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

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.