Report

Jogi Lashes Out on Jayalalitha

CHENNAI : The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader, Shri Ajit Jogi, on 1 September said that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha was suffering from "selective amnesia" and a "sense of insecurity".

"She suffers from selective amnesia. And, she is trying to teach the entire country English language and grammar. Everyone in the country knows that support for the Congress means support for Sonia Gandhi-led Government. Who else will the Congress chose as Prime Ministerial candidate? "What she says is a lie through her teeth," Shri Jogi said.

Shri Jogi was here to participate in a function to pay homage to the veteran Congress leader, G.K. Moopanar, on his first death anniversary.

In Coimbatore, the TNCC president, Shri E.V.K.S Elangovan, accused Ms. Jayalalitha of playing with the words to deflect charges of "double speak" in the controversy over the letter of support to the Congress.

 

Yatra a National Shame : Jakhar

NEW DELHI : Terming the Gaurav Yatra undertaken by the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Narender Modi, "a national shame," former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Balram Jakhar has said that the exercise will increase the agony of the victims of the Gujarat carnage.

In a statement issued here, Dr. Jakhar said that the whole nation has condemned the Gaurav Yatra and the people of Gujarat will definitely punish the BJP and Mr. Modi for the communal approach which is behind the Yatra.

Asking what is so "Gaurav" about eh yatra, Dr. Jakhar said, "is it to remind the nation as a whole and particularly the people of Gujarat about the atrocities committed? "Is it to tarnish the image of India as a secular nation?" he asked, adding that the Bhartiya Janata Party and the NDA governments at the state and Centre have tacitly given their blessings to the event by not stopping the provocative event.

He said that despite three postponements of the yatra, good sense and wisdom have not prevailed upon the chief minister of Gujarat.

 

Congress For Probe into Agency Scam

The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, sent the following communication to the Prime Minister, on August 23, 2002 :

You are aware that your recent blanket order for cancellation of all petrol pump allocations made since January 1, 2000 was objected to by the Congress Party on several grounds. Such an order obviously suffers from several legal disabilities and is unjust to genuine allottees like families of Kargil martyrs and widows. This order also amounts to an attempt to wash over irregularities made in the allotment of pumps to undeserving persons for extraneous considerations. We have, instead, been demanding an impartial high level inquiry so that the irregular allotments, the considerations for which they were made and the persons responsible can be pinpointed.

In this context, the recent news item stating that your Government plans to issue an Ordinance terminating dealerships of all pumps is extremely disturbing. We strongly oppose such an Ordinance on the following grounds:

1. This Ordinance will legitimize a defective executive order of blanket cancellation that is perceived to be motivated by a desire to protect persons and authorities who have committed irregularities. It will tantamount to covering up and compounding a faulty ill-motivated decision by another one that is even more flawed and suspect.

2. The proposed Ordinance will also pre-empt Hon’ble High Courts across the country and the Hon’ble Supreme Court from issuing orders on merits on the petitions filed by allottees before them. Now that the matter is before our judiciary, they should be allowed to look into not only the legitimacy and motive behind the executive blanket order of cancellation but also the need or otherwise of a thorough inquiry into the allocations before such an order was issued.

On behalf of my Party I therefore ask you to (a) drop the proposal for issuing such an Ordinance, (b) institute an impartial and high level inquiry into the allocations made and (c) take appropriate steps against those who are responsible for the irregularities committed."