Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has cautioned his organisation’s cadre that the RSS should not cross its “maryada” (limits) while working for the BJP.

While addressing the RSS’s Pratinidhi Sabha in Bangalore on Sunday, Bhagwat instructed the RSS cadre to stay away from any personality-driven campaign, saying: “Hum rajneeti mein nahin hain. Humara kaam ‘Namo Namo’ karna nahin hai. Humme apne lakshya ke liye kaam karna hai (We are not in politics. Our work is not to chant ‘Namo, Namo’. We must work towards our own target).

Responding to a participant’s suggestion that the RSS’s role in relation to the BJP should resemble the one shared by Chanakya with Chandragupta Maurya, Bhagwat said it was more important to work in an isolated manner in the current circumstances.

“Humaari apni maryada hai. Humme maryada nahi todni hai (We have our own limits. We must not cross our limits),” he said.

Last week, the RSS had, however, endorsed BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as a strong leader who had delivered in Gujarat.

“He (Modi) is a strong leader who has delivered in Gujarat. We are proud of him as our karyakarta (worker),” RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale had told reporters at the Sangh’s annual convention in Bangalore.

Modi is also the chief minister of Gujarat.

Observing that the country was looking forward for a change and a government that ensured good governance, Hosabale said the Sangh would give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) suggestions on economic policies, development models and measures to tackle price rise and check high inflation.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took the party’s campaign to the land of Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Addressing a rally in Kheda in Gujarat, Rahul took a dig at Modi over the Sardar Patel statue being built in the state.
“Gujarat has given us Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. They are not two people, they are ideologies. The Opposition is making a huge statue of Sardar Patel, they should at least read some pages on him,” Rahul said.
“Those who have spent their life with RSS should also read on what Sardar Patel has said about RSS,” he added.
He also said that BJP is disrespecting Sardar Patel by saying Congress must be wiped out. “They say they want to wipe out Congress. Why do they not think who made the Congress? The Congress was made by Gandhiji and Sardar Patel,” Rahul said.
He also took on Modi saying, “India doesn’t need a security guard, people of the nation need their rights. It’s fashion now to say ‘make me a watchman and I’ll wipe out corruption’. The land of the poor has been grabbed to help corporates. Is this what watchmen do? This is robbery. Every person in this country should be a watchman to secure its future.”
He also attacked the BJP on the issue of corruption saying the BJP has not been acting against its corrupt leaders. “BJP says they are against corruption, Gujarat has three ministers who have gone to jail on corruption charges but they have not been removed. The BJP obstructed the six Bills we brought against corruption in the Lok Sabha. Lokayukta has come to this state (Gujarat) only after a court directive,” Rahul said.

A Delhi court on Tuesday framed charges against former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal’s nephew Vijay Singla and nine others in the Rs. 10-crore cash-for-post railway bribery case.

Singla and nine others were today put on trial by a special court on charges of conspiracy and corruption.

Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma framed charges against all the 10 accused under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC read with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The accused did not plead guilty to the offences and claimed trial in the case.

“We do not plead guilty and claim trial,” the accused said after which the court posted the matter for August 25 for commencement of recording of prosecution evidence in the case.

Congress leader Bansal, who had to resign as Railway Minister in May last year after the case came to light, has been arrayed as a prosecution witness by the CBI.

Bansal, who had to resign from his post after the case had came into light, has been arrayed as a prosecution witness by the CBI.

During the last hearing, special CBI judge Swarana Kanta Sharma ordered framing of charges under section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act against all the accused, including the then Member (Staff) of Railway Board Mahesh Kumar.

The court noted that CBI filed details regarding the trail of money that is the source of bribe amount as to how it was collected and the conspiracy within the conspiracy as to how accused Manjunath mobilised the bribe amount from various sources.

The probe agency has named as the accused Singla, Kumar, alleged middlemen Sandeep Goyal, Samir Sandhir, Sushil Daga, Ajay Garg, Rahul Yadav and businessman Manjunath and his aides MV Murli Krishan and Venugopal in its chargesheet filed July last year.

The court has found substantive evidence against Singla under section 9 of the Prevention of Corruption Act (taking gratification, for exercise of personal influence with public servant).

The probe agency had alleged that Singla had demanded Rs. 10 crore from Kumar for his appointment to the post of Member (Electrical) and it was decided between the accused that Rs 5 crore will be paid before the appointment and the rest will be paid after the job was done.

It had claimed that first tranche of around Rs. 90 lakh was given to Singla who was apprehended while accepting the money.

Stand-up comedian and actor Raju Srivastava on Tuesday opted out of contesting elections to Kanpur seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Srivastava cited non-cooperation from the Samajwadi Party as the reason for his withdrawal from the poll fray.

I was spending almost five days a week in Kanpur, but if the city unit does not support me, I will have to return my ticket, said the actor.

He added that he is receiving love and admiration of people because of his comic timing. “So, it’s better I stick to that…I want to return my Lok Sabha ticket to SP and say thanks,” said Srivastava.

Srivastava was given the party ticket last year and had already started his election campaign.

While the SP leadership, including party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, apparently asked him to stay put he decided to quit.

A senior leader told that the party too was waiting for the comedian to call it a day as the contest on each seat had become important.

Srivastava, who was born in Kanpur, later shifted to Mumbai. Kanpur Lok Sabha constituency is presently represented by Union Minister and senior Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal.

A youth has been convicted of raping his 14-year-old lover by a Delhi court which said though the physical relations between them were “consensual”, he was guilty of the crime as the girl was a minor.

“The girl was only 14 years of age at that time and hence her consent to the sexual intercourse with the accused was totally immaterial,” said the court which, however, acquitted Surender Paswan of the charges of kidnapping the girl.

The court said she was neither lured by him nor was she forced to accompany him and taht she wilfully went with him as they were in love.

“It is evident that the prosecutrix (girl) was neither allured by the accused (Surender) to accompany him nor was forced or threatened by him to accompany him. Manifestly, the girl was in love with Surender and willingly accompanied him on December 18, 2000.

“This is also indicated by the fact that she had left her house at midnight i.e. In dead of night without informing her parents or anybody else at home. Therefore, the essentials ingredients of the offence under section 363 (kidnapping) IPC have not been established by the prosecution and the accused is liable to be acquitted of the same,” Additional Sessions Judge Virender Bhat said.

“It is also clear from the discussion that there had been sexual intercourse between Surender and the girl during the time she was with him and these were also consensual. But as noted herein-above, the girl was only 14 years of age at that time and hence her consent to the sexual intercourse with the accused was totally immaterial.

“Therefore, the sexual intercourse between Surender and the girl comes within the definition of offence of rape as provided under section 375 IPC and the accused is liable to be convicted for the said offence,” it added.

A Congress law-maker in Kerala has been accused of rape by the police in a case registered.

AP Abdullakutty, who represents Kannur in the state legislature, has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram.

She has also alleged that the politician, who is 46, threatened her against disclosing what had happened.

The Congress leader has denied the charges.  “I have several things to reveal myself.  I will do it at the right time. These are attempts made to defame me and the party for no reason,” he said.

The woman who has alleged rape is linked to a financial scandal that has dogged the Congress-led coalition government in the state over the last year.  The alleged scam involves a couple who duped companies into investing in solar power units that were never delivered.

A personal aide of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy was arrested in connection with the scam.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is organising a fund-raising dinner with its national president Arvind Kejriwal as host at a price of Rs. 10,000 per person on March 13 at a luxury hotel in Sadar in Nagpur.

The party is getting response for the event and the number of those likely to attend it could be between 150 and 200, AAP’s media coordinator and fund-raising dinner organiser Girish Nandgaonkar and spokesperson Prajakta Atul said. The registrations are going on and Nagpur Lok Sabha candidate Anjali Damania will also be present at the dinner.

“The dinner is basically for our donors and we will put up all names on our AAP Nagpur website,” a release from AAP said in Nagpur on Monday. Kejriwal will be arriving in the city on March 13 on a two-day tour of the region.

The former Delhi chief minister will be touring Chandrapur and Bhandara Lok Sabha constituencies and attend the dinner the same night with donors. On March 14, the AAP leader will be joining a road show in the city, party sources said.