Politics

New Delhi, July 18: Speculation was rife on Friday that cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu had resigned from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as MP, apparently peeved over the party promoting his rival. BJP general secretary Arun Jaitley said the matter would be sorted out.

The sudden “resignation” move by Sidhu came just hours after Punjab BJP leader Rajinder Mohan Singh Chhina assumed office as Chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust. The trust looks after development projects in the city and has an annual budget running into crores of rupees.

Kolkata, July 18: The Congress tried hard to make Friday’s statewide bandh a success, but it needn’t have. For, the state administration gave them a virtual walkover. For bandh-loving political forces, the day confirmed that Bengal was the best place for a bandh.

Not a single betel shop or ambulance escaped the bandh enforcers. Even media vehicles were stopped, being allowed to go only on flashing press cards. The metro plied for an hour before bandh supporters forcibly stopped it. Even a feeble protest attracted unprintable abuse or assault.

Lucknow, July 18: With each passing episode, Mayawati is doing a disservice to herself. Her latest decision to have Uttar Pradesh Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi arrested for badmouthing her is another controversy which will highlight her impetuousness.

Yet, perhaps for the first time, Mayawati had some reason on her side. The Congress chief’s allegations about the role played by money in covering up rape cases were outrageous enough to shock several members of her own party. But the chief minister spoilt her own case with her penchant for overreaction.

Lucknow,July 18: Virtually rejecting AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s apology over UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s “derogatory” remarks against her, UP chief minister Mayawati on Friday said it was a “forced” regret and vowed to ensure that Rita was punished as per law, which was “unpardonable”.

“Sonia Gandhi was forced to express regret as she feared reaction from the dalits across the country,” Mayawati said while addressing a press conference here.

Amethi, July 17: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday lashed out at the Mayawati government for wasting thousands of crores of rupees in building statues and monuments related to BSP serving the political interests of her party.

New Delhi, July 17: A group of lawyers Friday urged the Election Commission to freeze the election symbol of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and disqualify its chief, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, from contesting elections, as they accused her of violating the model of code of conduct by installing her statues in Lucknow.

Lucknow, July 17: The Samajwadi Party today urged Congress to clarify its stand on whether it stood with the SP or BSP in Uttar Pradesh.

“It seems that Congress is in a state of confusion over its relationship with the SP and BSP in UP. Even our workers are unable to understand whether Congress is with us or the BSP. It should clarify its position on this issue,” SP’s state president Akhilesh Yadav told reporters here.

Kolkata, July 17: A 12-hour shutdown called by the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee crippled life across the state as hundreds of Congress supporters blockaded roads and staged demonstrations Friday.

“The shutdown has been peaceful so far. We’ve not received any report of untoward incidents in any part of the state,” Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia told.

Amethi, July 17: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today launched a full-scale attack on the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh saying it is “not operational” and its priority was to install statues.

Though he described his party’s state unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s comments against the Chief Minister as “unfortunate”, he said the Joshi’s anger and sentiments against the government were “genuine”.

Srinagar, July 17: Describing the silence of world community over incidents in J-K as “unfortunate”, moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq today said the amalgam will launch a diplomatic campaign to present the “real” picture to the world.

“Hurriyat will step up its activities and launch a diplomatic campaign shortly to make the international community aware about the ground situation in Kashmir and the need for resolution of this long-standing issue,” Mirwaiz said while addressing a Friday congregation at historic Jamia Masjid in downtown Srinagar.

Kolkata, July 17: The Congress withdrew its rail blockade two hours before the end of its 12-hour Bangla bandh today.

“We asked our worker to withdraw the rail blockade and requested the railway authorities to resume running of trains from 4:00 pm as thousands of passengers were held up,” WBPCC working President Subrata Mukherjee told reporters here.

“This relaxation is applicable only to railways,” he said.
–PTI

New Delhi, July 17: Members of India’s main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) walked out of the Lok Sabha Friday to protest Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s ‘capitulation’ to Pakistan though they agreed to a parliament debate over the issue.

Soon after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh read out in the Lok Sabha a statement on his meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt Friday, Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani said: ‘You have delinked terrorism and the composite dialogue. Why have you taken seven months to decide on this?’

Jabalpur, July 17: Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday served a notice on senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj following a petition challenging her election from Vidisha parliamentary constituency in the state.

Justice K K Lahoti served the notice, returnable within six weeks.

In his petition, Congress leader Rajkumar Patel contended that although he furnished his A form in his nomination papers within the stipulated time, his candidature was rejected to help Swaraj win the elections.

New Delhi, July 17: BJP on Friday slammed the government in Parliament over the outcome of the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, saying it was a reversal of India’s long-standing policy on terror, a charge denied by the government.

BJP strongly criticised India’s agreement to delink the composite dialogue from action against terror by Pakistan.

Amethi, July 17: Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday lashed out at the Mayawati government for wasting thousands of crores of rupees in building statues and monuments related to BSP serving the political interests of her party.

“There is place for statues and elephants (BSP symbol) but there should also be space for development and electricity,” Gandhi said, in an apparent reference to the controversy over erection of memorials for Kanshi Ram and statues of Mayawati in different parts of the state, spending huge sums of public money

Lucknow, July 17: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi headed to his parliamentary constituency Amethi today but preferred to maintain silence on the alleged derogatory remarks made by Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Chief Minister Mayawati and Joshi’s subsequent arrest.

After arriving at the Amausi airport here in the morning, Gandhi drove to Amethi in Sultanpur district without answering any queries by mediapersons on the issue.

New Delhi, July 17: A leading member of India’s ruling Congress party was arrested and her house set on fire after she suggested a rival politician – Mayawati, the so-called Dalit Queen – ought to be raped so that she better understood the trauma faced by victims of sexual assault.

Lucknow, July 17: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi headed to his parliamentary constituency Amethi on Friday but preferred to maintain silence on the alleged derogatory remarks made by Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Chief Minister Mayawati and Joshi’s subsequent arrest.

After arriving at the Amausi airport of Lucknow in the morning, Gandhi drove to Amethi in Sultanpur district without answering any queries by mediapersons on the issue.

Lucknow, July 17: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi headed to his parliamentary constituency Amethi Friday but preferred to maintain silence on the alleged derogatory remarks made by Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Chief Minister Mayawati and Joshi’s subsequent arrest.

After arriving at the Amausi airport here in the morning, Gandhi drove to Amethi in Sultanpur district without answering any queries by mediapersons on the issue.

Lucknow, July 17: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati targeted Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her ”silence” after state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s ”highly condemnable remarks” against her and also accused the Congress party of engineering an attack on Joshi’s residence here.

Terming Joshi’s earlier remarks as “objectionable, reprehensible and highly condemnable”, she said: “The BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) as a whole condemns Joshi in the strongest of words.

New Delhi, July 17: Bye-elections to 13 Rajya Sabha seats in ten states would be held on August 10, the Election Commission announced on Thursday.

Elections would be held for three seats in Maharashtra, two in Madhya Pradesh and one each in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Ten of the 13 seats fell vacant following election of sitting members to the Lok Sabha in recent general elections.

Lucknow, July 17: To mark his protest against the arrest of Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, former Indian cricket captain and Congress MP Azharuddin will court arrest in his constituency Moradabad Friday.

“Azharuddin will lead a protest rally and court arrest after the Friday namaz in Moradabad,” said a Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) spokesperson.

Pune, July 17: They are all gearing up for a step up in life. Around three dozen corporators of the total 144 in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), cutting across party lines, are getting ready to contest the forthcoming assembly polls from the eight assembly segments in the city.

After the delimitation process, the number of assembly segments in Pune city has gone up from six to eight. Of these, Congress represents three while one each are from the NCP, the BJP and the Shiv Sena.

Ghaziabad, July 17: A fire was reported in the office of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in this Uttar Pradesh (UP) city late Thursday. The incident comes in the wake of the arrest of UP Congress President Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s earlier in the day.

The husk pads of an air cooler in the office caught fire at around 11 p.m. and the flames blackened the main gate. No further damage was visible.

Kolkata, July 16: The West Bengal assembly Thursday plunged into bedlam amid walkouts by opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress members as Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee admitted that the police had failed to anticipate the situation that led to an attack on eight legislators a day earlier in Burdwan district.