Polling for the first phase of the civic polls in Tamil Nadu started across the state on Monday morning on a peaceful note. No untoward incident was reported as polling began at 10 corporations including Chennai besides many other local bodies at 7 am.
A source in the Congress party has said that the name of the next presidential candidate from the UPA would surface by May 25. Renu Mittal reports
Soon after the Rajya Sabha met for the day, members from Bharatiya Janata Party, Janata Dal-United, Bahujan Samaj Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam and the Left parties were on their feet seeking a discussion on the issue.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is all set to withdraw its five Union ministers from the United Progressive Alliance-2 by the weekend to express solidarity with the Sri Lankan Tamil issue. The step is expected to be taken to put UPA-2 on notice if India voted in favour of Sri Lanka in Geneva where the United Nations Human Rights Council is currently in session.
Two judges of the Supreme Court, who were scheduled to hear on Monday the bail plea of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi, an accused in the 2G spectrum allocation scam, on Friday recused themselves from the hearing. Instead, Justice G S Singhvi, whose bench has been monitoring the case, will hold a special hearing on Monday along with Justice B S Chauhan to decide the bail applications of Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday opposed the bail plea of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and co-accused Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar in the 2G case in the Supreme Court on the ground that if released, they could tamper with evidence and influence witnesses. In an affidavit filed before the apex court, the investigating agency contended that Kanimozhi and Kumar were key conspirators of the scam.
The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on the bail plea of jailed Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi in 2G spectrum case with Central Bureau of Investigation claiming that the plea that routing of Rs 200 crore bribe to Kalaignar TV was a "valid" loan transaction was nothing but a "smokescreen",
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's son Tamilarasu and daughter Selvi met their half-sister Kanimozhi, who has been arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at a trial court in New Delhi.
Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament and Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi has finally been arrested. After a Delhi court denied her bail in the 2G spectrum scam, even as her legal team was working frantically fervently to get her out, rediff.com spoke to noted defense lawyers about options available to her.
A Delhi court on Friday ordered the 'forthwith' arrest of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar after rejecting their bail pleas in the 2G spectrum case.
The Congress and the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Thursday slammed the draft report released by Public Accounts Committee chairman Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and demanded that he should resign from his post. The meeting is expected to be a stormy one in view of the different stances taken by various political parties.Leaders of DMK and Congress addressed a joint press conference, where they questioned Joshi's decision to release the draft report to the media.
Upset over the naming of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the 2G scam charge sheet, United Progressive Alliance's key ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam on Monday decided to convene a high-level committee meeting on Wednesday to plan its future course of action.
It was a day of embarrassment for the Congress-lead United Progressive Alliance as Suresh Kalmadi, the Congress member of Parliament from Pune and the former chairman of the Commonwealth Games was arrested for alleged conspiracy in awarding a contract for the Games to a Swiss company at an inflated cost of Rs. 141 crore.
The April 13 Assembly polls in the Union Territory of Puducherry is shaping up to be a face-off between two fronts -- the ruling Congress-DMK combine and the oppositon All India NR Congress- All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday filed a charge-sheet in the Rs 176,000 crore 2G scam in the designated CBI court in Delhi.The chargesheet has named former telecom minister and DMK leader A Raja as the main conspirator. The chargesheet alleged that Raja misused his ministerial position to favour one particular group. Sidhardh Behura and R K Chandolia -- both bureaucrats who served as secretaries to A Raja -- were also named as conspirators in the charge-sheet
Union minister and senior Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam leader M K Alagiri, along with 52 other members of his party, has been booked by the police in connection with the alleged assault of an election official and a videographer at a village in the district. Tahsildar M Kalimuthu, who is the assistant returning officer for Melur assembly segment, and a videographer, part of a flying squad, were allegedly assaulted by DMK men when they videographed Alagiri's visit to a temple.
Widening its probe into the 2G scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday questioned Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi and his wife Dayalu Ammal on alleged transfer of money from Mumbai-based Cineyug to Kalaignar TV, in which both jointly own 80 per cent stake.
The deadlock over seat sharing between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress for the Tamil Nadu polls came to an end on Tuesday.
Encouraged by the Supreme Court order granting bail to five corporate executives in the 2G case on Wednesday, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and five other accused moved the Delhi high court for early hearing of their bail pleas. Shortly after the Supreme Court order in the morning, counsel for the accused approached the high court registry for early listing of the matter which is now scheduled to be heard on December 1 by Justice V K Shali.
Members of Parliament from the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam have threatened to forcefully occupy the office of Telugu Desam Party inside Parliament house next week.
The DMK and PMK on Friday clinched an alliance for the coming Tamil Nadu assembly polls, under which the ruling party's junior partner has been allotted 31 assembly seats. The deal was finalised at a meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi and PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss in Chennai. Karunanidhi, announcing the accord at the end of the nearly 90-minute meeting with his former ally, said the two parties had decided to fight the elections jointly.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has removed Union Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri and Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran from two key sub-committees of the Union Cabinet. Both Alagiri and Maran are leaders of the Congress's ally DMK. In the wake of the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam, involving DMK leader and then telecom minister A Raja, the PM has been careful about allocating sensitive positions to the party's leaders.
The Congress on Thursday gave enough indications that there was no trouble to its alliance with Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam despite the party strongly backing former telecom minister A Raja and described the move as the ally's "internal matter".
Ending days of suspense, Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam president M Karunanidhi on Sunday announced that the Paatali Makkal Katchi will be part of the party-led alliance for the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu in May.Arriving in New Delhi on a three-day visit, Karunanidhi said he will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday to discuss the seat-sharing arrangement between the two parties.
The ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam has bagged a mayor's post and is leading in all 10 corporations including Chennai as counting of votes, polled during the two-phased Tamil Nadu civic polls on October 17 and 19, was taken up on Friday.
In a keenly watched outcome, counting of votes in the bye-elections to one constituency each in Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry will be taken up on Thursday.
The general council of the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam will meet in Chennai on February 3 to discuss and decide the seat arrangements for the upcoming assembly elections with its allies.Karunanidhi announced this decision after rejecting a resignation letter from his son and Fertiliser Minister M K Alagiri from the post of the DMK's organising secretary.Alagiri has sought action against DMK leader A Raja, who had to resign as the telecom minister over the massive 2G scam.
The Congress core group is meeting later in the evening where the implementation of Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel pricing reforms may be discussed.
In a crackdown as part of the 2G spectrum scam probe, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday searched 34 offices and residences of corporate lobbyist Niira Radia, former Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal, siblings of ex-Telecom Minister A Raja and an NGO linked to Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi.
Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal will hold additional charge of the telecom ministry, official sources said on Monday.Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam leader A Raja was forced to put in his papers as the telecom minister on Sunday night due to his alleged involvement in the massive 2G spectrum scam.Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appointed Sibal as the telecom minister, in spite of DMK chief Karunanidhi claiming that the key ministry will remain with the party.
The Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Tamil Nadu unit of the Congress are gearing up for the assembly polls in the state, scheduled to be held next year. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the Congress' political emissaries from Delhi are in constant touch with both the DMK and the AIADMK.The first meeting to discuss pre-poll arrangements was held on Saturday, when Home Minister P Chidambaram met DMK chief Karunanidhi.
In a major setback to DMK Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar, the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed their bail pleas in the 2G spectrum case.
The Jayalalithaa government in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday scored a legal victory when the Madras high court declined to interfere with its decision to shift to the state secretariat and assembly to Fort St George from the Rs 1,000 crore complex, a pet project of the previous Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam regime.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday rejected the bail application of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam Member of Parliament and former Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi.The court also rejected the bail application of Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharad Kumar.The DMK MP had stated that she should be granted bail since she has a young son to look after and her husband lives abroad. She pointed out that she was the only woman who has been jailed for 2G scam.
One of the followers of jailed Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi had a tough time in a Delhi court on Tuesday which first ordered his detention and then let him off with a stern warning for clicking the photograph of his leader inside the courtroom.
An emotional M Karunanidhi on Monday met his daughter and Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi, arrested in the 2G spectrum case, at the Tihar jail in New Delhi and spent nearly 30 minutes with her. He also met former telecom minister A Raja and Kalaingar TV managing director Sharad Kumar, both arrested for their involvement in the scam.
A Ganesh Nadar analyses the 12 reasons that made the DMK bite the dust in the state elections
In a sort of anti-climax, a special court on Saturday prolonged the suspense on the bail application of Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam member of Parliament Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case by deferring the pronouncement of its order till May 20.
Trinamool Congress-led alliance was on the cusp of a historic victory in West Bengal while Congress appeared set to capture Kerala and retain Assam but its ally Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam was facing rout in Tamil Nadu in the elections to state assemblies.
Thanks to an over-enthusiastic Murli Manohar Joshi, whose anti-Congress leanings became a little too obvious, the Congress with a little help from friendly parties has scuttled the report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G spectrum scam. This has made sure that it cannot be tabled in Parliament, even though it has been leaked through the media.
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