New Delhi, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader P.A. Sangma, whose name has been proposed for president by the AIADMK and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Tuesday said he would urge parties to "respond to the call of conscience" and choose a tribal for the post. Sangma, who met Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to thank him for backing his presidential candidature, told reporters: "We hope that other political parties, including those in the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and the NDA (National Democratic Alliance), respond to the call of conscience in the nation by the tribal people and support us in the coming presidential election." Marching ahead in the presidential race after being backed by BJD leader Patnaik and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa, Sangma is making attempts to get support from major parties. Sangma, who was accompanied by other tribal lead­ers from different political parties, said: "We belong from different political parties but we are fighting a common cause of projecting a tribal as a presidential candidate." Thanking Patnaik and Jayalalithaa, he said: "Indeed it is time, a distinguished tribal leader needs to be the 'rashtrapati' of this great ...
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New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Thursday invoked an oft-quoted line of Jesus Christ to dismiss the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation that he or his son had financially benefited from a telecom deal in 2006 when he was finance minister. "'Father forgive them for they know not what they do'… I pray the god forgive their sins," Chidambaram said in the Lok Sabha, recalling a lesson a missionary teacher had taught him in his school days. The BJP's Yashwant Sinha, citing a newspaper report and Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's allegations, had said Chidambaram had delayed permission for the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis in 2006 so that his son Karthi was financially benefited. "An honorable MP made a statement in the Lok Sabha making allegations against me and a member of my family…the allegations are wild and reckless," Chidambaram told reporters outside parliament after a din over the issue led to the adjournment of the Lok Sabha. Swamy had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh alleging that Karthi's firm and Aircel had entered into a "dubious transaction" in March 2006, just before Maxis' investment of Rs.4,000 crore in the ...
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New Delhi, The Lok Sabha was briefly adjourned Tuesday with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking a reply from the government on the role of Home Minister P. Chidambaram, who is alleged to have helped his son get financial benefits in a telecom deal when he was the finance minister in 2006. As soon as members assembled in the morning, some BJP frontbenchers rose to protest, demanding suspension of question hour to discuss the issue. Some BJP MPs staged protests near Speaker Meira Kumar's podium and disrupted the crucial question hour. The speaker first tried to restore peace in the house asking protesting MPs to go back to their seats. As the MPs intensified their protests, Meira Kumar adjourned the house till noon. Opposition MPs cited Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy's allegations that Chidambaram had delayed permission for the sale of Aircel to Malaysia-based Maxis in 2006 when he was finance minister so that his son, Karthi, was financially benefited. "The BJP is going to raise the matter very seriously in both the houses. The government is not coming with true facts pertaining to the deliberate delays in the Aircel-Mexis deal because of the interest of ...
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New Delhi, Saying the government has "done nothing" to address the rights of poor tribals, noted social activist and former peace negotiator Swami Agnivesh blames Home Minister P. Chidambaram, whom he calls the "biggest murderer of democracy", for the spurt in violence and abductions by Maoists. "The government has done nothing to address the issues of rights of poor tribals peacefully and lawfully. I feel disappointed. I doubt Chidambaram's intentions, if he is really serious in ending the problem as he claims," Agnivesh told IANS in an interview. The saffron-clad activist, who in 2010 was appointed by the government as an interlocutor for the now-broken down peace talks with Maoists, said the recent spurt in abductions and violent incidents was "only due to the government's non-seriousness" in resolving the issue. Left-wing extremists in Odisha kidnapped two Italians in March, released one after 11 days and the second almost a month later. Another Maoist group abducted March 24 Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) legislator who was also released later. Alex Paul Menon, the 32-year-old collector of Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, was taken into captivity from the ...
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New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said the government will take a "hard decision" on the controversial National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) given the terror threats the country faces. "Hard decisions have to be taken. Our decision cannot be based upon our past experience alone, because the past does not contain any indicators," Chidambaram said in his concluding remarks at Saturday's chief ministers' conference on the anti-terror agency that has almost been dumped due to opposition from many state governments. "Some risks have to be taken, some calibrated steps have to be taken. But given the nature of threats we face, we must take hard decisions," he told the chief ministers in his concluding address the transcription of which was released to the media Sunday. Chidambaram said he was still with "an open mind" to consider all suggestions that came during the daylong meeting. He said he was ready to reconsider the issue of having the proposed NCTC out of the ambit of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) - one of the sticking points that have blocked the formation of an all-powerful anti-terror intelligence hub. The home minister said it was not he who had ...
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New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Saturday strongly defended his pet project, the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), which he said would be an "important pillar" of the country's security infrastructure. In a bid to dispel fears of some chief ministers that the proposed anti-terror intelligence hub would infringe on their policing domain, the home minister stressed that countering terrorism "is a shared responsibility" of central and state governments. "I wish to assure you and the people of India that counter terrorism is a shared responsibility. That is what the constitution says, that is the practical and prudent way forward," Chidambaram said in his address to chief ministers here on the controversial NCTC, whose formation has been put on hold following vehement opposition from non-Congress ruled states. Chidambaram said the government in collaboration with states had neutralised 21 terror modules in the past one year but there were cases related to "jihadi' terrorists" and Maoists, where, despite inputs regarding the presence of terrorists, the security agencies did not act "either due to lack of capacity or lack of a timely decision". "What should ...
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New Delhi, Reacting to former President Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam's statement that the Lokpal Bill will only fill jails, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and social activist Kiran Bedi on Wednesday said there is a need for a strong legal tool to combat graft. "What is missing in India today, is a strong legal tool of which people are very afraid and there's a high surety of punishment and their speedy justice and there is a recovery of stolen money. That is what is missing today," Bedi told media here. "Remember what Dr. Kalam is saying is right. He is talking about generation next. You do need a generation next of better school children with value based education. But what you do with an epidemic of corruption, which is existing. So, what you do with those who are not children, but who are men and women who have committed corruption and who living on corruption money and who are showing the richness. And it's corruption stolen from common man's money. So, I think what we are talking about is a top-down and bottom-up approach," added Bedi. Bedi further pressed for having special courts so that the perpetrators could be booked. "We know that they (lawmakers) are ...
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New Delhi, Home Minister P. Chidambaram Tuesday sounded confident that the differences between non-Congress ruled states and the centre over setting up of the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) will be resolved at the May 5 meeting of chief ministers. He also said that before the May 5 meet, the agency's standard operating procedures (SOP) will be circulated among all chief ministers. At a press conference here a day after the chief ministers conference on internal security was held, Chidambaram also disagreed with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's assessment that the centre was causing "distrust" with states by its actions. "We are circulating the SOPs draft to the state chief ministers before the May 5 meeting (on NCTC) and we will resolve the differences with some states and the centre," Chidambaram said to a question. "A vast number of states have no distrust with the centre," he said when asked to react to the comments of Modi. To a query if the centre was willing to back off from internal security duties in Maoist-infested states if the states took up more responsibility, Chidambaram said this is what the centre has been talking about all ...
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Kolkata, The security of the country is a shared responsibility of the centre and the state, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram said Saturday here at the inauguration of the National Security Guard (NSG) hub, an event that was not attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The home minister said the central government is happy to work with the states on security. “Internal security is a very complex issue. The security of the country is a shared responsibility. It is a responsibility that is shared by the central government and the state governments,” Chidambaram said at the inauguration of the NSG hub here. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, whose Trinamool Congress is part of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA), had earlier written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking the government to "review and withdraw" the executive order on the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC), to be formed March 1 after a cabinet nod last month. Eight chief ministers of states voiced their opposition to the proposed counter-terrorism centre Friday, saying it is an infringement of the powers of the state. “We are happy to work with the new government of ...
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New Delhi, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy said he was confident that judgement would be delivered later Saturday after a trial court deferred his plea on the alleged role of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum case till 12.15 p.m. "I am confident that the judgment will be delivered today. I can sense the ambience inside the court," Swamy told a news channel. Swamy had filed a plea seeking direction to the CBI to probe the role of Chidambaram, the then finance minister, in fixing 2G licence prices and the grant of spectrum. Swamy said he is prepared to go to the higher court if the judgment doesn't come his way. "If the judgment doesn't come my way, I will go to the high court," he said. The Supreme Court had said Thursday that the trial court would decide on Swamy's plea to make Chidambaram a co-accused in the 2G spectrum allotment case. ...
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New Delhi, The Supreme Court judgment setting the government a three-month deadline to sanction the prosecution of public servants for corruption was a slap in the government's face, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Tuesday. Party general secretary Ravi Shankar Prasad blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for protecting the tainted and questioned the government's stand on the prosecution of Home Minister P. Chidambaram in the 2G spectrum scam. “Today's verdict of Supreme Court is a serious indictment of the functioning of the government of Manmohan Singh,” Prasad said. His colleague Balbir Punj echoed him. "BJP welcomes Supreme Court's judgment. This judgment is a slap in the face of Dr. Manmohan Singh government," Punj told reporters. “We must not forget the application seeking sanction of prime minister against then telecom minister A. Raja was kept pending for 16 months,” added Prasad, noting that t the prime minister kept defending Raja in parliament and outside as well. The BJP leader also asked what the government's position was on action against Chidambaram. “Dr Manmohan Singh, the BJP would like to ask you in the light of the ...
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New Delhi, Seeking to make Home Minister P. Chidambaram a party to the 2G spectrum case, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy Saturday submitted the certified copies of documents and concluded his arguments. Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Judge O.P. Saini, after hearing Swamy's plea for prosecution of Chidambaram in the 2G case, listed the matter for Jan 21 for final arguments. "This evidence reveals the connivance, collusion and consent of the then finance minister Chidambaram in the decision taken by the then telecom minister A. Raja on the matter of fixing prices of spectrum licences and the matter of permitting companies who received licences," Swamy said. Chidambaram was the finance minister in the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government when the spectrum saga began. Swamy sought to make Chidambaram a party in the case, saying the decision on spectrum pricing was taken in 2008 jointly by him and Raja, who has been lodged in the Tihar Jail here since Feb 2. He alleged that Chidambaram and Raja were equally guilty of recommending spectrum prices based on 2001 rates. Swamy had earlier submitted three documents for seeking the ...
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New Delhi, The government may extend the ongoing winter session of parliament by three days from Dec 27 in a bid to ensure that the crucial anti-graft Lokpal bill is considered and passed, highly placed sources said. However, the final decision regarding this is likely to be taken at a cabinet meeting Monday evening, the sources said. According to sources, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P.K. Bansal has already informed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the largest opposition party on parliament, about the government's intention to extend the session by three days. The winter session was scheduled to end Dec 22. If the proposed extension gets a cabinet nod, the two houses would reconvene Dec 27, 28 and 29 after the Christmas break. This is being done to ensure passage of the Lokpal bill in this session in view of social activist Anna Hazare threatening to go on an indefinite fast from Dec 27 if the draft legislation is not passed by then. ...
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New Delhi, Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Saturday told a Delhi court that Union Home Minister P Chidambaram should be made an accused in the 2G case as he had jointly taken the decision of spectrum prices with former Telecom Minister A Raja. Testifying as a witness in support of his private complaint, Swamy said A. Raja could not be held guilty "alone" of the charges that he fixed the price of spectrum licence in 2008 at the prevailing rates of 2001. "Raja could not be guilty alone, he committed this offence with the active connivance of P Chidambaram," Swamy told Special CBI Judge O P Saini. The court had on December 8 allowed Swamy to testify himself in support of his private complaint seeking Chidambaram''s prosecution in the case. Chidambaram has been at the centre of political storm ever since certain reports revealed his alleged role in ''''deciding'''' the prices of 2G-spectrum during his earlier tenure as the Finance Minister, thus embroiling him in the telecom scam. His name cropped up in a recent letter of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which Mukherjee blamed his predecessor for not sticking to ...
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New Delhi, Team Anna members Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan on Thursday sought a thorough probe against Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram following allegations that the latter misused his position to settle legal disputes of his former client. Veteran social activist Anna Hazare's key aide Arvind Kejriwal said the misuse of position was a cognizable offence under the Prevention of Corruption Act. He also argued that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) must be brought under Lokpal to investigate such cases in the government. "The case is related to misuse of position. The misuse of position is a cognizable offence under Section 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Which agency would register the FIR against Chidambaram? We want to put this question to the nation. That is why we have been advocating the CBI must be moved away from the government's control," he said. Meanwhile, Supreme Court lawyer and another Hazare aide Prashant Bhushan alleged that Chidambaram favoured his former client as soon as he became Home minister. "As soon as he became the Home Minister, a representation was given by the company to him that 'Delhi police has filed four cases ...
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New Delhi, Reacting to the Delhi Court order that allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to become a witness in his complaint against Home Minister P. Chidambaram in connection with the 2G telecom scam case, Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Thursday said that there was no case against Chidambaram. “There is no case against Chidambaram. Court has not yet given any indication as to it agrees to a case against Chidambaram or not. So, there is no need for Chidambaram for resign," he told the media here. “Chidambaram is a part of the Government. We all are a part of the Government. Please respect a person’s dignity. This is not any decision, Steps are taken to proceed further. It cannot be called as a decision,” he added He further slammed the Opposition for demanding Chidambaram’s resignation saying that their behaviour was "not acceptable". “We cant change the law of the country, we cant change it according to the way the opposition wants,” he said. A Delhi Court today allowed Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy to become a witness in his complaint against Chidambaram in connection with the 2G telecom scam case. The court told Swamy to appear in ...
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