Left has betrayed legacy of Surjeet: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday accused CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat and other comrades of destroying the legacy of veteran Marxist H S Surjeet who had polarised the secular forces.

"The withdrawal of support to the UPA was the biggest step to give boost to the communal forces," said Congress spokesman Manish Tewari.

Tewari told reporters that the Left had done was to "betray the legacy of Comrade Surjeet".

He recalled that Surjeet was instrumental in bringing together all secular forces in the backdrop of the demolition of Babri Masjid.

Tewari alleged that this betrayal was shocking as the Left considered themselves the champions of secularism.

Source : Times Of India

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Soren told to prove majority by Sept 1

RANCHI: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) chief Shibu Soren has been invited by Governor Syed Sibte Razi to form the government and told to prove his majority by September 1. Earlier, Soren met Governor Razi and presented a letter of support from 42 legislators.
The move came after outgoing chief minister Madhu Koda finally softened his stance and expressed support for him.

When Soren went to meet the governor, he was accompanied by Koda, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad, central minister and Congress MP Subodh Kant Sahay and Independent, or unattached, legislators.

His letter named nine legislators of the Congress, seven of Lalu Prasad's RJD and eight Independents, apart from JMM's 17 legislators.

Koda, who was forced to step down Saturday to make way for Soren, took a U-turn and extended his support to the JMM chief after a meeting with him and Lalu Prasad in the afternoon.

"I have extended support to Shibu Soren. No one is above the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)," Koda had said.

Asked about joining the next government, he said: "I have not decided about it."

The Koda government was reduced to a minority in the state legislature after the JMM withdrew support to it on August 17. Koda stepped down following advice from the central UPA leadership.

While the Congress and the RJD announced their support to Soren, he managed to win over eight Independents, including Koda, one after the other.

On Monday, Stephen Marandi, deputy chief minister in the Koda government, also announced his support to Soren.

JMM supporters celebrated after Guruji, as they call Soren, met the governor. They distributed sweets and burst fire crackers.

Soren, who was chief minister of the state for 10 days in March 2005, had long dreamt of returning to the post. He got an opportunity when his party supported the Manmohan Singh government in the crucial trust vote of July 22.

Source : Times Of India

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Sharif pulls out of Pakistan coalition

ISLAMABAD: Nawaz Sharif's PML-N has pulled out of Pakistan's ruling coalition and has decided to sit in the Opposition, said Dawn Channel. This was decided in a meeting of top leaders of former premier Nawaz Sharif-led PML-N. ( Watch )

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has decided on former chief justice Saeed-uz-Zaman Siddiqui as its presidential candidate.

The meeting of the PML-N's central working committee, chaired by Sharif, was held in the wake of comments by top party leaders accusing the Pakistan People's Party of not honouring commitments to reinstate judges sacked during last year's emergency by former President Pervez Musharraf.

"There is no need (for the PML-N) to be part of the coalition government if one party is taking decisions unilaterally," PML-N spokesman Siddique-ul-Farooq said.

The PML-N had on Sunday boycotted a meeting of a committee that was to draft a parliamentary resolution for restoring the deposed judges after PPP co-chairman refused to commit himself to Sharif's deadline for completing the process by today. Zardari has said that the judges will be reinstated but that he could not set a timeframe for this.

The PML-N has been angered by Zardari's comments that the PPP's agreements and declarations with the party on restoring the judges could be "altered or modified" to suit the evolving political scenario. Senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal pointed out that the latest pact between the two parties was signed by Zardari and Sharif before the holy Quran.

The PML-N has also been irked by the PPP's move to nominate Zardari as its candidate for next month's presidential polls without the scrapping of the President's controversial powers to dissolve parliament and dismiss the prime minister.

Source : Times Of India

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Zardari to be PPP's Prez candidate, coalition crisis deepens

ISLAMABAD: Heeding his party's wishes, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari on Saturday decided to contest the Sept 6 Presidential election, but the ruling coalition appeared to be heading for a deeper crisis over the issue of reinstatement of judges sacked by former President Pervez Musharraf.

"Mr Asif Zardari has accepted to contest the election for the office of president of Pakistan after the party unanimously drafted him to do so," PPP deputy secretary general Raza Rabbani told reporters.

Pakistan's ruling PPP leaders had overwhelmingly backed Zardari for the post of President on Friday.

However, the crisis in the government triggered by the second largest partner of the coalition PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif threatening to pull out over the judges issue, appeared to have deepened with Sharif cutting short the deadline from Wednesday.

At a press conference in Lahore, he demanded that the PPP should say by Saturday night whether the government would reinstate the sacked judges by Monday. Sharif also did not commit his party's support to Zardari's candidature for the Presidential post.

Asked about the PML-N's insistence on the restoration of the judges, Rabbani evaded a direct reply and said it was difficult to set deadlines for such a matter.

Rabbani described the restoration of the deposed judges as a "sensitive legal issue" and pointed out that the PPP would "fulfil all its promises" and find solutions to the problem.

He said the "judges will be restored" but added a timeframe would be announced at a later date.


Source : Times Of India

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