HEAD LINE:

FIA not enough, BJP wants terror law too, Eying Polls, Party Looking To Share Honours With UPA Over Federal Agency Proposal(TOI)

LEAD:

In what is being read as the first sign of Pakistan wilting in the face of growing international pressure, Islamabad has said that it will ban Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) the political arm of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has been recruiting fidayeen killers like the captured terrorist Ajmal if the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) declares JuD a terrorist outfit. It's learnt the UNSC has already initiated the necessary steps to ban JuD and tighten the screws on its chief Hafiz Saeed regarded as a key man behind the Mumbai carnage who is among India's most wanted. A Saeed-specific ban is also certain, said govt sources. Pakistan, which had denied the complicity of Lashkar in Mumbai attacks, had to make the statement about banning JuD at the UNSC because of the near-unanimity in the Security Council about JuD's involvement in terrorism. The UNSC move marked a global concert against Pakistan because of its failure to carry out its repeated pledges to India and others to crack down on terrorist camps. (TOI)

• New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and PM Manmohan Singh on Wednesday discussed the feasibility of a minor shuffle of Cabinet berths amid signs of their being eager to have a politician like former Kartnataka chief minister S M Krishana as a full-scale finance minister. The desirabilty of a minor recast of the Cabinet was an important subject in the discussion, held at the PM's residence, which also focused on issues which would figure in the current session of Parliament that got underway on Wednesday. Krishna, who earlier had a meeting with the PM, has emerged as the potential political ''pick" for the FM's slot, though there are indications that deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and former RBI Governor, C Rangarajan, were the PMO's preferred choices for the job. There was no clarity on the timing of the minor exercise, which is being considered largely because of the feeling in the ruling party that the deteriorating economy could become a major issue during the build-up to the LS polls, requiring full-time attention. The convention not to effect changes in the ministerial team has so far been observed, barring a couple of exceptions in the past. (TOI)
• Indian cities, cutting across regions, are seething with anger over the failure of the political class to prevent terror attacks. It doesn't believe the buck stops with the Union home minister or CM. It feels more leaders should be made to pay for instance, 43% of those polled in an exclusive survey in 10 cities felt the PM, too, should pay a price. The anger is directed not just at politicians. It has mounted against the Pakistani govt an overwhelming 88% think it is involved in the Mumbai attacks. However, there are marked differences across cities on what should be India's response, with Mumbai not surprisingly taking the most aggressive stance while the southern cities prefer less hardline options. The survey conducted by Synovate for The Times of India also reveals that over 60% of our city dwellers think India is paying the price for the wrong policies adopted by the developed world read US, in particular towards Muslim nations, although again not all cities were equally convinced about this argument.(TOI)
• Mumbai: Saying that the party should promote "Priyanka Gandhi rather than Rahul", Congress rebel Narayan Rane's son Nitesh and his supporters on Wednesday tore up Sonia Gandhi's posters put up for CM Ashok Chavan's meeting with Mumbai Congress members. With Rane suspended by the party already, Nitesh earlier announced his resignation as the general secretary of the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress (MPYC) along with 172 supporters. Addressing the meeting later in the evening, Chavan expressed regret at what had happened. "It is not Congress culture to tear up posters and vandalise. If we have a fight within our home, how will we fight the enemies from outside?" (IE)

BJP

Its 'soft-on-terror' charge against Congress may not have worked at the hustings, but the BJP has refused to relax its insistence on a special anti-terror law. BJP has indicated to the govt that it will insist on the proposal for a federal investigating agency being accompanied by an anti-terror law if the legislation to set up the agency is to enjoy bi-partisan support in Parliament. Consultations between foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee and BJP saw the Opposition party stressing that while it is in favour of terrorism being declared a federal crime, a central agency would not be effective unless supported by relevant laws. While BJP has said so before, its position does not seem to be a bargaining chip or rhetoric. "We want an anti-terror law. It should have penal provisions. It should not be merely to do with detention. Govt can call this law by whatever name it chooses but it is necessary," said senior BJP sources familiar with the discussions with the govt. BJP's intent seems to be ensure that a part of its agenda is accepted by the govt.(TOI)

• New Delhi: BJP leader L K Advani has been assured that the ongoing renovation of historic temples at Katasraj in Pakistan's Chakwal district would be expedited after he took up the matter with Pakistan Muslim League (Q) chief Chaudhry Shujat Hussain. Hussain had accompanied Advani to the temples during the latter's Pakistan visit in 2005 when the BJP leader drew the attention of the authorities there to the condition of the temples known for their historic significance. "I noted with concern the point raised by you about the perceived slowness in renovating the historic sites at Katasraj. Pursuant to our conversation, I personally followed up with the competent authorities at Chakwal to ascertain the current status of the project. I have been assured that the work is being undertaken with serious commitment," Hussain said in a letter to Advani on Monday. The BJP leader had earlier called up the PML-Q leader to ensure the early completion of the renovation work. (IE)

STATES

ANDHRA PRADESH

The Andhra Pradesh unit of the BJP has accused the Congress leaders of indulging in "Goebbellian propaganda" that the party's victory in three States reflected the trust reposed by people in AICC president Sonia Gandhi's leadership. At a press conference here on Wednesday, G. Kishan Reddy, MLA, and N. Ramchander Rao, spokesperson, said that the BJP had lost to the Congress in Rajasthan and New Delhi due to certain lapses in the party's strategy and not due to people's faith in Ms. Gandhi's leadership. They maintained that the Congress had won in only five of the 18 States after Manmohan Singh became the PM. Did it mean that the party was defeated in the remaining 13 States due to lack of people's faith in her stewardship? The BJP leaders said local issues, a leader's ability and the govt's functioning would impact the outcome in such elections rather than national issues. They hit out at the Congress for indulging in propaganda that people were not affected by recent incidents of terrorism. (HINDU)

ASSAM

Mizoram Pradesh Congress Committee president and former CM Lalthanhawla is set to be crowned CM on Thursday after he was unanimously elected the leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) at Aizawl on Wednesday. It will be his fourth term. Immediately after this election Mr. Lalthanhawla, accompanied by senior Congress leaders, called on Governor M.M. Lakhera and staked claim to form a new govt. The swearing-in has been fixed at 2-30 p.m. Mr. Lalthanhawla was elected CM for the first time in 1984 when Mizoram was a Union Territory. He stepped down from office to make way for a Mizo National Front (MNF)-Congress coalition govt following the peace accord between the Centre and the underground MNF. (HINDU)

DELHI

No words, no announcements, just a stream of firecrackers made the statement right at the outset at the crowded Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters at Rajiv Bhavan. The occasion was the first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) with all its newly elected 42 MLAs in attendance. And with the consent of Sonia Gandhi, the CLP elected two-time CM and now the most prominent face of Delhi Congress, Sheila Dikshit, as its leader and the Capital's CM for the third term. Dikshit is likely to take oath on Friday. As per constitutional requirement, the Delhi Assembly has to be formed by December 17. While the election of the CLP leader this time was a mere formality, it had taken the Congress eight days after the results in 2003 and two CLP meetings to elect and declare Dikshit the leader. In 2003, Chaudhary Prem Singh, who held the post of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief between 1998 and 2003, was eyeing the post of CM and had lobbied hard for it only to lose out to Dikshit.(TOI)

MUMBAI

Investigators are matching voices of the terrorists' suspected Pakistani handlers with samples in a voice-data bank to build a case against Islamabad. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch said it had evidence that Lashkar-e-Toiba chief Hafiz Saeed was personally involved in the indoctrination and training of the 10 terrorists, along with Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and other lieutenants known as Abu Hamza and Kahafa. As reported first by The Indian Express, security agencies intercepted calls made by the terrorists from their mobile phones during the November 26-29 siege. Highly-placed sources said today that investigators believe the terrorists used VoIP technology that allows phone calls to be made over the Internet, and calls were routed through a New Jersey-based Telecom service provider. "Central agencies are matching the voices from Pakistan with a voice bank archive in Delhi," a source said. (IE)

UTTRANCHAL

The Dehra Dun bandh call by Shiv Sena in protest against the Mumbai terror attacks evoked a near total response on Wednesday with most markets remaining closed and public transport staying off the roads much to the inconvenience of the public. Four persons were detained after they indulged in violence, damaging shops that were open. The district administration had ordered closure of educational institutions as a precautionary measure. (HINDU)

EDITORIAL

Grand old confusion: The Congress may have won Rajasthan, but that does not mean the business of politicking is over and that the business of administration has begun. The Rajasthan Congress legislature party, or CLP, meets today to consider the various possibilities for the state's CM; their deliberations will be watched over, carefully, by a team from the All India Congress Committee led by the AICC's general secretary, Digvijay Singh. This is, we are told, how the Congress always does things; why would there be any reason to change? As the grand old party regularly seems to discover but never seems to internalise, there are always reasons to change. A look at why there's been a delay in Rajasthan might make it clear what these are. (IE)