THE Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has recently joined hands with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections and both parties described the move as “historic”. This is not the first time that the two outfits have come together to fight an election. In the 1996 Lok Sabha election, too, the SAD and BSP, which is a major player in the state of Uttar Pradesh, contested in alliance and did well by bagging 11 out of 13 seats in the northern state.
In the 2017 Assembly election in Punjab, however, neither of the two parties did well. The SAD lost power after the National Democratic Alliance comprising it and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to cross the halfway line in the 117-seat state legislature. It was an end of a 10-year government led by the SAD and the party finished third after the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The BSP, on the other hand, failed to win a single seat despite contesting in 111 seats (vote share of 1.5 percent). Even in the 2012 Assembly election, the BSP drew a blank with only 4.3 percent vote share. In fact, the last time the BSP won an Assembly seat in Punjab, from where its founder Kanshi Ram belongs, was in 1997 when it won a single seat with a vote share of 7.5 percent.
Why did the SAD then choose BSP as an alliance partner to take on strong opponents like the Congress and AAP? Eastern Eye spoke with SAD’s Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Naresh Gujral, who is also the son of late Indian prime minister Inder Kumar Gujral, over the alliance and other aspects related to the Punjab election.
EE: Why did the SAD make this alliance with BSP?
Gujral: Basically, this alliance is a social coalition more than a political coalition (Dalits, who are the BSP's major vote base, constitute around 32 percent of Punjab's population). Former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had started various plans for the welfare of the state’s Dalits much earlier, in fact his plans were among the first in the country. Be it the ‘Shagun’ scheme or scholarships for SCs/STs or Atta-Dal scheme, he had started it all. Many of such schemes were later adopted by the Centre. The SAD’s focus has always been centered on the poor. There were big-time power cuts earlier but things have turned around in the 10 years of our rule. The road connectivity has improved, infrastructure has been served with priority, more jobs have been created. What I mean to say is that the SAD’s has been a pro-poor government and one that has worked on development. So, the alliance with the BSP helps its focus in that way.
EE: But the BSP has not been a big force in Punjab elections if we see the past elections?
Gujral: When these types of mergers happen, you don’t see how the other party has done in past elections. This can be more be called a force multiplier. In 1996, we fought the general elections together from Punjab and even though the vote share was not too big we managed to win 11 out of 13 seats in the Parliament from the state. So we are certain that it will again pay off this time.
EE: Can this alliance succeed in beating bigger opponents like the Congress and AAP, which has also emerged a competitive player in the state?
Gujral: Our goal remains firm and it is about defeating the Congress and AAP.
EE: What about the BJP?
Gujral: The BJP is not a force anymore in Punjab. They have lost the people’s trust.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Photo by BIJU BORO/AFP via Getty Images)
EE: Even the Modi factor won’t help them?
Gujral: No. The Modi factor had never worked in Punjab. Even in the past, Arun Jaitley lost from this state (2014 Lok Sabha election).
EE: Do you think the anti-incumbency factor can work against the Congress this time?
Gujral: It has run the government shoddily over the last five years. The ‘Har Ghar Naukri’ (Job for every household) scheme has not delivered. The farmers are disillusioned with this government. There are corruption charges against this government as well.
EE: Coming back to the alliance with the BSP, why didn’t you make a similar alliance in the last 25 years despite the 1996 success?
Gujral: The SAD never leaves its ally’s hand. The SAD did not make any alliance with the BSP after 1996 wince it was a part if the NDA (they walked out last September protesting three farm bills that it felt were against Punjab’s interest). We were in the NDA because of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani. The NDA was completely different then.
Bahujan Samaj Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati (Photo credit should read PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images)
EE: How do you see the SAD doing in the 2024 general elections?
Gujral: All regional parties need to come together to stop the BJP. If this government is allowed to have a longer run, this country could be fragmented. Divisions along religion and caste lines in its times have been unprecedented.
EE: But is there a face that the anti-BJP alliance can project in the 2024 polls?
Gujral: Who would have thought in 2005 that Modi would become the prime minister one day. We have always heard questions like ‘After Nehru, who?’ or ‘After Indira, who?’ but we saw how India got a leader like PV Narasimha Rao who emerged as a dark horse after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. Somebody will emerge. There is no vacuum in politics.
INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.
Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.
Earlier, there were indications that British prime minister Keir Starmer would visit India first. It is understood that Starmer may visit India later this year.
In May, India and the UK sealed the free trade agreement that is expected to benefit 99 per cent of Indian exports through tariff elimination and will make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars and other products to India, while boosting the overall trade basket.
Along with the FTA - the biggest the UK has negotiated since leaving the European Union - the two sides also sealed a double taxation convention.
Modi had described the two pacts as a "historic milestone" to catalyse trade, investment, growth and job creation in both economies and further deepen the India-UK comprehensive strategic partnership.
The trade deal, finalised after three years of negotiations, is expected to ensure comprehensive market access for Indian goods across all sectors, and India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of tariff lines (product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade values, according to officials.
A British readout had said Indian tariffs would be slashed, locking in reductions on 90 per cent of tariff lines, with 85 per cent of these becoming fully tariff-free within a decade.
In 2023-24, India was the UK's second-largest source of investments in terms of the number of projects for the fifth consecutive year.
During Modi's visit, both sides are also expected to explore ways to expand defence and security cooperation. The two sides may also deliberate on the implementation of the Technology Security Initiative (TSI).
In July last year, India and the UK finalised the Technology Security Initiative that set out a new approach for collaboration in a range of priority sectors, including telecommunications, critical minerals, semiconductors and artificial intelligence, with a broader aim to elevate their strategic partnership to the next level.
The TSI would also provide a framework for building a broad UK-India semiconductor partnership that will leverage each other's strengths and incentives and explore mutually beneficial research and development as well as supply chain resilience, according to a statement.
It also seeks to build upon the ambitious cooperation agenda set out in the India-UK Roadmap 2030.
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FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.
The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.
The UK Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which must approve jobs taken by former ministers for at least two years after leaving office, gave its approval with conditions "to mitigate the potential risks to the government" regarding privileged information Sunak would have as a former prime minister.
The committee noted that the salary from his new role would go towards the Richmond Project, a charity announced earlier this year as a joint initiative with Murty focused on improving mathematics and numeracy skills among children and young people in England.
"Goldman Sachs has a significant interest in UK government policy. As the former Prime Minister, there is reasonable concern that your appointment could be seen to offer unfair access and influence within the UK government," the committee stated in its advice published this week.
"You and Goldman Sachs have confirmed to the committee that the role will not involve lobbying the government, which all former ministers are prevented from doing for two years after leaving office. The committee considered that it would be difficult to mitigate the risk of perceived lobbying if you initiated engagement of any kind with the UK government in this role, noting this is not your stated intention."
Under the stipulations, Sunak must not draw on any privileged information available to him from his time in ministerial office.
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
"For two years from your last day in ministerial office, your role with Goldman Sachs Group Inc should be limited to providing advice on strategy, macroeconomic and geopolitical matters that do not conflict with your time as prime minister (including where you are working with parent companies, subsidiaries, partners and clients of Goldman Sachs)," the committee added.
It also stressed that the advice was not an "endorsement" of Sunak's new role but aimed at protecting the integrity of government.
The publication of the committee's decision coincided with Goldman Sachs issuing a statement welcoming the British Indian politician, who continues as a backbench Tory MP for Richmond and Northallerton.
"In his role, he will work with leaders across the firm to advise our clients globally on a range of important topics, sharing his unique perspectives and insights on the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape. He will also spend time with our people around the world, contributing to our culture of ongoing learning and development," said Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon.
Sunak previously worked at Goldman Sachs as a summer intern in Investment Banking in 2000 and later as an analyst between 2001 and 2004.
His political career began when he was elected Tory MP in 2015 and went on to be appointed a junior minister, then chancellor before becoming Britain's first prime minister of Indian heritage in October 2022.
(with inputs from PTI)
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A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.
Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.
A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.
The report, published on Tuesday (8), exposed the devastating impact of a faulty IT system and called for urgent compensation and sweeping reforms.
Led by Sir Wyn Williams, the public inquiry concluded that the Post Office and technology supplier Fujitsu were aware, or should have been aware, that the Horizon IT system used in branches was prone to errors.
Despite this, they insisted for years that the system was reliable, leading to the wrongful prosecution of around 1,000 subpostmasters between 2000 and 2013.
“I am satisfied from the evidence that I have heard that a number of senior, and not-so-senior employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least should have known, that Legacy Horizon was capable of error,” Sir Wyn said. “Yet for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.”
He added, “Many thousands of people have suffered serious financial detriment. Many businesses and homes have been lost, bankruptcies have occurred, marriages and families have been wrecked. Tragically, I heard too of people whom it is said that they were driven to take their own lives.”
The report detailed how the faulty system, first rolled out in 1999, falsely showed cash shortfalls in branch accounts.
Subpostmasters were forced to pay back money they never took, faced criminal charges, and in many cases, imprisonment. The inquiry heard 17 first-hand accounts of suffering, from small financial losses to wrongful imprisonment and suicide.
Subpostmaster Martin Griffiths died after being wrongly accused of a shortfall in his accounts. After losing his job, he walked in front of a bus and died from his injuries at 59.
The inquiry found six former subpostmasters and seven others who were not postmasters had taken their own lives because of the ordeal.
At least 59 people considered suicide, and 10 attempted it, directly linking their distress to the Post Office’s actions and the faulty Horizon system, the report revealed.
Sir Wyn noted, “I received evidence from at least 59 persons who contemplated suicide at various points in time and who attributed this to their experiences with Horizon and/or the Post Office.”
According to the report, the suffering extended beyond those prosecuted. Families were torn apart, with many reporting mental health problems, relationship breakdowns, and financial ruin. Some children of affected families also suffered psychological harm, it said.
The report was scathing about the conduct of both the Post Office and Fujitsu.
It said, “A number of senior, and not-so-senior employees of the Post Office knew or, at the very least should have known, that Legacy Horizon was capable of error. Yet for all practical purposes, throughout the lifetime of Legacy Horizon, the Post Office maintained the fiction that its data was always accurate.”
Despite repeated warnings and evidence of faults, the Post Office continued to pursue subpostmasters, often after the reliability of the software had already been questioned. The inquiry described this as “wholly unacceptable behaviour” by both organisations.
Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells, who gave evidence to the inquiry, broke down in tears recalling the case of a subpostmaster who took his own life after being accused of a £39,000 shortfall.
Public anger over the scandal grew after the ITV drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, aired in 2024, leading to new laws exonerating those wrongly convicted. However, the inquiry found that the process of compensation has been slow and fraught with problems.
Fujitsu's European director Paul Patterson told a parliamentary committee later that the firm, which assisted the Post Office in prosecutions using flawed data from the software, was "truly sorry" for "this appalling miscarriage of justice".
Many of those involved are still battling for compensation.
The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said last month that 7,569 claims out of the 11,208 received had now been paid, leaving 3,709 still to be settled.
Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster who led the fight for justice, has said the compensation process has "turned into quasi-kangaroo courts".
Bates, who was awarded a knighthood by King Charles for his campaign to highlight the scandal, told the Sunday Times in May the DBT "sits in judgement of the claims and alters the goal posts as and when it chooses".
Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said last month the government had made it a priority to speed up the delivery of compensation since taking office in July 2024.
The inquiry has so far held 226 days of hearings and questioned 298 witnesses. The second volume of the final report, which will examine the role of the Post Office in greater detail, is expected in due course.
In the report, Sir Wyn has called for urgent action to ensure “full and fair” compensation, including free legal advice and support for family members. He recommended that compensation should match the highest civil court awards, and that the government, Post Office, and Fujitsu should agree on a programme of restorative justice. The report also calls for a permanent public body to be set up to handle redress for people wronged by public institutions.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said, “I am committed to ensuring wronged subpostmasters are given full, fair, and prompt redress.”
The government has set a deadline of October 10, 2025, for written responses to the inquiry’s recommendations. By October 31, the Department for Business and Trade, Fujitsu, and the Post Office must publish a report on restorative justice plans.
The Post Office scandal has left a deep scar on British society as thousands of families across the country are awaiting justice. The inquiry’s findings and recommendations now put the onus on the government and the Post Office to finally deliver justice and closure to the thousands whose lives were shattered by the scandal.
Asian victims
Harjinder Butoy Harjinder Butoy bought the Forest Side Post Office in Sutton-in-Ashfield in 2004, investing his redundancy pay and a family loan. In 2007, an audit alleged a £200,000 shortfall. Despite a clean audit a week prior, Butoy was arrested, charged with theft, and convicted on 10 counts. He served 14 months in prison and lost his business, home, and reputation. The Post Office seized his assets, and his family faced bankruptcy. His wife and three children were forced to move in with relatives, enduring years of financial and emotional turmoil. Butoy, plagued by depression and unable to find work, saw his convictions quashed in 2021. He continues to seek justice for the ordeal, which left his family devastated and his life in ruins.
Parmod Kalia and Mahesh Kumar Kalia Parmod Kalia, a postmaster since 1990, was convicted of theft in 2001 after a Post Office investigation, receiving a six-month prison sentence. The conviction upended his family’s life: his wife and children struggled to keep their shop afloat, and his son Mahesh, then 17, was forced to abandon his dream of becoming a pharmacist to help the family. The trauma fractured relationships – Mahesh and his father were estranged for 17 years, with siblings moving away and parents separating. Kalia’s conviction was finally quashed in 2021.
Siema Kamran and Kamran Ashraf Siema Kamran and Kamran Ashraf bought a Hampstead Heath Post Office in 2001, but soon faced repeated, unexplained shortfalls. In 2003, an audit found a £25,000 deficit, leading to Siema’s suspension and both facing criminal charges. Kamran, advised to plead guilty, was sentenced to nine months in prison and ordered to pay compensation. The ordeal cost them their business, home, and community standing. Siema struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, while Kamran developed post-traumatic stress disorder. Their marriage, though still intact, is described as “broken.” Both were ostracised in their community, and their financial losses were devastating. Kamran’s conviction was quashed in 2020, but the couple’s lives remain deeply affected.
(with inputs from agencies)
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The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries
Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
North-west England officially declared in drought
Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer
The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.
The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.
North-west enters drought as conditions persist
The EA confirmed that a drought has now been declared in north-west England, despite rainfall at the beginning of June. Other regions including Yorkshire, the East and West Midlands, and northeast England are also experiencing prolonged dry spells.
Helen Wakeham, EA director of water and chair of the drought group, said:
“It’s been the driest spring since 1893, and we need to be prepared for more summer droughts as our climate changes.”
She urged the public to use water responsibly, emphasising the importance of conservation throughout the summer.
Water firms outline conservation strategies
Water companies presented updated drought plans during the meeting, including accelerated leak repairs and improved customer communication. The Environment Agency said some may need to introduce further restrictions in the absence of substantial rainfall.
While no national measures are in place yet, local curbs are being prepared. A Yorkshire water hosepipe ban is among the restrictions under consideration if conditions worsen in the coming weeks.
The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries and supporting farmers in managing their water needs.
Reuters
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Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)
Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.
"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.
Tebbit was seriously injured in 1984 when the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton during a Conservative Party conference. The attack was aimed at assassinating Thatcher. Tebbit had to be pulled out from the rubble, and his wife Margaret was left paralysed from the neck down as a result of the explosion.
Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife.
Between 1981 and 1987, Tebbit held several key positions in government, including employment secretary, trade and industry secretary, and chairman of the Conservative Party. He was known for his direct approach during a period marked by high unemployment and widespread unrest.
"I grew up in the 1930s with an unemployed father," he said. "He didn't riot. He got on his bike and looked for work and he kept looking until he found it," Tebbit added.
The statement was widely quoted and paraphrased by critics as telling people to "get on your bike", and was used by the left to depict him as lacking compassion.
The satirical TV series Spitting Image portrayed him as a tough, leather-clad figure with metal chains, a depiction Tebbit reportedly found amusing.
Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch described Tebbit as "an icon in British politics" and praised his "enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country".
She said Tebbit had played a key role in Thatcher's administration, especially in confronting the influence of trade unions.
"But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism" and his dedication to caring for his wife that showed he was "first and foremost a family man who always held true to his principles", she added.