On a day the Samajwadi Party (SP) once again dared the Congress by releasing a list of five more candidates for the Lok Sabha polls from UP, the Congress put up a brave face and tried to play it cool. Confident that the SP would return to the negotiating table as stakes are high for it in UP (even though the state is equally important for them), the Congress leaders maintained that the move had little to do with the UP and more to do with other issues. These include the disproportionate assets case against party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, spectrum issue and gas supply to Dadri plant. The SP also wants land for office in Delhi and a share of seats in Maharashtra and some other states. .Most of these are not political issues.we cannot face the liability of a scam. We don.t want to close shop,.. said a Congress leader. Congress. UP in-charge Digvijay Singh and state unit chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi to discuss the next move. .All options are open, including of adjustments, talks, alliance and withdrawal,.. Singh said. He admitted that the spirit of seat-sharing was diluted .to some extent.. with the SP.s unilateralism. Even as the alliance showed up cracks, the SP inducted former UP state Congress unit vice-president Mohammed Aslam Khan. Former union minister Ajay Singh and Rajendra Yadav, too, joined the party. It has decided to field sitting member Kirti Vardhan Singh from Gonda. The Congress wanted the seat for rebel SP member Beni Prasad Verma. (HT)
PM Manmohan Singh on Monday directed Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar to .coordinate the approach of the govt. on the Satyam issue, following the revelation of a Rs. 7,100-crore accounting fraud by the IT major.s erstwhile chairman B. Ramalinga Raju. Dr. Singh reviewed the .developments. with SEBI Chairman C.B. Bhave and senior Finance Ministry officials on the .further steps. that need to be taken. .The PM is closely following the developments,. PMO sources said. Top industry leaders also met the PM and discussed the fallout that the corporate fraud would have on the global image of India Inc. The former CII president, R. Seshasayee, CM.s chief mentor Tarun Das and Gujarat Ambuja chairman Suresh Neotia were among the industrialists who met Dr. Singh. In a quick move to salvage the image of Indian industry, the CII has set up a special task force on corporate governance headed by Naresh Chandra, former Cabinet Secretary and India.s Ambassador to the U.S. (HINDU)
The BJP has termed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram.s reaction on illegal Bngladeshi immigrants as .too late in the day. and said the UPA govt was indulging in vote bank politics on the issue. .It is curious to learn that when only four months are left of the UPA govt, Mr Chidambaram is finding Bangladeshi infiltration a concern for national security and causing demographic change,. said BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad.(IE)
The Congress on Monday said it favours "every step" to unearth the "massive fraud" behind the Satyam Computer but steered clear of the question whether it wanted a CBI probe. The AICC dismissed Opposition charges that party leader and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy played "godfather" to promoters of the controversial software firm. "I think Mr Reddy has done everything according to law," Congress spokesperson Jayanti Natrajan told reporters asking BJP to instead "check the record of TDP chief and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu."(AA)
Soren resigns as Jharkhand CM: Bowing to mounting pressure from allies following his defeat in the Tamar assembly bypoll, Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren on Monday resigned from his post.(TOI)
SC gives Maya 4 weeks to respond to CBI: SC on Monday gave UP CM Mayawati four weeks. time to respond to CBI.s contention that there was enough evidence to prosecute her in a five-year-old DA case.(TOI)
Industrial growth at 2.4% in Nov: After turning negative for the first time in 15 years in October 2008, industrial growth turned positive again, clocking 2.4% in November.(TOI)
Outgoing Jharkhand CM Shibu Soren won't let go of his chair yet. He is now apparently considering fighting another election on the trot to secure a berth in the state legislature even as he put in his papers in the national capital on Monday. For this, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) president has actually got a seat freed BJP MLA from Jamtara, Bishnu Prasad Bhaiya, 45, has stepped aside so that Soren can contest from there. Whether the loyal friend.s sacrifice would be of any use at this juncture remains to be seen. Soren has been at the helm of affairs since August 27 and the Constitution requires him to win an Assembly seat to become a minister within six months. Soren, who has time only till February 27, can think of trying his luck again only if the Election Commission holds the Tamar bypoll by then. This political drama comes amid Soren.s formal announcement of JMM legislator Champai Soren as his successor.(IE)
The Rajasthan police on Monday registered a criminal case against former CM Vasundhara Raje and five others in connection with the infamous Deendayal Upadhyay Trust land scam case in compliance with a court directive, while accusing all of them of cheating, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust. According to the police sources, the first information report (FIR) was registered at Gandhi Nagar police station here after receiving the orders of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate H.S. Sisodia passed in this regard on Friday. The Special Public Prosecutor had assured the court that its directions .will be carried out in toto.. Police sources said the Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department would probe into the matter. The controversial case pertains to allotment of 7,693 square metres of land at a prime location in the Civil Lines area here to the trust, headed by Ms. Raje, at a concessional 5 per cent rate of the then prevailing market price in July 2006. (HINDU)
The Supreme Court on Monday granted four weeks time to UP CM Mayawati to respond to the CBI claim that there was ample evidence to prosecute her in a disproportionate assets case registered against her five years ago. Filing a petition in the top court for quashing of the criminal proceedings against her, Ms Mayawati alleged that the case was registered against her due to political reasons. UP.s additional advocate general Shail Kumar Dwivedi told a bench headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan that the matter should be deferred for hearing for four weeks so that he could file a counter to the affidavit filed by the CBI. The investigating agency in July last had responded to the top court notice stating that there was sufficient evidence to show that Ms Mayawati amassed wealth disproportionate to her known sources of income. The CBI, which had registered a DA case against the BSP chief in 2003, alleged the assets shown by her in the Akbarpur parliamentary constituency were worth over Rs one crore whereas the assets increased to over Rs 50 crores in her declaration papers submitted during the 2007 Assembly polls. (AA)
With Lok Sabha elections around the corner, a sizeable section of the top leadership of the CPM in Bengal have begun building up pressure for bringing Somnath Chatterjee back to the party fold. CPI(M) leader and state Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Subhas Chakraborty.s confidential letter to Biman Bose, the party.s West Bengal state secretary, emphasising the need to reinstate Chatterjee has brought matters to a head. The letter sent to Bose last week, hails Chatterjee.s indispensibility in national politics and goes on to stress his credentials as a veteran parliamentarian and a legal expert as an asset to the party. The letter also highlights that Chatterjee had refrained from criticising the party publicly or indulging in anti-party activities after his expulsion. .The Speaker also attended several functions sponsored by the state Govt and party forums,. the letter mentioned. (IE)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai informed India that his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari has agreed to allow shipment of 250,000 metric tonnes of wheat from New Delhi to Kabul via Pakistan. Karzai apprised the Indian side of his recent discussions with Zardari, a South Block official, who didn.t want to be identified said, on Monday. Zardari.s move, however, could face resistance from the Pakistani army and only time would tell if the decision would be implemented, the official. Islamabad has repeatedly rebuffed Kabul and New Delhi on Indian goods heading for Afghanistan being allowed transit through Pakistan. .The wheat shipment will be effected immediately as, soon as the Afghanistan govt works out transportation arrangements,. a joint statement said. .The leaders called for the full compliance with bilateral, multilateral and international obligations of States to prevent terrorism in any manner originating from ter ritories under their control since terrorism emanates from the sanctuaries and training camps and the sustenance and support received by the terrorist groups,. the statement said. Karzai, who left on Monday evening, also briefed India on his talks with US vicepresident-elect Joe Biden. (HT)