Congress on Sunday distanced itself from its beleaguered MP and chairman of Organising Committee of CWG Suresh Kalmadi whose premises were raided by CBI, saying the party would not “intervene in the legal processes.”
Asked whether the party had left Kalmadi, facing charges of corruption, in the lurch, Congress spokesman and general secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who was here, said “The party will not intervene in the legal processes.”
Mr Dwivedi asked as to what impact the raids would have on Congress in Pune, the city which he represents in Parliament, and said as a political party it would not comment on the legal processes in the case.
Earlier, addressing party workers here, Mr Dwivedi said the RSS was an “imitation” of Rashtra Seva Dal which had basic ideological differences with Congress.
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‘2G scam of Himalayan proportions’
Chennai, Dec. 26: The `1.76 trillion 2G spectrum allocation scam perpetrated by former union communications minister A. Raja is of Himalayan proportions and there is no need for anybody to blow it more out of proportion, AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa said on Sunday. She claimed that the DMK leader and Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi showed his ignorance on the issue of 2G spectrum allocation with his defence of Mr Raja, who said he had only followed what his predecessors had done. The AIADMK chief said the amount (`1.76 trillion) estimated by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is only presumptive and not the loss itself. —PTI
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Tension in Orissa over MLA’s card
Nabarangpur (Orissa), Dec. 26: Tension gripped several parts of the district as protests were staged by Christian groups against an alleged blasphemous portrayal of Jesus Christ in greeting cards distributed by a BJD MLA, prompting the ruling party to immediately apologise.
Angry protesters demanded immediate arrest of MLA Manohar Randhari “for hurting religious sentiments” and staged road blockade at several places, the police said.
As tension prevailed in the town, prohibitory orders under Section 144 were clamped near the church and along the national highway-201 near the entry and exit points of the town.
Additional police force was also deployed in the town, police said, adding, the situation is tense but under control.
However, Randhari said he had not carefully verified the picture printed on the card and that “it was a mistake by the printing press in Bhubaneswar which printed hurriedly”.
—PTI