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Lalit Modi row: Congress asks Vasundhra Raje to quit along with Sushma Swaraj

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Vasundhra Raje

New Delhi: With the latest revelations in Modigate drawing Vasundhra Raje into the controversy, Congress today demanded that Rajasthan Chief Minister also resign along with External Affair Minister Sushma Swaraj.

Swaraj should step down and Raje should also resign for “helping Lalit Modi, an economic offender and fugitive,” spokesperson Shobha Ojha told reporters.

Ojha also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying his silence in the matter so far showed that “there is a mute support by the PM to these leaders”.

Besides, she said the party wanted a Supreme Court monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT) to go into the Modigate.

She dismissed as laughable BJP’s charge that Congress was targeting women leaders of BJP.

“Since they want to hide their crimes, they are raising the gender issue which is condemnable and laughable,” she said.

Taking a dig at Modi government, she said that Modigate showed “achche din” for economic offenders like Latit Modi with the entire government coming to his rescue.

Raje and Swaraj stand “exposed for helping Lalit Modi”, she alleged.

(PTI)

Sushma Swaraj reacts angrily on Twitter; Chidambaram demands release of letters to UK

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Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Wednesday reacted angrily to a tweet suggesting she took favours to get her daughter a seat in a medical college through the northeast quota.

“My daughter is a barrister and Oxford graduate. What you say is absolutely false,” she replied to the tweet.

The twitter handle ‘Soch @pakoed’ had insinuated that “Sushma is no stranger to taking and giving favours! Her daughter studied through NorthEast quota in medical college.”

Twitterati immediately reacted, wondering at Sushma’s impulsive response to a stray tweet. The handle @pakoed was deleted, though its tweet was retweeted by others.

Sushma’s twitter supporters urged her not to be hassled by a “dog that barks” and keep up her good work.

On Monday too, Sushma appears to have lost her cool, targeting a senior journalist of a news channel that was reporting on the Lalit Modi episode. “Look who is preaching propriety – of all the persons Navika Kumar!” she posted.

Sushma’s daughter Bansuri is a lawyer, who is reported to have appeared in passport cancellation matters relating to former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi before the court.

The Congress has pointed this out in its accusations against the minister, citing “conflict of interest”.

The senior minister is facing flak for having helped Lalit Modi procure documents to travel to Portugal in 2014. Lalit Modi, who is wanted by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged financial impropriety in the money-spinning IPL, stays in London.

Her husband Swaraj Kaushal was governor of Mizoram from 1990 to 1993 and is an expert on the northeast.

(IANS)

PM must order probe to expose real gameplan: Shiv Sena on Sushma Swaraj row

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Saamana-News-Epaper

Mumbai: Claiming that Sushma Swaraj has been targeted under a “political game” to oust her from BJP, Shiv Sena today said it is imperative for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to step in and order an investigation to know who is so keen on “maligning” her “clean” reputation.

Sena, which has come out in support of the External Affairs Minister in the row over helping scam-tainted former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi obtain British travel papers, said Congress was “lifeless” and its reaction did not mean much but “who is trying to give flight to its wings”.

“The Congress party is behaving as if Swaraj has helped get bail to arrested fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim or Kasab. This controversy is being fuelled by using a section of the media. It is vital for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to order an investigation on who is so keen on maligning her clean reputation of 35-40 years,” the Sena said in an edit in its mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.

“Covering Swaraj in a mist of controversy and questions seems to be a huge political game being played to oust her from the BJP and from national politics,” the Sena alleged.

It said that PM Modi too may get engulfed in such controversies in the future and that some of his cabinet ministers are being tactfully harassed.

The edit added that similar allegations had been levelled against Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son in the recent past and also against Nitin Gadkari, when he took over as the President of the BJP.

“An Indian has been helped on humanitarian grounds. Why so much fuss over it? The Congress has become lifeless now and thus its flutter also does not mean much. But the question is who is trying to give flight to these fluttering wings,” the Sena said.

“If somebody is attacking the External Affairs Ministry to weaken it and thereby trying to demoralise the Modi government, the person is ultimately causing harm to the country. This a very big political game that needs to be ended by PM Modi,” it added.

(PTI)

'Sushma offered to quit but RSS sought she continued'

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Sushma Swaraj

New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj offered to resign almost a week before the controversy broke out over her help to former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in getting travel documents on “humanitarian ground”, but her offer was rejected on the intervention of the RSS, informed sources said.

The sources said the news channel that on Sunday read out e-mails of a British MP concerning travel documents for Modi, had sent an e-mail to Sushma Swaraj almost a week before, seeking her response on the issue.

Soon after that she met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and informed him of the matter in detail, a highly placed source told IANS.

Sources said a meeting of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh functionaries was convened a day later by Modi to discuss the matter and to chalk out the future strategy.

They said at the meeting Sushma Swaraj clarified her stand on the issue and said she was ready to resign as she did not want the government to face any embarrassment. But RSS functionaries stopped her, saying she has done nothing wrong, the sources added.

The RSS functionaries also said that Sushma Swaraj had made it clear in her communication that any help rendered by the British authorities to Lalit Modi should be subject to their rules.

According to sources, the meeting chalked out strategy to defend Sushma Swaraj.

As part of the strategy, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and RSS leader Indresh Kumar came out in support of Sushma Swaraj on Sunday.

The controversy, which first appeared in a British newspaper, went on to dominate Indian news channels from Sunday.

(IANS)

Vote in Modi's name; CM candidate not finalised: BJP tells Bihar

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Photo: PTI

Photo: PTI

Patna: The BJP said on Tuesday it will not announce its chief ministerial candidate and instead fight the coming Bihar assembly elections in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“The BJP will not announce its chief ministerial candidate. The BJP has several capable leaders for the top political post in the state but it will fight the assembly elections in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Ananth Kumar, union minister for chemicals and fertilisers and party incharge for Bihar.

“Narendra Modi is the BJP face; our party will contest the assembly polls under his leadership,” he told the media here.

BJP’s main rival – ruling Janata Dal-United, RJD, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party combine – declared Nitish Kumar as its candidate for the top post on June 8.

Nitish Kumar said that the party had, in the last one year, contested assembly elections in different states in the name of Modi.

The union minister downplayed the repeated demand of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar that the BJP too declare its chief ministerial candidate.

BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Samta Party said on Monday that its party chief and union minister Upendra Kushwaha be declared the opposition alliance’s chief ministerial candidate.

However, another BJP ally, union minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party, announced last week that Paswan would not be the NDA’s chief ministerial candidate.

Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who announced joining the NDA alliance in the state, said he was not in the race for the top job and only a BJP leader would be the candidate.

In the caste-ridden politics of Bihar, over half a dozen BJP leaders from the upper castes and the backward castes have staked their respective claims for projection as chief ministerial candidate.

(PTI)

Practice Yoga regularly to stay fit, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar advises BJP president Amit Shah

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amit-nitish

Patna: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has advised BJP president Amit Shah to practice yoga regularly rather than do politics over it.

Mr Kumar told reporters, “Has he seen his body whether it is suitable to do yoga? He should practise yoga silently at home everyday to stay fit. This will bring internal change in him too.”

BJP has been pushing for more participation from schools and educational institutions on International Yoga Day on June 21. Some Muslim groups like the Muslim Personal Law Board had opposed the central government’s move to make it compulsory in schools, saying that yoga asanas like Surya Namaskar are un-Islamic. The government had denied issuing any such directions.

Mr Kumar who practices yoga regularly said, “Yoga is very useful and should be practised sincerely at home for good health. But BJP is indulging in show off in the name of yoga which is triggering dispute.”

Mr Shah will take part in yoga day celebrations in Patna on June 21.

Assembly elections in Bihar are due in a few months at the end of this year. Mr Shah held discussions with union minister Ram Vilas Paswan in Delhi today, to take stock of the political situation.

BJP announced a tie up with former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi this Thursday; Mr Manjhi and Mr Kumar were once friends, but now bitter political rivals.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), comprising of BJP, Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party and Upendra Kushwaha’s Rashtriya Lok Samata Party had swept the 2014 general elections winning 31 out of 40 seats in the state.

Mr Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and former chief minister Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal have already announced a tie-up between the two and Congress for the upcoming assembly elections.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)

Congress protests outside Sushma Swaraj's residence; demands resignation

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Sushma Swaraj Lalit Modi

New Delhi: Scores of Congress workers today protested outside residence of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj demanding her resignation for “extending help” to scam-tainted former IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi in procuring travel documents in the UK.

Shouting slogans and holding placards, the Congress workers demanded action against Swaraj and said she must quit or Prime Minister Narendra Modi should sack her immediately from the Union Cabinet. The protesters also burnt effigies of Swaraj.

Congress has been attacking Swaraj since yesterday after reports surfaced that she had written to British lawmaker Keith Vaz to allegedly recommend travel documents for Lalit Modi for visiting Portugal.

Swaraj has said she had written to Vaz on “humanitarian grounds” after Lalit Modi said his wife was ill.

Modi is wanted in India and has made London his home since 2010 to avoid a probe in the alleged betting and misappropriation of funds in the T20 cricket tournament.

Some of the Congress protesters also broke barricades outside Swaraj’s Safdarjung residence in posh Lutyens Bungalow Zone in central Delhi. Around 100 protesters were detained by the police and were later released.

Earlier in the day, Congress sharpened attack on Swaraj alleging there was “quid pro quo” involved in her “assistance” to Modi and demanded that the former IPL Commissioner be brought back and tried in India.

“There are circumstances which establish contact between Sushma Swaraj and Lalit Modi. As a quid pro quo, Sushma Swaraj has done favour to a tainted person who is accused of Rs 700 crore money laundering, tax evasion and several other charges,” said Congress national spokesperson P L Punia.

(PTI)

FTII students to step up stir against Gajendra Chauhan's appointment as chairman

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Gajendra Chauhan

Pune: The FTII students today vowed to continue their protest against the appointment of television actor Gajendra Chauhan as the new chairman of its governing council by boycotting classes and shutting down administrative offices on the campus.

About 150 students pursuing various courses at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) went on a flash strike yesterday.

Asserting that they would continue their protest till the demand is met, the students body alleged that it was purely out of consideration of his affiliation with BJP that Chauhan was chosen for the key post.

“A person who has an official affiliation with the ruling BJP and who lacks the vision and stature of the past chairpersons in film-making, has put a question mark on the process of selection for the post earlier held by eminent people like Girish Karnad, Shyam Benegal and Adoor Gopalkrishnan,” Harikrishnan Nachimuthu, who heads the FTII students’ association, told PTI.

Chauhan, who played the role of ‘Yudhishthira’ in television serial “Mahabharata”, has been a member of the BJP over two decades, the student leaders said.

At the gate of FTII, a billboard was put up by the protesting students asking “Gajendra resign and leave”.

FTII director D Narayanan told PTI that the institute authorities have opened the channels for dialogue with the students.

“We are having a dialogue with the students to find a way out amicably”.

A final year student pursuing course in film direction said Chauhan lacked the “experience and stature and quality” of his predecessors to merit his new posting, which is “politically coloured”.

Meanwhile, the students’ association has decided to send their representation on the issue objecting to Chauhan’s appointment to Information & Broadcasting ministry.

“We will re-look the current protest only after getting a positive response to our demand by the authorities,” Nachiputhu said.

(PTI)

Azam Khan asks Yogi Adityanath to offer namaz for better mental health

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azam khan

Rampur: Reacting on the recent comments by BJP MP Yogi Adityanath on Yoga, UP minister Azam Khan today said that the saffron leader should “offer namaz to set his mind on the right track”.

“Although my advice to Yogi about namaz might not be correct but since he wants to use force to adopt any exercise, I am forced to express my opinion.

“He should rather offer namaz (prayers) that would not only give him physical strength but also put his mind on the right track,” he told media yesterday.

The SP leader was referring to the firebrand leader’s comments that those opposing ‘Surya namaskar’ should “drown in the sea”.

Khan maintained that Surya Namaskar was a religious exercise that should not be forced upon others.

“As far as religious practices and traditions related to a particular community are concerned one should not be compelled to adopt those,” Khan said.

Accusing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to harbour hatred against minority, the state urban development minister said, “When the BJP maintains enmity against Muslims and asks them to leave India, I urge the Prime Minister, Home Minister and other responsible persons of the government to allot a land where Muslims may be rehabilitated side by side.”

(PTI)

Those opposing 'Surya namaskar' should drown in sea: Yogi Adityanath

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Yogi Adityanath

Varanasi: Firebrand BJP leader Yogi Adityanath has stoked a controversy with his remarks that those opposing ‘surya namaskar’ should “drown in the sea”.

With certain minority groups protesting against inclusion of ‘Surya namaskar’ exercise during the June 21 International Yoga Day celebrations, the Gorakhpur MP said, “Sun is the source of life giving energy. Whoever thinks Sun is communal, I would like to humbly request them to drown themselves in the sea or they should stay in a dark cell.”

“Sun God has never deprived anyone of its light based on caste, creed or religion. Despite that if they are calling sun communal, I feel amused at their mindset,” said the BJP leader yesterday at a religious event in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency.

“And my request to them would be that they should not take the sunlight or even its warmth,” said the saffron-clad leader, who is known for courting controversy with his inflammatory remarks.

Adityanath’s remarks came after the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board said that it will move the Supreme Court against inclusion of Surya namaskar and Yoga in schools.

Congress and Samajwadi Party hit out the BJP leader, saying he was trying to create a communal divide, and stressed that nobody can force their own belief system on any citizen.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah mocked Adityanath’s remarks saying many people “will have to pack” their bags.

Congress leader Rita Bahuguna said, “Every time he (Adityanath) speaks, he spits venom. He tries to create a communal divide by giving communal statements. What is the reason to say that those who don’t want to do this should leave the country?

“Talking about certain communities that have certain reservations about some parts of yoga, what is the use? It is an exercise for physical and mental well-being. Those who don’t want to do it should be allowed not to do it.”

SP’s Gaurav Bhatia recalled that the Prime Minister had recently told his partymen that such statements will not be tolerated.

“And again we hear the habitual offender Yogi Adityanath making such a statement. In our country everyone has the right to profess his religion, to have his own belief system and no body can force his own belief system on any citizen,” he said.

Reacting to Adityanath’s remarks, Omar said on Twitter, “The solution to overcrowding in India since so many of us will have to pack our bags. Ek teer do shikar (killing two birds with one stone).”

(PTI)

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