(Resubmitted for non-delivery) Dear Friends:
Senior backbencher Keith Vaz is being investigated by an Indian election commissioner following complaints that he addressed an election campaign rally on behalf of a Congress Party candidate. This is a report by Dean Nelson from New Delhi. -bhuban The MP, who is chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee and served as Minister for Europe in the last Labour government, is currently in India to promote trade with Britain. According to the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr Vaz addressed a rally in support of Congress candidate Valanka Alemao, the daughter of Goan minister Churchill, Alemao, with whom Mr Vaz is believed to be friends. The Labour MP's parents are from the former Portuguese colony and he retains close links with the state. Opposition figures in the state said many of their supporters and other business figures boycotted his speech to the Goan Chamber of Commerce on Monday night in protest at his intervention in the campaign and challenged his right as a foreign national to take part in the campaign. During the visit to Goa he proposed a new British visa clearing centre to the number of Goan visitors to the UK, and called for increased collaborations of areas of British expertise like waste management. He is also expected to lobby the Indian government to reconsider the Typhoon Eurofighter for a major combat aircraft deal in which the French Rafale has been named as favoured bidder. But his speech in favour of a Congress candidate brought a complaint from the state's former chief minister, Goa's BJP leader Manohar Parrikar. "It is absolutely wrong for foreign nationals to participate in any way in local politics. The matter is being probed by the election commission and we demand [the] commission should issue clear guidelines on this matter. This should not be repeated," he said The state's chief election officer S. Kumara Swamy confirmed he was investigating the claims. "He had participated in an election meeting and on that basis, we have referred the matter to the election commission for its opinion. At this stage, I cannot divulge whether a compliant was filed against him, nevertheless, the matter is being looked by election commission," he said _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
