The Congress (I) efforts to topple the Janata government in Karnataka through defections was exposed when V B Gowda, an associate member of the Janata Party, produced Rs 2 lakh in cash given to him to defect and also a taped conversation between him and the leader of the opposition, Veerappa Moily. The conversation convincingly demolishes the official pronouncement of the Congress (I).
Train Kills Pilgrims
Twenty-one pilgrims were killed and 50 injured, 16 of them seriously, when they were run over by the Bareilly-Varanasi passenger train at the Madha level-crossing near Faizabad railway station. According to reports, the pilgrims had got down from the Allahabad-Faizabad train, which had stopped due to chain pulling. They were walking on the track when the Bareilly-Varanasi train ploughed through them.
Rail Body Scrapped
Railway Minister A B A Ghani Khan Chowdhury has ordered the scrapping of the North-East Frontier Railway Service Commission on grounds of corruption and the appointment of an emergency service commission for recruitment of railway employees. Chowdhury said, “If this means violating the autonomy of the commission we are not worried. We are making and will continue to make efforts to combat corruption.”
Bypoll Results
The Congress (I) candidate, Motilal Saha, retained the prestigious Charilam seat, defeating his lone rival, Braj Gopal Bhowmik of the ruling CPI(M) by a margin of 1,885 votes in the Tripura Assembly bypoll. Saha polled 9,126 votes against Bhowmik’s 7,241 votes. Voter turnout in the by-elections ranged from moderate to heavy.
