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Split mere formality, says Nitish aide Shivanand
BJP leader and Bihar Dy CM Sushil Kumar Modi (L) spurned an invitation from CM Nitish Kumar for discussions on Saturday.
Arm-twisting by JD(U) not good for country: RSS
Unsafe UP: Third police officer attacked in 10 days
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Maken quits as Congress readies for a Cabinet rejig
Left wary of federal front
Agusta lands in fresh graft controversy
The grieving mother of a student who committed suicide at Osmina University campus in Hyderabad on Saturday. PTI
Ex-Shiv Sainik M’rashtra NCP chief
NCP chief Sharad Pawar (R) with newly-elected Maharashtra party president Bhaskar Jadhav in Mumbai on Saturday.
— PTI
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Split mere formality, says Nitish aide Shivanand
Patna, June 15 Further hints of the break-up in the 17-year-old alliance were given today by senior JD(U) leader Shivanand Tiwari who said the announcement of a split was a "mere formality". As JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav arrived in Patna, the Chief Minister held parleys with other leaders, including MPs and MLAs. Yadav and Nitish have already been authorised by the party National Council to take a decision on the alliance with the BJP in case Modi is projected by the party. The deterioration in ties was evident when Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Bihar NDA convener Nand Kishore Yadav, both BJP leaders, today spurned an invitation from Nitish for a round of discussions on the current political situation. The BJP also appeared ready for the inevitable when senior leader Ravishankar Prasad told reporters that while it was maintaining restraint and wanted the alliance to continue in the interest of Bihar, it was "awaiting" the decision of the JD(U). Shivanand Tiwari, who is widely perceived to reflect Nitish's views, also dubbed Modi as an "arrogant" and "divisive personality" who cannot take all sections along. He said after what Nitish Kumar had said yesterday that there was nothing left in the alliance to be saved. "It's (announcement of a split) only a formality," he said in clear indication of things to come. "We have been looking for a categorical assurance that Narendra Modi will not be the prime ministerial candidate in whatsoever situation, but that has not been forthcoming from them (BJP) during talks to save the NDA," the senior JD(U) leader said. "Let it be clear once and for all that the BJP has forced the JD(U) to walk out of the alliance by being not forthcoming on Modi's future role," he said. "The situation will be clear by tomorrow," JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav told reporters in Patna tonight before meeting Nitish at his residence. "I have come here to hold discussions with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other JD(U) legislators and leaders over the developments that have taken place in past few days and to take a decision whether to continue in the NDA or not," the JD(U) president, who was accompanied by General Secretary KC Tyagi, said. Immediately after arrival, Yadav went to the official residence of the Chief Minister and held deliberations with him.
— PTI BJP for ‘peaceful divorce’
Patna: BJP national vice-president CP Thakur on Saturday said there should be a peaceful divorce between the two parties. “When a split is almost certain, it would be better if we part company with dignity. There should be peaceful divorce considering the fact that we lived together for 17 long years,” he said. We welcome JD(U) into secular fold: NCP
Mumbai: The NCP on Saturday said it welcomed JD(U)’s imminent separation from BJP and joining the secular forces. “We welcome the JD(U) to separate from the BJP and join secular forces,” said NCP leader DP
Tripathi. Karat, Naidu speak to Sharad Yadav
New Delhi: CPM general secretary Prakash Karat and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday spoke to JD(U) president Sharad Yadav and discussed the political situation in the wake of the crisis in NDA.
— Agencies
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Arm-twisting by JD(U) not good for country: RSS
New Delhi, June 15 “The BJP has only declared Modi as chairman of a forum (election campaign committee) and surely not a prime ministerial candidate. In this situation, the arm-twisting by the JD(U) is not good for the country,” the editorial of RSS mouthpiece “Organiser” said. “Undisputedly, the question of declaring the prime ministerial candidate does not arise at this moment, as the polls have not yet been declared,” it said. The RSS also maintained that if “the NDA remains united and works as a formidable force, it can easily get back power at the Centre. Another significant outcome is that Narendra Modi is a winner for the NDA. All polls show the urban voters are clearly in favour of Modi as prime ministerial candidate, with 38 per cent preferring him over 13 per cent and 14 per cent for Dr Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi, respectively.” Firm on their official stance - that the saffron fold wants the JD(U) to stay because the people of Bihar have given the mandate for a JD(U)-BJP alliance and not the two parties separately - the BJP leaders say there can be no climb-down on their adopted position regarding Modi. “Whatever Nitish Kumar may say, people of the country and our cadre want Modi,” they say in response to the Bihar Chief Minister’s observations regarding the controversial Gujarat Chief Minister.
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Unsafe UP: Third police officer attacked in 10 days
Lucknow, June 15 This is the third attack on a police officer on duty in Uttar Pradesh in the past 10 days. As many as 40 policemen, including the CO of Kunda Ziaul Haq, have been killed since 2011. SO Dwivedi received a phone call from pharmacist Bhimsen Patel who reportedly spotted his stolen car at a petrol pump near Shankargarh. A complaint regarding this had been lodged at Bara police station some 10 days ago. Acting promptly, SO Dwivedi immediately rushed to the petrol pump in his private vehicle. However, the car had already left the petrol pump. The SO chased the vehicle and overtook it. When he tried to quiz the three occupants, they grappled with him and shot from close range. He died on the spot. His attempt to shoot the miscreants reportedly failed as his revolver let him down. The police later found a bullet stuck in the chamber of his gun. Prima facie, the sand mafia active in the districts of Pratapgarh, Allahabad and Kaushambi in the region is reportedly behind the killing.
Previous incidents
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Maken quits as Congress readies for a Cabinet rejig
Maken, the minister in charge of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, sent in his resignation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seeking permission to work for the party. The offer is a euphemism by the 49-year-old minister tipped to be inducted into the party as its general secretary, a stepping stone to build the profile of a youthful face of the party to replace Delhi Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshit, should the necessity arise. Dikshit has been the face of the Delhi Congress since the party came to power in 1998 ousting the
BJP-led government under Madan Lal Khurana and has proved her mettle by retaining power in successive elections. While Maken is an acceptable face, he needs to straddle a precarious path balancing the interests of people with Shiela Dikshit and the Congress chief JP
Agarwal. Interestingly, Ajay Maken's resignation comes a few weeks after the Union Cabinet cleared a Bill to regulate housing in the country that according to reports did not find favour with a powerful lobby. The reshuffle in the Council of Ministers is expected to be the last one in UPA 2 with Lok Sabha elections less than a year away. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to utilize the opportunity to fill several vacancies in his Council of Ministers. He had earier said that there are some vacancies and the issue of filling them up is being considered. The latest vacancies in the Council of Ministers were created by the resignations of Union Ministers PK Bansal and Ashwani Kumar.
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Left wary of federal front
New Delhi, June 15 Amid early talk of a possible re-alignment of political parties ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, leaders of the CPM and the JD(U) today exchanged notes on the latest situation even as the JD(U) is threatening to snap its ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav spoke to CPM general secretary Prakash Karat, a day after its Rajya Sabha leader Sitaram Yechury called on the former to discuss the developments especially in the context of strain in its ties with BJP. Sources close to these leaders said the JD(U) chief favours that any decision should not be taken in a hurry and rather wait for events to unfold further. On the other hand, leaders close to Nitish Kumar insist that after the BJP ignored JD(U) sentiments by projecting Narendra Modi as the chief campaigner, there is a sense of urgency to move away from the BJP. While CPI leader A B Bardhan scoffed at the idea of a federal front mooted by the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, he established contact with the Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.
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Agusta lands in fresh graft controversy
New Delhi, June 15 The Ministry of Defence
(MoD) had in March asked the CBI to probe alleged payoff by AgustaWestland to secure the Rs 3,600-crore VVIP helicopter deal. Former Indian Air Force Chief SP Tyagi and his cousins are among the 13 persons named by the agency as accused in the case. In the latest case, a preliminary inquiry has been ordered at the request of the MoD after it emerged that a Brigadier-level officer allegedly promised to help AgustaWestland swing the 197-helicopter deal in its favour and demanded $5 million in return. Italian investigators probing corruption allegations against AgustaWestland and its parent Italian firm Finmeccanica had found documents to suggest that an Indian Army officer allegedly demanded bribe from the firm. The Italian investigators provided the information to the
MoD, which forwarded it to the CBI. The agency has initiated a preliminary inquiry and may soon call the officer in question for examination.
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Telangana bandh partial;
student commits suicide
Hyderabad, June 15 An engineering student hailing from Mahabubnagar district, B Srinivas Yadav, ended his life, allegedly frustrated over the delay in formation of a separate Telangana state. His body was found hanging from a tree opposite the central library on the university campus. Quoting his friends, the police said that Yadav, a third year B.Tech student, was disillusioned with the developments on Telangana front. The campus has been periodically witnessing such extreme steps by the pro-Telangana student activists. The incident triggered tension on the campus which had witnessed clashes between Telangana activists and the police during the “Chalo Assembly” rally yesterday. Meanwhile, the day-long shutdown, called by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi to protest against the mass arrest of activists during the “Assembly March”, evoked partial response in the region.
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Ex-Shiv Sainik M’rashtra NCP chief
Mumbai, June 15 Till last week, Jadhav was the Minister of State for Urban Development in
the state. However, he hit the headlines earlier this year when he organised a grand wedding for his children, which was covered extensively by the electronic media. A palatial set measuring more than 500,000 sq ft was erected to accommodate over 1 lakh persons.
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The BJP and JD(U) appeared set for an imminent parting of ways in Bihar tomorrow when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar meets his top party leaders to take a final call in the wake of Narendra Modi's elevation as BJP’s poll panel chief for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Mumbai, June 15
New Delhi, June 15
