Of Assertion, Desertion and Desecration of Indian Democracy
Sid Harth
Rajan paid Rs 25 million for his freedom -- Lawyer
AGENCIES
BANGKOK, NOVEMBER 25: Chhota Rajan used the emergency exit at the
Samitivej hospital in Bangkok after paying 25 million baht (Rs 25
million) to a `two-star' Thai officer, the gangster's lawyer Sirichai
Piyapichetkul claimed today.
The lawyer claimed that Rajan telephoned him from somewhere in southern
province of Thailand near the sea at 0030 hours local time and told him
that he used emergency way to escape.
Thai police had yesterday said that Rajan alias Vijay Kadam used
knotted bedsheets to climb down from the window of his hospital room.
``Do you believe that story?'' Rajan asked the lawyer.
The lawyer said that Rajan informed him that he would be leaving
Thailand tomorrow by sea to somewhere in South East Asia and then to a
Middle East country. Sirichai said Rajan told him that ``it was the
right decision to flee... He had been held unlawfully by Thai police.''
Thai police maintained that Rajan is likely to have fled to Cambodia.
``From our investigations, we believe that Rajan has already left
Thailand via Aranyapathet (a town on the eastern border) to Cambodia
using fake travel documents,'' said Police Colonel Visit Nimitkul.
As part of a nationwide investigation into the disappearance, an alert
had been put out at Bangkok International Airport but so far there was
no sign the fugitive had flown out of the country, Visit said. The Thai
branch of Interpol was coordinating with its Indian counterparts over
the matter, he added.
Rajan slipped out of police custody on Friday after apparently escaping
from his hospital room by shinning down a rope made of knotted bed
sheets. Thailand's acting Metropolitan Police Commander Major General
Jongrak Juthanont said on Friday that an investigation had been
launched into whether the police guarding Rajan had been bribed to
allow him to make an escape. The results of the inquiry are due to be
released Monday.
Mumbai Police Chief M N Singh said Rajan's dramatic escape may trigger
off a spate of vendetta attacks. ``Our efforts have gone in vain. We
did our best. It is now up to the centre to deal with the case,'' he
told the PTI, lamenting that the attempt to extradite him had gone to
waste. ``I am sure Rajan will be up to his old game and may settle
scores with his rivals. We will have to wait and watch,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Union Home Ministry today debunked news-reports suggesting
``a link between the Central Government and Rajan's escape from a
Bangkok hospital.'' Maintaining that the Government was already in
touch with Interpol over the issue, a Home Ministry spokesperson said
``these reports seem to be a mischievous attempt on the part of vested
interests to misguide the people.''
Rajan was facing a bid to extradite him from Thailand to India, where
he is to stand trial on 17 counts of murder and other mob-related
charges. He was under provisional arrest in Bangkok at the time of his
escape.
Rajan was wounded in September by gunmen who burst into a Bangkok
apartment and killed his associate Rohit Verma in what appeared to be a
shooting ordered by Rajan's rival, Dubai-based gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Three Pakistani men were among those arrested for the shooting. Rajan
was once Ibrahim's right-hand man in the Bombay underworld but a series
of bomb blasts in the city in 1993 which killed 300 people led to a
fallout out with Ibrahim. Rajan, who reached Bangkok earlier this year
after fleeing to Dubai in 1988, is believed to control a crime empire
that takes in extortion rackets, drug trafficking and film financing.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001126/ian25028.html
All the better to adulterate with
While Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee thinks she's done a great job
for the poor by forcing Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to roll
back the kerosene price hike by one rupee, guess who's benefited the
most from her action? It's not really the poor, since they hardly get
kerosene anyway -- in most parts of rural India, kerosene sells in the
black market, at a price around double the official ration shop price.
According to experts in the oil industry, anywhere between 30 and 40
per cent of the total 10 million-odd tonnes of kerosene sold in the
country each year is diverted to mix with diesel -- both diesel and
kerosene have very similar properties, or `cuts' in oil jargon, but
have very different tax rates and prices.
This sharp difference is what makes it so profitable to mix kerosene in
diesel -- as a result of these differences, and government policy to
price kerosene cheaply, diesel costs Rs 16.55 per litre in Delhi as
against Rs 7.35 for kerosene at the ration shop.
The customs duty on diesel is 25 per cent, while that on kerosene meant
to be used in ration shops is nil. And sales tax differential varies
from 8 per cent in areas like Delhi to 25 per cent in Madhya Pradesh.
So, if kerosene is diverted to diesel, the average duties the exchequer
loses is a whopping Rs 2,200 crore. Add to this, the subsidy the
government spends on this kerosene, and that's another Rs 3,200 crore.
Where's the proof of this, apart from the statements of various oil
dealers, oil company executives, and anonymous bureaucrats? There's
none, in the sense that since the properties of diesel and kerosene are
so similar, even if you test any random sample of diesel with a 40 per
cent kerosene mix, you'll hardly know the difference.
There's a whole host of statistics, however, which conclusively point
to this large-scale adulteration of diesel with kerosene. This year,
thanks to the insistence of petroleum minister Ram Naik, for instance,
one crore fresh LPG connections were given by the state-owned petroleum
firms -- Naik's argument was that poor people use kerosene for cooking,
and that's far more expensive than LPG.
Logically then, one crore families should have given up their kerosene
entitlement from ration shops; considering that each family gets an
average of 10 litres a month, total kerosene consumption should have
fallen by one million tonnes. Yet, the sales figures for the period
April to October this year show that kerosene consumption has not
fallen by this amount, in fact it has increased marginally over last
year's 6.2 million tonnes. Clearly, then this million tonnes are being
used elsewhere, possibly to adulterate diesel with.
It gets better. While consumption of petroleum products like petrol and
LPG have risen by around 14 to 15 per cent this year in the April to
October period, sales of diesel to the retail consumer (essentially for
the transport sector) have grown by just 1.3 per cent, as against
growth of 5.3 per cent last year.
With a larger amount of diversion of kerosene taking place to mix with
diesel, the official diesel sales can afford to grow at a slower pace.
The last time that diesel prices were put on par with kerosene was in
the early 70s, to check the rampant adulteration of diesel with cheaper
kerosene. Immediately, demand for kerosene fell by around a fourth!
Today, with the price differential between diesel and kerosene many
times higher, the amount of diverted kerosene has naturally risen much
more.
An interesting aside to Mamata's actions resulting in the gap between
diesel and kerosene prices rising to an all-time high, is that the
money to be made from kerosene dealerships is now on the increase.
Petroleum ministry sources confirm that companies like IOC and HPCL
have got anywhere between 50 and 70 applications from erstwhile
dealers, asking that their dealerships be revived. Now since kerosene
dealerships in themselves are not too profitable -- many of these
dealers had cancelled their dealerships around the mid-70s -- the real
money comes from the grey market. So it's hardly surprising that the
rush for dealerships is once again on the rise.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001126/ifr26055.html
BJP-HVC govt in Himachal reduced to minority, Dhumal meets Vajpayee
ASHWANI SHARMA & SURESH KHATTA
SHIMLA, NOV 25: The 32-month-old BJP-HVC coalition in Himachal Pradesh
plunged into crisis today with three ministers and three MLAs, five of
them from the BJP, deciding to withdraw support to the government in
protest against Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal's ``autocratic style
of functioning.''
Conveying their inability to continue support to the ministry, the six
leaders, all owing loyalty to Union Minister for Food and Consumer
Affairs Shanta Kumar, asked state BJP president Jai Krishan Sharma to
take the initiate to make ``alternative arrangements''. They have also
warned of extreme steps if Sharma failed to act.
With this, the Dhumal government, which enjoyed the support of 39 MLAs
in the 68-member Assembly, has been reduced to a minority. The BJP
currently has 35 members besides support of two HVC members, one
Independent and one unattached member. Excluding the Speaker, the rest
28 are of the Congress.Rattled at the revolt by his own party MLAs,
Dhumal, who was away in Delhi on an official tour, rushed to apprise
Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and BJP Chief Bangaru Laxman of the latest
political developments in the state.``They are demanding that an
unattached Minister Mahendra Singh (who has been expelled from Himachal
Vikas Congress) be dropped and that I replace my personal secretary,''
he told The Indian Express shortly after meeting Vajpayee and Laxman.
Asserting there was no immediate threat to his government, Dhumal said,
he meet the leaders on his return to Shimla on Monday to sort out the
problem.``I have already spoken to them but they don't seem to be
convinced which is why they have taken this extreme step,'' Dhumal said
exuding confidence that he will remain in the saddle despite minor
hiccups.
He, however, refused to blame Shanta Kumar for engineering the
rebellion against his government. ``They are all supporting the BJP
government and I don't know whether they owe their loyalty to Shanta
Kumar.''
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress said it was toying with the idea of
introducing a no-confidence motion against the Dhumal ministry during
the ensuing Assembly seession.
The Congress is keeping a close watch on the situation and an exercise
to bring a no-confidence motion is on, party sources said. All party
MLAs are being contacted, they said. ``The party is gearing up for this
exercise.''
Former chief minister and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader
VirbhadraSingh when asked about the Congress gameplan, said the party
would chalk out a strategy only after properly guaging the situation.
``We knew that resentment within the BJP was brewing for some time now
and we are watching and assessing the situation closely,'' he said,
adding the Congress would bring a no-confidence motion if the situation
so warranted.Himachal Vikas Congress Chief Sukh Ram was unavailable for
comments as he was away in Delhi. Public Works Minister Mohinder Singh,
who has been declared unattached by the Speaker, was also not
available.
In a two-page letter written to Dhumal -- -- copies of which were
released to the press this afternoon -- -- the ministers and MLAs
levelled serious charges against Dhumal, accusing him of sidelining
them, creating instability and patronising unscrupulous elements.
They also lodged a strong protest against the continued inclusion of
controversial PWD Minister Mohinder Singh in the Cabinet despite their
repeated demands to drop him.
Signatories to the letter include Transport Minister Krishan Kapoor,
Irrigation and Public Health Minister Ramesh Chaudhry -- -- an
independent MLA supporting Dhumal, Minister for Town and Country
Planning Hari Narain Saini, and Des Raj, Dulo Ram and Nirmala Devi, all
MLAs. The release of the letter was well timed.
The Chief Minister was away in Delhi while these MLAs and their leader
Shanta Kumar were together at Nalagarh in Solan District where they had
gone to attend the reception of Hari Narain Saini's son who got married
recently.
In their letter, they accused Dhumal of going back on his promises at
the time of formation of the government to take them into confidence on
major matters. ``But what you did was a complete constrast and attempts
were made to destabilise leaders and ignore their recommendations.
Divisions were created among leaders and constituencies of senior
leaders were not given a fair deal deliberately,'' they said.
They also raised questions on the erosion of credibility of certain
stateinstitutions like the Public Service Commission and the State
ServicesSelection Board due to ``political interference from your
side''. -- -- with inputs from Sharad Gupta in Delhi.
Total strength of House: 68
BJP- 36
HVC- 2
Indep-1
Unatt-1
Total-40
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001126/ifr26043.html
Sharad offers to quit for `party sake'
DEVESH KUMAR
NEW DELHI, NOV 25: With Communications Minister Ram Vilas Paswan
showing no signs of relenting from his stand of going on his own, a
beleaguered JD(U) president Sharad Yadav today offered to step down
from his post ``for the sake of party unity''.
His statement comes a day before the party's national executive meeting
and three days before the ``Janshakti rally'' being organised by Paswan
to announce his formal parting of ways with the JD(U). It is seen as a
last-ditch effort to assuage the Communications Minister.
In a bid to stall a split in the party, Yadav is likely to meet former
Union minister Ramakrishna Hegde who, observers feel, holds the key to
the JD(U)'s future. The Lok Shakti leader enjoys the backing of the two
party MPs from Karnataka -- Shashi Kumar and Ramesh Jigjinagi. The JD
(U) has 10 members in the Lok Sabha.
However, Yadav's offer comes with a rider -- that the organisational
elections in any case were due to be held in three months and hence
there was no need to precipitate things at this juncture. He
simultaneously blasted Paswan for running a parallel organisation all
these years and for making no real effort to participate in party
activities.
``The doors for a patch-up are always open. There are going to be
organisational elections. I am ready to make any compromise. I also
wish that somebody else should take the burden of party president's
post,'' Yadav told reporters this afternoon.
The JD(U) chief went all-out to win over Hedge. Helping him out in his
effort are M. Raghupathy and Jeevaraj Alva, the two Hegde loyalists in
the party's central team.
If Hedge throws his weight behind Paswan, the latter will have the
necessary numbers to split the JD(U) Parliamentary Party without
inviting punitive measures under the anti-defection law.
Paswan currently enjoys the backing of two Lok Sabha MPs -- his younger
brother Ram Chandra Paswan and former Union minister Jai Narayan Prasad
Nishad. Paswan met Hedge last night and again this morning to seek his
support. During the course of the two meetings, the Communications
Minister is learnt to have observed that he would not break away from
the party if Yadav gives up the president's post in favour of the
Karnataka leader.
All eyes are on the outcome of the JD(U) national executive meeting to
be held on Sunday. Asked if it would recommend disciplinary action
against Paswan, Yadav responded by saying that it all depended upon its
(the executive's) members.
``I've never expelled anybody from the party. People left the party on
their own,'' he said, adding that he had been silent even on the
request made by party presidents from more than 10 states to expel
Paswan for his anti-party activities.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/20001126/ifr26045.html
Sonia asserts herself, gets her nominees as PCC chiefs
SANJIV SINHA
NEW DELHI, NOV 25: After going through the motions of ``electing''
Sonia Gandhi as the party chief earlier this month, the Congress today
began the second stage its organisational poll drama with the
renomination of the incumbent PCC chiefs in Punjab, Rajasthan and
Maharasthra.
More such command performances will follow in the coming days as Sonia
completes the exercise of choosing her chiefs in all states, barring
Assam and Kerala which didn't go to polls. In most states, the
incumbent chiefs are expected to continue since they already have
blessings of the high command.
The elections of the PCC chiefs were reduced to a mere formality when
all state units, barring Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, authorised Sonia
to nominate her candidate to the post. And as expected, the party chief
chose to retain her nominees, Amirinder Singh in Punjab, Girija Vyas in
Rajasthan and Govindrao Adik in Maharasthra.
With the high command deciding the names in Delhi, PCC elections in the
three states had become redundant but the party nonetheless went
through all the attendant formalites such as announcement of the
election date and filing of nominations by candidates. Since there was
to be no challenger, Amrinder, Vyas and Adik were declared
``unanimously elected'' by the stateelection chiefs in Chandigarh,
Jaipur and Mumbai today. The PCC chiefs are elected by PCC delegates
from their respective states.
In renominating the three PCC chiefs, Sonia has sought to underline her
authority in the party since they were all handpicked by her during her
earlier tenure. Adik's renomination in particular is being viewed in
party circles as a clear snub from Sonia to state Chief Minister
Vilasrao Deshmukh since the latter had been campaigning hard for his
removal. Adik and Deshmukh have been at loggerheads for a long time and
the former's continuance suggests difficult days ahead for the Chief
Minister since he is already under notice from the high command to
deliver or face the axe.
It is only in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where Sonia is facing
problems in renominating the reigning PCC chiefs, S.P. Jaiswal and
E.V.K.S. Elangovan, due to charges of ``non-performance'' by their
rivals. Elections to the PCC chief's post are a near certainty in UP
where rebel leader Jitendra Prasada has fielded party MP S.S. Bundela
for the top job. And in Tamil Nadu, rival factions are hooting for a
change on the plea that Elangovan's renomination will spell doom for
the party's alliance with AIADMK and the Tamil Maanila Congress in next
year's Assembly elections in the state.
However, both Jaiswal and Elangovan were handpicked by Sonia only
recently to head the units in states which are very crucial for the
party's comeback trail.
Along with selecting the PCC chiefs, the high command has also begun
finalising the list of the 900-odd AICC delegates who will elect half
the 24-member Congress Working Committee (CWC) next month. The CWC
elections will be the last and final round of the poll process: the
AICC delegates will be given the official list of candidates who are to
be elected to the part's highest policy-making body.
Meanwhile, Sonia today set the stage for the CWC elections by formally
converting the existing CWC into a steering committee to carry on its
routine work till the new body is reconstituted.
Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
--
http://www.indiacyberportal.com/index.html
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.