New Delhi: Upping the ante on the Lokpal bill ahead of assembly polls in five states, Anna Hazare on Sunday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking him to "show courage" in passing stringent anti-corruption legislation to give the country something to remember him by.
Team Anna also wrote separate missives to Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and other leaders questioning their party's stance on aspects of the legislation passed by the Lok Sabha last month.
Using sharp language in the letters to the prime minister and Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Hazare described Home Minister P Chidambaram as "corrupt" and wondered why the government wanted to keep Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) "in its grip."
The four-page letter to Manmohan Singh, only signed by Hazare, said he was not sure whether the Congress will give him another chance to become the prime minister and he should use this opportunity to push for a stringent anti-corruption law....
more
11:28 PM, Jan 22, 2012
New Delhi: Days after its much publicised agitation in Mumbai and Delhi fizzled out, Team Anna appears to be confused on how to take forward the fight for a strong Lokpal saying the movement is at "crossroads" and a wrong decision at this stage can prove disastrous for it. Though it chose to bring BJP under the line of fire for admitting tainted politicians like Babu Singh Kushwaha into its...
04:56 PM, Jan 06, 2012
New Delhi: A high level BJP delegation on Thursday submitted a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil demanding reconvening of Parliament session so that voting is conducted on the Lokpal Bill. The delegation, led by senior BJP Leader LK Advani and BJP President Nitin Gadkari, also registered an official protest over the Lokpal Bill fiasco that took place in the Rajya Sabha on December 29. Alleging that the Government ran away...
01:53 PM, Jan 05, 2012
New Delhi: A high level BJP delegation is set to meet President Prathiba Patil on Thursday to register an official protest over the Lokpal Bill fiasco that took place in the Rajya Sabha on December 29. The delegation will be led by senior BJP Leader LK Advani and BJP President Nitin Gadkari. The party will also launch a week-long nationwide protest against the Congress over the Lokpal matter. ...
06:21 AM, Jan 05, 2012
Kolkata: Nobel laureate and eminent economist Amartya Sen said the Lokpal Bill presented in Parliament recently was not 'well thought out'. "I personally do not think the Lokpal Bill, as it came out, is well thought out," Sen told a gathering here last night on the occasion of screening of 'Amartya Sen: A Life Reexamined', a documentary on him. Sen said the challenge lay in how to integrate the democratic...
07:09 PM, Jan 03, 2012
New Delhi: Law Minister Salman Khurshid has favoured reaching out to the Opposition as also allies on the issue of Lokpal and other issues and dismissed suggestions that Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee was a 'difficult customer'. Even as the slugfest continued between the Congress and the BJP over the Lokpal Bill getting stuck in the Rajya Sabha, Khurshid said the government should reach out to the Opposition on a...
04:59 PM, Jan 03, 2012
New Delhi: A BJP delegation is expected to call on President Prathiba Patil on Tuesday to register an official protest over the Lokpal Bill fiasco that took place in the Rajya Sabha on December 29. The high-level delegation will be led by senior BJP leader LK Advani and party President Nitin Gadkari. The party will also launch a week-long nationwide protest against the Congress over the Lokpal issue. Alleging that...
08:33 AM, Jan 03, 2012
As Anna Hazare recuperates in hospital, doctors have advised him not to fast for at least one month. ...
10:55 PM, Jan 02, 2012
Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said that the ruling party is committed to a strong Lokpal Bill. ...
04:57 PM, Jan 02, 2012
New Delhi: The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Monday resumed trading charges on the Lokpal bill, holding each other responsible for the bill not being passed by parliament during its winter session. Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari accused the BJP of playing "negative politics" and creating an atmosphere of mistrust in the country. "If BJP had supported the bill which the Lok Sabha had passed, the sky would not...
04:46 PM, Jan 02, 2012
New Delhi: The BJP on Monday blamed the government for indulging in false campaign against the party on the Lokpal Bill. "Government is indulged in false campaign against the BJP on Lokpal bill. Why discussion was not started on Lokpal on the second day of special session in Rajya Sabha? Why Pranab did not speak in Rajya Sabha and why Leader of the Hose (Rajya Sabha) Manmohan Singh kept quiet,"...
04:34 PM, Jan 02, 2012
Kolkata: Stating that the Congress was playing with fire by ignoring it, the Trinamool Congress on Sunday said it will not compromise with the central government over the Lokayukta clause in the Lokpal Bill as it hurts the independence of states. "If I am not wrong we have brought 37 amendments and all revolving around the Lokayukta provision in the Lokpal Bill. The government has to agree on all the...
10:39 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Patna: RJD on Monday vowed to continue opposing the government's current Lokpal Bill that "lacked provisions" for reservation and sought to bring the Prime Minister within its ambit. "The RJD will continue to oppose the current Lokpal Bill that lacks provisions for reservation. We also seek to bring the Prime Minister within its ambit in letter and spirit," party Rajya Sabha MPs Ramkripal Yadav and Rajniti Prasad and state president...
10:17 PM, Jan 01, 2012
New Delhi: As Anna Hazare recuperates in a Pune hospital, his supporters in the capital on Sunday held a prayer meeting at Rajghat for his health and vowed to make Jan Lokpal a reality this year. Volunteers and other members of India Against Corruption converged at Rajghat here and prayed for Hazare, who is admitted to a private hospital in Pune after suffering from chest infection. "A spiritual start of...
10:09 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Kolkata: Hardening its stand on the Lokpal Bill, UPA ally Trinamool Congress on Sunday ruled out any compromise on the Lokayukta provision and said the government should have faced voting in the Rajya Sabha. "Trinamool Congress is not going to compromise on the federal structure of the Constitution and amendments put forward by the party have to be accepted," Trinamool Congress general secretary and MP Mukul Roy told. He was...
08:03 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Showing black flags to the prime minister was the people's own reaction, Team Anna member Shazia Ilmi said. ...
07:14 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Pune: The health of Anna Hazare, who has been admitted to a private hospital in Pune after suffering from viral infection, is improving. However, doctors attending him said on Sunday that Hazare will need to remain in hospital for a week. The doctors have also advised him not to go on fast for at least one month. "I am not as unwell as people may think. My condition has improved....
07:01 PM, Jan 01, 2012
New Delhi: The prime minister being shown black flags by Anna Hazare's supporters in Amritsar was an "unfortunate incident", the Congress said on Sunday, adding that people should protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for stalling the Lokpal Bill in the Rajya Sabha. "It is an unfortunate incident. People should show black flags to BJP for they did not let the Lokpal Bill pass through the Rajya Sabha," Congress...
05:33 PM, Jan 01, 2012
Pune: The health of Anna Hazare, who has been admitted to a private hospital here after suffering from viral infection, is improving but he will need to remain in hospital for a week and not go on fast for at least one month, doctors attending on him said on Sunday. "He is showing signs of improvement, he is being treated for chest infection and will require to remain in the...
05:20 PM, Jan 01, 2012
New Delhi: RJD MP Rajniti Prasad on Sunday rubbished BJP's allegation that Lalu Prasad had "orchestrated" his action of tearing the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha, saying his party chief had not tutored him to do so. "Laluji had not tutored me to take any such action (tearing the Lokpal Bill)," he said. "There was no ring master behind my action...Whatever I did was an outcome of my emotional outbursts...
08:53 AM, Jan 01, 2012
