The Delhi high court on Tuesday issued notice to the CBI on the bail pleas of DMK MP Kanimozhi and Kalaignar TV MD Sharad Kumar in the 2G spectrum case.
"Issue notice to the CBI for May 30," Justice Ajit Bharihoke, who on Monday dismissed the bail pleas of five corporate honchos in the case, said.
The court also asked the probe agency to file a status report detailing the stage of investigation and the judicial proceedings in the case on the next date of hearing.
Kanimozhi, the 43-year-old daughter of DMK Supremo M Karunanidhi, and Sharad Kumar had approached the high court on Monday with their bail applications after the special CBI court order their "forthwith" arrest on May 20.
Rejecting their bail applications, the special court had said that the offence attributed to them was grave and the possibility of influencing the witnesses cannot be ruled out.
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Karunanidhi in Delhi, to meet daughter Kanimozhi in jail today
DMK Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi will have a special visitor at Tihar Jail, where she has been lodged since Friday.
Her 87-year-old father, DMK chief M Karunanidhi, is in Delhi to meet his youngest child. He is expected to meet Kanimozhi at Tihar Jail, in the Superintendent's office, at around 5 pm today.
Karunanidhi's older son and Union minister MK Alagiri will accompany him to Delhi. His younger son, MK Stalin, is also likely to reach Delhi in the evening.
Kanimozhi, meanwhile, moved the Delhi High Court today for bail in the 2G case.
She was arrested on Friday after her bail plea was dismissed by a special Delhi court. She has been named a co-accused in the 2G case by the CBI. She will be brought to court on Monday for the daily hearing in the case.
After being arrested on Friday and spending her first night in jail, a stoic Kanimozhi had appeared in court on Saturday morning along with others accused in the case. She managed a smile as she met her husband and greeted party workers waiting outside the court for her. Her mother, Rajathi Ammal, however, had broken down. Surrounded by many party workers, the two then sat together in the court, holding hands.
"I'm ok. Have to now deal with whatever comes my way," Kanimozhi told NDTV in court on Saturday.
Kanimozhi has been chargesheeted by the CBI for allegedly conspiring with former Telecom Minister A Raja and accepting a Rs. 214-crore bribe via Kalaignar TV. Raja, a DMK MP and a Dalit leader, has been in Tihar Jail since February for allegedly planning and executing the 2G scam when he was Telecom Minister in 2008. A company that he favoured allegedly sent him the massive bribe.
The bail plea of Kalaignar TV Managing Director Sharath Kumar was also rejected by Special CBI Judge OP Saini on Friday. He too was taken to jail. Kanimozhi and Kumar hold 20 per cent stake each in Kalaignar TV, while former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's wife and Kanimozhi's step mother Dayalu Ammal holds 60 per cent share.
Justice Saini said bail had been dismissed due to the magnitude of the crime and given the seriousness of the allegations, he was unable to show any consideration to her being a woman. Kanimozhi's lawyer had argued that she should be given reprieve on the grounds that she was a woman and mother to a young child. Bail has not been granted to any of the accused in the case.
Kanimozhi is lodged in jail number 6 (women's cell) and ward number 8 in Tihar Jail. Her new neighbours include Madhuri Gupta - a former Indian diplomat charged with spying for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Sharda Jain, a murder accused.
Source: NDtv
Saturday, May 21, 2011
A Ganesh Nadar analyses the 12 reasons that made the DMK bite the dust in state elections
Karunanidhi was out-freebied by Jayalalithaa
1) Many people attributed the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam's win in the 2006 assembly elections to its lucrative promise of free TV sets for every household. After coming to power, the party spent Rs 4,000 crore from the public exchequer to distribute the TV sets. They also introduced an innovative medi-claim card to provide insurance for poor families.
In spite of these and other pro-poor schemes, the DMK not only lost the assembly elections this year, but lost very badly.
DMK's arch rival All India Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa took off some of the shine of their freebie freefall by announcing several schemes of her own.
Now that the AIADMK has come to power, the people of Tamil Nadu will get free grinders, mixers and fans. Families living below the poverty line well get free rice and mineral water. They have even been promised free gold when their daughters get married.
2)2G scam was an issue in the countryside too
The 2G scam, implicating DMK leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi, peaked at the right time, as the state went into election mode. There were allegations that a huge amount was paid by a grandson in the family to his grandmother for a Cabinet post.
The Neera Radia tapes had already caused considerable damage to the DMK's first family. The tapes also exposed the hectic lobbying that had taken place to make Raja the telecom minister. Those who had lobbied for him were now in the dock in a scam which was worth a whopping Rs 176 lakh crore.
Though the 2G scam made waves in urban India, DMK leaders naively thought that it would not have much impact in rural areas. They were wrong.
Rural Tamil Nadu may not have been aware of the intricacies of the 2G scam but they were definitely aware of its magnitude.
The people in rural pockets felt that the ruling party had taken them for a ride while its leaders made enormous amounts of money for themselves. They were not sure how the money had been made but they knew a lot of it had been siphoned off.
At the grass root level, DMK functionaries did not defend the 2G accused. They chose to laugh at the accusations. One DMK councillor in Nagaipattinam was telling the people, "They are accusing us of selling air waves. How can you sell air?"
He thought he was being funny. But the people saw no humour in these utterances; instead they sensed brazen corruption. And they decided to teach the DMK a lesson.
DMK supremo Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi being named a co-conspirator along with Raja, who is already behind bars, did not help the DMK's cause either.
The money trail in the 2G scam led straight to Kalaignar TV where the first family owns 80 per cent of the shares. Then chief minister Karunandhi's wife Dayalu Ammal owned 60 per cent of the shares and daughter Kanimozhi owned 20 per cent.
People did not need further proof of the DMK's corrupt dealings, though Kalaignar TV has claimed that the Rs 214 crore it received from DB Realty was a loan which the network has since returned.
3) Voters didn't buy DMK's logic for inflation
Inflation was another major cause behind the DMK's electoral reverses. Instead of taking steps to control prices, the state government tried to dodge the blame by pointing out that prices were going up all over the country. Such logic would not have mattered to the voters of Tamil Nadu who were unable to purchase even basic food items due to soaring prices.
4) Fluctuating bus fares were another reason for the DMK's loss. For the same distance travelled in a bus, the commuter sometimes paid double and even triple the regular fare. The state road transport corporation classified certain buses as 'limited stop services' and tagged it with other nomenclatures. This meant hiked fares but not additional comforts.
5) State govt didn't do enough for Lankan Tamils
Frequent cases of firing by the Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen also dented the DMK's popularity in coastal Tamil Nadu. These fishermen would either be attacked or their catch seized by the Lankan Navy.
Though fishermen did stray into Lankan waters for a better catch, they felt that the DMK did not do enough to protect them from the neighbouring nation's navy.
6) Another factor against the DMK government was the skyrocketing price of river sand that is used for construction. As a result, there was rampant sand smuggling and the people blamed the ruling party for it.
7) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Prabhakaran was killed by the Lankan Army barely days after the Lok Sabha polls in 2009. Some political experts in Tamil Nadu felt that the rebel leader's killing was planned to take place after the polls.
Many believe that the DMK government did not do its best to protect innocent Lankan Tamils who were trapped between the army and the LTTE in the last stages of the civil war. They feel that had the DMK been more proactive, a lot of innocent lives could have been saved.
As one disgusted voter put it, "Writing letters to the prime minister does not help in such situations."
8. Congress, DMK's bitter seat-sharing
Another important reason for the DMK's loss was the lack of unity within the ruling family. Karunanaidhi's son and Union minister M K Azhagiri was openly challenging his younger brother and father's heir apparent Stalin.
Though nobody in the party admitted that the two brothers were pulling in opposite directions, the infighting didn't exactly boost the cadre's morale before the elections.
9) During seat-sharing talks, ally Congress bullied the DMK into parting with 15 more seats. Before the 2006 assembly polls, the Congress had been given 48 seats but this time they got 63 seats. This did not go down well with DMK cadres who always thought of the Congress as a junior party in the alliance.
DMK members did not bother to work hard in the constituencies the Congress contested from. And irrespective of their tall claims, the Congress simply doesn't have enough workers of its own in every village in Tamil Nadu.
In Bihar, the Congress had contested the recently held assembly polls on its own and won four seats. In Tamil Nadu, in spite of the combined strength of all its allies, the party managed to win only five seats. In a quid pro quo, Congress members didn't work hard or campaign much in seats that the DMK contested because of the bitter seat-sharing exercise.
10) Tirade against Vijayakanth backfired
In the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, the Vijayakanth led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam had secured 10 per cent of the votes across Tamil Nadu. If this was added to the votes won by the AIADMK, the coalition would have easily won.
Keeping this in mind, Jayalalithaaa ensured an alliance with the DMDK this time, in spite of initial hiccups in the seat-sharing talks. She even agreed to give them 41 seats.
The AIADMK chief's strategic move paid off. The DMDK won 29 seats and the AIADMK won 150 seats (inclusive of the two seats won by Sharat Kumar's Akila India Samathuva Makkal Katchi). The DMDK managed to win more seats than the ruling DMK and pushed the party to the third place. Worse for the DMK, Vijayakanth will be the new leader of the opposition in the assembly.
The DMK had recruited popular Tamil comedian Vadivelu to counter Vijayakanth, who toured the entire state and attracted huge crowds wherever he went. He had a one-point agenda: attacking Vijayakanth.
He called Vijayakanth a drunkard and declared that he was unfit to be a 'captain'. Vijayakanth is fondly known as captain among his supporters after he essayed the role of Captain Prabhakaran in a film. Vadivelu's tirade against Vijayakanth has obviously backfired and next time, we are sure Vadivelu will only stick to acting.
11) No solution for power cuts
Another reason behind the DMK's debacle were the persistent power cuts. Though Tamil Nadu has always grappled with power shortage, the frequency of power cuts went through the roof right before the elections. Along with pre-scheduled power cuts for three hours, unscheduled power cuts lasting between 30 minutes and an hour became the norm.
Instead of taking steps to counter the power crisis, the DMK government blamed the previous AIADMK government's regime for the electricity shortage. People laughed at this excuse.
Incidentally, in spite of the party doing very badly in the state elections, DMK chief M Karunanidhi performed extremely well and won his seat with a whopping margin of over 50,000 votes. But the same cannot be said about his son and former deputy chief minister MK Stalin, who managed to hold onto his seat by a little over 2,000 votes.
Stalin can hardly call this a victory.
12) First family was taking over Kollywood
Films play a major role in Tamil Nadu politics. People soon realised that the state's first family was controlling Kollywood as well.
The family-owned Sun Pictures was releasing films regularly while three of Karunanidhi's grandsons produced movies as well. The people felt that others were not being given a chance in the film industry.
Many actors openly complained that they were being forced to attend political functions against their will. This did not go down well with the people of Tamil Nadu, who love their stars with a passion that the rest of the country will not understand.
The DMK has a tough three years ahead of it, before heading into the next Lok Sabha elections in 2014. They first have to deal with the 2G trial and then get their act together to present a united front to the people.
Stalin will have to use all the skills that his father has taught him over four decades and only then will the sun (the DMK's party symbol) continue to rise.
Source rediff.com
1) Many people attributed the Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam's win in the 2006 assembly elections to its lucrative promise of free TV sets for every household. After coming to power, the party spent Rs 4,000 crore from the public exchequer to distribute the TV sets. They also introduced an innovative medi-claim card to provide insurance for poor families.
In spite of these and other pro-poor schemes, the DMK not only lost the assembly elections this year, but lost very badly.
DMK's arch rival All India Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam chief J Jayalalithaa took off some of the shine of their freebie freefall by announcing several schemes of her own.
Now that the AIADMK has come to power, the people of Tamil Nadu will get free grinders, mixers and fans. Families living below the poverty line well get free rice and mineral water. They have even been promised free gold when their daughters get married.
2)2G scam was an issue in the countryside too
The 2G scam, implicating DMK leaders A Raja and Kanimozhi, peaked at the right time, as the state went into election mode. There were allegations that a huge amount was paid by a grandson in the family to his grandmother for a Cabinet post.
The Neera Radia tapes had already caused considerable damage to the DMK's first family. The tapes also exposed the hectic lobbying that had taken place to make Raja the telecom minister. Those who had lobbied for him were now in the dock in a scam which was worth a whopping Rs 176 lakh crore.
Though the 2G scam made waves in urban India, DMK leaders naively thought that it would not have much impact in rural areas. They were wrong.
Rural Tamil Nadu may not have been aware of the intricacies of the 2G scam but they were definitely aware of its magnitude.
The people in rural pockets felt that the ruling party had taken them for a ride while its leaders made enormous amounts of money for themselves. They were not sure how the money had been made but they knew a lot of it had been siphoned off.
At the grass root level, DMK functionaries did not defend the 2G accused. They chose to laugh at the accusations. One DMK councillor in Nagaipattinam was telling the people, "They are accusing us of selling air waves. How can you sell air?"
He thought he was being funny. But the people saw no humour in these utterances; instead they sensed brazen corruption. And they decided to teach the DMK a lesson.
DMK supremo Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi being named a co-conspirator along with Raja, who is already behind bars, did not help the DMK's cause either.
The money trail in the 2G scam led straight to Kalaignar TV where the first family owns 80 per cent of the shares. Then chief minister Karunandhi's wife Dayalu Ammal owned 60 per cent of the shares and daughter Kanimozhi owned 20 per cent.
People did not need further proof of the DMK's corrupt dealings, though Kalaignar TV has claimed that the Rs 214 crore it received from DB Realty was a loan which the network has since returned.
3) Voters didn't buy DMK's logic for inflation
Inflation was another major cause behind the DMK's electoral reverses. Instead of taking steps to control prices, the state government tried to dodge the blame by pointing out that prices were going up all over the country. Such logic would not have mattered to the voters of Tamil Nadu who were unable to purchase even basic food items due to soaring prices.
4) Fluctuating bus fares were another reason for the DMK's loss. For the same distance travelled in a bus, the commuter sometimes paid double and even triple the regular fare. The state road transport corporation classified certain buses as 'limited stop services' and tagged it with other nomenclatures. This meant hiked fares but not additional comforts.
5) State govt didn't do enough for Lankan Tamils
Frequent cases of firing by the Lankan Navy on Indian fishermen also dented the DMK's popularity in coastal Tamil Nadu. These fishermen would either be attacked or their catch seized by the Lankan Navy.
Though fishermen did stray into Lankan waters for a better catch, they felt that the DMK did not do enough to protect them from the neighbouring nation's navy.
6) Another factor against the DMK government was the skyrocketing price of river sand that is used for construction. As a result, there was rampant sand smuggling and the people blamed the ruling party for it.
7) Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Prabhakaran was killed by the Lankan Army barely days after the Lok Sabha polls in 2009. Some political experts in Tamil Nadu felt that the rebel leader's killing was planned to take place after the polls.
Many believe that the DMK government did not do its best to protect innocent Lankan Tamils who were trapped between the army and the LTTE in the last stages of the civil war. They feel that had the DMK been more proactive, a lot of innocent lives could have been saved.
As one disgusted voter put it, "Writing letters to the prime minister does not help in such situations."
8. Congress, DMK's bitter seat-sharing
Another important reason for the DMK's loss was the lack of unity within the ruling family. Karunanaidhi's son and Union minister M K Azhagiri was openly challenging his younger brother and father's heir apparent Stalin.
Though nobody in the party admitted that the two brothers were pulling in opposite directions, the infighting didn't exactly boost the cadre's morale before the elections.
9) During seat-sharing talks, ally Congress bullied the DMK into parting with 15 more seats. Before the 2006 assembly polls, the Congress had been given 48 seats but this time they got 63 seats. This did not go down well with DMK cadres who always thought of the Congress as a junior party in the alliance.
DMK members did not bother to work hard in the constituencies the Congress contested from. And irrespective of their tall claims, the Congress simply doesn't have enough workers of its own in every village in Tamil Nadu.
In Bihar, the Congress had contested the recently held assembly polls on its own and won four seats. In Tamil Nadu, in spite of the combined strength of all its allies, the party managed to win only five seats. In a quid pro quo, Congress members didn't work hard or campaign much in seats that the DMK contested because of the bitter seat-sharing exercise.
10) Tirade against Vijayakanth backfired
In the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, the Vijayakanth led Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam had secured 10 per cent of the votes across Tamil Nadu. If this was added to the votes won by the AIADMK, the coalition would have easily won.
Keeping this in mind, Jayalalithaaa ensured an alliance with the DMDK this time, in spite of initial hiccups in the seat-sharing talks. She even agreed to give them 41 seats.
The AIADMK chief's strategic move paid off. The DMDK won 29 seats and the AIADMK won 150 seats (inclusive of the two seats won by Sharat Kumar's Akila India Samathuva Makkal Katchi). The DMDK managed to win more seats than the ruling DMK and pushed the party to the third place. Worse for the DMK, Vijayakanth will be the new leader of the opposition in the assembly.
The DMK had recruited popular Tamil comedian Vadivelu to counter Vijayakanth, who toured the entire state and attracted huge crowds wherever he went. He had a one-point agenda: attacking Vijayakanth.
He called Vijayakanth a drunkard and declared that he was unfit to be a 'captain'. Vijayakanth is fondly known as captain among his supporters after he essayed the role of Captain Prabhakaran in a film. Vadivelu's tirade against Vijayakanth has obviously backfired and next time, we are sure Vadivelu will only stick to acting.
11) No solution for power cuts
Another reason behind the DMK's debacle were the persistent power cuts. Though Tamil Nadu has always grappled with power shortage, the frequency of power cuts went through the roof right before the elections. Along with pre-scheduled power cuts for three hours, unscheduled power cuts lasting between 30 minutes and an hour became the norm.
Instead of taking steps to counter the power crisis, the DMK government blamed the previous AIADMK government's regime for the electricity shortage. People laughed at this excuse.
Incidentally, in spite of the party doing very badly in the state elections, DMK chief M Karunanidhi performed extremely well and won his seat with a whopping margin of over 50,000 votes. But the same cannot be said about his son and former deputy chief minister MK Stalin, who managed to hold onto his seat by a little over 2,000 votes.
Stalin can hardly call this a victory.
12) First family was taking over Kollywood
Films play a major role in Tamil Nadu politics. People soon realised that the state's first family was controlling Kollywood as well.
The family-owned Sun Pictures was releasing films regularly while three of Karunanidhi's grandsons produced movies as well. The people felt that others were not being given a chance in the film industry.
Many actors openly complained that they were being forced to attend political functions against their will. This did not go down well with the people of Tamil Nadu, who love their stars with a passion that the rest of the country will not understand.
The DMK has a tough three years ahead of it, before heading into the next Lok Sabha elections in 2014. They first have to deal with the 2G trial and then get their act together to present a united front to the people.
Stalin will have to use all the skills that his father has taught him over four decades and only then will the sun (the DMK's party symbol) continue to rise.
Source rediff.com
Saturday, May 7, 2011
2G scam: Kanimozhi's bail decision reserved till May 14
A special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court on Saturday reserved for a week its decision on the bail plea by DMK MP Kanimozhi, named a co-conspirator in the 2G spectrum allocation case.Special CBI judge OP Saini said the case will be taken up on May 14.
Earlier on Saturday, the CBI prosecutor said the DMK MP was the "active brain" associated with co-accused A Raja in the second generation (2G) spectrum allotment issue.
"It is totally false that she was not at all aware of the transfer of Rs 200 crore to Kalaignar TV, because she was the director at that time. Kanimozhi is the active brain behind the entire episode of the 2G spectrum scam," CBI prosecutor UU Lalit said to Special CBI judge OP Saini.
"It was later that she resigned from Kalignar TV as she was also the MP. Sharad Kumar took over at that time," Lalit said.
The CBI had on Friday stated the link between former communications minister A Raja and Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi's daughter Kanimozhi in the scam.
"It is totally baseless to say that Kanimozhi was not associated to Raja. She has fully participated along with Raja from the beginning till the end of the second generation spectrum allocation," Lalit had argued.
Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, arguing for Kanimozhi, had stated Kanimozhi's dissociation with Raja, who is in jail for his alleged role in the case.
"Even if we assume that Raja got transferred the Rs.200 crore bribe money from Dynamix Group to Kalaignar TV, no guilt is proved against me as I did not sign any document on behalf of the recipient TV channel," Jethmalani argued for Kanimozhi, who has a stake in Kalaignar TV.
The CBI had alleged in its chargesheet that Kanimozhi had actively pursued with intermediaries and her party the reappointment of Raja as communications minister.
Kanimozhi had earlier applied for bail on Friday.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
DMK, Congress formalise poll pact
A day after breaking the deadlock, the DMK and the Congress today formalised their seat-sharing pact for the April 13 assembly polls, under which the national party will contest 63 seats.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K V Thangkabalu signed the agreement, hammered out after hard bargaining by both sides for about a fortnight.
"Following discussions, it has been decided to share 63 seats with Congress," the copy of the agreement released to the media said.
Later, Thangkabalu described the DMK-Congress combine as a "winning alliance."
The seat-sharing talks had run into rough weather with DMK refusing to allot 63 seats and Congress dead set on its demand, which had brought the seven-year-old alliance under serious strain.
The stalemate continued till Tuesday when DMK finally relented to Congress' demand for 63 seats.
The DMK and the Congress had contested the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the same platform besides the 2006 Assembly elections.
For NDTV Updates
DMK chief M Karunanidhi and Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) president K V Thangkabalu signed the agreement, hammered out after hard bargaining by both sides for about a fortnight.
"Following discussions, it has been decided to share 63 seats with Congress," the copy of the agreement released to the media said.
Later, Thangkabalu described the DMK-Congress combine as a "winning alliance."
The seat-sharing talks had run into rough weather with DMK refusing to allot 63 seats and Congress dead set on its demand, which had brought the seven-year-old alliance under serious strain.
The stalemate continued till Tuesday when DMK finally relented to Congress' demand for 63 seats.
The DMK and the Congress had contested the 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the same platform besides the 2006 Assembly elections.
For NDTV Updates
Monday, March 7, 2011
DMK-Congress: Is 61 the magic number?
The Congress and DMK are expected to decide today whether they will stick together for the Tamil Nadu elections or split up over how many seats the Congress should be allowed to contest. Sources in Chennai say both sides have agreed on 61.
It's been a hectic morning for both parties. After a meeting with Sonia Gandhi last night in Delhi, senior DMK leaders briefed their chief, M Karunanidhi, who is likely to give his feedback on the negotiations in the next few hours. In a sign that the marriage may be saved, Mr Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi, is heading to Delhi from Chennai.
The DMK had initially drawn the line at 60 seats for the Congress, which said nothing less than 63 was acceptable. The Congress also said it wanted to participate in the government if the alliance wins the election (in the current arrangement, the DMK is in power with support from the Congress). Both sides have this morning reportedly agreed to bridge the gap at 61 seats.
The bluster has been high-volume since Saturday night, when the DMK announced that it was dropping out of the UPA coalition at the Centre over the battle with the Congress in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has 18 MPs and six ministers in the Centre, which give the party considerable clout. So after its ultimatum, the DMK waited for the Congress to coax and cajole it to change its mind - that never happened. Yesterday, DMK leaders like Mr Karunanidhi's son, MK Alagiri, who is a union minister, said all six ministers of the DMK would hand in their resignations to the PM.
Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee then staged an intervention last afternoon, meeting Mr Karunanidhi's nephew, Dayanidhi Maran. By the evening, the DMK ministers recalled the decision to resign, stating that the Congress had asked for another day. Last night, Mr Maran and Mr Alagiri met Sonia Gandhi, but sources say the talks ended without a break-through. This morning, the DMK chief was briefed on those talks and he said he would hold a new round of discussions with senior DMK leaders in Chennai.
Divorce over 2G scam?
While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK's entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister, has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies. A Rs. 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that's owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi's wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja's. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI. The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption.
For NDTV Updates
It's been a hectic morning for both parties. After a meeting with Sonia Gandhi last night in Delhi, senior DMK leaders briefed their chief, M Karunanidhi, who is likely to give his feedback on the negotiations in the next few hours. In a sign that the marriage may be saved, Mr Karunanidhi's daughter, Kanimozhi, is heading to Delhi from Chennai.
The DMK had initially drawn the line at 60 seats for the Congress, which said nothing less than 63 was acceptable. The Congress also said it wanted to participate in the government if the alliance wins the election (in the current arrangement, the DMK is in power with support from the Congress). Both sides have this morning reportedly agreed to bridge the gap at 61 seats.
The bluster has been high-volume since Saturday night, when the DMK announced that it was dropping out of the UPA coalition at the Centre over the battle with the Congress in Tamil Nadu. The DMK has 18 MPs and six ministers in the Centre, which give the party considerable clout. So after its ultimatum, the DMK waited for the Congress to coax and cajole it to change its mind - that never happened. Yesterday, DMK leaders like Mr Karunanidhi's son, MK Alagiri, who is a union minister, said all six ministers of the DMK would hand in their resignations to the PM.
Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee then staged an intervention last afternoon, meeting Mr Karunanidhi's nephew, Dayanidhi Maran. By the evening, the DMK ministers recalled the decision to resign, stating that the Congress had asked for another day. Last night, Mr Maran and Mr Alagiri met Sonia Gandhi, but sources say the talks ended without a break-through. This morning, the DMK chief was briefed on those talks and he said he would hold a new round of discussions with senior DMK leaders in Chennai.
Divorce over 2G scam?
While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK's entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister, has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies. A Rs. 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that's owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi's wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja's. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI. The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption.
For NDTV Updates
Jayalalithaa denies links to Hasan Ali Khan
AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa today issued legal notices to three media organisations, including DMK-owned 'Kalaignar TV', for carrying "frivolous and defamatory" reports linking her to tainted Pune based businessman Hasan Ali Khan, and demanded unconditional apology from them.
The notices have been issued to Mumbai-based eveninger 'Mid-Day', Chennai-based DMK's official mouthpiece 'Murasoli' and 'Kalaignar TV'.
Jayalalithaa said she will take legal action if the three media organisations failed to respond to her notice.
Jayalalithaa's counsel P H Manoj Pandian said in the notice that the "preposterous claim made without any verification is not backed by any documentation."
"My client states that the report by Mid-Day quotes an anonymous investigating officer as saying that investigations into huge cache of money in the possession of Hasan Ali Khan, who is at the center of a controversy for reportedly evading Income Tax to the tune of several thousand crores, pointed to 'a woman politician, who was also Chief Minister of a state from South India. This is mischievous, scurrilous, malicious and insinuating journalism at its very worst," he said.
Pandian said Jayalalithaa categorically makes known that she has nothing whatsoever to do with Hasan Ali and said it was she who had issued statements and pressed for action against persons who have stashed black money in foreign banks.
Khan is accused of stashing black money abroad.
He said the Mid-Day report became the source for Murasoli and Kalaignar TV which identified the "woman Chief Minister" as Jayalalithaa in a highly "defammtory, slanderous report" in the Tamil daily which was also broadcast in Kalaignar TV.
The report was conceived through "sheer imagination" and published without any verification and with ulterior motive, he said in the notice.
"My client states that the above referred news item does not contain an iota of truth. The news item is false, frivolous and defamatory with the intention of maligning my client in order to cause loss of reputation to her and the party she leads," he said.
Saying that Jayalalithaa had suffered loss due to the report that cannot be quantified, Pandian said the dailies should tender unconditional apology and publish it in the first page, while Kalaignar TV has to broadcast the same.
"It has to be done immediately on receipt of this notice by all of you, failing which my client would be constrained to institute necessary and appropriate civil and criminal action against you, jointly and severally to restrain you from indulging in such reckless, frivolous and irresponsible allegations and publishing the same, apart from claiming damages for the loss of reputation," he said.
For NDTV Updates
The notices have been issued to Mumbai-based eveninger 'Mid-Day', Chennai-based DMK's official mouthpiece 'Murasoli' and 'Kalaignar TV'.
Jayalalithaa said she will take legal action if the three media organisations failed to respond to her notice.
Jayalalithaa's counsel P H Manoj Pandian said in the notice that the "preposterous claim made without any verification is not backed by any documentation."
"My client states that the report by Mid-Day quotes an anonymous investigating officer as saying that investigations into huge cache of money in the possession of Hasan Ali Khan, who is at the center of a controversy for reportedly evading Income Tax to the tune of several thousand crores, pointed to 'a woman politician, who was also Chief Minister of a state from South India. This is mischievous, scurrilous, malicious and insinuating journalism at its very worst," he said.
Pandian said Jayalalithaa categorically makes known that she has nothing whatsoever to do with Hasan Ali and said it was she who had issued statements and pressed for action against persons who have stashed black money in foreign banks.
Khan is accused of stashing black money abroad.
He said the Mid-Day report became the source for Murasoli and Kalaignar TV which identified the "woman Chief Minister" as Jayalalithaa in a highly "defammtory, slanderous report" in the Tamil daily which was also broadcast in Kalaignar TV.
The report was conceived through "sheer imagination" and published without any verification and with ulterior motive, he said in the notice.
"My client states that the above referred news item does not contain an iota of truth. The news item is false, frivolous and defamatory with the intention of maligning my client in order to cause loss of reputation to her and the party she leads," he said.
Saying that Jayalalithaa had suffered loss due to the report that cannot be quantified, Pandian said the dailies should tender unconditional apology and publish it in the first page, while Kalaignar TV has to broadcast the same.
"It has to be done immediately on receipt of this notice by all of you, failing which my client would be constrained to institute necessary and appropriate civil and criminal action against you, jointly and severally to restrain you from indulging in such reckless, frivolous and irresponsible allegations and publishing the same, apart from claiming damages for the loss of reputation," he said.
For NDTV Updates
Re-think your resignations, Pranab urges DMK
The Congress has asked the DMK to think one last time about its decision to quit the government. The DMK says its chief, M Karunanidhi, will review that offer.
So can this marriage be saved?
The political equivalent of a couples counselling session was held in Delhi this afternoon with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee meeting with the senior DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran. Also present: The Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad who is in charge of Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this morning, the parties seemed headed for divorce court with the DMK's ministers arriving in Delhi to submit their resignations to the Prime Minister.
Mr Mukherjee sent a sort of "Are you really sure?" message to the DMK. On record, the DMK bristled. TR Baalu said Mr Mukherjee's message had been passed on to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. "As of now, there is no reconsideration by the DMK," he said. When asked if the split was likely to be reverse engineered, he said, "I am not a fortune teller."
But the meeting with Mr Mukherjee suggested a reconciliation is what both parties want, despite the bluster.
The DMK has six ministers and 18 MPs, allowing it to be an influential member of the coalition government at the Centre.
What has turned the allies into foes is the negotiation over what sort of role the Congress will play - first in the Tamil Nadu elections, and then in the government if the DMK comes to power. Currently, the DMK government is supported "from outside" by the Congress - the latter is not part of the government. Elections in Tamil Nadu are scheduled for April 13. The Congress wants 63 seats, as opposed to the 60 that the DMK is prepared to part with. Also, the Congress has shortlisted some constituencies which have to be included in its share. That's not acceptable to the DMK.
So the regional party insists its six ministers will meet the Prime Minister today to formalise the divorce with their resignations. (Read: What upset the DMK)
The split was first announced by the DMK on Saturday which apparently expected the Congress to respond with some serious TLC. The Congress instead chose to keep its distance, possibly emboldened by the fact that the Samajwadi Party has indicated it could replace the DMK in the coalition. On Sunday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed the UPA government will not fall - with his 22 MPs, that's not an empty promise.
In the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the half-way mark is 272. The Congress has 207 seats. Allies like the DMK push the UPA's tally to 274 - just two more than that critical half-way mark.
The DMK's 18 seats push the government into a minority. But Mulayam's 22 compensate nicely.
Divorce over 2G scam?
While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK's entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies. A 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that's owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi's wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja's. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI. The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption.
For NDTV Updates,
So can this marriage be saved?
The political equivalent of a couples counselling session was held in Delhi this afternoon with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee meeting with the senior DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran. Also present: The Congress' Ghulam Nabi Azad who is in charge of Tamil Nadu.
Earlier this morning, the parties seemed headed for divorce court with the DMK's ministers arriving in Delhi to submit their resignations to the Prime Minister.
Mr Mukherjee sent a sort of "Are you really sure?" message to the DMK. On record, the DMK bristled. TR Baalu said Mr Mukherjee's message had been passed on to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. "As of now, there is no reconsideration by the DMK," he said. When asked if the split was likely to be reverse engineered, he said, "I am not a fortune teller."
But the meeting with Mr Mukherjee suggested a reconciliation is what both parties want, despite the bluster.
The DMK has six ministers and 18 MPs, allowing it to be an influential member of the coalition government at the Centre.
What has turned the allies into foes is the negotiation over what sort of role the Congress will play - first in the Tamil Nadu elections, and then in the government if the DMK comes to power. Currently, the DMK government is supported "from outside" by the Congress - the latter is not part of the government. Elections in Tamil Nadu are scheduled for April 13. The Congress wants 63 seats, as opposed to the 60 that the DMK is prepared to part with. Also, the Congress has shortlisted some constituencies which have to be included in its share. That's not acceptable to the DMK.
So the regional party insists its six ministers will meet the Prime Minister today to formalise the divorce with their resignations. (Read: What upset the DMK)
The split was first announced by the DMK on Saturday which apparently expected the Congress to respond with some serious TLC. The Congress instead chose to keep its distance, possibly emboldened by the fact that the Samajwadi Party has indicated it could replace the DMK in the coalition. On Sunday, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav claimed the UPA government will not fall - with his 22 MPs, that's not an empty promise.
In the 543-seat Lok Sabha, the half-way mark is 272. The Congress has 207 seats. Allies like the DMK push the UPA's tally to 274 - just two more than that critical half-way mark.
The DMK's 18 seats push the government into a minority. But Mulayam's 22 compensate nicely.
Divorce over 2G scam?
While the Congress and the DMK argue publicly over seats, sources say the real cause for the break-up is the DMK's entanglement with the 2G spectrum scam. One of the DMKs main men, A Raja, who was Telecom Minister has been arrested for siring the scam, which saw valuable frequency being given at throwaway prices to private companies. A 214-crore kickback from the scam was allegedly routed to a TV station in Chennai that's owned largely by Mr Karunanidhi's wife, and his daughter Kanimozhi, who is an MP and a close associate of Mr Raja's. The CBI, in charge of investigating the scam, has raided the homes and offices of people closely associated with Kanimozhi, and she is expected to be questioned in the next few weeks by the CBI. The DMK is getting increasingly uncomfortable with the inquiry and what it might throw up. The Congress, on the other hand, is suggested to be wary of asking for votes with a political partner whose senior members seem tarnished by corruption.
For NDTV Updates,
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)