The Indian Panorama

Tag: Sushma Swaraj

  • ADVANI Wants India To Unlock Unlimited Potential

    ADVANI Wants India To Unlock Unlimited Potential

    NEW DELHI (TIP): On a day when Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi took on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day speech, senior BJP leader L K Advani struck an optimistic note, saying “India has unlimited potential for the future”. In his address after hoisting the national flag at his residence, Advani said, “This past decade, which, as the prime minister said today, will get over in 2014.

    He has enumerated the achievements and the shortcomings of this decade. We should now be concerned about making the decade starting from 2014 an unprecedented one in India’s history. We should give it the best performance we can.” Striking a positive note, the BJP veteran said no one should be critical of each other on this occasion, rather each one should try to put in their best to ensure that India’s potential to shine in the 21st century is exploited.

    Since Advani was speaking moments after Modi’s speech in Gujarat, there was speculation that he was being critical of the Gujarat CM. However, the BJP veteran is learnt to have been unaware of the contents of Modi’s speech. Since the function at Advani’s residence was soon after the Red Fort event, which he attended, he was not aware of what Modi had said about the PM in his speech, it is learnt.

    Talking about a book on black money, which he is currently reading, Advani said, “The theme of the book is that though capitalism is good, if ethics and morality are set aside and people indulge in corruption, then it gives capitalism a bad name.” Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj took a dig at the PM for not mentioning the name of his immediate predecessor and BJP veteran Atal Bihari Vajpayee while lauding the work of earlier prime ministers.

    “Dr Manmohan Singh referred to four prime ministers who contributed to the making of India — all from the Congress party. He forgot even Lal Bahadur Shastri there. The contribution of Morarji Desai and Atal Bihari Vajpayee has been no less. This partisan approach does not go with the solemnity of this great occasion,” Swaraj said on Twitter.

    Later, BJP described the PM’s speech as “lacklustre and an outright disappointment” but hoped that the coming year — in which general elections are due — will usher in a new decade of growth. Party general secretary Rajiv Pratap Rudy described the PM’s speech as “an outright disappointment”. “The country had large expectations from the prime minister on his parting Independence Day speech which was full of hollow claims.

    Country would have the PM to express his stand on issues of national security, especially in the backdrop of Pakistan attacking Indian soldiers and China intruding into Indian territory,” Rudy said. BJP president Rajnath Singh said if voted to power his party will tackle internal and external security challenges facing the country. He described the recent communal violence in Kishtwar as a “challenge to democracy”.

  • Justice Sathasivam Sworn In As Chief Justice Of India

    Justice Sathasivam Sworn In As Chief Justice Of India

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Justice P Sathasivam was on July 19 sworn in as the 40th Chief Justice of India (CJI) by President Pranab Mukherjee. He took over the post from Justice Altamas Kabir, who served as the CJI for over nine months. Justice Sathasivam, 64, took oath in the name of God at a brief ceremony at Darbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan.

    Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice President Hamid Ansari, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley, NDA Working Chairperson L K Advani, CPI leader D Raja, several Union ministers were present at the ceremony.

    Justice Sathasivam was elevated to the Supreme Court in August, 2007 and would demit office on April 26, 2014. Like his predecessor, Justice Sathasivam is opposed to scrapping of the present collegium system for appointment of Supreme Court and high court judges.

  • Finally, PM sacks Ashwani Kumar, Pawan Bansal

    Finally, PM sacks Ashwani Kumar, Pawan Bansal

    NEW DELHI (TIP) : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh axed scam-tainted ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, two cabinet members seen to be close to him, late on Friday and hours after Congress president Sonia Gandhi expressed her displeasure at their continuance in office. In a meeting with Singh, Sonia is understood to have conveyed the party’s unease at growing public anger against the government for not acting against railways minister Bansal and law minister Kumar, who have made headlines for all the wrong reasons.

    Labour minister Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to be given additional charge of railways and telecom minister Kapil Sibal or petroleum minister Veerappa Moily may look after the law ministry, sources said. Bansal’s continuation had become untenable after his nephew was arrested by the CBI last week for accepting a R90-lakh bribe for fixing a high-level appointment in the railway board and subsequent investigations showed the scam was leading right up to the minister’s door.

    Kumar came in the line of fire for having interfered in the ongoing CBI probe into Coalgate, which led to the washout of the second half of the budget session with the Opposition demanding the PM’s resignation and the sacking of the law minister. Though Bansal’s resignation was a foregone conclusion given the incriminating evidence mounting against him, Kumar’s exit appeared uncertain due to the PM’s continued support, until Sonia stepped in.

    Her political secretary Ahmed Patel was present when the PM summoned Bansal and Kumar to seek their resignations and draw a line under the controversy that had even deflated some of the euphoria over the Congress’ win in Karnataka. Kumar’s continuation had given rise to strong speculation about a divide between the party leadership and the PM, since Singh was learnt to be of the view that Supreme Court had not made any adverse comments against Kumar and a case for ousting him was not made out.

    First signs that the Congress had decided to dump both the controversial ministers came during the party’s briefing earlier in the day, when its spokesperson stressed a zero tolerance policy for corruption and any kind of manipulation. “Congress is not going to tolerate any corruption.

    It will not spare anybody mired in corruption…If anybody is involved in manipulation, that cannot be spared,” said party spokesperson Bhakta Charan Das. The resignations of two key Congress ministers, coming less than a fortnight before celebrations to mark the UPA’s ninth year in office, gave the Opposition a chance to attack it yet again. Sushma Swaraj, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, tweeted that the government could have prevented a washout of the budget session had it accepted the BJP’s demand to sack the two ministers.

    The session was adjourned on Wednesday, two days ahead of scheduled, and the passage of key bills was rendered impossible

  • Parties reach consensus on Land Bill

    Parties reach consensus on Land Bill

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The government on April 17 achieved “broad consensus” on the long-pending Land Acquisition Bill, paving the way for the contentious legislation to be taken up for consideration and passage in the Budget Session that resumes on Monday. “We have reached a broad consensus on the Land Acquisition Bill,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said after the allparty meeting. The Bill proposes to replace the archaic Land Acquisition Act, 1894. The government agreed to a key demand of the BJP, which suggested that instead of acquisition, land could be leased to developers so that its ownership remains with farmers and also provides them with regular income. Sushma said the land mafia had bought huge tracts of land from farmers in the hope for four times compensation from the government. “I gave 12 suggestions and the government agreed to almost all of them.We have told the government that when you acquire land, you should give 50 per cent of the compensation to the original farmer and the government has agreed to that,” she said. Sources said the government would amend the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011, to provide the enabling provision for states to enact laws in this regard as leasing of land was a state subject.

    However, Left parties and DMK still have reservations on certain issues. The CPM is demanding consent of all families affected by land acquisition, whereas the Bill currently provides for agreement from at least 80 per cent affected persons. CPM leader Basudeb Acharia said the original Bill had been diluted and the current version was against the interest of farmers. “We will move amendments when the Bill is taken up in Parliament,” he said. DMK leader TR Baalu claimed that the Bill was against the Constitution’s federal structure.

    He has been asked to give suggestions on the issues by tomorrow. The forward movement on the Bill is a big relief for Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. The first all-party meet on the Bill on April 9 had failed to iron out differences between the government and the BJP, SP and the Left Front. Ever since, Ramesh had been reaching out to leaders of various political parties to work out points of disagreement. Over the past one week, he met BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury for their support to the Bill. “The atmosphere was positive. If Parliament functions, we will be able to get this Bill through,” he said today.

    The Land Acquisition Bill has emerged as one of UPA’s flagship projects and is followed keenly by chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Congress strategists believe that land reforms can do for the UPA II what the job guarantee scheme and loan waiver had for the UPA I. It was Sonia who had vetoed the clause that said consent of 67% landowners would suffice for the government to acquire land.

    The draft legislation provides compensation for owners of acquired land to be four times the market value in rural areas and twice the market value in urban areas. In case of land acquisition for use by private companies or public-private partnerships, consent of 80 per cent displaced people will be required. Considering its far-reaching implications, the Bill has been through various procedural stages. Introduced in Parliament in September 2011, it was subsequently referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee, which submitted its recommendations in May 2012. Ministries related to infrastructure and commerce insisted on changes to provisions that were perceived as hurdles to investment and industry. The industry felt that terms of compensation and rehabilitation provided by Bill would be detrimental to it.

    THE BREAKTHROUGH

    -The government agreed to a key BJP demand that instead of acquisition, land could be leased to developers

  • Angry Sushma tells govt not to challenge BJP, challenge Pakistan

    Angry Sushma tells govt not to challenge BJP, challenge Pakistan

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Raising the issue of terror attack in the CRPF camp in Srinagar, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj on March 14 accused the government of not being concerned about CRPF jawans losing their lives in attacks by militants sponsored by Pakistan. “Are the top leaders of the government not concerned about terrorism? ” she asked and said: “Don’t challenge BJP, instead, let us unite and ‘challenge Pakistan unitedly.” “We should not challenge each other.

    We should be challenging Pakistan in one voice,” she said. ” It is sad that on a terror attack that the Parliament should seriously discuss, the members are challenging each other,” she added. Swaraj further asked the government to explain reports that there were intelligence inputs about the attack. “Why were the jawans not saved despite that?” she asked. She also criticized External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who was in the House, for lunching recently with Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf when he visited the Ajmer Dargah or shrine near Jaipur last weekend.

    Union Home Secretary R.K. Singh on Wednesday said the terrorists who posed as cricketers and attacked the CRPF camp in Srinagar were from Pakistan. “Both the terrorists, who have been killed, appeared prima-facie to be not local, but from across the border. And the first impression is that they are probably from Pakistan,” he told media here.

  • Aggressive Pm Tears Into Bjp

    Aggressive Pm Tears Into Bjp

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on March 7 donned an unusually aggressive mantle in the Lok Sabha as he tore into the Opposition BJP’s recent tirade against the Congress and dared it at the hustings, saying people will repeat UPA at the Centre if they saw its track record. The quintessential economist listed one development statistic after the other to prove that in numbers, UPA’s nineyear rule was way above NDA’s. But more than the figures, it was the PM’s combative stance against the BJP leadership that took Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj and party president Rajnath Singh seated in the House by surprise. By the end of it, both were agitated enough to seek the right to reply to the PM,whose speech was described by Rajnath Singh as “ballistic, never heard before, but one that was akin to the last flight of a flame before it died”. As for the PM, he denounced Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s (without naming him) recent attack on him and the Congress leadership, saying, “At the BJP National Council meeting, leaders used choicest of abuses for the Congress leadership. It is not in my interest to reply to them in that language.

    Our work will speak for itself.” He went on to play his political part to perfection as he quoted Mirza Ghalib to provoke the Opposition MPs: “Humko unse wafa ki hai umeed jo nahi jaante wafa kya hai… (We expect loyalty from those that do not know the meaning of the word).” Sushma later countered him with a couplet: “Kuch to majbooriyaan rahi hongi, yun hi koi bewafa nahi hota (There must have been some compulsion, one is not disloyal for no reason)”. UPA chief Sonia Gandhi by his side, the PM sounded the poll bugle for the 2014 General Election, citing the BJP’s arrogance as its anathema and saying people would re-elect the UPA if they saw its track record of development.

    “Jo garajte hain woh baraste nahi (thundering clouds don’t yield rain),” the PM told the Opposition, reminding them of the 2004 Shining India campaign that fell flat. He then ticked off Sushma Swaraj, a confidante of BJP veteran LK Advani, saying, “In 2009, they fielded the Iron Man LK Advani against the lamb Manmohan Singh.We all know the results.We have not seen BJP’s arrogance for the first time. Shining India had led to disastrous results for them. If people were to look at our records, they would repeat what they did in 2004 and 2009.” The PM was speaking to the thumping of Treasury benches led by Sonia and Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

    He was replying to the Motion of Thanks by MPs to the President for his address to the joint session of Parliament. The motion was carried by a voice vote, but not before the PM’s reply became the trigger for a visible UPA-NDA war of words in the House. Before provoking the BJP, the PM had taken enough time to list how the UPA’s rule yielded better results on development. So, he said how growth rate of agriculture production was 3.7% in 2005-2011 as against just 2.9% in 1998- 2003; how per capita consumption in rural areas during UPA’s time is 3.4% as against 0.8% in the NDA’s rule among others.

  • Bjp To Boycott Home Minister Shinde For ‘Saffron Terror’ Remarks

    Bjp To Boycott Home Minister Shinde For ‘Saffron Terror’ Remarks

    NEW DELHI (TIP): The BJP has decided to boycott allpublic programmes of Home Minister Sushil KumarShinde to protest against his Hindu terror remarks till hetenders an apology. It will also not respond to anycommunication from him to the party top brass in hiscapacity as Leader of the House.The decision was taken in the first Core Group meetingof the BJP after Rajnath Singh took over as party presidenton January 23. “The Core Group observed that Mr Shinde’sremarks have hurt Hindu sentiments.

    It condemned hiscomments that the BJP and RSS run terror training camps.The party has decided that its members and workers willboycott all public programmes in which Mr Shinde takespart,” BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar toldreporters.The BJP will also not respond to any communication orrequest for meetings from Mr Shinde to the party’s seniorparliamentarians, including NDA Working Chairperson LKAdvani, and leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha,Sushma Swaraj.

    Shinde may find it difficult to getgovernment business through during the forthcomingbudget session of Parliament if the BJP does not respondto his calls for discussions on crucial issues.However, the BJP president said his party does notintend to boycott Shinde inside Parliament and will notdisrupt proceedings when he rises to speak.

    “But we willraise this issue (Mr Shinde’s remarks on Hindu terror) inParliament,” he said.Significantly, this strategy of the BJP appears to be aslight climbdown, as the party had earlier insisted thatPrime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA ChairpersonSonia Gandhi should apologise for Shinde’s remarks andthat he should be sacked from the post of home minister.

    The home minister had alleged during the CongressChintan Shivir in Jaipur last month that the BJP and RSSwere involved in training their cadre in terror activitiesand those allegedly involved in Hindu terror acts wereaffiliated to them.

  • India Rejects Pakistan demand for UN probe

    India Rejects Pakistan demand for UN probe

    NEW DELHI (TIP): India has rejected Pakistan’s demand that the UN be asked to probe allegations that Pakistani troops killed and beheaded two Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir as Indian political parties called for “tough” action against Pakistan. “That (Pakistan’s) demand is rejected out of hand. We will not internationalize the issue nor go to the United Nations,” Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

    He said the cabinet committee on security was briefed about the January 8 killings near the Line of Control (LoC). “Our report is that the Indian forces did not violate the ceasefire (in place in LoC since 203),” he said. In Islamabad, Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar reiterated the demand for a third party enquiry into ceasefire violations on the LoC. Khar, addressing a news conference, said Islamabad abides by the 2003 ceasefire. She added that Pakistan has also contacted UN Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to probe the killing of one of its soldiers Jan 6 in alleged firing by Indian troops. She had a day ago denied the killing of Indian soldiers was a “tit-for-tat” reaction.

    According to Radio Pakistan, a Pakistani soldier was killed when “Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing at Tatta Pani Sector in Kotli on January 10”. Hamid Mir of Geo TV said in a tweet: ‘Tatta Pani sector of Kashmir became another battlefield, one Pakistani soldier Havaldar Mohyudin martyred by Indian shelling.’ Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said the heightened border tensions will not to come in the way of a liberalized visa agreement between India and Pakistan. ‘The visa agreement (inked last year) will be carried out as scheduled, there is no rethink on it,’ Shinde told reporters. National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon noted that ceasefire violations by Pakistan on the LoC had increased last year. ‘There has been an increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan and in infiltration attempts in 2012 over 2011.’ The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said it would organize nation-wide protests Friday over the killings of the two soldiers. ‘People are very angry over this matter,’ BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitaraman said, adding: ‘We hold the Pakistan government and army accountable for breaking the ceasefire.’ ‘We should give proof, name and shame Pakistan for having done this… we can’t afford to have our goodwill misused,’ she added.

    BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said the party would support the UPA government if it takes ‘tough’ decisions against Pakistan for the killings. Shiv Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray demanded that India should ‘take revenge’ against Pakistan for the brutal killing of the two soldiers.

    Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati asked the government to take ‘strong action’ to ensure that such brutalities are not repeated and that India-Pakistan relations did not suffer. The US has asked India and Pakistan to talk to each other to improve relations. ‘We’re urging both sides to take steps to end the violence.

    We continue to strongly support any efforts to improve relations between the two countries,’ State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters in Washington. The UNMOGIP has asked India and Pakistan to respect the ceasefire and de-escalate tensions. The UNMOGIP said it has received an official complaint from the Pakistan Army to probe the Jan 6 killing of a Pakistani soldier. But Martin Nesirky, spokesman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, said no official complaint had been from India or Pakistan on the second ‘alleged incident’ of Jan 8 for a probe.

    Indian Army sources have denied a media report linking the current border skirmishes to an elderly Kashmiri woman crossing into Pakistani Kashmir to be with her children. The sources also denied the Indian Army had transgressed the LoC on Jan 6, and said soldiers had only carried out ‘controlled retaliation’ in response to a ceasefire violation by Pakistan.

  • Hizbul, LeT Continue to be Dominant in J&K: Shinde

    Hizbul, LeT Continue to be Dominant in J&K: Shinde

    NEW DELHI (TIP): Barely two days before he is scheduled to take up the counter-terrorism issues with his Pakistani counterpart Rehman Malik, the Union home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on December 12 informed a Parliamentary panel that the terror outfits Hizbul-Mujahideen (HM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) continued to be the “dominant” militant groups in Jammu and Kashmir. He said these outfits were mostly operating from Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipore, Anantnag and Pulwama districts in Kashmir and Poonch, Ramban and Rajouri in Jammu region.

    “This issue is being addressed from the security point of view and also taken up diplomatically with Pakistan”, Shinde said during the Consultative Committee meeting of his ministry on “security situation in J&K” on Wednesday. Malik will arrive here on three-day official visit on Friday. Besides launching the revised visa agreementsigned in Islamabad in September – between the two countries, both Malik and Shinde will also discuss issues concerning counter-terrorism measures, border management, fake Indian currency notes and cooperation among security and investigation agencies during a meeting.

    Malik will call on PM Manmohan Singh, national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon and leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on Saturday. Maintaining that the terror-related violence in J&K was at its “lowest”, Shinde told the Consultative Committee members that this has been made possible because of the yearning among the people in the state for peace and the successful measures taken by security forces of the state and Central government in restricting infiltration from across the Line of Control (LoC) and various other counter-insurgency actions on all fronts. Issues relating to migrants, rehabilitation of the surrendered militants, speedy implementation of Prime Minister’s Reconstruction Programme and PM’s Package for Return and Rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants to the state were also discussed in the Committee meeting.

  • India, Pakistan to Launch New Visa Regime

    India, Pakistan to Launch New Visa Regime

    NEW DELHI (TIP): A revised visa agreement between india and Pakistan will be launched when Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik arrives on a three-day visit to India. Besides the revised visa agreement, the two countries would also discuss counter-terrorism, border management, fake Indian currency notes and cooperation among security and investigation agencies, said officials. Malik will call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj on December 15, they said.

    The official delegation accompanying Malik includes members from interior ministry, foreign ministry, and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) among others. This is Malik’s first official visit to India. From the Indian side, besides Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, his junior RPN Singh and senior officials from home ministry, external affairs ministry and various security agencies would take part in the deliberations. Malik is visiting India at Shinde’s invitation.

  • Cabinet reshuffle: UPA ministry gets 17 new faces, core team stays

    Cabinet reshuffle: UPA ministry gets 17 new faces, core team stays

    New Delhi (TIP): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s imprint on the October 28 reshuffle in the Council of Ministers is evident with several leaders who are in favor of more economic reforms now a part of his new core team.
    In the biggest reshuffle of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Cabinet, Manmohan Singh inducted 17 new faces and a total of 22 ministers giving several new and young faces a chance to prove their mettle as his government tries to remove the taint of scams and non-performance from its progress report. The Congress has also shown that it is the big brother in the UPA by having 69 of the 79 ministers, including the Railways.
    The big movers include Salman Khurshid who has been made the External Affairs Minister, a portfolio which is considered to be very close to the Prime Minister. Khurshid’s move to the Ministry of External Affairs from Law & Justice and Minority Affairs is seen as an elevation despite allegation of his involvement in a scam in Uttar Pradesh. Ashwani Kumar had got the important portfolio of Law, which has been working overtime due the exposure of several corruption cases involving leaders of the ruling coalition.
    MM Pallam Raju, too, has been elevated from Minister of State for Defence and is now the Human Resource Minister while Pawan Kumar Bansal is the new Railways Minister with Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and KJ Surya Prakash Reddy as his junior ministers. CP Joshi was holding the Railways portfolio as additional charge after the Trinamool Congress quit the UPA and withdrew its ministers in September 2012 following differences over economic reforms.
    The PM has given young faces a chance to prove their mettle. But Salman Khurshid despite corruption allegations has been made the MEA.
    Manish Tewari with Information and Broadcasting and Telugu film superstar-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi, who has been given the Tourism portfolio are some of the new faces in the Council of Ministers. Both have been made the Ministers of State with independent charge. Shashi Tharoor, who had to quit as MoS External Affairs in April 2010 in the wake of allegations of wrongdoing in buying stakes in an IPL team, has made a comeback and is now Ministers of State Human Resource. Ajay Maken, too, has been elevated to the Cabinet rank and will handle the Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Ministry. Maken at 48 years is also the youngest Cabinet minister in the Manmohan Singh government.
    The Prime Minister has kept with core economic team with Anand Sharma retaining the Commerce Ministry despite the political upheavel over foreign direct investments. However, S Jaipal Reddy has been out of Petroleum Ministry and given the low-profile Science & Technology and Earth Sciences portfolio.
    Kapil Sibal, too, has been downgraded and now only the Minister of Communications and Information Technology while Minister of Health and Family Welfare Ghulam Nabi Azad’s desire for a high profile portfolio has been ignored.
    The focus of the reshuffle was on inducting new and young faces with the states of Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal cornering the major share out of the 22 ministers sworn in. While Andhra Pradesh has six new faces, West Bengal gets three more representatives. The move to give prominence to Andhra and Bengal is seen as a strategy to counter the Telangana statehood issue and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has pulled out of the UPA following differences over economic reforms.
    Former Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and veteran leader from Karnataka K Rahman Khan, despite allegations of involvement in a scam involving Wakf Board land, made a re-entry into the government as Minority Affairs Minister, a portfolio held by Khurshid. In UPA-I, Khan was a Minister of State. Dinsha Patel was promoted as Cabinet Minister in Mines Ministry in the reshuffle and expansion.
    Rahul Gandhi, who was earlier speculated to join the government, kept away with the Prime Minister saying the young leader wants to strengthen the party, notwithstanding his request to become a minister. The exercise, which the Prime Minister said was “hopefully, probably the last” before next Lok Sabha polls, was confined to Congress party barring the inclusion of Tariq Anwar of NCP as a Minister of State.
    The ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan attended by Vice President Hamid Ansari, the Prime Minister, Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Cabinet Ministers and Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj.
    The Prime Minister took away portfolios from ministers holding more than one charge and filled in the vacancies created by exit of six Trinamool Ministers, death of Vilasrao Deshmukh and resignation of eight Ministers including SM Krishna, Virbhadra Singh, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and Subodh Kant Sahai.
    Another significant promotion has been made in the case of Ashwani Kumar who has been upgraded to the Cabinet rank and given the charge of the Law Ministry held by Khurshid. Yet another upgradation has been made in the case of Harish Rawat, who was overlooked for the post of chief minister of Uttarakhand earlier in 2012 and had revolted. From MoS in Agriculture Ministry, he has now been made a Cabinet Minister for Water Resources.
    Significant changes have also been made by upgrading three young Ministers of State, considered close to Rahul Gandhi, and giving them independent charge. They are Jyotiraditya Scindia who has been given Power and Sachin Pilot Corporate Affairs, both of which were held by Moily in Cabinet rank. Jitendra Singh, who was MoS in Home Ministry, has been given Youth and Sports Affairs.
    Veteran Congress leader and MoS K H Muniyappa has been shifted from Railways to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Bharatsinh Solanki from Railways to Drinking Water and Sanitation with Independent charge. The other Ministers of State who have been shifted are D Purandeswari (from HRD to Commerce and Industry), Jitin Prasada (from Road Transport to Defence and HRD), S Jagathrakshakan (from I&B to New and Renewable Energy), KC Venugopal (from Power to Civil Aviation) and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajiv Shukla who gets additional charge of Planning. MoS External Affairs E Ahamed has shed the additional charge of HRD while RPN Singh has been shifted from Petroleum to Home.
    Below is the full list of the ministers in the Union Cabinet after the reshuffle.
    Cabinet Ministers:
    l K Rahman Khan: Minority Affairs
    l Dinsha J Patel: Mines
    l Ajay Maken: Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation
    l MM Pallam Raju: Human Resource Development
    l Ashwani Kumar: Law & Justice
    l Harish Rawat: Water Resources
    l Chandresh Kumari Katoch: Culture
    l M Veerappa Moily: Petroleum & Natural Gas
    l S Jaipal Reddy: Science & Technology and Earth Sciences
    l Kamal Nath: Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs
    l Vayalar Ravi: Overseas Indian Affairs
    l Kapil Sibal: Communications & Information Technology
    l CP Joshi: Road Transport & Highways
    l Kumari Selja: Social Justice & Empowerment
    l Pawan Kumar Bansal: Railways
    l Salman Khurshid: External Affarirs

    l Jairam Ramesh: Rural Development
    l Manmohan Singh: Prime Minister, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Planning, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space
    l P Chidambaram: Finance
    l Sharad Pawar: Agriculture Minister, Minister of Food Processing Industries
    l AK Antony: Defence
    l Sushil Kumar Shinde: Minister of Home Affairs
    l Ghulam Nabi Azad: Minister of Health and Family Welfare
    l Dr. Farooq Abdullah: Minister of New and Renewable Energy
    l Ajit Singh: Civil Aviation
    l Mallikarjun Kharge: Minister of Labour and Employment
    l Kapil Sibal: Minister of Communications and Information Technology
    l Anand Sharma: Minister of Commerce and Industry, Minister of Textiles
    l GK Vasan: Shipping
    l MK Alagiri: Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
    l Praful Manoharbhai Patel: Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
    l Sriprakash Jaiswal: Minister of Coal
    l V Kishore Chandra Deo: Minister of Tribal Affairs, Minister of Panchayati Raj
    l Beni Prasad Verma: Minister of Steel

    Ministers of State (Independent Charge)
    l Manish Tewari: Information & Broadcasting
    l K Chiranjeevi: Tourism
    l Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia: Power
    l KH Muniyappa: Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
    l Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki: Drinking Water & Sanitation
    l Sachin Pilot: Corporate Affairs
    l Jitendra Singh: Youth Affairs & Sports
    l Krishna Tirath: Ministry of Women and Child Development
    l Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas: Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution
    l Srikant Kumar Jena: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
    l Jayanthi Natarajan: Ministry of Environment and Forests
    l Paban Singh Ghatowar: Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs

    Ministers of state
    l Shashi Tharoor: Human Resource Development
    l Kodikunnil Suresh: Labour & Employment
    l Tariq Anwar: Agriculture & Food Processing Industries
    l KJ Surya Prakash Reddy: Railways
    l Ranee Narah: Tribal Affairs
    l Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Railways
    l AH Khan Choudhury: Health & Family Welfare
    l Sarvey Sathyanarayana: Road Transport & Highways
    l Ninong Ering: Minority Affairs
    l Deepa Dasmunsi: Urban Development
    l Porika Balram Naik: Social Justice & Empowerment
    l Dr (Smt) Kruparani Killi: Communications & Information Technology
    l Lalchand Kataria: Defence
    l E Ahamed: External Affairs
    l D Purandeswari: Commerce & Industry
    l Jitin Prasada: Defence & Human Resource Development
    l Dr S Jagathrakshakan: New & Renewable Energy
    l RPN Singh: Home
    l KC Venugopal: Civil Aviation
    l Rajeev Shukla: Parliamentary Affairs & Planning
    l V Narayanasamy: Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Prime Minister Office
    l Lakshmi Panabaka: Ministry of Textiles
    l Namo Narain Meena: Ministry of Finance
    l SS Palanimanickam: Ministry of Finance
    l Preneet Kaur: Ministry of External Affairs
    l D Napoleon: Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
    l S Gandhiselvan: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
    l Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
    l Pratik Prakashbapu Patil: Ministry of Coal
    l Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ministry of Corporate Affairs
    l Pradeep Kumar Jain Aditya: Ministry of Rural Development
    l Charan Das Mahant: Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Ministry of Food Processing Industries
    l Milind Murli Deora: Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

  • Nitin Gadkari to continue as BJP president, but second term at risk

    Nitin Gadkari to continue as BJP president, but second term at risk

    New Delhi (TIP): BJP president Nitin Gadkari, confronting corruption charges, will remain in office for now despite corruption charges. He left for Himachal Pradesh today after the party allowed him to proceed with his scheduled campaign trail in the state ahead of next month’s elections.

    Mr Gadkari arrived in Delhi on Friday evening from Nagpur and met privately with the BJP’s senior most leader, LK Advani. He then met with other colleagues like Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

    “The party is unanimous in backing him,” said spokesperson Prakash Javadekar late after the meetings ended. Mr Gadkari was praised for his willingness to accept an enquiry into his business dealings. Sources in the party say that he did not offer to resign. His term as president expires in December.

    Over the last week, allegations of financial malpractices by his businesses have engulfed Mr Gadkari. But the BJP has calculated that if he is removed now, it may appear as an admission of guilt or distract voters in the forthcoming elections in states like Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Selecting a replacement would also be messy – the party is finding it difficult to decide who to pick as its candidate for prime minister ahead of the general elections in 2014; there are many fractious contenders.

    But while his party is backing him for now, the chances of a second term as president for Mr Gadkari are quickly dissipating.

    He had reportedly been asked by the BJP’s parent body, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS to explain the charges against him to senior colleagues.

    In a statement earlier on Friday evening, the RSS suggested its support for Mr Gadkari has ebbed substantially. “It has been an article of faith with the RSS that any individual or organization in any illegal activity must be subjected to impartial probe,” the RSS said in an emailed statement today. “We are saddened with efforts to drag the RSS name into these allegations,” it said, stressing that the charges have not been investigated by an authorized agency.

    By striding away from the controversy, the RSS has reinvigorated its frisson with the BJP. In 2009, the RSS conferred presidency upon Mr Gadkari against the wishes of senior BJP leaders like LK Advani. Just last month, the BJP’s rules were amended, again under considerable pressure from the RSS, to allow Mr Gadkari a second consecutive term as president, a move that may soon be aborted.

    The shadowy credentials of his vast business empire, and the companies that have invested in it, were first reported on NDTV last weekend. Mr Gadkari had appeared in its studio to counter charges of ghost investors in Purti Power and Sugar Limited, co-founded by him in 2000. He quit as its chairman last year and now holds about 200 shares in the company.

    Since then, a series of reports have exhumed other insalubrious details. Some of the companies that have bought equity in Purti share bogus addresses; their directors have included his former driver, an astrologer and a baker. Yesterday, another NDTV expose highlighted that a firm that bought stake in Purti was, a year later, loaned money by Mr Gadkari and his firm, a tactic normally used for money-laundering and round-tripping, which involves selling an asset with the understanding that it will be bought back, often used for tax evasion.