses conclusive evidence with the visit of MPs Ram Naresh Yadav (Congress), Akbar Ahmad Dumpy (BSP) and Abu Azmi (SP) to the Azamgarh village of Mufti Abu Bashar, the terrorist responsible for blasts in Ahmedabad," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters here.

The party was also critical of Syed Ahmad Bukhari, Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, for accompanying the MPs on their visit. "Congress, BSP and SP have become cheerleaders of terror organizations, groups and individuals who are mercilessly targeting and killing innocents," Rudy said. "Is this overt, disgusting, display of support to elements of terror an attempt to influence the judicial process?" he asked.


Source : Times Of India

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Polls in mind, Cong & SP form panel

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party and Congress have set up a coordination panel aimed at providing a mechanism to regulate relations and sort out issues with both parties viewing each other as allies who will face the next general elections as part of the same political formation.

The coordination panel will have Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and defence minister A K Antony while the SP will be represented by its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his associate and party general secretary Amar Singh. The panel is expected to meet when necessary.

To start with, the two parties will have to tackle the seat-sharing in Uttar Pradesh where Congress will have to leave a lion's share to the SP. But besides the numerical split, identifying constituencies will be a task as both eye favourite boroughs. With the two now committed to taking on BSP chief Mayawati and BJP, the newly aligned partners have to settle their claims.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Amar Singh are scheduled to meet on Monday to discuss seat-sharing in UP. The two are also likely to discuss a pre-poll alliance that the new-found allies are keen to forge to counter Mayawati's threat.

There are policy issues regarding the government that may need to be sorted out as well. The SP has a definite laundry list that it will expect the government to respond to. The Samajwadis have not been shy of pointing out that they "need power" to oppose a rampaging Mayawati in UP besides also dealing with investigations launched by the courts against the SP leaders.

Source : Times Of India

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