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BJP denies divisions, to hold party meet to resolve bill row

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:57:44 GMT

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday denied reports that it was divided over the women's reservation bill but the rift was evident with a section of MPs led by Yogi Adityanath said that quotas for women were "needless" and would be opposed in the Lok Sabha.

Adityanath, who represents Gorakhpur in the lower house, openly rebelled against the bill that seeks to reserve a third of all seats in the country's legislatures for women.

"It is needless. We are against any reservation. Everybody should come to (parliament) on his/her ability," he said, adding that the BJP leadership had fallen into a trap of the Congress-led government.

"There are other more important issues to be discussed. People are suffering from price rise, there is Maoist insurgency, there is terrorism, and our country is facing grave internal and external security threats. The government wants to deflect attention of the public and MPs from these issues," Adityanath told IANS outside parliament.

He described the women's reservation bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha, as "bin mausam barsaat (untimely rains)".

"There is no demand for it from anywhere. Nobody is demanding it. All this is being done to waste time of the house so that more important issues are not discussed," he said.

Asked if he would vote for the bill when brought to the Lok Sabha, Adityanath's reply was a categoric "no". "Not even if there is a whip from the party. There is something called internal democracy in the party."

Asked if more MPs in the BJP shared his view, Adityanath said: "The viewpoint is growing and many MPs have understood it."

Company: THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

Elephant killed, rhino injured by poachers

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:25:19 GMT

GOLAGHAT, Mar 7 (PTI): An elephant was killed and a rhino injured by poachers in Assam, Forest department officials said today.

The carcass of the pachyderm was found inside the Dibru Saikhowa reserve forest in Upper Assam's Tinsukia district.

The tusks were removed by the poachers after killing the elephant a few days back, they said.

A full grown male rhino was found in an injured state inside Agratoli range of the Kaziranga national park today.

Agratoli forest ranger K K Deuri said a gunshot was heard late last night following which the guards swung into action.

While poachers managed to escape in the cover of darkness, the rhino was found with a bullet injury on the right leg this morning.

Three poachers were arrested by Forest Guards on February 18 when they tried to target a rhino inside the park, a world heritage site.

Company: THE ASSAM TRIBUNE

Centre ridicules Naxal ‘dream’

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:24:09 GMT

NEW DELHI, March 7 – The Centre today rubbished the claims of a Maoist leader to overthrow the Indian state before 2050 saying they are free to “dream” and asserted that talks can happen only when they abjure violence, reports PTI.

“They can dream. They have the privilege to dream in a democracy. We have made our position absolutely clear. The Home Minister has stated that he would expect CPI (Maoist) to make a categorical statement that they would abjure violence and once that categorical statement is received in Ministry of Home Affairs, we will be prepared to talk,” Home Secretary GK Pillai told reporters here.

Pillai’s statement has come after top Naxal leader Koteswar Rao alias Kishenji last night claimed that they could overthrow Indian state much before the year 2050.

Company: THE ASSAM TRIBUNE