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Political Notes

	June 12, 2006

No power-sharing in Tamil Nadu : Karunanidhi

DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief



Minister M.Karunanidhi has ruled out a coalition government in the state. He said the present arrangement of the Congress supporting the DMK from outside was part of a pre-election understanding and a reciprocal arrangement is in place in Pondicherry. Talking to reporters in New Delhi on Monday, June 5, on his first visit to New Delhi after taking over as Chief Minister, Karunanidhi said the issue of the Congress finding a place in his government did

not figure during his 30-minute discussion with Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

On the status of the MDMK in the United Progressive Alliance, the Chief Minister said the party was not part of the alliance. Union Minister

Dayanidhi Maran, who was also present during the meeting with Sonia Gandhi, said the writing on the wall was clear and it was there for the

people to read. The current alliance would continue during the local bodies’ elections later this year, he added.



Mid-term poll likely : Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has said

that the Congress in all likelihood would

exploit the situation caused by the Office of

Profit issue and the proposed reservation for OBCs

in educational institutions, and go in for a midterm

poll. Addressing a news conference in

Lucknow on June 4, she said the Congress would

sacrifice the government over the Office of Profit

issue, rather than allow people to reject it for its

failure.

Mayawati said that the Election Commission

was ready to disqualify Parliament members

holding offices of profit before the Monsoon

session. As a majority of these were Left MPs, this

would destabilise the Government. “The

Government will be reduced to a minority as

several Left MPs would be disqualified,” she

explained.

The BSP leader questioned the Congress for

delaying the Bill’s passage saying, “There is

something fishy,” because if the party wanted, it

could have called a special session of Parliament.

Even if the UPA government fell at the

Centre, the BSP president had no apprehension of

it impacting the poll schedule of the UP Assembly.

She said the party was well prepared for the

Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, five rebel BSP MLAs who had

returned to the party-fold in the wake of the

Allahabad High Court judgement of Feb. 28, have

been disqualified by Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey

under the Anti-Defection Law. Delivering his

verdict on June 10, the Speaker said the MLAs

constituted a group of five, which was less than

one-third of members of the Loktantrik Bahujan

Dal in the Assembly. The Speaker said they have

ceased to be members of the Assembly under the

anti-defection law.

The newly formed Jan Morcha in Uttar

Pradesh has renamed itself as Jan Morcha Alliance

with a new party, Jan Dal, being its political arm.

Jaya Bachchan back in the Rajya Sabha

Two former Samajwadi Party MPs including

film star Jaya Bachchan have been re-elected

to the Rajya Sabha unopposed. The other SP

candidate re-elected is Amir Alam Khan. This was

Jaya Bachchan’s second entry into the Rajya Sabha

from Uttar Pradesh. She was dropped from the

Rajya Sabha in March after the Election

Commission found that she was holding an office

of profit.

Jharkhand Government in trouble over office

of profit issue

Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibtey Razi has

returned the Jharkhand Legislature (Removal

of Disqualification) Bill for reconsideration by

the Assembly. The Bill exempted 22 categories of

posts from being considered as offices of profit.

The Governor returned the Bill with four queries

including about the soundness and propriety of

making the law applicable with retrospective effect.

The Governor’s action is on the lines of President

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam’s decision to return the UPA’s

office of profit Bill.

The return of the Jharkhand Bill poses a

danger for the Arjun Munda Government as a

very thin margin separates it from the Opposition.

Sikkim passes Bill on office of profit

The Sikkim Assembly passed a Bill giving

immunity to its legislators from

disqualification for holding offices of profit

on the concluding day of a two-day special session,

The Bill amends the Sikkim Legislative Assembly

Members (Removal of Disqualification) Act of 1978

to widen its scope and add a few more offices to

the ones enumerated in it. The Assembly session

was convened after the Opposition Congress, BJP

and Sikkim Himali Rajya Parishad last month

accused 17 MLAs of the ruling Sikkim Democratic

Front (SDF) of holding offices of profit.

An amendment to the Act was on top of the

Sikkim Government’s agenda for the session to

protect the MLAs from disqualification.

Supreme court asks UP Chief Minister to

submit IT return

The Supreme Court has directed Uttar

Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh

Yadav, his son Akhilesh Yadav and other

members of the family, to explain the sources of

their income and investments for the last five years.

The apex court has asked them to place before it

the returns of income tax and wealth tax filed by

them between 2001 and 2006.

The decision came on a PIL filed by

Vishwanath Chaturvedi, a resident of Uttar

Pradesh. He alleged that Yadav and his family,



including his other son Pratik and Akhilesh’s wife

Dimple, acquired wealth in crores by “illegal

means” and by misusing their official position.

While passing the order, the Bench also kept

open the issue of examining the bonafides of the

petitioner as senior advocate Mukul Rohtagi,

appearing for the Chief Minister, questioned the

credentials of Chaturvedi. Yadav has refuted the

allegations levelled by Chaturvedi, charging him

with acting at the behest of the Congress. His

counsel said Chaturvedi was the head of the Public

Interest Litigation cell of the Congress, which was

denied by him in the affidavit.

Congress-NCP rift in Maharashtra

Differences between the two major coalition

partners in Maharashtra - Congress and

the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) -

have come into the open with the NCP supporting

an independent candidate backed by the BJP-Shiv

Sena combine for Rajya Sabha by-election. The

NCP has decided to support industrialist Rahul

Bajaj who shared a good equation with party chief

Sharad Pawar as well as the BJP and Shiv Sena.

Though Bajaj cited his family’s association

with the Congress to solicit its support, the party

is unwilling to be seen on the same side of the

fence as “communal forces”. It fielded its own

candidate, Avinash Pandey, even though he faces

certain defeat.

The Congress tried to put up a brave front,

asserting the move would not affect the efficiency,

stability or success of the coalition.

AICC spokesman Abhishek Singhvi tried to

downplay the face off as the result of an

“unfortunate misunderstanding” during the

legislative council elections. The NCP was to have

got four berths in the elections and the Congress

three, with the Rajya Sabha seat earmarked for the

latter. But Congressmen. upset about the NCP’s

choice, set up their own candidate who won,

setting the state for a confrontation.

UPA constituents and allies including the RJD

and the Left parties have criticised the NCP

decision to side with the BJP and Shiv Sena in the

by-elections.

Gopalaswamy appointed Chief Election

Commissioner

N. Gopalaswamy, the senior-most Election

Commissioner will be the next Chief

Election Commissioner. He will take the

place of present CEC B.B. Tandon, who retires on

June 29. He will remain on the post till February

2009. Reports say that the Government is also

considering expanding the three-member Election

Commission to make it a five member body.

Repeal Official Secrets Act : ARC

The second Administrative Reforms

Commission has called for effective

implementation of the right to information

act with the objective of increasing Government

efficiency. At the same time, the Commission has

recommended the repeal of the Official Secrets

Act 1923 and replacing it with adequate safeguard

in the National Security Act. A report to this effect

was submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

on June 9. “The recommendations can be

implemented since they are quite practical. It will

revamp the system and make it efficient,”

Commission Chairman Veerappa Moily said giving

brief details about the other suggestions. He said

the Prime Minister had assured of a road map for

their implementation.

The Commission is of the view that the

Information Commissions will have a vital role to

play in ensuring efficiency of the government

which is why a change in their composition is

needed. It has argued that only half of their

members should be from the bureaucracy and the

rest from non-civil service backgrounds. Since the

Chief Information Commissioner will play a pivotal

role in the scheme of things, he should be selected

by a committee comprising the Prime Minister,

Chief Justice of India, (Chief Justice of High Court

in case of states) and the Leader of Opposition.

Tamil Nadu : Barnala may get another term

Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala

appears all set to get another term of fiveyears.

Informed sources say that the Centre

took a decision to this effect on Saturday, June 10.

Barnala gets the extension as he enjoys good

relations with the DMK headed by M.

Karunanidhi.

The Centre is also considering the

appointment of new Governors in several other

states. The names of people being considered for

Governors’ post include M.L. Fotedar, C.K. Jaffer

Sharif, Margaret Alva, Vishwabandhu Gupta and

Bhanu Pratap Singh. Sources say that once the

Governors’ appointments are sorted out, there may

be a reshuffle of the All India Congress Committee.