Mamata, Mulayam want Manmohan as President

June 14, 2012

mamat

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
July 11,2020

Kanpur, Jul 11: "The Uttar Pradesh administration has done the right thing by taking action against my son," said an old and feeble Ram Kumar Dubey, father of gangster Vikas Dubey.

The father said his son killed eight police officials and it was an unforgivable sin.

"Had he listened to us, his life would not have ended this way. Vikas never helped us in any way. Due to him, even our ancestral property was razed to the ground. He also killed eight policemen, which is an unforgivable sin. The administration has done the right thing. Had they not done so, tomorrow others would have acted similarly," Ram Kumar said.

"It is the chief minister's duty to protect every individual. The police is an extension of that. He attacked them which cannot be forgiven. I will not even take part in his cremation," he added.

Ram Kumar Dubey said that his only appeal to the government is to allow him entry to his ancestral property now.

Vikas Dubey was cremated at Bhairav Ghat in Kanpur. His wife, younger son and brother-in-law were present and no other member of his family attended the last rites.

Vikas Dubey was arrested by the police in Ujjain on Thursday morning. He was on the run for the last six days and had come to the city to offer prayers at a temple, where he was identified by a security guard.

He was killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police earlier today after he "attempted to flee".

The gangster was the main accused in the encounter that took place in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him.

Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

Vikas Dubey managed to escape after the incident. Uttar Pradesh police had launched a hunt and raised a bounty on him for Rs 5 lakh.

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Agencies
January 12,2020

New Delhi, Jan 12: A fact-finding committee of the Congress on the JNU violence on Sunday said the January 5 attack inside the university campus was "state-sponsored" and recommended Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar be dismissed and criminal investigation initiated against him.

The Congress had appointed a four-member fact-finding committee to carry out a detailed inquiry into the violence at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU).

Sushmita Dev, member of the committee, said the committee recommended that Kumar should be dismissed immediately and all the appointments in faculty should be probed and independent inquiry should take place.

"Criminal investigation must take place against the VC and faculty members and the security company," the Mahila Congress chief said.

"It is clear that the attack on JNU campus was state-sponsored," Dev said.

She also demanded a complete rollback of the JNU fee hike.

The other members of the fact-finding committee are Hibi Eden, MP and former NSUI president, Syed Naseer Hussain, MP and former president of JNU NSUI and Amrita Dhawan, a former NSUI president and ex-DUSU president.

On January 5 night, masked people armed with rods and sticks stormed the JNU campus and assaulted students and faculty members, and vandalised property, leaving several people injured.

Leftist outfits and the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) blamed each other for the violence.

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News Network
April 28,2020

New Delhi, Apr 28: Nafisa Ali took to Instagram to share the inspiring story of her niece, Diya Naidu, who donated her plasma to help patients suffering from Covid-19 after recovering from the disease. The veteran actress shared a photo of her niece from the hospital bed and asked fans to read Diya's post to get a detailed account of her experience.

Nafisa wrote, "Diya Naidu my niece - a COVID19 hero - is back home after donating her plasma - looks like liquid gold - it’s value is priceless as it will save lives. So please read her COVID19 story and share the information that is first hand. It is the need of the hour. Help save lives. #diyanise. #diyanaidu #covid_19 #india (sic)."

Diya Naidu, who is a dancer and choreographer based in Bengaluru, revealed in her Instagram post that she has donated her plasma for other Covid-19 patients. She said that the method has been super effective wherever it's been tried.

Earlier, Nafisa Ali gave a shout-out to her niece on Instagram and penned a heartfelt note for her. She wrote, "I am so grateful to you brave child - a COVID19 warrior (living in Bangalore) has agreed to donate her plasma to help cure other COVID19 serious patients (sic)."

Explaining the process of plasma therapy to treat Covid-19 patients, she wrote, "The process of donating plasma to treat COVID-19 is not very complex and can be done in just two hours. One of the most discussed methods of treatment of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus is plasma therapy, which involves the transfusion of plasma from a convalescent coronavirus patient to a critical patient. The blood of a recovering patient is rich in antibodies produced by the body to fight the virus, which are expected to help the critical patient recover (sic)."

Plasma therapy has been suggested to treat people suffering from Covid-19. People, who have recovered from the disease, are donating plasma as it contains antibodies to fight the disease. Earlier, Kanika Kapoor, who was the first Bollywood celebrity to be diagnosed with the disease, also offered to donate her plasma. She has recovered from Covid-19 and is currently living with her family in Lucknow.

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