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POLITICAL NOTES |
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Cabinet expansion ?
Reports say that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is likely to expand his cabinet shortly to fill up the vacancies now that Maharashtra elections are out of the way. The question is whether he will do it before leaving for The Hague to attend the India-European Union summit on November 9, or later. Vacancies have arisen because Ministers quit for one reason or the other. The question of allocation of a portfolio to Telengana Rashtriya Samithi leader K. Chandrashekhar Rao also needs to be settled. Several states do not have any representation in the Union Council of Ministers. These include Punjab, Orissa, and Uttaranchal.
The Indo-EU summit is expected to launch talks for an action plan as well as for a political declaration between the two sides. Director General (External Relations) of the European Commission, Eneko Landabru, during his visit to New Delhi said the intention is to build a strategic partnership with India. It will focus on four key areas - international cooperation through multilateralism, strengthening economic ties, cooperation in development policies and inter-action at the civil society level.
Congress-TRS ties
TRS chief K. Chandrashekhar Rao has claimed that he would prevail upon the Congress to ask the Union Cabinet to move a Bill for the creation of a separate Telengana state by December. Talking to newspersons in Hyderabad, Rao said : “We have waited and cooperated with the Congress. There is no point in waiting any further and a decision has to be taken on separate Telengana since elections to the Maharashtra Assembly are over.” He said a meeting of all non-Congress and non-Left parties would be convened soon to garner support and build pressure upon the Congress on the issue.
Chandraswamy acquitted in St. Kitts case
Godman Chandraswamy, the prime and only accused facing criminal trial in the 14 years old St. Kitts forgery case, has been acquitted. Additional Sessions Judge Dinesh Dayal said that the Central Bureau of Investigation had failed to collect enough evidence against him to prove his involvement in the forgery of documents showing that former Prime Minister V.P. Singh’s son Ajeya Singh was a beneficiary of a secret bank account in the Caribbean island of St. Kitts. He said the agency has failed to complete the chain of conspiracy linking Chandraswamy to the forgery plan. Earlier, former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and former Minister K.K. Tiwari had been acquitted at the time of framing of charges.
Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh has said that it is time for the CBI to introspect on its record in cases involving public figures. He said the CBI has an abysmal record when it comes to cases involving VIPs.
Chandraswamy was accused of having forged evidence of Rajiv Gandhi’s complicity in the Bofors payoff scam and was arrested for it. He was later supposed to have made his peace with Rajiv Gandhi promising to reveal to the former Prime Minister the Opposition-sponsored plot to discredit him. By that time, those seeking to find out the identity of the beneficiaries of the Bofors gundeal had also discovered that he had double-crossed them.
Though he would arrange meetings between journalists and lawyers seeking to unearth facts about the case and international arms dealer Khashogi, he never delivered anything substantial. Rather, the two bank accounts that he claimed belonged to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, turned out to be those of the Swedish prosecutor, Martin Ardobo.
Naxalites on land grabbing spree
There are reports from Andhra Pradesh that the Naxalites or Left extremists are on a land grabbing spree in the state after the end of their first round of talks with the State Government. Political observers say their plan is to occupy surplus land of rich owners and unused Government land and redistribute it among the landless poor. This is the way they want to force the state government to undertake land reforms.
The BJP has criticised the Centre’s handling of internal security. Party president L.K. Advani has said that the talks with the Naxalite groups are being mishandled. He said no government worth the name could hold talks with militant outfits that refused to lay down weapons.
In the meantime, Director General of Andhra Pradesh Police, S.R. Sukumara has said that the laying down of arms by Naxalites will be the key to holding the second round of talks with them by the Government. He said the Government has made its stand clear and is awaiting a response from the extremists.
Lok Pal move deferred
The Union Cabinet has again deferred a decision on the much-awaited Lok Pal Bill to probe corruption in high places including that of the office of the Prime Minister. The issue was discussed at the meeting of the Cabinet which felt that more discussions were needed. The Bill has been pending for several decades.
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