Asif Ali Zardari sworn in as president

ISLAMABAD: Asif Ali Zardari has been sworn in as 12th president of Pakistan at a ceremony in Islamabad here on Tuesday.

The oath-taking ceremony was broadcast live from the Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad.

Abdul Hameed Dogar, the chief justice administered the oath to president Zardari.

PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari and Asifa Bhutto Zardari were also present in the ceremony.

Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani, members of the federal cabinet, Chairman Senate, Speaker National Assembly, Army chief, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, three services chiefs, governors and chief ministers of four provinces, heads of political parties, members of parliament, foreign diplomats and civil and military bureaucrats attended the ceremony.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai was also present on this occasion who was invited specially by Asif Ali Zardari.

PML-N president and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and other central leaders were also present on this occasion.


Source : The News

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Congress, SP seat-sharing talks make little headway

NEW DELHI: With Samajwadi Party stoutly resisting the possibility of "friendly" fights with Congress, seat-sharing talks made little progress and the second round of negotiations ended in just 15 minutes on Monday. Both sides dug in as the SP has sought to restrict Congress’s claims to about a dozen seats.

Congress is keen that SP either concede or agree to a compromise on some of its sitting MPs while Mulayam Singh Yadav’s colleagues have argued that any such concession will only end up strengthening the rival BSP camp.

Both parties argue that compromises on 'key seats' would trigger revolts in their local units. As a solution, Congress is insisting that the alliance be sealed with 'friendly fights' in its traditional seats like Pratapgarh, Rampur, Farrukhabad and Padrauna.

But SP is not ready for this. Congress is worried if these seats were to go to SP's kitty, it could trigger a split in local units, besides reflecting badly on the negotiating skills of party interlocutors.

SP's Ram Gopal Yadav argued that if strong candidates were sacrificed, these individuals could either quit the party or simply not back Congress, implying that BSP would be the beneficiary in such an arrangement. The sticking point saw SP and Congress leave the table, with Yadav saying he would discuss the option of 'friendly fight' with Mulayam, who has also flown to Delhi. This may well be the only way to iron out virtually irreconciliable positions.

AICC is confident the deal would be sealed with the SP and Congress taking on each other in five to six seats. Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is part of team led by Rahul Gandhi and which includes UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna, said negotiations were cordial and a consensus had been struck on 90% seats. The negotiations could get tougher as sources said Samajwadis want to give only 12 seats to Congress — nine sitting MPs and three where Congress led SP in 2004 — Khurja, Domariaganj and Bareilly.

What is squeezing the scope for a compromise is personalised rivalries which the parties are not sure they can control and which would defeat the objective of containing BSP.

In Rampur, SP leader Azam Khan has a bitter battle going with former Congress MP Noor Bano, and would work against her even in an alliance while in Pratapgarh, CLP leader Pramod Tiwari and former MP Ratna Singh are unlikely to accept any decision to sit out for Akshaya Pratap Singh, a close aide of Kunda strongman Raja Bhaiyya.

SP is claiming Padrauna where independent MP Baleshwar Yadav, who joined the party during the trust vote, has sought nomination for Brahma Shankar Tripathi. AICC wants the seat for its MLA R P N Singh. The alliance has already set off a churn, with Kamlesh Paswan leaving SP in reserved Bansgaon seat as he saw no chance of getting a nod over Union minister Mata Prasad in an alliance.

Amid the bare-knuckle bargaining, Congress decision to take four SP MLAs in Madhya Pradesh has struck a sore point and, AICC sources said, the issue was brought to the notice of the top leadership.

Besides known seats, Congress sources said it had sought accommodation of SP rebel and actor Raj Babbar from Fatehpur Sikri, P L Punia from Barabanki and Beni Prasad Verma from Gonda.

But Samajwadis are learnt to be readying a BJP MLA for Sikri while they don't want to help Verma who is seen as a traitor. With the newfound allies eager to confront a strongly placed Mayawati with an eye on the post-poll scene, sources said Ajit Singh's RLD is also in contention, but was still to be discussed.

The RLD is seen as a factor in western UP and a broader alliance with him would not let Mayawati have a free run as in the Assembly polls.

However, AICC may want to get extra seats for him when the Samajwadis would want to get him coupled with the Congress share.
Source : Times Of India

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Chiru fans turn to Gandhigiri

TIRUPATI: It’s a metamorphosis the Mahatma would smile at. After goondagiri, Chiru’s fans are now moving towards Gandhigiri. This comes as not too long ago ardent fans of the star attacked the actor couple Rajasekhar and Jeevitha as Rajasekhar, in response to a question by the media, said that Chiru lacked the experience to enter politics.

But that was when Chiru was yet to launch Prajarajyam. Now, the party, which purportedly is inspired by the Mahatma, among others has made Gandhigiri its credo. Give bouquets in response to brickbats, even if they are of the verbal variety. Here’s how Prajarajyam activists swept the roads in the temple town of Tirupati in a symbolic protest against TDP Telugu Mahila wing chief R K Roja’s remarks against the matinee idol. In a typical Gandhigiri fashion, they offered flowers to the photograph of the film actor-turned TDP activist.

“Henceforth, we would offer bouquets to her whenever she visits the district,” a Prajarajyam leader said. The trigger to the floral response? Addressing mediapersons after the party’s SC Cell meeting here on Monday evening, Roja said Chiranjeevi is a novice in politics whereas she is a known face not only in Andhra Pradesh, but also in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as an actor as well as a politician.

The firebrand actor, who made serious allegations against the Prajarajyam chief a couple of days ago, once again spit fire at Chiranjeevi saying films and politics are two different fields. “We might have acted in films, but in politics we belong to two different parties and we are rivals,” she thundered.

Denouncing the Prajarajyam chief’s comments against the Congress and the TDP, Roja said it would be better for Chiranjeevi to be clear on his party’s policies and agenda instead of throwing mud at other parties.

On the protests by the Prajarajyam workers over her remarks against Chiranjeevi, she said: “Criticisms and counter-attacks are part and parcel of politics. Prajarajyam claims it follows the Gandhian way, but why should its workers stage protests?” she questioned. But who can deny that the roja (rose) offered to her photo and the promise to offer bouquets when she comes visiting by Prajarajyam’s activists are Gandhian enough?

Source : Times Of India

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