No scam is enough for resignation, thus, Basal to stay!Would the prime minister resign for coalgate?

No scam is enough for resignation, thus, Basal to stay!Would the prime minister resign for coalgate?

Palash Biswas

Before seeking resignation of the Railway minister, democracy as well as morality demands that the prime minister should resign for coalgate scandal. Chidmabaram is the finance minister and he is selling India world over. He is alleged to be involved in so many scams. Why does not the finance minister resign?Then, the president of India is named in official fact sheet on VVIP copter scam. The president is named in so many scams including Two G spectrum  to Sharda Ponzy scams. The presidential immunity stops investgation in all those scams.No court is allowed to try the president. No politician nor the omnipotent media dares to demand impeachment against such a tainted president. The Hindutva lobby never fails to use whatsoever opportunity to demand resignation on morality ground which is led by all types of criminals who committed crimes like Babari mosque demolition and Gujarat genocide. What about them? The honest lady of Bengal crying for change in the centre is defending all his tainted ministers, members of parliament and party leaders. She is crying against the misuse of CBI and at the same time , she is claiming that she is not afraid of CBI. She opposes CBI investigation and calls the demand of CBI enquiry a joint venture plotted against her by cpim and congress amidst the procession of death by ponzy inflicted masses seems not to stop at all. We have no right to single out Mr Bansal, friends. Market economy, absense of rule of law and free flow of black money has become the greatest sanctity for Indian Brahaminical system and no one dares to revolt against the manusmriti hegemony of racial discrimination. As long as corrupt President and Prime Minister are allowed to lead the nation with extra constitutional elements in  helm of policy making, legislation and execution, this demand on morality ground is nothing but bull shit!

So, Bansal is to stay. Congress is bound to invent some or other justification. We have already witnessed how Indian politics compromised on the name of paliamentary proceeding only to push for second generation of reforms hard and harder. Biometric citizensghip has stripping naked every citizen deprved of minimum civic and human rights. The constitutionis not implemented at all. Fundamental right violated. Communalism practiced with venegeance to promote blind religious nationalism by all. Social engineering and chages are funded by Ponzy Mafias. Evry mafia and underword don is backed by one or another politician. The state has declared war against its people, Draconian laws rule the indigenous hmanscape in the Himalayas, central India and entire northeast racially discriinated. The democratic social set up is breaking down. We hear no voice gainst this. Only floor management and vote equation IPL to continue and every citizen of India, every tax payer in India lost sovereignty and freedom . Are we a nation at all as the majority population is excluded and selected for genocide unprecedented?

The great Indian nautanki continues to manage the scam crisis once again. So,amid mounting demand for removal of Railway Minister PK Bansal from the Union Cabinet, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday held consultations with Defence Minister AK Antony on the issue. Antony drove to 10, Janpath ahead of the Congress Core Group meeting.

Bansal is in the eye of a storm in the wake of the arrest of his nephew by CBI on the charge of accepting bribe to fix plum position in the Railway Board and demands for his removal and prosecution are mounting. The Congress Core Group headed by Gandhi had on Saturday inconclusively met at the residence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had called the minister earlier in the day.

Bansal is said to have explained his position claiming he had neither business link with his nephew nor did he get influenced by him in decision-making. He has distanced himself from his nephew Vijay Singla, who was arrested by CBI two days back for allegedly accepting Rs 90 lakh for fixing a better position for Railway Board member Mahesh Kumar.

Vijay Singla, nephew of railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, was today remanded in CBI custody for four days by a Delhi court in connection with a bribery case.

Besides Singla, three others Sandip Goyal, Dharmendra Kumar and Vivek Kumar were also remanded by Special CBI Judge Swarana Kanta Sharma till May 8 for custodial interrogation by the agency.

"Considering the nature of the crime, custodial interrogation is essential to not only find out the source of the bribe amount but also the actual beneficiaries and conspirators other than those named in the FIR.

"I, therefore, grant police custody remand for four days," the judge said.

All the four accused were arrested by CBI which had yesterday registered a case against Mahesh Kumar, a Member (staff) of Railway Board, and seven other persons for offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act and for criminal conspiracy under the IPC for bribery to get a lucrative post.

During the arguments, CBI told the court that Mahesh Kumar is the main accused in the case and he has been arrested in Mumbai.

It said Narain Rao Manjunath, Managing Director of GG Tronics India Pvt Ltd, was in regular touch with Mahesh Kumar who was trying to get himself appointed to a more lucrative post of in Railway Board as Member (Electrical).

Regarding the conspiracy, the agency said the deal was struck at Rs 10 crore to get Mahesh Kumar appointed as Member (Electrical) and a part payment of Rs 90 lakhs, which was allegedly managed by accused Vivek Kumar, was made out.

Are you in a position to hear the cries of the victims of Sikh genocide? Gujarat genocide? Those who were killed and being killed in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and all over the world in the aftermath of Babri mosque demolition? The Bhopal gas tragedy victims? Soni Sori? Irom Sharmila, Kashmir, Niyamagiri, kudankullam, Jaitapur, Manipur and so on?

Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi Sunday slammed the Union government for allegedly ignoring the state government's demand about construction of gates at Sardar Sarovar Narmada dam, and said the Centre was only concerned about "nephews and uncles".

"I alongwith our (BJP) leaders like Parsottam Rupala and LK Advani have urged the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh nearly 25 times, seeking Centre's permission to construct gates at Sardar Sarovar dam, but he does not pay any attention," Modi said while addressing a large gathering at Devda town, about 75km from Rajkot.

related story

BJP protests against Bansal, pushes for resignation

• Pawan Bansal's fate uncertain as Cong core group to meet

• http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Gujarat/Centre-only-worried-about-nephews-and-uncles-Modi-takes-a-jab-at-Bansal/Article1-1055196.aspx

The town is situated in the Saurashtra region which is facing an acute water scarcity.

"If gates are installed, the water problem of Maharashtra too will be solved. But Congress is not concerned about its own-ruled states as well. They are only worried about nephews, uncles... see how nephews have also jumped into the game," Modi said, in an apparent reference to the current bribery scandal involving the nephew of railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal.

Modi was speaking at Saurashtra Narmada Jal Avtaran Maha yagna near Bhadar dam, organised by Saurashtra Jaldhara Trust.

"I also assured the Prime Minister that gates would not be operated if the Centre wants, but despite it he does not allow us to construct gates," he said.

The chief minister also said the construction of Kalpasar project would start soon as 80% work on feasibility report was complete.

"Once the project is operational, Saurashtra will not have water shortage for the next hundred years," he said.

What about this? Beside the omtted saga of GAAR and Swiss Bank accounts?

Stepping up its effort to unearth black money, the Finance Ministry has detected unaccounted income and assets worth over Rs. 1,400 crore during the first three months of this year.

The detection came to light after Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), an agency tasked with analysing and disseminating information relating to dubious financial transactions, alerted Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) about 32,000 suspicious banking transactions, official sources said.

Further investigations by the tax authorities on these Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) resulted in detection of unaccounted income and assets of Rs. 1,408 crore, they said.

An STR involves a transaction of Rs. 10 lakh and above, which gives rise to a reasonable ground of suspicion that it may involve the proceeds of crime including drug trafficking and illegal money.

As many as 32,098 STRs were sent by the FIU to CBDT, under which Income Tax department functions, between January and March this year. The tax sleuths have also seized assets worth about Rs. 21 crore across the country, the sources said.

The CBDT, along with its field formation of tax officials spread across the country, is in the process of concluding the probe on some of these dubious transactions.

Sources said the CBDT is in touch with agencies concerned and state governments to finish its probe in these cases.

These STRs, sent by the FIU, were regarding banking transactions including cash deposits in bank, cheque clearances, inter and intra banking dealings between individuals.

As many as 13,871 STRs were disseminated by the FIU during 2011-12.

Of these, a highest of 10,956 were passed on to CBDT, 1,615 to Enforcement Directorate, 1,130 to Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), Directorate General of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence (DGCEI), 117 to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), 51 to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and two with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

Government has been taking various measures to check generation and movement of black money in the country.

It has early this year set up an online data bank -- Virtual Office -- for effective coordination and dissemination of various inputs pertaining to illegal funds.

Mind you, a group of Sikhs Sunday attempted to march towards Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence protesting against the acquittal of Congress Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case, even as an indefinite fast by one of the victims entered the third day.

A Sikh man protests against the acquittal of Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on Sunday. Shahbaz Khan/PTI

The protesters who gathered at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi began their march towards the 7, Race Course Road residence of the Prime Minister in the afternoon, but were prevented by cops near the Parliament Street Police station from moving ahead.

Shouting slogans against Congress leaders, some of the protesters had a scuffle with the police and tried to break the barricades.

They were stopped by the police at the barricades and many of them were detained. As a preventive measure, police had deployed a large contingent besides water canons. The protesters, who were detained, were let off later.The group went back to Jantar Mantar.

"Today we wanted to march to the PM's residence but we were stopped by the police. Tomorrow, we will adopt a different strategy. We will fight till justice is done," Manjeet Singh GK, president of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee, said.

With the possibility of a CBI inquiry into West Bengal's multi-crore chit fund scamlooming large, chief minister Mamata Banerjeeon Saturday tried to reassure her partymen saying the "threat" against her government isn't going to work as she discounted the prospects of a UPA-III at the Centre after the next polls.

"There is no use threatening us with a CBI inquiry, UPA-III won't be coming to power. We have seen UPA-I and UPA-II," Mamata said addressing a public meeting at Panihati in North 24 Parganas in West Bengal.

Mamata's reluctance to allow a CBI probe into the Saardha meltdown is a complete U-turn for the leader who, as an opposition leader, would demand a CBI at every opportunity. However, now she calls the demand for a CBI probe as a "political conspiracy" hatched by the Congress and CPM to discredit her government.

"The Congress and CPM have tied up with each other again. They are spreading canards against me and my family. The present UPA government is also very vindictive. They are after us since I was the railway minister," Mamata said. She accused the Centre of trying to starve her government of funds while it "secretly released funds to the previous CPM government which plundered the state for decades".

She didn't even spare the Election Commission for announcing the date for Howrah Lok Sabhabypoll following the death of Trinamool MP Ambica Banerjee. "They didn't even wait for his shradh ceremony. What is the hurry? Is it only because they want to see the Trinamool defeated? It's not going to happen," she said.

Mamata, who had earlier claimed she was unaware of the Ponzi boom in the state till a letter from market regulator, Sebi, reached her on April 15, took credit for "speedy action" on the scam. "Many more people would have been cheated had I not been in the CM's chair. I acted in time, passed a strong bill and sent finance minister Amit Mitra to Delhi to get the governor's assent because he is now there. I hope the Centre will clear the bill within a day or two and send it for the President's assent. The government will attach assets of these firms and return the money to depositors," she said.

In contrast to the CM's words, her government's affidavit in the Calcutta high court admitted that it learnt of the scam in October, 2011.

Aware of the corruption stigma on Trinamool with Saradha boss Sudipta Sen naming many party leaders in his letter to the CBI, the Trinamool chief said: "We are not going to raise funds from the public. If anyone does it, he should be doing it at his own risk."

Railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Saturday washed his hands of his nephew and key political aide, arrested for taking bribes for fixing a key appointment in the railway board. However, Bansal failed to secure an "all clear" from the Congress leadership reeling under a spate of scams and controversies.

Bansal told both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi that he never let Vijay Singla, his sister's son who minds the minister's political and business interests in his hometown Chandigarh, influence his official decisions. The nephew and others have been accused of corruption for allegedly seeking bribes from railway board member Mahesh Kumar for fixing appointments through the minister.

However, the Congress's core group, which discussed the fallout of the latest corruption scandal to hit the UPA, deferred a decision on his continuation in the Cabinet, signalling it was not ready to give the minister the benefit of doubt yet. The core group will meet again on Sunday.

There was no confirmation of reports that Bansal had offered to resign even as he proclaimed himself innocent. Deferring the decision is significant because Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi had in the afternoon cited the minister's defence to dismiss the opposition's demand for the minister's resignation.

The indecision, viewed against the backdrop of the perception of Bansal being a "clean person" who was the PM's personal choice for the crucial infrastructure ministry, suggested that the decision will be shaped by the larger context where scandals and allegations of corruption against UPA functionaries have dented the image of the coalition. The embarrassment comes as the fate of another Punjab Congressman, law minister Ashwani Kumar, appeared to be hanging by a slender thread.

Congress leaders grappled with the new crisis even as CBI's dragnet closed in on Bansal, with sources revealing that the agency might seek clarifications from the minister himself, his two sons Amit and Manish, and at least one more nephew in connection with the bribery case.

Garg has already been named in the FIR CBI filed on Friday evening alleging that Mahesh Kumar, member (staff) of the railway board, agreed to pay Rs 10 crore for an appointment as member (electrical) on the board.

The money, which was to go to Singla through a Chandigarh-based railway contractor Sandeep Goel, was to be raised by a group of fellow businessmen dealing with train equipment who were promised business from railways by Kumar.

As per the understanding, Kumar was to pay half of the agreed amount upfront before the appointment and the rest after his appointment as member (electrical).

Kumar could not get the posting of his choice, and was appointed as the member (staff) instead.

He was unhappy but Goel and others asked him to be patient and wait for the elevation of the current member (electrical) Kulbhushan as the board chairman after the retirement of the incumbent Vinay Mittal in June.

Kumar agreed but wanted to continue as GM of Western Railways while being on the board. Goel accepted the demand in return for an additional Rs 2 crore in bribe. CBI on Friday recovered Rs 90 lakh, allegedly the first installment of the transaction, and has arrested Singla and others.

Appointments of chairperson of the board, its members (who are equivalent in rank to Union secretary) and general managers of railways are handled directly by the rail minister. Although the final approval rests with the appointments committee of Cabinet (ACC), the panel usually goes by recommendations of the minister.

The opposition cited this to argue that Bansal was culpable "not just morally but even criminally", while demanding his dismissal.

Although Singla is known in Chandigarh as Bansal's confidant, the rail minister denied the charge of any wrongdoing.

He said he had no knowledge of the deal that Singla and others were negotiating with Mahesh Kumar, who was placed under suspension on Saturday evening. "Though a close relative, he or any other relative of mine does not and cannot meddle in my official functions or influence my decisions."

However, sources said that CBI is proceeding on the assumption that it was impossible for Mahesh Kumar to have agreed to pay such a hefty sum unless he was confident about Singla's ability to leverage his family ties and get him the job.

'Sleuths tapped official's phone for 3 months'

Official sources said they had been tapping Mahesh Kumar's phone for three months and had traced several of his calls to Bansal's family members. Two Delhi-based businessmen, Samir Sandhir and Rahul Yadav, Faridabad-based businessman Sushil Daga and Bansal's relative Ajay Garg have been named in the FIR along with the arrested people, Mahesh Kumar, Singla, Chandigarh based businessman Sandeep Goel and Narayan Rao Manjunath of Bangalore, allegedly the main financier.

According to CBI, Manjunath's G G Tronics was a manufacturer of railway signal products and automation parts and Goel's firm Pyramid Electronics a supplier of electrical equipment. The FIR says Mahesh Kumar and Manjunath were in regular contact with Goel.

"Sandeep Goel assured that he would get the work done in lieu of pecuniary gratification. Sandeep Goel was further in contact with private persons namely Vijay Singla and Ajay Garg of Chandigarh for this purpose," an agency officer said.

Two employees of the Delhi businessmen Vivek Kumar and Dharmendra Kumar have also been arrested by CBI for alleged serving as couriers and delivering the first installment of the bribe to Singla in Chandigarh.

Union minister for social justice and empowerment Kumari Selja on Saturday defended the cabinet colleague and union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in the Railgate episode.

Playing a good neighbor and party colleague, Selja not only defended Bansal, but also blamed the opposition, especially BJP for indulging in politics of destruction.

" I came to know about this incident through news channel. CBI is handling the investigations of the case. We are quite confident that Pawan Kumar Bansal will come out clean in the case,'' the Union minister said while interacting with media persons at Panchkula, near here.

Selja also represents the Ambala parliamentary constituency, a neighboring constituency of Chandigarh, which the railway minister represents. Both Selja as well as Bansal had been members of union cabinet.

Faced with volley of salvos fired by media persons who sought Selja's reaction on intensified attack by opposition in the wake of recent incidents that put UPA on the back foot, Selja tactfully took on the BJP and its alliance partners while defending Bansal.

He is a very senior and respectable leader and an efficient minister. So far as opposition is concerned, it had always indulged in destructive politics and negative criticism. We need not say much as ultimately country's electorate which will keep them out of governance as it happened in the last two general elections,''she said.