Congress working on Rahul formula for ‘viable’ candidates

By Dilip Awasthi
Lucknow:
Rahul Gandhi’s grand plan for Uttar Pradesh is unfolding now. The Congress general secretary’s handpicked AICC volunteers have launched a massive hunt to short-list ‘winnable’ candidates for 2012 U.P. assembly elections. All these volunteers are drawn from different states so that only ‘merit’ prevails. They will report directly to Rahul.

The 10 volunteers have been allotted around 40 assembly constituencies each so that all the 403 seats are covered. They are traveling through their respective areas and interacting at the grass-root level. Their brief is to suggest a panel of three to five candidates for each seat in the order of `viability’. They have to go into the logistics of past elections and make final recommendations in the prescribed AICC format. The deadline is March 31, 2011.

The AICC instructions issued to these observers by general secretary Digvijaya Singh, also incharge of U.P., categorically state: “You have to submit your report directly to Shri Rahul Gandhi in a closed cover marked as `Confidential’….. The report is not to be shared with any other in the AICC or PCC.” Explains Singh, “The idea is to let Rahulji have an unadulterated feel of the ground.”

The observers have been drawn from different states. Three are from MP, two each from Mumbai and Delhi and one each from Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat. The instructions say: “Instead of meeting the workers in the circuit house, you should try to meet/contact commen people and take their opinion about the most viable candidates.” The observers are supposed to attend village chaupals (informal meetings) organized by the prospective candidates and make their assessment based on the spot feedback.

Most of these observers have already finished the first round. Some are into their third leg and already have had interim interaction with Rahul Gandhi. Muzzaffar Hussain, a Congress MLC from Mumbai has held more than 80 chaupals in eight eastern U.P. districts between November 15 and December 16. The district Congress President, the MP, MLAs of the area are invariably present in these chaupals. Says PL Punia Congress MP from Bara Banki, who has been attending these chaupals, “ You cannot fib in these chaupals. If you are popular it shows.”

The exercise has been happening simultaneously in other parts. Says Congress Legislature Party chief Pramod Tewari, “ The idea is to finish this homework and have final lists ready by May, 2011.” But obviously these AICC observers are having a tough time navigating through vested interests, pulls and pushes of the local leaders. Congress tickets have been traditionally decided through lobbying or pressure tactics. Says PCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, “ This exercise will give us a fair and unbiased base to work on. The intention is to get the best possible candidates.”

The last point of the AICC instructions is even more unnerving for the local leaders. The circular states: “If there is a powerful and popular person, who is not as yet with the Congress Party, you should try to win him over….”

“Jai Ho Ram Kumarji….”

By Dilip Awasthi
Between the proverbial cup and the lip, this story seeks to become the slip for state government’s intention of demolishing another institution of public trust. If it doesn’t, the all-important position of the state Chief Information Commission (CIC) may be served on a platter to one of the most controversial bureaucrats. The retired official’s sole claim to fame is that he is the only IAS officer in UP’s history, whose services were terminated for corruption and possession of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

Both chief minister Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would share the honours for the contentious appointment. Mayawati has short listed the name of 1976 batch IAS officer Ram Kumar, once her most trusted lieutenant and Mulayam Singh has absented himself from the high-power committee meeting on February 20, which finalized the official’s name for the coveted post. The CIC is the custodian of the Right to Information Act (RTI), which aims to ensure transparency and accountability in working of all public authority including the state government.

According to highly placed sources, Ram Kumar’s name was short-listed from a panel of five including two former bureaucrats and an existing information commissioner. In absence of Mulayam Singh, the committee sent its recommendation to the Governor the same evening. Ram Kumar, who retired last year, was appointment secretary between June and October 1995 during Mayawati’s first term as CM. He became controversial as his own colleagues including some PCS officials leveled charges of corruption against him. Some of them even submitted in writing and alleged that he had accepted grafts for doling out plum postings. The Kalyan Singh government placed him under suspension in June 1998, which continued till December the same year.

A series of inquiries including Vigilance proceedings were initiated against Ram Kumar. In 2000, the state government under BJP’s Ram Prakash Gupta took up a tirade against corrupt public servants and short-listed 277 officials against whom charges had been substantiated. In this list Ram Kumar, then a director with the state planning institute, was the only official against whom the state government sought central government permission for dismissal of services under the Rule 16(3) of All India Administrative Services Rules 1958. Ram Kumar was found involved in 16 cases of corruption by various inquiries.

On July 12, 2000, chief minister Ram Prakash Gupta himself ordereed Ram Kumar’s dismissal. The compliance of the dismissal notice was done the same evening by the additional district magistrate by pasting the notice at his A-5, Dilkusha Colony residence. However the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) reinstated him in 2003. He retired as principal secretary, rural engineering services last year. Says Ram Kumar, “None of the charges could be substantiated against me in the court. I was a victim of political vendetta”.

The decision to appoint him as the state CIC now rests with Governor TV Rajeswar as he is the appointing authority. According to Section 15 (3) of the RTI Act, the recommendation for the appointment has to be made by a three-member committee comprising the CM who is the chairperson of the committee, the leader of opposition in the Legislature Assembly in this case Mulayam Singh Yadav and a cabinet minister to be nominated by the CM in this case Panchayati Raj minister Babu Singh Kushwaha.

The obvious intention of the act is to get the CIC or for that matter any state Information Commissioners appointed on merit and with consensus. Whereas two members of the committee represent the government, one member represents the entire opposition lobby. The Governor now has to take a call on the issue that in the absence of the leader of opposition should the recommendation of the committee hold? The act is silent on this aspect.

The RTI Act has been an eyesore for the state government and its officials, who have been wanting to castrate this institution, which promises at least some justice for the common man. Nonetheless there could be no better salute to UP government’s penchant for backing the wrong horses than Rehman’s Oscar wining ‘’Jai Ho’’ more aptly “Jai Ho Ram Kumarji”….

CBI counts Mayawati's Millions

Lucknow July 10, 2008

CBI had to do as little as to retrieve the election-affidavits filed by Mayawati to nail her. The affidavits account for a rise from Rs 1.35 crore to Rs 52 crore in just four years. The astounding jump in Mayawati’s assets, with only flimsy evidence to prove how it was acquired, has become the focus of CBI's affidavit The agency filed this counter-affidavit in the Supreme Court on Thursday to justify its decision to charge sheet the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in a disproportionate assets case.

The charges listed in detail are backed by documents running into over 100 pages. On this very basis the CBI has insisted on prosecuting Mayawati. The affidavit says that in April 2004, Mayawati in her affidavit before the returning officer for Akbarpur LS constituency put her assets at Rs 1.5 lakh in cash, Rs 9.78 lakh in bank deposits and properties worth Rs 1.25 crore in Delhi. This totalled Rs 1.35 crore.

Four years later for the nomination papers filed during 2007 assembly elections in U.P., her affidavit puts the value of her total assets at Rs 52 crore. The sudden increase in wealth has not been explained, says the CBI affidavit. When questioned by CBI, Mayawati came up with the clever explanation that she had collected the money through her supporters contributions ranging from Rs 5 to Rs 10. CBI, however, said no evidence was provided by her towards this explanation.

CBI said in its affidavit that it did a professional job by thoroughly investigating each and every aspect of the DA case. It had painstakingly gathered evidence and came to a conclusion that it was a fit case for filing the charge sheet against her as mandated under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The affidavit was in response to Mayawati’s petition accusing CBI of harassing her by keeping alive the DA case.

The CBI affidavit claimed that 96 plots, houses and orchards were bought between 1998 and 2003 by Mayawati and her relatives. The affidavit gives graphic details of the properties acquired by the UP chief minister’s father Prabhu Dayal, her brothers Raj Kumar, Siddharth Kumar, Subhash Kumar and Anand Kumar, and cousins Tej Singh and Rajveer Singh. It says that they opened 94 bank accounts to stash away money unaccounted for.

The affidavit said the investigations into the disproportionate assets case against Mayawati were completed as far back as 2006, but the BSP supremo, who was questioned on May 10, 2005 at her residence, sent a fresh representation on July 17, 2006, requesting her re-examination by CBI.

‘‘Mayawati was re-examined at her residence. This was followed by a series of representations submitted by Mayawati and her family members raising new contentions and claims on each occasion, which resulted in continuation of the investigation, which now finally stands concluded,’’ the CBI said. ‘‘Final decision has been taken by the competent authority to file the Final Report (charge sheet) under Section 173 of the Criminal Procedure Code,” CBI said.

According to the affidavit following are the details of bank accounts in the name of UP chief minister Mayawati, her relatives and associates, and properties bought by them from 1998 to 2003. It says 74 properties, including 41 agricultural plots, 18 residential plots, 5 forest plots, 7 shops, business and commercial properties, 2 shops-cum-residences, 3 gardens/orchards are valued at Rs 7.78 crore. Besides there are 22 other properties acquired by Mayawati in own name or that of family members, relatives and associates include 4 residential buildings at Inderpuri, Delhi. According to the affidavit 54 bank accounts and deposits totalling Rs 7.36 crore were seized in Mayawati's and her relatives' names. Forty more bank accounts with a deposit of Rs 5.29 crore were frozen.

These were allegedly used to channel funds into her and her relatives' accounts. Mayawati's sister-in-law purchased 60% share in Hotel Shilton, Mussoorie, for Rs 90 lakh, 307 donations/gifts worth Rs 13.18 crore were shown to have been received by Mayawati, her family members and relatives from more than 130 donors. The CBI traced 30 donors, who said they do not have the means to donate the said huge amounts .

Mayawati has Mulayam on a sticky wicket

Lucknow, July 2, 2008

Chief minister Mayawati's clever twist by calling nuclear deal anti-Muslim has Samajwadi Party (SP) and its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on a sticky wickets. As a result Mulayam's younger brother and senior SP functionary Shivpal Singh Yadav convened a media conference today to call Mayawati's statement "mischievous and politically angled". But a group of important Sunni and Shia Muslim religious leaders called on Mayawati this afternoon and openly came out in support of her views.


Mayawati had in a press conference yesterday lambasted the Samajwadi Party for joining hands with the Congress and by doing so supporting the nuke deal. Terming Yadav as a great ‘opportunist,’ Mayawati said that he had decided to back the Congress on the issue of nuclear deal in spite of the fact that it had been widely opposed in the country and enraged Muslims in particular. “The cause for this is that the deal has been done at the cost of cheap gas from Iran,” she said.


Shivpal Singh today had to come out in defence of his party's position. He also charged," Mayawati has always joined hands with communal forces and the Muslims are too familiar with her real character." As he did the explaining, a parallel press conference was held by a Muslim SP MP and some former SP leaders to criticise the likely tie-up with Congress. Said SP MP from Muzzaffarnagar Munnawar Hasan in presence of former SP minister Gauri Shanker, "The party's interest is being traded away by Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh, who has struck a deal with US."


Meanwhile an influential group of Muslim religious leaders met the CM Mayawati today. They included Maulana Dr. Kalbe Sadiq, Maulana Hamidul Hasan, Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangimahali Nayab Imam Idgah, Maulana Fazlurrehman, Imam Tile wali Masjid, Maulana Naimurrehman, Maulana Aleem Faruqui, Sayyed Aijaz Ahmed, Siraj Mehdi, Wasim Rizvi, Sayyed Zaheerul Hasan and Amirul Hasan. According to official release of the government, these religious clerics of Shia and Sunni Community jointly said that the Chief Minister should use her influence to prevent the anti-national atomic deal with America.


The move is certainly rattling for the Samajwadi Party which is the self-proclaimed custodians of the Muslims.

Mayawati harsh on black sheep in BSP

Lucknow, June 30:

U.P. Chief Minister Mayawati likes to lead from the front even in setting precedents for today's politics. At a time when the measures taken to check criminalisation of politics or for that matter the ongoing debate on the issue seem to be going nowhere, controversial politician Mayawati is showing the way. On June 29, 2008 she once again showed how a top leader of a political party can weed out black sheep from its own flock.

Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit was arrested from Mayawati's Noida residence for allegedly "abducting" a woman television reporter three days back. Pandit, who was shown as having been taken into custody from Sector 24 of Noida, has been charged under various Sections of Indian Penal Code by the police, officials sources said. The chief minister had acted against her party's mafia MP Umakant Yadav by getting her arrested from her Lucknow residence in May 2007.

An MLA from Dibai Assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Pandit was summoned by Chief Minister Mayawati at her residence here after the reporter lodged a complaint with her about his misbehavior. The victim - Sheetal told Mayawati that Pandit had allegedly forced him to travel with him from one place to another. Sheetal’s father, Dinesh Chand Birla has complained that the legislator had married his daughter despite having a wife and two kids. Pandit was handed over a notice from investigation officer of Gijod police station for appearing before him.

Noida (city) Superintendent of Police Ashok Tripathi said he was summoned and placed under arrest. A case, under Section 147 (rioting), 366 (deceitful means to compel a person to travel places), 363 (whoever kidnaps or abducts a women and compels her to marry or have a sexual relation), 497 (adultery) and 420 (cheating), has been registered against the BSP MLA.

On May 31, 2007 Mayawati had got the BSP's MP, Umakant Yadav, arrested from the reception of her Lucknow residence. A dat before Yadav was named the main accused in a land grabbing case in Azamgarh district. The MP was promprtly suspended from the party for six years. His son, Dinesh Yadav, who was also named an accused in the case was expelled from the party. The MP's son had contested the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections from Khuthan on a BSP ticket.

Yadav, who was arrested by the Hazratganj police, was taken on transit remand by the Azamgarh police, which had come to Lucknow to trace him.

In an official Press statement, the Chief Minister said that her Government would not spare any person involved in a criminal act, irrespective of his status.

Talking to newsmen at the police station, Mr. Yadav said he had gone to meet "Behenji" to present his viewpoint. He obviously claimed that he was not involved in the land grabbing case. But chief minister Mayawati was not convinced.

Jaya Bachchan in soup again

Parliamentary membership has hardly added to Jaya Bachchan’s reputation. The film actress turned politician now faces a criminal case for hiding facts in her affidavit filed for the Rajya Sabha by-election held in June 2004.

An FIR against Bachchan has been lodged on behalf of Principal Secretary Vidhan Sabha R P Pandey, who was the returning officer of by-election, official sources confirmed. Pandey has asked the SSP Lucknow, Akhil Kumar to register a case against Jaya Bachchan for concealing facts about a land in Barabanki in the name of her husband Amitabh Bachchan in the affidavit.

Pandey took the action on the directives of election Commission on a petition filed by one Amir Haidar of Barabanki. Election Commission had sent a notice to Jaya on February 5, 2007 and gave her a fortnight to send an explanation. Later, Pandey had reserved his verdict on the reply sent by Bachchan. Pandey said concealing facts in the affidavit of the election amounts to violation of section 125(A) and section 33(A) of the Representative of Peoples Act 1951 and is punishable under section 177 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

''Hence, an FIR should be registered against Jaya Bachchan, resident of Pratiksha, North South Road No-10, Juhu Scheme, Juhu, Mumbai and legal proceeding launched against her'', he said in his letter to the SSP.

Amir Haider, an advocate and Congress worker in Barabanki, had filed a petition with the EC on October 19, 2006 stating Jaya had concealed facts about two properties in the name of her husband Amitabh, which were purchased just a fortnight before filing the affidavit for the RS by-poll.

This will be the second time that Jaya would be in trouble after resigning from the RS over office of profit controversy in March 2006.

The affidavit filed by Jaya on June 1, 2006 showed only one piece of land of 0.25 hectare and did not mention other two pieces of land measuring 1.3 and 1.5 hectares in Amitabh's name at Daulatpur village of Fatehpur tehsil, Barabanki. The land mentioned in the affidavit also entered into a controversy with a petition in the High Court claiming that it was a Gram Samaj land meant to be distributed among the poor and landless farmers.

However, Amitabh Bachchan surrendered the gram samaj land to the state government last year.

On February 09, 2007 within months of her re-election to Rajya Sabha after being disqualified, Samajwadi Party MP and actress Jaya Bachchan had been issued notice for an explanation for allegedly concealing property details while filing nomination papers for the Upper House polls last year. The notice to Bachchan was issued by the principal secretary of the Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, who was the returning officer in this case, after the Election Commission had referred a complaint to him.

Bachchan was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha in a by-election from Uttar Pradesh in June last year after she was disqualified from the Upper House over an office of profit controversy in March 2006.

On March 17, 2006 President APJ Abdul Kalam approved the disqualification of Jaya Bachchan from the Rajya Sabha. The Election Commission of India had disqualified her from the Upper House of Parliament since in her capacity as chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Film Development Council chairperson she was holding an office of profit, it contended. Bachchan had been elected RS member in 2004.

A Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, Madan Mohan, had filed the disqualification petititon against Bachchan on the ground that as chairperson of the state Film Development Council she held an office of profit and attracted provisions of the Constitution in this regard. Articles 102 and 103 of the Constitution provide for disqualification of MPs on various grounds, including holding an office of profit. Whenever a petition for the disqualification of an MP is filed, the President is mandated by the Constitution to take a decision in consultation with the Election Commission. Normally, the President goes by the recommendation of the Commission.
Bachchan had also filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the EC recommendation and sought its views on what constituted an office of profit.

Sahara land under a scanner

On June 23, 2008, the Supreme Court to some extent sealed the fate of Sahara Shehar, Sahara group's prestigious headquarter and residential complex in Lucknow. The Supreme Court stayed the High Court order and directed a status quo in the situation created after the demoloition of some major structures by the Lucknow Development Authority.

Following the Supreme Court order the LDA posted police on the site and removed a tin-shed boundary wall which the Sahara group had installed after the High Court's favourable order of June 20. The LDA also lodged an FIR against Sahara employees for erecting the tin boundary wall at the demolition site.

On June 19, 2008 at 10.30 pm the Lucknow Development Authority pressed more than 30 bull-dozers and a huge police pose to demolish a part of the Sahara Shehar in Lucknow's posh Gomti Nagar. The exercise to reclaim around 1.50 lakh sq. feet of land on which the Sahara group had built a huge state-of-art auditorium, its guest houses and other structures continued throughout the night.
However, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court passed an order on June 20 restoring the land to Sahara group and also allowing rebuilding of the demolished structures. Against this the UP government moved the Supreme court which will hear the case on Monday.
This is not the first time that the Sahara Shehar, constructed on 270 acres of prime land in the state capital, has come under the scanner. The property is located on land which was demarcated in the master plan as green belt and public parks. The state government headed by Kalyan Singh in 1997 had prepared a plan to demolish the structures within Sahara Shehar. Against this Sahara had filed regular suits in the civil court and had subsequently got the proceedings stayed.
Sahara Shehar is located on the land licensed and leased by the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) and LDA. The LMC had provided the land to Sahara in two parts. Firstly, 130 acres land was granted on a licence basis on October 22, 1994 during Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime for construction of houses and commercial structures. Another 40 acres was leased out to the group for maintaining a green belt on June 23, 1995, again during Mulayam tenure. Mulayam Singh's proximity to Sahara chief Subroto Rai Sahara is well known. The LDA too had provided 100 acres of land to the group on February 22, 1995, for maintaining green cover.
However, in 1998 during Kalyan Singh’s regime, then LDA vice-chairman Prabhat Kumar had started demolition proceedings against the group by scraping the land deal between Sahara and the LDA. However, former Chief Minister Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav on February 16, 2007 took a Cabinet decision to recall the demolition orders.
According to official sources, the state government and the LDA have prepared an exhaustive case against Sahara this time.

Mayawati's withdrawal of support to UPA

By Dilip Awasthi
BSP chief Mayawati does not seem to believe in springing surprises in politics. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati's decision to withdraw support to the UPA government on June 21, 2008 hardly had any shock-value.
The decision surely has come in difficult times for the Congress-led UPA government which is already facing the wrath of the people for its failure to check soaring prices and inflation. Mayawati's withdrawal of support means that the central government will be poorer by 19 members in the Lok Sabha. This would hardly threaten the government in any way apart from the political message which the withdrawal would send.
The Congress in any case had been working on its contingency plans ever since January 7, 2008 when CM Mayawati announced in a media conference in New Delhi that her party is contemplating withdrawal of support to the UPA government. Both Congress president and Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh had been angling for some kind of working relationship with the Samajwadi Party (SP) which has 35 members in the Lok Sabha.
The question whether SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav will come closer to the UPA government and to what extent will be answered shortly but it would be interesting to examine the political consequences of BSP's withdrawal of support. First of all in no case the two parties would have gone hand-in-hand for the next Lok Sabha elections. Both Congress and the BSP are heavily dependent on the dalit votes - Congress in most of the state and the BSP mainly in Uttar Pradesh.
The BSP is vying for a national status now and would like to carve in a support base in other states also. According to BSP insiders, chief minister Mayawati strongly believes that she can emerge as a compromise prime ministerial candidate if her party can win around 50 Lok Sabha seats in the next outing. Going by her strength in Uttar Pradesh, she can expect bagging 30-35 seats in her home state. Sharing its vote bank with Congress as it is would be disastrous.
In her letter to the President of India with copies marked to UPA chiarperson Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chaterjee and vice-president Mohd. Hamid Ansari, Mayawati has claimed people's, specially for the poor and downtrodden, woes following price-rise and inflation as the main reason for BSP's withdrawal of support. But then in her four-paged note, Mayawati criticises the Congress for not bailing her out in the "fictitious Taj corridor" case.
She recalls that this very case was the reason why she severed the alliance with BJP on August 29, 2003 and resigned as UP's chief minister. According to her the BJP had asked her party to leave 60 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and contest for merely 20 seats in 2004 Lok Sabha elections. She refused point-blank. She claims that BJP vindictively started "falsely implicating me" in the Taj corridor case. "In national interest I ended the alliance with BJP. The Congress promised to ensure justice for me in the same case but as I can see it, the party has deliberately has kept the issue pending for the last four years. Both these parties in no case are liking BSP's increasing mass base in the country", she claims.
The reasons obviously are political and Mayawati is not camouflaging this. Now is the Congress's turn to react. The reaction could well be expediting the CBI investigation in the Taj case and Mayawati's assets case.