New Delhi, December 14: Signalling its intention to forcefully counter the offensive of the opposition parties on the issue of corruption, the Congress said Tuesday that it will go more actively to people in the coming days to “expose their motive”.
“The Congress is ready for every challenge and will go to people more actively in the coming days and expose the motive and intention of the opposition,” general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said here.
Bangalore, December 14: Hitting back at Congress President Sonia Gandhi for hurling charges of corruption against him, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa today shot off a letter to her asking her to provide proof for her allegations.
“The charges against me are baseless and made with the intention of maligning my government”, he said, a day after Gandhi lashed out at BJP leaderhship for not acting against Yeddyurappa despite corruption charges against him.
New Delhi, December 14: BJP today demanded a rollback of hike in petrol prices, saying this was the fourth increase in the last six months and was “totally unwarranted and unjustified”.
“The fourth consecutive price hike of petrol in the span of six months is totally unjustified. And the Rs 3 increase is total injustice to the people who are using petrol, which is not a luxury but a necessity. The price increase is phenomenal and illogical,” BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said.
He insisted that when the price of crude oil was
New Delhi, December 14: The Supreme Court today declined to stay the disproportionate assets case against former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa pending in a Karnataka court.
A bench of justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma refused to stay the trial, which is scheduled to commence from tomorrow, after senior counsel Nageswar Rao, appearing for the former Chief Minister, contended that the case cannot be allowed to proceed without rectifying errors in the translated documents.
The apex court permitted translators to assist the court in translating the original documents.
New Delhi, December 14: Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who created a flutter by stating that slain Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare was under threat from right-wing groups, today insisted that he has spoken to the police officer a few hours before the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai in 2008 and he has proof of this.
“I have got records for that. Absolutely, I am firm on this. I did speak to him and I have stated that already,” he told reporters in Guwahati.
“I am sure those who are saying that I did not talk to Karkare would be proved wrong,” he later told PTI.
Shimoga, December 13: Karnataka unit JDS President H D Kumaraswamy today said his party would soon expose the “illegal” wealth acquired by Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa by “misusing” his office.
“People of the state had been regretting the decision of supporting Yeddyurappa to become Chief Minister in the last election,” Kumarswamy said addressing a gathering at Theerthahalli after launching his party’s poll campaign for the Zilla and Taluk Panchayat polls.
New Delhi, December 12: Attacking Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, the BJP today said the party should force him to resign for the “absurd” remarks on death of former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 terror strikes.
“Knowing Digvijay Singh, I am sure he will not resign on his own (for his comments) and he will not agree to do so soon. So, the Congress should force him to resign. Otherwise, the citizens, who love this country, will never forgive the party,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters.
–Agencies
New Delhi, December 12: The VHP today accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of bringing to “disrepute” Hindutva and Indian culture.
“Sonia Gandhi is part of the conspiracy to defame Hindutva and Indian culture,” VHP international president Ashok Singhal alleged, adding she should return to her original home in Italy.
He was addressing a rally at the Ramlila grounds to garner public support for the Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya.
Singhal’s comments comes a month after former RSS Sarsanghchalak K S Sudarshan made some controversial statements against Gandhi.
–Agencies
New Delhi, December 12: Congress leader Digvijay Singh, who has kicked up a storm over his remarks on slain top cop Hement Karkare, today attacked the BJP, maintaining that the Maharastra ATS chief’s life was under threat and the opposition lent its support to Hindu radical groups.
“I want to ask (L K) Advaniji and Rajnathji why they went to meet the PM after Sadhvi Pragya was arrested after the Malegaon blast. Why did Rajnathji go to the jail to meet her? BJP has to answer these questions before they ask some to my Prime Minister,” the Congress General secretary said here.
New Delhi, December 12: Attacking Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh, the BJP today said the party should force him to resign for the “absurd” remarks on death of former Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare during the 26/11 terror strikes.
“Knowing Digvijay Singh, I am sure he will not resign on his own (for his comments) and he will not agree to do so soon. So, the Congress should force him to resign. Otherwise, the citizens, who love this country, will never forgive the party,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters.
–Agencies
Coimbatore, December 12: VHP All India General Secretary Praveen Togadia today criticized Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh for his remarks on slain Mumbai ATS chief Hemant Karkare during 26/11 terror strikes.
Such remarks only amounted to Singh functioning as an ‘agent of Pakistan’, Togadia told reporters here reacting to the Singh’s claim that Karkare had told him hours before the 26/11 terror strikes that he feared for his safety from Hindu extremists.
Jammu, December 12: Expressing anguish over the murder of a youth in Mendhar tehsil of Poonch district on Friday, Opposition People Democratic Party today demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
“Mohammed Najeem Hussain’s murder in Dharana under mysterious circumstances on Friday is gruesome. We demand a thorough probe into the cold blooded murder and want the guilty to be punished,” senior leader of PDP and MLA Mendhar Sardar Rafiq Hussain Khan said in a statement today.
New Delhi, December 12: After senior BJP leader L K Advani indicated that she would return to the party soon, Hindutva leader Uma Bharti today said she was willing to rejoin BJP and take the responsibility of strengthening it in Uttar Pradesh as suggested by him.
Bharti, who was expelled from BJP in 2005 and went on to form her own Bhartiya Janshakti Party, said 11 months ago, party chief Nitin Gadkari and Advani had asked her to return to BJP and take up a post but she had decided then to take a break from politics for one year due to personal reasons.
Raipur, December 12: Two senior Congress leaders in Chhattisgarh have been booked for cutting a cake designed like the national flag on the birth anniversary of party president Sonia Gandhi, police said Sunday.
The two Congressmen, state general secretary Subhash Sharma and Raipur city unit president Inderchand Dhariwal, were booked under section 2 of the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
Mumbai, December 09: Terming Congress president Sonia Gandhi as “Gangotri” (fountainhead) of corruption in the country, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy today said Opposition should not ‘play’ her game.
“The JPC probe (into alleged irregularities in the 2G spectrum) will serve to humiliate the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and he may resign which is what Sonia Gandhi wants,” Swamy said.
“The Opposition should take care that they don’t play Sonia Gandhi’s game,” he told PTI after meeting Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray at the latter’s residence in suburban Bandra here.
New Delhi, December 09: DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi was in two minds on a day the CBI carried out raids on residences of former telecom minister A Raja in connection with the 2G scam. Under pressure from two sides in his family, Karunanidhi who has, hitherto, defended Raja to the hilt, said, “If Raja is found guilty, we will act against him without any hesitation.”
Bhubaneswar, December 08: Youths should leave aside their thoughts about the presence of elderly leaders and join political parties in large numbers, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said today.
“Do not worry about elderly persons. The door is open for youths. Let youths join politics in larger numbers,” the Congress general secretary said during an interaction with students at Saheed Bhavan in Cuttack.
“Our Prime Minister is an elderly person, but he works like a youth,” he said while replying to a question on elderly persons occupying positions in political parties.
Chennai, Dec 8 (IANS) Reiterating her demand for a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum allotment, AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa Wednesday said DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was blackmailing the Congress on the issue.
Bangalore, December 07: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari Tuesday ruled out replacing Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is facing charges of illegal land deals.
“There is no question of change. Yeddyurappa will continue as chief minister,” asserted Gadkari, who arrived here earlier Tuesday to assess the damage to BJP’s image from allegations against the party’s first government in south India.
The BJP chief said “the Yeddyurappa government’s performance was outstanding on several fronts”.
New Delhi, December 07: BJP today condemned the blasts in Varanasi and accused the Union Home Ministry of adopting a “casual” approach towards terror acts.
“He (P Chidambaram) is the most casual and confused Home Minister of the country. For quite sometime, every two months serious terrorist acts are taking place and the Home Minister always adopts a casual approach,” BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters.
He said even on December 6, which marks the anniversary of Babri Masjid demolition, a routine advisory was sent from the Union Home Ministry.
Srinagar, December 07: A Jammu and Kashmir Minister belonging to Congress has stoked a controversy by suggesting that Kashmir be granted “Azadi”, remarks that embarrassed his party which in turn termed them as his personal view.
Addressing a rally at Bani in Kathua district on Sunday, Congress Minister for Health and Horticulture Sham Lal Sharma had raised the demand for making Jammu a separate state, giving union territory status to Ladakh and granting “Azadi” to Kashmir.
Nanded (Maharashtra), December 05: Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan Sunday blamed his Congress rivals for implicating him in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society scam and attempting to finish him off.
Addressing a public meeting here Sunday afternoon, Chavan said these party rivals – whom he did not name – conspired against him.
“I am innocent and have done nothing wrong in the Adarsh case. But the people will not spare those who hatched the sinister conspiracy to remove me and tried to end my political career,” Chavan said.
Jammu, December 05: Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) today opposed holding of Panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir, saying conditions are not conducive now as the state is passing through the “worst phase”.
“We oppose holding of the Panchayat elections at this time as the conditions are not conducive and the state is passing through worst phase of uncertainty and worsening security situation,” PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti told reporters during a one-day convention of the party here today.
New Delhi, December 05: Congress today took a jibe at senior BJP leader L K Advani for defending Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for his alleged role during the post-Godhra riots, saying it was a case of “self-infatuation”.
“This (the Gujarat riots) is one of the cases being investigated by SIT and that report has been given (to the Supreme Court) in a sealed cover. Modi, BJP or even Advani cannot escape responsibility for whatever has happened in Gujarat,” Congress spokesperson Mohan Prakash said here.
Palampur ,December 04: Congress yesterday attacked the BJP for its insistence on a JPC probe into the 2G spectrum allocations, saying that the opposition party was trying to bulldoze Parliament over the issue.
“A minority opposition is trying to bulldoze Parliament on the issue which is harmful for democracy”, party General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai said at a rally organised by Congress MLA G S Bali at Nagrota in Kangra district.
The party is free to have its own opinion over the issue but it should not try to impose itself on Parliament over the issue, she said.