Sodomy case: 'Hiding' in Bhopal flat, Raghavji arrested

Four days after his domestic help accused him of sodomy, former Madhya Pradesh finance minister Raghavji was arrested on Tuesday from a flat in Koh-e-fiza locality where he was reportedly hiding for more than a day with his wife and a nephew.
The police claimed they took the veteran leader into custody after breaking into a flat in a nondescript apartment after being tipped that he was hiding there to avoid arrest. The first-floor flat in old Bhopal was locked from outside and when they entered he offered no resistance, the police said.
Raghavji's lawyer, however, claimed his client had surrendered and that he was never at large. The 79-year-old leader, who resigned as finance minister on Friday and was expelled from the BJP on Sunday, had applied for anticipatory bail in a Bhopal court but before it could be heard he was arrested.
The ruling BJP has already washed its hands of the leader, who began his political career of more than 55 years with the Jan Sangh, saying he was no longer with the BJP and the police were dealing with him the way they should with any criminal.
The party did not want the opposition to milk the issue and cracked the whip immediately after the victim resurfaced on Sunday. The Congress, whose no confidence motion against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government will be debated on Thursday, announced that it will not raise the sleaze CD issue in the Assembly.
After he was brought to the Habibganj Police Station which, incidentally, he inaugurated in 2009 and where a plaque bears his name, Raghavji was taken for medical check-up. He claimed he was suffering from hypertension and diabetes among other ailments and that he underwent angioplasty, but was found to be fit enough to be taken to the court.

MPs, MLAs will be disqualified on date of conviction: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down as ultra vires a provision of the Representation of the People Act which protects convicted lawmakers against disqualification on the ground of pendency of appeal against their conviction in the higher courts.

"The only question is about the vires of section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) and we hold that it is ultra vires and that the disqualification takes place from the date of conviction," a bench of justices A K Patnaik and S J Mukhopadhaya said.

The court, however, said that its decision will not apply to MPs, MLAs or other lawmakers who have been convicted and have filed their appeals in the higher courts before the pronouncement of this verdict.

The provision of RPA says that a lawmaker cannot be disqualified in the event of his conviction in a criminal case if he or she files an appeal in the higher court.

The apex court's verdict came on the petitions filed by Lily Thomas and NGO Lok Prahari through its secretary S N Shukla who had sought striking down of various provisions of RPA on the ground that they violate certain constitutional provisions which, among other things, expressly put a bar on criminals getting registered as voters or becoming MPs or MLAs.

The PILs had said that certain sections of RPA allow convicted lawmakers to continue in office while their appeals are pending and thus those provisions are "discriminatory and encourage criminalisation of politics".

Chidambaram, Sharma rush to Uncle Sam to revive Indian economy

Two very chastened Indian cabinet ministers arrived in Washington on Tuesday, looking for American investment and patronage to revive an Indian economy that has hit the skids and a rupee that is being decimated.


The swagger and self-importance that characterized Indian economic engagements with American business over the past few years has evaporated rapidly as finance minister P Chidambaram and commerce and industries minister Anand Sharma engage with US interlocutors over the next few days. In its place, there is despair at the nose-diving rupee and the drying up of foreign investment, leaving the Indian projection of becoming an economic powerhouse distinctly wobbly.

"There's no doubt we are going through a rough period right now,'' a senior Indian official preparing for the ministerial engagements conceded.

There was a time not too long ago when Indian ministers were so cocky that they bluntly told the Americans that they couldn't care less if they invested in India or not; there are plenty of other takers, and besides, domestic demand was so strong that it was sufficient to galvanize the Indian economy. Giddy over forecasts on the ''inevitable'' rise of China and India, some even wrote off America and the west, leaving many western commentators smarting.

Not so fast, may well be the message over the past few weeks. The US economy has not only proved to be resilient but is now bouncing back on the strength of a housing recovering and growing consumer confidence, the highest in five years. Meanwhile, all the bluster about BRICS appears to be crumbling fast with even China and Brazil slowing down, though India is clearly the worst performer of the lot.

Which is why the Indian finance minister will spend an unprecedented four days in Washington DC, meeting a range of American economic interlocutors of consequence, from top executives of Wal-Mart, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft, to lawmakers such as Senator Max Baucus Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, besides his counterpart US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He will also deliver the key-note address on Thursday at the Plenary Session of US India Business Council 38th Leadership Summit, where American executives who have been griping and sniping at India will gather to hear him.

''The finance minister is likely to discuss the issue of investment by US companies in India especially in infra sector, various policy measures taken by the Government to boost investment in the country and tax related matters among others,'' a government statement issued ahead of the visits said, but the sarkari-speak glossed over how much New Delhi is having to bend after having contemptuously dismissed American complaints over barriers to enter the Indian market.

Ahead of the visits, New Delhi has rolled back a range of measures American businesses saw as inimical to them, from punitive tax rulings to mandatory buying of telecom gear from domestic manufacturers under a preferential market access (PMA) policy that progressively calls for 100% local sourcing of security sensitive telecom equipment and electronics from October 2013.

"India's rethink of its PMA policy sends a strong and welcome signal that India is listening to investors and that channels of communication through organizations such as the US-India Business Council are working," USIBC President Ron Somers said on Tuesday as news of the what New Delhi called a "deferment" of the policy came through.

Whether this will be adequate to turn the tide of negative opinion remains to be seen. While India's finance and commerce ministers make the case that New Delhi is ready to do business with the US and rest of the world, there are continued misgivings on part of the defence ministry over liberal foreign investment norms in the defence sector and in the home ministry over open-ended procurement policies in the telecom/electronic sector, both of which are projected as having dangerous security implications.

The US surveillance overreach in recent weeks could not have filled the free-trade brigade with any great confidence, and both Chidambaram and Sharma will have to negotiate the tricky terrain involving national security — protecting it from financial meltdown because it is too closed or a strategic blunder because it is too open.Two very chastened Indian cabinet ministers arrived in Washington on Tuesday, looking for American investment and patronage to revive an Indian economy that has hit the skids and a rupee that is being decimated.


The swagger and self-importance that characterized Indian economic engagements with American business over the past few years has evaporated rapidly as finance minister P Chidambaram and commerce and industries minister Anand Sharma engage with US interlocutors over the next few days. In its place, there is despair at the nose-diving rupee and the drying up of foreign investment, leaving the Indian projection of becoming an economic powerhouse distinctly wobbly.

"There's no doubt we are going through a rough period right now,'' a senior Indian official preparing for the ministerial engagements conceded.

There was a time not too long ago when Indian ministers were so cocky that they bluntly told the Americans that they couldn't care less if they invested in India or not; there are plenty of other takers, and besides, domestic demand was so strong that it was sufficient to galvanize the Indian economy. Giddy over forecasts on the ''inevitable'' rise of China and India, some even wrote off America and the west, leaving many western commentators smarting.

Not so fast, may well be the message over the past few weeks. The US economy has not only proved to be resilient but is now bouncing back on the strength of a housing recovering and growing consumer confidence, the highest in five years. Meanwhile, all the bluster about BRICS appears to be crumbling fast with even China and Brazil slowing down, though India is clearly the worst performer of the lot.

Which is why the Indian finance minister will spend an unprecedented four days in Washington DC, meeting a range of American economic interlocutors of consequence, from top executives of Wal-Mart, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Microsoft, to lawmakers such as Senator Max Baucus Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and Senator Mark Warner, Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, besides his counterpart US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. He will also deliver the key-note address on Thursday at the Plenary Session of US India Business Council 38th Leadership Summit, where American executives who have been griping and sniping at India will gather to hear him.

''The finance minister is likely to discuss the issue of investment by US companies in India especially in infra sector, various policy measures taken by the Government to boost investment in the country and tax related matters among others,'' a government statement issued ahead of the visits said, but the sarkari-speak glossed over how much New Delhi is having to bend after having contemptuously dismissed American complaints over barriers to enter the Indian market.

Ahead of the visits, New Delhi has rolled back a range of measures American businesses saw as inimical to them, from punitive tax rulings to mandatory buying of telecom gear from domestic manufacturers under a preferential market access (PMA) policy that progressively calls for 100% local sourcing of security sensitive telecom equipment and electronics from October 2013.

"India's rethink of its PMA policy sends a strong and welcome signal that India is listening to investors and that channels of communication through organizations such as the US-India Business Council are working," USIBC President Ron Somers said on Tuesday as news of the what New Delhi called a "deferment" of the policy came through.

Whether this will be adequate to turn the tide of negative opinion remains to be seen. While India's finance and commerce ministers make the case that New Delhi is ready to do business with the US and rest of the world, there are continued misgivings on part of the defence ministry over liberal foreign investment norms in the defence sector and in the home ministry over open-ended procurement policies in the telecom/electronic sector, both of which are projected as having dangerous security implications.

The US surveillance overreach in recent weeks could not have filled the free-trade brigade with any great confidence, and both Chidambaram and Sharma will have to negotiate the tricky terrain involving national security — protecting it from financial meltdown because it is too closed or a strategic blunder because it is too open.

Digvijaya slams BJP for criticizing Bihar's law and order

Taking pot shots at the BJP, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday said the party which was part of the coalition government in Bihar till last month is criticizing the state's law and order situation over the Bodh Gaya blasts.

The Congress general secretary told reporters here that the perpetrators of the Bodh Gaya temple terror attack in the morning, which left two monks injured, should be brought to book.

"Any effort to destabilize the country, to destabilize the state and to bring about communal disturbance should be fought at all levels. It is not even a month and the BJP feels that the law and order is so bad that they (Nitish Kumar government) can't handle anything. I also saw Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP spokesperson) saying that probably the (2010) Pune bakery (blasts) culprits were also doing recce," Digvijaya Singh said.

He said the BJP and the Sangh want to communalize politics again in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections.

"Therefore, all non-BJP ruled states should be careful and Nitish Kumar should be more careful," said the Congress leader.

BJP targets Nitish, says CM busy receiving Cong ministers

BJP today targeted its former ally Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar over the serial blasts in Bodh Gaya, questioning why his government had not acted on specific intelligence inputs that the Buddhist temple may be targeted by terrorists.

BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said that IB, Delhi police and Pune blast accused had said the Bodh Gaya temple will be attacked by terrorists as a revenge for the attacks on Muslims in Myanmar.

Hussain charged that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was "overloaded" with work as he was handling 18 ministries.

"Moreover, he is busy with protocol everyday as some Union Congress minister visits him. His time is spent in receiving them and having lunch with them.     This is followed by a mutual admiration session," Hussain told PTI.

BJP alleged that after a visit to the blast site, Kumar should have held a meeting wit h his officials.

Instead he met JD(U) leaders.

"The CM is using his official residence for party work. More than caring for the Janata, he is concerned about saving the Janata Dal," Hussain said.

Earlier, State Principal Secretary (Home) Amir Subhani said today that the state government had taken actions to improve security measures at the Mahabodhi temple and adjoining areas on the basis of all inputs given by the intelligence agencies.

Narendra Modi not fit to be PM, says Mayawati

In a veiled reference to reports that Gujarat CM Narendra Modi had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarakhand, Mayawati on Sunday said BSP condemns a political party whose leader seeks to become a PM candidate but talks about saving people only from his own state.
"We strongly condemn the political party, whose leader stakes claim for the post of the PM, but talks about saving people only from Gujarat," she said.
The BSP supremo said from this, the personality of such a leader could be gauged.
"A person having such a narrow mentality cannot be the one to occupy the top post with honesty. You have to keep this in mind," Mayawati said while addressing Brahmin Bhaichara Sammelan at Ramabai Ambedkar ground here.
She said some political parties were indulging in "politics" over the calamity in Uttarakhand.
"BSP requested the Centre and the state government to extend maximum possible assistance, but I am sad to say that even at this time of deep trouble, some political parties are indulging in politics," she alleged.
She said BSP has appealed partymen to extend maximum help to the victims and has requested the Centre to declare it a national calamity.
"We are grieved with massive loss of life and property due to incessant rain and landslide in Uttarakhand, we pray to give courage to the affected people," she said.
Mayawati said following the ideology of Dr Ambedkar, BSP was formed on April 14, 1983, and at that time almost all the political parties spread canard that it was a party of only Dalits and not that of upper cast.
"That was totally misleading because the ideology and principles of BSP are not against any caste or religion. It wants to create an equitable system," she said.
The BSP supremo said people of all religions and castes should get equal opportunity to progress, but the opposition parties indulged in canard so that upper caste and minorities do not get associated with BSP.
"We cannot come to the Centre without associating all the caste with us. My party has decided to associate upper caste and religious minorities along with dalits and backward and we started from Uttar Pradesh," she said.
Mayawati said she herself took up the task and associated people of Sarv Samaj between 2003 to 2007.
"We ran the government of sarvjan sukhay and sarvjan hitay honestly," she said.
Alleging that all the opposition parties had a tacit understanding in the last assembly elections, she said in a bid to succeed, they used tactics due to which a large number of people from backward caste, upper caste and minorities got mislead.

Raghavji expelled from party after allegations of sexually harassing domestic help, says state BJP chief

The Madhya Pradesh unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today expelled senior party leader Raghavji, state BJP chief Narendra Singh Tomar said. Raghavji has been accused by his domestic help of sexual harassment.

Raghavji, 79, had quit as the state's finance minister after the allegations. He was allegedly asked to quit by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

Raghavji had been Finance Minister for nine years.

Sources close to him say that he feels the case against him is politically motivated and that the man who has accused him of sexual exploitation worked part-time for him, occasionally massaged the minister's arms and legs, and had quit a month ago.

Beni again: Mulayam Singh Yadav hand-in-glove with BJP

A day after Mulayam Singh Yadav referred to him as an old friend engaged in his publicity, Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Saturday resumed his attack on the Samajwadi Party president, alleging that he was hand in glove with the BJP for fomenting communal tension in the state to reap political benefits during the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Beni also cited several examples of BJP supporting Mulayam in the past to underline their relationship. He also challenged Mulayam for an open debate over his role in Babri Masjid's demolition.
"There are ample incidents to prove that Mulayam is colluding with BJP for flaring up communal passion in the state. In the past Mulayam has taken help of BJP on various occasions. He formed government in 2003 with just 135 MLAs. Speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi allowed all defections. At that time, BJP was in power at the Centre," Beni claimed.
He also alleged that Mulayam's move for not supporting Sonia Gandhi in 1999, nominating Sakshi Maharaj to Rajya Sabha, contesting assembly election in Gujarat after the Godhra episode and his open praise for BJP leader L K Advani establishes that Mulayam has a secret relationship with BJP.
"Now Mulayam is busy in fomenting communal tension across the state so that votes can be polarised on religious lines benefitting BJP and SP," Beni said.
He said Mulayam had played the communal card in the past also. "When he was the CM in 1990, he ordered moving central forces from Ayodhya. It is also questionable that how VHP leader Ashok Singhal and BJP leader S C Dixit reached Babri Masjid in 1990. Mulayam had ordered not to fire. Later, firing was done at Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya which killed several Hindus. Mulayam did not request for CBI inquiry into the incident. It was part of his strategy and I am only clarifying the things so that both communities do not get carried away by emotions in the Lok Sabha elections," Beni said.

UPA woos Nitish as Modi attacks him for breaking alliance with BJP

In its bid to reach out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the Union Rural Development Ministry has approved Rs 4,000 crore for the construction of 5,700 km of rural roads, highest allotment for the state in the past 12 years.
"I'm happy that today I'll inform Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar that Rs 4000 crore have been anctioned for the state. This is the biggest package sanctioned for Bihar till date," said union Minister Jairam Ramesh.
The BJP's poll panel chief came down heavily on Nitish Kumar on Saturday after the JD(U) and BJP terminated their 17-year-old alliance. With a tele-conference address to 1,500 BJP leaders and workers, Modi made a virtual entry into Nitish's turf, while sitting miles away in Gandhinagar.

"Narendra Modi has to prepare for the upcoming elections and teach a lesson to Nitish Kumar," BJP MLA Nitin Naveen said.
At the BJP office in Patna, state leaders and workers geared up for their direct interaction with campaign chief Modi, who is expected to steer them to victory next year. With the strained ties between Nitish and Modi being common knowledge, the choice of Bihar was a well-planned move by the BJP.
JD(U) hit out at BJP and said that the party is remote controlled. "BJP runs from remote. Earlier, the remote was controlled by Nagpur, now it's controlled by Gujarat," JD(U) MLC and spokesperson Niraj Singh said.
Modi's message to the party's Bihar unit was loud and clear and left no doubt that both the Congress and JD(U) had to be treated as equal adversaries.
An hour-long phone conversation of Narendra Modi has set the political temperature soaring in Bihar and in days to come, the BJP will play up the Modi card to take on Nitish. 

Only law or compromise can resolve Ram temple row: Sharad Yadav

Janata Dal (United) chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday avoided commenting on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amit Shah's claims of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, and said that either legal route or a compromise could resolve this issue.

"Either legal route or compromise could resolve the Ram Temple issue. There is no third option," said Yadav, while spelling his party's stand clear on the matter.

"What do we have to do with his comment? People keep on making comments," he added.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's aide and BJP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge, Amit Shah, earlier in the day said that a grand temple of Lord Ram would be built in Ayodhya soon.

Shah, who visited the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, said that he had come to offer his prayers to Lord Ram.

"It is a centre of faith for crores of Hindus. I have asked that there should be good governance in the country and making it free of the Congress. I have also prayed that we should all together build a grand temple for Lord Ram here as soon as possible," he told the media here.

The construction of Ram temple at the dispute site in Ayodhya has always been in BJP 's top agenda, but it was put on the back burner after formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

MP sodomy case: Protect victim, give him a govt job, says Congress

A political war is brewing in Madhya Pradesh over sodomy allegations on the states former finance minister Raghavji. The Opposition leader has hit out at Raghavji who resigned on Friday after his domestic help accused him of sodomy.
Congress leader and Vidhan Sabha leader Ajay Singh has demanded security and government job as compensation for the alleged sodomy victim.
Raghavji resigned on Friday as the Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister following allegations that he sodomised his domestic help. Raghavji's resignation followed a complaint by a member of his domestic staff that he was allegedly sodomised by the former minister, who promised to get him a permanent government job.

Raghavji denied the sodomy charges against him and has alleged political conspiracy. "I am not aware of the allegations. The allegations against me are wrong," Raghavji said. "The CM will talk about the reason of my resignation. There could be political conspiracy behind the allegations," he added.
He also said he was not aware of any CD. "The boy left a month back. If he has put any such allegations of sodomy against me, they are all baseless," Raghavji said.
The victim has alleged that two of the minister's men also sodomised him. As evidence, he has submitted a CD shot by another one of the former minister's domestic workers.
The domestic help of Raghavji went to the police on Friday morning with an affidavit and a CD and the moment the matter reached Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, he asked Raghavji to resign pending inquiry. Jayant Mallya took charge as the new Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister.
Congress party workers in Bhopal also held demonstrations outside a police station against Raghavji on Friday. 

Amit Shah sparks a storm by reviving BJP's Ram temple promise

Bharatiya Janata Party leader and the party's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Amit Shah has sparked a controversy by raising the Ram temple issue during his visit to Ayodhya on Saturday. Shah said that the BJP will build a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya very soon.
The BJP leader is now facing criticism from other political parties. Samajwadi Party leader Kamal Farooqi said, "They should stop fooling people, the matter is before the SC. The BJP remembers Ram temple only at the time of elections."
The Congress accused Shah of raising tensions. "The BJP is creating tensions over the issue. However the people of India won't fall for this ploy," External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said."

BJP's friend-turned foe Janata Dal United has also hit out at Amit Shah for raising the Ram temple issue. "Ram Mandir should be built either in accordance with the court order or after mutual talks between the two communities. Who cares about what Amit Shah is saying," JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said.
Shah, who went to Ayodhya to attend a party meeting, said, "Before the meet, I came to seek Lord Ram's blessings. I've prayed for the country to be free of Congress. We will build the Ram temple and restore Lord Ram to his rightful place."
This comment assumes importance as Shah is not only raising the Ayodhya temple issue, but also clearly reiterating the party's promise to build a temple at the disputed and demolished Babri Masjid site. Though BJP has described Faizabad meeting as a 'routine thing', sources said that the idea is to invoke the Hindutva ideology within the party ranks ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The move to raise the Ayodhya issue also holds importance as there are speculations that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will contest 2014 elections from Uttar Pradesh. This is seen as a move to revive BJP's fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats. 

Beni steps up attack on Mulayam, alleges collusion with BJP

Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma today intensified his attack on his friend-turned foe Mulayam Singh Yadav accusing him of conniving with BJP to flare up communal passions and dared the SP leader to a public debate on Babri issue.

He alleged that BJP was trying to vitiate the atmosphere in the state by creating tension on the Ram temple issue which would benefit the saffron brigade and the SP.
He also questioned why the Samjwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had not recommended an NIA probe into the custodial death of terror suspect Khalid Mujahid, an accused in serial blasts that had rocked Lucknow and Faizabad courts in November 2007, and suggested that right wing Hindu outfits could have been behind the attack.

"Mulayam should come on a platform face to face against me on Babri mosque issue. I will reply to him and he should reply to my questions," Verma told reporters here.
The Minister said that Mulayam had stated that a CBI inquiry should be conducted into allegations against him on Babri issue but if the SP is serious, its government in Uttar Pradesh should make a recommendation on the issue to the Centre.

"CBI or NIA conducts an inquiry only when either the court orders or the state government recommends. The state government should recommend the inquiry and I will make all efforts to get it done," he said.

He asked why a CBI inquiry was not ordered into killing of Hindus in Ayodhya.
"SP and BJP are colluding. After Godhra incident, SP contested elections in Gujarat. During debate in Parliament, Sushma Swaraj sided with Mulayam," he alleged.
He alleged that BJP was confident that the issue would flare communal passion in the state which would benefit the saffron brigade and SP. "It is part of their strategy," he alleged.

He said that he was "clarifying things" so that tension should not spread among Hindu and Muslims and urged people to vote on merit in Lok Sabha elections.
He claimed that going by the happening since 1990, it was clear that SP and BJP "were acting in connivance".

Verma wondered how SP could form a government with only 135 MLAs at one time. "How come the then Vidhan Sabha speaker Kesari Nath Tripathi allowed defection. How come the party was allowed to take oath. At that time BJP was at the centre and SP in the state."

"Why central forces were removed and how come Ashok Singhal reached Ayodhya. There were orders of not to open fire."

Beni also demanded an NIA inquiry into death of Khalid Mujahid.

"When Khalid and Tariq Kasmi were arrested in 2007 in connection with serial blasts, senior SP leader Mohd Azam Khan himself said that it seemed to be fake. I also demanded a judicial inquiry," he said.

The minister said that Nimesh commission report came in August 2012.

"SP in its election manifesto had said that all innocent youths arrested in the name of terror activities would be released, then why they were not released after the report came," he said.

Verma said that NIA probes into incidents of terror activities. "Why are they not recommending NIA probe. It should become clear as to who carried out the blasts. The state government has not done a proper probe.

"There is suspicion that the blasts were carried out by organizations which were behind Malegaon and Shamjahuta train blasts to spread hatred among Hindus and Muslims," he alleged.

"Only NIA probe can make things clear and if they do not recommend it, it will mean that there is something fishy," he added.

Taking pot-shots at Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the minister said that on one hand he gives call of making Congress-free country, on the other he has made an announcement of installing statues of Sardar Patel.

"Sardar Patel was a Congressman all his life. He was the one, who, after Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, banned RSS," he said.

On BJP national general secretary and UP in charge Amit Shah's visit to Ayodhya, Verma quipped that he went to pray for his acquittal in criminal cases.

Verma's fresh tirade against Mulayam came just days after he claimed to have been "humiliated" by the party's reprimanded and threatened to quit the Congress as well as the government if he was stopped from "fighting" against the SP chief.

The rebuke from the party came after the Minister had said that the SP chief was not even fit to sweep the Prime Minister's residence.

Asked whether he has been restrained by the party from speaking, Verma said that he was a free man in a free country.

"Congress is the only party which follows the constitution in letter and spirit and it has complete transparency. The party has given immense respect to me. I have faith in Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and they have faith in me," he said.

Verma was once a close confidant of the Samajwadi Party supremo but was gradually sidelined after Amar Singh came into the picture. The Kurmi leader quit the party in 2007 and joined the Congress before 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

Samajwadi Party mantri Ram Babu Yadav, 71, demands ‘chicks’ chooza

Ram Babu Yadav is a Samajwadi Party leader from Aurraiya in Uttar Pradesh. He is about 71 years old and enjoys a ministerial position in the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.
He has been caught on tape asking a female party worker to get him ‘chooza’ (literally meaning chicks) in the age group of 18-20. The politician obviously refers to young girls as ‘chooza’.
In a conversation being aired on a local TV channel, Yadav can be heard asking a female party worker Madhu Pandey (now expelled) to make ‘vyavashtha’ — arrangement — for him.
Pandey says that every time she visits him, she brings along a woman to which Yadav says, “Mahila nahin, chooza lao. Chooza janti ho —yahi 18 se 20 saal ki.”
Pandey played the recorded conversation before journalists in Aurraiya and claimed that she was being victimised by Yadav who had even slapped her at a meeting of the party.
“When I raised certain issues against him, he got me expelled from the party. He has been exploiting me and others for several years now.,” she said.
Ram Babu Yadav said that this was a conspiracy by his rivals to malign his image. “I am 71 years old, how can I say such things? I do not know what chooza is. She has been expelled and that is why she is talking nonsense,” he said.

'Humiliated' Beni Prasad Verma threatens to quit Congress

4 Jul 2013
 A day after being reprimanded, Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma on Thursday (July 4) said he felt 'humiliated' and threatened to quit the Congress if he was stopped from "fighting" against SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav.

He belied the claim of AICC in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Madhusudan Mistry's that he had expressed regret and promised not to speak against Yadav again as he attacked the SP supremo once more, alleging that he had "connived" with BJP in run up to the Babri Masjid demolition.

"My effigies were burnt yesterday. After the statements which have been published in newspapers today, I felt humiliated," Verma told a group of reporters in New Delhi.

"I am not in politics for chair or to become a Minister. I believe in values...I can quit Congress any time or it can remove me...I can tender my resignation if Congress becomes an obstacle in my fight with Yadav," he added.

His statement came a day after Mistry reprimanded him for his remarks that SP chief should "first try to get the job of a sweeper at the residence of the PM if he is nursing ambitions of becoming the Prime Minister.

In an apparent attack on Mistry, Verma said there are "multiple centres of power" in Congress.

"There is no harm if there were even 10 centres of power but these should be just with an upright intention unlike Uttar Pradesh where various centres of power are indugling in loot and corruption."

He said he felt "so humiliated" that he has sought time to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi on the issue.

At the same time, Verma praised Sonia Gandhi and Vice President Rahul Gandhi.

"Congress is my choice only because its leadership is fair. I like the kind of politics being played by Sonia Gandhi. The country's future is safe in Rahul Gandhi's hands. It is my belief," he said.

The senior leader from Uttar Pradesh said he still felt that there is no other party than Congress in the country which can rule this multi-lingual nation.

He said he will not contest elections against Congress even if he quits the party.

"I will contest Lok Sabha elections on my own if I quit. But I will not oppose Congress," he added.

Hitting at his friend-turned-foe Yadav, Verma said he will "never ever shake hands" with the SP chief.

Alleging Yadav's "connivance" with BJP in the run up to Babri Masjid demolition, he said a probe should be initiated into the incidents on October 30, 1990. He alleged that BJP leader L K Advani had started a rath yatra stating that 'shilanyas' was to be performed at the disputed structure on October 30, 1990 while the "intention" was to demolish the disputed structure in connivance with the then Chief Minister (Yadav).

Referring to the police firing in Ayodhya in November 1990 when Yadav was the Chief Minister, Verma said it was unnecessary. He claimed that Yadav later visited the guest house where Advani was under detention. At the meeting, he claimed, it was decided that karsewaks would be permitted to perform darshan (at the disputed site).

MP minister quits after sodomy charges

Madhya Pradesh Finance Minister Raghavji today resigned from his post after an obscene CD purportedly featuring him surfaced and a police complaint by his servant alleging that he was being sexually exploited by the Minister.

The 79 year old minister submitted his resignation to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who forwarded it to state Governor Ram Naresh Yadav for acceptance, official sources said.

Chouhan is learnt to have asked Raghavji to resign after an obscene CD purportedly featuring him surfaced and the minister's servant filed a police complaint yesterday against him alleging that he was being sexually exploited.

Raghavji had set a record by presenting the state budget for 10 years in succession from 2004 to 2013.

The sources said that Chouhan has asked Water Resources Minister Jayant Malaiyya to look after the finance portfolio.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh Assembly Ajay Singh said that in politics "moral corruption" was a much worse thing than corruption.

Beni Prasad Verma says- Mulayam Singh not even fit to sweep PM's residence

Tue Jul 02 2013
Union Minister Beni Prasad Verma kicked up another controversy with his barbs at friend-turned foe Mulayam Singh Yadav, saying that the SP chief was not even fit to sweep the Prime Minister's residence, drawing instant rebuke from the Congress. 
"Yadav wants to become Prime Minister. He should first try to get the job of a sweeper at the residence of the PM," 77-year Verma said at a programme in Uttar Pradesh's Faizabad. He prefaced his remark by alleging that the SP was a party based on "lies and fraud" and that it will be finished by the Congress.
Verma was once a close confidant of the Samajwadi Party supremo but was gradually sidelined after Amar Singh came into the picture. The Kurmi leader quit the party in 2007 and joined the Congress before 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Disapproving of Verma's remarks, Congress once again ticked him off for his remarks against Yadav saying it was "regrettable and the party totally distances itself from that".
"I do not know whether he has said anything like this, but if he has done so, it is regrettable. Mulayam Singh Yadav is a big leader and has been in politics for a long time. Verma was an old friend of Yadav. "The party totally distances itself from it. It has nothing to do with it," party spokesman Meem Afzal said in Delhi. When asked by reporters whether the party would initiate disciplinary action against Verma, who has been making controversial statements against Yadav, Afzal said that Verma is a Union Minister and wondered what action can the party take.