DAY 8
PM
takes on Congress
Our hands are clean, tells
party MPs
New Delhi, March 20
In a counter offensive, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today
lashed out at the Congress for blocking parliamentary proceedings for
five days, saying “those raising the bogey of corruption to come to
power will not be allowed to succeed”.
Thackeray
seeks Mishra’s ouster
Mumbai, March 20
Joining the Opposition attack on
the Prime Minister’s Office in the wake of the Tehelka expose, Shiv
Sena chief Bal Thackeray today demanded the immediate removal of
Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra and Officer on Special Duty N.K.
Singh from the PMO till the judicial inquiry into the scandal is
completed.
Tejpal
deposes before Army
New Delhi, March 20
Tehelka.com Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief Tarun Tejpal today
deposed before the Army’s court of inquiry and handed over the four
and half-hour film that his news portal had secretly taped showing
senior Army officers and politicians taking money from people posing
as arms dealers.
BSP
for action against Tehelka accused
New Delhi, March 20
The BSP today demanded immediate action against those who were
directly involved in taking money in the fictitious arms deals shown
in the Tehelka expose.
Fernandes
calls on President
New Delhi, March 20
NDA convener and former Defence Minister George Fernandes today met
President K.R. Narayanan and is understood to have presented his views
on the recent defence deal disclosures that saw his exit from the
Vajpayee Government.
DAY 9
PM
non-committal on Mishra’s ouster
New Delhi, March 21
Prime Minister Atal Behari
Vajpayee is keeping the option of the resignation of his Principal
Secretary Brajesh Mishra open as a way out for resolving the present
deadlock in Parliament.
George
didn’t push Barak deal: Navy chief
New Delhi, March 21
Former Defence Minister George Fernandes had not pushed through the
deal for Barak missiles to be deployed in warships as the Navy had
made up its mind to induct the anti sea-skimming missiles after
extensive trials, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sushil Kumar said
today.
Govt
dares Sonia for debate
Congress rejects offer
New Delhi, March 21
A day after Sonia Gandhi sought
an exclusive slot on Doordarshan for the Congress to speak on Tehelka
expose, the government challenged her to a one-to-one debate saying
Prasar Bharati had agreed to allocate a suitable time slot for it.
Nitish:
no money paid to Samata
New Delhi, March 21
The Samata Party today launched
its counter-offensive on the allegations made against the party
president, Ms Jaya Jaitley, in the Tehelka expose, by stating that
“no money was paid” nor “any defence deal was discussed.”
Tehelka
expose paralyses Houses
New Delhi, March 21
Parliament today approved the
crucial vote-on-account to meet the government expenditure beyond
March 31 with the Rajya Sabha returning the relevant money bills even
as the Opposition continued to stall proceedings in both Houses for
the seventh day over the corruption expose demanding the Vajpayee
Government’s resignation.
NCP
wants PM to remove Mishra
New Delhi, March 21
The National Congress Party (NCP)
today demanded the removal of Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra by
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
It
is a conspiracy: BJP
New Delhi, March 21
The BJP today said that there was
a conspiracy to weaken the country behind the three latest incidents
— alleged burning of Qoran followed by widespread violence,
tehelka.com expose and fluctuations in share markets — to weaken the
economy.
DAY 10
Tehelka
shows further footage
New Delhi, March 22
tehelka.com today said that it had mistakenly assumed that the money
handed over at the residence of former Defence Minister George
Fernandes was to Mr Sreenivasa Prasad but showed additional footage
that contained a shot of an unidentified man receiving Rs 2 lakh from
its reporters posing as arms dealers inside the residence.
Tehelka
expose shows intelligence failure
New Delhi, March 22
While the Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance government is
trying hard to come out of the sticky situation it has been put in by
the disclosures made in the video tapes brought out by tehelka.com,
questions are being raised about the role of the intelligence
agencies.
Home
Ministry orders probe
New Delhi, March 22
The Ministry of Home Affairs today ordered a probe against one of its
officers, Mr Thomas Mathew, who has been alleged to be the mastermind
behind the Tehelka expose in an article published in an English daily.
PIL
for checking Tehelka from using site
against Army
New Delhi, March 22
A public interest litigation (PIL),
filed in the Delhi High Court today, sought to restrain tehelka.com
from using its news portal for activities which it alleged amounted to
“demoralising” the armed forces.
PM
should quit, says V.P. Singh
New Delhi, March 22
A former Prime Minister, Mr V.P. Singh, today charged the Prime
Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, with failing to check corruption
and said his government should have resigned owning “constructive
responsibility”.
VHP
backs PM, for action against guilty
New Delhi, March 22
Terming the Tehelka expose as an international conspiracy to
destabilise the country, the VHP, today asked Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee to punish everyone, including officials in the PMO, if
they were found guilty in the investigations into the Tehelka expose.
DAY 11
NDA,
Cong to go to people
Tehelka disclosures
New Delhi, March 23
With the stalemate in Parliament over the Tehelka tapes expose
unresolved, the ruling NDA and Congress are set to take their case to
people through rallies and demonstrations during the three-week recess
in Parliament.
PM:
Oppn should observe limits
New Delhi, March 23
The Prime Minister, Mr Atal
Behari Vajpayee, who is under attack from the Opposition after the
tehelka expose, tonight asked the opposition parties to stay “within
the limits of decency” even as he expressed confidence that his
government would sail through the present stormy political phase.
MPs:
review arms purchase modes
New Delhi, March 23
On the heels of the Tehelka expose, a parliamentary committee has come
out with its report which says that secrecy in the name of defence
should not be used as a weapon to cover up corruption and inefficiency
in defence procurement procedures.
Tehelka
tapes doctored: Advani
New Delhi, March 23
Union Home Minister L.K. Advani
today asserted that the NDA government would last till it enjoyed
majority.
Laxman
to keep off executive meeting
New Delhi, March 23
Having embarrassed the BJP by handling wads of currency notes on the
Tehelka tapes, former party president Bangaru Laxman has decided to
keep away from the two-day national executive of the party beginning
here tomorrow.
Oppn
viewpoint ignored: CPM
New Delhi, March 23
The CPM today charged the government with ignoring the Opposition
viewpoint on the Tehelka expose and said the government media was
being used to downplay the charges.
DAY 12
SC
ex-judge to probe expose
New Delhi, March 24
Ten days after the Tehelka expose
triggered a political storm, the government today appointed a
Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice K. Venkataswami, a retired
Supreme Court judge, to probe the allegations about bribery in defence
deals involving politicians and bureaucrats made in the news
portal’s video tapes.
BJP’s
solidarity show today
New Delhi, March 24
In the first public show of
strength in the wake of the Tehelka expose, the Prime Minister and
senior NDA leaders, including former Defence Minister George
Fernandes, will address a rally being organised by the ruling combine
here tomorrow.
BJP
sees Cong conspiracy
New Delhi, March 24
Though Assembly elections in five
states are still some distance away, the political battle between the
Congress and the BJP-led NDA government has become fierce with both
levelling charges of conspiracy against each other and planning to go
on the offensive in their countrywide rallies starting tomorrow.
Congress rules
out no-trust vote
Dehra Dun, March 24
There is no move by the Congress
to bring a vote of no confidence against the Central Government in the
near future after the expose of a shady arms deal by tehelka.com.
Addressing mediapersons here this evening, Mr Santosh Bagrodia, member
of the Upper House and a senior Congress leader, said the government
should resign owning collective responsibility.
DAY 13
Make
party funding transparent: PM
Says media not to be blamed for expose
New Delhi, March 25
The National Executive meeting of the BJP today concluded its two- day
session, finalising an elaborate strategy for regaining people’s
confidence with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee stressing the need
for introspection. Govt
not to resign, says Vajpayee
New Delhi, March 25
Making a frontal attack on the
Congress, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said that his
government would not bow to the Opposition’s demand for its
resignation.
Bid
to lower forces’ morale: Fernandes
New Delhi, March 25
Former Defence Minister George Fernandes today alleged that an attempt
was being made to lower the morale of the armed forces and the recent
developments were part of the larger design that was going on for some
years.
Congress
observes ‘dhikkar divas’
Demands govt’s dismissal
New Delhi, March 25
The Delhi Pradesh Congress
Committee (DPCC) workers today held a unique rally of tempos and trucks
here to press for the dismissal of the Vajpayee government and arrest of
those accused of taking bribe in the Tehelka expose.
Army court
summons Gen Murgai
New Delhi, March 25
The Army court of inquiry has
summoned retired Major-Gen S.P. Murgai, a key figure in the expose by
tehelka.com on defence deals, to appear before it next week, Army
sources said. Maj-General Murgai, who retired recently as Additional
Director-General, Quality Assurance, Army Headquarters, has reportedly
been missing since the expose. CM
‘misleading’ masses on Tehelka
Rohtak, March 25
The HPCC chief, Mr Bhupender Singh Hooda, has alleged that the Haryana
Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, is misleading the masses to
shield the Union Government from the tehelka.com expose. Expose
casts shadow on J&K
New Delhi
Whatever else the Tehelka expose
may or may not have achieved, one thing appears to be clear:
policy-makers in New Delhi at most levels have put the crisis in Kashmir
on the back burner. BJP
men burn Sonia’s effigy
Jammu, March 25
The Tehelka expose seems to have
brought the state units of the BJP and the Congress out of their
“slumber.” In reply to a protest the Congress staged here three days
ago, in which effigies of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and the
former BJP chief Bangaru Laxman, were set ablaze, BJP workers held
protest rally here today shouting “chor machai shor”.
DAY 14
BJP men still demoralised?
New Delhi, March 26
For all its efforts in fighting the
fallout of Tehelka tapes, BJP workers do not seem to have fully come out
of the setback and regain their enthusiasm.
Cong:
Sonia never called PM ‘gaddar’
New Delhi, March 26
The Congress today accused the NDA
leaders of using harsh and provocative words against the party at its
rally yesterday and said that Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s
using words like “war” was unfortunate for democracy. HC
notice to Mishra on J.K. Jain’s plea
New Delhi, March 26
The Delhi High Court today issued notices to the Centre, Prime
Minister’s Principal Secretary Brajesh Mishra and Secretary Research
and Analysis Wing (RAW) on a petition by Jain TV proprietor J.K. Jain,
seeking inquiry into “a confidential report” describing him as an
agent of Pakistan’s Intelligence Service ISI. Edit:
BJP’s
tehelka session
A KEY success at the
two-day national executive meeting of the BJP was its unqualified
support to the economic policies of the alliance government.
DAY 15
PM’s hold on
BJP weakens
New Delhi,
March 27
The two day meeting of the National
Executive of the BJP which concluded its deliberations here on Sunday
marks the beginning of the end of the “Vajpayee era” and return to
the days of “collective leadership”.
Cong
smells a rat
New Delhi, March 27
The Congress today said the terms of reference of the Commission of
Inquiry probing the Tehelka episode, had been “so carefully framed as
to give a quiet burial to the stinking Tehelka scandal.”
Edit page:
Furore
over tehelka tapes
(On Target)
Questions of transparency and fair play
(Opinion)
DAY 16
PPCC to
screen Tehelka tapes in districts
New Delhi,
March 28
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee plans to take the Tehelka expose
to the people by screening the four-hour-long arms deal footage at every
block and district of the state in the coming days.
Chokila’s
circular on Tehelka routine: govt
New Delhi, March 28
In a damage-control exercise, the
government today described Foreign Secretary Chokila Iyer’s recent
letter on the Tehelka expose to Indian diplomatic missions abroad as
“routine advisory”.
Mathew’s
reply not received: Home
New Delhi, March 28
The Ministry of Home Affairs today maintained that it had not received
any reply so far from Mr Thomas Mathew, who was issued a show-cause
notice and later suspended in connection with his alleged involvement in
the Tehelka expose.
MP
House adjourned ahead of schedule
Bhopal, March 28
The Budget session of the Madhya
Pradesh Assembly was abruptly adjourned today following refusal by BJP
members to cooperate. The session was scheduled to last till April 11.
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