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TMC may bring no-trust motion against govt: Mamata

NEW DELHI: Attacking the government on FDI in retail and prise rise, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Monday indicated that her party may bring a 'no-confidence motion' against it in the next Parliament Session and appealed to various political parties to support it. At a protest rally at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, which was attended by NDA convenor Sharad Yadav, Banerjee said that she had "heard" that the general elections could be advanced and held in March next year.

"We also don't want this government. If need be, we are ready for bringing a no-confidence motion against this government," the West Bengal Chief Minister said while launching an all-out attack on the Congress-led UPA government. Trinamool Congress, which has withdrawn support to the government, has 19 MPs in Lok Sabha.

Banerjee, whose party organised the protest against FDI in retail, diesel price hike and LPG cap, said she could also bring a resolution against these decisions.

"I have heard that elections will happen in March. I am ready for a resolution," she said. She also appealed to other political parties not to support the government and asked them to support her party's resolution against the recent decisions on FDI and other issues.

"I am ready to work with other parties to bring a resolution against the government in the next session of Parliament...I would request other political parties not to support this government," she said.

Accusing the UPA government of acting against the interests of the common man, Banerjee said her party will campaign across the country from next month.

As part of this plan, she announced that TMC will hold a 48-hour dharna on November 19 and 20 in Delhi. She, however, said later that since these dates coincided with the festival of 'Chhat Puja', she accordingly had decided to shift the proposed agitation to November 22 and 23.

She said as part of its nation-wide programme, TMC will organise such dharnas at different places across the country.— PTI 

DMK to back resolution against FDI in retail

NEW DELHI: UPA's second largest partner DMK on Monday demanded reconsideration of the decision to allow FDI in the multi-brand retail sector and said it would back any Opposition-sponsored resolution that may be brought on the issue in Parliament.

"Allowing FDI in multi-brand retail in the name of economic reforms will spell doom for developing countries like India," a resolution adopted at an emergency meeting of DMK Executive, chaired by its president M. Karunanidhi, said.

DMK, which has 18 Lok Sabha members, said certain states going ahead with the implementation of FDI and some others opposing it will only damage hugely the Indian economy.

"...this executive insists the Central government to reconsider the decision to allow FDI (in multi-brand retail)," the resolution said, spelling more trouble for the UPA which has been hit by the withdrawal of support on the issue by key ally Trinamool Congress-led by Mamata Banerjee.

Going a step further, Karunanidhi said his party would support an Opposition- sponsored resolution against FDI if it was brought in the Parliament as FDI in retail would have an adverse impact on the people.

"We will," he said in reply to a question whether the DMK would back the opposition if it brings a resolution in Parliament opposing FDI in retail trade.

Karunanidhi, who has of late been critical of some of the UPA's decisions, including diesel price hike, made it clear that his party would continue to support the Congress to keep "communal and regressive forces" from taking any advantage.

The meeting, attended by senior party leaders including his sons MK Alagiri and MK Stalin, came on the day when the TMC hit the Delhi streets with a rally against the UPA.

Ahead of the meeting, Karunanidhi had yesterday ruled out the party nominating representatives to fill two vacancies in the Union Cabinet caused by the resignation of A Raja and Dayanidhi Maran over telecom scams.— PTI

Cauvery row: Protests continue in Karnataka;
JD(S) MP, 4 MLAs resign

BANGALORE: Protests against release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu continued for the second day on Monday with authorities deciding to deploy Rapid Action Force to maintain peace in Mandya, the epicentre of the stir, even as four JD(S) MLAs and an MP submitted resignations to the party state unit chief to protest the government action.

Lending their political might to the agitation, the four JD(S) MLAs and an MP submitted resignations to HD Kumaraswamy to protest the BJP government's action to release water complying with a Supreme Court order.

Authorities said they have decided to deploy RAF to assist police in the wake of escalating protests.

More than 100 persons were arrested at Gejjalagere in Mandya district, the hotbed of Cauvery politics, when they blocked the Shirdi Express train, the police said.

Protests continued in Mysore, Chamarajanagar and Mandya, the Cauvery basin districts. Vehicular movement on the Bangalore-Mysore road was hit for the third day, the police said.

JDS Lok Sabha member from Mandya N Cheluvarayaswamy and its four MLAs from Mandya district — Kalpana Siddaraju, CS Puttaraju, M. Srinivas and AB Ramesh Bandisidddegowda submitted their resignation letters to Kumaraswamy.

Speaking to reporters here, Kumaraswamy said a meeting of party MLAs and MPs has been convened on Tuesday to decide the future course of action, including whether all its legislators should quit en masse. JD(S), which draws its core strength mainly from the Cauvery belt, has 26 MLAs and three MPs in the state.

Criticising the BJP government for releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu when its farmers are facing acute shortage, Kumaraswamy said, "Our party has decided that MLAs from Mandya district will quit".

Former Prime Minister and JD(S) chief HD Devegowda has sought an appointment today with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to explain the hardship faced by people of Cauvery basin.

Bowing to the apex court order, Karnataka began releasing water from Krishna Raja Sagar and Kabini dams early on Sunday to ensure flow of 9,000 cusecs.

Defending the decision, Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar said on Sunday it was "inevitable" to honour the court order, but the state was committed to protect farmers' interests. He had also said government would file a petition before the Supreme Court, seeking a review of its order asking the state to honour the September 19 Cauvery River Authority directive to release 9,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu till Oct 15.

Karnataka has already urged the Prime Minister, who is also the CRA chairman, to review its September 19 order and keep it in abeyance till the decision was reviewed. — PTI

Mixed response to bandh; students-police clash at OU

HYDERABAD: Pro-Telangana students on Monday clashed with police which used teargas shell to quell the protestors at Osmania University (OU) campus in Hyderabad even as the bandh called by different groups favouring separate statehood had little impact in the state capital and Telangana districts.

A group of activists under the banner of Telangana students and OU-JAC held protests in front of the OU Police Station located on the varsity campus and later pelted stones on the police station and cops, a senior police officer told PTI.

The police retaliated by firing teargas shells to disperse the protesting students, he said.

Telangana student unions, including Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee, gave a bandh call on Monday, protesting the alleged high-handedness of police during the 'Telangana march' in support of the separate statehood demand on Sunday.

The bandh evoked a very little response in Hyderabad as business establishments and offices functioned normally, though some schools and colleges run by private educational institutions remained closed. However, no holiday was declared for state-run educational institutions, officials said.

RTC buses were plying as usual while private vehicles also moved normally.

“Some schools voluntarily closed and so far there was no reports of forcible closure of shops. The bandh so far has evoked little impact in Hyderabad region,” another senior police officer said.

OU-JAC leaders threatened to lay-siege to residences of Telangana ministers here, if they did not quit their posts in support of separate Telangana.

Reports from Karimnagar, Medak, Mahabubnagar and Warangal districts said the bandh evoked partial response with educational institutions remaining closed even as statehood supporters held demonstrations at various places.

South Central Railway cancelled all MMTS (local train) services for today in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad in view of damage to signalling equipment at Hussain Sagar junction cabin on Secunderabad division, during the ‘Telangana March’ violence yesterday.

Telangana supporters, on their way to Necklace Road at Hussain Sagar lake, the venue of the March, clashed with security personnel. Violence was reported at Osmania University campus, Khairatabad and the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat area.

When they were stopped from passing down the Secretariat road and through some other areas where prohibitory orders were in place, the protesters pelted stones and tried to remove the barricades, which prompted the security personnel to lob tear gas shells, police said. — PTI

CAG not just 'munimji', it can comment on govt expense: SC

NEW DELHI: Observing that the "CAG is not a munim (accountant)" the Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the Comptroller and Auditor General's power to conduct performance audit of controversial allocation of coal blocks by the UPA government. 

A Bench of Justices RM Lodha and AR Dave said the CAG is a constitutional authority entitled to review and conduct performance audit on revenue allocations relating to the Centre, the states and the Union territories.

"The CAG is not a munim. He is a constitutional authority who can examine the revenue allocation and matters relating to the economy," the Bench told counsel Santosh Paul, who appeared for petitioner Arvind Gupta.

The apex court said it was for the Parliament to consider, accept or reject the CAG's findings. Interpreting various provisions of the Constitution, the Bench said the CAG is a Constitutional authority who is under a mandate to place before Parliament or the State legislature concerned its findings and, hence, it was for the respective legislatures to act upon such reports. — PTI

Gadkari slaps defamation case against Digvijay Singh

NEW DELHI: BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Monday slapped a criminal defamation case against Congress leader Digvijay Singh for accusing him of having business links with his party MP Ajay Sancheti who allegedly pocketed Rs 500 crore in coal block allocation. 

Singh had recently made statements that Sancheti was Gadkari's business partner and had earned a huge profit of around Rs 500 crore in coal block allocation, senior advocate Pinky Anand, appearing for the BJP leader, told Metropolitan Magistrate Sudesh Kumar.

Denying that Gadkari has any "direct or indirect" business relations with Sancheti, Anand said Singh's statement, which was widely reported by the media, had the "clear intention to malign the reputation of the complainant."

After the brief submission advanced by Gadkari's counsel, the court decided to record the statement of the BJP president who was also present during the hearing.

The magistrate asked the media to vacate the court room before he started recording Gadkari's statement. During the hearing, Gadkari's counsel told the court that they had sent a legal notice to Singh on September 14 but the Congress leader had not replied to it. — PTI

Kejriwal to announce formal entry into politics on Tuesday

NEW DELHI: Twelve days after his split with Anna Hazare, activist Arvind Kejriwal will formally enter politics on Tuesday with the announcement of a political party.

Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia said the announcement will be made at a function in the Constitution Club in New Delhi on Tuesday morning.

The vision of the party, constitution and selection of members and candidates will be stated at the function, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanthi.

An internal Lokpal will also be appointed by the party to probe cases of impropriety. The name of internal Lokpal, a retired judge, will also be announced on Tuesday.

Ahead of the announcement, Kejriwal and Sisodia met Anna Hazare who is in the city to chalk out his future course of action with regard to an apolitical anti-corruption movement.

Hazare has been opposed to the movement turning political and parted ways with the pro-party group led by Kejriwal on September 19 after a meeting.

The veteran activist had attacked the Kejriwal-led group, saying they had not responded to his questions on how to present a political alternative to the people in the fight against corruption and dubbed the path of politics as one “full of dirt”.

Kejriwal earlier said they were not entering politics to acquire power as politics is yet another tool for strengthening of the anti-graft movement.

The proposed party is likely to first test its strength in Delhi Assembly polls next year, skipping this year’s Assembly elections in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

Earlier, the Kejriwal-led group had decided to form a preparatory committee consisting of 80-100 members, including some retired judges, to chalk out the details of formation of the party.

It was also decided that an internal Lokpal, having retired judges as its members, will be constituted to ensure internal discipline within the party. The preparatory committee, however, was not formed despite the plan of having its first meeting on August 26. — PTI