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Modi resigns, Anandiben to be new CM of Gujarat
A loyalist, she stood by NaMo in trying times
Bureaucrats race against time
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Vaghela asks Modi to build Ram Mandir
Patna blasts case cracked; target was Modi: NIA
CBI probe okay, but review nature of land, SC tells HC
Death penalty of 2 terrorists commuted
Obama hails Manmohan’s role in bilateral relations
Rahul spends a day in Amethi
Modi wave swept us away, says
Virbhadra PMO Twitter account to be handed over to new govt
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Modi resigns, Anandiben to be new CM of Gujarat
Gandhinagar, May 21 Soon after Modi submitted his resignation around 3.15pm to the Governor, Anandiben was unanimously elected the new leader of the state BJP legislature party at an open meeting held in the town hall. Prominent leaders of the party, state and district office-bearers, chairmen of various government boards and corporations, newly elected MPs and others were also present on the occasion. The meeting was conducted by BJP national general secretary Thavarchand Gehlot, who was appointed the party high command’s observer. Anandiben’s name was proposed by Agriculture Minister in the outgoing Cabinet Bhupendrasinh Chudasma and was seconded by party general secretary and former minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nitin Patel and others, many of whom were in the running for the Chief Minister’s office. Anandiben will take oath of office and secrecy as at a ceremony at the Mahatma Mandir hall tomorrow afternoon. She did not indicate what would be the size of the new ministry, but the party sources indicated that she was expected to retain all members of the outgoing Cabinet and that they all were likely to be sworn-in along with her tomorrow. The replacements of some of the ministers who would resign from the House due to their election to the Lok Sabha would be considered later. Modi, accompanied by some senior leaders of the party, reached the Raj Bhawan and submitted his resignation after he was given a warm send-off by leaders of all the political parties at a special session of the state Assembly convened by Speaker Vajubhai Vala with consent from Leader of the Opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela, Leader of the Nationalist Congress Party Jayant Patel and others. The Governor has accepted Modi’s resignation and asked him to continue till an alternative arrangement is in place. Besides Modi, veteran leader LK Advani, BJP national president Rajnath Singh, former party presidents Nitin Gadkari and Venkaiah Naidu and other senior BJP leaders were expected to attend Patel’s swearing-in ceremony tomorrow. Modi is expected to submit his resignation as a member of the state Assembly to the Speaker after her swearing-in ceremony tomorrow.
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A loyalist, she stood by NaMo in trying times
Gandhinagar, May 21
Even when Modi had become an anathema for BJP leaders and workers of Gujarat following his banishment from the state, Anandiben was among the very few who were not hesitant to be seen in the company of Modi in Delhi or at any place in Gujarat when he used to pay secret personal visits to the state. A late entrant into politics, Anandiben had always been loyal to Modi, may be because it was Modi who brought her into politics and backed her up to the hilt to ensure her continuous rise in the political arena. A teacher by profession, Anandiben stole the limelight in 1987 when at the age of 46 she jumped into the under-construction Sardar Sarovar Dam on the Narmada to save two girls from her Mohiniba Kanya Vidyalaya from drowning during a picnic. The act of bravery earned her a gallantry award from the Governor and she was spotted by Modi, who had just joined the state BJP as an organising secretary on lien from the RSS. Women in the BJP and that too from the Patel community used to be a rarity then, and Modi was insistent that she entered politics.
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Preparations for new govt K V Prasad Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 21 Modi plans to run his government on four Mantras - people-centric, policy driven, time bound delivery and minimum government and maximum governance. The changes being anticipated include a revamp of ministries by either merging or redrawing their responsibilities. Cabinet Secretariat has sent two sets of communication to all ministries, to prepare a slide presentation on ground covered and intervention required while it started previews and directing the secretaries through another to shortlist Bills cleared by the outgoing Cabinet but not enacted be put up again. In the wake of the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha, the May 20 Cabinet Secretariat letter read: "The Bills that had been cleared by the Cabinet in the recent past and are yet to be enacted as laws will need to be placed before the Cabinet for a decision as to whether these Bills are to be pursued in their present form or any changes are required to be carried out therein. Similarly, a view will need to be taken about the ordinances promulgated by the President and the Bills that have lapsed as a result of the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. These will now be required to be placed for consideration of the Cabinet.'' With a change of guard being effected in the Prime Minister's Office after a decade, the bureaucracy is gearing up for anticipated changes in working style amid reports that the new Council of Ministers would be lean and trim. Prime Minister-elect Narendra Modi has received briefing by Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami on law and order, including activities of terrorists and infiltration from across the border,
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Vaghela asks Modi to build Ram Mandir
Gandhinagar, May 21 Speaking at the special session of the state Assembly, Vaghela presented a long list of issues that he expected the new government to implement or take necessary corrective measures within the next six months incorporating almost everything that Modi as the Chief Minister was accusing the outgoing Manmohan Singh government of "doing injustice to Gujarat or the rest of the country".
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Patna blasts case cracked; target was Modi: NIA
New Delhi, May 21 Terming it as a “big success”, NIA Director General Sharad Kumar told reporters at a hurriedly called press conference here that “definitely the conspiracy among these people was to harm Modiji. The people whom we have arrested earlier in the Patna blast case had said that they had recced Modi’s rallies and went there to see how to get near him. Kumar said the team had carried out dry runs at four places — Akbarpur, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi and Patna. But finding it very difficult in view of Modi’s security, they planted bombs at the Patna rally out one of which was placed barely 100 metres from the dais, NIA officials said. However, it did not explode and was recovered by the Bihar Police only after day. Among those arrested by NIA included Hyder Ali alias ‘Black Beauty’, Mojibullah, Numan Ansari and a juvenile (whose identity was not disclosed), he said. Except for Ali, NIA had announced a cash reward of Rs five lakh on other three who allegedly planted the bombs during October 27 rally of Modi. At least seven people were killed and scores others injured when bombs exploded at a make-shift railway platform and at the rally of Modi. Kumar said with these arrests NIA has cracked three cases which include the Bodh Gaya temple blasts, the Patna rally blasts and explosions in Hyderabad’s Dilsukhnagar. Good coordination between Central intelligence agencies, NIA and the local police led by Superintendent of Police Palamau in Jharkhand led to the arrests, he said. Ali had been on the radar ever since the arrest of Indian Mujahideen member Tehseen Akhthar alias Monu by Delhi Police last month. However, the arrested members belonged to ‘Ranchi module’ of banned SIMI group which had been conspiring to carry out a terror attack, officials said. The first one was at Bodh Gaya in which two persons including a monk received minor injuries. “We have unravelled the entire conspiracy. However, further interrogation of the accused will be done to obtain more information,” he said. — PTI Juvenile among four held * The NIA has arrested four persons, including a juvenile, allegedly having association with banned terror groups like SIMI and Indian Mujahideen * NIA Director General Sharad Kumar told reporters that "definitely the conspiracy among these people was to harm Modi * Kumar said the team had carried out dry runs at four places - Akbarpur, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi and Patna
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CBI probe okay, but review nature of land, SC tells HC
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, May 21 A Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and FMI Kalifulla, however, upheld the HC order for a probe by a CBI-led special investigation team (SIT) into the role of “top executive and administrative functionaries” of the state and the Centre in the establishment and development of the club. The HC had asked the SIT to find out whether any IAS/IPS officer or other decision-maker had taken bribe, directly or indirectly, or violated service conduct rules. The CBI was also directed to assess the extent of land owned by Col BS Sandhu, Managing Director of the club, in the village in Ropar district. By recording a blanket finding that all land in Karoran village was forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the HC “has affected the legal rights of several villagers, agriculturists, farmers, shop owners and inhabitants” who were carrying on their respective occupations on their land even before the Act had come into force, the SC noted. “In our view, the HC should have been very careful before recording findings which affect the property rights of persons protected by Article 300A of the Constitution,” the Bench said. The apex court also rejected the state government’s contention that any land covered under the Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900 would become a forest land. The state government had wrongly understood two SC verdicts in the MC Mehta cases relating to forest conservation, the Bench said. The HC had initiated a PIL case after taking suo motu notice of media reports that the club had been set up in blatant violation of the environmental and forest laws as well as an apex court verdict of 1996. The HC order had passed its order on October 12, 2004, prompting Sandhu and the affected villagers led by Bhartiya Kisan Union to challenge it in the SC. It was alleged that the Punjab Government had changed the land use of the area as a quid pro quo. Case sent back to HC * The SC has set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court's finding that the Forest Hill Golf and Country Club in Karoran village near Chandigarh had come up on forest land. It sent the case back to the HC for fresh adjudication * The SC noted: "By recording a blanket finding that all land in Karoran village was forest land under the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, the HC has affected the legal rights of several villagers, agriculturists, farmers, shop owners and inhabitants who were carrying on their respective occupations on their land even before the Act had come into force." * The court also rejected the state government's contention that any land covered under the Punjab Land Preservation Act 1900 would become a forest land
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Death penalty of 2 terrorists commuted
R Sedhuraman Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, May 21 No doubt, the offences committed by Aftab Ahmad Ansari and Jamiluddin Nasir were “devilish, diabolic, horrendous, vicious and wicked...we wish to hold that the imposition of death penalty is not warranted,” a Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and FMI Kalifulla said in a 195-page judgment. Five police personnel were killed and 13 others, including civilians, were grievously injured when terrorists opened fire on the cops posted at the American Centre at 6.30 am on January 22, 2002. The SC clarified that that Aftab “deserves to be imprisoned for the entirety of his life” as he had masterminded the attack, while Nasir should be in jail at least for 30 years. Arrested and deported from Dubai on February 9, 2002, Ansari was an activist of terror outfit Asif Reza Commando Force that had links with Harkat-ul-Jehadi-e-Islam. As many as 17 terrorists were involved in the attack, but only nine of them were put on trial as six could not be nabbed and two were killed in an encounter. The Bench laid down 14 criteria to decide whether such attacks amounted to waging a war against the nation.
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Obama hails Manmohan’s role in bilateral relations
New Delhi, May 21 In his letter, Obama appreciated Singh “for his efforts that lifted millions out of poverty and positioned India for its transformation into a global leader”. He said he wanted to “put in writing my deep appreciation for your remarkable two terms in office”. — TNS
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Rahul spends a day in Amethi
New Delhi, May 21 His sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanied him. She remained by his side all day as he visited Amethi for a meeting with Congress workers in the party’s Gauriganj headquarters and later with victims of a recent fire at a local village. Sources close to Rahul said the Congress vice-president visited the site of fire at Pure Nidhan Kuwar village in Gauriganj area where around 65 houses are said to have been gutted. Though local Congress workers had been distributing help to the affected families since Monday evening when the fire broke out, Rahul decided to visit the area and oversee arrangements for rehabilitation.
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Modi wave swept us away, says
Virbhadra New Delhi, May 21 Virbhadra met party’s central leadership for the first time after his party’s dismal performance in the elections. He met Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to explain the reasons behind the party’s debacle in his state. Virbhadra also met Congress general secretary in charge of the state Ambika Soni, besides calling on former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his 7 Race Course Road residence. Virbhadra could not meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi till late in the evening. Party sources said Sonia normally did not meet people on May 21, which is former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s death anniversary. The Himachal Minister said: “Reasons for the loss are quite clear. There was a strong wave in favour of Modi across the state. There was a strong undercurrent which we could not see or imagine.”
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PMO Twitter account to be handed over to new govt New Delhi, May 21 It said all internet-based platforms and communications will continue to remain under the administrative control and management of the PMO after the change of the government. The existing material on Manmohan Singh will be separately available under a new account on Twitter, said the PMO statement. "The Twitter account @PMOIndia has been secured by Twitter and they are assisting in the handover of the same to this office to be available to the incoming PMO administration along with its followers," the PMO said. — PTI
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Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi today submitted the resignation of his council of ministers to Gujarat Governor Kamala Beniwal and passed on the baton to his Revenue Minister Anandiben Patel to take over as the first woman Chief Minister of the state.
