Taslima and UP blasts dwarfs Naidu's farmers show

Vijayawada, Nov 24 (UNI) The plight of controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen and yesterday's simultaneous blasts in Uttar Pradesh seem to have played havoc with Telugu Desam's grand plans to convert the United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA) satraps gathering into a farmer centric movement.

The UNPA leaders who landed here at noon spent over two hours with the TDP supremo to chalk out their political agenda but their efforts were overshadowed by the happenings in West Bengal and UP.

The focus which was supposed to be on the farmer related issues and to project Mr Naidu as a farmer friendly leader suffered a jolt with the UNPA leaders raising these issues in furtherance of their own agenda.

Mr Naidu even had named his massive rally 'Rytu Garjana' (Farmers' roar), but their voice was overshadowed. Mr Naidu, however, did articulate the demands of the farmers like increasing the minimum support price for paddy at Rs 1000, a one time waiver of all crop loans and interest free loans to small and marginal farmers and insurance cover for all crops.

Raising the issue of Ms Taslima Nasreen, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah said that the writer who had to leave her motherland should stop playing around with religion if she wants to live in India. "Kolkata is in turmoil and God knows which other city will be in trouble. She must say 'sorry' for whatever she has done so far. He however stopped short of demanding her expulsion by saying that it was upto the Centre to take a decision.

The simultaneous blasts in the courts of Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi was the issue taken up by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who found fault with Chief Minister Mayawati's handling of the situation. When terrorists attacked Ayodhya site, the police had enough information that it was in the hit list but the administration took no action to preempt the attack, he charged.

The last time the terrorists attacked, all of them were wiped out but this time there were three blasts killing several eminent lawyers, and yet there has not been even arrests of any miscreant, he saidd. She has only two agendas - make money from builders and target SP leaders and workers, he said.

On the Nandigram controversy, the UNPA chose to soft pedal the issue by saying that the lives of the innocents as well as that of Marxists were lost and nothing should be done to politicise the matter, Mr Singh said.

The TDP was disappointed about the absence of CPI in the UNPA deliberations. The farmers wing of the CPI Atul Kumar Anjan was supposed to attend this meeting and the rally but he chose to keep himself away.

UNI