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Congress, PDP, National Conference join hands to form govt in J&K

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Congress, PDP, National Conference join hands to form govt in J&K

The Congress and the two major regional parties and arch-rivals of Jammu and Kashmir – People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC) have had talks to join hands and discussed the possibility of meeting the governor to stake claim to form government.

The move is seen as intended to pre-empt manoeuvrings of Sajjad Gani Lone, separatist-turned-mainstream-politician who shares a cosy relationship with the BJP. Since the BJP-PDP government in J&K fell on June 16, Lone and disgruntled PDP leaders have been in talks to form a third front with the BJP to form government in Kashmir. Lone was aiming to become the chief minister of the state.

The BJP, with 23 seats in the state assembly, has been relying heavily on a split within the PDP, said media reports. The state is currently under Governor’s rule which cannot be extended after it completes its six-month period on December 19.

The “talks between the three parties are at an advanced stage, in order to stymie the BJP’s attempts to take power after engineering defections,” reported NDTV, quoting sources.

The report also claimed that the Congress leadership has “approved a grand alliance with Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP and Omar Abdullah’s National Conference to checkmate the BJP in the state where six-month central rule ends next month.”

“An announcement is expected today or tomorrow,” it claimed.

Meanwhile, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad confirmed that talks were going on among the three parties over government formation in the state.

“Hum parties ka yeh kehna tha ki kyu na hum ikatthe ho jaye aur sarkar banaye. Abhi vo stage sarkar banne wali nahi hai,ek sujhaav ke taur par baatcheet abhi chal rahi hai (We [NC, Congress, PDP] thought why not to unite and form a government together. Talks are going on but as of now it is only a suggestion…We haven’t reached that stage yet where we can form the government),” said Azad, according to ANI news agency while responding to queries on potential Congress-PDP-NC alliance.

Altaf Bukhari, senior PDP leader and former finance minister of J&K, was quoted by The Wire as saying on Wednesday that the party leadership has conveyed to him that an alliance will be formed with Congress party and NC. Bukhari reportedly spoke to media after a meeting with former chief minister Omar Abdullah at his residence.

“This is a move to safeguard the special status of the state. Between 55 and 60 MLAs are with us,” the PDP leader said. “Our identity is under attack. Articles 370 and 35A are under attack.”

Leaders of the three parties were reported to have held week-long “informal meetings” to chalk out a strategy to form a government.

PDP has 28 seats in the state assembly, National Conference has 15 and Congress 12. The three parties together make it to 55 against the required number of 44 in the 87-member house.

Senior PDP leader and former Finance Minister Altaf Bukhari is seen as the frontrunner for the post of chief minister, said reports. While PDP president Mehbooba Mufti wanted Farooq Abdullah to lead the alliance, National Conference has decided not to be part of the government and support the PDP-Congress alliance from outside, said a report in The Indian Express (IE), quoting sources.

A senior National Conference leader told IE that the two rival parties have joined hands to protect the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

A senior leader said that while the three major political parties have decided to cobble alliance there is every apprehension that Centre would ask the governor to dissolve the assembly thus stalling the process. “We are happy both ways,” he said.

“We have had several informal meetings with the two parties (NC and PDP) this week and there are many reasons for this. The governor has hinted at keeping a status quo, which means he will not dissolve the assembly and keep it in an animated state, thus avoiding a fresh election. President’s rule will be imposed soon and it would have been ideal to dissolve the assembly but this has not happened. Instead, the BJP is attempting to break regional political parties and form a new alliance,” the leader said.

J&K Pradesh Congress Committee president GA Mir said, “The Congress Party is in no rush to form a new government. We have struggled for last four years and will continue to do so but we will also not stand by while BJP tries back channels to form a new government which does not have the mandate of the people.” He added that the possibility of a formal meeting will be decided by the two major parties this week.

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Tihar jail extortion case: MHA sanctions CBI inquiry against AAP leader Satyendar Jain

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates

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In another setback for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Ministry of Home Affairs accorded sanction for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Satyendar Jain, jailed AAP leader, for allegedly extorting Rs 10 crore from conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar as protection money. 

Satyendar Jain and former Tihar Jail DG Sandeep Goel were accused of running an extortion racket from Tihar and demanding protection money from high profile inmates allegedly. The development follows as Delhi chief minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal is in Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena sanctioned the CBI inquiry into extortion charges against Satyendar Jain. In a letter seeking the LG’s nod to probe the extortion charges, the CBI in November last year wrote that Satyendar Jain was accused of running a high-profile extortion racket from Tihar Jail and demanding Rs 10 crore as protection money from Sukesh Chandrashekhar to enable him to live peacefully and comfortably in jail.

The aforesaid allegations were made by the conman who said Satyendar Jain extorted money in various tranches during 2018-21, either personally or through his accomplices to enable Chandrashekar to live comfortably in different jails of Delhi namely Tihar, Rohini and Mandoli.

AAP leader Satyendar Jain was arrested in May 2022 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Jain’s last bail plea was dismissed by the Supreme Court on March 18 this year and the top court asked him to surrender in connection with the money laundering case. The AAP leader was given an interim medical bail on May 26, 2023 after he fell in the jail bathroom. Jain underwent a spinal operation during his bail period.

Beside Satyendar Jain, AAP leaders Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Vijay Nair are also in Tihar Jail.

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Rahul Gandhi warns ED, CBI of strong action whenever government changes

The Congress leader’s statement follows after the Income Tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore.

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Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused central agencies of working at the behest of the BJP-led government at the Centre and warned them that strict action will be taken against these institutions when the government changes.

The senior Congress leader asserted that if the institutions had done their jobs properly there would have been no problem. He added that these agencies should think that some day the BJP government will change and after that there will be action. He further said that it is his guarantee that the action will be so strong that no institution will dare to do such things again.

Taking to social media platform X, Rahul Gandhi wrote that when the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who destroyed the democracy. Mentioning that it is his guarantee, Rahul Gandhi said that such actions will be taken that no one will dare to do all this again.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement follows after the income tax department’s fresh notices asking the party to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore. The party has accused the ruling BJP of indulging in tax terrorism to financially cripple the opposition party ahead of Lok Sabha polls.

While addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters along with Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh, party treasurer Ajay Maken alleged that the BJP is in serious violation of income-tax laws. He said the I-T department should raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the saffron party for such violations.

Ajay Maken said that the income-tax returns filed by Congress for eight years have been reopened on baseless and manufactured grounds to levy illegal I-T demand orders totalling thousands of crores of rupees. He stated that the timing of the I-T department’s action in February and March, days before and even days after the Lok Sabha election were announced on March 16, speaks for itself about the mala-fide nature of these actions.

Furthermore, the opposition party will hold nationwide protests over the weekend against fresh income tax demand of over Rs 1,800 crore, which it has described as an egregious attack on democracy and imposition of tax terrorism amid the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

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Hardeep Singh Puri says Sunita Kejriwal is preparing to hold Delhi CM post like Rabri Devi

The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office along with leaders including Delhi BJP Chief Virendra Sachdeva and Bansuri Swaraj.

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Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Friday compared Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi, hinting that she may be gearing up to take on her husband’s post. The Union Minister was speaking to the media during the inauguration of Delhi BJP’s election office.

The BJP leader further took a dig at Delhi Chief Minister for forming an alliance with the most corrupt party against whom they had started an anti-corruption movement with social activist Anna Hazare. The minister made the statement in response to a question regarding Sunita Kejriwal, who earlier today launched a whatsapp campaign advocating for support for her husband, who is in ED custody in connection with the Excise policy case.

In a video Sunita Kejriwal said her husband has challenged the most corrupt and dictatorial forces in the country and asked people to support her husband through their prayers and blessings. She issued 2 WhatsApp numbers 8297324624 and 9700297002 through which people can send their blessings, prayers or any other messages to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo and she will communicate those to him.

She said yesterday Kejriwal had presented his side in the court, and the entire country heard it. She requested the people to listen to it if they had not listened till now. She added whatever Kejriwal had said in front of the court required a lot of courage. She said her husband is a true patriot. She requested the people to participate in the Kejriwal ko Aashirwad campaign.

BJP leader Manoj Tiwari also took a dig at Aam Aami Party asking why only Kejriwal’s wife is coming out in his support, and not the people of Delhi. He said the Honorable Justice of High Court said they cannot stop Arvind Kejriwals’ arrest that they are surprised why he hasn’t been arrested yet?

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