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Political Notes

	July 18, 2005

Cabinet reshuffle put off



The long-awaited expansion and reshuffle of the Union Cabinet may not now come about till late August or early September. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is reported to have deferred the exercise which was earlier expected last week before his departure for the United States.



Keen to regain the Cabinet slot he had to twice forego, JMM’s Shibu Soren is among the hopefuls upset by the turn of events. In recent days, he had received word from the Congress about being returned his party’s share in the UPA Ministry.



The unavoidable delay has also prolonged the agony of incumbents believed to be in the firing line. A verdict on their fate will now be out after August 26, the closing date of Parliament’s Monsoon Session.



Andhra Pradesh asks for CBI probe in Volkswagen deal



The Volkswagen scandal in Andhra Pradesh has got its first casualty, with the Heavy Industry Ministry Botsa Satyanarayana, being divested of his portfolio and the Chief Minister asking for a CBI probe into the scandal. The State Government had hurriedly transferred two million Euros or about Rs. 11 crore to a fake company even before a memorandum of understanding was signed. The money was to go into the setting up of an auto plant in Vishakhapatnam by Volkswagen. But the German company denied that it had anything to do with the fake local firm to which the money had been paid.

While continuing to defend the payment of Rs. 11 crore to the Delhi-based company the Chief Minister said the CBI probe is being ordered to find out how the money was siphoned off and who did it. He, however, said that the responsibility of protecting the state Government’s interest lay with the German car company as “we had acted as per the wishes of the Volkswagen official authorised to deal with us.”



The Chief Minister claimed that Volkswagen is still keen on pursuing its proposed car manufacturing project at Vizag.



Shiv Sena infighting : Round-I to Bal Thackeray



The revolt by former Chief Minister Narayan Rane in Maharashtra ended last week when the State Assembly Speaker accepted the Shiv Sena resolution ousting him from the legislature party. This forced the strongman from Konkan to step down as party leader in the House. He, however, managed to retain his Assembly seat as an unattached member despite his expulsion from the Shiv Sena.

In his resignation speech, Rane criticised the party leadership with the exception of Bal Thackeray. He spoke of his long association with the party and warned against growing corruption and nepotism in the party.

Reports say Narayana Rane has still not decided whether to go with the Congress or the Nationalist Congress Party after his ouster from the Shiv Sena. But he has said that he will not float a new party.



Congress bags Rajya Sabha seat from Goa



Shantaram Naik of the Congress has won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Goa. He polled 20 votes against his BJP rival’s 14. The BJP termed the action of the Returning Officer in not allowing United Goa Democratic Party MLA Matbany Saldanha to vote as illegal and indicated it would challenge the result. Speaker Francisco Sardinha had passed an interim order barring Saldanha from voting in the Rajya Sabha election until the final judgement was delivered in a disqualification petition against him.



Mulayam rules out Assembly dissolution



Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav has ruled out dissolution of the State Assembly and holding of early elections. Talking to newspersons in Lucknow, he said a two-week session of the Assembly has been called to debate the terrorist attack in Ayodhya and the flood situation in the State. About the possibility of a Third Front emerging, the Samajwadi Party chief said it will come about ultimately, but will take time. Speculation about early elections in the state had arisen after the decision to convene the Assembly session.



Controversy over Taj ownership



The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Wakf Board has claimed that the Taj Mahal is Wakf property and it should have control over the monument. Acting on a directive from the Allahabad High Court, the board registered the entire 78-Bigha Taj complex, comprising the monument, a mosque and other buildings as Waqf property. The board maintained that the Taj Mahal was a graveyard housing not only the graves of Shahjahan and Mumtaz, but also his second wife and two of Mumtaz’s friends. Waqf Boards manage mosques and graveyards all over the country.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has decided to challenge the decision either in the High Court or in the Supreme Court. Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj has dismissed the Wakf Board’s claim over the Taj Mahal, saying that the monument is national property.

Surprised over the declaration, Bhardwaj said, “There is no need of any other body to look after the monument as the Archaeological Survey of India is taking care of it quite well.”



Two Human bombs arrested in Chandigarh



Chandigarh Police have arrested two alleged human bombs of the Babbar Khalsa terrorist outfit. Arms and ammunition including RDX have been recovered from them. A police official said that the two terrorists were arrested from near Kisan Bhavan, a guest house in the city. Among the items recovered from them were two human bomb belts with 450 grams of RDX. The police said that investigations established that Jagtar Singh Hawara, the Babbar Khalsa leader arrested earlier, had set up several independent modules of the outfit on the instructions of its Pakistan-based chief, Wadhawa Singh. The possibility of more human bombs in Punjab and other parts of north-western India cannot be ruled out.



CPI(M) rejects demand for Lok Sabha Speaker’s resignation



The CPI(M) has turned down the demand from the Forward Bloc for Lok Sabha Speaker Som Nath Chatterjee quitting the post to strengthen the Communist voice in Parliament. The party termed the demand as a non-issue. Left leaders say that the Forward Bloc is prone to taking such extreme positions. At its last central committee meeting held at Chennai in March, the Forward Bloc had demanded that the Left should withdraw support to the Manmohan Singh Government.

Forward Bloc leader Debabrata Biswas had suggested that the veteran CPI(M) leader should get out of the Speaker’s office in order to sharpen the Left parties’ attack on the economic policies of the Government. He had argued that such a move would go a long way in filling the void created after the demise of veteran Communist Indrajeet Gupta and reinforce the Left benches in the Lok Sabha.





Vasudevan Nair dead



Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran Communist leader P.K. Vasudevan Nair died in New Delhi on July 12. He was 79. Vasudevan Nair represented Thiruvananthapuram in the Lok Sabha. He was CPI Parliamentary party leader. A man who epitomised probity in public life, PKV became Chief Minister of Kerala on October 20, 1978, following A.K. Antony’s resignation as Chief Minister to protest against his party’s decision to support Indira Gandhi in the Chikmagalur Lok Sabha byelection.



PKV remained Chief Minister for a shade under a year. He gave up the coveted post on October 7, 1979 to facilitate the coming together of the CPI(M) and CPI and pave the way for the formation of the Left Democratic Front (LDF).