'Ugly power tussle' in BJP irks RSS: No PM candidate right now?

Mumbai: The RSS has conveyed its displeasure over race within the BJP for the prime ministerial post. What has irked the RSS top brass is the ugly power tussle within the party for top slot which would demoralise the cadre and come as a major hurdle in strengthening the organisation.

Highly placed sources in the party revealed to DNA, "The RSS has urged the party president Nitin Gadkari not to project any candidate for the prime ministerial post at this moment. And instead there should be attempts to consolidate the organisation through reverting to the basic ideology on which the party was founded."

Sources were quick to point out that RSS and BJP are making fresh attempt to revert to its stated motto: 'Nation comes first; Party next; Self last'.

All the BJP offices dotted across the states have been in no uncertain terms told to clean the dust and project the motto in bold. A senior BJP-RSS leader said, "One can understand BJP is a political organisation and individuals are bound to nurture ambitions. But what has amazed us is the quarrel over top slot even before ascertaining the electoral strength.

"Even if the atmosphere is conducive for the BJP-led coalition to prop to centre stage the in-house factionalism will mar the prospects. We have to guard against such dangers."

The political managers in the BJP told DNA, "At a function held recently the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has set the stage by clearly stating BJP has not taken any decision to project any candidate for prime minister."

According to insiders, "Gadkari has decided to convey to the cadre to work for consolidation of the BJP using the anti-Congress wave in the country."

Shortly after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's fast which lent the credence to the theory of his positioning for top slot and RSS' rejection of Advani's candidature for PM post triggered a debate within the organisation in hushed voices.

Strengthen mining directorates, Centre tells state govts

New Delhi: To bring transparency and efficiency in grant of mineral concessions, the Centre has asked state governments to strengthen Mining Directorates to improve monitoring of the cases.     It also asked the states to expedite approval to mining leases, including forest clearances, to clear the backlog of mineral concession applications.     "Central Coordination-cum?-Empowered Committee (CEC) on monitoring and minimising delays in grant of approvals for mineral concessions ... took decisions aimed at bringing about more efficiency and transparency in the system," an official statement said.     Apart from the decision to increase capacity of State Mining Directorates, the meeting chaired by Mines Secretary S Vijay Kumar stressed on the need for ensuring proper exploration in leasehold areas in a time-bound way to enable execution of Mining Plans in a scientific manner.     It also decided to introduce an end-to-end accounting system for mineral transaction to prevent and detect illegal mining through an All India Online System, the statement said.     The meeting was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Environment and Forests, Defence, Home Affairs, Steel, Civil Aviation, Railway, Shipping, Finance. Officials from the Indian Bureau of Mines and Geological Survey of India also participated in the meeting.     Representatives of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu also participated in it.

'Not just the skull-cap, Modi has refused the Prime Minister's chair'

Ahmedabad: Outcry over Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal to wear a skull cap continues to grow louder. Saiyad Imam Shahi Saiyad, who offered Modi the cap during the Sadbhavna Mission, said on Wednesday that the Gujarat Chief Minister can now forget about becoming India’s Prime Minister.

In an exclusive interview to Divya Bhaskar, Imam Shahi Saiyad said that Modi by refusing to wear the skull cap has squashed his own ambition of leading the country.

“He didn’t refuse the skull cap, he has snubbed his fate. Now he can never become the Prime Minister. If Modi had taken the skull cap as a token from all communities of the world, he too would have been accepted universally. But Modi thought the skull cap is from the Muslims. This shows what Modi thinks of Muslims,” Imam Shahi Saiyad said.

Though he did not take Modi’s move as a personal insult, the sufi saint criticised Modi for his alleged outlook.

“I am a sufi saint. I do not take this as an insult. I am not even protesting Modi’s move. He has insulted himself,” Imam Shahi Saiyad said.

“I went there to show my love and respect for Modi. But it seems he sees Gujarat as a separate part of India,” he added.

The sufi saint revealed that he was also a victim during the Godhra riots in 2002. He said that his ashram in Gujarat’s Nanad district was attacked during the tumultuous time. The ashram was put on fire by rioters. However, he managed to escape.

Gujarat: PIL filed in HC over expenses on Modi's Sadbhavna fast

Ahmedabad: Chief minister Narendra Modi may have tried to erase the taint of the 2002 riots through his Sadbhavna Mission fast but his troubles are unlikely to end any time too soon. An NGO, Vikalp trust, has filed a PIL asking Modi to make public the expenses incurred on his three-day fast and that he or his party pay for the expenses.

The PIL is likely to come up for hearing before a high court bench headed by the acting chief justice later in the week. The trust has made the chief minister himself party respondent in the case, apart from the state government, secretary of the finance department, the DGP and the municipal commissioner.

The petitioner has contended that the chief minister had misused the whole government machinery for his personal gain and that public money had been wasted. As the Sadbhvna Mission fast was focussed only on Modi, he or his party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), should pay the government exchequer the money spent on his fast, the PIL has demanded.

"The government violated all civic, security and policing norms in conducting the three-day sadbhavna mission at the University Convention Centre from September 17 onwards," said KG Pandit, counsel for the Vikalp trust.

"When a common man has to organise such an event, he has to seek prior permission from various government agencies such as the municipal corporation and the police commissionerate," Pandit said.

He further said that in their PIL they had asked whether the Modi government had taken all the prior permission needed and, if yes, when and who had granted it in such a hurried manner.

"We have also sought an account of the expenses incurred on the three-day fast, which was not a government function at all nor for public welfare. The function was centred on Modi alone; hence, he and his party should bear all its expenses. The money with the government comes from the public and it should not be spent on a personal cause of the chief minister," Pandit said. Modi started the three-day 'sadbhavna mission' fast from his birthday, September 17, after the Supreme Court's order of September 12 which did not indict him in the riot cases directly but left a decision in the matter to the local magisterial court.

The sadbhavna mission fast was attended by the top leaders of the national BJP, religious leaders, representatives of NGOs, and community leaders who had come to greet Modi at the function. Thousands of people from across the state also greeted the chief minister on the occasion.

However, the fast was severely condemned by the main opposition Congress party which held a parallel three-day fast on the footpath of the Mahatma Gandhi ashram.

Modi's fast fuels politics in J&K: Omar slams Mufti for denying Sushma's remarks

New Delhi: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day Sadbhavna fast courted another controversy - this time in Jammu and Kashmir - on Tuesday after Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti denied making any such comments as  claimed by BJP leader Sushma Swaraj that she said anything about the Gujarat chief minister's in New Delhi.

Later, Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah slammed Mehbooba Mufti after the latter reportedly denied saying anything about Narendra Modi at a meeting in New Delhi.

Mufti said: “Sushma Swaraj is lying. I never made such a statement praising the Gujarat Chief Minister ever. Sushma Swaraj’s claims that I praised Modi are totally baseless.”

“It is unfortunate that the BJP leader has chosen to misquote me for varied reasons. I never met her and never made such statement,” she further added while talking to reporters in Srinagar.

However, BJP leader Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday claimed that she was not lying while quoting Mehbooba Mufti on the last day of Modi's fast in Ahmedabad.

Sushma tweeted: "I only quoted what she spoke in the presence of over a hundred people in the afternoon session of the NIC meeting on sept 10."

"It was not a private conversation. I correctly quoted Ms. Mehbooba Mufti in Ahmedabad yesterday," She further added. 

On the other hand, Omar Abdullah said on Twitter: "I'm not surprised Mehbooba praised Modi, she can praise who ever she likes; I am surprised she'd deny it knowing others heard her speech."

"Why can't she just admit what she said rather than deny the whole thing. So much more graceful to accept rather than call Ms Swaraj a liar, he wrote on Twitter.

"At least her father had the sense not to deny calling Laloo, as Home Minister, to order Advani's release, he just did what Ostriches do," he added later.

"I have never denied being a part of the NDA Ms Mufti but I've also said it was a mistake I regret  and will never repeat nor let my party repeat," he also said.

Speaking in support of Modi on the final day of his fast in Ahmedabad, Ms Swaraj had said that at a recent meeting of the National Integration Council, Mehbooba Mufti said that a Muslim friend of hers wanted to invest in Gujarat and was astonished to be quickly granted an appointment, and that when he did meet Mr Modi, had a decision in half an hour."

She also added, "You can accuse an Advani or a Sushma of bias when they praise Modi. But this was Mehbooba Mufti."

Before Modi broke the fast, Swaraj in her speech said that not just BJP leaders and party workers, but even political adversaries have praised the Gujarat Chief Minister.

"Not just BJP supporters, even rivals like PDP's Mehbooba Mufti has praised Narendra Modi's work ethics in front of everyone at a NIC meeting. This makes us proud," said Swaraj.

There is no discrimination in Gujarat against Muslims, Swaraj said.

"Gujarat is a state where there is no discrimination against Muslims. No plan is made thinking whether Hindus will benefit or Muslims," she said on the sidelines of Modi's three-day fast.

Raj Thackeray meets Narendra Modi on final day of Sadbhavna fast

Ahmedabad: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday attended the Sadbhavna fast and met Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on day 3 and the final day of his fast.

"Going for the third and final day of my fast for Sadbhavana. I shall be sharing more of my feelings in concluding session scheduled at 5.30 pm today," Modi tweeted on Monday. 

The second day of chief minister Narendra Modi’s fast coincided with a lot of protests and chaos, both within and outside the Gujarat University (GU) convention hall, the venue of the three-day fast.

As far as the fast is concerned, it continued to draw strong response as citizens from all walks of life thronged the venue and extended their support to the CM’s initiative.

Members of Jan Sangharsh Manch (JSM), noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai, and riot victims were denied permission to hold demonstrations against Modi’s fast and were detained by Naroda police.

The parents of 13 thalasaemmic children from Junagadh, who were diagnosed with HIV, wanted to meet the CM, but they were allegedly prevented from going to the fast venue by police.

The parents of Umang and Jaydeep Nai, who were found murdered in an abandoned car in Gandhinagar a few months back, were also not allowed to enter the venue by the cops. Later in the evening, one Vaishali Makwana, a resident of Saurashtra, slashed her wrist after being prevented from meeting the CM.She was hospitalised and was stable.

Dinesh Chauhan, resident of Surendrangar district, was also rushed to VS Hospital late in the evening. Chauhan claimed that he had lost his friend’s mobile and was under pressure to buy a new one. He left his village and arrived on Sunday at Modi’s fasting venue where he cut his wrist in a bid to end his life.

Earlier, the GU convention hall was almost packed when Modi came out of the resting room and took the dais at 9.50 am. He was welcomed by priests and seers of different communities, amidst large cheers by the audience comprising men and women, young and old, farmers, tribals, maldharis, who were there to express solidarity with the Sadbhavna Mission. Many of them had arrived in their traditional attires adding colour to the event.

Being a Sunday, there was a steady flow of visitors, with one set of people replacing the other, even as the crowd outside swelled sending the organisers and police in a tizzy. In fact, entry of visitors into the venue had to be stopped for half an hour at around 11.30 am.

The police had to resort to mild lathicharge twice to control the crowd. Three visitors and two cops were injured. Later, additional barricades were set up to regulate the flow of visitors. Modi reciprocated to the citizens’ gesture, meeting many of them at the dais and greeting the others from the dais by frequently waving and folding his hands.

The second day of the fast also saw Karnataka CM Sadananda Gowda, MP Ananth Kumar, BJP spokespersons Prakash Javdekar and Shahnawaz Hussain, cricketer-turned politician Navjot Singh Sidhu, among others sharing the dais with Modi. Actor Paresh Raval, Gujarati actress Roma Manek and noted singer Dhari Panchamda were also in attendance.

The second day of the fast also saw a large number of minority community members flocking to the venue. In fact, Muslims had come from as far as Valsad and Kutch especially for the fast. A group of eunuchs had also come to extend their wishes and support to the CM.

The flow of visitors slowed down during the afternoon, but picked up again in the evening as hordes of people flocked the venue, which continued till late in the evening.

Modi fast: Security blanket thrown over Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: City cops have chalked out a detailed plan for CM Narendra Modi's security in view of his fast beginning on Saturday. According to police officials, safety and security of VIPs and dignitaries will be their top priority.

Elaborating on the security measures, Sudhir Sinha, Commissioner of Police, said that escorting VIPs from airport to GMDC ground will be dealt with utmost care. Top BJP leaders like Sushma Swaraj, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Rajnath Singh, Anurag Thakur, Kirit Somaiya and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi are expected to be in the city for the three-day fast by Narendra Modi at Gujarat University Convention Center.

According to Shamsher Singh, JCP - special branch, convoy marshals will handle the security of these VIPs. They will be responsible in piloting the VIP convoy to the venue from the airport. "We have a well-defined code to handle dignitaries with Z category security. These convoy marshals are trained to take the convoy safely to the designated place," said Singh.

Apart from Modi's fast, Congress leader Shakersinh Vaghela will sit on a fast at Sabarmati Ashram and Maldhari leaders will fast at Income-Tax on Ashram Road. "Cop deployment will be a city-wide affair. We have even called under training woman cops for bandobast," said Singh.

Sinha further said that 63 probationary women DySPs and PSIs have been specially hauled in for the exercise. "They were sent in by the state DGP to handle the security at these venues. We have been informed that around 500 visitors are expected to arrive at Sabarmati Ashram daily, while 25,000 will arrive at GMDC ground," said Sinha. For the VIPs arriving at the GMDC, there will be a separate VIP gate. Apart from top police officials, 900 male and 200 female constables will be deployed.

Ten watch towers and 40 CCTV cameras will keep a tab on every movement at the convention centre.

2014 may see Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi, speculates US report

As the debate on potential prime ministerial contenders for the 2014 elections picks up in India, a US Congressional report says it might just turn out to be a direct contest between controversial Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. A latest report on India by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a bipartisan and independent research wing of the US Congress, finds Modi a strong prime ministerial candidate for the opposition BJP in 2014, while at the same time discussing the prospect of the Congress putting up Rahul Gandhi for the position.