Politics

New Delhi, December 31: In a bid to end the logjam in Parliament over (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar will Friday meet the leaders of the Left and other non-BJP opposition parties.

Today’s meeting comes a day after the Speaker held consultations with the senior BJP leaders. However she failed to achieve any breakthrough since the main Opposition was not ready to move an inch from their demand of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam.

Pune, December 31: Ashok Singhal has alleged that Sonia was destroying Hinduism and that she was “deputed by the Vatican.”Freelance Jobs China Wholesale Discount Shopping Cordless Headphone Discussion

Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin as well as her influence over the nation has again caught the attention of the orthodox community, but in a negative way – especially as it has to do with the ‘secular’ approach..

Hyderabad, December 31: Landslide victory of National Democratic Alliance in Bihar assembly elections held in October-November this year giving NDA government a second term marked total approval by the people for policies floated by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar aimed at’development with social justice’.

On the other hand, Lalu-Paswan duo faced severe drubbing
as RJD-LJP alliance led by them fared poorly in recent electoral husting which pushed both the leaders in political oblivion.

Gorakhpur (UP), December 31: Expelled SP leader and Lokmanch national president Amar Singh today said he will continue his struggle for independent Purvanchal state, carved out of Uttar Pradesh.

“I will struggle for a separate Purvanchal state, come what may,” he told a rally at Champadevi Park here on the conclusion of his month-long Purvanchal Swabhiman Vikas Yatra across eastern UP.

The area is rich in natural resources, manpower and industrial potential, but no one has made any serious effort to tap the energy of eastern UP, he said.

Jammu, December 30: Terming the opening of Cross-LoC Trade between Kashmir and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the most significant Confidence Building Measure (CBM), the opposition Peoples Democratic Party has demanded that the procedure of trade be simplified.

“The procedures should be simplified and required facilities should be provided to the traders,” former minister and deputy leader of Opposition Abdul Rehman Veeri said, while addressing a one-day party convention at Poonch.

The traders are facing hardships due to non-availability of adequate facilities, he added.

New Delhi, December 30: After the unease in BJP over his active pursuit of 2G probe, Murli Manohar Joshi today said “as a member of BJP” he is in favour of a JPC to go into it but made it clear that the PAC he heads has “vast powers” in bringing greater accountability in public spending.

“As a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, I stand fully committed to the demand for the formation of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to look into the broader questions related to corruption facing the country today,” he said in a statement here.

Mumbai, December 29: Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan today declined to comment on reports that former state bureaucrats Ramanand Tiwari and Subhash Lala had refused to quit their present posts after being asked by the state government for their alleged involvement in the Adarsh Housing scam.

“The Chief Secretary J P Dange was asked to meet them to elicit certain information. I will not comment on that,” Chavan told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Lucknow, December 29: Ousted Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh, who for years remained the last word in Mulayam Singh Yadav’s party, appears to be fighting a losing battle as he seeks an independent political identity after a year that saw his ouster from the party whose public face he once was.

Having made his way into the Samajwadi Party from the top and having failed to gain entry in any other established political outfit, Amar Singh is struggling to play a second political innings.

Jaipur, December 28: Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot today dubbed BJP as a “communal party” and boasted that Congress never compromised with its principles and policies, even in challenging times.

He said parties like BJP, which are communal, have no policies and principles, unlike the Congress and so they indulge in religion-based politics.

Addressing a meeting of party workers at Pradesh Congress Committee here, Gehlot accused the BJP of levelling false charges against the Congress leaders and said it was in the party’s nature to do so.

Bangalore, December 28: A Congress delegation today met Governor H R Bhardwaj and sought disqualification of Tourism Minister G Janardhana Reddy, Revenue Minister G Karunakara Reddy and Health Minister B Sriramulu for alleged evasion of Income Tax.

Congress leaders V S Ugrappa and K C Kondaiah alleged the Obulapuram Mining company, owned by the three ministers and mining barons, evaded IT to the tune of more than Rs 86 crore.

The Governor told the delegation to approach the Election Commission in this regard, Ugrappa said.

“These three Ministers should resign on their own.

Jammu, December 28: Opposition People’s Democratic Party today demanded national highway status for the Mughal Road, which connects Kashmir’s Shopian district with Poonch.

“We demanded that Mughal road should be given national highway status for the socio-economic growth of the residents of twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri,” Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Sartaz Madani told a public rally meeting at Rajouri town, 180 kms from here.

Mumbai, December 28: A bandh in Pune called by the Shiv Sena on Tuesday to protest the removal of a statue of Dadoji Konddev, Shivaji’s teacher, turned violent after stones were pelted on buses and two trains were stopped. Train services have resumed after police intervened. They also arrested Shiv Sena activists.

The statue was removed from Lal Mahal, in Kasba Peth, in the wee hours on Monday, evoking strong reactions from the Shiv Sena-BJP combine, leading to violence in the civic body and other places.

New Delhi, December 27: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar is expected to make another effort to break the impasse between the government and opposition parties on the demand for a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum scam by calling a meeting of all political parties.

Official sources said Monday the meeting of political parties may be called at the end of this week.

Kolkata, December 27: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today held Congress-led UPA government responsible for abnormal rise in the prices of onion and other commodities and said the party always looked after the interests of the rich.

“We have been watching the Congress in Delhi. Every month there is a price hike. Congress always looks after the interests of the rich. First, it allowed the traders to export onion thereby making way for earning huge profits and then decided to import it creating further scope to make money,” Bhattacharjee told a rally here.

Kolkata, December 27: Calling for a change of government in West Bengal, Yoga guru Swami Ramdev today said he would support Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee as the next chief minister provided her party nominated persons “without criminal record” in the upcoming Assembly elections.

“Why is it that Bengal, which was once in the forefront, is now fallen back on all counts? The government cannot evade responsibility. There has to be a change of government,” Ramdev told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Mumbai, December 27: A day after threatening Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi of dire consequences, the hardcore militant Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal went in a denial mode on Saturday evening while speaking to journalists.

Chandigarh, December 26: Hindu leaders and members of a city-based NGO Sunday demanded the enactment of a law for constructing a Ram temple at the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya.

“Ayodhya is national pilgrimage centre. Everyone, irrespective of caste, creed and religion, should support the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya as a mark of respect to the sentiments of crores of Hindus,” said former union minister of state for home Swami Chinmayananda of Haridwar’s Parmarth Ashram.

Kolkata, December 26: Denying any tension between the Congress and the Trinamool Congress, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Sunday asserted that the two parties will have an alliance in next year’s assembly elections in West Bengal.

“There is no tension in the alliance. There is an alliance between the Congress and Trinamool Congress,” Mukherjee, a senior Congress leader, told newspersons at Burnpur in Burdwan district.

“Last time (2009 Lok Sabha polls) we had fought as an alliance and in the upcoming assembly elections also there will be an alliance,” he added.

Lucknow, December 26: Taking serious note of the indictment by the Lok Ayukta (ombudsman), Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati Sunday dropped one of her ministers charged with graft.

Minister of state for homeopathy and religious endowments Rajesh Tripathi was unceremoniously sacked after he was found guilty of committing large-scale irregularities by Lok Ayukta Justice N.K. Mehrotra.

A detailed report was submitted by the Lok Ayukta on a complaint made by Tripathi’s estranged associate and activist Vijay Prakash Shukla.

Jaipur, December 26: BJP leader Vasundhara Raje today dared Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to take action against her party leaders whom he had accused of supporting the Gujjar stir in Rajasthan.

Hitting out at Gehlot for his allegations that BJP president Nitin Gadkari and party general secretary Raje were supporting the Gujjar agitation, she asked the Chief Minister to prove the charges.

Gehlot should take action if had evidence against the BJP leaders, Raje said in a statement here.

Nagpur, December 26: Former BJP leader Uma Bharti on Sunday said “at present” she had no plans to re-join the saffron party which had expelled her in 2005.

The firebrand Hindutva leader said although she shared good rapport with senior BJP leader L K Advani and party chied Nitin Gadkari, she was not joining them anytime soon.

“At present, I have no plans to re-join the party,” she said, adding, “despite working for the party for a long period, I got bad treatment.”

Kolkata, December 26: Claiming that Singur setback has not rung the death knell for industries in West Bengal, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today said the state attracted investment proposals worth Rs 9,000 crore last year.

“We suffered a setback in setting up the small car factory at Singur, but that has not stopped us. In the last year, the state has seen an investment of Rs 9,000 crore and this year it will be more,” Bhattacharjee said.

Madurai, December 26: Senior Congress leader and a bitter critic of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu, E V K S Elangovan has alleged that the Congress might face defeat if it continues its alliance with DMK in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

Mr Elangovan told mediaspersons last night ”we all know that the party will lose the elections if we continue our alliance with DMK.

Ahmedabad, December 26: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad yesterday organised a religious meeting (dharm sabha) here to garner support for its campaign on building Ram temple in Ayodhya.

“Ram temple will be constructed in Ayodhya, once the land is allocated,” International Secretary VHP Pravin Togadiya said, while addressing a large gathering here.

The religious meet was organised by Hanumant Shakti Jagran Anushthan Samiti.

Togadiya said that any remarks made by any leader of a political party which harms national interest will not be tolerated by the VHP.

Raipur, December 26: Hitting out once again at the VHP and the RSS, Congress General Secretary, Digvijay Singh said here today that the two were working like an “organised gang”.

When asked as to why other Congress leaders were keeping quite while he was attacking the BJP, RSS and VHP, Singh said that Congress has been fighting against fundamentalism, both of the majority and minority community since 1930.

He said that some fundamental elements have reached the judiciary, army and the government and these needed to be identified.