Maharashtra has "no future" under the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition government as it is controlled by corrupt politicians, Anna Hazare said on Friday.
Anna Hazare on Friday said that Maharashtra had "no future" under the current Congress-Nationalist Congress Party coalition government, because it was controlled by corrupt politicians.
Dubbing Rahul Gandhi as a "specimen", Narendra Modi on Monday lampooned the Congress Vice President for his "little knowledge" on Gujarat and the "falsehood" laid out in his speeches about vast job vacancies and the institution of the Lokayukta in the state.
The row over former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde's insinuation that illegal mining was akin to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim's dealings escalated on Tuesday with Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar calling it 'baseless and unwarranted' and also far from reality.
Hazare began his fast on January 30 at his native Ralegan Siddhi village in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, demanding appointment of anti-corruption watchdogs at the Centre and in Maharashtra and resolution of farmers' issues.
The much-awaited anti-corruption measure Lokpal was tonight one step short of becoming a law with the government sending the bill to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting of chief ministers of party-ruled states to chalk out the party's strategy in the run-up to the general election. The leaders would focus on setting up of Lokayuktas in a time-bound manner in states and curbing food inflation.
The government on Thursday amended the controversial Lokpal Bill, de-inking it from the setting up of Lokayuktas in the states and transferring powers of sanction of prosecution against public servant to the ombudsman. The Union Cabinet accepted 14 of the 16 recommendations made by the Rajya Sabha Select Committee, which was set up in May last year amid sharp differences among political parties, because of which the legislation has been stuck in the Upper House.
The rampant mining in Karnataka and the politicians who minted money from it made headlines during the state election in 2008. But this year, the issue has taken a backseat and mining barons like Janardhana Reddy have been kept away from the electoral fray.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday questioned the Centre's decision of sending two drafts of Lokpal Bill for consideration and demanded that the government be clear before seeking states' views on the proposed legislation.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley is expected to table the report of Rajya Sabha's Select Committee on Lokpal in the Upper House on Friday, the second day of the winter session of Parliament. The committee is headed by Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi and such reports are usually tabled by the chairmen of the committees. The government is expected to consider the recommendations made by the Select Committee.
Kamla Beniwal, who had a running battle with Narendra Modi when he was Gujarat chief minister, was on Wednesday night sacked as governor of Mizoram just two months before her tenure comes to an end.
In an interim order, the Supreme Court has permitted the state-run NMDC to operate two mines in Bellary district. The NMDC, which has been granted leases by the state government, was permitted by the Supreme Court to extend the production of iron ore to the tune of one million tonnes per month from Saturday. Incidentally, the NMDC finds a mention in the Lokayukta report due to alleged lease violations.
Outgoing Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa, who lost his job in the wake of his indictment by Lokayukta in the illegal mining scam, on Tuesday publicly said he would return to this post in six months.
In an apparent show of unanimity, the report of the Select Committee on Lokpal Bill, which has recommended delinking creation of Lokayuktas in states from the central bill, is scheduled to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Friday by Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party.
A Parliamentary panel examining the Lokpal bill may recommend that the proposed anti-corruption watchdog be a single window stop for probing all corruption complaints against government functionaries by ending multiplicity of investigating agencies to investigate graft cases.
Following are the names of some high-profile people who have been put behind the bars
It was the name that was doing the rounds in the media since ousted Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa was asked to resign following the Lokayukta report on illegal mining.
State exchequer lost Rs 325 crore, says Lokayukta.
In yet another twist, the controversial Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill was on Monday referred to the Select Committee of Rajya Sabha, further delaying the setting up of the anti-graft ombudsman which has been hanging fire for 42 years.
Anna Hazare on Friday said that Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who was recently embroiled in a controversy over a CD showing him in a compromising situation, should be hanged if found "guilty".
The anti-corruption Lokpal Bill was brought back to the Rajya Sabha on Friday in an amended form but its consideration was thwarted by Samajwadi Party, an outside supporter of the UPA government, which disrupted proceedings.
Government has so far not carried out a full assessment of the personnel that will be required to staff the proposed institution of Lokpal, a Parliamentary panel has been informed.
In a relief to former Karnataka chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the high court on Thursday stated that he cannot be arrested in connection with the illegal mining scam. Justice B V Pinto while hearing a petition filed by Kumaraswamy challenging proceedings against him in the mining case, however, stated that the investigation would continue.
Opposition demand for resignation of External Affairs Minister S M Krishna for his alleged role in a mining scam led to repeated disruptions of both the Houses of Parliament on Friday, forcing their adjournment till Monday.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee going into the Lokpal Bill has recommended keeping the judiciary and the MPs' conduct in the House out of its purview and rejected the demand for hiving off the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation to come under its jurisdiction.
Anna Hazare was on Wednesday admitted to a local hospital for a medical check-up after he complained of fatigue and weakness. Hazare, 74, had arrived in Nashik on Wednesday morning from Dhule town as part of his state-wide tour for a strong Lokayukta Bill.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta recommended his dismissal on charges of owning disproportionate assets, Chief Minister Mayawati on Wednesday sacked Secondary Education Minister Rangnath Misra and Labour Minister Badshah Singh, who too is under the scanner of the anti-graft ombudsmen. Cracking the whip, the chief minister has also ordered a vigilance inquiry against the two ministers. Both the ministers have been asked to fight the graft cases in court.
The much-debated Lokpal Bill, which seeks to create an anti-corruption watchdog, is likely to come up for discussion and passage in the Rajya Sabha next week.
Social activist Anna Hazare on Aurangabad said in Aurangabad that he was puzzled by the nomination of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to the Rajya Sabha.
Contradicting the Lokayukta's findings on illegal mining that had indicted them; an internal police department probe into the role of 191 officials has given them a clean chit, saying no prima facie case can be made out against them for alleged bribe taking.
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko today criticised the United Progressive Alliance government for failure to pass Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha and opposed inclusion of Lokayukta in the legislation, saying it was an encroachment on the state's rights.
The meeting of the Congress Core Group was held at a time when government is scrambling for numbers to pass the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha with Trinamool Congress insisting that it will move amendments to delete the provision for setting up Lokayuktas at the state level.
With the bill giving constitutional status to the Lokpal defeated in the Lok Sabha, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Wednesday took potshots at the Bharatiya Janata Party and Team Anna, asking Anna Hazare whether his colleagues would stage a dharna in front of LK Advani's residence pleading with the BJP not to oppose it in the Rajya Sabha
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it found considerable merit in three contentious issues raised by Team Anna, including covering the entire bureaucracy and Citizens'Charter for public grievances under Lokpal and favoured Lokayuktas in the states.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asked Modi to "walk the talk", posing four questions, including appointing an "untainted person" as Bharatiya Janata Party's chief ministerial candidate in the state whereas Yeddyurappa tweeted with a tagline #Date2Answer asking, "Why did you quash all the powers of Lokayukta and make it a toothless body?"
The Bahujan Samaj Party on Monday expelled former Family Welfare Minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, once a close confidant of Mayawati who was removed from her cabinet in the wake of the killing of two chief medical officers and the National Rural Health Mission scam.
Team Anna will launch a three-day fast in Bhopal demanding justice for IPS officer Narender Kumar, who was killed by the mining mafia, and passing of a strong law to protect whistle blowers.
Justice Santhosh Hegde, who actually set the ball rolling, says he feels happy to see some outcome in the crusade against corruption.
With the Karnataka high court refusing relief to S M Krishna on an alleged illegal mining scam during his chief ministership, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday asked the Congress to show the door to the external affairs minister, as it had done to former Karnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in the wake of the Lokayukta report indicting the state government. "Krishna holds the sensitive portfolio of external affairs.
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