A suspended BJP leader has accused another party leader of involvement in a cash-for-votes scheme during the Lok Sabha election in Alappuzha, Kerala, prompting further scrutiny and controversy.
BJP leader Sobha Surendran appeared before the District Returning Officer in Kerala to address allegations of offering cash for votes during the recent Assembly polls. The controversy stems from a video allegedly showing money being exchanged, leading to complaints from both Congress and Surendran herself.
BJP leader Sobha Surendran appeared before the District Returning Officer in Kerala to give her statement regarding the 'cash-for-vote' allegation against her during the Assembly polls.
The Madras High Court has issued notices to key political figures and the Election Commission following a petition alleging corrupt practices during the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election, including the use of children to influence voters.
K V Thomas, Kerala's Special Representative in New Delhi, forecasts a third term for the CPI(M)-led LDF government, attributing the UDF's potential failure to internal conflicts and criticising the BJP for introducing 'consumerism' into Kerala politics.
The LDF has filed a complaint with the Election Commission alleging that UDF candidate Reji Cheriyan engaged in cash-for-vote practices during the Kuttanad Assembly election campaign.
I wonder if I can rest assured -- before the election ink on my finger fades -- that my home state is at the threshold of a better future, wonders Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
Assuring a social justice-driven regime if voted to power, Vijay, addressing a rally at Seelanaickenpatti, in Salem, dramatically hit back at those who mocked at him by alleging that he merely stayed back at home, though claiming to have entered politics.
A man wanted by the Enforcement Directorate in a 'cash-for-votes' case-linked money laundering investigation in Maharashtra has been apprehended at the Ahmedabad international airport, official sources said on Wednesday.
The Bahujan Vikas Aghadi supporters gheraoed Vinod Tawde and raised slogans.
'Removing Nitish Kumar prematurely risks unsettling both the alliance balance and parts of the social coalition that delivered this victory.'
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids at multiple locations in Maharashtra and Gujarat as part of a money laundering investigation targeting a Malegaon-based trader suspected of misusing bank accounts to carry out transactions exceeding Rs 100 crore. The probe is linked to an FIR filed by Malegaon Police against Siraj Ahmed Harun Meman, who operates a tea and cold drinks agency, for allegedly misusing bank accounts for illegal transactions. The ED suspects the trader may have been using the funds to divert and route money for certain individuals by misusing the banking credentials of ordinary citizens. The possibility of electoral malpractice being involved is also under scrutiny.
Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Vinod Tawde on Wednesday dismissed the allegations of distributing money to influence voters, saying he was well aware of the rules and not foolish to indulge in such an activity at the hotel of political opponents.
It is a sea of men clad in veshtis with distinctive party colour border design seeking votes with a smile and folded hands for their party candidates. The town is abuzz, with electioneering at its peak, and teeming trendy cars criss-cross the busy roads and bylanes bringing in more and more leaders from elsewhere for campaign.
Police in Maharashtra have registered two FIRs against BJP general secretary Vinod Tawde, party candidate Rajan Naik and others for allegedly distributing cash to voters at a hotel in Palghar ahead of the state assembly elections. A separate FIR was also registered against BJP and Bahujan Vikas Aghadi functionaries for allegedly attempting to hold a press conference, violating election code of conduct. The incidents occurred on the eve of the Maharashtra assembly polls, with allegations of cash distribution and attempts to influence voters.
Ashok Chand, deputy comssioner, Crime Branch, told rediff.com on Saturday evening that Reoti Raman Singh, another senior leader of Samajvadi party would be questioned by sleuths at Chanakyapuri Police station.
Delhi Police on Wednesday made the second arrest in the 2008 'cash-for-votes' scam by taking into custody Suhail Hindustani, who had allegedly acted as a liaison between Amar Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party members of Parliament sought to be bribed.
Another CD on the cash-for-votes episode surfaced on Monday with three United Progressive Alliance parties claiming that the Bharatiya Janata Party had stage managed the entire show for political gains.
Sudheendra Kulkarni, a former aide of Leader of Opposition L K Advani, on Saturday defended the former on the issue of the cash-for-vote scam that rocked the proceedings in Parliament in July 2008.Kulkarni's defence of Advani came a day after expelled BJP leader Jaswant Singh fired a fresh salvo at octogenarian leader, accusing him of being at the centre of the cash-for-votes scam drama enacted in the Lok Sabha last year.
The Delhi police on Friday submitted to a Delhi court a supplementary charge sheet in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam which deals with its efforts to trace the source of money allegedly paid to the three erstwhile BJP MPs to get their votes in favour of the Congress-led UPA-I government's trust motion.
Sohail Hindustani, arrested for his alleged role in the cash-for-vote scam, on Thursday claimed before a court here that Delhi Police was trying to save the Congress party and the government. He alleged that crime branch of the Delhi police want to change the course of investigation by falsely terming him as "master orchestra" of the conspiracy.
Samajwadi Party MP Rewati Raman Singh on Monday appeared before Delhi Police for questioning in connection with the 2008 cash-for-vote scam, the fourth person to be quizzed in the past 10 days after the Supreme Court came down heavily on investigators for carrying out a shoddy probe.
Andhra Pradesh government transferred a criminal case lodged earlier against Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao by one of the accused in the cash-for-vote scam
Communist Party of India-Marxist parliamentarian, Mohammad Salim attached a dissenting note, requesting the chairman of the committee, probing the cash-for vote incident, to use it appropriately. Salim charged that the committee had failed to live up to the expectations of the people in this matter of national importance. he also claimed that the committe was prevented from reaching any conclusion to protect the 'big fish'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hinted that it could resort to legal action in the cash-for-vote scam after a parliamentary panel gave the clean chit to senior political leaders Amar Singh and Ahmad Patel. "The legal option is open for us and this report would certainly lower the credibility of parliamentary committees like this," party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday night named 12 candidates, including cash-for-vote scam accused Faggan Singh Kulaste and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley for election to the upper house of Parliament.
"I am ready to debate with the BJP over the matter but you can't force a journalist on the timeline to show the sting. That's my call and not yours (politicians')," Sardesai told media-persons during an interaction organised by the Goa Union of Journalists in Panaji.
Sohail Raja Hindustani, who has been summoned by the Parliamentary panel probing the "cash-for-votes" scam on August 18, is the man who got the three Bharatiya Janata Party MPs talk to Samajwadi Party leaders Amar Singh and Reoti Raman Singh before the trust vote in the Lok Sabha. He is an activist of the Bhartiya Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP. The panel wants to ascertain if he had actually masterminded the operation to trap Amar Singh.
The Supreme Court on Friday pulled up the Delhi police in connection with the 2008 cash for votes scam, saying it was giving the latter four weeks (one month) to find the source from where the money had originated.
Special judge Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal has rejected interim bail petition of former Samajvadi leader Amar Singh in cash for vote scam and sent him to judicial custody in Delhi's Tihar jail, where he would remain until September 19.
The 2008 'cash-for-votes' scam on Thursday returned to haunt the United Progressive Alliance with a united opposition in Parliament, demanding resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in view of fresh charges that bribe was paid during the trust vote but the government was dismissive.
Rajya Sabha member Amar Singh's interim bail in the cash-for-vote case was extended by another eight days by a Delhi court before whom his counsel backtracked from his earlier statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party may have been the source of scam money named a Congress member of Parliament.
Terming the cash-for-votes scandal as "mother of all scams", senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday demanded that a special investigation team be set up to find out who was the beneficiary.
Suhail Hindustani and Sanjeev Saxena, arrested in the cash-for-vote scam, on Friday alleged in a court in New Delhi that the probe against them was an "eyewash" as the Delhi police, which ruled out the role of Samajwadi Party, was questioning its former leader Amar Singh.
Congress and Samajwadi Party on Thursday virtually got a clean chit in cash-for-vote scam in a local court, which was told by the Delhi Police that nobody from the two parties had contacted Sohail Hindustani, the alleged 'master orchestrator' of conspiracy to bribe BJP MPs to vote in favour of Manmohan Singh government in a trust vote in 2008.
The Delhi Police on Sunday arrested Sanjeev Saxena, considered close to former Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, in connection with the 2008 cash-for-vote scam in Parliament.
Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Amar Singh was on Thursday granted interim bail till September 19 on health grounds by a Delhi court in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam. The 55-year-old former Samajwadi Party leader was granted interim bail by Special Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal. Singh was in judicial custody for nine days. He was arrested on September 6 after he appeared in court in response to its summons for his alleged role in the scam.
The cash-for-vote scam rocked both Houses of Parliament Thursday with Bharatiya Janata Party objecting to the arrest of two of its "whistleblower" former MPs and demanding suspension of Question Hour to discuss the issue.
The Delhi High Court on Tueday dismissed a plea seeking prosecution of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the 2008 cash-for-vote scam and imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on the lawyer for filing a "malafide" petition in "gross abuse of law".
The "callous" approach of the Delhi police in probing the 2008 'cash-for-vote scam' came under severe criticism on Friday from the Supreme Court, which asked it why no custodial interrogation has been conducted in the case so far.
