Pawan Kumar Bansal and Ashwani Kumar resign, BJP sharpens attack on delayed action

May 11, 2013

Pawan_Kumar_BansalNew Delhi, May 11: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar and Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal have been asked to put in their papers, a decision that came on Friday evening, after Congress President Sonia Gandhi conveyed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that their continuation would further muddy the image of the party and the government.

As indicated by ET in a report on May 10, the Congress leadership axed the two ministers in a move seemingly aimed at dispelling the impression of shielding the embattled ministers and savouring the much needed political bounce from the party's election victory in Karnataka. Both Kumar, who faces the charge of brazenly intervening in the CBI's investigation into the coalfield allocation scandal, and Bansal, who is embroiled in a cash-for-jobs scam, appeared to run out of the prime minister's stout backing after the Congress president forced his hand. Gandhi's intervention came two days after the government chose to end Parliament's budget session ahead of schedule amid the demand of the Opposition to sack the two ministers before debating important bills such as the one on food security. The government had refused to give in to the demand even as the budget session turned out to be least productive ever due to the gridlock.

The party brass can now use the vacancy at the railway ministry to appease Karnataka leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who lost out to Siddaramaiah in the election to the post of chief ministership earlier on Friday, a senior Congress leader told ET. Kharge is currently handling the labour portfolio at the Centre.

The main opposition, Bharatiya Janata Party, sharpened its attack on the government, saying if Bansal and Kumar had resigned earlier, Parliament's time would not have been wasted. BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain questioned the prime minister for allowing the two ministers "to continue for so long despite the SC rap on one and the CBI tightening its noose around other".

Hussain said the government should have heeded the advice of BJP's Sushma Swaraj. "The leader of opposition Sushma Swaraj had said that both ministers should resign and then Parliament can run. But two days before the session was to end, it was adjourned sine die. The Congress must have thought it would get some respite but the BJP will continue its fight outside Parliament," Hussain said.

The PM was believed to have had reservation on dropping the law minister in particular because while Bansal faced charges of financial impropriety, Kumar faced the rap in an exercise that also involved the

Prime Minister's Office and the coal ministry. Recent reports have alleged that Bansal presided over a ministry riddled with corruption. The CBI's investigations into the case have been pointing to the involvement of the minister's kin as well as officials in fixing important appointments.

On May 3, the CBI had arrested railway board member Mahesh Kumar for allegedly paying Rs 90 lakh as bribe for a posting in the Railway Board. The negotiations were allegedly done through the minister's nephew, Vijay Singla.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 4,2020

Bhopal, Mar 4: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister  Kamal Nath on Tuesday asserted that there was no threat to his government.

Nath's comments came when he was asked about reports of alleged 'poaching' attempts being made by the opposition BJP in the state.

“The legislators are telling me that they are being offered so much money. I am telling the MLAs to take it, if they are getting this free money,” Nath told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Monday alleged that his party MLAs were being offered “huge money by BJP leaders” as part of the saffron party's “poaching” attempt to destablise the Kamal Nath government.

When Nath was asked about any threat to the stability of his government in Madhya Pradesh, he said, “There is nothing to worry about.”

Reacting to Nath's statement, state BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that his party has nothing to do with the allegations.

“In fact, these speculations and allegations are part of the internal bickering of among Congress leaders to get nominated for the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.

After Digvijaya Singh's remarks on Monday, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress veteran of making false statements to create sensationalism.

“Speaking lies to create sensationalism is Digvijaya's habit. Probably some of his (Digivijaya's) works were not done and he wants to create pressure on the CM to get them done,” Chouhan alleged.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 4,2020

Srinagar, Apr 4: Two militants were reportedly killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Hardmand Guri village in Kulgam, a police spokesperson said.

"This operation based on a credible police input was launched this morning. Two terrorists have been reportedly killed so far," the spokesperson said, adding that the exchange of fire was going on.

Earlier, the police tweeted on its official handle that three militants had been trapped in the cordon. "Same group of #terrorists trapped who killed 3 civilians recently," the police said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) has alleged that the varsity administration has blocked the registration of 300 students on the basis of 'fake Proctor inquiries'.

The union had on Saturday asked students of the university to pay their academic tuition fee but not the hiked hostel fee.

"Today the Vice Chancellor first blocked the fee payment portal and then blocked the payment of tuition fees. It is clear that the VC was lying through the teeth when he said students want to register but are not being allowed to by protesters," JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said.

She said the VC has also blocked the registration of 300 students based on fake proctor enquiries which are not even completed.

"The truth is that it is the administration which does not want students to register and is blocking their registration," she said.

JNUSU vice president Saket Moon said that in the meetings held in HRD ministry, it was decided that the administration would take a lenient view on the students' protest and not take action against them.

He said many students, who opened the portal for registration found they had been academically suspended and could not register.

He said the JNUSU had softened its stand by saying that they would register by paying the old fees but that has been kept on hold.

On Sunday, the administration extended the date for the winter semester registration till January 15.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.