‘Modi for PM’ cry in BJP grows louder, pressure on leadership

NEW DELHI: Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi stole the show at BJP's national council meeting here without uttering a word. Even as the BJP leadership debates whether or not to declare Modi as the party's candidate for prime minister in the coming election, party delegates cutting across regions made plain their choice unambiguously on Saturday.

While the leadership now has to take note of the clear sentiment of around 3,000 delegates, who lustily rooted for Modi with slogans like "desh ka neta kaisa ho, Narendra Modi jaisa ho", this new push to slot the Gujarat CM as the party's white steed for the polls is pregnant with political implications.

For one, it signals to leaders like Nitish Kumar — who has made no secret of his discomfiture with Modi as the prime ministerial candidate — that the party ranks still want to press ahead with the charismatic, if controversial, leader. For another, it gives time to parties like the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to rally their troops against a leader whom they consider a polarizing politician.

Chorus drowns debate

At the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here, the applause for Modi hit a crescendo when party chief Rajnath Singh singled Modi out for special compliment for being the first BJP CM to have won three assembly elections in a row.

There was high drama that began as a murmur and mild clapping as Singh mentioned Modi while introducing the leaders on the dais. Soon, it grew into a standing ovation from the stadium's galleries, with applause and slogans refusing to die down for a good five minutes, until Singh signalled to party members to stop and move on with the proceedings.

The reception that NarendraModi got at the BJP's national council meet here is seen as contrary to the view in certain sections of the party that it should go into the 2014 LS polls without projecting anyone as its choice for PM. Many in the party see it as a warning to those leaders who are opposed to Modi's projection as the "shadow PM" ahead of the looming contest.

The mood was vividly reflected by Leher Singh, MLC from Karnataka and a trusted aide of party rebel BS Yeddyurappa. "Narendra Modi is the party's popular leader and time has come to declare him as the party's PM candidate. It will benefit the party and such an announcement could even bring Yeddyurappa back to BJP," he said.

Modi too seemed to relish every bit of the loud adulation. Known for his ability to work the audience, he came to the front of the stage and walked the length from one end to another with folded hands, soaking in the thunderous rooting. The confident smile looked like an acceptance speech: a clear indication of his willingness to play a role beyond the frontiers of his home state, Gujarat. In the post-lunch session, Modi stood out for being the only one on the stage who had found the time to change into a different attire.

Many in the party feel that the pressure building from the bottom for Modi will render the "to project him or not" debate irrelevant. They appeared vindicated as many of the participants freely declared their support for Modi as if the gag on any discussion on the leadership issue had ceased to exist.

Delhi BJP chief Vijay Goel said it appears that Modi is already the PM. "Though the Prime Ministerial candidate will be chosen later it appears as if he (Modi) is the PM," Goel said at the venue.

In the post-lunch session, Modi stood out for being the only one on the stage who had found time to change into a different attire.

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BJP meet to discuss larger role for Modi

NEW DELHI: A two-day meeting of BJP's national council, which is likely to clear the way for Gujarat CM Narendra Modi to play a larger role on the national stage, is beginning here on Saturday.

Although the meeting of the council has been convened to ratify Rajnath Singh's appointment as the party chief, it has taken on a greater significance because it is also supposed to clear the way for the return of Modi to party's central parliamentary board.

So far, the party leadership has dodged the growing clamour from the ranks to project the Gujarat CM as the spearhead for 2014 polls, and his ever-growing profile has already cast a shadow on the event.

Former Uttarakhand CM Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on Friday defied leadership's instruction to publicly argue that Modi be anointed as party's candidate for the PMO in 2014.

Party chief Rajnath Singh, while addressing the meeting of the national executive on Friday, also complimented Modi for being the first BJP CM to win three elections in a row.

Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley also said that there was a groundswell for Modi, while seeming to counter the view that the delay in CM's projection suggests that BJP may not go into the poll arena with a PM candidate. He said that the "best name" would undoubtedly come up at an appropriate time, emphasizing that Atal Bihari Vajpayee was named party's prime ministerial candidate just ahead of the 1996 polls.

The growing clamour for Modi coincides with the optimism in the party that they may be able to end a decade-long barren spell in Delhi. Addressing the national executive, Singh struck an optimistic note , quoting from the Bhagwad Gita to say that party should be focused on victory.

He recalled that he had addressed the body amid gloom after the 2009 debacle. On that occasion, Singh had quoted from former US president FD Roosevelt's 1933 speech — "the only fear that you have to fear is fear itself" — to lift spirits. On Friday, he said that all-round failure of UPA and corruption scams have led the people to look favourably at the BJP and that the cadre should work for the victory with the single-minded determination.

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Manik Sarkar, son of tailor, to be Tripura chief minister again

AGARTALA: Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, set to assume office for a fourth time after leading the Left to a huge electoral win, is the son of a tailor who still washes his own clothes.

An unassuming man, the 64-year-old got down to work no soon than he was declared the winner from Dhanpur constituency. He met CPM leaders and activists at Sonamura, 60km from here.

On Thursday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) bagged 49 of the 60 seats while its ally Communist Party of India won one seat. The Congress finished with only 10 seats.

It was the best result for the Left since 1978 when the legendary Nripen Chakraborty-led CPM swept 56 seats. This time, Sarkar helped the Left Front increase its 2008 tally by one seat.

Undoubtedly, the "poorest" chief minister in India, Sarkar, according to documents filed with the Election Commission, has Rs.10,800 in cash.

In line with CPM rules, Sarkar gives away his salary to the party, which pays him Rs 5,000 a month.

He is probably India's only chief minister who does not own a home, car or bank balance worth mentioning.

He does not even have a mobile phone and has never used the red beacon on his official car.

Sarkar's wife Panchali Bhattacharjee, 62, who retired as a government employee in 2010, has Rs 22,015 in cash and Rs.24,52,395 as savings. The couple has no children.

She said her husband still washed his clothes every morning.

"My wife's pension can sustain us. My expenses are a small pot of snuff and a cigarette a day," Sarkar said.

After the death of his mother in 2009, Sarkar inherited a small house worth Rs.200,000 in Agartala. He donated it to his younger sister.

Sarkar's father Amulya was a tailor and mother Anjali was an employee of the state health department.

Sarkar joined politics in 1967 and was elected secretary of the CPM's Tripura unit in 1993.

A bachelor of commerce from Calcutta University, Sarkar was first elected to the Tripura assembly in a 1980 bypoll and again in 1983.

He is the second in the northeast to be the chief minister for 15 years or more after Gegong Apang of the Congress who ruled Arunachal Pradesh for 24 years over two periods (1980-99 and 2003-07).

On Thursday, Sarkar defeated his Congress rival Shah Alam by 6,017 votes. In 2008, Sarkar's winning margin was 2,918.

"This is a verdict in favour of development, peace and stability besides good governance," Sarkar told reporters.

According to a CPI-M leader, Left Front leaders will meet here Friday and decide when to form a new government.

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No difference in Cong, NDA regimes: Pawar

NEW DELHI: NCP chief and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said he did not find much difference in the policies of the Congress governments and the Vajpayee-led NDA regime, in what can set off speculation of political realignment.

Speaking at a book launch function on Wednesday, the NCP chief said while many governments had been formed by the opposition parties, most of them were supported by the Congress. Stating that the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA regime was the truly non-Congress government, Pawar stressed that its policies in key areas, foreign or domestic, did not diverge from those followed by the Congress.

The comment is seen as significant since NCP is seen by many as potential swing players to be ready to side with the winner post-2014. Pawar had moved closer to the NDA during Vajpayee's prime ministership, and had come close to allying with BJP for 2004 polls. However, resistance from BJP's leaders from Maharashtra scuppered the move: something that Vajpayee would regret later.

Pawar's comment suggesting that the BJP was not radically different from the Congress can set off speculation of a political realignment before or after the next Lok Sabha polls, especially in view of the perception of a political tie between UPA and NDA.

Interestingly, the Maratha strongman refused to comment on Sonia Gandhi or Congress, saying he was an UPA ally and a comment on contemporary issues would only create mistrust in UPA. He said he wanted the government to serve its term.

Sharing the dais with home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, Pawar said he was expelled from Congress for six years but he never felt like returning to the party.

The senior leader added there was no running away from coalition era and, Congress and BJP cannot think of coming to power on their own in the near future. For good effect, he said differences were bound to be there on issues like secularism but differences should not turn into political hatred.

Pawar left the Congress to launch NCP in 1999 following rebellion against Sonia Gandhi on "foreign origin" issue. The expulsion on the bitter note raised signs of a permanent divorce but strangely, the two soon came together to form the government in Maharashtra.

Ever since, the Congress and NCP have been together in Maharashtra while the coalition came alive at the Centre when Congress trounced BJP in 2004. Pawar has been a senior minister with agriculture portfolio in the UPA regimes led by Manmohan Singh.

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PDP’s Mufti joins chorus of demand for Afzal body

SRINAGAR: Former Union minister and Jammu and Kashmir's main Opposition PDP's patriarch Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has expressed solidarity with the crowded corner that is asking for the dead body of Afzal Guru. The ruling National Conference, a coalition government between the NC and the Congress, has already pressed for the return of the mortal remains of Guru, hanged inside Tihar jail on February 9.

In a letter to PM Manmohan Singh, the former CM of J&K said, "I request you to take necessary measures to accommodate the wishes of the people of the state and a majority of them in the country to have Afzal Guru's remains returned to his family for the last rites and try to retrieve whatever little can be of the trust of the people in Kashmir."

Mufti added: "I am writing this letter after an agonising fortnight that, in my opinion, witnessed all the effort at rebuilding a relationship of trust between Kashmir and the rest of the country almost evaporate into thin air. The manner in which Mohammad Afzal Guru was executed in secrecy and very obvious unholy haste is not just another hugely negative reference point in our painful history, but it could have the potential to redefine the very nature of how the people here would view their status within the Union. And I am deeply anxious about its possible fallout on our younger generations who had been struggling to come out of a nightmarish experience of life marked by blood and tragedy."

"Never in a democracy of our size and quality is a convict culled out of a queue from serial number 28 and sent to the gallows. Never is a dying convict denied a last meeting with his family. Never is a condemned man denied what is now established as a last chance to seek judicial intervention after spending 12 years in jail. The people of Kashmir felt he was hanged because the noose fitted only the neck of a man of Afzal's description, and given the sad history of the state's association with the Union, they easily relate themselves with his fate," the letter said.

Agencies, meanwhile, reported that Guru had in a letter to the editor of a local Urdu weekly over four years ago written that there was no need to be ashamed of the December 13 attack on Parliament, but had stopped short of owning any responsibility for it. Guru had addressed Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin and said "I request Salahuddin to not call the attack of December 13 as a conspiracy. It pains my heart. The attacks are related to the Kashmir issue. If the attack was a conspiracy, then the whole struggle is a conspiracy. We should not be ashamed of December 13."

Editor Shabnum Qayoom was quoted as saying: "I used to receive his (Guru's) letters and articles, so this was nothing new. The handwriting is the same as the previous letters. I do not care if people believe it to be authentic or not." Asked why he did not publish the letter for four years, he said he did not deem it appropriate. "I believe he was swept by emotions. He was not involved but he thought that as there was no way for escape, why not accept and achieve martyrdom. I did not think it was appropriate to publish the letter at that time as it might have been taken as evidence against him, but now that he is no more, I went ahead with it," he said.

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Four IM men plotting strikes in India in return for ISI hospitality

NEW DELHI: They had fled to Pakistan to escape the long arm of the law in India. Now, they are plotting terror strikes on India with unflinching regularity as a trade-off for their own safety.

Four top Indian Mujahideen (IM) operatives - Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Amir Raza Khan and Fayyaz Kagzi - have been enjoying Pakistani spy agency ISI's hospitality with a quid pro quo of carrying out attacks on their homeland.

The rein of IM's terror machines is in the hands of the quartet, who have been operating through their commanders, including head of India operation Yasin Bhatkal, in various Indian cities.

Besides, there are others who keep shuttling between Pakistan (mainly Karachi) and Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia and UAE) on Pakistani passports. Their job is to establish contact with Indians who have been working in those countries, and are tasked with developing them as unsuspecting conduits to send remittances to India. The funds are used for creating sleeper cells for plotting future strikes.

They have been working in sync with the charter of the IM that was set up by ISI as an Indian proxy of the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) to project to the world at large that terrorism in India is homegrown in both form and content. Consequently, most of the recruits in IM are Indians, who have been reporting to their bosses in Pakistan.

Indian security agencies, however, suspect that eight out of 15 key IM absconders continue to be in the country. "Couple of them must be in Nepal and keep coming to India," said a senior government official, adding India had shared dossiers on these fugitives with both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Though Saudi Arabia had cooperated and helped deport three terrorists, including Abu Jundal (26\11 Mumbai terror attack accused) of LeT and Fasih Mohammed (IM operative), Pakistan has been in denial over the presence of Indian fugitives on its soil.

Faces of terror

Amir Reza Khan: The mobster of Kolkata (36) who along with the American Centre attack convict Aftab Ansari and two Bhatkal brother - Iqbal and Riyaz - had formed IM and been instrumental in carrying out a numbers of attacks across the country between 2005 and 2008. After fleeing India, he used to operate from Dubai, Riyadh and Oman. But, later he had shifted his base to Pakistan and largely confined to Karachi under ISI patronage after an Interpol Red Corner Notice (RCN) issued against him.

Riyaz Bhatkal: An engineer by profession, the Karnataka-born terrorist (36) had lived in Kurla, Mumbai, where he used to run a tannery business of his father before turning to the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). He was known to Mohammed Sadique Israr Sheikh, a known criminal who worked for both Amir Reza and Aftab Ansari. He had fled India in 2008, when his name first cropped up in Bangalore and Ahmedabad blasts the same year.

Iqbal Bhatkal: Elder brother of Riyaz, Iqbal (44) is considered an IM ideologue, who was responsible for the August, 2007 serial blasts in Hyderabad along with his younger brother. He is a master in imparting instructions via electronic means to the terror outfit's cadres without leaving a trail. He is the one who has been supplying written\pictorial materials to the cadres to motivate them to carry out attacks on Indian soil.

Fayyaz Kagzi alias Abu Amir: He is the youngest (31) among the top four IM fugitives who have been running the show from Karachi. Originally a resident of Beed in Maharashtra, Kagzi was involved in a blast at Ahmedabad railway station. He had fled to Pakistan via Iran after his name cropped up in the Aurangabad arms haul case in 2006. Later, he had shifted his base to Saudi Arabia in 2008. He again moved to Pakistan when Saudi authorities had started cooperating with India in identifying and deporting Indian fugitives.

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PM expresses solidarity with blast victims

HYDERABAD: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday expressed solidarity with the people of the city, shaken by the twin bomb blasts in Dilsukhnagar on Thursday. After visiting the blast site and the hospitals where the injured were being treated, the PM lauded the people for refusing to be provoked.

Singh, who flew to Hyderabad from Delhi in a special IAF plane, paid a visit to Disukhnagar following which he met the injured at Omni and Yashoda Hospitals, and assured the families of the victims all help from the centre. "I have come to share the grief of the people of Hyderabad. I express condolence for the families of the bereaved and wish speedy recovery for the injured," Singh said after meeting the blast victims at the hospitals.

Before leaving for Delhi, the PM held a review meeting with chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and his cabinet ministers during which DGP V Dinesh Reddy briefed him about the progress of the investigation into the case. The police chief is understood to have told the PM that six investigative teams have been formed and that the case would be cracked at the earliest.

Singh was received on Sunday morning at Begumpet airport by Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimham, the Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues.

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Polls: Meghalaya, Nagaland witness high voter turnout

DIMAPUR/SHILLONG: Despite a boycott call by a militant outfit, Meghalaya saw a high turnout of over 85 per cent voters in the assembly polls on Saturday. In Nagaland, the other northeastern state to go to the polls along with Meghalaya, more than 83 per cent of the electorate cast their votes.

Defying the 36-hour bandh called by the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC) to keep people away from voting, a large number of voters turned up to cast their votes since morning. The HNLC, an underground outfit, has been fighting for a separate Garoland for a long time. "Polling was peaceful across the state," said Meghalaya CEO Prashant Kumar Naik. There were 345 candidates for the 60-member assembly. Compared to the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, the turnout was low in Garo Hills. The BSF had sealed Meghalaya's borders with Bangladesh to ensure peaceful polling.

Incumbent chief minister Mukul Sangma (Congress) cast his vote in Ampatigiri constituency of the Garo Hills from where he is seeking reelection. Opposition leader and contender for the CM's post, Conrad Sangma, is fighting on a National People's Party ticket from Selsella constituency. He is the son of NPP founder and former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma.

Meghalaya, a matrilineal state, saw more women than men waiting to cast their votes at the state's 2,485 booths. In stark contrast, the number of women contestants was just 25. Last time, only one woman had been able to win the election.

In Nagaland, voting was by and large smooth even though reports of violence poured in from different areas. Polling in one constituency was deferred because of the death of a Congress candidate. There are 60 seats in the Nagaland assembly.

"Polling was by and large peaceful in the state," said Nagaland chief electoral officer (CEO) J Alam. Voters turned up at poll stations about an hour before voting began at 7 am. In Dimapur, the state's commercial hub, miscreants opened fire in the air to disrupt polling at the Nagarjan Higher Secondary School booth. A similar incident took place at the nearby Mao Colony, too. Security personnel intensified patrolling in the Nagarjan area.

At Singrijan, 14 vehicles were damaged during a clash between Congress and Naga People's Front (NPF) supporters. Two persons have sustained bullet injuries.

There were also reports of minor scuffles between political activists at some places.

Chief minister Neiphiu Rio (NPF), who is eyeing a third consecutive win, cast his vote at the Tuophema Base booth in Northern Angami II constituency. "NPF is confident of crossing the halfway mark on its own. We will form the next government in collaboration with the BJP and the JD(U)," he said. Speaking on similar lines, Tokheho Yepthomi, Congress's candidate from Dimapur-III constituency, said, "We will emerge as the single largest party and form the next government along with other parties."

Repolling has been ordered in atleast three Nagaland booths following reports of damage to EVMs.

Election Commission officials said the percentage of voting might go up in the two states as reports from many remote booths were yet to arrive.

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Indian Mujahideen hand becomes clearer in Hyderabad blasts

NEW DELHI: As investigators trawl the devastated spots in Hyderabad's Dilsukhnagar for clues to Thursday's twin blasts, a debate has begun in the home ministry over whether the terror attack could have been prevented.

According to reports reaching here, there is no breakthrough yet for the investigators. "We are still groping in the dark," a senior home ministry official familiar with the details of the probe said. However, there was relief after it turned out that some of the CCTV cameras in the ill-fated locality were functional at the time of the explosions on Thursday evening and, therefore, might be holding pointers.

Senior sources disputed reports that the wires of CCTV cameras had been snapped four days ago.

The MHA had fewer doubts on Friday about the involvement of Indian Mujahideen in the attack. The bombs carried the signature of IM. Both the devices were packed with ammonium nitrate and shrapnel with a timer mechanism: the staple of IM bomb-makers. The use of cycles to strap bombs has also been an IM trademark since November 2007 when they attacked courts in UP.

Both bombs were designed to ensure that the impact of explosions was concentrated on one side: again a stock in trade for IM which has used boat-shaped devices earlier in order to maximize casualties.

Faced with allegations of intelligence failure in Parliament, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde pointed out that the Centre has issued a series of alerts to authorities in Hyderabad about a possible terrorist reprisal against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.

The first advisory went out on Saturday, alerting states against the threat of United Jehad Council to launch a fresh terror campaign against India to avenge Guru's hanging. The message was amplified by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed.

Although the first alert was general in nature, intelligence agencies, acting on basis of intercepts, refined it to caution that Hyderabad, along with Mumbai, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Hubli and certain places in Gujarat and Maharashtra, could be on the hit list of terrorists desperate to make good their threat.

This message highlighting the threat to Hyderabad was sent on February 19. The following day, Intelligence Bureau asked the states to step up vigil at places which were known to be on the radar of terrorists and had been recced.

Centre's concern, prompted by clear inputs according to Shinde, that a terrorist strike could be in the works manifested itself again on February 20, when it repeated that Hyderabad could be among the likely targets along with other places.

The same anxiety led the government to sound the same alert anew on Thursday morning just eight hours before the bombs went off in Hyderabad, killing at least 16 and maiming many more.

Dilsukhnagar fitted the bill, having been surveyed by an IM module as recently as last year. Delhi Police had on the basis of testimonies of two alleged IM terrorists, Syed Maqbool and Imran, told Andhra authorities that the locality was recceed as recently in July last year.

Sources in the home ministry said that the emphasis on the sites which had already been reconnoitered reflected the assessment that the terrorists were under pressure to do something spectacular sooner than later and, hence, focussed on locales they were already familiar with.

Centre refrained from blaming the state government, with Shinde saying in Rajya Sabha that the calm professionalism of AP cops was worth emulating. But many in his own ministry wondered whether cops could have prevented the carnage by upping their guard in response to a series of advisories. There was also puzzlement about the reasons why they failed to do so despite the fact that terrorists had targeted the same spot in 2007.

The last attempt failed only because the device planted by IM terrorists failed to go off, sparing the locality the devastation caused by the bombs the same module led by Riyaz Bhatkal had planted at Gokul Chat Bhandar and Lumbini Park.

According to sources, one possible explanation could be the fatigue among cops over having to deal with the same kind of alerts over and over again. They said the counter-terror advisories issued in the wake of Guru's hanging were not different from those which were sent after Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab was sent to the gallows in November.

The alerts issued after Kasab's execution had mentioned Hyderabad along with Bangalore and Coimbatore among the vulnerable spots. Speaking in Rajya Sabha, Shinde emphasized that the Centre had strong reasons to hoist the caution sign higher after February 19 and afterwards. If this was the case, the authorities clearly failed to impress the urgency upon the men at ground zero

Sources said that the routine of having to respond to the same kind of cues repeatedly could not but lead to a dulling of response: a vulnerability which could be exploited by a terrorist group set on a particular target as has been the case with IM and Dilsukhnagar. The predominantly Hindu locality with a history of communal tension has been consistently targeted by terrorists since 1999 when they unsuccessfully planted a bomb there.

The terrorists returned again in 2002 when a bomb claimed two lives. Residents were lucky in 2007 when the bomb planted there did not go off, but the determined group had had their way on Thursday.

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Hyderabad blasts: Dilsukhnagar has been on Indian Mujahideen radar since 1999

NEW DELHI: The twin blasts at Hyderabad are suspected to be the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen(IM) commander Riyaz Bhatkal. Although intelligence agencies are in no rush to jump to a judgment, their suspicion of IM's role is derived from the fact that the terror outfit had targeted precisely the same spot — near the foot overbridge in Dilsukhnagar — on August 25, 2007 when IM carried out serial blasts in Hyderabad.

While the bombs that Bhatkal and his team, essential IM's Pune module, set off at Gokul Chat Bhandar and Lumbini Park killed 42 people, Dilsukhnagar escaped the mayhem because the device planted there malfunctioned. Residents of the locality, however, ran out of luck on Thursday.

During their interrogation in 2008 in connection with their involvement in the serial attack on Hyderabad the year before, two members of IM — a Indian proxy of Lashkar-e-Taiba which was launched to cloak Pakistan's involvement in the terror campaign against India — confirmed that Bhatkal was the mastermind.

Speaking to reporters after the twin blasts on Thursday, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde seemed to reflect the principal assumption of the agencies about Bhatkal and his IM gang being the chief suspects when he said the latest attack was similar to the 2007 serial attacks in the city.

The suspicion is derived also from the testimony of the three alleged IM terrorists to Delhi Police in October 2012. Imran, Tabrez and Maqbool told the special cell that they had been assigned by Bhatkal to do a recce of Dilsukhnagar and other communally sensitive areas in Hyderabad.

The motivation for the terror strike is suspected to be the call given by Hafiz Saeed — Lashkar chief and principal mentor of IM terrorists — to avenge the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. United Jehad Council, with Lashkar as one of its main constituents, had on February 13 — four days after Guru was sent to the gallows — vowed to retaliate against the execution.

Intelligence agencies did not treat it as rhetoric, and did sound a countrywide alert on Tuesday, although Shinde acknowledged that the warning was general in nature.

Dilsukhnagar, a Hindu-dominated locality with a history of communal tension, has been on the terrorists' radar for long; at least since 1999 when a bomb was planted near a Hanuman temple. The device was detected in time by police.

The timing was significant, just an year after intelligence agencies zeroed in on Abdul Saleem Junaid. A Pakistani, Junaid was launched into India by Lashkar commander Azam Cheema. While Junaid, who was designated as the head of Lashkar in India, was supposed to be based in Delhi, he found Hyderabad more hospitable and settled down there after marrying a local girl.

The cover of a regular couple proved useful for setting up several sleeper cells, at least a few comprising Pakistanis.

The terror group targeted Dilsukhnagar again in 2002, planting a bomb near the Saibaba temple killing two persons.

The choice of Dilsukhnagar is no accident and fits in the pattern of IM attacks. The terror module has so chosen the day and timing of its attacks as to ensure that the majority community bore the brunt: something which dates to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai and which is meant to exacerbate communal tension.

Shine, along with home secretary R K Singh, are leaving for Hyderabad on Friday morning for an on-the-spot assessment. There is also going to be a probe into whether Delhi Police shared the specific information about Bhatkal persisting with his plans against Dilsukhnagar with their counterparts in Hyderabad and, in case they did, what did the latter do to fend off the attempt.

Hyderabad being the hub of both National Security Guards and National Investigation Agency can help with the probe.

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Delhi airport Metro link operator got 'undue benefits': CAG

NEW DELHI: The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has said that there were serious irregularities, flouting of government norms and undue financial benefits to the private player in the Delhi airport Metro link.

The country's first Metro rail project under the public-private partnership (PPP) model - Delhi Airport Metro Express Line (DAMPEL) - has been riddled with concessions to DAMPEL, the joint venture between Reliance Infrastructure and Construccionesy Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, SA (CAF) of Spain, CAG has said in a draft report.

Financially, the two most serious charges raised in the CAG report pertain to alleged "undue benefits" on waived customs duty and investment of funds from an escrow account for the project to various Reliance ADAG group mutual funds without proper disclosure.

The CAG has revealed that DAMEPL got customs duty concessions on imports of capital goods worth Rs 990 crore on the basis of a recommendation letter from DMRC. According to CAG, this waiver should not have been extended to DAMEPL and was applicable only if the items were imported for DMRC itself and would ultimately be owned by it. This undue benefit, CAG estimates, amounted to Rs 29.56 crore.

The report also says that the concessionaire released Rs 285.43 crore from the escrow account to "various subsidiaries of M/s Reliance Infra Limited" and DAMEPL had not given any disclosure about any of these transactions being with a "related party".

The report says that the company should have been penalized for the non-completion of two of its proposed stations - Dhaula Kuan and Aero City, before the scheduled deadline. According to the agreement, the company had to finish the undertaken project within 90 days of the provisional completion certificate. For this also, the company has not been asked to pay penalty which would amount to Rs 1.66 crore. Delhi Metro has, on the other hand, incurred losses of Rs 2.25 crore due to the unfinished project.

The violations, according to CAG, started from the very genesis of the project. According to the report, while the Centre had mandated that all infrastructure projects on PPP mode costing over Rs 100 crore would have to be appraised by the PPP Appraisal Committee (PPPAC), this project was not routed through the committee despite an estimated cost of over Rs 3,000 crore.

Pointing out another "violation of its own guidelines" by the government, CAG has found that the project was approved with DAMEPL having to contribute only 46.17% of the project cost through its equity and debt and the government funding the rest. This despite the fact that norms set by the finance ministry allowed for only 40% government assistance to make a project viable.

The report points out that though the PPP route was chosen for the project on the grounds that this would enable it to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in 2010, the line actually became operational upto the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) five months after the Games.

The report goes on to point out that while the Union urban development ministry had approved a debt -equity ratio of 7:3 for the concessionaire, between 2009 and 2012 the ratio was 4,3218:1, 230,907:1 and 275,205:1 for the three financial years. Strangely, when this was pointed out, DMRC argued that it was for the senior lender to monitor these details, according to CAG.

Asked for comments on the draft report, a DAMEPL spokesperson said it should be more appropriate for DMRC and the urban development ministry to respond since "the said draft report is available with them and not with us" and also that things should be seen in the context of the fact that this was a project awarded through competitive bidding and not on a cost-plus basis.

The spokesperson, however, did respond to some of the specific charges by CAG. For instance, on the customs duty issue, he said the imports were under a project import licence registration which was "a perfectly bonafide and legitimate way to import items required for certain specified project, which includes MRTS and urban monorail projects". He pointed out that for registration under this scheme, a recommendation letter from the appropriate sponsoring ministry/department is needed, which in this case happened to be DMRC.

"We fail to even understand what is the contention! Even for our Mumbai Metro Project, MMRDA has issued such a recommendation letter, and we are importing necessary equipment under project import scheme. There are hundreds of qualifying projects in the country which are availing of such project import duties, which are only slightly lower than merit duty," he said.

On the investments from the escrow account, DAMEPL said that under the agreement, investments into MFS investing in debt instruments with Crisil Rating of AA or higher were allowed and that the funds specified in the CAG report all met this requirement.

As for disclosing that investments were made in "related party" funds, the spokesperson said, "we most emphatically state that the company in question is neither a subsidiary of Reliance Infra, nor a subsidiary of DAMEPL, and we also confirm that no 'related party disclosures' are mandated in this case".

On the debt-equity norms, he said, "the concession agreement does not specify debt-equity ratio, and the lenders' documentation recognises sub-debt also as promoters' contribution. The funding structure of the project has been fully compliant with both the concession agreement and the lenders' documentation."

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Bihar records 11.95% growth, highest among states

PATNA: Despite global economic slowdown and sagging domestic demand, Bihar has managed to record 11.95% annual growth rate, the highest among all the states, during the 11th Plan period.

According to the Economic Survey 2012-13 tabled by deputy CM and finance minister Sushil Kumar Modi in the state legislature on Tuesday, Bihar almost remained untouched by the overall global slowdown but for some side effects in 2012-13.

But the state's per capita income of Rs 25,653 at current prices is still far behind the national average of Rs 60,972 in 2011-12. "Our gross state domestic product (GSDP) at 2004-05 prices is Rs 1.52 lakh crore which is estimated to rise to Rs 2.53 lakh crore at current prices in 2011-12," Modi said.

The problem of low income in Bihar is accentuated by considerable disparity across the districts in terms of their per capita income. In 2009-10, Patna, with per capita income of Rs 55,539, Munger with Rs18,669 and Bhagalpur with Rs14,396 have been the most prosperous districts whereas Sheohar has Rs 5,552, Madhepura (Rs 7.161) and Supaul (Rs 7,213) remained at the bottom.

Modi said the state government had an outstanding debt of Rs 44,475 crore in 2007-08, which is 39% of its GSDP. By 2011-12, it declined substantially to 24% even though the outstanding debt increased to Rs 60,551 crore. Incidentally, it was 53% in 2001-02.

Bihar's gross fiscal deficit (GFD) was only Rs 3,971 crore in 2010-11 but it sharply increased to Rs 5,915 crore in the subsequent year. In 2012-13, it is projected to rise further to Rs 7,569 crore due to higher capital investment.

The survey claimed growth in the state's own tax revenue, increasing from Rs 5,086 crore in 2007-08 to Rs 12,612 crore in 2011-12. The non-tax revenue has jumped from Rs 526 crore to Rs 890 crore during the same period. "The state's own tax revenue has increased to 4.99% of the GSDP," said principal finance secretary Rameshwar Singh.

"The image of Bihar has undergone a change in recent years, thanks to high growth rate of its economy and accompanying developments in social sectors. This was made possible primarily through the efforts of the state government which utilized its limited resources in a prudent manner," said Modi.

The state, according to the survey, has been showing a continuous revenue surplus since 2004-05. This surplus had reached to Rs 6,316 crore in 2010-11, the highest ever level, before falling to Rs 4,821 crore in 2011-12.

In agriculture sector, the production of cereals in 2011-12 was 172 lakh tonnes, compared to 104 lakh tonnes in previous fiscal. The production of rice increased to a new high of 8.2 million tonnes against 3.1 million tonnes in 2010-11. The use of 'Sri' technique was an important factor in the bumper rice production.

The survey states that Bihar has a total of 1.92 lakh registered units under micro, small and medium enterprises involving a total investment of Rs 1,941 crore and employing 6.30 lakh persons in 2012. Altogether 11 sugar mills were operational in 2011-12 and a total of 488.30 lakh quintals of sugarcane were crushed and produced 45.10 lakh quintals of sugar.

Up to September 2012, the State Investment Promotion Bureau has approved total 939 proposals for setting up industrial units involving an investment of Rs 3.19 lakh crore with employment potential of 2.27 lakh persons.

To a query about CM Nitish Kumar's assertion that Bihar will take another 25 years to come on a par with developed states at this pace of development and the kind of investment required, ADRI's member secretary Shaibal Gupta said as per a rough estimate, an yearly investment of Rs 40,000 crore is needed to reach the national average of growth. But he hastened to add that it was not very accurate estimate.

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David Cameron woos India with visa, education sops

MUMBAI: Clearly out to woo Indian businesses and students, British Prime Minister David Cameron on his visit to Mumbai on Monday announced that the UK would introduce same-day visa services for investors and that there would be no cap on the number of Indian students to UK or the duration of their residence there. Accompanied by the largest-ever trade delegation from the UK to any country, the PM also said India should continue to reduce trade barriers to create better opportunities for British companies and spoke of partnering in Indian infrastructure projects like a potential economic corridor between Mumbai and Bangalore.

The British premier said there were great opportunities for Indian companies to invest in Britain. "When I see Indian investment in Britian, I only see hope—investments like Jaguar and Land Rover, which is a massive international success story," he said. "We welcome that sort of investment." In a sign of the growing business footprint, British retail company Debenhams will open ten new stores across India by 2017, and UK hairstyling brands Brylcream and TRESemme products will go on sale in India. The Royal Mint and the MMTC-PAMP India have partnered to strike The Royal Mint's gold Sovereign commemorative coins in India for the first time in nearly a century. The InterContinental Hotel Group also plans to expand in India by building 13 new hotels over the next few years.

The delegation also explored soft power exchanges in health, education, culture and renewable energy. The British Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts, chaired a round table on education and employability at St Xavier's College. On the sidelines of the event, he told mediapersons that they would meet officials of the human resource development ministry in Delhi to discuss the problems associated with recognition of the taught Masters' programmes in India. "The Indian government education bodies do not recognize the one-year taught Masters' degree from UK. Though getting a job in the private sector is easier with the degree, the government sector does not recognize it." Attributing this as one of the factors affecting the flow of Indian students to UK universities, one of the delegates also mentioned that a re-entry into the Indian education system after the one-year taught Masters programme was difficult with lack of recognition.

Cameron also sought information on various infrastructural initiatives in Mumbai, including the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor, the Navi Mumbai airport and the Nhava-Sewri Link. Transport for London (TfL), which runs an extensive metro network in London, inked a crucial memorandum of understanding with MMRDA for the development of metro systems, exchange of expertise and information. The MOU was signed in the presence of Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, who said the new partnership would help MMRDA implement and operationalize its plans for setting up a 150-km Metro rail network for Mumbai and another 300-km network in the Mumbai metropolitan region.

Chavan also used the occasion to push for investment. "Our vision is to transform Mumbai into a world-class metropolis, which is estimated to require investment worth US $ 40 billion. Participation of the UK business community will encourage us to plan more initiatives," he said, adding that Cameron had shown interest in investing in Mumbai and Maharashtra.

Trade between India and UK has grown by 23% in 2010-11, and both countries hope to double the figure by 2015. The British PM lauded the "enormous power" of the Indian economy and said he wanted UK to be "a partner of choice" in India's growth over the next decade. He hoped India too would work to break the barriers in their two-way exchanges. On their part, Indian entrepreneurs acknowledged that India had posed challenges with the uncertainty of its reform policy and the issue of retrospective taxation, but assured an optimistic outlook on future ties.

Cameron also stopped by the police gymkhana to pay tribute to the cops who lost their lives during the 26/11 terror attack.

New Indo-UK bridges

*Indian investors in UK could get a visa within a day.

*No cap on No. of Indian students who can study in the UK.

*Cameron evinced interest in constructing a Mumbai-Bangalore corridor as well as existing projects such as DMIC, Navi Mumbai Airport, Nhava-Sewri link.

*Transport for London (TfL) inked a crucial memorandum of understanding with MMRDA.

*The Royal Mint and the MMTC-PAMP India have partnered to strike The Royal Mint's gold Sovereign commemorative coins in India for the first time in nearly a century.

*UK government announced that it will support the creation of a new pan-India network of British Business Centres by 2017.

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Lokpal, right to reject can eliminate graft: Anna Hazare

HYDERABAD: Declaring that he would mobilize six crore people over next one and a half years for his anti-graft campaign, Anna Hazare on Sunday said Jan Lokpal alone cannot root out corruption and called for comprehensive electoral reforms and empowering of village-level bodies.

Addressing a public meeting, he said his fight was for changing the entire system and called upon youths to join hands with him. The 75-year-old said Jan Lokpal can control 50 to 55 per cent corruption.

"What about the remaining corruption? That is why we are demanding right to reject a candidate (in the elections)," he said.

"If all five contesting candidates in an election are goondas, whom the people will choose? We are saying that you provide an option to the voters to reject them. If maximum number of voters reject the candidates, the election should be cancelled and these five should not be allowed to contest again," Anna Hazare said.

He felt this reform is a must to check corruption in elections and pointed out that a candidate is spending Rs 5 crore to Rs 6 crore in each election to bribe voters.

"They get power by using money, and money by using power. There is need to put an end to this vicious circle," he said.

He vowed to continue fight for Jan Lokpal and alleged that the government is not sincere in bringing the anti-graft legislation.

Hazare explained that the government initially turned down the demand to involve people's representatives in bringing the legislation. He also referred to the government's reluctance to bring middle and lower-level bureaucrats under Lokpal.

"For the next one-and-half years, I will visit all states to create awareness. I don't know if I will be able to awaken all 120 crore people but if I go around, I can mobilize six crore people who can force the government to change the system," he said.

Hazare claimed that the nation-wide campaign launched by Janatantra Morcha from Patna last month evoked good public response. He told the gathering that Morcha would be built from village level and that every person involved in it would be a leader.

He also clarified that nobody in the Morcha would be allowed to collect money.

Stating that he had been carrying on the fight for the last 30 years, the social activist said he had no fear of death. "I will feel honoured if I die while serving the society and the country," he added.

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Rs 20 lakh Red Fort replica for Mayawati

NAGPUR: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's state-level rally scheduled at Kasturchand Park on Sunday will also reflect the extravagant display of money power.

The Bahujan Samaj Party chief would address the rally from the stage which would be a replica of the historic Red Fort at Delhi. The stage will be built at a cost of Rs 20 lakh.

BSP workers in Nagpur roped in local decorator Digambar Bagde to erect the monument's replica.

Bagde said the replica has been built in such a way that it withstands rain. To recreate the backdrop, Bagde used two trucks of thermacol and to build the set, he and his team of 25 artists from Chitrakala Mahavidyalaya worked almost 16-18 hours a day since February 5.

Bagde spent more than a week doing preparations. "I have never visited New Delhi, so I downloaded images of the Lal Qila. It was of great help. Two huge elephants will be erected on both the sides of the stage," he said.

Bagde used water colours to paint the fort and also sprayed sand on the wall to give an authentic look of a fort wall. The Rs 20 lakh expense for creating the replica Bagde's biggest contract yet.

Rajya Sabha MP and BSP national general secretary Veer Singh, who is also party incharge of Maharashtra, refused to divulge the amount being spent for Mayawati's visit in Nagpur.

However, party insiders told TOI that around Rs 1 crore was being spent for the success of the party's chief visit to Nagpur.

At least 10 huge cutouts will be erected at the venue. Besides, banners have also been erected in north Nagpur and in other areas where there is sizeable Dalit population.

Meanwhile, on the eve of Mayawati's rally on Sunday, over 1,000-odd BSP workers from across the state have already reached there.

Party workers from Nanded, Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Aurangabad, Latur and adjoining districts are here to hear Mayawati.

Local party workers were deployed at the railway station and ST stand in Ganeshpeth to guide the incoming party workers, said BSP corporator Kishore Gajbhiye.

The party has a growing presence in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation with 12 of its candidates serving as corporators in the civic body.

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IAF saddled with 3 Agusta choppers with limited spares

NEW DELHI: Three helicopters that have spare parts to fly for just a few months, pilots who are not fully conversant with the new VVIP helicopters, almost 45% of the money already paid and a huge consortium that may have to be blacklisted out of India for a decade.

Friday's decision to cancel the controversial deal for the three-engine AW-101 helicopters from UK-based AgustaWestland, a subsidiary of scandal-hit Italian consortium Finmeccanica, was taken amid several uncertainties, admit senior sources involved in the process.

The first steps, once the contract is cancelled, would be to invoke the 5% earnest money deposit, which is part of the integrity pact, and the performance bond (guarantee). This would be followed by a formal request to AgustaWestland to repatriate the extra money paid to them, after deducting the price of three helicopters and related costs.

Foremost among the challenges cited by senior IAF officers is the maintenance and operability of the three helicopters already delivered. "The three helicopters have come with some initial spares so they can fly only for a limited period. Long-term maintenance would not be possible unless the situation is retrieved. For now, both MoD and IAF are slightly clueless about what should be the future course of action," an officer said.

Once the contract is cancelled, the process of blacklisting the firm would begin, and once it is blacklisted for 10 years, then the government cannot enter into any contract with it. This would have an adverse impact on spare parts, maintenance, upgrade and the like.

The blacklisting process itself is not clear for now. While Finmeccanica and its subsidiary AgustaWestland seem to be involved in this scandal, there are several questions about blacklisting, including if all the subsidiary companies of Finmeccanica will be blacklisted because of the consortium's behaviour.

In the past, when Indian has blacklisted a defence firm, it has had a deadly backlash. India abruptly cancelled the HDW submarine contract with the German firm in the 1980s. For spare parts, the Indian Navy kept paying exaggerated prices to third party contractors. Even a normal nut-bolt then worth about Rs 20 was procured at approximately Rs 25,000, later investigations showed.

The pilots of the newly-inducted helicopters are undergoing "conversion and consolidation training" to be eligible to fly VVIPs since a certain amount of proficiency is required on the new machines even if they are experienced in flying the Russian-origin Mi-17s and Mi-8s. So, these pilots have to be certified as 'A-Master Green' pilots, which requires about 100 hours of flying on the new machines.

Sources said the government has already paid over 45% of the total contract value of Rs 3,546 crore. Further tranche of payments were linked to deliveries, through letters of credit. The next payment was coming up, ahead of the March delivery of the next three helicopters. The last two batches of three helicopters were to follow in May and July.

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J&K on edge, forces on guard

NEW DELHI: Although strict curfew is expected to be clamped in all trouble-prone areas of Kashmir, especially in Srinagar, on Friday, security forces are keeping their fingers crossed for what they believe will be the first full-blown expression of anger over Afzal Guru's hanging in the Valley.

Government has dispatched 25 companies of Border Security Force (BSF) to assist CRPF, which is the main force maintaining law and order along with Jammu & Kashmir Police. The BSF contingent, however, has been sent as an emergency force that will be put into action only if things go out of hand, said sources.

There are inputs of possible large-scale stir in the Valley on Friday, especially in Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla. While Syed Ali Shah Geelani has given a call for all in the Valley to gather at Idgah in Srinagar on Friday, there are reports of a march being organized to go to Sopore. "We are expecting incidents of large-scale stone-pelting on Friday," said a security official.

Paying heed to the threat perception, a high-level meeting of security agencies was held in Srinagar on Thursday, where it was decided to keep deployment of forces heavy and enforce strict curfew. Security forces fear that if people are allowed to protest on Friday, the situation could go out of hand.

History has been witness that Fridays see accentuated protests in the Valley, especially in Srinagar. Security forces hope that increased security will keep people inside home. There is also the calculation that the anger may be ebbing a bit in the Valley, with Thursday being a much quieter day. There were hardly any protests across the Valley with clashes or injuries reported and curfew being relaxed in large parts of Kashmir.

Sources, however, say Friday could still be different as there are already calls for organized protests, which if evoke spontaneous response could throw the Valley's normal life out of gear.

Though security forces have been given strict instruction to exercise restraint and ensure there are no casualties, forces say it is easier said than done. "When protests like the ones in 2010 happen, it is difficult to reign in jawans. After all he is not going to hold back if he sees his own life in danger," said an official supervising operations in Kashmir.

Sources say even if Guru's hanging does not stir up much, civilian casualties at this time may make the entire Valley erupt. "It is not easy to ensure that. But if there are deaths in Srinagar, it will be a nightmare," added the source.

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All further payments to AgustaWestland put on hold

NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday put on hold all further payments to AgustaWestland, the UK-based company accused of paying kickbacks in the Rs 3,546-crore deal for VVIP helicopters inked by India in 2010, in a grim bid to contain the political fallout from the fresh scam to have hit UPA-II.

AgustaWestland, the subsidiary of Italian military giant Finmeccanica, has also been asked to explain if it had paid any commissions to middlemen in the deal in the light of filings in an Italian court. According to government sources, ministry of defence (MoD) has written to the company asking him to state if it paid any individual or firms any sort of commission in the VVIP helicopter deal.

The allegation that bribes were paid to bag the Indian contract marks a violation of the anti-graft "integrity clause" in country's defence deals which is liable to be punished with cancellation of the order, blacklisting of the offender, stiff financial penalty and even criminal prosecution.

The decision to block future payment represented a decisive move, perfectly commensurate with the need to contain the political fallout from the latest scandal to have hit the beleaguered UPA. The government has by now paid up a little over 50% of the total payment, and a fresh tranche was set to be released this month. "We have put on hold all future payments until we complete the review of the contract", said a senior government official.

Sources said the government has not taken a final decision on stopping the future deliveries of the remaining nine helicopters—three of them have already been inducted by the IAF. The next delivery of three helicopters is expected in March, with the remaining six to be delivered by July. "We would have completed our review by then," said a senior MoD official.

Significantly, defence minister A K Antony, stressed that government would lose no money if it were to scrap the contract. "The Indian government will not lose a single pie. As per the defence procurement procedure and the integrity pact signed with the company, we can even get back the entire money paid to the vendor, apart from making it liable for criminal action," said Antony: a statement which suggested that government could travel the whole distance if political considerations required so.

Government's swift response came amid apprehensions that the bribery charge could snowball into a fresh political trouble for the UPA government, with the Opposition leaping upon Italy's probe into payment of bribes by Finmeccanica, country's aerospace and defence giant, to swing India's order for helicopters for its VIP fleet. Both BJP and Left attacked the government, screaming scandal.

India's defence secretary Shashikant Sharma asked the Indian ambassador in Italy to formally procure the Italian court documents detailing alleged payment of 51 million euros as kickbacks in the deal for the 12 swank AW-101 helicopters with self-defence suites. The documents are expected to be key in the MoD's review of the contract. Indications are that the MoD may initiate tough action based on the evidence in the document.

"We cannot put the deal on hold based on media reports. We need authentic information, so that our interests, financial and military, are not compromised," a senior official said. He also pointed out that the government had been seeking formal information from the Indian embassies for long but until now nothing had emerged.

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Kurien writes to Sonia, Ansari; pleads innocence

NEW DELHI: RajyaSabha deputy chairman PJKurien has written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President HamidAnsari, claiming innocence in the Suryanelli rape case.

Kurien is learnt to have written to the two leaders last week to counter the renewed controversy over the rape scandal that has put him in the line of fire. BJP and CPM have adopted a tough stand, demanding that he step down from his post till his name is cleared.

Kurien narrated his side of the story in the letters, saying he was exonerated by every inquiry ordered by Congress and Left governments and was cleared by the Supreme Court and the high court. He said the allegations were made three days before he filed the nomination in 1996 elections, hinting at a political conspiracy.

The letters appear aimed at undercutting the rival campaign that has turned his scalp into a non-negotiable demand.

While Congress has been playing down the allegations, the claims on television by the sole convict in the case and the victim, accusing Kurien, have complicated matters. A section of Congress thinks that countering the demand for Kurien's resignation for long could be counter-productive in the post-Nirbhaya sensitivity over women's issues.

The victim's mother has already written to Sonia, seeking her intervention to ensure that Kurien steps down from the high post in Rajya Sabha.

The issue is likely to be sealed by the start of budget session on February 21.

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No poll considerations in Guru’s hanging: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Monday said it was preposterous to call Afzal Guru's hanging as timed to help the ruling party in elections, dismissing the allegations that have accompanied the execution of the Parliament attack case convict.

"Elections are one-and-a-half years away and it is a long time in politics," AICC spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said, facing a barrage of queries on the timing of Guru's execution.

Guru was hanged six years after he was awarded the death penalty, leading BJP to accuse the government of being dictated by votebank considerations.

While the hanging caught everyone by surprise, observers called it an attempt by Congress to cover its flanks against the BJP which has turned it into a political issue.

The consensus is that Congress has begun to take out polarizing issues from the poll menu, first executing Mumbai attack gunman Ajmal Kasab and following it up with Guru. That the hangings came inside three months have only heightened the surprise.

Dikshit strongly defended the Centre's action though there was a feeling that the execution was not handled well, with the family getting the letter informing about the proposed execution on Monday, two days after the hanging.

While underlining that the death sentence had been upheld by three courts and also affirmed by the Supreme Court, Dikshit said, "So, I think we must accept what the Supreme Court has said because it is the best judge of whether somebody is guilty or not."

The party also termed as "unfortunate" the fears expressed by J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah that Kashmiri youngsters were identifying themselves with Guru. "There can be some people in the Valley who might be associated with this ideology but we believe that justice has been done," the spokesman said.

At the same time, Dikshit refused to comment on the detention of a journalist related to Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on the day of the execution.

Congress also hit out at separatist JKLF leader Yasin Malik for sharing a dais with LeT chief Hafiz Saeed on his Pakistan trip. "Government must inquire into it. There have been three instances in the last three months in which people of a certain thought in the Valley have gone to Pakistan and met people there (Saeed)," Dikshit said.

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