Opposition Ready To fight The Land Bill In The Rajya Sabha

After the Land Acquisition Bill got through in the Lok Sabha yesterday via a voice vote, the leaders of the opposition parties are ready to fight it on the upper floor of the house.

Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily termed it as a ‘black day’ for the parliament. He said that the government has eliminated all the good elements of the Land Bill passed during the UPA II regime in the year 2013.  "It is a black day for Parliament and the manner in which they bulldozed it, particularly taking away the real impact of the 2013 bill which was passed during the UPA II regime," he said.

Another Congress leader Sahshi Tharoor said that not all the proposed amendments were included in the Bill that was passed. "We have many amendments... there were more than 100 votes and there was strong feeling [against the bill]. But in the end, we have the arguments and they have the votes," he told the media.

Left parties also criticized the government severely. Sitaram Yechury alleged that the government is paying back for the favors it took from the corporate houses during the general elections last year.  

"The urgency that the government is showing for bills shows that its payback time for him for the financial backing that he received during elections," he said.

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After Hazare, Congress Too Lambasts The Government Over The Land Acquisition Ordinance; Planning a Protest From Wednesday

Senior Congress Leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has said today that the Land Acquisition Ordinance passed by the BJP-led government at the center is completely against the farmers of the country.

"This is not only a movement of Anna Hazare but everyone is angry. We [Congress] brought the Act [Land Acquisition] for the betterment of the farmers of this country that too with the support of the BJP," he told the media.  Aiyar further said that the common man of the country knows that how has he been robbed of his rights.

The diplomat-turned-politician said that Congress would take out a protest on Wednesday to register their opposition to the ordinance.

In another development in the national capital, social activist and anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare has begun his dharna protest at the Jantar Mantar against the amendments in the Land Acquisition Bill.   

When asked by the media about the protest, Hazare said that the BJP duped the country with its slogan of 'achche din' and came to power to do good to the corporate world. He also mentioned that there is a need to create awareness among the citizens of the country as there are a number of people who are unaware of the changes that the BJP has made to the original Bill.

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Senior Congress Leader Jayanthi Natarajan Resigns From The Party, Blames Rahul Gandhi For It

Senior Congress leader and former Environment Minister in the Manmohan Singh led UPA government Jayanthi Natarajan has resigned from the membership of the Congress party. Sources say that she will announce her decision through a press conference today. She will also make 'evidences' of Rahul Gandhi's interference in the day-to-day functioning of the UPA government. 

In a somewhat vitriolic letter - published in a national English Daily today - to the Congress President Sonia Gandhi, she has accused the vice-president of the Party Rahul Gandhi of interfering in her work as Environment Minister.

Natarajan, who was removed from her post for delaying the clearance of big projects associated with her ministry, has written in her letter, "During my tenure as Minister, it was the clear and specific policy of the party, to take all steps to protect the environment...and keep a balance between environment and industry. As Chairperson NAC, you have written several letters to me regarding projects in the Environment Ministry, and protection of tribal rights, and I have always kept you briefed that due care was being taken by me to protect the environment. I received specific requests [which used to be directives for us] from Shri Rahul Gandhi and his office forwarding environmental concerns in some important areas and I took care to honor those requests."

She has alleged that some 'chosen individuals in the party' conducted a motivated campaign against her. She is of the opinion that her being asked to resign from her post in December 2013 had a direct connection with a speech that Rahul Gandhi delivered at a FICCI meet the very next day, where he said, "the corporate world that they need no longer worry about environmental clearance delays and that bottlenecks would be removed."

She has mournfully written that after she was asked to resign, she tried to meet Rahul Gandhi, but he expressed his inability to meet her as he was busy at that time; he promised to meet her soon but even after waiting for a year, the meeting was never held.

She also claims that she was forced by the party high-command to keep throwing verbal-volleys at Narendra Modi in what is known as the Snoopgate controversy, even though her aversion to personal criticism was well known.

Her letter explains that she was asked by PM Manmohan Singh to give up her ministerial post as the party need her services in the light of the General elections that are approaching in six months times. She resigned, but no such organizational work was assigned to her; to add insult to injury, she was soon removed from the party spokesperson's post.

Jayanthi Natarajan joined the Congress party in the 80s and had a nice rapport with Rajiv Gandhi. She has been elected for the Rajya Sabha three times on a Congress ticket from Tamil Nadu. In the 90s, she along with other congress leaders who were unhappy with Narasimha Rao broke away from the Congress and formed Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) under G K Moopanar. The TMC, however, merged with the Congress after Moopanar death.

Natarajan replaced Jairam Ramesh as the Environment Minister in 2011.

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Former Minister and Senior Congress Leader Krishna Tirath Joins BJP

Senior Congress leader and former women and child development minister in the Manmohan Singh government, Krishna Tirath has formally joined the BJP. The senior leader met the BJP president Amit Shah this morning and took the decision that has taken the Congress party as a surprise.

Tirath was one of the most distinguished faces of the Congress in Delhi.  After the conclusion of her meeting with Mr Shah, she said, "This is about ideology. I want to serve people and I have come here with that mindset and that ideology only."

Announcement of Tirath's induction into the BJP came at the same time when Ajay Maken, Congress' election in charge in Delhi, was holding a press conference. Mr Maken accepted that he had just been informed of such development. He said, "It shows the desperation of the BJP, they have to import leaders from other parties because they have no faith in their own leaders."   

Sources say that the Congress leaders, in order to duck the massive embarrassment, are saying that Ms Tirath made this hasty decision in the light of the party denying her a ticket in the coming assembly elections in the capital city.  She contested the general elections last year on a Congress ticket from Delhi and lost to BJP's Udit Raj. 

Ms Krishan Tirath, 59, is the third prominent female leader to join the BJP bandwagon in the last few days; two other leaders being Kiran Bedi and Shazia Ilmi. 

Being a Dalit leader of repute, her exit from Congress is considered to be a big set-back for the party as it is trying to rebuild itself in the capital.

After ruling Delhi for 15 years, the Congress party was almost wiped out in the last assembly elections and was replaced Aam Admi Party as the second most powerful political organization in the city after BJP.  However, due to no party getting a clear-cut majority, fresh elections have been announced. Polling will be done on 7 February, and the results will come out on 10th of the same month.

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Dates For Delhi Assembly Elections Out, Voting On 7th February, Counting On 10th

Assemble elections will be held in Delhi on February 7 and counting will be done on 10th of the same month, the Election Commission chief VS Sampath has informed the media today.

He further said that the model code of conduct for all the 70 seats comes into existence with immediate effect.

This election is being seen as a bilateral fight to get to supremacy in the country capital between a resurgent BJP, which has recently won four states back-to-back, and AAP, which is banking on the charisma of Arvind Kejriwal.

In 2013 elections no single party could garner a clear-cut majority. BJP, though, emerged as the single largest party, but it could not form a government. AAP, which came second with 28 seats, formed a government with the help of Congress; Arvind Kejriwal became the seventh CM. But Kejriwal resigned after 49 days of becoming the CM following the failure to get the Jan Lokpal Bill passed. President's rule was imposed in Delhi in February 2014.

Experts are of the opinion that Congress is no where in the competition in Delhi. 

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