The Daily Indian

Charging that the budget had ignored the ‘aam aadmi’, Opposition today said the government failed miserably to address price rise and inflation that would bring down the economic growth rate.

Former finance minister Yashwant Sinha (BJP), who initiated the debate on Budget in the Lok Sabha, said the government had forgotten about the common man, the poor and the rural population of the country and had announced measures that would benefit the rich.

“What I say may not be palatable to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, but there is nothing personal in it. The budget usually indicates economic challenges of the time and how to tide over them. But the budget speech makes no mention of price rise or inflation as a challenge that the country faces today,” Sinha said in his hour-long speech.
He noted that Mukherjee mentioned only achieving 9 per cent growth rate and marching into double-digit figures in the coming years, to make development more inclusive and removing bottlenecks in social welfare programmes as the challenges that the government would address in the coming fiscal.

“The only good news in the budget is that toy balloons have become cheaper. Now, a child wanting to reside in the Indira Awas that would get electricity under the Rajiv Gandhi Gram Vidhyutkaran programme will go to the cities using the Jawarharlal Nehru Rural road, but his mother would tell him there is no roti to feed him, but only toy balloons,” he said.

Home Minister P Chidambaram today advocated a robust real time decision support system to track down terrorists and organised criminals who have developed various channels of communication with the help of technology.

“The terrorists and organised criminals have developed overt and covert technologies including Information Communication Technology. This has made the job of law and order professionals far more challenging than ever before,” he said addressing the Silver Jubilee function of National Crime Record Bureau.

The Home Minister said the country needs solutions that can offer robust, real-time and validated decision support systems for the police leadership to evolve remedial and pro-active strategies.

“The sheer magnitude of crime in a federal polity of our geographical size makes this task a really challenging one,” he said.

Chidambaram said the challenges posed by criminality in general and other more serious manifestations of crime in particular like terrorism, insurgency, left wing extremism, trans-national crimes, drugs and arms trafficking, cyber crimes tend to establish that war against the Indian state is being fought more in the hinterland than on the borders.

“Today, we are fighting our battles on individual pitches.
We need to connect, coordinate and supplement our efforts both at micro and macro levels,” he said.

Government today said a total of seven aircraft of the Indian Air Force have crashed in air mishaps in the last six months.

“In the past six months from September 2009 to March 4, 2010, six
fighter aircraft and one helicopter of the IAF have crashed,” Defence Minister A K Antony said in reply to a Rajya Sabha query.

He added that the preliminary causes of the accidents were human
error and technical defects.

In 2010, the IAF has lost two fighter aircraft — a MiG-27 and a MiG-21. Last year, the IAF had recorded 11 air mishaps, of which five involved MiG-21 aircraft.

The Minister said various measures were being taken to reduce aircraft accidents.

Replying to another query, Antony said the prototype of naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) was being built for the aircraft carriers and the project had lagged behind due to various requirements related to the development of a new fighter aircraft.

“Deficiencies have been detected in the airframe and other associated equipment of the aircraft and the DRDO is working with various organisations for rectifying these deficiencies,” he added.

MNS chief Raj Thackeray today stressed that his party, which turned four, would not give up its Marathi agenda.

Hindi should not be forced upon the people, he said at a foundation day programme. “It is not a rashtra bhasha (national language). It is like any other language in the country,” he said.

He acknowledged the media attention he and his party had got, besides the support of party workers, was one of the major factors for its growth. Statements and criticism by the media had helped him shape the party, he said, thanking the media for driving home Marathi issues and publicising agitations the party had undertaken.

“Sitting alone at home yesterday, I was remembering the past. There were doubts whether anyone will follow me if I quit the Shiv Sena and after the 2007 Mumbai corporation elections, newspapers and the electronic media had written us off. There was one news article that stayed in my mind and propelled me to work for the party,” said Thackeray.

Through the last two years, during Thackeray’s arrest and agitations on the Marathi issue, his party and its activities have been in the media glare. “The Marathi people have put faith in us…our agitations and issues. I want to thank TV channels and newspapers as they conveyed to people across the state what we were saying, thereby motivating people to trust us.”

He also spoke on the women’s Bill, criticising Lalu Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh for their opposition. “We will support reservation of women. When Lalu went to jail, he made his wife the Chief Minister. How can he now oppose the reservation?”

Thackeray said he had sought an explanation from party MLA Shishir Shinde who was seen with Congress MLA Kripashankar Singh during Holi celebrations two weeks ago. “I too was surprised after seeing the visuals of the two together. I was told that Kripashankar had come to the same building to meet someone. He joined in the revelry and our party members were unaware. However, if a similar incident occurs again, I will remove that person from the party,” said Thackeray.

The MNS began a fortnight-long membership drive on Tuesday with Thackeray filling the first form.

Government’s move to go in for Women’s Reservation Bill today had its first fallout with the Samajwadi Party and the RJD announcing withdrawal of support to the coalition led by Congress.

The decision by SP, with 21 members in Lok Sabha, and RJD with four will, however, have no impact on the stability of the UPA government. The SP and the RJD were outside supporters of the government.
Angry SP President Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad slammed the Congress for its move to “unilaterally” go ahead with the Bill which seeks 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

“This is a political dacoity. We will not tolerate it. We are withdrawing support to the government,” said Prasad with Yadav standing by his side and supporting him.

He later said, “We have withdrawn support on this issue”.

He, however, was evasive when asked whether a letter withdrawing support to the government had been given to the President.

Even if both SP and RJD formally withdraw support by giving letters to the President, the effective strength of UPA and its outside supporters would be around 290, well beyond the 272 mark for a simple majority.
Together the UPA parties — Congress (208), Trinamool Congress (19), DMK (18), NCP (9), National Conference (3) and Muslim League (2) — have a strength of 259.

However, with outside supporters like BSP (21), Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (1) and JDS (3) its strength goes upto 284 in Lok Sabha. It also enjoys support of some independents in the Lower House taking the total strength to around 290. The Lok Sabha has a strength of 543.

Sharp divisions emerged among the opponents of the women’s reservation bill with Bihar Chief Nitish Kumar supporting the measure pitting himself against his party President Sharad Yadav who is opposed to it.

“When I was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee, I had given a dissent note (more than a decade ago). Now the time has come to give women reservation in Parliament and State Assemblies. I will talk to Sharadji and appeal to him to ensure passage of the bill,” Kumar told reporters in Patna.

However, JD-U President Sharad Yadav, a strong opponent of the Bill ever since its introduction in 1997, said his party’s opposition to the measure in its present form would continue.

The Constitution amendment bill seeking to provide reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Assemblies is slated to come up for consideration on Monday in Rajya Sabha, where the JD-U has seven MPs. The party also has 20 MPs in the Lok Sabha.

Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on Saturday criticised Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan for his ‘Mumbai belongs to all’ remark.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamna’, Thackeray said, “Governors are in decorative but dangerous posts. Saying that migrants will continue to come to Mumbai is akin to betrayal of Maharashtra.”

Sankaranarayanan in his interaction with the media personnel on Friday said, “Anybody can live in Mumbai. Only Mumbai can compete with itself. The rich, middle class and the poor co-exist here.”

Further charging the Governor for his anti-Mumbai remark, Thackeray said, “These rubber stamp white elephants have to be borne for years at taxpayers’ expense. They should not be sticking their noses anywhere.”

“Had Sankaranarayanan been the Governor of Karnataka, would he have dared to say let hordes of migrants come to Bengaluru,” added Thackeray.

The Shiv Sena leader had earlier lashed out at batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar and industrialist Mukesh Ambani for lending their voices to the idea of outsiders coming and settling in Mumbai.

Playback singer Asha Bhonsle had last week said the Mumbai belongs to all irrespective of from where any person comes.

“Mumbai belongs to all of India,” said Bhonsle at a cultural programme organised by a Marathi TV channel on February 28 in Pune.

“No one can snatch the job of a man who works here (in Mumbai) from morning to evening. Our people (Maharashtrians) should also show the readiness to work hard,” she added.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday declared that the recent ‘cowardly’ act of terrorists to target Indians on goodwill mission in Kabul would not ‘bend the will’ of India to help people of Afghanistan.

Replying to a debate in Parliament on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, he referred to the February 26 attack and said the entire nation was outraged by the incident in which seven innocent Indian lives were lost.

“These Indian nationals were in Afghanistan on a mission of goodwill and friendship helping to construct the peaceful and democratic Afghanistan that our Afghan friends desire. We condemn this cowardly act,” he said.

Noting that India’s assistance has received widespread support among the people of Afghanistan, he said, “I wish to assure this House that such attacks will not bend the will of the people of India.”

He said India will assist the people of Afghanistan in “securing their legitimate right to determine their destiny in the manner they chose without outside interference.”

Referring to President Hamid Karzai’s telephone call to him after the attack, Singh said he had requested him to ensure the safety of all Indians.

“I assured him of any support and assistance that may be required,” the Prime Minister said about his talk with Karzai. He said India was closely monitoring the developments with regard to Afghanistan.

Hitting out at the government, BJP today said it has scored a “double century” on price rise and questioned the “silence” of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the “burning issue”.

Even the allies of the government has demanded roll back of fuel price hike, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu told reporters outside Parliament after the entire opposition got together and disrupted proceedings in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha over the increase in prices of petrol and diesel.

However, asked about UPA allies’ support to the opposition stand, he said, “We have not approached any party for support and there is no politics involved in it.”

Hitting out at Gandhi, Naidu asked, “why is she silent on this burning issue? People want an answer. Though the people are suffering, the Congress President is not intervening.”

“Sachin Tendulkar hit a double century recently and Manmohan Singh government too has scored a double century on the price rise situation in a wrong way,” he said.
“People want roll back in (fuel) price hike,” Naidu said.

BJP ally Janata Dal (United), meanwhile, vowed to take the battle against price rise to the streets in close coordination with other like-minded parties.

“Our fight against price rise will continue and we will now take the battle to the streets,” JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav said adding, “all opposition parties are united on the issue and we are also trying to have close coordination with them to intensify the agitation.

A rollback of fuel price hike appears remote with the Government today telling the allies as well as members of the ruling Congress that any reduction would turn haywire its plans for higher economic growth as also lowering fiscal deficit.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in separate meetings with Congress MPs, leaders of UPA allies like Trinamool Congress, DMK, NCP and IUML explained to them the rationale behind the government’s move.

Two of these allies DMK and TMC have earlier resented the government’s decision to hike fuel prices but had later piped down their opposition while NCP openly supported the government over the issue.

Mukherjee is learnt to have told the allies that there was nothing in this decision as the government only withdrew partially the reduction given in excise duty earlier.

“It was a short meeting. Government explained to them (allies) the rationale behind the decision,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said.

Sources in the government, meanwhile, said that the government has taken all the allies on board over the issue and explained to them that the decision to this effect was taken with an eye of achieving GDP growth and to minimise fiscal deficit.