Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have taken All India Congress Committee general secretaries and state in-charges to task for failing to implement the Sonia Gandhi-driven Burari agenda on corruption. He was also unhappy about their failure to spread awareness about the Centre's flagship programmes in states ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party and to implement the Congress president's five-point action programme, outlined in her speech at the party plenary in Burari.
Sonia Gandhi is once again 'in charge' of the Congress party with the group of four set up by her to run the party 'in her absence' having been disbanded on her return from the USA where she was underwent a surgery for an undisclosed ailment.
With the return of Sonia Gandhi there is anticipation that despite her status-quo approach on most issues, she may finally decide to move and put the derailed party and government back on track, says Renu Mittal.
For decades, Amar Singh, member of the Rajya Sabha, strode like a colossus on the Indian political stage. He was the man everyone loved to hate, but at the same time, most people would push and maneuver to be part of his well-attended parties and be seen with the man who became best friends with the likes of Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Ambani, two icons of modern India.
After a discussion which went on for over 90 minutes and amid opposition to some of the proposals by ministers, the Union Cabinet Monday evening passed the draft Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011.
It seems as if the government is spending more time fighting its allies than the opposition. In particular, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has become a big headache for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, with sources saying that the Trinamool Congress leader has gone into opposition mode and is challenging most of the proposals put forward by the government.
Union Rural development Minister Jairam Ramesh is burning the midnight oil to bring the Land Acquisition and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill 2011 before the Cabinet on Monday so that it can be cleared and then introduced in Parliament before the Monsoon Session ends on September 8.
Within the Hazare group, serious differences have cropped up with Justice N Santosh Hegde and Swami Agnivesh wanting him to withdraw the fast, saying it was now counterproductive. But others like Bedi and Kejriwal, who are seen as hardliners with their own agenda, are said to be resisting the move and not allowing the 73-year-old social activist from Maharashtra to break the fast.
Interestingly, his sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra was present in the Speaker's gallery to watch her brother speak on the issue of corruption and Hazare's agitation. Priyanka has just returned from New York where their mother Sonia Gandhi is recuperating after surgery.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to the help of Anna Hazare who was shown the door by the political class of the country at the all party meeting.
Asserting the supremacy of Parliament and the Constitution and declaring them to be non-negotiable, the government on Wednesday got the backing of all political parties to reject the demands of Anna Hazare and his companions on the Jan Lokpal Bill and the demand that it should be presented in the House and passed in the current session of Parliament.
Highly placed sources in the Congress party state that on the Anna Hazare issue, the government began moving only after party chief Sonia Gandhi's intervention made through Rahul Gandhi.
The government has sent a proposal to social activist Anna Hazare through informal channels that he should drop his fast and they would pass the Lokpal Bill in Parliament and make it a law by January 26, 2012, with certain suitable amendments which may find all around acceptability.
The Congress core committee has rejected the demand made by Team Anna to withdraw the Lokpal bill from Parliament and replace it with the Jan Lokpal bill.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday attacked social activist Anna Hazare, saying he was being used by certain forces to destabilise what he called an 'emerging economy', and said that the government was interested in finding out who were these forces backing Hazare.
A full house of the Rajya Sabha listened with rapt attention as Justice Soumitra Sen spoke for over one and a half hours tearing into the impeachment motion moved by Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury and backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party, and in the process, attacking the higher judiciary, particularly the unfair practices adopted by sections of the highest judiciary.
On August 17, the Rajya Sabha for the first time will take up a case of impeachment of a sitting judge of the Calcutta high court, Justice Soumitra Sen. An impeachment motion will be moved by Communist party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury.
Rohit Nandan, an Indian Administrative Service officer, and currently a joint secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation is set to become the new chairman and managing director of Air India. He will be replacing Arvind Jadhav, who is being shown the door for poor management and the galloping losses the national carrier has suffered.
The split within the Bharatiya Janata Party came out in the open on Tuesday after the understanding it had with the government on the smooth running of parliament collapsed leading to adjournments in both the houses of the Parliament.
Sources said the issue was discussed at the core committee meeting held last week where it was decided that Rahul would hoist the flag if he is back in New Delhi before the August 15. Sonia is expected to return after another 2 weeks at a conservative estimate.
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