Politics & Government

Plan panel distances itself from poverty line definitio

Under attack over its poverty line definition, Rs. 32 per capita per day, Planning Commission on Monday distanced itself from the controversial definition presented to the Supreme Court saying it did not represent the Commission’s views.

Addressing the media, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia also said that these figures were not used for extending benefits to the deprived sections of the population.

“People allege that Planning Commission is trying to understate poverty which is simply not true…,” he said while addressing a joint press conference with Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.

‘Attempt to embarrass commission’

“The affidavit before the court is a factual affidavit in answer to questions asked by the court. Our legal representative will be there in the court to (explain our position), we will abide by what ever the court order is,” he said.

By focusing on the daily figures of (Rs. 32 and Rs. 26) there was an attempt to embarrass the Planning Commission, he said adding that this was not the criteria for giving benefits.

The Planning Commission and Ministry for Rural Development will form an expert committee which will look into the findings of socio-economic and caste census, which is currently on and is expected to be completed by January 2012, Mr. Ramesh said.

Planning Commission has come under flak following the affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court, which said that persons consuming items worth more than Rs. 32 per day in urban areas (Rs. 26 in rural areas) are not poor.

As per the affidavit, a family of five spending less than Rs. 4,824 (at June, 2011, prices) in urban areas will fall in the BPL (Below Poverty Line) category. The expenditure limit for a family in rural areas has been fixed at Rs 3,905.

Mr. Ahluwalia had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday to clarify Planning Commission’s view on the controversy.

Pakistan ups ante with U.S.

Reinforcing her reputation for issuing sharp rebukes, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar struck a defiant note in a war of words against the United States, describing the dangerous Haqqani network terror group as the “blue-eyed boy” of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Her comments, made to a news channel here on the margins of the recent United Nations General Assembly, came in the wake of an unprecedented exchange between the two countries after allegations surfaced that the Haqqani network was “a veritable arm of” Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

That remark, made by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, last week, led to stark warnings by Ms. Khar that the U.S. had to risk losing “an ally” in the fight against extremism if it levelled such allegations against the ISI.

However, the Obama administration refused to back down following the Pakistani response; instead, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby retorted that there was credible evidence, in respect of at least two attacks in September, showing that “the ISI continues to support and even encourages the Haqqanis to launch… attacks.”

Ms. Khar, however, lashed out at the role of the CIA, which most recently orchestrated the covert strike against Osama bin Laden in Pakistan. She said to Al Jazeera channel: “If we talk about links, I am sure the CIA also has links with many terrorist organisations around the world, by which we mean intelligence links.”

In a remark that raised eyebrows in both New York and Washington, Ms. Khar added: “And this particular network, which the U.S. continues to talk about, is a network which was the blue-eyed boy of the CIA itself for many years.”

Olive branch

Amid signs that the overall bilateral relationship appears fraying and possibly on the cusp of a tectonic shift with heightened tensions, she, however, held out an olive branch. “I just hope that we will be given a chance to cooperate with each other, and the doors will remain open,” Ms. Khar said, adding that “statements like this are pretty much close to shutting those doors.”

Veiled hint

Yet, that statement too came with a veiled hint that there were limits to Pakistan’s patience with the U.S. “I think we must not be tested more than we have the ability to bear,” Ms. Khar cautioned.

Sonia steps in to make peace

Four days after the controversy over a Finance Ministry note to the Prime Minister’s Office on the 2G spectrum allocation triggered speculation of a serious rift between the two seniormost Ministers in the Union Cabinet, Congress president Sonia Gandhi finally stepped in on Monday.

In the evening, in quick succession, she had meetings with Home Minister P. Chidambaram — whose resignation the Opposition has demanded, and shortly thereafter, with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Interestingly — as sources in the party pointed out — Ms. Gandhi held the first meeting only after Mr. Mukherjee’s plane from the United States touched down at Palam. He drove straight to North Block to confer with his officials, who were asked to prepare a note on the background to the Finance Ministry document.

It was accessed from the PMO through an RTI application filed by the BJP’s RTI unit.

While a final resolution of the current crisis will, the sources said, have to await the return of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from the U.S. late on Tuesday evening, Ms. Gandhi’s conversations with the two Ministers were the first serious step taken to sort out a problem that had plunged the already embattled government into yet another crisis.

Both Ministers have said, separately, they will speak publicly only after Dr. Singh is back.

‘Valued colleague’

Mr. Mukherjee, the sources said, may address the press on Wednesday or Thursday and, if possible, with Mr. Chidambaram to demonstrate solidarity. Indeed, he told journalists shortly before he met Ms. Gandhi that Mr. Chidambaram was “a valued colleague” and a “pillar of strength for the party and government.”

Meanwhile, even as unconfirmed reports suggested that the Home Minister had offered his resignation to Ms. Gandhi, the sources pointed out that Tuesday’s hearing on the petition filed by Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy in the Supreme Court, seeking a CBI investigation into Mr. Chidambaram’s role in the 2G case — when he was the Finance Minister — would be crucial. In case, the court accepted Dr. Swamy’s plea, Mr. Chidambaram’s continuance in the Cabinet could become untenable, they said.

However, sources close to Mr. Mukherjee said that since the 2G matter was in court, the PMO should not have released any documents relating to it to a RTI applicant.

But when Law Minister Salman Khurshid was asked whether the government was bound to provide documents on a matter in court to an RTI applicant, he said that while legally when a matter was sub judice, nothing should be done to prejudice the case, the question whether to have a “firewall” or not for RTI could be examined.

Minister of State in the PMO V. Narayanswamy was more direct: regardless of whether a document could influence a case, no official could block its release, if it was sought through RTI.

Pranab refuses comment on letter to PM on 2G pricing

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday refused to comment on a letter sent by his Ministry to the Joint Secretary in the PMO on the 2G spectrum scam, saying he cannot make any remark on the matter is it is “sub judice“. “The matter is subjudice. I cannot make any comment on it. The whole matter is under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court of India. We cannot make any comment on any matter that is sub judice,” Mr. Mukherjee, who is here to attend an India-U.S. investor forum, told reporters here. Separately, while addressing Indian and American business leaders at a high—profile USIBC roundtable, Mukherjee said the Finance Ministry letter to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat is out in the open only due to the Right to Information Act, which is one of the many steps the government has taken to flush out corruption and make governance transparent and accountable. He said in the recent years, lot of authority has been given to the people of India through the RTI. “In fact today a sensational news item has come and it is through the exercise of the RTI. A note was sent by Minister of Finance to Prime Minister. Somebody demanded through the use of RTI to have the copy of that note from the Prime Minister’s Secretariat and… fact of the matter is somebody has produced that as a piece of evidence in a particular case,” Mr. Mukherjee commented. He said whether the letter can be used in such a manner or not “is a different story.” A Finance Ministry document submitted to the Supreme Court in India says the Telecom Ministry could have gone in for auction of 2G spectrum licenses had the then Finance Minister P Chidambaram insisted on this. “The point I am trying to make is these are rights of the citizens. Today even an individual citizen can demand what is being written in the file of the government, what notes or instructions the minister is giving or departmental secretary is giving,” barring cases involving defence and national security. “But in all other areas, this right is being very frequently exercised,” Mr. Mukherjee said. Mr. Mukherjee gave an extensive overview to his audience that comprised corporate honchos from India and the U.S., of the steps the Indian government has taken to tackle corruption, in the wake of the recent spurt in scams that have launched citizen movements across the country. He said the Indian government has been putting into place a number of legislations to “strengthen the system of accountability and transparency both at the legislative and executive level.” He was quick to add that the government has not initiated these measures merely in response to the “agitation” that had engulfed the country but that these were in the works for quiet some time. “It is not because of the agitation we have initiated these legislations. They were under the domain and under consideration of the government for quiet some time,” he said, adding that one of such legislation is the Lokpal Bill which is to create an independent ombudsman having high authority to deal with all cases of allegations of corruption against civil servants, politicians, members of Parliament, ministers and the Prime Minister. “That legislation is being worked out and is under the consideration of the standing committee. I hope we will get their recommendation in the next session.

2G scam: CBI, Centre oppose probe against Chidambaram

The CBI on Tuesday opposed in the Supreme Court a plea for probing Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s alleged role in the 2G spectrum scam case saying it is beyond its jurisdiction to entertain it.

Maintaining that the probe into the multi-crore scam during the tenure of former Telecom Minister A. Raja was complete, the agency opposed the plea of Janata Party president Subramanium Swamy.

Mr. Swamy sought the probe alleging that Mr. Chidambaram, the then Finance Minister, was party to conspiracy with Mr. Raja in deciding the price for spectrum.

At the outset, both the CBI and the Centre questioned the maintainability of Mr. Swamy’s plea saying he has filed a similar application in the trial court and the issue has to be decided by the Special CBI Court.

The CBI said that Supreme Court cannot give such an order and it is for the trial court to take a decision on the issue.

“Questions of any further investigation or addition of accused in the case have to be decided by the trial court and not by this court,” senior advocate K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, submitted before a bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and A.K. Ganguly.

“Investigation is complete in 2G scam (during the tenure of Mr. Raja) and framing of charges is to be decided by the trial court. If the trial court finds that there is any wrong doer then it can add the person in the list of accused,” he said questioning the jurisdiction of the apex court to entertain Mr. Swamy’s plea.

Modi holds fast with eye on national political stage

Amid the chanting of ‘Vedic slokas’ and in the presence of top leaders of the BJP and the National Democratic Alliance, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi began his three-day fast here on Saturday, launching the “Sadbhavana Mission,” which, he declared, would spell doom for the “destructive politics of vote bank” in the entire country and usher in a new era of peace, unity and harmony.

10-year wait

Coming down heavily on his critics, who accused him and his government of “having a hand in the 2002 communal riots,” Mr. Modi said that for 10 years he and Gujarat people remained quiet on the charges, waiting for the appropriate authorities to reply. “For 10 years, we did not hit back, but collected all the stones and brickbats thrown at us and used them as the stepping stone to take Gujarat to the new heights of development.”

Before coming to the plush centrally air-conditioned venue of his fast, the sprawling convention-cum-exhibition hall of Gujarat University, Mr. Modi called on his mother, who lives with his younger brother in Ahmedabad, to seek her blessings on the occasion of his 62nd birthday.

During his address to the gathering, Mr. Modi, however, sought to de-link the fast with his birthday. “I decided the date considering the weekend for the convenience of all, my birthday is just a co-incidence,” he claimed.

A few kilometres away from the venue, Congress leaders — the former Chief Minister, Shankarsinh Waghela, and Gujarat Congress president Arjun Modhvadia — launched a parallel counter-fast outside the Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram to draw the people’s attention to what they called “the deceitful, corrupt and anti-people governance of Mr. Modi.”

Simple and sombre

Compared to the elaborate arrangements made for Mr. Modi’s fast, the Congress camp, under a huge pandal, shorn of any security and the absence of anyone from the high command, was simple and sombre. The Congress leaders, however, maintained that they were holding the fast, which they termed “Satyagraha Upavaas” (fast) as “citizens of Gujarat,” but as was done by Mr. Modi, arrangements were being made to bring Congress workers from all over the State to the venue during the three-day fast.

A group of cow-breeders under the Maldhari Ekta Samiti, who were protesting against the Gujarat government’s “failure to stop cow slaughter,” also began a three-day fast and called on the fasting Congress leaders.

Poor feeding

Noted danseuse and social activist Mallika Sarabhai, in contrast, arranged for “feeding” poor slum children to demonstrate her “disgust” at the “political gimmickry” of Mr. Modi.

Jagruti Pandya, wife of the slain former Minister of State for Home, Haren Pandya, who had threatened to appear on the dais with Mr. Modi to “remind” the Chief Minister of his “failure” to show “sadbhavana” (goodwill) towards the family of his former colleague, was persuaded against any such step by senior BJP leaders.

Modi begins fast; top BJP leaders, Badal arrive

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday began his three-day fast for “peace, unity and communal harmony” in the BJP-ruled state.

The BJP stalwart’s 72-hour fast under ‘Sadbhavna Mission’ coincides with his 62nd birthday. The venue, Gujarat University Convention Centre here — where a host of leaders from the BJP and its key ally Shiromani Akali Dal have arrived — has been put under strict vigil by the police.

On the eve of fast, Mr. Modi had issued a statement that was interpreted as his first sign of regret over the 2002 post-Godhra communal violence.

“Constitution of India is supreme for us. As a Chief Minister of the state, pain of anybody in the state is my pain. (Delivering) Justice to everyone is the duty of the state,” Mr. Modi had said on Friday.

Mr. Modi, in an attempt to reach out to the minority community, had said the state has realised that communal frenzy and casteism never helped anybody grow in the country and expressed “gratitude” to those who pointed out his mistakes in the last 10 years.

BJP leaders like L.K. Advani, Arun Jaitely, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Sahanawaz Hussain, Smriti Irani and Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal, among others, were present when Mr. Modi began his fast.

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, whose party Shiromani Akali Dal is a key member of the BJP-led NDA, was also present.

Leaders of Shiv Sena, BJP’s ally for over two decades, and emissaries of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha of AIADMK are also expected to come here to in support of Mr. Modi.

In response to Mr. Modi’s move, Gujarat Congress leaders Shankarsinh Vaghela and Arjun Modhvadia also started their fast on a footpath in front of Sabarmati Ashram.

Advani endorses US report stating Narendra Modi may be BJP’s PM choice

NEW DELHI: Amid speculation that BJP leader L K Advani is undertaking his yatra to be in the fray for the next Lok Sabha polls, the senior leader on Friday endorsed a US Congressional report that says Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi may be the next prime ministerial candidate of the party.

“Now, American lawmakers and the State Department are being primed for the return of the BJP to power in New Delhi, with Modi at the helm as prime minister, following what US analysts say is a ‘precipitous’ decline in the Congress party’s fortunes due to a string of corruption scandals,” Advani wrote on his blog today.

The senior BJP leader was quoting from the recent report of the US Congressional Research Service, an independent research wing of the US Congress.

Though Advani did not state categorically whether Modi will be BJP’s PM candidate in the general elections slated for 2014, he agreed with the claims of the report which praises Modi’s performance as Gujarat chief minister.

“Although still in some disorder in 2011, there are signs that the BJP has made changes necessary to be a formidable challenger in scheduled 2014 polls. These include a more effective branding of the party as one focused on development and good governance rather than emotive, Hindutva-related issues,” Advani said, quoting the report.

Modi, who has been accused of not taking appropriate action to control the 2002 Gujarat riots, has since then tried to project himself as a chief minister committed to development and good governance.

Advani also stated that in July 2009 he had taken up with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton the issue of Modi’s visa denial in 2005, and told her that the chief minister had not even applied for the same.

“I haven’t been able to understand how and why your government has announced that Narendra Modi has been refused a visa, when Modi has not even applied for one?” Advani had asked Clinton.

A surprised Clinton had then asked her officials whether this was true, he said.

Advani wrote on his blog that one of the officials told Clinton this was true, and added: “a senator had written to government making this enquiry about Narendra Modi’s probable visit, and the official reply saying that a visa would be denied had been publicised.”

The senior BJP leader said he pointed out to Clinton that it was “unfair and improper” to give such a reply without even a request being made, and then to publicise it.

Advani has showered Modi with praises in recent times and risen to his defence often.

The most recent example was on September 12, when the Supreme Court had passed an order referring the Gulbarga Society riots case of 2002 to a lower court in Gujarat.

Stating that this order had come as a relief to the BJP, Advani had said, “I have not seen any political person maligned in the way Modi has been. In the political history of India, there hasn’t been such misinformation propaganda against any other political leader.”

Advani will attend Modi’s three-day fast in Ahmedabad starting on Saturday for peace, unity and harmony in Gujarat. The timing of his blog today is significant in this regard.

Advani, who is Lok Sabha MP from Gandhinagar, is also likely to start his rathyatra against corruption from Gujarat.

Sonia Gandhi to preside over Cong CEC meeting

A week after her return from abroad after surgery, Sonia Gandhi will be back to active party work by presiding over a meeting of Congress’ Central Election Committee.

Party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said that Mr. Gandhi will be participating in Thursday’s CEC meeting which is to finalise tickets for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled early next year.

This will be the Congress president’s first public appearance after she returned to Delhi from the U.S., where she underwent surgery for an undisclosed illness.

Sources at 10 Janpath said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had called on her to inquire about her health soon after she had returned here on September 8 after a month-long stay abroad.

Party leaders have been claiming that Gandhi has been actively looking after organisational work since her return and has made a series of appointments at various levels in different states.

Ms. Gandhi had not been meeting people since her return.

Though she heads the Congress core group, she did not attend its first meeting held last week which was attended by all other members including the Prime Minister.

Government cannot act unilaterally, says Jayalalithaa

Hitting back at the opposition parties, including CPI(M), which have been demanding action against police officials in connection with the Paramakudi firing on Sunday, which left seven persons dead, Tamil Nadu Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Wednesday said the government cannot “act unilaterally” when it had announced a judicial probe.

Speaking in the Assembly, where the Left parties and Puthiya Tamizhagam staged a walkout following Speaker D. Jayakumar’s refusal to raise the issue, the Chief Minister said she had initially ordered for a DRO probe but later conceded to judicial probe at the insistence of a section of the opposition.

While the government had announced forming an inquiry commission under a retired High Court judge, it had to wait for its recommendations.

“How can we act unilaterally? We have to wait for the recommendations of the commission and if it recommends action against anybody, the government will act,” she said.

When a commission had been announced, only it can recommend action, she said.

The CPI (M) had announced staging a State-wide protest on September 17 demanding suspension of police officials who opened fire on the agitating crowd.