REPORT

AICC DIARY

2.08.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Abhishek Singhvi and Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that there will be a meeting of Congress Chief Ministers on Sunday, 4th of August at 10 Janpath from 11 am. The agenda will be on matters relating to drought situation in six States where the Congress Party is in office.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that in both Houses the issue of allotment of petrol pumps and gas agencies dominated. The Cabinet Minister was not present in the Lok Sabha and the Minister of State gave a brief reply which was absolutely irrelevant and beside the point.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that as for the meeting held just now on electoral reforms we are not completely in privy to all that is happening. The Congress Party at the meeting generally favoured disclosures including the disclosure of assets and liabilities.

4.08.2002 : Smt. Ambika Soni, Shri Ajit Jogi, Shri Ashok Gehlot, Shri Digvijay Singh, Shri S. M. Krishna and Shri Vilas Rao Deshmukh briefed the press.

Smt. Ambika Soni said that the Congress President today reviewed the drought situation with Chief Ministers of six states, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Karnataka and Delhi. The Chief Ministers made presentations on how the drought is being managed in their respective states and the assistance they require from the Central Government. The Congress President, accompanied by the Chief Ministers is meeting the Prime Minister tomorrow, August 5th to put forward the views and demands of the Congress Party from the Centre.

5.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Kapil Sibal, Shri Abhishek Singhvi and Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Congress President, other leaders of the Congress Party and Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States met the Prime Minister in the context of the drought situation prevailing in various parts of the country. The Congress President submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we welcome the decision of the Government to cancel the allotment of petrol pumps and gas agencies made after January 2000. We regard this as a glorious victory for the vibrancy of Indian democracy.

Shri Kapil Sibal said that the way the Government has indulged in this scam, this Government itself is a national calamity.

6.8.2002 : Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi said that nine pilgrims were killed and twenty-nine were injured in the attack by terrorists on a camp enroute to Amarnath. The Congress President has condemned this dastardly incident. After the Kaluchak and numerous other massacres, the Government has once gain failed to protect the lives of innocent civilians and proved ineffective. Smt. Sonia Gandhi has expressed her condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims. We hope that at least now this Government will wake up to its responsibilities.

7.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that in the history of independent India no media company has been subjected to such untold, unending harassment as Tehelka Company. Since its expose on March 13th, 2001, the Government has declared a war on the Company, unleashed a terror on the Company. The Government instead of investigating the accused has been tormenting the investigating company. We condemn the Government for having converted the CBI into a pliable tool for torture of free press. It is highly regrettable that the CBI is allowing itself to be converted into an instrument of intimidation against the Fourth Estate. We are concerned over the ruined reputation of CBI as a premier investigating agency.

On the Petrol Pump Issue, Shri Jaipal Reddy said the cancellation decision of the Government would be a political gimmick if it is not backed up by an inquiry headed by a sitting Supreme Court Judge that in turn is assisted by an independent investigating arm.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Government is shying away from an inquiry because an inquiry will be able to document concrete illustrations of fraud, bribery, munificence and corruption. Unless such evidence is documented the decision to cancel the allotments cannot be legally sustained.

8.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Oscar Fernandes, Shri Ramesh Chennithala and Shri G. K. Vasan briefed the press.

Shri Ramesh Chennithala said that on the 14th of August the Tamil Manila Congress is working with the Indian National Congress at Madurai. In the morning of the same day, the TMC of Pondicherry is merging with the Indian National Congress in Pondicherry. The Congress President is attending both these meetings.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that Professor Saifuddin Soz has decided to join the Congress Party and the Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, looks upon him as a great asset to the Party. Professor Saifuddin Soz said that he was pleased to join the Congress Party under the leadership of Smt. Sonia Gandhi.

9.8.2002 : Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi said that for over one week there has been a confrontation between the ruling coalition and the opposition over rampant corruption in the allotment of petrol pumps and gas agencies. It is unfortunate that instead of coming clean over the issue, the Government has chosen to indulge in mud-slinging by releasing lists of opposition leaders and MPs.

On Gujarat, Shri Syed Sibte Razi said that according to news reports, the BJP in Gujarat is once again planning to start a Yatra in the State. Though this time it might be under a different name, our concerns over such a Yatra still hold. Gujarat is a sensitive border State and the route-map of the Yatra is such that it would traverse sensitive areas and further polarise the people of the State. Gujarat requires relief and rehabilitation and not Yatras.

12.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Abhishek Singhvi, Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Prime Minister has singularly failed to resolve the impasse arising from Petrol Pump Scam. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Lok Sabha; he has not turned up in the House since the Scam has shot to the surface. He has not made any effort to establish any kind of contact with the opposition. The Prime Minister has not tried to have a meeting with opposition leaders. If the Prime Minister offered to come and speak on behalf of the Government, it would have been possible to resolve the impasse.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that in the Rajya Sabha, the opposition tried to raise another important issue, that is, in regard to the allotment of a large number of plots in prime locations of the Capital to various organisations, which are affiliated directly and indirectly to the Sangh Parivar. All this has been done in double-quick time by Mr. Ananth Kumar.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that right from the day the Gujarat Assembly was dissolved, BJP has been targeting the Election Commission, unmindful of the fact that Election Commission is one of our august constitutional institutions.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the President of India has chosen to visit Gujarat. While the BJP on record says it has no objection, its sister organisation, the VHP, finds fault with the President. This is one more example of orchestrated double-speak on the part of the Sangh family.

14.8.2002 : Shri Motilal Vora, Shri Abhishek Singhvi and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Motilal Vora said that we are pleased to announce that Shri Aslam Sher Khan, former Union Minister of State and Shri Sudhir Majumdar, former Chief Minister of Tripura have joined the Congress Party. The Congress President has given her consent to their joining the Party.

Shri Syed Sibte Razi said that Smt. Sonia Gandhi has extended her greetings to the people of India on the eve of Independence Day. The Congress President has expressed the hope that her fellow countrymen would work to maintain communal brotherhood and extend their cooperation in the task of building India.

16.8.2002 : Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi and Shri Abhishek Singhvi briefed the press.

Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi said that the mask of probity that the BJP had built up has been lifted in scandal after scandal. The BJP has been giving long sermons on the fighting of criminalisation in politics but one after the other, their Ministers have been embroiled in scams and scandals. The latest is the allegation against Mr. Pramod Mahajan in the Shivani Bhatnagar murder case.

About his opinion as a lawyer, Shri Abhishek Singhvi said that assuming that R. K. Sharma was arrested and the accused himself had made a statement against Mr. Pramod Mahajan. An accused is always entitled to make an allegation against someone else, an accused can even turn an approver. Madhu Sharma is the wife of an accused. There is neither any legal or factual bar, discrimination or inhibition, that prevents the relative of an accused from making an allegation.

19.8.2002 : Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Abhishek Singhvi briefed the press.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the reaction of the BJP and the Central Government to refer the Election Commission’s report to the President is unfortunate. It is worth mentioning that this is yet another proof of the BJP’s lack of respect for constitutional institutions, in this case, the Election Commission. The observations of a judicious and detailed report of the Election Commission make it very clear that the situation is far from normal, there is an atmosphere of fear and insecurity. There are large number of voters whose names do not figure in the electoral rolls which have not been revised. The revision of electoral rolls is a mandatory requirement. Why is the Government and the BJP silent on the Election Commission’s observations on the ground realities?

Shri Abhishek Singhvi said that Mr. Venkiah Naidu, the President of the BJP, and his relatives have been allotted forty acres of land in Andhra Pradesh. The report suggests that twenty acres of land were allotted to his father-in-law, brother-in-law and he himself, and twenty acres to his other relatives.

21.8.2002 : Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Abhishek Singhvi briefed the press.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr. Narinder Modi by his announcement of the Gaurav Yatra has once again made his intentions very clear. This step is a provocative step, which will lead to alarm and create fear and insecurity in the minds of those who have yet been given any sense of security.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the Honourable Governor of Gujarat, Shri Sunder Singh Bhandari, had day before yesterday made a statement. The Honourable Governor has lowered the prestige of his constitutional office. The Governor of a state is the custodian of the Constitution and a representative of the President and the Centre in the States. Instead of speaking like a Governor he has chosen to speak as a Spokesman of the BJP and the Gujarat Chief Minister.

23.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Anand Sharma and Shri G Venkat Swamy briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we severely condemn Mr. Narinder Modi’s outrageously indecent targeting of the person of the Chief Election Commissioner, Mr. J. M. Lyngdoh.

Asked about the meeting between the Congress President and the leader of the Samajwadi Party, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that it must be seen as part of continual interaction among like-minded opposition parties.

Shri G. Venkat Swamy announced the programme of the seminar being organised by the AICC SC/ST Department on 30th August, which will be inaugurated by the Congress President.

26.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that BJP has always been known for dangerous doublespeak on critical issues that affect the unity of the nation. One example of this doublespeak, was the appointment of Mr. Arun Jaitly, General Secretary of the BJP, as Government’s representative to hold talks with various groups of Jammu and Kashmir on the question of autonomy. Everybody knows that the BJP continues to stand for the abrogation of Article 370. In this background one wonders as to how a functionary of the BJP can talk satisfactorily with the various groups in the Kashmir valley on the question of autonomy.

28.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the interim stay-order of the Supreme Court has confirmed our worst fears about the Government’s motives and steps following the Petrol Pump Scam. The Vajpayee Government, from day one, has been conspiring to have the best of both worlds.

To a question on Jayalalithaa’s statement on the Congress President, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that it may be recalled that it was Ms. Jayalalithaa who took the initiative in 1999 to destabilise the Vajpayee Government and to lend support to the leadership claim by Smt. Sonia Gandhi. We would like to know as to why Ms. Jayalalithaa is now performing a u-turn. Everybody knows the infinite and instant need of Ms. Jayalalithaa to ingratiate herself with the Vajpayee Government to get herself extricated from a number of criminal cases. Her compulsions for this 180-degree somersault are obvious.

To a question on the murder of a municipal councillor in Delhi, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we think it was absolutely unfortunate and the two municipal councillors have been expelled and asked to resign their seats for their involvement in such a heinous crime.

30.8.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the day before yesterday Ms. Jayalalithaa denied having written a letter to the then President of India, Shri K. R. Narayanan, supporting the leadership of Smt. Sonia Gandhi and her claim for the office of Prime Minister of India. She even went to the extent of demanding proof of that letter. We had asserted that she did write a letter. We looked at our office record and we have fortunately a copy of the letter that Ms. Jayalalithaa wrote on 21st April 1999.

Shri Jaipal Reddy read out the contents of the letter and the resolution passed by the AIADMK Parliamentary Party.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that this document clinchingly proves that Ms. Jayalalithaa misled the nation. Her falsehood stands exposed.

- Tom Vadakkan
Media Secretary