States Watch

New AICC Secretaries

NEW DELHI: The All India Congress Committee on 16 April appointed five new secretaries, with the addition of two more on 23 April. The new secretaries are former Sivaganga MP, Shri E.M. Sudarshan Natchiappan who failed to get re-nomination since the Congress party decided to field former Union Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram. Others are Shri Ranji Thomas, who is the secretary of party's Legal Cell, former bureaucrat-turned-politician, Shri J.D. Seelam, Shri Santosh Singh, Shri Vibhakar Shastri, grandson of former Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Ms. Archana Dalmia and Shri Vivek Bansal, who has been intrusted with the charge of Western UP. These postings come into immediate effect.

HVC Merges with Congress

NEW DELHI: The former Union Minister, Shri Sukh Ram on 12 April, rejoined the Congress after announcing the merger of his Himachal Vikas Congress (HVC) with it. Shri Sukh Ram was the Communications Minister in the last Congress Government at the Centre.

Shri Sukh Ram said that the HVC merger was unconditional. He said that in view of his indifferent health he was unable to stand the rigours of contesting from the constituency, which is the second largest in terms of its spread.

Shri Sukh Ram announced that he had vowed not to hold any public office till he got acquitted in the cases filed against him. He promised to campaign for the Congress alongwith the Chief Minister and other senior leaders as an ordinary worker.

AR Verma is New Mayor of Delhi

NEW DELHI: The senior Congress Councillor from Laxmi Nagar, Asha Ram Verma, was on 12 April elected the new Mayor of Delhi. Ramesh Datta, his veteran party colleague from Minto Road, was declared elected as the Deputy Mayor.

Shri Verma defeated his rival Yogender Chandolia of the Bharatiya Janata Party by a margin of 88 votes. The outgoing Mayor and Presiding officer, Shri Ashok K. Jain announced that Verma polled 106 votes, and Shri Chandolia got 18 votes, while two votes were declared invalid. As per the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, the Delhi Mayor and his deputy is elected every year.

Though elected to the MCD House for the first time in the 2002 municipal elections, Shri Verma was elected as Chairman of the Scheduled Caste Committee, besides being the member of the Standing Committee Conservancy and Sanitation Committee.

Elected to the civic body as early as 70s, Shri Datta turned 60 on April 19. Head of the Nehru Brigade of the Congress Shri Datta was Chairman of the City Zone in MCD. Shri Datta is considered to be a leader of the safai-karamcharis, slum dwellers and the poorest of the poor in the Capital.

Abrar Ahmed Dies in Road Accident

JAIPUR: The working president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee and Rajya Sabha member, Dr. Abrar Ahmed, was killed in a road accident near Deoli in Tonk district of the State early on 4 May morning. He is survived by his aged mother, his wife and former MLA, Yasmin Abrar, and a son and a daughter.

Dr. Ahmed, who was appointed the PCC working president a fortnight ago in view of PCC president Shri Narain Singh, contesting the Lok Sabha elections, was on his way from Jaipur to Jhalawar to campaign for the party on the eve of 5 May polling.

The 48-year-old Congress leader served as a Union Minister in the P.V. Narasimha Rao Government in the Centre in 1993. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 1988 and returned to the Upper House of the Parliament in 2002.

Sonia Gandhi Condoles Death

The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, on 4 May expressed deep shock and grief over the tragic and untimely death of the party MP and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president of the Rajasthan unit, Abrar Ahmed, in a road accident.

Smt. Gandhi said Dr. Ahmed would be remembered for his notable contribution both as a parliamentarian and a party leader during his long association with the Congress. "In his death, the party has lost a dedicated worker, who worked tirelessly to propagate the ideals of the party among the masses," Smt.Gandhi said.

MPCC Has New Team

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Congress president, Shri Subhash Yadav, on 12 March declared the new team of the PCC office-bearers comprising 15 vice-chairmen, 16 general secretaries, 22 secretaries, 30 members and 11 special invitees alongwith one treasurer.

Announcing the new team at a press conference at the PCC headquarters here, he said an attempt had been made to include all sections of the people. The new team is smaller than the previous one headed by the former State Congress president, Radhakishan Malviya.

The new State Congress vice-presidents are Vitthal Bhai Patel, Radhakrishna Garg, Harbans Singh, Gufrane Azam, Rameshwar Neekhra, Prem Narayan Mishra, Surendra Singh, Ashok Jain Bhabha, Sobran Singh Mawai, Dhansukhlal Bhachawat, Ajay Singh, Pankaj Sanghvi, Arunodaya Chaube, Sajjan Verma, and Mahendra Singh Kalukheda.

Those appointed as the MPCC general secretaries are Manohar Bairagi, Deep Chand Yadav, Govind Rajput, Ramlal Yadav, Banshilal Gandhi, Narmada Prasad Sharma, Rudra Pratap Singh, Ajay Chaure, Pushpa Bharti, Rakesh Ratan Singh, Shivkumar Jhalani, Alok Chansoria, Prakash Jain, Batuk Shankar Joshi, Vipin Khujneri and Prakash Khandelwal.

Prominent among those who have been inducted as executive committee members include the former Chief Minister, Digvijay Singh, Mahesh Joshi, Manak Agarwal and Mukesh Nayak.

The senior Congress leaders, Arjun Singh, Kamal Nath, Hansraj Bharadwaj, Suresh Pachouri, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jamuna Devi, Urmila Singh, Shrinivas Tiwari, Aziz Qureshi, Shashi Bhushan and Dalchand Jain are the special invitees.

Little Star Campaigner' Mesmerize Voters

NEW DELHI: Eight-year-old Sadhna Bharti, a youngest star campaigner of the Congress party has mesmerized voters by her brilliant speeches, seeking votes for the Congress Party.

Launching scathing attacks on RSS and BJP for their divisive policies, Sadhna Bharti has so far covered 48 Assembly constituencies and addressed several rallies. She is a part of the Congress's Legal Cell `Nyay Rath'.

On 23 April Sadhna Bharti addressed 16 public meetings in Rae Bareli and also participated in padyatras led by Smt. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. A crowd puller on her own, this little star campaigner has so far visited Churu, Bhopal Lok Sabha constituencies. Campaigning for Shri Balram Jakhar and Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia respectively.

Seeking votes for the Congress party, Bharti has been highlighting the NDA government's failure to work for the common people. In her speeches Bharti also criticised the `feel good' factor harped by the NDA-led government.

Blind, Disabled Campaign for Congress

BIDAR : The blind and disabled people convassed for the Congress candidates in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha elections. Social activist, Shri Das Suryavanshi, who runs a school for the blind, organized a team of the blind and went on to campaign from 6 to 8 April in the in the state. He held meetings in 204 villages and appealed to the people to vote for the Congress.

Haryana Jat Mahasabha Backs Congress

Harmay-14 GURGAON : The Haryana Jat Mahasabha on 8 May decided to support Congress candidates and to boycott BJP and Indian National Lok Dal during the Lok Sabha elections, according to Chaudhary Kuldip Singh Gachwal, president of the Haryana Jat Mahasabha. He said that both BJP and INLD were anti-farmer pursuing anti-farmers' policies. Shri Gachwal said that when the farmers raised their problems before the concerned officials in Jind, the police resorted to lathi-charge and later police firing killing nine farmers on the spot and injuring many. "If this is the attitude of the Chautala government then what can be expected of them in the future," said Shri Gachwal. Shri Gachwal added that both BJP and INLD have betrayed the trust of Jat farmers.

The All India Jat Mahasabha, Legal Cell, national president, Shri Khajan Singh said that there are about six lakh primary members of the Jat Mahasabha in haryana who would tilt the balance in favour of the Congress and assured that around seven out of ten seats will fall in Congress' kitty with the decision of the Haryana Jat Mahasabha.

Book on Farmers' Plight

MUMBAI : The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi released on 2 April a book highlighting the plight of Indian farmers. The book titled `Sawdhan _ Kisan lut raha hai _ ab aap ise bacha sakete hai' has been published by Shri Sandip Aggarwal vice-president of Farmers' Cell of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

The book also contains a speech by Smt. Sonia Gandhi warning that how can India `shine' `feel good' when farmers are suffering, villagers are ignored and unemployment is shooting up.

The articles are accompanied by the revevant stastics. Praising Shri Aggarwal for `exposing the feel good' farce, Smt. Sonia Gandhi said that the book is a document on the plight of farmers. She asked Shri Aggarwal to spread the message and policies of the Congress party which has always worked for farmers and the down-trodden.

Former Lok Sabha Speaker, Shri Shivraj Patil, MPs Smt. Prabharao, Kumari Selja, President of MPCC Ranjit Deshmukh were among others who attended the book release function.