Politics

New Delhi, January 04: After Congress leader Digvijay Singh presented records of his conversation with slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare, the BJP said they were more concerned about Singh’s statements that “boost the morale of Pakistan”.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress party should also serve a privilege notice to Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil, who had said in the state assembly that no records of Singh’s call with Karkare on Nov 26, 2008 existed with the Mumbai Police.

Hyderabad, January 04: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Tuesday said if the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government tables a bill in parliament for formation of a separate Telangana state, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would wholeheartedly support it.

Addressing a public meeting organized by the party at Adilabad, about 300 km from here, Gadkari assured people of Telangana that the NDA was with them in realizing their dream of a separate state.

New Delhi, January 04: JD (S) chief H D Deve Gowda today said the BJP should think about the various corruption allegations against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa before pointing fingers at other political parties.

“If BJP has any sense of shame it will first act against its own chief minister who is facing so many corruption charges”, the former Prime Minister told reporters here.

He was speaking after inaugurating his new party office in the national capital.

Lucknow, January 04: With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled to be held next year, Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati is expected to launch a number of development schemes for the poor on her 55th birthday on January 15.

“The Chief Minister will inaugurate and launch a host of schemes and development projects on her birthday. Besides, different government departments have also geared up to launch new schemes for the people on that day,” a party official told PTI.

Bangalore, January 04: Karnataka’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday took early leads in polls to the local governing councils, the winning of which is crucial for Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to stay in office.

Of the 30 zila (district) panchayats, the BJP was leading in 14, the Congress in seven and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) in four – after two hours of counting that began at 171 centres across the state at 8 a.m.

In the 176 taluka (sub-district) panchayats, the BJP was ahead in 20, the Congress in 10 and the JD-S in seven.

New Delhi, January 03: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Monday interacted with ten state party units through video conferencing and called upon party functionaries to strive for “accountability and auditing” in every work.

“There should be evaluation of the work done. State presidents should give an account of the work done,” Gadkari said, adding that he too will give an account of his work as party president in the last year.

Srinagar, January 03: By ruling out reduction of troops and revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir, the central government is compromising the democratic ethos of the nation, opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said Monday.

Reacting sharply to the reported statement of union Home Minister P. Chidambaram ruling out reduction of forces in the state, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti in a strongly worded statement said “this stance was against the democratic ethos and constitutional mechanisms of India”.

New Delhi, January 03: The Bofors ghost is out again to haunt the Congress-led government as an Income Tax tribunal has ruled that Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi and his partner Win Chadha received a commission of over Rs.412 million in the Rs.15 billion Howitzer gun deal in 1987. The opposition BJP has demanded that the “fraud” and “cover up” be probed by a special investigation team.

The Congress said it would study the tribunal’s order before making a comment. “We are not going to be hurried into reacting,” said Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

New Delhi, January 02: Senior Congress leader Hanumantha Rao today accused Jagan Mohan Reddy of trying to align with the BJP and said his party would have to expose the rebel leader’s “corruption” and “craze for power” if it had to hold fort in Andhra Pradesh.

“Jaganmohan Reddy is trying to tie up with BJP in Andhra Pradesh. He has already met BJP leaders M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley. He is speaking the language of BJP to the Congress now,” Rao told reporters here.

New Delhi, January 02: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Sunday said the Congress was ‘not serious’ about fighting corruption, after Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not consult anyone before offering to appear before parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) over the 2G spectrum scandal.

‘This shows the Congress is not at all serious about investigating corruption cases. It is making a mockery of the whole issue,’ BJP spokesman Tarun Vijay told IANS.

Bhubaneswar, January 02: Accusing Orissa police of killing two civilians under the garb of an anti-Maoist operation in Bargarh district, BJP today demanded a CBI probe into the incident and Rs 25 lakh compensation to each victim’s family.

“The incident of December 28 should be investigated by CBI as one of the deceased has been identified as a BJP functionary,” BJP’s state unit President Jual Oram and party MLA J N Mishra told reporters here.

New Delhi, January 02: Senior BJP leader L K Advani today compared days of the Emergency in the country to the infamous Nazi rule in Germany under Adolf Hitler during which lakhs of jews were killed.

Advani headlined his latest blog posting, “Emergency of 1975 akin to Nazi rule”.

Lucknow, January 02: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati Sunday ordered the suspension of party legislator Purshottam Narain Dwivedi for his alleged involvement in the gangrape of a minor girl in the state’s Banda district.

The suspension would remain in force during the CID probe ordered by the chief minister Saturday night.

The announcement of the suspension came amidst strident criticism of the ruling party by opposition leaders, who accused Mayawati of “shielding” the rapist of a minor girl belonging to a backward community.

Howrah (WB), January 02: Adopting a more aggressive posture on the letter controversy, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today questioned how Home Minister P Chidambaram used “Trinamool Congress’ language” in his missive but remained silent on the party’s link with the Maoists.

“Suddenly, Chidambaramji has written me a letter. I was surprised to see the language (in his letter). He has used the used the word ‘harmad’ (hired killers) which TC uses while referring to CPI-M workers.

New Delhi, January 02: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Sunday charged the Congress with trying to make the late Sanjay Gandhi a scapegoat for all the misdeeds during the the Emergency and said its promulgation was an unforgivble crime against democracy”.

New Delhi, January 02: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Sunday charged the Congress with trying to make the late Sanjay Gandhi a scapegoat for all the “misdeeds” during the the Emergency and said its promulgation was “an unforgivble crime against democracy”.

New Delhi, January 02: To deflect heat generated by allegations against the Bellary Reddys, whom governor H R Bhardwaj wants dropped from the ministry, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa has indicated his government has shelved its plan to ‘chargesheet’ the governor.

Lucknow, January 02: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati on Saturday ordered a police inquiry into the allegations of gangrape and illegal confinement of a minor girl by a ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator and his supporters in the state’s Banda district.

In an official press release issued her, the chief minister said: “The Crime Branch of the CID has been asked to take over the investigation into the case of alleged gangrape of a girl in Banda. The investigating team has been asked to reach Banda by Sunday morning and start their work immediately.”

Chennai, January 01: India has to address three major deficits – governance, regulatory and ethical- if the country has to progress, the economy continue to log nine percent growth and the gains of last two decades are not lost, Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Saturday.

‘We were slow to realise that when the economy grows at nine percent it cannot have huge deficits in power, road, shipping and air transport. These sectors have to keep pace so that the economic growth could be sustained,’ he said here at the centenary celebrations of The Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), January 01: A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and around 60 of his supporters were Saturday booked for attacking police and freeing three men from custody in this Uttar Pradesh city, officials said.

Kamlesh Paswan, who represents Bansgaon constituency in Gorakhpur district, and his supporters attacked the police party late Friday near the Gulharia Bazar and freed three men held for drunk driving and creating nuisance on the New Year Eve.

Badaun (UP), January 01: Senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh has said that the Congress was holding Sanjay Gandhi responsible for the emergency as his wife and son are now in the saffron party.

“Indira Gandhi and her government were responsible for emergency as her membership in the Parliament was under threat at that time,” Rajnath told reporters while rejecting Congress claim that Sanjay Gandhi was responsible for emergency.

The former national president also said that Congress is now holding Sanjay responsible as Maneka Gandhi and Varun Gandhi are in the BJP.

Chandigarh, January 01: The ruling Congress Saturday managed to scrape through in the crucial election for the mayor of Chandigarh.

Congress candidate Ravinder Pall Singh won by just one vote, defeating the rebel Congress candidate, Jagjit Singh Kang.

Out of the 33 votes counted, Ravinder Pal Singh got 17 while Kang got 16.

Kang, a Congress councillor, quit the party Tuesday after he was denied nomination. But he received support from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Akali Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Bangalore, December 31: Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa today invited governor HR Bhardwaj to address the joint sitting of both houses of the legislature convened on January six.

“No political significance should be attached to my meeting with the governor. I invited him to deliver his address to the joint sitting on January six”, Yeddyurappa told reporters outside Raj Bhavan after calling on Bhardwaj.

New Delhi, December 31: Law Minister M. Veerappa Moily Friday discussed the more than two-year-old Aarushi murder case with Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Director A.P. Singh in the wake of the agency filing a closure report in the yet unsolved case citing lack of evidence.

“Someone has killed Aarushi in a brutal and dastardly way. We need to take it seriously. I have today invited director of CBI for a discussion on this matter. Let us see how we can take it forward,” Moily told reporters prior to the meeting.

Chennai, December 31: With an eye on Assembly elections scheduled in another four months in Tamil Nadu, Dravidian archrivals M Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa today virtually turned their customary new year greetings into poll messages.

While DMK president M Karunanidhi, whose fifth term as Chief Minister nears completion, recalled his government’s achievements, especially of those in 2010, AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa used the opportunity to call for a change of guard in the state.