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Top Stories
Congress wins Haryana,
Bihar verdict hung
What is India News Service,
Monday, 28 February 2005, 1400 hrs IST
The Congress swept
to power in Haryana with an absolute majority in the 90-member Assembly but
all eyes are on Bihar where a hopelessly hung Assembly is the verdict. In
Jharkhand, even as the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal (United) alliance
emerged as the largest group and within striking distance of government
formation, the secular parties are trying hard to cobble together a majority.
However, the arithmetic seems to favour a BJP-led government
in Jharkhand where its alliance is just six seats short of a simple majority. In
Bihar, the Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJP) of Ram Vilas Paswan with 30-odd seats
could hold the key to government formation.
Seasoned politicians, including Mr. Paswan, are openly
talking of the possibility of a short spell of President's rule in Bihar. Till
late this evening, Mr. Paswan was firm that he would support neither the BJP-JD
(U) nor the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). However, he is likely to come here
within two days to hold talks with the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who is
said to be trying hard to get the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) parties to
do business in Bihar.
The verdict is clear in Haryana with the Congress recording
its best-ever performance since the State was carved out of Punjab in the
mid-1960s. The landslide win \97 67 seats in a House of 90 \97 brought the party
back into office after nine years and also several aspirants for the Chief
Minister's chair. The party high command has decided that the Congress
Legislature Party will meet in Chandigarh on Tuesday to elect a leader.
NDA close to govt
formation in Jharkhand: Benefiting from the confusion in opposition ranks,
the ruling NDA has gained an upper hand in the sweepstakes to form the next
government in Jharkhand by getting 36 of the 81 seats for which the results were
declared today.
In
Jharkhand, Soren down with 'sonstroke': Shibu
Soren, who had hoped to become the Chief Minister without contesting, found
himself cut to size.
Hung
Houses in Bihar, Jharkhand:
Mr Ram Bilas Paswan\92s Lok Janshakti Party
(LJP) today emerged the kingmaker in Bihar after a heavily fractured verdict as
the Congress stormed back to power with a landslide victory in Haryana and the
BJP-JD (U) combine came within striking distance of power in a hung verdict in
Jharkhand.
I
will not give up: Lalu: The Rashtriya Janata Dal
president, being the single largest party, will stake a claim to form the
government in Bihar. "Ours [RJD and allies] is the largest pre-poll
alliance with 92 seats,"' Lalu Prasad Yadav said.
Team
Advani charts revival: Team Advani has delivered. The tested
organisational war horse of the BJP has once again been able to weave his magic.
But its not yet time to begin celebrations.
Paswan
keeps NDA, RJD guessing: With the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the National
Democratic Alliance at his mercy, the Lok Janshakti Party chief and Union Steel
Minister, Ram Vilas Paswan, is playing his cards close to his chest and engaging
them in a guessing game.
Cong
on prowl with its bag of old tricks: Keeping the huge jolt in
Jharkhand and the pathetic show in Bihar under wraps for the moment, the
Congress leaders on Sunday night appeared focussed more on manipulating the
verdict in favour of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). While senior leaders
were confident of success in Bihar, they haven't yet given up on Jharkhand.
ISRO cryogenic engine flight test this year:
In what will be a key step towards
attaining the geo-synchronous launch capability with significant overlap in the
area of strategic technologies, the Indian Space Research Organisation will
flight test a cryogenic engine towards the end of this year or early next year,
ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair said in Bangalore.
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States
Rane
to face trust vote today: Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane will face
his trust vote in the Goa Assembly tomorrow even as his victory remains
uncertain. Already horse-trade has begun in the state and the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party have moved their respective MLAs to secret locations to
prevent them from being poached by the other side.
Orissa
not happy with Lalu express:
With Rail Minister Lalu
Prasad giving Orissa a measly Rs. 360 crore, which is even less than what it got
last year, the Rail Budget for 2005-06 has provoked angry reactions in the
state.
Apology
not enough, DMK wants TN Cong chief's head:
The DMK refuses to be easily mollified. Even after it had forced Union Minister
of State for Commerce EVKS Elangovan to express regret on Friday for his recent
remarks that had raised the DMK's hackles, the party was still gunning for his
head on Sunday.
No
more with young genius: The
coaching institutes of Kota, which were proud of their student Sourabh Singh for
topping the International Discovery (ISD) competition conducted by NASA, have
disassociated themselves from this "boy of fame".
Neighbours
Natwar mobbed by Pak admirers:
It would have been unthinkable two
years ago hundreds of Pakistanis from all sections of life mobbing the Indian
Foreign Minister and jostling with one another for a photograph with the
minister.
Myanmar may not ask visa from
Indians:
Like the existing arrangement with China, Myanmar prefers a simple travel
document, instead of visa or passport with India for tourists visiting India.
Language
barrier leaves cops clueless: The
arrest of an Afghan national on charges of infiltrating into Indian territory
has turned into a headache for the police here with the cops struggling to
understand his language.
View from abroad
Film Calcutta prostitutes' kids wins documentary Oscar: In a brief respite from Hollywood's annual feast of glitz and glamour on Sunday, the children of prostitutes in Calcutta's red light district were celebrated with an Oscar for the movie they helped to make, "Born into Brothels."
Anti-smoking
treaty comes into force: A landmark treaty aimed at cutting deaths and
illness caused by smoking came into force today, after 57 countries ratified
international restrictions on tobacco producers and smokers, said the World
Health Organisation.
Overall
Congress swept Haryana:
Assembly
elections in three states sprang surprises on all major parties, including a
pleasant one for the Congress in Haryana.
Paswan holds the key in Bihar: He has won enough seats to be kingmaker,
but not enough to form his own government.
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