Sangma calls on Vajpayee; sure of second term
Amid indications that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could veer around to a consensus on Lok Sabha Speaker's election, former Speaker PA Sangma on Friday called on Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to lobby for his candidature. Vajpayee apparently told Sangma that "he had no personal objections to Sangma's candidature but that his party had to take a stand on this in principle".
Kanshi swears off polls for 5 yrs
Exactly five months after his assertion that "no political equation in Delhi could be worked out without him", Bahujan Samaj Party leader Kanshi Ram, after his defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, declared on Friday that he will not contest any election in the next five years.
Mamata still swears by Bengal package
Perusing the Bengal Package is more important than looking for a ministerial berth in the new BJP-led Government at the Centre, the Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee told reporters on Friday when asked why West Bengal went unrepresented in the present 43-member ministry of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Jethmalani promises to set house in order
The Urban Development Ministry has gained an unsavoury reputation following indictments by the Supreme Court and there is an urgent need to undo this damage, the new Urban Development Minister Ram Jethmalani said on Friday. Jethmalani was referring to the SC order indicting Sheila Kaul and her deputy P K Thungon -- both ministers in the Narasimha Rao Cabinet -- for misusing the discretionary quota on allotment of houses.
Democracy on the mat, MLA bashed up inside Assembly
In a blow to the norms of parliamentary democracy, an MLA in Patna was beaten up by ruling party members inside the Assembly. The lone Champaran Vikas Party member, Dilip Verma, eventually had to hide behind the Opposition benches to escape his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) assaulters, who included ministers.
Women's education top on Joshi list
Giving a push to women's education, involving educated youth in a renewed literacy drive and improving the quality of education top the list of priorities of the new Union human resource development minister, Murli Manohar Joshi. Joshi told senior officials that upgrading the quality of education should be the main thrust of their efforts.
