Congress MP from Andhra Pradesh V Kishore Chandra Deo is tipped to head the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G spectrum scam, according to highly placed sources in the Congress party.
The Lok Sabha committee headed by senior Congress MP V Kishore Chandra Deo to inquire into misconduct of members has recommended expulsion of Katara, holding that "he needs to be meted out the severest of punishments".
The Congress may proudly claim that the party has given the country its first woman speaker in Meira Kumar, but sources tell rediff.com that the Bihar MP was in fact a last-minute choice for the august office.
The Enquiry Committee that went into the alleged cash-for-vote scam during the July 22 trust vote would be presenting its report to Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In an editorial in the party mouthpiece Saamna, Thackeray had attacked MPs from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for what he termed was launching an anti-Marathi tirade in Parliament. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Committee headed by senior Congress MP, V Kishore Chandra Deo, on Tuesday after it recorded evidence of some members who had raised a breach of privilege against the Shiv Sena chief.
In its report, the committee is understood to have suggested that the money trail could be probed by an investigating agency like CBI or the Income Tax Department. The 600-page report will carry evidence given by witnesses and verbatim transcriptions of sittings as also the 'dissent' notes by BJP's V K Malhotra, Mohd Salim (CPI-M) and Ramgopal Yadav (SP).
Congress member V Kishore Chandra Singh Deo could occupy the Lok Sabha Speaker's chair in case Somnath Chatterjee opts to quit his post. According to top party sources, Singh Deo, who represents the reserved Parvathipuram constituency of Andhra Pradesh, has been considered the most appropriate Congress MP to replace Chatterjee.
In its report, the committee is understood to have suggested that the money trail could be probed by an investigating agency like CBI or the Income Tax Department. The 600-page report carries evidence given by witnesses and verbatim transcriptions of sittings as also the 'dissent' notes by BJP's V K Malhotra, Mohd Salim (CPI-M) and Ramgopal Yadav (SP).
The committee will inquire into cases of misconduct of members of Lok Sabha, including misuse of parliamentary privileges and facilities by them and submit its report within the month.
'We can deal with defeat but what is upsetting is that there seems to be no roadmap for the future.' 'What one can say when the high command itself is not appearing to be concerned.' Congress leaders complaining about the lack of vision and the path ahead can heave a sigh of relief after sources said that party president Sonia Gandhi has planned a special brainstorming session next month in order to galvanise the beleaguered party and help reposition it. Anita Katyal in New Delhi reports.
Jagan maintains a cordial working relationship with the BJP leadership. This may help him get additional financial support from the Centre.
Besides Defence Minister Singh (Lucknow), Minister of Women and Child Development Irani (Amethi), those in the fray are Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Kaushal Kishor (Mohanlalganj) and Minister of State of Consumer Affairs Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti (Fatehpur).
'If the leadership gets wrong information, what results you can expect?'
The new party president, the sixth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to lead the political outfit, takes charge from his mother Sonia Gandhi at a time when the party is facing one of its worst crises, with the Bharatiya Janata Party occupying the centre stage of national and state politics.
Can Gandhi handle the rough and tumble of 24X7 Indian politics with aggressive rivals such as Modi and BJP President Amit Shah to counter?
'He is anything but astute or charismatic. He believes the Congress can win elections without alliances in the Hindi heartland.'
In the second phase on April 18, 97 seats,spread across 13 states and one Union Territory, will go to the polls.
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