The commission’s report will be made public along with an Action Taken Report (ATR).

The Liberhan Commission, headed by Justice M S Liberhan, had submitted its report to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on June 30, 2009 – the last day of the commission’s 48th extension – in the presence of Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The report was subsequently sent to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs for “further action.”

Home Minister Chidambaram had announced in June 2009 that the Liberhan Commission report would be tabled in Parliament within 6 months.

Whatever the contents of the Liberhan Commission’s report are, there will be an uproar either by the UPA and Left parties, or if it goes against them, by the BJP and its allies. BJP and its parent organisation the RSS have consistently denied that it was a spontaneous action by the mob, and there was no planning involved. Whatever the truth is, very few believe that the truth about what happened and who was responsible would be finally made clear by the report. Even the Congress has some skeletons in its cupboards, due to the actions – or inaction – of the then-Congress Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, wh is believed by many to be too trusting of the RSS.

The contents of the Liberhan Commission Report have so far not been divulged. Justice Liberhan was accused of going slow as well as being too soft on certain political leaders during the course of the commission’s investigation.

Babri Masjid demolition photos

Babri Masjid photo: Before the demolition

Photo: Babri Masjid demolition in progress; this pic appeared in the next day's papers. By then the Masjid had vanished

Babri Masjid demolition photo

Photo: babri Masjid demolition in the background, cheering crowds in front

According to political observers, the Liberhan Commission Report could have far-reaching political implications vis-à-vis role the role of some of the leaders of the Sangh Parivar in the Babri Masjid demolition.

Sources in the Union Home Ministry said that the Action Taken Report (ATR) was being finalised and that it would submitted in Parliament along with the Liberhan Commission Report.

It is mandatory that the government should submit the Action Taken Report within 6 months of receiving a commission report. The deadline for the ATR regarding the Liberhan Commission Report is December 31, 2009.

The Liberhan Commission had recorded statements of a number of top political leaders, including those of L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh, and Uma Bharti, in addition to senior officials of the government of Uttar Pradesh.

The Liberhan Commission, set up on December 16, 1992, was initially asked to submit a report within 3 months.

However, the commission could submit a report only after over 16 years, and following a total of 399 sittings.

The Union Government spent around Rs 9 crore on the Liberhan Commission, including on salary.

Meanwhile, security will be tightened in Maharashtra in connection with the tabling of the Liberhan Commission Report in Parliament, especially in areas that are communally sensitive.

It may be recalled that the demolition of the Babri masjid on December 6, 1992, had led to communal riots in Mumbai in December 1992 and then in January 1993 in which the Shiv Sena and its leaders are believed to be involved in. These riots had, in turn, triggered a series of retaliatory bomb blasts by the underworld in Mumbai, in which over 180 people had lost their lives.

Hence the Home Ministry of Maharashtra is taking no chances, and is beefing up security in the state as well as presence of police on the streets, a source of the Home Ministry said.

Photo: Nitin Gadkari

Gadkari, who enjoys the support of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was in New Delhi the other day, fuelling speculations that he will be chosen to head the BJP at the national level.

Addressing reporters in New Delhi, Gadkari said that no decision has been taken yet. However, he did not deny that he is being tipped for the BJP’s top job and also said that he is “ready for any assignment.”

Photo: Nitin Gadkari with Rajnath Singh, current BJP president and Gopinath Munde

Nitin Gadkari said he had not met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who also was in New Delhi, adding that he has always taken up any responsibility that the party has given him, but he was never a part of any race for any post.

Political observers see Gadkari’s presence at the BJP’s central office in New Delhi as an obvious indication that his election as the national president of the BJP could be no more than a formality. If this come to pass, the BJP’s national-level leaders like M Venkaiah Naidu, Arun Jaitley, Ananth Kumar and Sushma Swaraj have been ignored for the post.

The candidature of Nitin Gadkari as the choice of the RSS for the post of the BJP chief has been doing the rounds since September 2009.

If Gadkari does become the BJP president, the party’s connection with Nagpur, the headquarters of the RSS, will be strengthened in many ways, according to observers.

Since Gadkari is close to the RSS, his possible elevation to the top party post is construed by many as an attempt by the RSS to get involved in the affairs of the  BJP.

The RSS apparently holds Gadkari in high esteem since he is considered as a “development-oriented” leader and also for his “clean image” after renowned social worker Anna Hazare had to withdraw a case of corruption against Gadkari as the charges could not be proved.

Nitin Gadkari had attracted attention while he was the Mayor of Nagpur and also as Maharashtra’s Minister for Public Works in the Shiv Sena-BJP government.

He has been credited with the development of Nagpur and Mumbai while he was the Mayor of Nagpur and a Minister in Maharashtra.

The Congress’ list of 56 candidates includes 2 women and 6 first-time contestants. The Arunachal Pradesh Assembly has a total of 60 seats.

The elections to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly will take place along with elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The names of 9 sitting MLAs are out of the Congress list, ands the names of candidates for 4 constituencies – Palin, Pakke-Kessang, Namsai and Yachuli – are   yet to be finalisd owing to alleged internal squabbles in the state unit of the party.

The sitting Congress MLAs who have been denied ticket are: Tani Loffa (Seppa West), Kito Sora (Along East), Nyato Rigia (Taliha), Wangnia Pongte (Changlang North), Tadik Chije (Mechuka), Thajom Aboh (Khonsa West), Kamthok Lowang (Khonsa East), the monk-turned politician TG Rinpoche (Lumla), and Minister Atum Welly (Seppa East).

According to the list released by the All-India Congress Committee (AICC), Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu, former chief minister Gegong Apang, his son and former union minister Omak Apang, Finance Minister Kaliko Pul, Home Minister Jarbom Gamlin, and Public Works Minister Nabam Tuki have been re-nominated as candidates from their respective constituencies.
Pomaya Mithi, wife of former chief minister Mukut Mithi, has been chosen to contest from the Roing constituency, which had been represented by her husband.

Six out of the 9 BJP MLAs who joined the Congress recently have found a place in the Congress list this time. The 6 are: Tapang Taloh (Pangin), RT Khunjuju (Bomdila), Chow Tewa Mein (Chowkham), Bosiram Siram (Pasighat East), Kipa Babu (Itanagar), and Kameng Dolo (Chayangtajo).

The BJP is yet to announce a decision on sitting MLAs Techi Hemu (Pakke-Kessang) and Balo Raja (Palin).

While the BJP will contest in about 50 seats, it has decided to support non-Congress candidates in the rest of the seats, Tai Tagak, a spokesman of the BJP said.

Some of the sitting MLAs of the Congress and Independent MLAs who were not included in the list of 56 Congress candidates are in touch with the BJP for ticket, Tagak added.

He said the BJP had already released the first list of 17 candidates and would release the full list by September 17, 2009.

In the last Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections held in 2004, the BJP had put up candidates in 39 out of the total 60 seats. The party had then won 9 seats and also won, for the first time, the post of the Leader of the Opposition.

In the forthcoming elections, many smaller political parties too have put up candidates. They include Trinamul Congress, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), Lok Bharati, Naga People’s Front (NPF), and the Janata Dal (United).

Photo: Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Sarsanghachalak

Mohan Bhagwat called on Vaypayee to inquire about the veteran leader’s health and to discuss “the current political situation in the country,” a statement issued by the RSS said.

The 85-year-old Vajpayee, who is also chairman of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), is now keeping off active politics owing to his poor health.

N C Jhingta, Vajpayee’s secretary, told reporters that the meeting between Mohan Bhagwat and Vajpayee lasted about 30 minutes.

The BJP currently is beset with internal squabbles and issues regarding leadership post its debacle in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The party has been unable to find its direction in the aftermath, and infighting has been at its zenith.

Mohan Bhagwat had, a week before, met a number of leaders of the BJP in an effort to ease the severe crisis in the party that emerged after veteran leader and former Union Cabinet minister Jaswant Singh was expelled from the BJP.

The BJP expelled Jaswant Singh over his book titled Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence.  The party alleges that, in his book, Jaswant Singh has unduly eulogized Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and made “defamatory references” to Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of India.

It may be noted that the BJP-ruled Gujarat banned Jaswant Singh’s book just two days after it was released at a function in New Delhi.  Jaswant Singh later filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Gujarat government’s ban on his book. Several BJP leaders said that the expulsion was a mistake. To add to that, Rajasthan BJP leader Vasundhara Raje refused to step down from the post of the Opposition leader when ordered to do so by the party president Rajnath Singh. Veteran BJP leader and ex-minister Arun Shourie also criticised the leadership, and openly asked the RSS to take over control of BJP.

Mohan Bhagwat refused to do anything of the sort during a rare interaction with the media during a press conference. However, behind the scenes, Mohan Bhagwat has been meeting the so-called generation-next BJP leaders, as well as the current leadership to sort out the mess in the party.

Bhagwat’s meeting with Vaypayee and other senior leaders of the BJP indicates that the RSS, the ideological guide and guardian of the BJP, is clearly and decisively intervening in the party’s affairs.

Meanwhile, L K Advani, unarguably the tallest leader in the BJP at present, is facing the biggest crisis in his political career with the RSS going ahead aggressively with its agenda of installing younger leaders at the BJP’s top echelons.

What Mohan Bhagwat said in Haridwar a few days ago is very significant in this context – Bhagwat had openly stated that “it was up to L K Advani to decide his future role.” And, in the new scheme of things that is unfolding in the BJP, Advani, who has dominated the party for a long time, is finding little or no role for himself.

What will worry Advani most will be the choice of the next president of the party. Even as most of Advani’s loyalists still hope that he will have a major role in choosing the next president, there are many in the party who believe that the successor to Rajnath Singh, the present president of the BJP, will be chosen by the RSS Sarsanghchalak.

The names reportedly being considered for the post of BJP president include those of Manohar Parikkar, former chief minister of Goa, and Shivraj Chauhan, chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. It is important to note that all the leaders being considered for the BJP’s top post are hardcore loyalists of the RSS and do not belong to the so-called “Delhi-centric coterie” which was nurtured and propelled by L K Advani himself.

Reports indicate that Mohan Bhagwat is looking outside of Delhi for “new faces” – and, young ones, at that) to be inducted into the BJP. In fact, it is said that Bhagwat has with him a list of around 80 young people who are eligible to lead the party.

Nothing much. The interesting thing is that exit polls by TV channels have predicted that the UPA would get higher number of seats in the Lok Sabha 2009 elections than the NDA – though the NDA would only behind by 15-30 seats.

That sure must be music to the ears of Congress. NDA and BJP have predictably rejected the exit polls.

Not just that. Just because an alliance would turn out to be the largest in the Lok Sabha does not mean that it would be called upon to form the government. The pre-poll NDA and UPA are one thing, the post-poll UPA and NDA are another. There will be strategic tie-ups, deals, there is no way anything can be defined at this point.

Would the exit polls be right? I frankly have no confidence in them. I still remember how exit polls in the 2004 elections went totally wrong. Nobody is even now sure which way Orissa would go. No one is sure which way tamil Nadu would go. Sure, the state had a high turn out when it went for voting, but does it mean an AIADMK whitewash – in which case, would Jayalalathiaa stick to the third front, or would be ally with the NDA, or even the Congress – or does it mean a split verdict in favour of the DMK and Congress?

Would Kerala deliver 15 seats to the UPA, or is it going to be ten seats? Which way is Maharashtra swinging? How well will Mulayam and Mayavati and even the Congress do in UP? What about Nitish Kumar and Bihar?

Too many unanswered questions. And I don’t think in a country where we have huge constituencies, exit polls or sampling makes any sense.

It is anyone’s game today, after 7 am. NDA might turn out to be the single largest alliance, or it could be the UPA.

Do reply in the comments about what you feel. Who is it going to be today?

The comments are not moderated for today. So go ahead and tell us who you think the largest alliance would be.

The BJP leader submitted the nomination papers to the District Electoral Officer and District Magistrate of Varanasi Ajay Kumar Upadhyay.

Photo: Murli Manohar Joshi with LK Advani

Murli Manohar Joshi went up to the collectorate to file his papers in an open truck followed by his entourage. He filed the papers in four sets as proposed by Mayor of Varanasi Kaushlendra Singh, former BJP MP Shankar Prasad Jaisawal, BJP MLC-Kedar Nath Singh and senior BJP leader Anant Dev Sharma respectively.

Joshi is presently is the first candidate to file papers from the Varanasi constituency for the 2009 General elections to the Lok Sabha.

Murli Manohar Joshi is known as a hardliner in the BJP, more in sync with the objectives of the RSS than most other leaders. He has had prime ministerial ambitions earlier, but LK Advani has conclusively overshadowed him in the lst couple of years and is now officially the NDA candidate for PM. The BJP and NDA has always been in two minds about Joshi, as on the one hand he was seen as supporting the cultural and education agenda of the RSS, while others found him an embarassment and regressive.

The polls in Varanasi will be held in the first phase of elections, on 16 April 2009. The first phase of the Lok Sabha elections will see polling in 123 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Meanwhile there is also a FIR that has been registered against the former minister for violating the model code of conduct by holding a meeting in Varanasi without prior permission. Murli Manohar Joshi is accused of of holding a meeting in front of the Company Garden gate, without prior permission of the district administration yesterday, police said. The FIR has been registered under section 144, as well as the model code of conduct.

Murli Manohar Joshi will have stiff competition from the BJP’s rebel legislator Ajay Rai who will contest on a Samajwadi Party ticket in these elections. And a third potential candidate in the fray in Varanasi is Mukhtar Ansari, a man with a criminal past who has quit the Samajwadi Party and will now be the candidate for Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).