Sulking BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha on Monday claimed the Bihar poll results could have been different for his party had he been projected as the chief ministerial candidate. “I am not bragging, but I do feel that when the darling (laadla) of Bihar people, the dhartiputra (son of the soil) and the original ‘Bihari babu’ was deliberately sidelined, it definitely had an impact on my supporters and fans. “I can’t say how much difference it could have been, but I can definitely say, some difference would have been there. We could have definitely got more seats than what we got,” he told Rajat Sharma in ‘Aap ki Adalat’ programme on IndiaTV, according to a press release issued by the channel.

Asked whether he was unhappy for not being made a Minister at the Centre, he said,”These are all stale dialogues, planted by vested interests. Some people grabbed too many posts, they started saying I am unhappy because I was not made a Minister. Sinha said, “You don’t get feathers of gold on you when you become a minister, but yes, when I was not made a minister, my fans, supporters, my relatives, friends and my voters began thinking why was I not made a minister. What was my sin? Was my performance not good as a Health Minister, or whether I did not perform well in the Shipping Ministry.”

He said, “I know, and I console them by saying it is Prime Minister’s prerogative to select a minister. I am not challenging his wisdom, but simultaneously I console them, if not today, tomorrow (may be I become a minister).” On his name not figuring in the posters and banners during Bihar polls, he said, “Several times they (supporters, fans) felt I was being deliberately sidelined, for some particular reason, on which I will not speak much”.

The Patna Sahib MP also did not approve of making the Prime Minister the sole campaigner for the party but said, had he not campaigned the BJP would not even have got the seats it won. “Is it the right method? Could we not lessen the Prime Minister’s burden? Could we not been brought to the front? But why, I think you know the reason better,” he said, seeking accountability being fixed and action taken against those responsible for the defeat.

Hitting out at the party leadership for inducting leaders from outside to micromanage the campaign in Bihar, he said they were brought in from Punjab, Maharashtra and Delhi, “who were completely out of touch with grassroots workers and ground reality, who did not understand the caste equations here.” Sinha said, “these people stationed here for months together, so much money, talent and energy were spent, and what was the result?…We do not learn from the earlier defeat in Delhi. It showed desperation. We lost badly and that makes me sad.”

RSS ideologue MG Vaidya on Monday said that it would not be appropriate to hold the sangh responsible for the NDA’s dismal show in the Bihar Assembly polls and added that it was for the BJP to decide whether it is the ‘ghulam’ of the voluntary non-governmental organisation which lays thrust on the principle of selfless service to India.

Vaidya downplayed assertions that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat pitching for a review of the reservation policy had cost the BJP in the Bihar Assembly elections.

“The BJP had said it repeatedly that they are not in favour of bringing an end to reservation, but their assertions did not reflect on the votes. The Sangh does not decide its policies? Our policies are based on what is right for the nation. We speak what is right for the society and nation,” Vaidya said.

The RSS ideologue further said it is for the BJP to decide whether they would want to go ahead with the RSS ideology.

“It is for the BJP to decide. The Sangh will present its issues?.We say what is right for the society. The BJP should decide whether they are ‘ghulam’ of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangha or not,” said Vaidya.

(9 Nov) The acting chairman of Myanmar’s ruling party conceded defeat to Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition on Monday and said he would accept the result of the country’s first free national election in 25 years. “We lost,” Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) leader Htay Oo told Reuters in an interview.

The vote count is still under way and no results have been officially announced, but preliminary reports from around the country indicate a wide margin of victory for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

“We have to find out the reason why we lost,” Htay Oo, a close ally of President Thein Sein said. “However, we do accept the results without any reservations. We still don’t know the final results for sure.” Htay Oo said he was surprised by the scale of his defeat in his own parliamentary constituency in Hinthada, in the delta region, considered the heartland of the USDP’s rural support base. “I wasn’t expecting it because we were able to do a lot for people in this region.” he said. “Anyway, it’s the decision of the people.”

(6 Nov) Thiruvananthapuram : The state election commission gave permission for re-polling in 105 polling stations in Malappuram and nine booths in Thrissur district for the local civic elections in Kerala. The polling began at 7 am on Friday as earlier decided. The decision has been taken in the wake of malfunction complaints received from these centre owning to which the local administration has stopped polling. Stating that there were no technical glitches in voting machines, the election commission called for a comprehensive probe into the issue. So far with the completion of first and second phase the polling was peaceful and the results will be counted in the 7th of November.

(5 Nov) Guwahati: With Assembly polls only a few months away, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi favours a realignemnt of political forces, including the AIUDF, to fight the BJP on a single platform. Cautious about the difficult possibility of bringing the parties like CPI, CPI-M, AIUDF and Bodoland People’s Front together, he says it should not be viewed as a poll alliance but a grouping of forces joining hands to tackle communalism. “There is no such possibility (of an alliance) but I appeal to all political forces like the CPI, CPI-M, BPF and even the

AIUDF to join hands against divisive forces trying to create trouble in the country,” Gogoi told PTI interview. BJP had emerged the largest winner in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections winning 7 seats out of 14 in Assam. AIUDF, led by perfume baron Badaruddin Azmal, which espouses the causes of mainly Muslim minorities, won two seats in lower Assam and one seat in Barak valley in the last year’s Lok Sabha elections. “This should not be viewed as a poll alliance but is aimed at tackling communalism which is destroying the secular fabric of the country,” he said. Gogoi, however, said such a possibility is “very thin” but he will continue to try to bring all forces against communalism together. “Modi’s popularity is fast waning and the results of assembly elections in different states even during the party’s honeymoon period is (going to be) an indication that people are losing their faith in him,” he said. Gogoi said the “aggressive manner” in which Modi campaigned in Bihar clearly indicates that the party is facing tough time and is not at all confident about its prospects even though they are in power at the Centre and had won huge mandate in the last Lok Sabha polls in the state,” he said. Besides, it had lost in Uttarakhand and had failed to get a majority in Maharashtra. In Assam, the BJP has very “bleak prospects as it has no base and there is no credible leader,” he said.

“BJP is importing leaders from all other parties like the Congress, AGP, student organisations like the AASU and even militants having NIA cases pending against them have joined hands with them,” he said. The Congress prospects were “very good” and he was sure the party would form the next government after the assembly polls scheduled next year, Gogoi said. Gogoi alleged that contrary to BJP government’s claim of ushering in development, the situation in the North East has deteriorated. “There is no cooperation by the BJP government though Modi and his Ministers are good to me and continue to give me assurances but they do nothing,” he said. The BJP government at the Centre has withdrawn the special category status to the North Eastern states and has not even “released the funds due to us”. “They are good to me personally but I want result. I do not want anything personally but what I want them to be good to the people of Assam and work in their interest,” Gogoi added.

Nov) Yangon: Myanmar’s democracy heroine Aung San Suu Kyi today vowed to run the government if her opposition party wins this Sunday’s landmark election, despite being barred from the presidency. The former junta-ruled country goes to the polls on Sunday in elections which could see the army’s decades-long grip on power substantially loosened. Suu Kyi has towered over Myanmar’s politics after a decades-long struggle for democracy and her party is expected to make major gains at Sunday’s polls if the vote is free and fair. Yet under the military-scripted constitution, the 70-year- old is barred from running for the presidency by a clause believed to have been written specifically to thwart her bid for the country’s top office.

But in bullish remarks to international media ahead of Sunday’s vote she vowed to be “above the president” in the event of a victory by her National League for Democracy (NLD) party. “I will run the government and we will have a president who will work in accordance with the policies of the NLD,” she told reporters gathered on the lawn of her Yangon home, the same mansion she was confined to during years of house arrest by the former generals. Her path to the presidency is blocked by a charter clause outlawing those with foreign-born offspring taking the top post. Her two sons have British passports – their late father was a British academic. Many hope Sunday’s election will be the country’s freest and fairest for a generation but concerns abound in a country with a long history of the army stifling democracy.

Polls in 1990 swept by the NLD were ignored by the military, while a 2010 election was boycotted by Suu Kyi’s opposition over fraud fears. Reforms by the military since then have seen a quasi-civilian government take charge and guide sweeping changes leading to this weekend’s election. But Suu Kyi struck a note of caution over the election, expressing reservations over the willingness of election officials to tackle allegations of irregularities so far. Asked how vigilant she was to the possibility of fraud she said: “If it looks too suspicious then I think we will have to make a fuss about it.”But she added it was important for her party to run a government of “national reconciliation” if the NLD wins. The party’s main rival is the incumbent Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) which is led by former general Thein Sein and stacked with ex-military cadres.

Thomas Buergenthal, former judge at the International Court of Justice, said that former Vice President Dick Cheney could possibly be tried as a war criminal before the International Criminal Court (ICC), reported RawStory.

“Some of us have long thought that Cheney and a number of CIA agents who did what they did in those so-called black holes should appear before the ICC,” said Buergenthal. “We [Americans] could have tried them ourselves. I voted for Obama, but I think he made a great mistake when he decided not to instigate legal proceedings against some of these people.”

Buergenthal mentioned that he didn’t know if former British Prime Minister Tony Blair could face war crimes. Knowing that Cheney was the real ringleader behind the Iraq War, Buergenthal said George W. Bush was “insignificant.” He describes Bush as an “ignorant person” with mommy and daddy issues.

Dick Cheney going before an international tribunal for war crimes would be perfect. Cheney deserves be to be tried for wrongfully creating a war on false pretences.

“The hate, violence and petty mindedness is being unleashed as part of a pre-determined plan,” said Sonia Gandhi. (PTI Photo) In an attempt to seize the ongoing protest by writers, artists and filmmakers who have returned prestigious awards expressing their anger over rising intolerance in the country, Congress President Sonia Gandhi will lead a delegation of her party to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday.

Sonia along with son and party Vice-President Rahul Gandhi and senior party leaders will meet President Mukherjee in the evening to discuss the “current political situation”. Also read: According to Congress insiders, Sonia is expected to talk to the President about the growing concern over intolerance and urge him to advice the government to act firmly. Speaking during a function in New Delhi on Saturday, Sonia expressed her concern over rising intolerance in the country. “Organisations and people of a particular ideology are spreading it to divide people. We are under no illusion that it is an accident. The hate, violence and petty mindedness is being unleashed as part of a pre-determined plan. We will not allow such a diabolical design to succeed. It will shake country’s foundations. We are ready to fight the battle,” Sonia had said. Also read: In the past, President Pranab Mukherjee has also spoken over the issue.

“The core values of diversity, tolerance and plurality of Indian civilisation must be kept in mind and cannot be allowed to be wasted,” he had said in the backdrop of the Dadri lynching incident. “These core civilisation values keep us together over the centuries. Many ancient civilisations have fallen. Despite aggression after aggression our civilisation has survived because of our core civilisation values. If we keep those core values in mind, nothing can prevent our democracy from moving ahead,” the President added. Also read:
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