The ruling Congress in Rajasthan has decided to prepare a list of able orators who will highlight the party’s policies as well as the state government’s pro-people decisions. The state unit of the party has sought names from the district- and block-level units to suggest names of good speakers who could be trained further for the task. “We feel that good orators are useful in highlighting the state government’s work and educate the people about the Congress’ pro-people policies,” said Pradesh Congress Committee president Chandarbhan. He said the state government and the UPA government at the Centre have launched several schemes for the masses but they need to be highlighted.
According to sources, chief minister Ashok Gehlot also underlined the need for a party campaign to make aware people about the half-a-dozen schemes introduced by his government. The state government has launched free medicines at all government hospitals and health centres and set up over 14,000 centres to distribute them.
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‘Mamata silent on UPA failure on graft, prices’
age correspondent
Kolkata, Nov. 30
BJP president Nitin Gadkari Wednesday tore into chief minister Mamata Banerjee for her silence over the UPA government’s failure to curb corruption and skyrocketing inflation. “The UPA is dependent on Mamataji’s support... Why is she silent when the Congress has broken all records of corruption?” he asked, addressing a BJP rally in Kolkata. He said: “The Trinamul Congress Parliamentary Party had declared it would withdraw support from the UPA but when they reached Delhi they went silent. Dilli mein dosti aur Kolkata mein kushti.”
Mr Gadkari, who is known for his penchant for quoting Hindi film songs to buttress his arguments, tried to highlight Ms Banerjee’s alleged duplicity by reciting the opening lines of an old Lata Mangeshkar number: “Jab bhi ji chahe nai duniya basa lete hain log... ek chehre pe kai chehre laga lete hain log.”
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Lalu’s ‘M-Y’ axis faces laukaha bypoll test
age correspondent
patna, Nov. 30
RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s efforts to revive the powers of his formerly rewarding Muslim-Yadav combination in Bihar were put to test in an Assembly bypoll held on Wednesday to fill a seat emptied by a JD(U) minister’s recent death.
Despite the bypoll for the Laukaha Assembly seat close to the Nepal border in Bihar’s Madhubani district being a small affair in Bihar’s electoral politics, both the ruling JD(U)-BJP alliance and the main Opposition RJD-LJP have displayed unprecedented care to ensure victory. After a fortnight of rigorous campaigning by both sides, 55 per cent of 2.62 lakh voters cast their votes to choose from among 13 contenders in a peaceful polling process.
A sizeable part of Laukaha’s population being Yadavs and Muslims, the RJD has been keen to snatch the seat from the JD(U) by making an emotional reconnection with voters from these two communities after a long time. This belief was manifest in the RJD fielding Mukhtar Amhed, who recently defected from the Congress, in place of Chitranjan Prasad Yadav, who was defeated by a margin of 17,566 votes in the 2010 Assembly poll. Both the RJD chief and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan campaigned extensively for Ahmed.
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Reduce human error scope: rail minister
age correspondent
new delhi, Nov. 30
Railway minister Dinesh Trivedi has asked the general managers of all zonal railways to review and implement safety measures in such a manner as to reduce scope for human error.
“[Mr Trivedi] said that recommendations of accidents-inquiries should be regularly reviewed by general managers along with safety audits conducted by other zonal railway officials. [He] pointed out that the measures adopted should be more technology-driven and less dependent on human intervention,” a railway ministry press release quoted the minister as telling a special conference of general managers which was held here Wednesday. The minister reviewed the gamut of safety matters zone-wise.
According to the press release, the general managers were told to strive to adhere to a policy of zero tolerance of accidents. Also, they were instructed to ensure that accident inquiries are completed on time and all necessary follow-up actions such as fresh safety instructions, remedial measures, and punishment to erring railway staff, are expeditiously completed.