Congress, BJP slug it out over charges of Shinde shielding Dawood man

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January 14, 2014

The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are up in arms against each other over former IAS officer-turned-BJP leader RK Singh’s startling allegations against Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde. RK Singh, a former home secretary, on Monday accused Shinde of “lying” and shielding a businessman close to India’s most wanted Dawood Ibrahim.

Reacting sharply the Congress called him an opportunist with party General Secretary Digvijaya Singh expressing shock at the allegations. Hitting out at RK Singh for saying Shinde shielded a businessman close to Dawood Ibrahim, Digvijaya tweeted, “Shocked at the Opportunistic behavior of RK Singh ex-HS. Why did he not bring this to the notice of Cabinet Secretary or the PM (sic).”

Even as Digvijaya called the charges ‘serious’, he said Singh is not morally right in hiding them for so long. He tweeted, “His charges are extremely serious and and if he kept quiet then he is guilty also of not fulfilling his assigned responsibility. Shocking! (sic)”

Questioning RK Singh’s credibility, Digvijaya tweeted, “Is it not a fact that he tried to get a post retirement position from UPA? Is it not a fact that he approached Nitish for a position?”
“Mr. Shinde is a seasoned politician and has held responsible positions in State and Centre. Such false charges by an ex-HS are condemnable,” he added.

But RK Singh hit back at Digvijaya saying every person in the party knew of differences between him and Shinde. “Everyone, including Digvijaya Singh, knew about my differences with Shinde. To say no one knew about it is utter nonsense. Everyone from the Principal Secretary to the Cabinet Secretary knew about it,” RK Singh said.

The BJP has now demanded that Shinde steps down if the allegations are proven to be true. “We demand a full investigation into this. If this has happened, then Sushil Kumar Shinde should step down,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claimed that the businessman in question is Shahid Balwa, who was also accused in the 2G scam. “The businessman being talked about is Shahid Balwa. Balwa not only is close to Shinde but many other ministers. If Mr Shinde doesn’t come out with proof to prove his innocence, I will go to court and demand an enquiry against him,” Swamy said.

RK Singh on Monday had accused Shinde of “lying” and interfering with Delhi Police’s work. “Shinde prevented Delhi Police from interrogating a businessman in the IPL match fixing case. Agencies suspect this businessman has links with underworld don Dawood. There is even no assurance from FBI on Dawood, I was present at that conference with Shinde, he is lying,” said Singh.

“The staff at Shinde’s residence would regularly send chits with names of people who should be posted as SHOs and I heard this was done in lieu of money,” Singh claimed.

Singh’s statement comes after Shinde had said that the Indian government along with US intelligence agency FBI was working towards bringing India’s most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim to India.

“Efforts are on to track Dawood. We are in talks with the FBI,” Shinde had said earlier in Solapur. Earlier in September 2012 also, Shinde had said that Dawood will be also brought back to India to face justice. “We will bring one by one. All will come. Just wait,” he had asserted.

After joining the BJP, Singh had attacked the Congress-led UPA government saying that it was “clueless” about governance and its ministers steep in corruption. The bureaucrat-turned politician, had pointed to 2G, Commonwealth Games scam and coalgate in support of his allegations.

Rahul Gandhi statement suggests willingness to accept PM nomination

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has said that he is willing to accept any responsibility conferred upon him by his party. The statement, made in an interview to Hindi newspaper, is his strongest hint yet that he is ready to be named as prime ministerial candidate.

“Just as at present, I will take up whatever responsibility is given to me by my party in the future and do it diligently to the best of my abilities,” he said.

The 43-year-old’s comments come before a meeting on Friday of the top leaders in Congress where he expected to be named the PM nominee.

Mr. Gandhi is No 2 in the Congress; his mother, Sonia, is the party president.

He was asked about his comment in January 2013 when he described power as “poison”.

“Power is poison doesn’t mean that I am not keen to take responsibility. I don’t have the word ‘reluctance’ in my life,” he said.

He also ruled out any significant role for his younger sister Priyanka, who has attended recent party meetings. “As an active Congress worker she is helping me strengthen the party. But I don’t think she will have any electoral role,” he said.

Though Mr. Gandhi headlined the Congress campaign for the recent assembly elections in Delhi and other states, the party performed poorly, ceding massive ground to the Opposition BJP and the upstart anti-corruption Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

“The Aam Aadmi Party works in a different way, but I must concede that AAP has done some of the work that the Congress wished to do in Delhi,” Mr. Gandhi conceded.

West Bengal gang-rape victim’s father accepts job in Bihar, vows to fight for justice

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

The father of the Madhyamgram gang-rape victim has refused to return to West Bengal and said that they will now stay in Bihar and take up the government job offered to him at his native place.

The family had met Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday where they were assured of a job as a police vehicle drive in Samastipur district.

“Now, we will stay in Bihar after Nitish Kumar told us he will rehabilitate us,” the girl’s mother had said.
“We will visit West Bengal whenever there will be a need in connection with the case in courts there,” the victim’s father said.

He also requested Nitish Kumar to agree to their demand for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case with the concerned authorities in West Bengal as well in the central government.

“We hope to get justice at least in my own state Bihar, if not in West Bengal,” he said before meeting Nitish Kumar.

The family hails from Bihar’s Samastipur, but had migrated to Madhyamgram in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district in search of livelihood, he said.

The girl’s mother said it was ironical that her daughter failed to get justice in West Bengal even though a woman was the chief minister of the state.

Nitish Kumar had earlier announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs.1 lakh for the girl’s family.

The girl was allegedly raped twice by a gang in October last year and set afire Dec 23. She died of injuries Dec 31.

Alleging that the West Bengal Police were forcing them to leave the state, the family also met President Pranab Mukherjee, seeking death penalty for the culprits.

Another ancient university’s remains found in Bihar

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

Remains of an ancient university have been discovered in Bihar, which is home to Nalanda and Vikramshila universities, officials said on Tuesday.

“We have discovered remains of another ancient university at the Buddhist monastery site of Telhara in Nalanda district,” Atul Kumar Verma, director of state archaeology, said.

Telhara was visited by Chinese traveller Heuen Tsang in the 7th century A.D., and it was mentioned as “Teleadaka” in his account, Verma said.

Describing it as a major discovery for Bihar’s history, Verma told IANS over telephone that remains of “Tiladhak” ancient university are spread in a big area and will take more time for full excavation — just like Nalanda where the excavation took years.

“It is a positive development in the field of excavation in Bihar. After discovery of remains of 4th century ancient Nalanda and 8th century Vikramshila university, this is the discovery of remains of third ancient university in the state,” Verma said.

Verma said that Tiladhak ancient university was set up in 5th century during the Gupta period.

He said that remains of this ancient university were found during excavation of a 45-foot high mound.

“We have also found a huge floor, statues of bronze and stone and over 100 seals,” he said.

The excavation at Telhara site was started in 2009 after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar took special interest in it. Nitish Kumar has announced that specimen from the site would be housed in the proposed International Museum in Patna.

Salman Khan flies kites with Narendra Modi, praises him, but no clear endorsement

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

Actor Salman Khan spent some time on Tuesday with the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the kite-flying festival of Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti. He was at Ahmedabad to promote his upcoming film ‘Jai Ho’ which is releasing on 24th January.

“God will decide who is the best man for the country. May the best man win,” said Mr. Khan while interacting with reporters in Ahmedabad, who asked him if he endorses Mr Modi for the country’s top job. “Modi saab should be able to fulfill his destiny,” said the 48-year-old superstar.

“He is a great man, I have not seen this sort of development elsewhere,” Mr. Khan said. But he also said voters must decide who is most suitable. “If you think Modi saab is best for you, vote for him,” he said, while clarifying that he will vote for Congress MP Priya Dutt who represents his neighbourhood of Bandra in parliament.

Mr. Modi’s smile appeared a little pained at that point.

The Gujarat Chief Minister is described by his critics as a divisive leader who failed to protect hundreds of Muslims during communal riots in 2002 in his state. A court recently found that there is no evidence to merit his prosecution for complicity in the violence, as alleged by his opponents. It also upheld a Supreme Court investigation that had cleared Mr. Modi.

Last week, Mr. Khan was dragged into a political controversy over his dance performance at a festival in Uttar Pradesh, where thousands of people in riot-hit Muzaffarnagar are struggling to survive.

Defending himself, Mr. Khan said his NGO, Being Human, had pledged to fund surgeries on 200 children in the state on behalf of all artistes who performed at the event. “We did our job. We just went for that one event, we have got to do nothing with any political party,” he said.

Arvind Kejriwal, Kapil Sibal’s ‘jadoo ki jhappi’ at Delhi event

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

The warm hug that Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party and Kapil Sibal of the Congress shared at a Delhi mosque today made for a Kodak moment.

It was also much in keeping with the spirit of partnership. Mr. Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and heads a minority government propped up by the Congress. Mr. Sibal is the Congress’ Lok Sabha member from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk, where the Sheikhan mosque, where the two leaders met on the occasion of Milan-un-Nabi, is situated.

But the broad smiles that the two leaders wore as they shared their “jadoo ki jhappi,” was in contrast to a political battle that they waged only months ago.

Mr. Sibal was one of Mr. Kejriwal’s chief targets in his slew of allegations against central ministers, when he took on the Congress-led government on corruption.

Soon after Mr. Sibal took over as Law Minister last year, Mr. Kejriwal and his associates had alleged that the Congress leader had a conflict of interest in the controversial Vodafone tax case.

In December, days after the Delhi assembly election results were announced, Mr. Sibal’s son, lawyer Amit Sibal filed a defamation suit against Mr. Kejriwal.

Since AAP’s spectacular debut in the Delhi polls, however, Mr. Sibal has posted a number of tweets supportive and appreciative of Mr. Kejriwal. He was also one of the first to effusively congratulate Mr. Kejriwal on his “great performance in Delhi.”

Cops thrashed, kicked women protesters in UP

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

Cops in Uttar Pradesh have been caught on camera kicking, slapping and using canes to hit a group of women who were protesting against the death of two men in an accident in the Rasoolpur area of Firozabad.

The cops, led by Shriprakash Yadav, the station house officer of the Rasoolpur police station, are seen brutally thrashing the women. On camera, Mr. Yadav hits a woman with a cane causing her to lose her balance and fall backwards.

The women were protesting against the death of two labourers in a collision last night between their minivan and a truck. They blocked the highway between Lucknow and Agra demanding the arrest of the truck driver.

No action has been taken yet against the cops caught on camera assaulting the women. The Congress has demanded that the Akhilesh Yadav government order an investigation.

“The situation is very bad in UP. The police let off those responsible for the accident and they lathi-charged the women…Even the police and administration seem like they are Samajwadi Party workers,” said Congress leader, Raj Babbar.

There have been other incidents of police highhandedness being caught on camera in UP. Rival parties accuse the Samajwadi Party government and its young chief minister Mr. Yadav of a complete breakdown of law and order in the state.

Sikhs demand probe into British SAS-Operation Bluestar link

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Afternoon Voice

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January 14, 2014

Outraged Sikh organisations and leaders on Tuesday demanded a thorough probe into reports that the British government colluded with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi over Operation Blue Star, when Indian security forces entered the holy Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple in 1984, to flush out militants.

A lawmaker from Britain’s Labour party claimed that he has seen documents that suggest then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s administration dispatched Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) officials to help Indira Gandhi in the storming of the Golden Temple.

The ‘Stop Deportations’ website quotes from the documents which were made public by the National Archives in London under the 30-year rule as part of a series over the New Year.

Operation Blue Star was an Indian military operation which was ordered by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in order to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his armed followers from the Golden Temple in Amritsar city.

President of the leading Sikh religious organisation, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Avtar Singh slammed the Indian government for taking help from British government in attacking its own people.

“Their governments also run by taking religion as a base and if they have done so, if they have helped our government in attacking our people, then they have committed the biggest crime,” said Singh.

The military raid led to a chaos amongst Sikhs across the world and the increased tension following the action led to assaults on members of the Sikh community within India.

The operation also led to a deep resentment among the Sikhs over an armed attack on their most revered Shrine and also widened a growing chasm between the members of Hindu and Sikh communities.

Indian lawmaker and Sikh rights activist Tarlochan Singh called for an urgent inquiry into the British government’s involvement in the events of 1984.

“Now this time British intervening in attack at Golden Temple, this is a slur on our autonomy and I request that there should be a thorough probe by India and everybody should know that what happened at what time, and how the Golden Temple attack, was it a vote bank policy, was it something, other sinister move? So, I demand full enquiry at all levels,” he said.

Kiran Bedi’s views more balanced

By

Mahendra Singh

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January 14, 2014

The difference between Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejrival is that the former asks you to earn first, spend or invest later but the latter only talks about spending and not talking about earning. It is very easy to become a populist. Kiran Bedi is talking about stability. People may think she is only talking about political stability but she is also talking about emotional stability, behavioural stability and preserve our traditional Indian cultural values.

Kumar Biswas held a rally in Amethi and challenged Rahul Gandhi in his own bastion. You are patronizing a wrong man, you choose me. People will say, Rahul and Priyanka are our children and they have been interacting with us for years, who are you to tell us what we should do? You are holding a rally to gain visibility. How being only a lone voice, will bring about betterment in our lives especially when there is no possibility of your government gaining power either in UP or pan-India basis.

“ Hum grameen hain, hum apne bacche bar bar nahin badalte. Nargis ne apne bete ko mother India main khud mara tha. Kisi bahri ko nahin bulaya. Modi bapu che, tame bapu nathi”. Modi is a father figure, you are not. Kiran Bedi and General VK Singh should join BJP and strengthen the hands of Modi.

BJP must start saying that they will do everything to strengthen village “panchayats” to enrich rural economy. Agricultural scientists will be given prominence. “Har haath ko kaam”, should be popularized to enhance vocational skills (a programme pertaining to this was initiated by a private sector bank is praise worthy) to augment self-employment among youth. The bank should not trivialize opening of a bank account, which is a solemn exercise. It should not to be depicted in a casual manner just like the recent kite flying advertisement aired on television. Banking is not kite flying.

The intentions of the AAP appear dubious. It has not been showing any empathy towards senior citizens employed in various industries. You can’t expect good workers to join the party by merely giving a missed call. AAP is not talking about population control and eradication of the reservation system. Rakhi Birla’s father has been saying that “ dalit” is one who’s actions are bad and who’s character is bad and one who does not stand up to challenge injustice.

Rakhi Birla and her father appear to be more sincere than Manish Sisodia, Shazia Ilmi and other bombastic AAP members. Arvind Kejrival deserves more applause but he must learn to respect and give credit to others too. What work are you going to do for boosting economic development and infrastructural development? What steps will you take to generate more electricity? The people must say, you wait, you work, prove your worth and let Modi govern us. Since you are good so you now co-operate with him and assist him, which is what Kiran Bedi wants to say.

No other option for people besides Sena: Uddhav

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Prakash Jha

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January 14, 2014

The Shiv Sena which has been losing its foothold in Maharashtra is trying to revive itself in the state. Sena activists reverted back to their aggressive style of politics by vandalising toll booths in Kolhapur district. Subsequently, the party president Uddhav Thackeray said that people of Maharashtra don’t have any other option besides voting for Shiv Sena. Taking a leaf out of AAP’s book, Uddhav also added that his party will always work for the welfare of the common man. He also added that Sena will work 80 per cent for welfare of people and will only indulge in 20 per cent politics.

How can a party which follows politics of hate work for the welfare of the common man? On the other hand, the Congress party said that the Shiv Sena is always known for making tall promises but fails to fulfil them.

Sachin Sawant, Congress spokesperson said, “The statements made by Uddhav Thackeray about people of Maharashtra don’t have any other option besides Sena is unjustified. This might be the reason that the party has not returned to power in the state. The party is unaware of the ground realities. The Congress has undertaken several developmental works for the welfare of masses hence they will vote for our party in the Lok Sabha election scheduled to be held shortly.”

Shiv Sena will observe January 23 as the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena supremo late Balasaheb Thackeray and a massive rally will be held in the city. On this occasion, Sena activists will take oath to work for Shiv Sena for lifetime. Henceforth, this day will be celebrated as the party oath day (Pratigya Divas).

The Sena chief also added that the party will win the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly election. He said there is a wave against the Congress in the country.

When asked about the statement issued by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena supremo Raj Thackeray that BJP’s prime ministerial Narendra Modi to quit the post of Gujarat chief minister if he aspires to become the PM of India, Uddhav replied, “I want Modi to become Prime Minister of India. I don’t have any issues pertaining to Modi continuing with the chief minister’s post.

“We are here to serve people and can do it in a better way by being in power. Our four-and-a-half years of rule in Maharashtra was the best,” he said, recalling that Congress leaders promised free electricity to farmers before elections and scrapped the decision after winning it.