BJP: Can’t allow UPA a walkover

Senior BJP leaders Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj on Thursday said that the BJP, being the main Opposition party, could not “allow a walkover” to the UPA since it did not consult the party before announcing its candidate.
NDA convenor and JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said his party was against any contest after former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had refused to enter the fray. Trying to downplay the rift within the NDA, Mr Yadav argued: “We are not supporting a Congress candidate. Under the present circumstances, we are supporting a UPA candidate for whom there is a consensus.”
He indicated that after the 2014 general elections, there could possibly be a political crisis. “In that kind a scenario, we need a competent person to handle the situation,” he said. While Mr Yadav said that this was not the “first time” that the allied parties differed on presidential elections, CPI leader A.B. Bardhan said the differences “will not have any impact on Left unity”.

NRI Quota Reduced to 5% in BE Colleges

Non-resident Indian quota seats in engineering colleges have been slashed to 5 per cent from the existing 15 per cent. The government will issue the orders after the announcement of Eamcet results on June 30. The decision was taken to prevent college managements from misusing the NRI quota by selling the seats. There have been complaints that colleges were giving admission to fake NRI students by collecting huge capitation fees and donations. The new rules stipulate that only five per cent of seats can be allotted to NRI students whose parents live abroad. No “sponsorship” from NRI relatives or friends will be allowed.

Students and parents vie for NRI quota seats in the top 50 engineering colleges. Even though the AICTE clearly stipulates that the 15 per cent NRI quota within the 30 per cent management quota should be strictly allotted to “genuine NRI students” whose parents live abroad, the powerful college managements’ lobby brought pressure on the government to dilute the rule by incorporating the words “NRI or NRI-sponsored students.”

This allowed managements to admit local students if they have a letter from their NRI relatives stating that they will sponsor them. The advantage of the NRI quota for the college was that the government-prescribed fee for these students was $5000 or Rs 3 lakh per annum. The fee for the non-NRI management seats is Rs 95,000 per annum. That apart, it is an open secret that the colleges collect “donations” of up to Rs 20 lakh depending on the demand.

Maid arrested for attacking MLA, his wife

The Saifabad police on Thursday arrested one Veerabadhra Kumari, who allegedly has been harassing Kovvur MLA T.V. Rama Rao and his wife Venkatashesha Ratam. On Thursday, the MLA and his wife came to the Saifabad police station and stated that Ms Kumari, a maid servant, has been harassing them for the past several years.

In fact, Ms Ratam was reportedly assaulted by the woman. When Mr Rao was informed of the incident, he rushed to the city, where he too was attacked by Ms Kumari. According to Mr Rao, the maid had even tried to grab their property in MLA Colony at Adarshnagar. Ms Kumari, however, claimed that it is the MLA who has been harassing her.

Ambati apologises to reporters for Naming them

In a hurriedly arranged press conference YSR Congress spokesperson Ambati Rambabu clarified that the YSRC’s intention was not to expose reporters, but to expose CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana.

Many crime reporters working with different newspapers and news channels held a media conference in the evening and condemned the YSR Congress’ allegations. “It is our duty to make calls to investigating officers and get news; it is highly condemnable that the party objected to this,” the reporters said, demanding an unconditional apology from YSR Congress leaders for dragging their names and organisations into the affair.

YSR Congress MLAs had released purported call lists of two cellphones used by CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana which, they said, revealed that from March to June 17, Ms Chandrabala had made 411 and 21 calls to him on two phones. Mr Laxminarayana, according to them, had called her 328 times.

Ms Chandrabala had also called the managing director of a newspaper 10 times, Deloitte Hyderabad 10 times and a senior IPS Officer 15 times. The leaders said that they would bring this conspiracy angle to the notice of national leaders during their proposed meeting in Delhi by this month end. The police later broke up the dharna and took the MLAs into custody before releasing them on personal sureties.

YSR party outs CBI director’s phone list

YSR Congress MLAs protest in the Assembly premises on Thursday.

YSR Congress MLAs on Thursday demanded a probe by a Supreme Court judge into an alleged “conspiracy” behind the arrest of their leader Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Accusing CBI joint director V.V. Laxminarayana of leaking information and planting stories in one section of the media before affecting the Kadapa MP’s arrest, YSR Congress MLAs staged a dharna in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue on the Assembly premises. They released a list of calls made by Mr Laxminarayana to various reporters and also to one Vasireddy Chandrabala, said to be a former techie of Hyderabad.

YSR Congress leaders demanded why the CBI joint director called up media personnel in clear violation of the CBI manual. They also wanted to know who Ms Vasireddy Chandrabala was and why she had called him repeatedly. They alleged that the CBI joint director did not act fairly and had conspired with some parties with vested interests and had arrested Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy a few hours before attending court.


YSR party smells a rat in jail blackout:


There was a 12-hour blac-kout on Thursday at the Chanchalguda Central Prison where several high-profile undertrials including Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and former minister Mopidevi Venkatramana are lodged. As news of the blackout spread, supporters of the YSR Congress chief started a rumour that it was a conspiracy to eliminate Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy. The power cut was rep-orted in the early hours of Thursday at the prison. Jail officials said one of the phases in the new prison block had developed glitches but power was restored by pulling a line from the old prison block which is empty.

Power problem resolved, says jail in-charge:


In-charge superintendent of Chanchalguda prison, Venkateshwar Reddy said, “We immediately addressed the problem by disconnecting the third phase from the old prison block and connecting it to the new prison block which holds all the inmates. The electricity department rectified the problem by Thursday evening. “There was no issue about the security of the inmates, including the special prisoners, being compromised. The charges are baseless.” Mr Jagan’s wife Bharathi Reddy had filed a petition in the HC seeking security for her husband in jail but the authorities had submitted a report stating that security was given to special category prisoners as per norms.

Sangma wants debate with Pranab ahead of presidential polls

Pinning hopes on "conscience vote", Sangma virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

NEW DELHI: Pinning hopes on "conscience vote" and his tribal identity, P A Sangma today virtually dared UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee for a debate ahead of presidential polls, saying democracy needs debate.

Maintaining that in a democracy people have the right to choose and there should be a debate at a time when the economy is sinking and scams are unimaginable, Sangma said, "Who is responsible for all this corruption...It has to be a candidate to candidate debate".

Asked whether he was throwing a challenge to Mukherjee, Sangma, who has the backing of BJP, BJD and AIADMK, said it was a practice. "Democracy means debate. I am asking for debate," he told TV channels.

Claiming that he will win the presidential race, Sangma also said he has sought appointments with Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray. He said that he was going to reach out to every one.

"The election will be by a secret ballot. Secret ballot means conscience vote. I depend on conscience vote and I believe in conscience vote," he said.

He said that the fact that there is a "split" in almost all political parties shows that this Presidential election is a serious one and "not as smooth as the Congress is claiming".

Sangma said that the UPA candidate is also not getting the undivided support of the ruling alliance as Mamata, whose party in a constituent of UPA, is "not supporting Mukherjee as yet".

He said that he is "constantly in touch" with the Trinamool Congress chief and is "very hopeful of her support". He said, "I am going to meet her in next few days."

Playing the tribal card, Sangma said that he wanted to correct the historic mistakes the country has committed as "tribals have not been given their due...I appeal to the consience of the nation. We have given our land, our forest, our natural resources...please recognize us."

Mumbai Mantralaya fire: CM, Deputy CM offices gutted

Mumbai: A major fire broke out in Maharashtra state secretariat on Thursday afternoon. The fire was reported from the cabin of Maharashtra state minister and NCP leader Babanrao Pachpute. Several people are reported to be trapped inside the building.
According to Relief Works Minister Patangrao Kadam, the fire broke out due to a short circuit.
While two people have been admitted to a hospital due to suffocation, several others are still trapped inside the building.

Thick smoke was seen outside the windows of the fourth floor of the building and no causalities have been reported so far.

The offices of Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary have been gutted by the fire. Chavan, it was reported, was not present in his office at the time of the incident.
Though reports suggested that files related to the Adarsh Housing Society scam could also be lost in the fire, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) dismissed them saying the files were safe in their possession.
Sixteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot and efforts have been on to douse the fire. Navy helicopters and anti-terrorist unit force one have also been rushed for the rescue operations.

Maharashtra Chief Secretary ordered immediate evacuation of the entire building, sources said.
Thousands of officials at Mantralaya, which houses the state Secretariat, were seen standing outside as fire fighters battled the blaze, which was suspected to have been caused by a short-circuit.

State Forest Minister Patang Rao said, "I am confident that all the important files will be safe and intact."
The eyewitnesses said that the fire broke out around 3 pm and now the area has been cordoned off.

President poll live: CPI(M) to back Pranab Mukherjee, CPI to abstain; BJP backs PA Sangma

New Delhi: 5:09 pm: Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) will vote for UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee while Communist Party of India (CPI) will abstain. Out of four Left parties two have decided to support Pranab and two others will abstain.
"This is the only issue where we have differences. On every other issue the Left Front is united. The RSP will also abstain from voting," said veteran CPI leader AB Bardhan said.

3:00 pm The Left Front was divided over the Presidential candidate and was struggling to reach consensus. While the West Bengal unit of the Left was in favour of Pranab Mukherjee as the Presidential candidate, the Kerala unit was against him. A final announcement is expected in the evening after a meeting of all the Left parties.

1:00 pm: NDA ally JD(U) announced its support for UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee. JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav said, "Our support to Pranab is due to the present scenario, this is not a support to the UPA."
He said that since APJ Abdul Kalam withdrew from the race, the situation had changed and the NDA failed to arrive at a consensus.

12:40: Former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma has thanked the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal for their support to him in the Presidential poll. He also said he was hopeful of winning the election.
When asked Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee would support him, Sangma said he had spoken to Mamata and was hopeful of getting her support. The Trinamool Congress sources, however, said they were still undecided on whether or not to support Sangma.
Sangma also said that since the voting for the Presidential poll takes place through secret ballot, he was hopeful that the conscience of the voters would be in his favour.

12:10 pm: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated former Lok Sabha speaker PA Sangma for the President's post. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj said that the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP supported Sangma's candidature.
However, the NDA failed to arrive at a consensus with two of its key partners, the Shiv Sena and JD(U) not in favour of a contest. However, Sushma Swaraj said the BJP was in favour of a contest.
"Considering what Pranab has done to the country, there cannot be walkover for him," Sushma Swaraj said.
Sushma Swaraj also said that the UPA failed to reach out to the NDA over the Presidential poll.
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley also said that the BJP wanted to play the role of a principal opposition and was not in favour of the UPA's Presidential candidate. "Contest is an idea integral to the democracy, not alien to the democracy. We want to play the role of the principal opposition party," Jaitley said.
Dismissing reports of differences within the NDA, Sushma Swaraj said, "NDA is a mature alliance, there is no question of it breaking down. We were trying to bring our alliance partners on board, we could not do that."
The BJP's announcement came even as two of its leaders Maneka Gandhi and BS Yeddyurappa had expressed their desire to support Pranab. "The support of Maneka, Yeddyurappa for Pranab does not matter now since we have made the official announcement," Sushma Swaraj said.
Meanwhile, the JDS also said it would support Pranab's candidature for the President's post. The Left Front's meeting on the Presidential poll was underway. Sources say that the Left parties were still divided and are likely to announce their decision by Thursday evening.
The JD(U) is expected to announce its stand on the Presidential candidate at 1 pm on Thursday.



Race for Rashtrapati Bhawan: Where the numbers stand

Support for Pranab
UPA (-TMC) + RJD + SP + BSP + NDA ALLIES (SS + JDU) = 53.2 per cent

Support for Sangma
BJP + SAD + BJD + AIADMK = 27.6 per cent

Undecided parties
Left + TMC = 9 per cent

Others = 10.2 per cent

Nitish's unease with Modi 'irrelevant, unfortunate': BJP

BJP Thursday dismissed as "irrelevant and unfortunate" Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's objection to his Gujarat counterpart Narendra Modi becoming NDA's prime ministerial candidate in 2014 generalelections but said that the "mature" coalition is not under any threat"


It is an irrelevant and unfortunate debate," leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said in reply to a question on Kumar's comments against Modi. She maintained that the focus at present is Presidential poll and the issue of prime ministerial candidate has no immediate relevance.

However, BJP accepted that it had not been able to convince ally JD(U) on supporting PA Sangma in the Presidential election. Regretting this, Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley hoped this was a "one off" case of fissures in NDA ranks and would not affect the coalition.

"NDA is a mature alliance. There is no question of NDA breaking up," Swaraj said.

Despite several serious attempts by BJP to persuade JD(U), the ally stuck to its stand of supporting UPA candidate Pranab Mukherjee. Top BJP leaders had talked to JD(U) President Sharad Yadav and the Bihar chief minister on the issue.

BJP leaders, preferring anonymity, said they have not been able to understand the logic behind JD(U)'s decision.

JD(U) is keeping its options open ahead of the 2014 elections and, hence, the decision to support Mukherjee, political observers felt.

Kumar had ruled out Modi, without naming him, as NDA's PM candidate when he said the person should have "secular credentials". He said the candidate should be acceptable to all NDA constituents.

On Tuesday, he had stressed that NDA should declare its prime ministerial candidate in advance, saying, "This leader should be acceptable to every constituent of the alliance. To me, the leader of the coalition should have secular credentials."

Kumar has made known his unease with Narendra Modi a number of times earlier because of which the Gujarat chief minister was kept away from campaigning in Bihar during the last Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Monsoon ‘logs out’ IT workforce in Hi-Tec City

As the rains announced its arrival by lashing the city for two days, the entire area comprising Madhapur-Kondapur belt ended up water logged giving extremely uncomfortable time for the road-users.

JUNE 21,2012 HYDERABAD:


For the city IT workforce, which predominantly operates out of Hi-Tec City area, monsoon instead of bringing in cheer has landed them in gloom.

As the rains announced its arrival by lashing the city for two days, the entire area comprising Madhapur-Kondapur belt ended up water logged giving extremely uncomfortable time for the road-users.

Even after the rains ceased, the roads remained inundated for hours with two-wheelers and four-wheelers getting stranded in a couple of feet deep water. Lack of proper planning and infrastructure to flush out the rainwater clearly exposed chinks in the much showcased part of the city as thousands got stranded with their vehicles for hours.

“It took me more than 45 minutes to just cross the junction at NAC junction. Vehicles were stranded in front of the Tanla office complex and inched further bumper to bumper,” said Amit Kumar, an IT professional.

Ch. Kavita had a similar experience while travelling from Kavuri Hills towards Hafeezpet. “Every entry and exit point to Madhapur was blocked with traffic jams resulting from water logging. We felt as if we were marooned,” she recalled.

Worse was the situation on the spinal road, connecting Madhapur with JNTU, at the small duct below railway tracks near MMTS station. With the road over bridge taken up by Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) not ready yet, vehicles got piled up on either side for a long time.

“I even a saw couple of cars and a few two-wheelers floating in the water,” said Sameer, another IT professional who spent nearly two hours to reach Malaysian Township from Cyber Towers point. Similar was the situation further down at Serilingampally railway gate where vehicles took more than two hours to cover a distance of just a km and reach the colonies.

While the gate on one side of the Serilingampally station had two-wheelers and four-wheelers landing in a jam and crawling, it was no better at the rail over bridge point on the other side.

PJR’s daughter meets Jagan, creates buzz

Vijaya Reddy, daughter of Congress leader late P. Janardhan Reddy and sister of party MLA P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy met Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Chanchalg-uda prison for half-an-hour on Wednesday. She was accompanied by the YSR Congress chief’s wife Bharati Reddy, party leaders Vasireddy Padma and J. Vijayalakshmi.

While Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy has been visited by several politicians since his party’s sweep of the bypolls, Ms Vijaya Reddy’s visit on Wednesday created a buzz in the state’s political circles. Meanwhile, sources said that Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s quota of mulakats (visits) has been exhausted and no visitors will be allowed to meet him till June 25. Former minister and accused in the Jagan illegal investments case Mopidevi Venkataramana, too, had visitors as agriculture minister Kanna Lakshminarayana went to the Chanchalguda Prison to meet him. Minister for animal husbandry P. Viswaroop’s son P. Krishna also met the former minister.

Jagan served ED notice in prison

The Enforcement Directorate issued a notice to Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday for recording his statement in Chanchalguda prison after his counsel refused to accept the same.

The ED had earlier filed a plea in the Special Court for CBI cases to record Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy’s statement in jail regarding his illegal investments case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The court had directed the ED to serve the notice on the YSR Congress chief’s counsel Ashok Reddy but he refused to accept the same. Following this, the court asked the ED to serve the notice on the Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy himself at Chanchalguda prison and the ED’s counsel served the notice later in the day.

The ED had earlier filed a plea seeking to record the MP’s statement as former director and chairman of M/s Jagathi Publications. The firm had been named Accused No. 12 in the first chargesheet filed by the CBI in the case. The court had posted the matter for further hearing to June 25.

Jagan fear factor: Congress may seek solace in TRS company

HYDERABAD: Concerned over the political threat from Jaganmohan Reddy, the Congress high command is believed to be considering going forward on an issue that they have been stonewalling till now - the Telangana impasse.

Following the rout of the Congress in the Seemandhra region and the narrow victory margin for the TRS in Parkal in the recent assembly bypolls, the grand old party is dropping hints that it wants more than an alliance with the latter. Disclosing this to TOI, highly-places sources said a positive decision on the Telangana front is the only one with which the Congress can hope to remain a political force in the state before the 2014 elections. "The strategy is to regain the hold in the Telangana region by granting the separate state on the condition that the TRS should merge with the Congress. The party can then concentrate on rebuilding itself in the Seemandhra region where the threat from Jagan is formidable, as the recent bypolls showed," said the sources. But TRS, though seeking Telangana, knows the dilemma of the collapsing Congress in the state.

According to the sources, the Congress is upbeat on the issue of going forward on Telangana and the TRS merger. While such a formula is more in its interest, Congress leaders are claiming that it is the TRS that has sent the feelers. "The TRS has come forward with a proposal of merger. I have definite information from the Congress high command about the merger proposal," minor irrigation minister and Seemandhra leader T G Venkatesh told TOI.

Venkatesh, who had a series of meetings in New Delhi during the last two days with senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Vayalar Ravi and S Jaipal Reddy, said Telangana state was round the corner. "The Centre is inching towards Telangana and this is the outcome of the TRS merger proposal," he said.

According to him, except the Congress, all the other political parties are agreed on Telangana. Venkatesh, who has been raising the issue of the rights of Rayalaseema districts since 2000, has the apprehension of a midnight T-announcement as was done on December 6, 2009, by home minister P Chidambaram. "The Rayalaseema people should be informed of the decision well in advance," he said.

Party scion K T Rama Rao said: "Telangana has to happen and certainly will become a reality in the run up to the 2014 elections. This is our understanding." TRS senior leader T Harish Rao denied that the party has been in touch with the Congress leadership," he said. But in the same breath, Harish Rao added: "The political situation in the state has evolved to a level that the Congress can no longer dither on Telangana. Telangana should be created if Congress were to survive in Andhra Pradesh," Harish told TOI from Warangal.

Team Anna asks Pranab to come clean on rice scam allegations before contesting presidential election

LUCKNOW:

Team Anna on Wednesday reiterated its demand to probe graft charges it had levelled against 14 ministers, including finance minister Pranab Mukherjee by a special investigating team (SIT).

Addressing a gathering organized by India Against Corruption in Kanpur, Team Anna core group member Kiran Bedi said, "The government should constitute a SIT to probe the charges. Let them come out clean if they are not corrupt."

She also said, "We are poor not because we have committed a sin but because our leadership is corrupt and has been acting like 'Dhritarashtra'. The government does not have money to set up new schools and hospitals but at the same time scams of several crores of rupees keep on surfacing every now and then.

"This is happening only because we have decided to keep mum. It's time we should stand and support Anna Hazare who is fighting for the cause," she said.

This is for the second time when Kiran Bedi termed the government to be acting like 'Dhritarashtra'. Bedi, however, made it clear that her remarks was not against prime minister but against the office of the Prime Minister for overlooking the problems.

Team Anna is touring Uttar Pradesh as a part of its " Anna Sandesh Yatra" to make people aware about the corruption charges against ministers and to demand formation of SIT. The first round of the yatra ended on Wednesday. Kiran Bedi, Kumar Vishwas, Sanjay Singh, Shazia Ilmi and others members of Team Anna spoke on the occasion.

While addressing media persons in Lucknow, Vishwas said, "Mukherjee should face the probe and come clear with regard to rice scam before contesting presidential elections."

When Mukherjee rejected these allegations as "unfair, self-seeking and levelled with ulterior motive", Vishwas said, "The reply came for the letter which we wrote on May 27 to prime minister but he has not responded to the letter which we wrote two days back."
Talking about Anna Hazare endorsing Mukherjee as a better president contestant than other UPA ministers, he said, "Anna said that Pranab is a better minister compared to other minister but he added that APJ Abdul Kalam is the best for the post of president."

People from all walks of life and ages, including students and housewives, came to hear Team Anna members. The gathering kept waving the tricolour and raised slogans in support of Anna all through the meeting. Patriotic songs were played from loudspeakers.

The Team will be organizing similar yatras in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and other parts of the country.

The movement will enter its second phase from July 25 when some Team Anna members would sit on hunger strike in Delhi. The volunteers of the India Against Corruption have also been assigned the task to build a strong grassroots network of people, involving villagers, women and students to fight against corruption.

New Delhi, June 21, 2012:

A compromise formula aimed at breaking the deadlock between teachers and HRD minister Kapil Sibal over admissions to the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) could end up hurting hundreds of thousands of aspiring students.

Under the new formula, only the top 20% students in their respective class 12 board exams would be eligible for appearing in the IIT entrance exam, top government and IIT sources told HT.

The compromise was brokered by the Prime Minister, who met members of the protesting All India IIT Faculty Federation (AIIFF) last week and asked Sibal to consider their demands.

Sibal had wanted an admission system where the board exam percentile was given weightage along with scores in a screening test while selecting candidates for a second, advanced entrance exam. This process allowed students who scored relatively lower in the boards to make up for it by doing better in the screening test.

But faced with persistent opposition from IIT faculty federations on weightage to board scores, Sibal has asked IIT-Delhi director RK Shevgaonkar to seek the opinion of faculty across the IITs on the compromise plan.

The new proposal, to be discussed by the IIT senates and faculty associations this week, places students in the top 20 percentile of board scores on an equal footing in the selection process.

This would negate Sibal’s intention of encouraging students to focus on their board exams, but rob 80% students of even a chance of trying for the IITs.

Since the class 12 results are unlikely to be declared in time for the two-tier IIT test, all students would need to appear for the exams even if their board marks turn them ineligible later.

Greater Hyderabad municipal corporation ill-prepared to face monsoon

HYDERABAD: Given the state of preparedness of the civic authorities, Greater Hyderabad residents should pray that they are not subjected to a heavy spell of monsoon rain. This is because the GHMC has been caught napping --- the desiltation of the nalas is still half done and the disaster management cell of the civic body does not have either the manpower or the wherewithal to handle water logging and the other woes that hit the city with the first spell of the seasonal rain.

Last Monday was an indicator of this. The city experienced 4 cms of rainfall, and there were long traffic chaos at all the arterial roads. "Thanks to the desilting of nalas remaining undone, indiscriminate road cutting and battered roads all over, there will be major traffic chaos, water-logging and unprecedented flooding of the roads and the low-lying areas when a heavy and long spell of rain occurs," said a civic official. Road cutting has been going on at many major roads in the city despite a ban on works during monsoon as the GHMC stops giving permission to various agencies for such work in May itself. However, traffic chaos prevailed on the Sardar Patel road where the CPDCL dug up the road for laying a 220 KV line. The busy stretch continues to be a mess as the completed portion of the road has not been re-carpeted yet. Similarly, road cutting is going on at Road No 3 Banjara Hills, resulting in traffic chaos during the peak hours.

According to sources, the desiltation of the nalas should have been completed by May 31 itself. However, only 80% or about 550 kms of the 700 km desiltation work was completed by the time monsoon rain hit the city. This would mean that several areas are in for major flooding when a torrential downpour occurs.

On paper, the GHMC's disaster management cell has five zonal control rooms and one central emergency control room mandated to operate round the clock. "The emergency wings personnel also have material like pumps to bail out the water from stagnation points, tree cutters, nylon ropes, torch lights and trucks. But this is hardly enough to cater to 60-lakh population," said sources.

GHMC officials said the only way flooding and water logging can be prevented is when the nalas are remodeled and other works like the routing of the lakes are taken up. "But all that would require funds to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore, an amount that the GHMC is in no position to cough up. Hence, Hyderabad residents should be prepared for water logging and traffic snarls during the monsoon," said an official.

Sangma quits NCP, may get NDA support

The United Progressive Alliance’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee will have to face a contest now that the former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma has resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party, enabling himself to make a bid to be the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan without “embarrassing” his party.

Mr. Sangma’s resignation, addressed to NCP president and Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has been accepted, freeing him from the pressure of his party not to file his nomination and to support Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature instead.

In a press note, Mr. Sangma has reiterated that the Tribal Forum of India nominated him for election to the office of President, a nomination that has been endorsed by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal. He also claims that he has “received promises of support from senior leaders of non-Congress parties, including those in the National Democratic Alliance.”

With the former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s first choice for First Citizen, announcing on Tuesday that he did not wish to take a second shot for the keys of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr. Sangma’s chances of securing BJP support have brightened. Of the BJP’s allies in the NDA, the Shiv Sena has already declared it will back Mr. Mukherjee; the Janata Dal-United, currently engaged in a war of words with the BJP and the RSS, party sources say, is not very keen on Mr. Sangma; Shiromani Akali Dal chief Parkash Singh Badal has stated publicly his party will go with the NDA.

Troubled history:

Mr. Sangma telephoned West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Saturday to seek her support, even though the two share a troubled history: in January 2004, Mr. Sangma sought to split the NCP after Mr. Pawar became close to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, but when he lost the battle for the NCP election symbol, he merged his faction with the Trinamool. However, in February 2006, he was re-elected an NCP candidate after he quit the Trinamool. Now, with Ms. Banerjee’s bid to prop up Mr. Kalam having failed, and her opposition to Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature still unwavering, Mr. Sangma’s overtures to her might make some impact.

But Mr. Sangma’s bid for the presidency has complicated matters for his daughter, Agatha Sangma, who now faces the prospect of being turfed off the Union Council of Ministers — she is MoS for Rural Development — if she campaigns for her father, a senior NCP leader indicated. “If she campaigns, we will have no option but to show her the door,” he said shortly after Mr. Sangma resigned from the party, a day ahead of a meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Board. The Congress, however, chose not to comment on the matter, with party spokesman Rashid Alvi saying, “Congress is not going to advise the NCP on what to do about Agatha.”

Personal issue, says son:

Simultaneously, Mr. Sangma’s son and Leader of the Opposition in the Meghalaya Assembly Conrad K. Sangma told journalists that his father’s resignation from the NCP was a “personal” issue and would therefore “not have any impact on his membership of the NCP in Meghalaya.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Banerjee is facing a revolt in her party: dissident MP Kabir Suman has been in touch with Mr Mukherjee, and the Congress, party sources said, is in touch with other disgruntled Trinamool MPs and MLAs. So much so the Trinamool accused the Congress of attempting to split her party. “What Pranab has done is unethical... He is trying to break Trinamool,” State Minister and Trinamool leader Subrata Mukherjee said, adding, “Both Pranab and Suman are masters of unethical politics.”

In the UPA camp, members are busy working on the Mukherjee campaign: Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi met jailed YSR Congress chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday to seek his party’s support for the UPA nominee.

Narendra Modi cannot be projected as PM candidate, says Vajpayee aide

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi cannot be portrayed as prime ministerial candidate as it is impossible for the BJP to get a majority on its own in Lok Sabha polls, Brajesh Mishra has said.

Mishra, key aide of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, said Modi becoming prime minister depends entirely on BJP getting a majority in Parliament on its own.

"First of all, we must be clear that BJP is not going to get majority on its own. Impossible. And therefore, he (Modi) cannot be put forward as a successor. They will have to find somebody else," Mishra said.

Mishra said Modi continued as Chief Minister of Gujarat after the post-Godhra riots because the BJP wanted him to and Vajpayee did not overrule the party opinion.

However, he pointed out that Vajpayee, though endorsing the majority opinion, did advice Modi to follow 'raj dharma'.

"In Goa, there was a vociferous demand for Narendra Modi to continue as Chief Minister. He (Vajpayee) was not going to interfere. So he said this is alright but he (Modi) should follow raj dharma. It was a kind of advice given to him (Modi). But there was no question of Atalji overruling the party," Mishra said.

Sangma resigns from NCP, likely to be Opposition candidate for Rashtrapati Bhavan

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA)’s presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee will have to face a contest now that former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno Sangma has resigned from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to enable him to make a bid to be the next incumbent of Rashtrapati Bhavan without “embarrassing” his party.

Mr. Sangma’s resignation, addressed to NCP president — and Union Agriculture Minister – Sharad Pawar has been accepted, freeing him from the pressure of his party not to file his nomination and support Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature instead.

In a press note, Mr. Sangma has reiterated the fact that the Tribal Forum of India has nominated him for election to the office of the President, a nomination that has been endorsed by the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Biju Janata Dal. He also claims that he has “received promises of support from senior leaders of non-Congress parties, including those in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).”

With former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s first choice for First Citizen, announcing on Tuesday that he does not wish to take a second shot for the keys of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Mr.Sangma’s chances of securing the support of the BJP have brightened. Of the BJP’s allies in the NDA, the Shiv Sena has already declared it will back Mr. Mukherjee; the Janata Dal-United, currently engaged in a war of words with the BJP and RSS, party sources say, is not very keen on Mr. Sangma; Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Chief Prakash Singh Badal has stated publicly that his party will go by what the NDA decides.

Mr. Sangma telephoned West Bengal chief minister — and Trinamool Congress chief — Mamata Banerjee on Saturday to seek her support, even though the two share a troubled history: in January 2004, Mr. Sangma sought to split the NCP after Mr. Pawar became close to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, but when he lost the battle for the NCP election symbol, he merged his faction with the Trinamool. But in February 2006, he was re-elected as a NCP candidate after he quit the Trinamool. But now, with Ms. Banerjee’s bid to prop up Mr. Kalam as a Presidential candidate having failed, and her opposition to Mr. Mukherjee’s candidature still unwavering, Mr. Sangma’s overtures to her might make some impact.

Mr. Sangma’s bid for the presidency has complicated matters for his daughter, Agatha Sangma, who now faces the prospect of being turfed out of the union council of ministers – she is the MoS for rural development -- if she campaigns for her father, a senior NCP leader indicated. “If she campaigns, we will have no option but to show her the door,” he said shortly after Mr. Sangma resigned from the party, a day ahead of a meeting of the NCP Parliamentary Board. The Congress, however, chose not to comment on the matter, with party spokesman Rashid Alvi saying, “Congress is not going to advise the NCP on what to do about Agatha.”

Simultaneously, Mr. Sangma’s son and Leader of the Opposition in Meghalaya Assembly Conrad K. Sangma told journalists on Wednesday that his father’s resignation from the NCP was a “personal” issue and would therefore “not have any impact on the membership of the NCP in Meghalaya.”

NDA would not have lost power if Modi had been sacked after Guj riots: Nitish

Targeting Narendra Modi for the second time in a week, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today said the NDA government would not have lost power in the 2004 general elections had the Gujarat government been dismissed in the wake of the 2002 riots.

Kumar's remarks came close on the heels of his stating that NDA needs a "secular" candidate as PM for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, which were construed as an attack on Modi.

"The NDA government would not have lost power in 2004 general elections if Vajpayee had been allowed to sack the Modi government for not adhering to 'raj dharma'," he told a group of news channel reporters at the JD(U) office here.

Vajpayee, who had castigated Modi for his failure to abide by the 'raj dharma', was prevailed upon by the senior BJP leaders against sacking the Modi government and that was the main reason of NDA's defeat at the hustings in 2004, Kumar said.

Under attack from the RSS and the BJP for his latest salvo, Kumar dismissed the charge that he was a selfish leader.

Kumar's detractors accused him of changing his tune after enjoying the fruits of power aligning with the BJP.

"I am not a selfish leader," he said while trying to deflect RSS-BJP criticism against him over the Modi issue.