Under attack by Opposition, civil society groups, government is not taking chances ‘Opposition version of Ramlila Maidan events exaggerated' In the aftermath of the Baba Ramdev episode, the dominant view in the United Progressive Alliance government is that it must tackle corruption on a war-footing, and on two fronts: it must not only proceed swiftly with the legislation it has promised — the Lokpal Bill and the law on black money —...
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Left Lok Pal snub to govt
-The Telegraph The Left parties have refused to answer government questionnaires on the Lok Pal bill, a stance that arrays them alongside the BJP in trying to corner the Congress-led UPA over corruption. CPM general secretary Prakash Karat has written to finance minister Pranab Mukherjee saying his party cannot give its views on the six questionnaires, to be answered in yes-or-no terms. The format even prompted CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan to...
More »Accept demands, Ramdev tells Centre by CK Chandramohan
“Government will not be able to face the consequences of my satyagraha” Yoga guru Ramdev on Monday asked the Centre to immediately accept his demands, even as more non-Congress parties were expected to support him in his anti-corruption crusade. He said the government would not be able to face the consequences of his satyagraha. Talking to reporters, he said seeking justice for the nation was no crime. He thanked the Supreme...
More »NAC sticks to old stand on rural coverage under food Bill by Sanjeeb Mukherjee
Differences between United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council (NAC) and the government over the coverage of the proposed Food Security Act refuses to die. NAC recently came out with its own draft on the Food Security Bill sticking to its position after the food ministry’s draft diluted the Council’s recommendations on coverage of families in rural areas. The NAC draft has maintained the coverage of 90 per...
More »A weakness born of bad intent by Siddharth Varadarajan
Like millions of others across India, I have spent the past week repelled by the spectacle of a weak government entering into improbable contortions over the naive and somewhat bizarre demands of Baba Ramdev. And when the “toughness” followed in the early hours of Sunday, it came in a typically cowardly fashion — with police action in the dead of the night against unarmed supporters who did not pose an...
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