Tharoor seeks to establish his Malayali credentials

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Hitting the campaign trail, former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor, a Congress candidate for Thiruvanathapuram Lok Sabha seat,
made his debut in the murky world of electoral politics here with attempts to establish his Malayali credentials.

Tharoor, was born in London to Malayali parents hailing from a village in Kerala's Palaakad, surprised many in the media here at a meeting by speaking in good Malayalam.

Participating in the "anghathattu" (battle field) programme organized by Malayalam daily Kerala Kaumudi,he said there was no truth in the allegations that he cannot speak Malayalam. He said he was conversant enough to communicate with people in their language and understand their problems.

Tharoor said what was more important as a Member of Parliament was to raise the problems of the constituency and find solutions, for which Hindi and English were more useful.

Rejecting the impression sought to be created by certain quarters that he was a total stranger to Kerala, Tharoor said he knew Kerala quite well and was proud of its achievements in areas like social development, woman empowerment and social emancipation of the depressed classes.

An author with 11 books, he said many of his novels and short stories had the "Kerala settings".

"Though, I have gone out and worked in the UN, now I am back home. I have taken a house here two years back and am staying with my mother," he said.

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Sonia can debate if PM can't: Advani

PADRAUNA (UP): With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refusing his offer for a television debate, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday said that if he was not willing, he could ask Congress President Sonia Gandhi for the same.

"I have told the PM several times that it would be so nice that like in foreign countries (US presidential debate), we should also have a debate. Instead of a BJP public meeting, the Election Commission could organise a meeting (for the debate)," Party's prime ministerial candidate Advani told an election rally here.

"If the Prime Minister is not willing (for a debate), he can ask the Congress President (Sonia Gandhi)," he said.

On the lines of US Presidential debate, Advani had earlier this week asked the Prime Minister for a TV debate to help people judge who was the better prime ministerial candidate.

Reacting to this, Congress spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said, "The BJP was too impressed with the US system".

Some of the Congress members have opposed such a debate, saying it was more suited to countries having a presidential form of government.

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After SRK, Salman Khan to campaign for Congress

KANPUR: After roping in Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta for canvassing, the Congress will bring another Bollywood star Salman Khan to campaign
for the party in Uttar Pradesh.

Salman Khan will start campaigning for the party from neighbouring Unnao Lok Sabha constituency from Sunday.

The actor is scheduled to take part in several party functions in the district, Congress candidate from Unnao, Annu Tandon, said.

The Congress had already announced that Shah Rukh Khan, Priety Zinta, Govinda and Nagma will campaign for the party and participate in rallies and road shows.

Govinda is a Congress leader and a sitting MP from Mumbai while Nagma had campaigned for the party in earlier elections too.

Tondon said Salman Khan would participate in 'Holi Milan Samaroh' at five villages of the district where other Bollywood artistes would perform.

The permission for Khan's programme has already been granted by the district administration.

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Ramadoss, Velu quit Manmohan ministry

NEW DELHI : Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss and minister of state for Railways R Velu on Saturday resigned from the union council of ministers, two days after the PMK quit the Congress-led ruling coalition.

Quite a principled stand unlike RJD and LJP.

"Velu and myself have submitted our resignation from the council of ministers to the honourable prime minister," Ramadoss told reporters in the capital.

"The prime minister said he will be forwarding the letters to the president with a heavy heart.

"We explained to the prime minister the circumstances... the problems we are facing with the DMK in Tamil Nadu," added Ramadoss, whose party walked out of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) two days ago.

In Chennai earlier on Saturday, the AIADMK and PMK announced a seat-sharing formula under which the PMK would contest six Lok Sabha seats in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry.

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Azhar to contest LS polls from Moradabad

NEW DELHI: Former cricketer Mohammad Azharudddin, who joined the Congress last month, was today named by the party as its candidate for Moradabad Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh. (
Azharuddin, 46, is among 14 candidates declared by the party in the key state where it wants to revive its lost support base by going it alone in the polls.

The former India batsman, who hails from Hyderabad, was inducted in the party last month and there was speculation that he might contest from Tonk in Rajasthan. Apart from Moradabad, his name also figured as a possible candidate from Meerut in UP.

So far, the Congress has announced 53 candidates in the state where its negotiations with the Samajwadi Party for seat sharing collapsed.

Former union minister Sanjay Singh was announced as the candidate from Sultanpur, a constituency neighbouring Rae Bareilly and Amethi from where party president Sonia Gandhi and general secretary Rahul Gandhi will contest respectively.

Two recent entrants to the party — Ramesh Dubey (Mirzapur) and Suryamani Tripathi (Bhadohi) too have been fielded by the Congress. Both of them joined the party early this week.

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Trouble for UPA as PMK closes in on deal with Jaya

CHENNAI/ NEW DELHI: After the failure of Congress's last-minute efforts to hold back PMK in the UPA corral, the party was close to inking a deal
with AIADMK. If PMK does make the crossover, it will be a significant shot in the arm for AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha and a blow to Congress.

A meeting between home minister P Chidamabaram and PMK leader's son Anbumani Ramadoss failed to narrow differences and Congress appears reconciled to the party leaving the UPA fold.

An indicator that the Tamil Nadu alliance was near breaking-point came with PMK's maverick leader S Ramadoss responding angrily to DMK chief M Karunanidhi's criticism that his concern for Sri Lankan Tamils was only skin deep. "Karunanidhi has reached a stage of extreme desperation and anger," said Ramadoss, pointedly underlining that Congress was DMK's only ally.

The signing ceremony is expected to unfold at Jayalalitha's Poes Garden residence on Thursday after a meeting of the PMK's general council. The PMK meeting is expected to severe ties with UPA with a "heavy heart" and Ramadoss will meet Jayalalitha thereafter. At least that was the script being considered on Wednesday evening.

Karunanidhi seems to have been running out of patience with Ramadoss whom he criticised on Tuesday for raising the Sri Lankan issue in an opportunistic manner. He said "certain leaders" had traded their concerns over events in Mullaithivu and Killinochchi for bargaining for constituencies in the state. If Ramadoss does keep his date with Amma, he will have rejoined an AIADMK-led alliance after eight years.

If Vijayakanth's DMDK remains unattached as the star has till now indicated, the scales could be tilting in favour of AIADMK. Vijayakanth is kicking off a 40-day campaign tour from Kanyakumari on Thursday. With no wave detected so far, alliances may be a key factor and Ramadoss does command a following in northern districts that have a significant Vanniyar population. It is understood that he has bargained for seven Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha berth.

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In Assam, Advani tears into Congress

KHERONI: BJP's prime ministerial candidate LK Advani on Wednesday launched his party's campaign in Assam by accusing Congress of turning a blind
eye to Bangladeshi infiltration into the state.

"I read the Congress manifesto carefully. I didn't find a word about solving the problem of illegal migration," Advani said at a meeting at Kheroni village in Karbi Anglong district. "During the 1962 Sino-Indian war, the Congress government left Assam alone to defend itself from the Chinese aggressors. Today also, Congress doesn't care for it," he added. Describing infiltration from Bangladesh as Assam's "main problem," the BJP's prime ministerial candidate said, "No country can tolerate such a menace... India
is not a dharmashala where people without passports and valid documents can come and settle." He termed the Assam agitation against Bangladeshi infiltration as the country's "biggest people's movement after Independence."

Despite SC's directives to both the Centre and the state government, nothing has been done to stop infiltration, Advani said. "Chief minister Tarun Gogoi has to give an answer," he added while referring to a Supreme Court order that has described continuing infiltration as a threat to the nation. Advani vowed to deal terrorism and subversive forces with a strong hand if his party is voted to power.

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Rice race hots up: BJP to follow Congress

NEW DELHI: The populist floodgates have been thrown open. After Congress promised 25kg of rice or wheat at Rs 3 a month for every family below the poverty line, BJP looks set to respond with a similar scheme with foodgrain for the poor at even cheaper rates.

"We will more than match the Congress on this," said BJP sources. Though they refused to spell out details, the party appears to have the Chhattisgarh model in mind where the government has offered rice at Rs 2 a kg for BPL families. The scheme was a key factor in the BJP's victory in the state assembly polls last December.

If the quantum of rice under BJP's Rs 2/kg scheme is assumed to be the same 25 kg/month as offered by Congress, it will increase the subsidy bill by Rs 7,200 crore, Rs 1,500 crore more than the subsidy that the Congress scheme entails.

With both Congress and the BJP signing off on this cheap grain scheme, irrespective of who wins, highly subsidised rice and wheat for BPL families is expected to be rolled out as a countrywide scheme. A Third Front-led government, backed by the Congress, will ensure its early implementation.

Lack of resources has not really been the reason why cheap food schemes have not been brought in nationally. The delay has more to do with squeamishness about populism, particularly after the country embarked on economic reforms with fiscal discipline as one of the key ingredients.

But today, populism as a principle of governance has found expression in some form or the other worldwide in the aftermath of the global economic crisis. The mood-altering economic slowdown and arguments that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures have all but sumberged any concern for fiscal discipline.

Criticism of UPA's massive spending — Rs 71,000 crore allocated for NREGA and Bharat Nirman in the 2009-10 budget — was more on lack of delivery than about the outlay itself.

By all indications, BJP may try to outspend — in terms of promises — the Congress. In fact, when the BJP manifesto group met on Wednesday afternoon shortly after the Congress poll appeal was released, Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh, who happened to be in town, was invited to attend the deliberations. "It is clear that development and welfare programmes will be an important component," said senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu.

Besides the cheap rice scheme, the BJP will also promise the countrywide implementation of Madhya Pradesh government's popular `ladli' scheme where the government makes deposits in the accounts of every girl child attending school.

The turnaround on populism is best represented by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu. The former Andhra Pradesh chief minister who collected accolades from fiscal disciplinarians for turning away from the culture of populist sops launched his election campaign this year with the promise of cash transfers.

If the TDP chief has done a somersault on populism — he had once famously remarked that Congress's offer of free power would lead to farmers using electricity cables to dry washing — the BJP is not too far behind. "In the past few years BJP understanding of populism has changed," said a party source.

The same unapologetic approach is evident in Congress with Jairam Ramesh, a key campaign planner, telling TOI, "If fat cats get bailouts it is called stimulus but in the case of the poor it is populism! If being pro-aam admi is populism then Congress is being populist." Clearly the rice race is well and truly on.

In the past, when revenues were bouyant, Ramesh had defended higher fertiliser subsidies as pro-farmer. In a recession, give-aways may well have an added appeal

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Lalu and Mulayam may join hands: Amar Singh

NEW DELHI: After giving a short shrift to Congress in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad are
likely to come together, a senior SP leader said on Wednesday.

"There is likelihood of Lalu Prasad and Mulayam Singh Yadav coming together. We want Ram Vilas Paswan also to come on board," SP general secretary Amar Singh said.

Singh's remarks came close on the heels of a telephonic talk he had with Lalu Prasad who is reportedly unhappy over the Congress' putting up a host of candidates in his home turf of Bihar.

"The politics to finish Mulayam and Lalu from Hindi heartland by anybody is not going to be tolerated by the workers of the respective parties," Singh told reporters here.

The SP leader said with Lalu and Yadav coming together, "the entire secular brigade of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as a chunk will remain together. Lalu ji telephonically informed me this morning that even if SP decides to field candidates against RJD, he is going to campaign, as he has earlier said, in favour of Mulayam Singh ji".

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Blow for Cong as PMK set to join AIADMK camp

CHENNAI: The Pattali Makkal Katchi has decided to cross over to the AIADMK camp, dealing yet another blow to Congress hopes of stitching up strong regional alliances.
A last-ditch effort by senior Congress leaders in Delhi to retain its Tamil Nadu ally failed on Tuesday with the PMK conveying its inability to campaign along with the DMK, which leads the combination in the state, sources close to PMK founder S Ramadoss said.

A formal announcement on the PMK's decision is expected only on Thursday when its general council meets here, sources said. Union health minister Anbumani Ramadoss met senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel in Delhi on the alliance question, and later said, "We discussed the alliance. Nothing has been finalised."

Sources here said the PMK had accepted the AIADMK's offer of seven Lok Sabha seats and support for a Rajya Sabha nomination for A Ramadoss in the next biennial polls. The party's ties with the DMK had reached a point of no return as bitterness between their cadres and mutual distrust at the leadership level was high, sources said.

Congress has not given up trying to keep the PMK in its fold with sources saying that it was going to hold one more round of talks with the PMK leadership in a desperate bid to keep the Vanniyar outfit inside the UPA tent.

The party's anxiety to keep the PMK from switching camps came off clearly when Sonia Gandhi was asked to comment on the possibility of loss of another ally after the collapse of the UPA in Bihar. "As of now there is no change," she said, the remark reflecting the party's fear as well as the flickering hope.

But M Karunanidhi, the lead player in the TN alliance, had already given up on the Vanniyar outfit. Hours after Anbumani's meeting with Patel, the DMK chief lashed out at PMK founder S Ramadoss for the first time in several months, in what could defeat Congress's hopes of saving the alliance.
In sharp remarks on the Sri Lankan Tamil issue, Karunanidhi mocked the PMK boss, "Of late, the saviours of Tamils are no more talking of Mullaitivu or Kilinochchi, but are busy discussing seats like Tiruchi, Tirunelveli." Karunanidhi had dropped a hint on Monday night that the PMK was on the way out by leaving out the party's name from a list of allies he named.

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