Archives for July 2019

BJP preparing to form alternative govt, say leaders

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy returned to Bengaluru Sunday night after a 10-day US trip and began holding a series of meetings from the airport itself with leaders of his party JD(S) and its ally Congress in a bid to rescue the coalition government.

The coalition was pushed to the brink Saturday after 13 Congress and JD(S) MLAs submitted their resignations to bring its number to 105, on par with the BJP, in the 224-member Assembly even as several other rebels are reported to be waiting to exit. The resignations of the 13 MLAs, at least 10 of whom have moved to a Mumbai hotel, are yet to be accepted by the Speaker.

In Delhi, BJP sources told that the party is prepared to form an alternative government but will wait for the decision of the Speaker on the resignations, after which it would make a formal move.

“We, in the BJP, are prepared for any eventuality. But we don’t want to rush, we want to watch things closely. We are waiting for decisions of the Speaker and the Governor,” BJP general secretary P Muralidhar Rao told The Indian Express. “Let things become clear, let there be no ambiguity,” he said.

In Bengaluru, among those who received Kumaraswamy at the airport was the chief of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Bengaluru Police, which is probing a ponzi scheme allegedly run by the IMA (I Monetary Advisory) Group of companies in which two government officials are among those arrested.

According to sources, one of the triggers for six Bengaluru MLAs of the JD(S) and Congress to feature among the rebels is a move by the SIT to arrest Assistant Commissioner for Revenue (Bangalore North), L C Nagaraj on July 5 for allegedly receiving a bribe of Rs 4.5 crore from the IMA Group.

The SIT’s preliminary investigations have revealed that at least 40,000 investors lost funds to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore through investments in the IMA Group, whose founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan is absconding.

Meanwhile, amid speculation that the Congress is likely to seek the appointment of veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge or Siddaramaiah as chief minister, Kumaraswamy’s brother H D Revanna and Congress leaders expressed hope of saving the coalition.

“We have held discussions and there has been nothing on a change of leadership,’’ Revanna said. Congress leader D K Shivakumar said he is not willing to consider a change of leader. “I am not willing to backstab Kumaraswamy by saying make someone else the CM — it is left to the party. I am willing to sacrifice my post to save the government,’’ he said.

“We are hopeful of resolving the situation, just wait and watch after the CM returns,’’ state Congress working president Eshwar Khandre said after meetings of Congress leaders with central observer K C Venugopal.

“Only 5-6 of the 13 rebel MLAs are keen to defect to the BJP. The others have other demands and are not keen to give up their seats if their demands can be met. The problem is that all the different interest groups have united now,” JD(S) sources said.

The coalition slipped into crisis after 12 MLAs went to Karnataka Speaker Ramesh Kumar’s office Saturday to submit their resignations. The Speaker, who was not present, has asked the MLAs to come back on Tuesday. “A total of 14 MLAs have resigned. They are from the Congress and JD(S). There is unhappiness about the coalition,’’ JD(S) leader H Vishwanath said after meeting the Governor later.

Vishwanath seemed to have accounted for the 12 MLAs, Soumya Reddy, who is the MLA-daughter of Congress MLA Ramalinga Reddy, and MLA Anand Singh who quit on July 1. Soumya was not among those who went to the Speaker’s office although her father was part of the 12-member group.

Congress leader in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, meanwhile, called for a meeting of the state legislature party Tuesday. A session of the Assembly is scheduled to begin on July 12, when the BJP is likely to seek a floor test.

In Delhi, the BJP leadership maintained that the party, which is the single-largest in the 224-member Assembly with 105 MLAs, is not responsible for the crisis. “It’s the Congress leaders’ foolishness that they blame the BJP for the current crisis. Ramalinga Reddy, one of the MLAs who resigned, is a senior party leader and a former Home Minister. Even Ramesh Jarkiholi is a multi-term legislator. If they have resigned from the party, it cannot be because of the BJP,” Muralidhar Rao said.

“It’s the failure of the Congress leadership, its move to go for an opportunistic alliance, and the internal crisis that have led to this situation,” he said.

According to the senior BJP leader, the current government “is going to fall, for sure”. “But we don’t want to rush to take other steps,” Rao said.

Yamuna Expressway accident: While the cause of the accident is unknown, it is alleged that the driver fell asleep on the wheel causing the bus to steer away from the highway.

Twenty-nine people died and 17 were injured after a bus fell into a drain on Yamuna Expressway in Agra early Monday morning. The bus was travelling from Lucknow to Delhi and was registered to Awadh depot. While the cause of the accident is unknown, it is alleged that the driver fell asleep on the wheel causing the bus to steer away from the highway.

The accident occurred at around 4.15 am near Etmadpur in Agra. It is alleged that the bus drifted from the road, crossed a barricade and fell into the drain approximately 40 feet below.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed condolences and has ordered a 3 member probe including the Transport Commissioner, IG Agra and Divisional Commissioner to prove the incident and submit a report in 24 hours. He also directed the authorities to provide all possible medical attention to the injured. Uttar Pradesh Roadways has also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the deceased.

Karnataka MLAs Resign, Karnataka Political Crises Today Live News Updates: Fourteen MLAs have resigned from the Assembly till now. Karnataka Minister and Bidar North MLA Rahim Mahmood Khan has also threatened to quit.

In a fresh jolt to the Karnataka government, independent MLA Nagesh on Monday withdrew support to the wobbly Congress-JD(S) coalition in the state. Congress MLA from Bidar North, Rahim Mahmood Khan, on the other hand, threatened to resign from the Assembly, PTI reported. Meanwhile, Deputy CM Parameshwara is holding a meeting of the Congress leaders at his residence.

The coalition was pushed to the brink Saturday after 13 Congress and JD(S) MLAs submitted their resignations to bring its number to 105, on par with the BJP, in the 224-member Assembly even as several other rebels are reported to be waiting to exit. The resignations of the 13 MLAs, at least 10 of whom have moved to a Mumbai hotel, are yet to be accepted by the Speaker.

The JD(S)-Congress coalition’s total strength after Nagesh withdrawing his support, is 117 (Congress-78, JD(S)-37, BSP-1 and Independents-1), besides the Speaker. The BJP has 105 MLAs in the House, where the half-way mark is 113. If the resignations of the MLAs are accepted, the coalition’s tally will be reduced to 104. The Speaker also has a vote.

The rebel Congress MLAs, who have been camping in Mumbai’s Sofitel Hotel, on Sunday refused to withdraw their resignations and said they won’t attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting on Tuesday. Addressing the media outside the hotel, Congress legislator S T Somashekar said, “We all 13 legislators have resigned and ten are here. We all are together. There is no question of taking back the resignations. We will not attend the CLP meeting on Tuesday.”

Earlier on Sunday, Congress had issued a circular to all party MLAs in Karnataka calling CLP meeting on Tuesday. The circular also mentioned that strict action will be taken against MLAs on failing to attend the meeting.

After reaching Bengaluru airport, Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy headed to Taj West End hotel where he held a meeting with top JD(S) and Congress leaders.

India received 6 per cent less rainfall than the 50-year average in the week ended on July 3, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed

India monsoon: Monsoon rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth
NEW DELHI: 

The country’s monsoon rains in the week ending on Wednesday were below average for the fifth time in a row, although the deficit was the lowest since the start of the season, after it revived in central and western regions.

Monsoon rains are crucial for farm output and economic growth, as about 55 per cent of India’s arable land is rain-fed, and agriculture forms about 15 per cent of a $2.5-trillion economy that is the third biggest in Asia.

India received 6 per cent less rainfall than the 50-year average in the week ended on July 3, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed.

Soybean – and cotton-growing central regions received 43 per cent more rainfall in the week, while the rubber- and tea-growing areas in Kerala got 87 per cent lower rainfall.

India has received rain that is 28 per cent less than average since the monsoon season began on June 1.

Madhya Pradesh was one of the poorest-performing big states in a NITI Aayog report on medical infrastructure and facilities. The state ranked 18, with only Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh faring worse

One of the patients was Sangeeta who had suffered a fracture in her right leg
INDORE, MADHYA PRADESH: 

In a shocking case of apathy, a male and female patient were forced to share a stretcher while being wheeled to the X-Ray room at the Maharaja Yeshwantrao Hospital in Indore, the largest state-run hospital in Madhya Pradesh.

One of the patients was Sangeeta, who had suffered a fracture in her right leg and had been admitted 12 days ago.

“My wife Sangeeta was admitted to orthopedic ward. Citing shortage of stretcher, she was taken for some medical examination with a male patient. We were helpless as we wanted to get our patient treated due to which we became ready to allow her and the male patient on the same bed,” her husband, Dharmendra, said.

When asked why there were two patients on one stretcher, Sangeeta said it was the doctor’s order. She also admitted that the crowded stretcher is inconvenient.

After a video of the incident went viral, the Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr PS Thakur served show cause notice to on-duty staff, including doctors, nurses and ward boys, and promised strict action. Dr Thakur also admitted there was a shortage of stretchers and other facilities.

Sangeeta’s husband also claimed that the doctor on the duty demanded they visit him only during a given time, as he would not examine patients after close of business hours.

Madhya Pradesh was one of the poorest-performing big states in a report on medical infrastructure and facilities recently released by the NITI Aayog. The state ranked 18, with only Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh faring worse.

Last week an attendant at a government medical college in Jabalpur dragged a patient to the X-ray room on a bedsheet.

On June 15, an elderly man spent a whole night inside the mortuary of a government hospital in the town of Bina after being declared dead. When his body was taken out the following day for a post-mortem, he was found to be alive and breathing. He died later the same day.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s tweet comes a day after Rahul Gandhi posted a long letter making public a decision he had conveyed to Congress leaders last month

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted to her brother Rahul Gandhi on his move to resign
NEW DELHI: 

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Rahul Gandhi announced his resignation in a public letter
2. He called for a “radical transformation” in the Congress
3. “Deepest respect for your decision,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted today

A day after Rahul Gandhi announced his resignation as Congress president in a public letter owning responsibility for the party’s national election defeat, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted: “Few have the courage that you do”.

Rahul Gandhi, 49, posted a long letter on Wednesday making public a decision he had conveyed to Congress leaders last month and asserting that he had resigned as “accountability is critical” for the future growth of the Congress.

“Few have the courage that you do @rahulgandhi. Deepest respect for your decision,” wrote Priyanka Gandhi, who is two years younger to her brother and a Congress leader.

In his letter, Rahul Gandhi had said: “It is a habit in India that the powerful cling to power, no one sacrifices power. But we will not defeat our opponents without sacrificing the desire for power and fighting a deeper ideological battle.”

Calling for “radical transformation” in the Congress, he added: “Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as president of the party.”

His words indicated he was determined to relinquish his family’s hold on the Congress, which has been mostly headed by generations of leaders from the Nehru-Gandhi family in its 133-year-old history. “Most of my colleagues suggested that I nominate the next Congress president. While it is important for someone new to lead the party, it would not be correct for me to select that person,” wrote Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, who took over the top post from his mother Sonia Gandhi in 2017, had first told party leaders about his decision to quit at a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on May 25, just days after the second straight election rout for the party compared to a spectacular haul for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP.

Priyanka Gandhi as well as Sonia Gandhi had supported him; Priyanka Gandhi, who joined politics in January as Congress general secretary, had even questioned how strongly other leaders had supported her brother’s campaign.

The Congress chief’s defeat in his traditional constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, which reduced the party to just one in the 80-seat state, also cut deep. Rahul Gandhi made it to parliament only because of his win in the second constituency he contested this time, Kerala’s Wayanad. Priyanka Gandhi had campaigned in Amethi while her brother focused on rallies in other parts of the country.

As the Congress stares at the task of choosing a new leader, several leaders have urged Rahul Gandhi to reconsider his decision, insisting that he would always be their chief.

According to sources, PM Modi said people who welcomed Akash Vijayvargiya after his release from jail on bail should also be removed.

The Prime Minister was speaking at the meeting of the BJP parliamentary party
NEW DELHI: 

A furious Prime Minister Narendra Modi today reportedly expressed his displeasure with Akash Vijayvargiya, the son of senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya, who is out on bail after being arrested for assaulting an official with a cricket bat last week. PM Modi said at a meeting that such people should be expelled from the party, “no matter whose son”, without exception, according to party leaders.

“The PM was very upset. He said nobody has any right to misbehave or take the party for a ride or show arrogance in public. He used a very strong statement and said that any such act is unacceptable,” BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy told NDTV after the meeting of the BJP parliamentary party.

According to sources, PM Modi said the people who welcomed Akash Vijayvargiya after his release from jail on bail should also be removed.

Akash Vijayvargiya, 34, was garlanded by supporters as he stepped out of prison on bail.

Akash Vijayvargiya – a first-time party lawmaker – had assaulted a civic official with a cricket bat in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore last Wednesday. In a video clip shown on TV channels, the 34-year-old was seen chasing the official with the bat and beating him in the presence of policemen, who did nothing. A video of the dramatic scenes was shared widely on social media.

The official was working as part of a team removing encroachments when he was attacked by Akash Vijayvargiya, 34, and his supporters.

Mr Vijayvargiya had justified himself saying the officials had dragged and verbally abused women occupants of a residential building.

BJP legislator Akash Vijayvargiya thrashed an Indore civic body official with a cricket bat last week.

His father Kailash Vijayvargiya, a veteran BJP leader, had downplayed his son’s offence, calling him “kachha khiladi” or a “novice” and insisting that it wasn’t a “big issue”.

Akash Vijayvargiya, who was arrested after the attack, received a grand welcome from his family and supporters as he walked out of a prison on Sunday. Kailash Vijayvargiya, too, was present outside the jail where his son was garlanded by supporters as he stepped out. Supporters even fired shots in the air to celebrate his bail.71 COMMENTS

Mr Vijayvargiya was unapologetic. “I am not guilty or embarrassed about what I did as it was in public interest… I pray to god that I should not be given another opportunity to pick up the bat (I pray to god ki vo dobara ballebazi karne ka avsar na de),” he said after stepping out of prison.

S Jaishankar’s appointment as foreign secretary in January 2015 had evoked a sharp reaction from various quarters over the timing of the government”s decision to remove Sujatha Singh.

S Jaishankar had earlier served as India’s Ambassador to the US and before that to China.
NEW DELHI: 

Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, a surprise pick in Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, is a seasoned diplomat who was the Indian government’s pointsman for China and the US.

Mr Jaishankar, son of late K Subrahmanyam, one of India’s leading strategic analysts, was a key member of the Indian team which negotiated the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal.

The deal, initiated in 2005, took several years to craft, and was signed by the UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh in 2007.

Mr Jaishankar’s appointment as foreign secretary in January 2015 had evoked a sharp reaction from various quarters over the timing of the government”s decision to remove Sujatha Singh.

The 64-year-old had earlier served as India’s Ambassador to the US and before that to China.

A 1977-batch IFS officer, Mr Jaishankar played a key role in resolving the crisis following the incursion in Ladakh’s Depsang and the Doklam stand-off, handling the tough negotiations with Beijing.

Among other positions, Mr Jaishankar has been India’s High Commissioner to Singapore and Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

Last year, Tata Group appointed Mr Jaishankar, who was Indian foreign secretary from January 2015 to January 2018, as its president for global corporate affairs, within three months of his retirement from the government service.

A graduate of St Stephen’s College, Mr Jaishankar is an MA in Political Science and an MPhil and PhD in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Mr Jaishankar is married to Kyoko Jaishankar and has two sons and a daughter.

In 2019, Mr Jaishankar was conferred with Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award of the country.

Om Birla’s surprise nomination is seen by many in the BJP as a message from the top leadership that the party will promote leaders who keep a low-profile and work at the ground-level.

Om Birla will succeed Sumitra Mahajan as Lok Sabha speaker
NEW DELHI: 

The BJP’s surprise pick – Om Birla – is all set to become next Lok Sabha Speaker after his candidature on Tuesday was backed by all NDA allies as also by the YSR Congress Party, the Biju Janata Dal and key opposition parties, including the Congress.

A notice was given to the Lok Sabha Secretariat by the BJP, proposing the name of Om Birla, a two-time MP from Kota-Bundi seat in Rajasthan, for the Speaker’s post and bringing a motion for his election, which will be held on Wednesday.

As per sources, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed 57-year-old Birla’s name for the post. The Rajasthan leader is considered to be close to both PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.

Om Birla’s surprise nomination is seen by many in the BJP as a message from the top leadership that the party will promote leaders who keep a low-profile and work at the ground-level.

BJD, YSRCP, JDU, Shiv Sena, Akali Dal, National People’s Party, Mizo National Front, Lok Janshakti Party, AIADMK and Apna Dal have given the notice to support Mr Birla’s candidature for the Speaker’s post, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi told reporters.

Later, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the party and the UPA allies have also decided to support Mr Birla’s candidature as the Speaker.

Mr Chowdhury also said the Congress has already moved a motion supporting the ruling party candidate.

The decision to support Om Birla’s nomination was taken at a meeting of the UPA allies, where the leaders also discussed the opposition strategy during the Parliament session.

Om Birla, who won his first Lok Sabha election in 2014 and was re-elected from Rajasthan’s Kota-Bundi seat. He defeated Congress’s Ramnaraian Meena with a margin of over 2.5 lakh votes in the recently concluded general elections.

He has also been elected to Rajasthan assembly for three consecutive terms in 2003, 2008 and 2013.

Om Birla will succeed eight-term MP Sumitra Mahajan as the Speaker, a post traditionally held by senior MPs.

However, this will not be for the first time a relative newcomer will hold the position. In 1996, TDP leader G M C Balayogi was also a two-time MP when he was elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker and after his death in a helicopter crash in 2002, Shiv Sena leader and first-time MP Manohar Joshi was appointed to the position.