Amidst growing outrage over last week’s verdict on the Bhopal gas tragedy, the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, stepped in on Monday and directed the group of ministers (GoM) headed by the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, to report to the Union Cabinet within 10 days after assessing the “options and remedies available”.
Contrary to what has been reported so far — that the GoM under Mr Chidambaram was reconstituted following the trial court’s order in the gas leak case last week — the GoM was set up on May 26 while the Bhopal court order came on June 7. Therefore, its reconstitution had nothing to do with the Bhopal court’s verdict, said sources.Moreover, for all the chest-beating on the part of the BJP for the gas victims, it has now come to light that a BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government had rejected in 2008-09, a proposal to set up an empowered commission to look after the interests of those affected by the 1984 gas leak.
Sources told this newspaper that the proposal to set up such a commission had been made by the previous GoM headed by the senior Congress leader, Mr Arjun Singh since 2004. At present, Mr Singh himself is being slammed for his role in allowing the former Union Carbide Corporation chief, Mr Warren Anderson, to escape.
With the proposal for the empowered commission not passing muster with the BJP-led state government, the Centre was unable to push ahead with it, said sources. The Centre was chary of being accused of disturbing the federal structure if it went ahead with the commission without the state government’s concurrence.
“Not everybody agreed on the commission and, in particular, the then state government did not support it,” said sources. The state government reportedly took the plea that it would take care of the issues and thus no commission was needed.
Showing posts with label Union Home Minister. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Union Home Minister. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Buck stops with me: PC
Under increasing fire after the Maoists massacred 76 CRPF jawans at Dantewada earlier this week, the Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, offered to resign in an effort to salvage his position in the government and the party.
Within hours of Mr Chidambaram made public his offer to resign, the Prime Minister’s Office made it known that Dr Manmohan Singh had rejected it.
Mr Chidambaram’s decision to make his resignation offer known a day before the Prime Minister’s departure on a week-long foreign trip could be significant in the expectation of securing Dr Singh’s full backing ahead of the Parliament session when the massacre is likely to come up. Mr Chidambaram, who had told the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in Lalgarh last Sunday that the “buck stopped with the CM” in the context of political violence in that state, was forced to admit on Friday that the “buck stops at my desk.”
Chronicle had asked Mr Chidambaram on Friday in the Op-Ed article Talk less, do more, Mr Chidambaram, “who does that buck (the Dantewada massacre stop with.”
Later in the day, the home minister, speaking at the CRPF’s Valour Day function, said: “I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops for what happened in Dantewada. I have no hesitation saying the buck stops at my desk. I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada”.
The home minister has been landing the government and the party in a series of controversies, including the December 9 announcement on Telangana — “the process for the formation of Telangana has been initiated — that set off a firestorm in Andhra Pradesh.
This is not the first time that Mr Chidambaram has offered to step down from a high position — he had resigned from the Cabinet in 1992 accepting moral responsibility for having invested in Fairgrowth, a company allegedly involved in the securities scam, and then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation.
Questions are now being asked in political circles on what prompted the home minister to take this step: was it to silence critics in the party or to project an image of indispensability?
Guessing games are also on in the Congress on possible successors in case the PM had been inclined to
Within hours of Mr Chidambaram made public his offer to resign, the Prime Minister’s Office made it known that Dr Manmohan Singh had rejected it.
Mr Chidambaram’s decision to make his resignation offer known a day before the Prime Minister’s departure on a week-long foreign trip could be significant in the expectation of securing Dr Singh’s full backing ahead of the Parliament session when the massacre is likely to come up. Mr Chidambaram, who had told the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, in Lalgarh last Sunday that the “buck stopped with the CM” in the context of political violence in that state, was forced to admit on Friday that the “buck stops at my desk.”
Chronicle had asked Mr Chidambaram on Friday in the Op-Ed article Talk less, do more, Mr Chidambaram, “who does that buck (the Dantewada massacre stop with.”
Later in the day, the home minister, speaking at the CRPF’s Valour Day function, said: “I have been asked directly or indirectly where the buck stops for what happened in Dantewada. I have no hesitation saying the buck stops at my desk. I accept full responsibility for what happened in Dantewada”.
The home minister has been landing the government and the party in a series of controversies, including the December 9 announcement on Telangana — “the process for the formation of Telangana has been initiated — that set off a firestorm in Andhra Pradesh.
This is not the first time that Mr Chidambaram has offered to step down from a high position — he had resigned from the Cabinet in 1992 accepting moral responsibility for having invested in Fairgrowth, a company allegedly involved in the securities scam, and then prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao accepted his resignation.
Questions are now being asked in political circles on what prompted the home minister to take this step: was it to silence critics in the party or to project an image of indispensability?
Guessing games are also on in the Congress on possible successors in case the PM had been inclined to
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
PC alerts state on Maoist
The Union home minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, has alerted the AP government on the bail granted to the CPI-Maoist central committee member, Thusharkanth Bhattacharya, who is lodged in the Cherlapally jail.
Mr Chidambaram on Monday called on the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to ensure that the state police keep a close watch on Bhattacharya as he is wanted in other cases in Maharasthra, UP and W. Bengal.
The Chief Minister immediately talked to the director-general of police, Mr Girish Kumar, and instructed him to comply with the advice of the Union home minister.
The state government would want to avoid repeating the embarrassing experience of the Maoist central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, jumping bail in October 2009 and rejoining the Naxalite movement. Reddy is now believed to be taking an active part in West Bengal Naxal affairs. Thusharkanth Bhattacharya, alias Srikanth, is an accused in the Tappalapur village raid case of 1976 in which four persons were killed. He has been in the jail for two years and has now got a bail.
Earlier, Bhattacharya was acquitted in three other cases in Warangal. He also has cases against him in Bihar where he was arrested two years ago from the Dujra area in Patna.
Mr Chidambaram on Monday called on the Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, to ensure that the state police keep a close watch on Bhattacharya as he is wanted in other cases in Maharasthra, UP and W. Bengal.
The Chief Minister immediately talked to the director-general of police, Mr Girish Kumar, and instructed him to comply with the advice of the Union home minister.
The state government would want to avoid repeating the embarrassing experience of the Maoist central committee member, Malla Raji Reddy, jumping bail in October 2009 and rejoining the Naxalite movement. Reddy is now believed to be taking an active part in West Bengal Naxal affairs. Thusharkanth Bhattacharya, alias Srikanth, is an accused in the Tappalapur village raid case of 1976 in which four persons were killed. He has been in the jail for two years and has now got a bail.
Earlier, Bhattacharya was acquitted in three other cases in Warangal. He also has cases against him in Bihar where he was arrested two years ago from the Dujra area in Patna.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Chidambaram chairs meeting of Unified Command
Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday chaired the meeting of the Unified Command to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Tight security arrangements have been made for the Home Minister’s visit in view of the State BJP’s plan to gherao him to protest his approval of the policy to allow surrender of militants mooted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Barring a demonstration by over 100 workers led by BJP’s State legislative party leader Chaman Lal Gupta at Bikram Chowk, the law and order situation was peaceful in the city, police said.
The meeting being held at the Chief Minister’s residence was attended by Director general of Police Kuldeep Khuda besides chiefs of BSF and CRPF.
The agenda of the meeting includes review of the security situation, plans of modernisation of the police force and the surrender policy, officials said.
Contours of the “cross-border surrender policy” after taking into consideration militants in PoK camps, latest intelligence inputs, screening setup and modalities of surrender are expected to be discussed.
The Centre has said it was ready to “welcome” Kashmiris who had gone to PoK if they were ready to return after giving up militancy.
“The idea that any Indian who had crossed over to PoK and wishes to return India is certainly welcome,” Chidambaram has said.
Tight security arrangements have been made for the Home Minister’s visit in view of the State BJP’s plan to gherao him to protest his approval of the policy to allow surrender of militants mooted by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Barring a demonstration by over 100 workers led by BJP’s State legislative party leader Chaman Lal Gupta at Bikram Chowk, the law and order situation was peaceful in the city, police said.
The meeting being held at the Chief Minister’s residence was attended by Director general of Police Kuldeep Khuda besides chiefs of BSF and CRPF.
The agenda of the meeting includes review of the security situation, plans of modernisation of the police force and the surrender policy, officials said.
Contours of the “cross-border surrender policy” after taking into consideration militants in PoK camps, latest intelligence inputs, screening setup and modalities of surrender are expected to be discussed.
The Centre has said it was ready to “welcome” Kashmiris who had gone to PoK if they were ready to return after giving up militancy.
“The idea that any Indian who had crossed over to PoK and wishes to return India is certainly welcome,” Chidambaram has said.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Top cities vulnerable to terror attacks, says PC
He also expressed the government’s demand to interrogate suspected Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) operative David Headley.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, the home minister said, “Any city with a population of six million or 10 million is vulnerable to attack. We are just as vulnerable as any other city — London, New York, Tokyo or Madrid. We must adopt a sense of vigilance, a sense of alertness. Citizens should also be alert. Despite the best level of alertness, such incidents could occur, for which we are sorry. But let’s not get carried away thinking that Indian cities are more vulnerable.”
He added that the Central intelligence agencies had clues about the Osho Ashram and the Chabad House being targets.
“It is a fact that Headley had surveyed Chabad House. Whether this particular incident is related to the blast at German Bakery remains to be seen. It is premature to comment on that right now. We have to find out who is responsible for this incident,” he said.
Addressing a press conference in Pune, the home minister said, “Any city with a population of six million or 10 million is vulnerable to attack. We are just as vulnerable as any other city — London, New York, Tokyo or Madrid. We must adopt a sense of vigilance, a sense of alertness. Citizens should also be alert. Despite the best level of alertness, such incidents could occur, for which we are sorry. But let’s not get carried away thinking that Indian cities are more vulnerable.”
He added that the Central intelligence agencies had clues about the Osho Ashram and the Chabad House being targets.
“It is a fact that Headley had surveyed Chabad House. Whether this particular incident is related to the blast at German Bakery remains to be seen. It is premature to comment on that right now. We have to find out who is responsible for this incident,” he said.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Supreme Court moved on Telangana issue
Contending that the Centre has divided the people of Andhra Pradesh by announcing the process for formation of a Telangana State, an advocate has moved the Supreme Court for a direction to stay the process.
A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.M. Lodha and B.S. Chauhan posted the petition filed by Srikakulam-based advocate Bondada Purushottam Yadav for hearing on February 22.
The petition cited Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s announcement on December 9, 2009 on initiating the process. On December 23, another announcement was made that the Centre would take steps to involve all concerned in the process. On February 3, a committee headed by the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Srikrishna, was constituted for this purpose.
The petitioner submitted that by making such announcements through executive orders, the Centre had divided the people of Andhra Pradesh, resulting in disturbance and violence and damage to public property. He sought a direction to restrain the Centre from initiating the process and to identify those responsible for causing damage to public property.
A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.M. Lodha and B.S. Chauhan posted the petition filed by Srikakulam-based advocate Bondada Purushottam Yadav for hearing on February 22.
The petition cited Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram’s announcement on December 9, 2009 on initiating the process. On December 23, another announcement was made that the Centre would take steps to involve all concerned in the process. On February 3, a committee headed by the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Srikrishna, was constituted for this purpose.
The petitioner submitted that by making such announcements through executive orders, the Centre had divided the people of Andhra Pradesh, resulting in disturbance and violence and damage to public property. He sought a direction to restrain the Centre from initiating the process and to identify those responsible for causing damage to public property.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Telangana: Supreme Court advances hearing
The Supreme Court on Tuesday advanced to February 22 the hearing of a writ petition challenging the announcement made by the Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on December 9, 2009 relating to a separate Telangana State.
A Bench comprising of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.M. Lodha and Deepak Verma posted the matter for February 22 on the plea of Bondada Purushottam Yadav, an advocate from Andhra Pradesh, that the matter be listed urgently.
The petition was initially listed for March 29.
In a brief hearing, Mr. Yadav argued that such statements creates rifts among the communities having stakes in the matter and are inimical to the national interests.
The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed a PIL filed by a former Member of Parliament M. Narayan Reddy seeking a direction to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker to accept the resignation submitted by 139 MLAs on the Telangana issue.
