Politics

Hyderabad, July 25: Andhra Pradesh Congress president D Srinivas, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao’s son K T Rama Rao and popular Telugu comedian Babu Mohan are among the prominent candidates who are in the fray for bypolls to 12 Assembly seats in Telangana region to be held on Tuesday.

Stakes are high for Srinivas, who is trying his luck from his traditional Nizambabad Urban constituency, as he had lost last year’s Assembly election and his win in the current bypolls will boost his political career.

New Delhi, July 25: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today slammed the Government’s Pakistan policy, claiming that it was completely alienated from public opinion of the day.

“Presently, New Delhi’s Pakistan Policy is really in a shambles,” the former Deputy Prime Minister wrote on his blog and pointed out that a vital touchstone for judging the government’s handling of foreign affairs has been approach to its western neighbour.

New Delhi, July 25: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati skipped the meeting of the National Development Council for a second year in a row.

It is not unusual for her to skip meetings called by the Central government.

In August last year, while she was in Delhi to meet the Prime Minister to demand a special package for power supply, she did not attend a meeting chaired by Manmohan Singh on internal security on the same day.

The Uttar Pradesh CM also prefers to send her top bureaucrats to the Planning Commission when state plans are prepared.

New Delhi, July 24: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today alleged that “pick and choose” policy has been followed in the CBI probe against state Home Minister Amit Shah in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case and accused the Centre of using the agency as a political weapon.

He also maintained that the minister was “innocent” and a “law-abiding citizen”.

New Delhi, July 24: The Congress Saturday slammed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for criticising the CBI for its probe into the 2005 killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, saying he was attacking the Supreme Court by doing so.

Congress general secretary B.K. Hariprasad said Modi has no right to criticise the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as the probe into Sheikh’s killing was held under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

New Delhi, July 24: Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah is “completely innocent” and all allegations against him have been “fabricated”, Chief Minister Narendra Modi said here Saturday while accepting his resignation.

“Amit Shah is completely innocent. The allegations have been fabricated,” Modi said after arriving in the capital in the morning.

“Amit Shah has sent his resignation to my bungalow. I will complete the formalities after returning from here. I accept his resignation.”

Kolkata, July 23: Trinamool Congress today said it will move a court against CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechuri for a forthcoming editorial in the party organ ‘People’s Democracy’ for allegedly defaming the party.

Trinamool Congress general secretary Mukul Roy told newsmen that in the editorial, Yechuri had quoted an SMS received from a person which said Trinamool Congress stood for ‘Train Mishap Congress.’

Roy claimed copies of the editorial was circulated by email to a section of the media.

New Delhi, July 23: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Friday announced distribution of work to the party’s office-bearers, with general secretary Vasundhra Raje taking charge of Haryana and senior leader M. Venkiah Naidu of Delhi and Maharashtra.

The work distribution, done almost four months after Gadkari announced his new team, saw party leaders Najma Heptulla, Hema Malini and Varun Gandhi finding place in the list of 75 functionaries.

Both Heptulla and Hema Malini were not nominated to the Rajya Sabha last month.

Patna, July 23: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today slammed the opposition for disrupting proceedings of the Bihar legislature while demanding his resignation and said the move would boomerang as people would vote them out in the coming Assembly polls.

Patna, July 22: All 12 Lok Janashakti Party MLAs today resigned from Bihar Assembly in protest against their suspension by Speaker Udaya Narain Chowdhary for the rest of the session.

“All the 12 MLAs of the party have submitted their resignation letters to National President Ram Vilas Paswan and state chief Pashupati Kumar Paras in protest against their suspension from the state Assembly yesterday,” LJP spokesman Keshav Singh said.

Panaji, July 22: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Thursday sought a ban on contraceptive pill advertisements on television, saying it encouraged unprotected sex and increased the possibility of AIDS.

Speaking during Question Hour in the Goa assembly, BJP’s Damodar Naik said the state health department should urge the central government to ban “I-Pill ads”.

“On one hand you promote the use of condoms to prevent AIDS and on the other hand television channels are promoting I-Pill. The state government should talk to the central ministry and ban these advertisements,” Naik said.

Patna, July 22: On a day when Opposition legislators in the Bihar Assembly created a ruckus, RJD’s Lalu Prasad and LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday attacked the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government, addressing separate press conferences at their residences in the Capital.

“Why did the Bihar government not take any action when the CAG report pinpointed the irregularities in 2006 itself. Nitish Kumar talked about good governance and claimed to be a clean Chief Minister. He should leave the chair till a CBI inquiry into the episode is completed,” Prasad told reporters.

Bhubaneswar, July 21: Seeking a ban on the release of BJD MP starrer Oriya film “Swayamsiddha” for allegedly propagating Maoist ideology, BJP today demanded a CBI probe into the source of funding of the big budget film.

“A thorough investigation by an independent agency, preferably by CBI, be instituted to ascertain if there is any nexus with Maoists. The investigating agency should be specifically assigned to find out the source of funding of the big-budget movie,” state BJP’s youth wing said in a memorandum to Orissa governor M C Bhandare.

Patna, July 21: Both houses of Bihar Legislature were adjourned till lunch amid pandemonium created by ruling NDA and opposition members to counter each others over the Patna High Court order for an inquiry by CBI into alleged irregularities in execution of development schemes.

Patna High Court had on July 15 ordered a CBI inquiry into alleged irregularities of Rs 11,412 crore in execution of development and welfare schemes between 2002-03 and 2007-08.

While RJD was in power between 2002-05, Nitish Kumar replaced the Rabri Devi Ministry on November 24, 2005.

Bangalore, July 20: Karnataka Tourism Minister G. Janardhana Reddy Tuesday targeted former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, accusing him of money laundering and fraudulent transactions.

“Within a month after becoming chief minister in February 2006, Kumaraswamy deposited a whopping Rs.36 crore in the joint bank account of BSK Trading, a firm owned by his brothers H.D. Balakrishna and H.D. Ramesh, violating banking rules and regulations,” Reddy told reporters, releasing a set of documents pertaining to the transactions.

Srinagar, July 20: Charging the ruling NC-led coalition in Jammu and Kashmir with “running out of ideas”, Opposition PDP today asked the state government to ease restrictions on civilian movement in the Valley.

“It has been proved beyond doubt that the government has run out of ideas on governance. The people of Kashmir are being collectively punished in the worst draconian manner,” party president Mehbooba Mufti said in a statement.

Thiruvananthapuram, July 20: The Kerala assembly Tuesday witnessed heated exchanges between Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and opposition leader Oommen Chandy over rehabilitation of victims of the tsunami which hit the state six years ago.

The exchange took place after the opposition moved an adjournment motion stating that even after a lapse of more than three years, only 4,657 of the 12,052 houses for tsunami victims have been completed and given to them.

Later, Chandy led the entire opposition in a walkout protesting the delay in handing over the houses to the affected.

Patna, July 20: She has been chief minister for eight years, but Rabri Devi may be out of the reckoning this time with the view that only her husband and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad or partner LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan can counter Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in the Bihar assembly polls.

In fact, Lalu Prasad himself has indicated that Rabri Devi is unlikely to be projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the Rashtriya Janata Dal-Lok Janshakti Party combine in the assembly elections in October-November this year.

Lucknow, July 20: A prominent Youth Congress activist hand-picked by Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi to handle organisational elections has been missing from a hotel in Uttar Pradesh’s Hardoi town, police said Tuesday, a day after he disappeared.

Nishant Patel went missing Monday morning from Utsav Hotel in Hardoi, about 100 km from here, where he had been staying for the past few days to conduct the local organisational election scheduled later this month.

Kolkata, July 20: The train accident on Monday gave fodder to non-UPA parties to target Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee who was accused of being busy with West Bengal politics at the cost of her ministry but the government defended her.

BJP, LJP, RJD and CPI(M) said the collision betweeen Sealdah-bound Uttarbanga Express and Uttaranchal-bound Vananchal Express in Bhirbhum district of West Bengal was the result of a lapse for which they held Banerjee answerable.

New Delhi, July 19: The Congress Monday denied there were differences between party general secretary Digvijay Singh and Home Minister P. Chidambaram on tackling the Maoist problem.

“The Naxal (Maoist) policy of UPA-I (United Progressive Alliance), UPA-II, Chidambaram and Digvijay Singh is the same. There is no difference in approach,” Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed told reporters here.

He said if there were genuine or perceived grievances of the local population, these should be dealt with and removed.

New Delhi, July 19: The CPI(M) today demanded a CBI probe into the illegal mining activities and export of iron ore from Karnataka and asked the Centre to nationalise all such mines there and stop exports pending a review of the policy.

The party Politburo also sought immediate resignation of the two Ministers, Janardhan and Karunakara Reddy and termed as “shocking and unacceptable” the statement by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa that the Reddy brothers of Bellary are not involved in any illegal mining.

Muzaffarnagar/Meerut, July 19: Demanding that India should call off talks with Pakistan, a senior BJP leader has said the dialogue was harmful for the country as it might increase disturbance in Jammu and Kashmir.

“There is no need to start dialogue with Pakistan as it will be harmful for the country and will also create disturbance in Jammu and Kashmir,” BJP national vice president Vinay Katiyar said yesterday at Muzaffarnagar.

Accusing Congress of patronising Naxalites and terrorists, he said, “Whenever Congress comes to power at the Centre, terrorism increases.”

Bangalore, July 19: Karnataka Tourism Minister and iron ore mine owner G. Janardhana Reddy Monday charged that many state Congress leaders, and not he, were into illegal mining and exports.

Quoting a report of the Lok Ayukta (ombudsman), Reddy said companies owned by Congress leaders M.Y. Ghorpade, V.S. Lad and sons, Allum Veerabhadrappa, H.G. Ramulu, S.M. Jain and Adbul Wahab and a firm of Baldotas had encroached on hundreds of acres of land.

Mumbai, July 19: Congress which has set its eyes on wresting the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, Asia’s largest civic body, from the Shiv Sena-BJP in the 2012 is alarmed by the possible Muslim support to Raj Thackeray-led MNS.

The meeting of prominent Muslim clerics here with MNS president Raj Thackeray on the occasion of his birthday last month has sent alarm bells ringing in the Congress.

Just like elsewhere in the country, Congress sources said, Muslims and Dalit support is crucial for the party here.