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Political Notes |
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Tehelka judge quits
Justice K. Venkataswami, probing the Tehelka channel revelations in defence deals, resigned from the Chairmaship of the Commission on November 23 following accusations levelled by the Opposition in Parliament that he accepted another office of profit offered by the Governemnt in May this year.
Justice Venkataswami was appointed as Chairman of the Authority on Advance Ruling on Customs and Excise under Finance Ministry.
Proceedings in Parliament were paralysed with the Opposition charging the government with impropriety by handing over an office of profit to a judge who was heading a probe against the government’s alleged role in defence deals. The Government had countered the charge by saying that the decision to appoint Venkataswami was done in consultation with and on the advice of the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
The Opposition had charged that the appointment of Justice Venkataswami to a top government job even before he completed the probe into the Tehelka expose had compromised his integrity and was violative of all constitutional norms.
Following these allegations, Justice Venkataswami resigned from both the posts on November 23. However, according to media reports on November 24, he may reconsider his decision on resigning from the commission probing the Tehelka episode.
Uttar Pradesh : BJP will move to disqualify rebel MLAs
Though the Mayawati-led coalition government in UP has survived the Samajwadi Party (SP) offensive to destabilize it, the scars left by the affair with some BJP MLAs trying to defect have not yet healed. The SP has been harsh on the Congress refusal to support its destabilising game. The BJP has taken a hard view of the legislators who tried to switch sides. Thanks to a helpful Governor, Chief Minister Mayawati warded off the threat to the ministry. The BJP is now cracking on the rebels seeking their disqualification for joining the SP legislators in giving a memorandum to the Governor for calling a session of the assembly to prove the majority of the government. The recent elections to the Legislative Council, showed that the government was in a minority. But the CM has stood firm and maintaining she was in majority. Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav has now confessed that he has failed in his efforts.
The BJP high command has resolved to pursue the petition for the disqualification of 10 UP legislators, ignoring the peace offer made by dissident leader Ganga Bhakt Singh through former RSS chief Rajendra Singh alias Rajju Bhaiya. The high command also asked the state unit to see if it can initiate similar action against Ganga Bhakt Singh and Ramasheesh Rai, MLC, who are the convenor and spokesman respectively of the dissident outfit, Bhajpa Bachao Samiti.
The decision was taken at a meeting held at the residence of Prime Minister Vajpayee. Those present at the meeting, apart from Vajpayee, included Deputy Prime Minister Advani, BJP president M. Venkaiah Naidu, former party chief Kushabhau Thakre, general secretary Rajnath Singh, state unit in-charge Kalraj Mishra, state unit president Vinay Katiyar and legislature party leader and UP Urban Development Minister Lalji Tandon.
The decision to pursue the petition is crucial because the next hearing of the complaint lodged by the state BJP before Assembly Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi is slated for November 30. Incidentally, the names of Ganga Bhakt Singh and Ramasheesh Rai, two of the most vocal dissidents, do not figure in the complaint. The Central leadership felt that the dissidents had gone too far and deserved no sympathy.
The Congress, the target of the SP attack, has defended its decision to abstain during voting for the UP bypoll, saying the Opposition should have consulted the party on its candidate if it wanted support. Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi described the party’s move as a “strategy keeping our larger interests in mind”. Asked why the Congress helped the BSP-BJP coalition, he said the decision had not materially changed the situation in UP.
Andhra Pradesh : Naxalite blast leaves many dead
The death of at least 15 bus passengers in a bomb blast triggered by Naxalites in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh has once again drawn attention to the government’s efforts to control Naxalism in the state. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been making efforts to bring the Naxalites to the negotiating table but the talks have failed to make much progress. The Naxals have admitted that the aim was not to kill civilians in the bus blast and it was a “mistake,”The People’s War Group (PWG), the outfit of the Naxalites, has followed it up with a blast at a railway station in Guntur district. The Andhra Pradesh police may soon have to go shopping for state-of-the-art security gadgets to take on the Naxalites.
Mine-proof vehicles are very much on the agenda as the Chief Minister had to travel 150 km on road through Naxalite territoryafter his helicopters failed to take off.
Meanwhile, the police seem to have gathered enough clues that suggest the hand of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agents behind a temple blast in Hyderabad. All legal provisions including POTA will be used to punish those responsible for the bomb blast at the temple, Home Minister T. Devender Goud said. Goud said criminals were trying to create panic through such an incident. A woman was killed and 21 others were injured whenthe bomb concealed in a milk can kept on a parked scooter exploded at the Sai Baba Temple. According to sources, some followers of slain ISI agent Azam Ghori, who were released from jail last month, are being suspected to have engineered the blast. The explosives found at the temple site matches the material used by the same group in earlier incidents. The technology used was also similar.
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