Rumours rife as activist receives string of politicians in just a week

By: Vvivek Sabnis
Date: 2011-09-28
Place: Pune

Aides of anti-graft crusader rubbish speculation, say rumours may be political gimmick on part of government
In the backdrop of many politicians visiting noted anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare in his village Ralegansiddhi in the last eight days, rumours are rife that the activist has been offered the post of the country's president by the UPA government as the term of the incumbent is set to end next year.

No politics, please: Activist Anna Hazare, who his aides say has stated
many times he does not intend to join politics. File Pic
Referring to a meeting of Congress leaders in Delhi, at least one major local vernacular newspaper stated the party might be able to tame Hazare by offering him the country's highest post. The meeting referred to took place after the thumping response Hazare got during his fast last month at Ramleela Ground in Delhi for a Jan Lokpal bill. Reportedly, a veteran Congress leader also objected to the idea of making the offer to Hazare, saying the activist would not accept it.
Sanjay Pathade, a teacher from Ralegansiddhi who is close to Hazare, said there was no truth in the rumours. "It's all rubbish. Anna won't accept such offers," Pathade said. "The president's post shall not be used as a bribe by any party."
Ralegansiddhi Sarpanch Jaysingh Mapari, who was with Hazare during both the indefinite hunger strikes in Delhi, said he was confident Hazare would not "fall prey" to any offer of the kind. "Hazare knows the ministers very well after his two big stirs. I don't think any Union minister shall dare make such an offer," he said.
Among the politicians who visited Hazare recently were Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, former PWD minister Vijaysinh Mohite-Patil, MP Bhausaheb Waghchaure from Ahmadnagar, MLA M D Bhegde from Maval and Bacchu Kadu from Sangamner. They discussed several issues with him.
There were also non-politicians lining up to meet Hazare. Raj Gopal Deora, the secretary from the State Cooperative Department, visited him and discussed the new law on the Cooperation Rules approved by the state government. Pune region information officer Vijay Kuvlekar and former divisional commissioner Prabhakar Deshmukh also met Hazare.
Medical check-up
w A TEAM of ENT doctors from Nashik visited Hazare to conduct a medical check-up on him. Ganesh Bhosale, a villager who was there during the check-up, said: "Anna has some hearing problem. The team did a thorough check-up and went. A report will be sent soon."

New Delhi: As Rajasthan's water resources minister Mahipal Maderna faces the heat over the disappearance Bhanwari Devi, a midwife, we look at sexcapades of other politicians across the country who have twisted all rules in the book to exploit women, some ambitious, some helpless.
Health worker Bhanwari Devi who is missing may have been bumped off by Mahipal, alleges her husband.
On September 1, 2011, an auxiliary nurse and midwife (ANM), Bhanwari Devi, left her home in the Burunda village of Jodhpur for Bilara, about 40 kilometres away to collect the payment for a car she had sold to Sohan Lal Vishnoi, a contractor in the public health engineering department (PHED). She has been missing since then. Soon after her disappearance a local TV channel reported that the ANM was said to be in possession of a CD showing her in a compromising position with Rajasthan's PHED and water resources minister Mahipal Maderna. Bhanwari's husband Amar Chand alleged that the minister and Vishnoi were responsible for his wife's disappearance and the police was aware of the entire background.

According to Amar Chand, Bhanwari, 36, was in touch with the minister for her transfer. Maderna, he alleged, had once called her to his office where he raped her. Amar Chand also alleged that the minister subsequently started forcing her to go to other persons and filmed Bhanwari in the act. When she threatened to go public with the minister's misdeeds he had her abducted and killed, claimed Amar Chand.

Over three weeks after her disappearance, there is still no trace of Bhanwari and anger's mounting in Jodhpur against Maderna.


A case of rape, murder and criminal conspiracy was registered against the minister at Bilara on Saturday after a local court ordered the police on Friday to make the minister an accused in the FIR lodged by Amar Chand in Bhanwari's disappearance case. The police were initially reluctant to name the minister and were lightly treating the case as one of missing person'.
The Rajasthan High Court had also chided the police for not investigating the case with the seriousness it deserved. Asking the Jodhpur range IG Umesh Mishra to be personally present in the court at the next hearing on Monday, the court observed that some of the persons whose role needed to be probed were not being touched by the police.

It is said that apprehending threat to her life the nurse had virtually confined herself to her house about a week before her disappearance. She was allegedly lured by Vishnoi to reach Bilara on the pretext of payment for her car. Vishnoi is in police custody. He is the cousin of Congress MLA Malkhan Singh and considered close to Maderna.

The speculation is that from Bilara, Bhanwari was taken to Khejarli village, 26 km south-east of Jodhpur city, from where she was abducted by a motor mechanic Shahabuddin of Pipar City of Jodhpur district and some other men. They are said to have taken her away in a Bolero car. It is feared that she was then handed over to a gang of contract killers. On Friday, Shahabuddin was declared absconder. He is a dreaded criminal facing over half a dozen criminal cases, including those of murder.


While another person - Sahi Ram Vishnoi, former deputy zila pramukh of Jodhpur - has been declared absconder, the police was also looking for Baldev, a petty criminal. Sahi Ram belongs to the Congress.

According to the IG, Umesh Mishra, the police had picked up one Ashok Mali from Sikar's Ramgarh Shekhawat who had confessed to having taken 'supari '(contract) along with two others to kill Bhanwari.

As Ashok hails from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, the police took him there to locate the nurse. The police team also tried to locate her body at Ashok's instance but returned empty-handed on Friday. It is now learnt that Ashok has retracted his earlier statement.

The Opposition and Dalit groups were meanwhile mounting pressure on the chief minister, Ashok Gehlot, demanding Maderna's resignation.

- Sudhanshu Mishra

Extra-marital liaisons
Nurse-entrepreneur Jayalakshmi has gone public about her relationship with former minister M.P. Renukacharya.
It is an open secret in Karnataka political circles. Former chief minister H. D. Kumaraswamy is rumoured to be in relationship with Kannada film actress Radhika. The actress has not hesitated to declare that Kumaraswamy is her husband. She has even named her daughter as Shamika K Swamy.

Kumaraswamy and his family, including his father, the former prime minister H. D. Deve Gowda, have maintained silence on the issue. But the damage was done early this year when the actress released pictures of her with Kumaraswamy and a baby girl.

Four years ago, when Kumaraswamy was the CM, he shocked everybody by travelling with Radhika on a foreign holiday. After the child was born, he reportedly took part in the birthday celebrations of which photographs were released by Radhika. But these days, the two are not seeing each other, say to sources close to Kumaraswamy.

Besides Kumaraswamy, there are other Karnataka politicians who have muddied their hands in sexual flings.

One of them is excise minister M. P. Renukacharya, who is also the trouble- shooter for former CM, B. S. Yeddyurappa. In early 2010, Renukacharya faced several legal cases after L. A. Jayalakshmi ( nurse- turnedentrepreneur) accused him of issuing her death threats after she splashed intimate pictures of the two.
A married man with two children, Renukacharya had met the nurse while working in Bapuji Ayurvedic Medical College in Shimoga more than a decade ago. They had an affair but fell apart later over business issues of the nursing college they had started jointly.

Another key aide of former CM Yeddyurappa, Hartalu Halappa, who is the former food and civil supplies minister is facing rape charges by the wife of a friend, whom he is alleged to have raped in November 2009. He was arrested four days after the victim filed a complaint five months after the incident and resigned from the Cabinet.

- Aravind Gowda

The powerful tainted by prostitution racket
An investigation into sexual exploitation case in Kashmir, which led to the arrest of politicians, senior police and security force officials and bureaucrats across Jammu and Kashmir in 2006, commenced on a simple complaint.

On March 14, 2006 a group of elders approached the Shaheedgunj police station in downtown Srinagar with two porn CDs. These CDs reportedly contained nude scenes of a minor girl from Habakadal locality. The girl was summoned along with her parents for investigation. The girl, who was a Class VIII student, told the police that she had to leave her studies after she was forced into prostitution.
The police immediately filed a case. The girl made startling revelations exposing a racket in which 43 young girls were coerced into prostitution and supplied to several J& K politicians, police and security force officers, surrendered militants and businessmen.

The girl reportedly gave 48 names to the investigators, naming Sabeena as the kingpin of the prostitution racket, who was arrested.

Realising the severity of the case, the then chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on May 2, 2006 handed it over to the CBI.
Subsequently massive protests broke out in the Valley with people demanding action against culprits.
In early June 2006, the high court ordered the CBI to start the exercise of identification parade of the accused before the victims. In June, the DSP of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the DIG BSF K. C. Padhi were arrested. Soon, the CBI also arrested Congress MLA G. A. Mir. The same day in Srinagar, the agency picked up former industries minister Raman Mattoo. An IAS officer was arrested on June 30.

On September 5, 2006, the Supreme Court ordered that the trial of 14 accused be shifted from Srinagar to Chandigarh.

At present the case is going on before the special judge, CBI, in Chandigarh, where it was last heard on September 6, 2011.

The next hearing of the case is due on October 17 and 18.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former deputy chief minister Muzaffer Hussain Baig talked about the sex scandal in the state Assembly on July 28, 2009. He claimed that the CBI had submitted a list of over 100 people before the high court. Handing over the list to the speaker Muhammad Akbar Lone, Baig said: "I have to say with regret, that Omar Abdullah's name is also in the list. He has lost the moral authority to rule the state. He must resign."
The allegation stunned the House and shocked Omar. For a few moments there was complete silence in the House. Although the Congress and NC MLAs urged him not to respond, Omar said, "I know the allegation is mere allegation and it is false. And the law is that a man is not guilty until proven. This maxim might be true about the cases of murder and robbery but in the allegation levelled against me the reverse is true. Here I am guilty until not proven. The allegation is a blot on my character. I want to resign till I am cleared of this false allegation. I cannot work till I am proved innocent."
He resigned immediately but the then Union home minister subsequently issued a statement saying that the chief minister's name was not in the CBI's list.

- Naseer Ganai


A scandal that refuses to die

The nearly two decades old ice cream parlour sex scandal is still an active political volcano in Kerala.

Whenever it has erupted in the past, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) lost in the Assembly election while the state CPM's official faction, which is alleged to have backed the UDF move to hush up the case, cut a sorry figure. Like in the palmolien import graft case, the veteran CPM leader, V. S. Achuthanandan, periodically adds ammo to the case by taking it from court to court.

It happened in early nineties. P. K. Kunhalikutty, industries minister in the present government and a senior-most leader of Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a major partner of the UDF, allegedly sexually harassed young girls when he held the same portfolio in the Karnunakaran ministry. Sreedevi, a middle- aged woman who ran an ice cream parlour at Kozhikode beach, lured young girls to the sex racket and provided them to Kunhalikutty. Three of them committed suicide.

In the next election in 1996 the CPM government came to power and a few of the victims approached former Naxal leader and women activist K. Ajitha. She helped them file complaints. The E. K. Nayanar government controlled by the CPM official faction headed by party state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan sat on the petition and gave enough time to Kunhalikutty to destroy evidences. Kunhalikutty demolished the buildings where he allegedly abused the girls. The victims were rained with cash and kinds, and many were smuggled to the Gulf. The CPM official faction shielded the tainted Kunhalikutty as it was in a tacit alliance with the IUML, a formidable force in the Malabar region. Besides, a few CPM leaders had invested in businesses owned by League leaders in the Gulf.

The UDF won the election in 2001. A government under A. K. Antony came to the power and the industries portfolio again went to Kunhalikutty. Things went smooth for him in the first four years. The issue was revived towards the fag end of the government. Oommen Chandy had then taken over as the chief minister after Antony had resigned following the Congress's defeat in the Lok Sabha poll.


Regeena, a victim, told India Vision, a Malayalam TV channel owned by IUML leader Muneer, a political rival of Kunhalikutty, that she had repeatedly been abused by Kunhalikutty. The disclosure unleashed a surge of protests across the state.

The UDF was wiped out in the 2006 election. Many IUML leaders, including Kunhalikutty and Muneer, were trounced in the poll. Achuthanandan became the chief minister with a landslide victory for the LDF. But he could do nothing in the case as the Supreme Court exonerated Kunhalikutty of all charges.

On the eve of the recent Assembly election, Rauf, a close relative and a confidant of Kunhalikutty in hushing up the case, came out with the allegation that at the behest of Kunhalikutty, he had bribed two high court judges and silenced the victims, including Regeena, by paying them heavily.

Rauf's disclosure prompted chief minister Achuthanandan to order a fresh probe into the case. With the the UDF government taking over, the reinvestigation was dumped. Achathanandan has moved the high court seeking a CBI probe into the case. The court is expected to pronounce the verdict in a couple of weeks.

- Jayaprakash K

Elimination of sex slaves is the way out

The disproportionate assets case may not be bothering Mayawati as much as the sex scandals of her ministers and MLAs which have caused her immense political damage. Not that the other political parties can flaunt a holierthan- thou image, but BSP tops the list of sex scandals.

Take the case of Kavita Chaudhary, a lecturer of Chaudhary Charan Singh University (CCSU), Meerut. Ambition brought her close to some powerful people who allegedly exploited and then eliminated her in October, 2006. On not getting what she wanted quickly, Kavita had dared to do a sting operation on her own sexual liaison with those in power. The scandal broke when Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister.

But one of the most widely discussed sex scandals of Uttar Pradesh is that involving Amar Mani Tripathi, who is serving life term for killing his pregnant girlfriend Madhumita Shukla in May, 2003. Tripathi was the minister for stamps and registration in the then Mayawati- led BSP- BJP coalition government. Madhumita's ambition was to become a minister and she had thought that Tripathi would help her. That proved to be her undoing.

Tripathi was a favourite of all the political parties. Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav had even downplayed Tripathi's act and called it "an immature person's over-enthusiasm."

The state was later rocked by the sex scandals involving Anand Sen Yadav, former minister and BSP's MLA from Milkipur, and Purushottam Naresh Dwivedi, the BSP MLA from Banda. Barely five months after Mayawati took over as chief minister and appointed Anand Sen Yadav as minister of state for food processing, he sexually exploited Shashi Prasad (24), a poor Dalit student of law and daughter of a small- time BSP worker. He had her killed in October, 2007, after she became pregnant and demanded the status of a wife.


Dwivedi committed a more horrendous crime when he kept 17-year-old Sheila Nishad (name changed) hostage in his house in Banda for five days, between December 8 and 12, 2010 and gang-raped her along with his accomplices. The CBI is probing the case. Both Anand and Purushottam are in jail.

But it is Bhagwan Sharma alias Guddu Pandit, MLA from Dibai who is believed to have an expertise in sexual crimes. Elected on BSP ticket, he was arrested in June, 2008, in one such case of abducting and raping a 28-year-old college girl. But there are many such cases against him. He is out on bail. However, Mulayam didn't mind inducting Pandit in the SP when Maya removed him from the BSP last month.

More embarrassment is in store for the Mayawati government with the coming to light of another case of sexual exploitation by her party legislator. Yogendra Sagar, the BSP MLA from Bilsi, is accused of keeping an 18-year-old Badaun girl - Reoti Sharma (name changed) in illegal confinement in Lucknow and Delhi for 24 days to satisfy his lust. Investigation in the case is in the final stage.

- Piyush Srivastava
Source: www.indiatoday.in

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seized the opportunity and sought the immediate resignation of Chidambaram, Manmohan Singh reassured his home minister of his trust and spoke with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, also in the US.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi in the meanwhile was also briefed on the matter and was expected to take it up when the prime minister returns to the capital Monday, after attending the UN General Assembly, Congress sources said.
In a fresh twist to the second generation (2G) spectrum case, a note to the Prime Minister's Office from the finance ministry in March said the airwaves could have been auctioned in 2008 if Chidambaram, then the finance minister, had "stuck to his stand".
In the note, the finance ministry says Chidambaram, one of the government's most high-profile ministers, could have prevented spectrum from being given away at throwaway prices by insisting on its auction -- implying that presumptive losses worth thousands of crores could have thus been avoided.
The note, which was apparently shown to Mukherjee and accessed by an application under the Right to Information Act, was prepared by a deputy secretary in the finance ministry and sent to the Prime Minister's Office March 25.
"This clearly proves the role of P. Chidambaram in the 2G scam. He is responsible," BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi said. "He should resign himself or he should be dismissed. I demand it strongly."
He sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa echoed the demand and said in Chennai that the prime minister should axe Chidambaram if he did not resign on his own.
"The CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) should act against Chidambaram like it did against Raja," the AIADMK chief told a news channel.
The CPI-M agreed and pressed for a CBI probe.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who are away in the US, called up Chidambaram over the controversy Wednesday night. The home minister assured both that he will not speak on the issue till their return.
"Friends from the media have asked me why I remain silent. The prime minister called me last night from Frankfurt and spoke to me. The finance minister called me from Washington and spoke to me," Chidambaram said in a statement here Thursday.
"I have assured the prime minister that I shall not make any public statement on the subject until he returns to India," he added.
Government sources, meanwhile, said that during the phone call Wednesday, the prime minister informed Chidambaram that he had not seen the finance ministry note mentioning his role in the 2G spectrum allocation.
During the call that lasted for 20 minutes, the prime minister conveyed his complete faith on Chidambaram's integrity and asked him to remain patient till his return to India, sources said.
Even the DMK -- a key ally of the ruling coalition at the centre -- joined the chorus to say Chidambaram's role in the 2G case was never in doubt.
But the Congress defended Chidambaram and said the opposition's demand for his resignation was a "mischievous attempt" to create a rift in the party.
"The party does not doubt his integrity," spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi said, adding that since Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy had presented the documents in the Supreme Court, the matter was sub judice.
"Without waiting for the proceedings to be completed, it is highly objectionable and inappropriate for Swamy or anyone else to pass premature judgment on the very same issue on which he is seeking relief."
Mukherjee, in New York, avoided direct comment on the note from his ministry but acknowledged such a letter was, indeed, dispatched to the Prime Minister's Office.
"Today a sensational news item has come and it is through the exercise of the right to information. A note was sent by the ministry of finance to the prime minister. Somebody demanded through the use of right to information to have a copy of that note," he said.
"And that is being used -- whether legally it can be used or not is a different story -- but the fact of the matter is, somebody has produced that as a piece of evidence in a particular case," he added.
"The matter is sub judice. The court is looking into it."
BJP leader Arun Jaitley Thursday said the latest twist in the 2G scam showed that the UPA government was at war with itself. He praised Pranab Mukherjee as the "wisest man in the government" and hoped he would make a full and frank disclosure on the controversy.

Are most Indian MPs "anpadh" (uneducated) and "ganwar" (illiterate) as Om Puri alleged at the Ramlila Maidan? While the actor faces a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha for his remark, an insight into the background of Indian parliamentarians reveals that he is completely off the mark.
Over 80 percent of Indian MPs are graduates, and some have studied further, according to parliament records.

Anna Hazare's aide Kiran Bedi also faces a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha along with Om Puri for her remarks taunting MPs. The motion would be taken up for discussion Monday.
Om Puri launched a blistering attack last week on politicians from the stage at Ramlila Maidan where Anna Hazare was sitting on hunger strike. He told the thousands gathered that he feels "ashamed when an IAS or IPS officer salutes a ganwar (illiterate) who is a neta (political leader).

"Yeh anpadh hain, inka kya background hai? Aadhe se zyaada MP ganwaar hain...," Puri, otherwise known for his character roles, told the cheering crowd.

According to parliament records, of the 545 Lok Sabha MPs, 260 are graduates and 142 are post-graduates. Twenty-four, including two women MPs, have doctorate degrees.

Of those rest, 20 MPs are under matric (high school), 32 are matric and 47 have completed their inter or higher secondary classes.

Eight parliamentarians have done diploma courses and nine are undergraduates.

As far as the legislative experience of the 545 is concerned, there are 254 MPs who have been elected to either house of parliament more than once. There are 291 parliamentarians who are first time elected members, according to the parliament data.

WikiLeaks owner Julian Assange has rejected UP chief minister Mayawati's allegations and asked her to apologise.

NEW DELHI: WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has rejected UP chief minister Mayawati's allegations and asked her to admit her errors and apologise.

He said "Mayawati has betrayed rational thought. The question is, has she also betrayed the Dalit? There is no question that the documents are official papers from the US embassy.

These papers have been proven the world over, including by the aggressive persecution of our people by Washington.

The allegations within them are made by US diplomats in their private communications back to Hillary Clinton.

If chief minister Mayawati has a problem with the contents of these communications she need to take it up with Hillary. I ask that Mayawati to admit her error and apologise."

Assange added that asylum in India is welcome for him, "Should she fail to do so, she is welcome to send her private jet to England to collect me, where I have been detained against my will, under house arrest, for the last 272 days. I would be happy to accept asylum, political asylum, in India--a nation I love. In return, I will bring Mayawati a range of the finest British footwear."

Earlier, the UP CM said she wanted the WikiLeaks founder to be put in a "mental asylum" because she is upset over leaked US diplomatic cables that painted her as an "egomaniac."

The leaked US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks last week described how the BSP supremo once allegedly dispatched her empty private jet to fetch her favourite sandals from Mumbai. Mayawati had food tasters to sample her meals and a "security entourage to rival a head of state", it claimed.

The cables quoting an aide of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister also said she was a person with a "penchant for personal corruption" and "a strong authoritarian streak".

"I would request the government of his country to send him (Assange) to a mental asylum and if they have no place for him in his country we can put him in our Agra mental hospital", Mayawati told reporters on Tuesday.

The entire political class was hit beyond belief when a session court on Tuesday awarded fourteen days judicial custody to former Samajwadi party leader Amar Singh in connection with the cash-for-votes scam.

Singh tried to avoid the appearance on Tuesday, citing medical grounds but a determined court asked for medical papers to justify his absence.Pushed to corner,Amar Singh did come to court.

The court rejected Rajya Sabha member's anticipatory bail and sent him to jail. Two former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora were also sent to jail. The third accused Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader L.K. Advani is abroad and did not appear in the court thereby escaping the fate of other accused.

On July 22, 2008, three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Lok Sabha ahead of a trust vote , alleging they were given the money to vote in favour of the Manmohan Singh government.

The judge had on August 25 issued summons to Amar Singh, former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs Fagan Singh Kulaste and Mahavir Bhagora, and Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former associate of BJP leader L.K. Advani.

Earlier, former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh cited health reasons for not appearing in a Delhi court .Later when Judge asked his lawyer to present medical certificate before the court,Amar Singh did come.

In response, Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal asked his counsel to submit the medical report of his health, mentioning the specific date on which his kidney was transplanted and on how many occasions he had visited the doctor.

"Submit your specific medical report mentioning all the dates by 12.30 p.m. today (Tuesday)," Sehgal said.

Singh came to the court after that.

Amar Singh and three others were to appear before a trial court here Tuesday after the Delhi Police filed a charge sheet in the corruption scam.

"The charge sheet is based on weak circumstantial evidence," Amar Singh's lawyer said.
Amar Singh's former aide Sanjeev Saxena and middleman Suhail Hindustani both are in judicial custody and appeared before the court.

On the other hand, counsel defending Kulkarni submitted before the court that his client was unable to appear because he was in the US.

"My client (Kulkarni) left for the US before the Delhi Police filed the charge sheet in the case. Therefore, I need two weeks' time on behalf of my client to call him before the court," his counsel said.

The charge sheet alleged that during investigation "sufficient evidence" came on record that on the morning of July 22, 2008, Amar Singh "hatched a criminal conspiracy with his secretary Sanjeev Saxena to deliver cash of Rs.1 crore as money for illegal gratification".

New Delhi: BJP President Nitin Gadakri wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday complaining about the 'witch hunt' carried out against Team Anna and Baba Ramdev.
He accused the ruling UPA of using government machinery to target members of Anna Hazare's team - Arvind Kejriwal, Prashant Bhushan and Kiran Bedi.
Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan were served with privilege motions. They have been accused of using derogatory language against the government and MPs during their speeches.
He said it was worrisome that the 'strong arm tactics' and 'high handed actions' of the government were vitiating the political atmosphere in the country which was dangerous for a healthy democracy.
Gadkari said the 'cheap tactics' of the government were adding to the 'misperceptions' about the entire political class, thereby causing a 'great damage to the popular trust in democratic polity'.
He said the attitude of the government reminded him of the days of the Emergency when central agencies were used against those voicing dissent against the establishment.
Gadkari sought Singh's personal intervention to rein in all agencies under his control and 'put an end to the politics of vendetta'.
Gadkari also accused the central government of targetting political rivals like Narendra Modi and Amit Shah.

Bellary: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested former Karnataka tourism minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy after conducting raids at his Bellary residence. Janardhana Reddy has been arrested on charges of criminal conspiracy and cheating. Srinivas Reddy - the managing director of Obulapuram Mining Corporation (OMC) which is owned by the former minister - has also been arrested.
The CBI recovered 30 kg gold and Rs 1.5 crore cash from Janardhana Reddy's residence and Rs 3 crore cash from Srinivas Reddy after raids were conducted at their residences on Monday.
The arrests have been made under a 2009 FIR under sections of criminal conspiracy and cheating and also prevention of corruption act. An FIR was registered in 2009 after the Supreme Court appointed Central Empowered Committee wrote a letter against the Obulapuram Mining Company.
Both of them have now been taken to Hyderabad and will be produced in a CBI court.
The are allegations of irregularities in the mining activities of OMC which is owned by the brothers - G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana Reddy, G Somashekara Reddy.
The CBI team from Hyderabad led by its DIG, PV Lakshminarayana entered Janardhana Reddy's house late on Sunday night and escorted him to an undisclosed location for questioning, sources said.
The team also questioned Srinivas Reddy.
The probe agency action comes a day after Reddy's associate and former Karnataka minister B Sriramulu resigned from his Assembly seat, protesting against the BJP's denial to give him ministerial berth and also keeping Bellary Reddy brothers out of the ministry.
"There is no political vendetta. I am happy that ultimately the CBI has reached the Reddy brothers. Not only the Reddy brothers, all those involved in illegal mining should be punished," said JDS leader Nanaiah.
The Reddy brothers have been indicted in the Lokayukta report on illegal mining in Karnataka.
There is enough evidence in former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's report to probe the Reddy brothers on charges of money laundering, according to legal experts.
The Lokayukta report accused them of far more serious crimes than just accepting a bribe. The report says they have actually smuggled out iron ore from Karnataka and the Rs 215 crore money trail has led to accounts in the British Virgin Islands and the Isle of Man(n).
Justice Hegde had asked the RBI and the Central government to act against the Reddy brothers for money laundering.

Sheela Bhattin New Delhi

Modi has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is above board, says Sheela Bhatt.

Two days back, L K Advani led the protest in the parliament complex against the appointment of former judge R A Mehta as the Gujarat lokayukta by Governor Kamla Beniwal.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has deployed the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership in New Delhi to argue his case in the political arena but he is doing few things in Gandhinagar that exposes his vulnerability.

He has written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting him to recall the Governor. In a sensational act, Modi in his letter has made many serious charges against Judge Mehta. If any court approves Mehta's appointment then Modi will have egg on his face.

The BJP's contention is that for the first time, a Governor has acted arbitrarily while appointing the lokayukta without consulting the government. The BJP is calling it a murder of democracy. But now the Congress party is claiming that on August 18, Modi was all set to 'murder' democracy by bringing an ordinance that would have hurt the ethos behind the office of the lokayukta.

As per the Congress allegations, Modi wanted Governor Beniwal to sign the ordinance that would have changed the composition of the panel that appoints the lokyaukta in the state. According to Arjun Modhawadia, president of the state Congress, "Modi wanted to bring 'sarkari panel' to appoint the lokayukta. The double standard of the BJP is shocking."

State Law Minister Dilip Sanghani was not available for comment. In the Rajya Sabha BJP leader Arun Jaitely gave a spirited speech against the Manmohan Singh government's attempt to bring a weak Lokpal bill in which the government will have a majority say in the panel that would appoint the Lokpal.

The United Progressive Alliance government is facing the people's ire for trying to control the appointment of the Lokpal under the proposed act, but now, allegedly, Modi wants to do exactly same thing.

Modi claims that Governor Beniwal should have acted on the advice of the government before appointing the lokayukta. Shaktisinh Gohil, leader of the Opposition in Gujarat, says, "We have no doubt that the Governor is right in her action. The last three appointments of the lokayukta were done without the advice of the government. Why is Modi questioning it this time?"

"Modi, wants to do exactly the opposite of what Jaitley recommends Dr Singh to do in New Delhi," says the Congress leader.

Modhawadia says, "Modi is against Judge Mehta, who is an independent judge. He wants to appoint a judge who can be influenced by him."

But the Modi government, allegedly, wants to drop the chief justice's role in the process and have a role for the chief minister. The Modi government has neither denied nor confirmed the allegation.

Here, the significant issue is regarding following procedures set for the appointment of the lokayukta where Modi may have a valid point that can be sorted out by the courts. But why is Modi protesting so much against the violations of procedures only?

"The people of Gujarat are waiting for the lokayukta to be appointed by the constitutional functionary in accordance with the law," says lawyer Anand Yagnik. He says, "People don't want any further delay on account of the political war between Modi and the Governor."

Currently in Gujarat, the Congress party has become active and aggressive while Modi is on the defensive. His supporters are unable to answer why Modi is overreacting for violations of procedures?

What else is discomforting Modi?

Many of his critics say that thanks to the Right to Information Act, Modi and his government are facing many uncomfortable questions for allotting land to industry in Gujarat. One glance at local newspapers gives an idea that 'corruption cases' of the Modi government are in news, which was not the case since the last nine years.

At such a sensitive time, with assembly elections are just a year away, when the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team report on the involvement, if any, of Modi and his government in the communal riots of 2002 is with the court, when anti-incumbency has started setting in certain areas of the state and when Modi is doing everything to improve his image amongst the Muslims, he is determined to ensure that his political position remains strong to combat freshly-emerging charges of favours done to his favourite industrial houses.

His government's only defence against these charges so far is that the Modi government largesse is much less compared to what late Chimanbhai Patel-led government gave. Patel had formed government with the support of the Congress and later he joined the party.

Modi's critics say the Congress had also showered favours to attract investments. Then, the 'state favours' given to attract industrialists in late 1980s and early 1990s had crossed all limits. That time the allegation was that sum of Rs 50,000 crore was given as hidden favours in form of tax holidays to a handful of industrialists. The charges were discussed in the assembly too.

Now the Congress leaders are claiming that, "In the BJP rule, Gautam Adani, Sudhir Mehta of Torrent and Ratan Tata have benefited the most."

It's not that only the Congress leaders that are criticising Modi these days. Bhola Bhai Patel, president of the Gujarat Sahitya Parishad, also blasted Modi recently.

In an interview to a Surat-based daily, he said, "The rulers have become kings." Patel, a highly respected writer, says that in Modi's rule corruption is rampant (Anhi ketlu badhu khavay che). He has accused Modi of behaving like the dictator Napoleon. Patel has accused Modi of suffering from narcissism.

The irony is that the Modi government wants to blunt the attack on him, for favouring Adani and Tata, by taking shelter behind Chimanbhai Patel's policy, against whose corruption people had launched the Navnirman Andolan.

Pressure is slowly building up on the Modi government to give a convincing reply to the charges of making policy that favoured industrialists outright.

Gujarat Congress leaders have submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil on issue of 'corruption by the government of Gujarat and more particularly, chief minister of Gujarat' amounting to staggering Rs 1 lakh crore.

Modhwadia and Gohil have alleged that Modi and his government are indulging in rampant corruption that includes favouring industrialists by allotting them government properties at a huge loss to the exchequer, giving favourable business deals to industrialists and giving valuable land at cheap rates to builders and industrialists.

Modi has been accused of misuse of power and corruption running into hundreds of crores of rupees. The details were procured using the Right to Information Act.

Jainarayan Vyas, spokesman and a senior minister in the Modi cabinet, refused to comment on the issue saying that, "he doesn't have a brief on it."

Jagdish Thakkar, Modi's public relations officer, also said he is unaware of the subject and he speaks only when he is given a brief.

Modhwadia thinks Modi is, "liable for criminal acts and deserves to be prosecuted. The state machinery will not be able to investigate Modi and his offices. It should be investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation."

Modhwadia regrets that Gujarat, like Karnataka, didn't have a lokayukta for seven years.

He says, "Even the lokayukta will not be able to function independently because the position of the lokayukta in Gujarat is by nature of an advisory body which has no power except that of an inquiry commission."

Modhwadia alleges that some bureaucrats are, "acting as the personal employees of the state ministry."

The list of allegations against Modi submitted to President Patil runs into many pages. Some of the highlights deserve the Modi government's official response.

In the charge-sheet against Modi, the most prominent allegations are about cheap land allotment, a nationwide epidemic for various governments.

To avoid giving any official response to the people and to the newly-appointed lokayukta, Modi voluntarily announced a commission to inquire into the charges against him. It will be headed by Judge M B Shah. The only problem with the commission is that it has no powers as the state lokayukta has.

It's a political move by Mr Clean to save himself from being tainted. But it's a defensive move by the leader who is perceived as the strongest leader of the BJP.

The political strategies available to Modi to combat serious charges of corruption may not be many. It's more or less accepted that Modi is unlikely to resort to Hindutva again to counter his political adversaries. In the last two years, Modi has sent many positive signals to the minorities in Gujarat. In fact, Hindu groups are complaining that Modi is protecting cow-slaughters -- a highly sensitive issue in the state.

Modi is ambitiously going ahead to get minority support and his charisma has not waned, yet. The secular lobby could not dent his image in spite of providing robust legal challenges.

But the charges of corruption can truly hit him where it hurts. The Gujarati people inspired even Jaiprakash Narayan to launch the movement for Sampoorna Kranti in Bihar. Gujaratis have a history of reacting violently to corruption in governance. Ask the Congressmen in Gandhinagar. The taint of corruption has been so deep on them that they have been kept out of power since 1995.

Modi has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is above board.
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-analysis-why-narendra-modi-is-on-the-defensive/20110902.htm

http://im.rediff.com/money/2011/sep/02pres.pdf

Addressing media persons here, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said very significant pieces of legislation were pending, noting a bill to set up commercial divisions of high courts was to be taken up in Parliament Friday. He said the bill is a major step towards bringing greater effectiveness in settling commercial disputes and will address complaints about some of legal processes being slow.
Khurshid said the government also plans to introduce land acquisition bill in the monsoon session. He said he was 'distressed and disappointed' at not being able to deliver legislations to which the government is committed and for which concerned ministries have done all the preparatory work.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said that 24 bills were intended to be approved in the monsoon session, but only seven had been passed.
He said several significant legislations had not been taken up because of 'wastage of parliament time' and 'obstructionist attitude of opposition."
The minister said government will try to push through as many legislation in the remaining days of the session which ends September 8. "The most important piece of work for Parliament is being relegated to background," Bansal said.
He said that duration of the present monsoon session was six weeks though it is four weeks normally.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation, which on Thursday filed its interim report in the 2G spectrum allocation case in the Supreme Court, is expected to question BJP leader Jaswant Singh for his role in the spectrum allotment made during the NDA regime.
As per reports, the CBI is expected to quiz the BJP leader on the terms on which Universal Service Agreement Licence (USAL) were granted during the BJP -led National Democratic Alliance government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
In its report the CBI also mentioned that licences granted during the tenure of former telecom minister Arun Shourie and late Pramod Mahajan also needs to be examined.
The investigating agency told the two-judge bench of justices GS Singhvi and AK Ganguly that Loop Telecom is a front company for Essar and both companies are guilty of cheating.
In another important development in the high-profile case, the probe agency said that prima facie there was no element of coercion found in licences issued between 2001 and 2007, thus giving a virtual clean chit to Dayanidhi Maran .
During the hearing on August 24, the CBI had informed the court that it has filed chargesheets has against 17 persons including former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozi. It had said that a third chargesheet would be filed by September 15.
Besides Raja and Kanimozhi, other accused in the case include Unitech Wireless Managing Director Sanjay Chandra, Swan Telecom's Director Vinod Goenka, former telecom secretary Siddhartha Behura, Raja's former personal secretary R K Chandolia, DMK-run Kalaignar TV's MD Sharad Kumar, Bollywood filmmaker Karim Morani and Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani group's executives Hari Nair, Gautam Doshi and Surrendra Pipara.
The other accused persons included Swan Telecom promoter Shahid Usman Balwa, his cousin Asif Balwa and their colleague Rajeev Agarwal. The accused also included three telecom firms Reliance Telecom Ltd, Swan Telecom and Unitech (Tamil Nadu) Wireless Ltd.
All the accused have pleaded that they have not done anything wrong and refuted the charge of drawing illegal benefits in the 2G spectrum allocation.
Meanwhile, the CBI status report has drawn sharp criticism from the main opposition BJP, which has attacked the central probe agency for its double standards in 2G investigations.
BJP said that the CBI is highly discriminatory in its probe in high-profile cases.
Addressing a press briefing, BJP spokesperson Jaswant Singh said that his party is always ready for a through probe in the 2G spectrum licences allocated given during the NDA regime.
Alleging a cover-up on part of the CBI, Prasad said, “It is highly unfortunate that the central probe agency could not collect concrete evidence against Maran, this shows that there is an attempt to save him.”
Prasad, while maintaining that BJP has nothing to hide, warned, “The BJP shall expose the double standards of the CBI in its ongoing probe into the spectrum case.” He stated that his party is proud of the expansion of the telecommunication sector and mobile telephony during the NDA regime.
He also asked why is the CBI shying from probing the role of then finance minister P Chidambaram and the Prime Minister’s office in connection with the case.
However, the BJP leader concluded by saying that his party is ready to cooperate with the CBI in its probe into the spectrum licenses granted during the NDA rule.”