Former Tamil Nadu minister's house raided
DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister K.P.P.Samy's house was Friday raided by vigilance officials following charges of his accumulating assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, an official said.
In a statement issued here, the anti-corruption wing of the state government said: "On specific information that K.P.P.Samy, former minister for fisheries, had accumulated assets in his name and in the name of his family members, disproportionate to his known sources of income, a discreet enquiry was conducted by the DVAC (Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption)."
According to DVAC, a case has been registered against Samy based on the outcome of the enquiry for accumulating movable and immovable assets in his and in the name of his family members to the tune of Rs.29,52,820 between June 1, 2006 to March 31, 2010, while he was the fisheries minister.
During the investigation, search was conducted at the house of Samy here and evaluation of the house is also being carried out, DVAC said.
Since the AIADMK came to power in May 2011, DVAC has raided the residences of several former DMK ministers, including D. Duraimurugan, K.N. Nehru, T.M. Anbarasan, K. Ponmudi, N. Suresh Rajan, Pongalur N. Palanisamy, M.R.K. Panneerselvam, K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, K.R. Periakaruppan, A. Tamilarasi, Thangam Thenarasu and N.K.K.P. Raja.
DMK leader and former Tamil Nadu minister
Amid a furore over increasing number of minors, unmarried and even elderly people being sterilized without their consent in Madhya Pradesh, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan Friday ordered that there should be no forced sterilizations for the sake of meeting targets.
"It should be ensured that there is no coercion in the name of meeting the target of vasectomy. The officers should send this instruction to the field staff," the chief minister said in his instruction to collectors and divisional commissioners during a video conferencing programme.
"Exercise precautions that the field staff does not indulge in acts like issuing notices and enticing people for meeting their targets. All the departments should undertake joint efforts for creating awareness among people towards family welfare," he added. Chief Secretary Avani Vaish and director general of police S.K. Raut were also present.
The chief minister's concern comes as an increasing number of cases of forced sterilizations are coming to light in the state.
On Friday, an under-18 youth of Rewa district complained to the collector that his sterilization was done when he went to a health centre to get medicine for fever.
"I had gone to take medicine for fever. But the compounder told me that whoever comes to the health centre can not go without sterilization, and they conducted my vasectomy operation," said the teenager.
He along with his father complained to the collector of Rewa district S.N. Rupla.
"Such operations can not take place without anyone's permission. I have ordered an inquiry into it," said collector Rewa.
Subramanian Swamy finds Sonia Gandhi 'root cause of corruption' in India
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Sunday accused Congress President Sonia Gandhi of causing corruption in the country.
"The root cause of corruption, which is spreading in India is Sonia Gandhi. Till the time Sonia Gandhi would not get punished, it is impossible to remove corruption from the country," he told the media here.
Swamy also criticised Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, saying the latter was not the appropriate candidate for the Prime Minister's post.
"Rahul Gandhi is a 'fool'. He is not eligible to become Prime Minister and I cannot reveal his false deeds right now. However, if the decision of electing him as the Prime Minister would come in force then I would reveal all the truths related with him as I did with Sonia Gandhi and not let her become the Prime Minister," he added.
Further hitting out at P. Chidambaram, Subramanian Swamy said the Union Home Minister has been in 'active connivance' with former Telecom Minister A. Raja.wamy clearly stated that if the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, defended Chidambaram in the 2G scam then he would term the former to be a co-accused in the case.
"If he (Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) would back Chidambaram in 2G telecom scam then I assure you that I would hold Prime Minister a co-accused in the scam as after seeing a lot of proofs, he has no right to defend Chidambaram if he himself is not an accused," he said.
Chidambaram has been at the centre of political storm ever since certain reports revealed his alleged role in 'deciding' the prices of 2G-spectrum during his earlier tenure as the Finance Minister, thus embroiling him in the telecom scam.
His name cropped up in a recent letter of Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee addressed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in which Mukherjee blamed his predecessor for not sticking to the established procedures in auctioning of the 2-G spectrum.
Three UP BJP leaders resign after elevation of Rajnath's son
The infighting within Bhartiya Janata Party's (BJP) Uttar Pradesh again came to the fore here Sunday, when three functionaries resigned from their positions to protest against appointment of former party chief Rajnath Singh's son Pankaj as a general secretary. "We are at least ten years senior to Pankaj in the party and we have made out way up the ladder ; and here is this lad being imposed upon us from the top. This is not acceptable to us," declared state BJP secretary Daya Shankar Singh, who along with two of his co-secretaries, Santosh Singh and Ashwini Tyagi, have put in their papers in strong protest against the move. Singh and his two colleagues were understood to have shot off a joint letter off protest to state BJP chief Surya Pratap Shahi with a copy to national president Nitin Gadkari. The letter not only points out how the three office-bearers had struggled to rise to the state secretary level, but have also sought to draw the attention of the party leadership to what Gadkari has himself been telling people about his own rise from the grassroots level. Daya Shankar Singh told IANS: "Gadkari ji has time and again told us that he made his way up through the mill - right from pasting posters on the wall. We would like to know when did Pankaj Singh ever do any work in the party." Pankaj Singh was given the position of the party general secretary as compensation after he was denied a ticket for contesting next month's state assembly election. Having failed to have his way with Gadkari for a ticket for his son, Rajnath Singh was understood to have moved heaven and earth to get Pankaj installed on a key position in the party organisation. The move is seen as a major showdown for Rajnath Singh, who had also been state chief minister as well as an union minister in the past.
All eyes on Muslim vote in Uttar Pradesh
In the absence of a wave and no issue that could have an emotional sway on voters, the Muslim vote seems to be the one that could make or mar political fortunes in Uttar Pradesh. At least three of the four major players plus a newly-formed political outfit are clearly eying the 19 percent Muslim vote that may determine the destiny of India's most populous state of 200 million people. Until a few months back, it seemed that a good chunk of Muslims were tilting towards the Congress, thanks mainly to Rahul Gandhi's tours of the state. But with the Congress losing credibility on account of poor governance issues and its flip-flop on issues of minority development, the Muslim vote seems to be up for grabs again. Many saw Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party as the natural choice for the community, which had for long reposed its faith in the party, until he shook hands with one-time Hindutva strongman Kalyan Singh, better known as the Babri Masjid demolition man. Over the past two years, Mulayam moved heaven and earth to wash off that 'sin' of aligning with Kalyan. He even got his estranged Muslim face Azam Khan back in the party to re-establish credibility with Muslims. But would Mayawati let go the chance to grab the Muslim vote? She wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking job quota for Muslims. Mayawati's letter was sent late at night, hours before central minister Salman Khurshid disclosed that the government was working out a policy for providing reservation to Muslims. Then came the United Progressive Alliance's (UPA) announcement of a 4.5 percent reservation for Muslims. The Congress now found itself in a tight spot. While the new policy evoked appreciation from a section of Muslims, it annoyed a larger section of OBCs who would lose 4.5 percent of the 27 percent quota earmarked for them.