Faced with angry protests from the Opposition over leak of the Liberhan Commission report, ‘indicting’ the Sangh Parivar for the demolition of Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992, the government will release the panel’s findings on Tuesday.

A meeting of the Cabinet has been called to discuss the issue on Tuesday and approve the Action Taken Report that is required to be submitted along with the report submitted by Justice M S Liberhan on June 30 — 17 years and several extensions after he was put on the job.

Union home minister P Chidambaram denied the charge that the government was behind the leak. However, the Congress leadership was forced to review its options after the Opposition refused to relent. The decision to fast-track the disclosure was taken in the evening by party chief Sonia Gandhi, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee and other leaders who felt withholding the report would mean continued turmoil in Parliament where the entire Opposition joined hands, leaving Congress isolated.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in the US, is said to have endorsed the idea of swift disclosure after a consultation with Mukherjee who will preside over the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Though the Hindi translations of the report and the Action Taken Report are not ready yet, the government plans to get around the problem by taking the Opposition into confidence.

The leak wrongfooted the Congress which had planned to release the findings towards the close of the winter session ending on December 22, calculating that release before the anniversary of Babri demolition on December 6 could lead to communal tension, particularly in UP. Post-leak, however, it seems to feel that continued unrest in Parliament over an issue which caused unprecedented communal polarisation may frustrate the objective of delaying the release to minimise fresh social discord.

There were signs of the prolonged crisis in BJP moving towards a resolution with RSS brass wrapping up discussions on the party’s future course of action over a breakfast meeting with L K Advani on Sunday with the veteran leader expected to “operationalise” the roadmap.

The decision of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and two senior Sangh figures to call on Advani and the brief statement issued thereafter saying that the Sangh was assured that BJP would resolve its problems is seen as significant. It marks the end of a massive RSS intervention to get BJP to settle leadership issues and put its house in order.

“The BJP leadership as a party will stand united, face the situation and emerge stronger… we feel they will resolve their problems,” said Madandas Devi, a senior RSS figure who alongwith Suresh Soni had met Advani. The sight of the RSS team driving into Advani’s residence behind foggy windows on a rainy Sunday immediately set BJP circles buzzing.

Party sources said it was now clear that the much-talked of generational change would not be put off much longer. The RSS bosses were clear that the public feuding had to end and that Advani would be the key element in ensuring a smooth exchange of baton in the party with Rajnath Singh’s term as president drawing to a close. BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said as much, noting “only one term can be given”.

There was some speculation over high-profile names cancelling out one another or not finding favour with the Sangh. But the key remained the need to settle on a leader seen as most acceptable and with a good organisational grounding. From the RSS, Devi is seen as the key intermediary in dealing with BJP affairs. Earlier, Suresh Soni who handled the task was considered a strong Rajnath-backer.

In this respect, Advani will take a decision on when he steps aside for a younger colleague as leader of Opposition after changes in the party organisation had been agreed upon. Party colleagues who met Advani on Sunday said he was in a relaxed frame of mind and was likely to initiate discussions on the next party chief soon. The RSS recognises that the stalwart’s stature makes him critical in changes being planned.

The name of the next party chief would now emerge as part of a wide consensus in BJP and RSS keeping in mind the parameters laid down by the Sangh including an age band of 55-60 years. Names doing the rounds include Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, M Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar. The possibility of a state leader being drafted in is being talked of but this seems remote at present.

BJP insiders see RSS’s efforts being linked to a major decision over the next party chief and they feel that the Sangh is not likely to cap its extensive deliberations with an experiment, stop-gap or an anonymous compromise as party chief. As BJP sources dwescribed it, the decision amounts to a “major investment” for the RSS given the party’s big Lok Sabha defeat.

It would appear that more dissident activity would now run the danger of running afoul with the RSS diktat. The signal to prominent dissidents is that while their viewpoints would be debated, sinking knives into rivals in public was off limits. Though peremptory sackings were frowned on, high octane dissidence could singe those who ignore the Sangh’s stern injunctions.

The RSS-BJP discussions while seeing Advani playing a role as mentor, also point to an honourable place in the party hierarchy for Rajnath. Apart from fostering party unity, BJP is mindful that an impression that the Thakur leader was being diminished was not poltically useful. The next steps in settling in-house matters could now see consultations among senior leaders.

The decision of Naidu, Jaitley, Swaraj and Kumar to meet the RSS chief and his key aides on Friday displayed a preparedness of the leaders to forge a common front in the face of unceasing efforts of the official faction to undercut them. With the RSS now setting the ball rolling, speculation over a timeframe remained unanswered. One view was that the decision on the new party chief would be taken before the Maharashtra polls while the other school of thought felt that it might take longer.

Sudheendra Kulkarni, a key aide of senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani and previously of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has ended his association with the party over “ideological differences”.

He, however, maintained that his decision had nothing to do with the expulsion of Jaswant Singh over his book “Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence”.

“I decided to end my association with the BJP several weeks back. My decision has nothing to do with the unfortunate incident of Jaswant Singh-ji,” Kulkarni said.

He said he would continue to be a well-wisher of the party and added: “I have the highest regard for Advani-ji and Atal Bihari Vajpayee-ji, whom I have worked with for 13 years.”

Kulkarni, who began his political activism as a Communist, worked in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during Vajpayee’s time and served as his speech writer, media adviser and political aide.

“From now on I will be totally independent. I will work with like-minded members of other parties…,” Kulkarni told the news channel.

The drama over former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s removal from the opposition leader’s post in the state assembly may end on Saturday as she is expected to meet Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Rajnath Singh and senior leader L K Advani.

“Whether she will be able to meet Rajnathji is not clear as yet. But most likely she will meet Advaniji. However, no one knows as yet whether she will resign or not,” a senior BJP leader said.

“The party is very clear on the issue of indiscipline and everyone has already seen its result,” the leader added, referring to the expulsion of Jaswant Singh this week.

Rajnath Singh had last week asked Raje to resign from the post of leader of opposition in the Rajasthan assembly after the party’s debacle in the April-May Lok Sabha elections and the state assembly polls late last year.

However, Raje refused to step down, stating that she alone could not be held responsible for the party’s poll debacle in the state.

After a parliamentary board meeting Sunday, the BJP president said that he was confident Raje would toe the party line and quit. But he did not set any deadline for her to step down.

The BJP’s Rajasthan unit had Tuesday suspended two party legislators — Rajender Singh Rathore and Gyan Dev Ahuja – on disciplinary grounds for supporting Raje.

“She may take up the issue of their suspension also. She currently enjoys support of over 60 BJP legislators in the Rajasthan Assembly,” sources said.

In a show of strength a few days ago, Raje drafted over 50 legislators to visit New Delhi to meet Advani and Rajnath Singh. However, Advani refused to meet them.

The BJP’s tally of 21 seats from Rajasthan in the 2004 elections came crashing down to four in the April-May Lok Sabha elections, while it lost power in the assembly elections late last year, paving the way for the Congress’s return.

New Delhi, June 3 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Meira Kumar will be elected unanimously the first woman Speaker of the Lok Sabha today.

Kumar is the consensus candidate of the ruling UPA and the opposition BJP.
 
She is the only candidate in the fray after nominations were filed on Tuesday. All the 14 sets of nomination papers are in her favour.

The nominations had the signatures of leaders of all the parties including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.

Kumar hails from the Dalit community and is better known as the daughter of former Deputy Prime Minister Babu Jagjivan Ram.

Born in Patna in 1945, she is law graduate and holds a Masters in English literature. She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1973 and served at the embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius.

Kumar was elected from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh in 1985. She became Member of Parliament in the 11th and 12th Lok Sabha by contesting from Delhi”s Karol Bagh constituency.

In 1999, she lost her seat, but was re-elected by a record majority from Sasaram in Bihar in 2004.

In 2004, she was inducted into the first Manmohan Singh cabinet, as Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

On May 29, 2009, she assumed charge as the Union Minister for Water Resources in the newly elected UPA Government.

She is married to Manjul Kumar, a Supreme Court lawyer. The couple have three married children. (ANI)

New Delhi/Bhubaneshwar, May 16 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party   Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani has said politics had to rise above personal agenda.

“Anyone who comes to politics must have a motivation, which goes far beyond any personnel agenda. It has to be idealistic,” said Advani, who was here to thank his campaign team.

Meanwhile, Congress hopefully got a shot in the arm when the
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) said that it would support a secular coalition at the Central level.

“Another thing we will consider that we must be secular. We are secular. If at all there will be time to support any coalition, they should have secular nature,” Damodar Raut, BJD spokesperson said in
Bhubaneshwar.

The Congress Party is the main opposition in Orissa. The BJP was part of the BJD Government in Orissa before the latter withdrew from the National Democratic Alliance just before the polls. (ANI)

New Delhi, May 13 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday told reporters here that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party and NDA will form the next government after votes are counted on May 16.

“BJP will emerge as the single largest party and BJP-led NDA will get a majority or will fall short by a small margin in which case I am confident that other political parties will support us,” Singh told reporters after holding a meeting with senior party leaders L K Advani and M Venkaiah Naidu.

When asked about the expected role of the President after the election results are announced on May 16, Singh said, “Let the president use her conscience. It is my belief that the President will go by the convention.”

Singh refused to name the political parties which are likely to extend support if NDA falls short of a majority.

“This is a part of our strategy. I will not say anything at all on this issue.”

Naidu said, “We are sure we are going to be called (by the President). It is not only question of claim but also of reality. By any standard BJP is confident of coming to power.”

Naidu said that today’s meeting with Advani and Singh was held to compare notes on the possible outcome of elections.

“The party leaders will formally hold a meeting on May 16 evening. If we have to talk to other political parties, we will do so after that,” Naidu said.

Naidu further added that TRS joining NDA has boosted the morale of the alliance.

He predicted that the Third Front will break as it has “no agenda, no leaders and there are major differences within it”. (ANI)

Hyderabad, May 12 (ANI): Senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said his party would accept support from whoever is willing to support L K Advani as Prime Minister.

Talking to reporters upon his arrival here, he said, “We will accept support from anyone backing Advani as Prime Minister and talk to others only after the election results are out.”

Hoping that BJP-led NDA will show its best in South, Naidu said the BJP would emerge as the single largest party along with its allies and would form the government.

Reports said that Naidu has been entrusted with the task of talking to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief to enlist his support to the NDA in the post-poll scenario. (ANI)

Bhopal, May 8 (ANI): Senior BJP leader L K Advani on Friday said that he expected his party to emerge as the single largest party after this year’s general elections.

During a stop over at Raja Bhoj Airport here on his way to Kolkata from Chennai, Advani told reporters he had no doubt that the Congress would be left far behind after the elections. (ANI)

Gandhinagar, Apr 28 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L K Advani on Tuesday strongly questioned the Central Bureau of Investigation’s decision to remove the name of the lone surviving suspect in the Bofors payoff case Ottavio Quattrocchi from the Interpol’s list of most wanted persons.

“Overall the performance of CBI in the last five years, it should be investigated. In a way they have become a tool in the hands of political parties,” Advani said during a road show in Gandhinagar.

Advani said, “Party (BJP) in New Delhi will discuss the matter, but I want to say that it is not just about Quattrocchi.”

The CBI’s decision to eliminate Quattrocchi from the most wanted list is expected to be formally conveyed to the court on April 30.

The agency’s decision is based on the legal advice of Attorney General Milon Banerjee. On October 28, last year, Banerjee had described the Red Corner Notice (RCN) as ” a continued embarrassment.”

A newspaper report quoted Banerjee as saying, “The CBI is under obligation to have the matters set right at the Interpol level, as there is no basis on which the Red Corner Notice can continue. I am of the firm opinion that immediate action should be taken to withdraw the notice.”

In October 2008, Quattrocchi’s counsel had asked the CBI to explain the continuation and legal validity of the Red Corner Notice issued by the Interpol Secretariat General.

When the issue came to CBI’s Director (Prosecution) SK Sharma, he said that the notice was no longer applicable as the arrest warrant dated February 6, 1997, on the basis of which the RCN was issued, had been cancelled by a warrant of November 5, 1999.

Sharma suggested that the Law Ministry’s opinion be sought on the issue.

Following Sharma’s recommendation, the Attorney General observed, “The whole purpose of a warrant of arrest is to secure the presence of the accused. This is possible by extradition when the accused is abroad. But two attempts have failed and the judgements indicate that there are no good grounds for extradition. The warrant cannot remain in force forever. Therefore, the warrant dated February 1997 would lose its validity, particularly in view of the failed attempts of the CBI to extradite the accused in Malaysia and Argentina.”

The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s, when the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India’s 155 mm field howitzer.

The scandal was worth Rs. 150 billion. (ANI)