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Political Notes : NCP to maintain separate identity

	June 14, 2004

Asserting that it would maintain a separate identity, the Nationalist

Congress Party (NCP) has ruled out merger with the Congress but said its alliance with that party would continue in the coming Assembly elections in Maharashtra. There is no question of merger. But the alliance will definitely be there (in Maharashtra), party spokesman and Union Minister Praful Patel told the Press after the NCP’s first extended Working Committee meeting after the recent Lok Sabha elections.

The Sharad Pawar-led party was formed on the issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin five years ago.



Karnataka : JD (S), Congress fight over portfolios

Though the Janata Dal(Secular) and the

Congress joined together to form the

government in Karnataka just to keep the BJP from power, the ruling coalition does not seem to function smoothly. After a fight for the post of Chief Minister that the Congress finally won, there was a tug-of-war between the ministers of the allies over sharing of plum portfolios.

The Congress-led coalition, headed by N Dharam Singh, had inducted 10 ministers, five each from the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular). The distribution of portfolios had run into trouble over the sharing of revenue-generating portfolios. Finally, the issue was resolved following hard bargaining after which the list of portfolios was sent to Governor T N Chaturvedi for clearance.

Deputy Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of the Janata Dal (Secular) who wanted both the Finance and Excise departments for himself, had to be satisfied with Finance. The Excise portfolio was retained by the Chief Minister.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjuna Kharge, who was the Home Minister in the S M Krishna Government and number two in the earlier ministry, was insisting on the Home portfolio. But this was reportedly stalled by JD (S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda.

The biggest beneficiary in portfolio allocation was Deve Gowda’s son H D Revanna, who has been given both the Public Works and Power portfolio. Senior JD (S) leader P G R Sindhia, who had held the Home portfolio in the J H Patel Government, was keen to get back the same portfolio, but was given the Industry and Commerce departments where the revenue-earning potential is not much in the era of privatisation.



Atwal elected LS Deputy Speaker

The Shiromani Akali Dal leader, Charanjit

Singh Atwal, was unanimously elected

Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha on June 9. Atwal’s name was proposed by former Prime Minister Vajpayee, and seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, L.K. Advani. From the ruling benches, the first to propose his name was the leader of the House, Pranab Mukherjee and it was seconded by Pawan Kumar Bansal of the Congress. Thereafter, members felicitated Atwal and assured him of their “fullest cooperation.”



Bofors case hearing on July 30

The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM)

of Delhi, Reena Singh Nag has fixed July

30 for hearing arguments on framing afresh charges against the three Hinduja brothers - S.P. Hinduja, G.P. Hinduja and P.P. Hinduja - in the Rs. 64-crore Bofors gun deal case.

Setting aside the charge of criminal conspiracy against the three brothers on May 20, Justice R.S. Sodhi of the Delhi High Court had asked the CMM to frame only the charge of criminal conspiracy read with cheating, as directed by Justice (Retd.) J.D. Kapoor of the High Court in his February 4 judgment.

Ms. Nag, in her brief order, said the case would be taken up once again on July 30 for hearing arguments on framing of charges. Ms. Nag had on March 26 framed charges of criminal conspiracy read with cheating and separately a charge of criminal conspiracy against the three brothers.

In their applications, the Hinduja brothers had urged the High Court to make it clear whether they had to face trial only for the charge of criminal conspiracy coupled with cheating or for the offence of criminal conspiracy separately as well.

They had submitted that they apprehended that the CMM, Reena Singh Nag, had misread and exceeded the High Court’s directions by framing separately the charge of criminal conspiracy as well as the charge of criminal conspiracy read with cheating.