Mamata, Mulayam want Manmohan as President

June 14, 2012

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New Delhi, June 14: No Prime Minister has ever gone on to beco­me the President of the Indian Republic. But the record may have to be rewritten, and the country may also have a new Prime Minister, if the Congress’ two powerful partners in the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) have their way.

Dropping a bombshell, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday jointly proposed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s name as the ruling alliance’s nominee for candidature for the July 19 presidential election.

Their joint proposal, made in the national capital in the evening, came after a brief meeting between them that in turn followed Mamata’s separate meeting with UPA chairperson and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi. Singh’s was not the only name they proposed as possible candidates. But the two other names the Mamata-Mulayam duo tossed up – former president A P J Abdul Kalam and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee – may not find favour with the Congress. Kalam will certainly not be acceptable to the Congress.

“We discussed three names ... A P J Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh and Somnath Chatterjee,” Mulayam told newsmen in Mamata’s presence, bringing the Prime Minister’s name in the reckoning for the first time. Before the two leaders went back into another huddle, Mamata, also the West Bengal chief minister, added: “We decided the names based on the persons who are honest, know the Constitution and can work for the nation. It will be good to have a President elected unanimously by all political parties.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if the two powerful allies of the Congress were acting as troubleshooters for the Congress leadership, and if the dramatic proposal was part of any thinking in the ruling political establishment to use the Presidential election to also bring about a change in the leadership of the UPA government.

As such, the UPA leadership has been criticised for creating a situation of “policy paralysis” in the country. The image of Singh has taken a beating in the facing of a mounting economic crisis. The Mamata-Mulayam proposal could also be an oblique hint of a lack of confidence in Singh’s leadership of the government.

Earlier during the day, just a few hours before proposing Si­ngh’s name for Rashtrapati Bh­avan, Mamata met Sonia for consultations on the Presidential election. Emerging from that meeting, Mamata told mediapersons that Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee was the Congress’s first choice for Rashtrapati Bhavan, and the second choice being that of incumbent Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Adding to the intriguing proposal, there were strong suggestions within the ruling establishment that the UPA’s presidential nominee would be announced only after Prime Minister Singh returns home from his visit to Mexico and Brazil on the night of June 23. There is time till June 30 to file the nomination papers for the July 19 election. Singh leaves for Mexico on Saturday, the day the Election Commission is scheduled to issue the formal notification calling for the election.

The Congress did not react immediately to the Singh-as-President proposal of the Mamata-Mulayam duo. But the leading UPA partner cannot take the proposal lightly. Between them, the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi party command 10.6 per cent of the votes in the Electoral Colleague that elects the President.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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News Network
November 21,2024

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Shares of Adani Group companies lost about $28 billion in market value in morning trade on Thursday after US prosecutors charged the billionaire chairman of the Indian conglomerate in an alleged bribery and fraud scheme.

Gautam Adani's flagship company Adani Enterprises tumbled 23 per cent, while Adani Ports, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green, Adani Power, Adani Wilmar and Adani Energy Solutions, ACC , Ambuja Cements and NDTV fell between 20 per cent and 90 per cent.

Adani group's 10 listed stocks had a total market capitalisation of about $141 billion at 0534 GMT, compared to $169.08 billion on Tuesday.

US authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar Adani, agreed to pay about $265 million in bribes to Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India's largest solar power plant project.

Adani Green in a statement on Thursday said the US Justice Department had issued a criminal indictment against board members Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani and the Securities and Exchange Commission had issued a civil complaint against them.

The US Justice Department also included Adani Green board member Vneet Jaain in the criminal indictment, it said.

Adani Green's units had decided not to proceed with the proposed US dollar denominated bond offerings due to developments, it added.

"Investors will shy away from Adani Group stocks ... and that's what this sharp selling is signifying," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president of retail equities research at SMC Global Securities.

"This could hurt the credibility of the group and maybe borrowing costs will rise," he said.

The indictment comes nearly two years after US shortseller Hindenburg Research alleged that Adani had improperly used tax havens and was involved in stock manipulation, allegations the conglomerate denied.

Also in early Asian trading on Thursday, Adani dollar bonds slumped, with prices down 3c-5c on bonds for Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone. The falls were the largest since the Adani Group came under a short-seller attack in February 2023.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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