New Delhi: Days after two Union Ministers were sacked, there were reports of a feud between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. But the Congress on Sunday downplayed that and said that there is no rift. The party has rubbished all reports that the Prime Minister has been isolated. Senior Congress leader Janardhan Dwivedi on Sunday reiterated that the resignations of Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar...
02:31 PM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: BJP's youth wing workers on Sunday clashed with the police outside Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence and demanded his resignation over coalgate and Railway bribery scam. Section 144 has been imposed around 7, Racecourse Road and the road leading to the Prime Minister's residence has been blocked. Heavy police deployment around the area after the youth members of the BJP led by Anurag Thakur staged protests. Police used...
01:20 PM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: Days after Union Ministers Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar were sacked, there seems to be an apparent divide between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress party. The Congress has given full credit to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the resignation of the Bansal and Ashwani. Sources say the party is upset with the Prime Minister's strong defence of Ashwani. Meanwhile, the BJP has upped the ante...
08:43 AM, May 12, 2013
New Delhi: The BJP has alleged that the CBI coalgate report was tampered with on the directions of the Principal Secretary in the PMO Pulok Chatterjee. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley made this allegation while speaking to Karan Thapar on Devil's Advocate. Below is an excerpt of the interview: Karan Thapar: Do you believe that Mr Shatrughan Singh attended the CBI meeting of his own volition...
08:06 AM, May 12, 2013
Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley made this allegation while speaking to Karan Thapar on this week's Devil's Advocate. ...
11:58 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata will continue to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the coal scam controversy. Speaking to Karan Thapar on this week's Devil's Advocate, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley has said the exit of Ashwani Kumar in the matter was not enough and that his party will flag the demand for the Prime Minister's resignation. Following is an excerpt...
03:37 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: It seems that the government is distancing itself from sacked Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Sources say that the government had prepared a statement to defend Ashwani Kumar after he resigned, however, it did not release that statement. Sources say the statement said, "Ashwani resigned because of perception and his resignation should not be seen as corruption. He has not been indicted by the Supreme Court in any way."...
12:59 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: Sacked Law Minister Ashwani Kumar on Saturday came out in his defence saying he resigned only to avoid any unnecessary controversy claiming that his conscience still remains clear. "I tendered my resignation to put an end to unnecessary controversy in a matter pending before the Supreme Court. My conscience remains clear and I believe I will remain vindicated," Ashwani Kumar said. He also said that his resignation was...
12:49 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was forced to sack Ashwani Kumar as Law Minister and Pawan Kumar Bansal as Railway Minister, the Congress party has given full credit to party President Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi for taking action against the tainted ministers. "Congress President and Rahul Gandhi never tolerate corruption and that is why they took the resignation of the two ministers," Congress...
12:06 PM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: After days of sustained pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was finally forced to act against his ministers charged with corruption and interference. Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal were both forced to quit on Friday. Both of them called on the Prime Minister on Friday evening and submitted their resignations. While Ashwani Kumar was sacked for interfering in CBI's coalgate probe report, Pawan Bansal...
07:55 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's rise in politics and elevation to the cabinet was as dramatic as his fall. Elected to Rajya Sabha in May 2002, Kumar, a former Additional Solicitor General, climbed the ropes fast, sometimes creating heartburns among his colleagues in the party. Belonging to Gurdaspur in Punjab, Ashwani was an Additional Solicitor General before being elected to the Upper House in 2002. He was re-elected to...
11:23 PM, May 10, 2013
Pawan Kumar Bansal resigned as Railway Minister on Friday. ...
09:30 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has identified for closer scrutiny 500 phone calls from out of the 1,000 intercepted calls mainly among the four arrested accused in the alleged Rs 10 crore Railway bribery scandal. As the scandal led to the resignation of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, CBI sources said on Friday that over 1,000 phone calls were intercepted during the two-month long surveillance on arrested...
09:18 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Pawan Kumar Bansal on Friday evening resigned as Railway Minister following allegations of corrupt practices by his close relatives and aides. Sources say that Bansal resigned after Congress President Sonia Gandhi met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and asked him to force the Railway Minister to put in his papers. The question now being raised is whether Ashwani will be sacked too. The big questions - Can the PM...
06:51 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: 1:07 pm: Trouble is growing for Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. A Public Interest Litigation in the Punjab and Haryana High Court has revealed preferential allotment of land to Pawan Bansal's family members. 21.26 acres of land in Zirakpur was allotted to railway bribery scam accused Vijay Singla's father Mithan Lal Singla and others. The land worth crores of rupees was leased for 33 years at a rate...
12:27 PM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take a final decision on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal. Sources say Sonia Gandhi feels that the damage must be controlled and spoke to Manmohan Singh on Thursday. The Congress Core Committee will meet on Friday and a decision is likely. This comes even as reports say Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is...
09:34 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still not keen on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's removal, sources have told CNN-IBN. Sources add that Manmohan Singh is worried that if Ashwani Kumar goes, he too will come under further opposition fire. One of the solutions being worked out is that Ashwani Kumar's portfolio be changed. Sources have also told CNN-IBN that Railway Minister Pawan Bansal might not survive the cash for...
07:55 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Ranjit Sinha on Thursday accepted the Supreme Court's observation that the country's premier investigating agency was a "caged parrot" that "speaks in its master's voice". Asked by reporters about his views on the apex court's caged parrot remark, Sinha said: "Whatever Supreme Court said is correct." Speaking on the autonomy of the agency, Sinha told reporters on Thursday that "it was for...
04:27 AM, May 10, 2013
New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday remained non-committal on the continuance of its two ministers Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal. The two have been under fire over allegations of misuse of power. On Thursday, while Bansal chose to skip the Cabinet meet at the PM's residence, Ashwani attended it. Sources said that the PM was still not keen on Ashwani's exit as that would expose him to opposition attack....
09:41 PM, May 09, 2013
New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is still not keen on Law Minister Ashwani Kumar's exit, sources said on Thursday. The sources said that the PM's main worry was that he would be in the line of fire if Ashwani resigned. At the Cabinet meet at the PM's residence, the solution offered was changing the portfolio of Ashwani Kumar. Meanwhile, sources added that Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is unlikely...
07:08 PM, May 09, 2013
