News Analysis India

Tag: NCP

  • Accused of corruption, Anil Deshmukh to file defamation case against Param Bir Singh

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said on Saturday evening that he will file a defamation case against former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh for accusing him of corruption.

    Deshmukh, an NCP leader, had tweeted earlier refuting Singh’s allegation that he had asked police officers to collect money from bars, restaurants and other establishments.

    In a statement, Deshmukh also asked why Singh was keeping silent for so long, and alleged that the IPS officer, shunted out from the post of city police commissioner on Wednesday, was only trying to save his own skin in the Sachin Waze case.

    The former Commissioner of Police, Parambir Singh has made false allegations in order to save himself as the involvement of Sachin Waze in Mukesh Ambani & Mansukh Hiren’s case is becoming clearer from the investigation carried out so far & threads are leading to Mr. Singh as well
    — ANIL DESHMUKH (@AnilDeshmukhNCP) March 20, 2021

    “The allegations made by Singh are false and I am filing a case of defamation against him,” Deshmukh said.

    “In the Mukesh Ambani case and the Mansukh Hiran death case, Sachin Waze’s involvement was established and the trail was to reach Param Bir Singh. It is due to this possibility that these allegations have been leveled,” Deshmukh said.

    On Thursday, a day after Param Bir Singh was shunted out, Deshmukh had said he was transferred after some of his colleagues committed “serious and unforgivable mistakes”.

    Singh alleged in his letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray that Deshmukh had told Waze that he had set a target of collecting Rs 100 crore a month, half of it from nearly 1,750 bars, restaurants and similar establishments operating in the city.”

    If Sachin Waze told him about this in February, why was Singh quiet till now? Singh took the decision to reinstate Sachin Waze after 16 years (after he was suspended in Khwaja Yunus custodial death case),” Deshmukh said.

    “Sensing trouble in the explosives case, Singh has leveled baseless allegations to blackmail the government. This is a conspiracy by Singh to mislead the probe into the explosives and Mansukh Hiran death cases,” the minister said.

    The chief minister should order an impartial probe in Singh’s allegations, he added.

    Waze was arrested by the NIA last week in connection with the recovery of explosives-laden Scorpio near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence here last month.

    The NIA has also taken over the case related to the mysterious death of Mansukh Hiran, from whose possession the SUV had been allgedly stolen.

  • Kerala polls: Chacko joins NCP, pitches for Pawar’s leadership to raise Opposition unity

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  Former Kerala Congress leader PC Chacko joined the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday.  

    “I am formally joining NCP today,” he said. The 74-year-old is a former Member of Parliament from Kerala’s Thrissur constituency.

    He headed the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G Spectrum during the UPA government (2009-2014).

    On March 10, he announced his decision to quit Congress over the alleged undemocratic way of selecting candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala which is scheduled for April 6.

    Earlier on Tuesday, he said that he would be meeting Sharad Pawar and a few other leaders.

    “Whatever crisis the party is facing, it needs to be discussed. I’m also meeting Sitaram Yechury and Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss future course of action. I need to extend my support to the LDF (Left Democratic Front of Kerala). I’ll decide (on joining) after meeting Pawar sahib,” he said while talking to media on Tuesday.

    The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala is looking to replace the Communist-led Left Democratic Front government of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

    The state, which has never given a second consecutive term to the incumbent chief minister or alliance till now, could throw up a surprise this time.

    Chacko was welcomed into the NCP fold by Pawar, senior NCP leaders Praful Patel, Supriya Sule, Sunil Tatkare and others.

    Chacko recalled his association with Pawar when both of them were in the Congress.

    Prior to Chacko joining the NCP, Pawar met CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

    After formally joining the NCP, Chacko said the LDF will return to power in Kerala.

    The NCP is a constituent in the LDF in Kerala. Chacko said he will start campaigning for the LDF in a few days. 

    Announcing his resignation from the Congress last week, Chacko had alleged group interest in deciding the party’s candidates for the upcoming Kerala Assembly polls.

    Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala in the Lok Sabha.

    “What is needed is unity of the opposition. A united opposition should emerge as an alternative to the BJP. I do not see that initiative very much from the party that I was in earlier. I am sure that Pawar sahib, his leadership and contacts will be effective in forging the unity of the opposition,” said Chacko.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Mansukh Hiren death: Trouble for Deshmukh as Maharashtra Cabinet rejig on cards

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: With questions being raised on Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh’s handling  of crucial and sensitive cases like the bomb scare near Mukesh Ambani’s residence Antillia, talks of replacing him have started and are gathering momentum within the NCP.

    According to reports, during the Assembly session, the Maharashtra government was said to be on the backfoot over Mansukh Hiren death and suspected role of encounter specialist cop Sachin Waze.

    If a senior NCP leader is to be believed, Sharad Pawar is of the view that keeping a non-performing minister in the Cabinet will not only will damage the government but also his party’s image.

    “Light-weight Anil Deshmukh was made the home minister because of the pressure of his party colleagues, but he has failed in the first year only. On the other hand, the Opposition is getting hold of every crucial information related to Hiren death case, including the CDR details between Sachin Waze and deceased. It also got the locations record. In Dadra Nagar Haveli MP  suicide case also, Opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis got the suicide note before the home minister. That shows things are not working for Deshmukh,” said a source.

    Meanwhile, Vaze has denied that he was using the Scorpio which was in possession of Mansukh Hiran, a senior Maharashtra Anti- Terrorism Squad (ATS) official said on Thursday.

    The ATS, which is probing Hiran’s mysterious death, recorded Vaze’s statement earlier this week, he said.

    ALSO READ | Mansukh Hiran’s death was carefully planned murder: Devendra Fadnavis

    Hiran’s wife had claimed that her husband had given the SUV to Vaze in November, which the Mumbai crime branch officer returned in the first week of February.

    On February 25, the SUV was found near industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s house in south Mumbai with explosives and a threat letter inside.

    Hiran had claimed that it had been stolen a week earlier, but the case got murky when he was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5.

    Vaze, accused by Hiran’s wife of involvement in her husband’s suspicious death, was shunted out of the Mumbai crime branch on Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, the investigators have yet to trace the Innova car in which the man who parked the Scorpio near Ambani’s house is seen leaving the spot in CCTV footage, another official said.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • ‘Modi has time to address rally in Bengal, but can’t meet protesting farmers’: Pawar lashes out at PM

    Express News Service
    RANCHI: Making a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar said that the former has time to visit foreign Countries and address rallies in West Bengal, but has no time to visit farmers at the Delhi borders who have been protesting for the last 100 days. 

    Addressing the State level workers conference in Ranchi on Sunday, Pawar also alleged that the BJP is spreading “communal poison” in the country.

    “The farmers have been protesting on Delhi borders for the last 100 days, but the Prime Minister, who has time to visit foreign Countries, address rally in West Bengal, has no time for the farmers who have been protesting merely 20 kilometers from his official residence,” said Pawar.

    Later, talking to the media persons, the NCP Chief also hinted on supporting Mamata Banerjee in the upcomming Bengal polls.

    “Though, we used to contest on some of the seats in West Bengal, but the way BJP is targeting Mamta Banerjee, we are mulling on supporting her in the upcomming Assembly elections. Party workers have opined that the centre is misusing its power to defeat Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal and hence it is high time that she may be lent support,” said Pawar. 

    They are mulling not to field their candidates in Bengal and support her in the upcomming elections, he added.

    Pawar further added that ‘communal poison’ is being spread in most of the states and prices of which are being paid by the poor and people of minority communities.

    Taking a dig at BJP, Pawar said that the centre is taking help from AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi to win elections.

    “The ruling party at the centre, in order to divide votes, always takes help of others and Asaduddin Owaisi is one of them,” said Pawar.

    The NCP chief alleged that the Central government is using central agencies to suppress the voices of Opposition in non-BJP ruled States.

    “The way the Prime Minister, Home Minister and other top leaders of BJP have launched a campaign against the governments of West Bengal and other non-BJP ruled states by misusing the central agencies like CBI and ED, it is a serious issue and all of us must think about it,” said Pawar.

    The NCP Chief said that his party will expand its base in Jharkhand in the coming days.

  • Gujarat NCP chief gets two years in jail for assaulting teachers

    By PTI
    UMRETH: A court on Thursday sentenced Jayant Patel, chief of the Gujarat unit of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), to two years’ imprisonment for assaulting school teachers five years ago.

    Judicial Magistrate of Umreth, L L Prajapati, also found Patel and his supporters Nimesh Goswami and Pankaj Shridhar guilty of unlawful assembly, rioting and house- trespass.

    The court later granted them bail to enable them file appeal in a higher court.

    Jayant Patel, popularly known as Bosky, was NCP MLA from Umreth in Anand district between 2012 and 2017.

    On October 5, 2016, he and his supporters stormed into a school in Ratanpura village where a science fair was being held, and got into an argument with Rakesh Khira, who worked at the District Education and Training Centre, for not mentioning the MLA’s name on the event’s invitation card.

    As the local MLA, his name should have been there, the NCP leader said.

    Though Khira apologized for the omission, Patel slapped him, the latter said in the complaint.

    Patel and his supporters also manhandled two other teachers and damaged some property, Khira said.

    The science fair had been organized by the Gujarat Education Department.

    Patel was arrested the next day and subsequently granted bail by a local court.

  • PM Narendra Modi, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farm unions: NCP chief Sharad Pawar

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior Union ministers like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farmers’ unions to resolve the deadlock over ongoing protest against the three new agriculture laws.

    He said differences regarding the implementation of agriculture reforms can be resolved through deliberations.

    Pawar was speaking to reporters in Baramati, his hometown in Pune district.

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior ministers like Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari should hold talks with farmers’ organisations,” he said.

    “Piyush Goyal is from Mumbai and I don’t know how much he knows about agriculture,” he said.

    Goyal and a few other union ministers have been holding talks with the farmer representatives to break the impasse.

    Pawar said agriculture was a state subject and laws should be enacted after consultations with the state governments.

    “There can be differences over implementation of agriculture reforms, which can be resolved through deliberations,” the former Union agriculture minister said.

    According to him, laws for agriculture reforms were being discussed since 2003 when Vajpayee was the prime minister.

    “In my time, discussions used to take place with the state governments since agriculture is a state subject. A committee of agriculture ministers of nine states was formed to study and prepare a draft law, which was headed by the then Maharashtra minister Harshvardhan Patil.

    “The draft was prepared and states were asked to discuss it. But the present government has prepared its own law and got it passed in the Parliament amid chaos and without discussion,” he said.

    “There was no consultation and the states were not taken into confidence. Agriculture reforms have to be done when required. Differences if any can be resolved through talks,” he said.

    When asked about BJP leader Narayan Rane’s remark that Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Sindhudurg on Sunday would be a good omen to pave the way for fall of the MVA government in the state, Pawar said, “Rane is an old colleague and I didn’t know that he cracks such jokes. His remarks should be seen as a political joke and nothing more than that.”

  • Maha Vikas Aghadi government is like three-wheeler pulling in different directions: Amit Shah​

    By PTI
    KANKAVLI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress is like an auto-rickshaw whose three wheels were pulling in different directions.

    The senior BJP leader also said that ahead of the 2019 Assembly elections, his party did not promise Shiv Sena – then its alliance partner – to share the chief minister’s post.

    “I don’t make promises in closed rooms. Whatever I do, I do it openly. I don’t do politics in closed rooms,” Shah said.

    Speaking after inaugurating a private medical college at Kankavli in Sindhudurg district, Shah said, “This (MVA) is an unholy alliance and an outcome of betraying the people’s mandate which was for a BJP-Shiv Sena government led by (BJP’s) Devendra Fadnavis.”

    The MVA alliance is a result of the lust for power, Shah said.

    The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena parted ways with the BJP after the 2019 Assembly polls in over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post with the BJP, and later forged an alliance with the NCP and Congress to come to power.

    Thackeray had claimed that Shah, who was then BJP president, had assured at his ‘Matoshree’ bungalow in Mumbai that the CM’s post would be shared by the two parties, and the BJP reneged on the promise.

    It is being claimed that the BJP broke the promise, Shah said, adding his party honours the promises it makes.

    “We don’t speak white lies. We are the ones who honour commitments. In Bihar, we had said that even if the BJP gets more seats, Nitish Kumar will continue to be the CM,” Shah said.

    Slamming Thackeray, Shah said the Shiv Sena leader addressed poll rallies with him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the Maharashtra Assembly elections.

    In the poll posters of Shiv Sena candidates, Modi’s pictures were bigger than Thackeray’s, Shah said.

    “We sought votes for the BJP-Sena alliance led by Fadnavis. Why didn’t you speak out then? You just garnered votes in Modi’s name,” he added.

  • Farmers protests: Delhi Police stops 15 Opposition MPs from reaching Ghazipur border

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Fifteen MPs from 10 opposition parties, including the SAD, DMK, NCP and the Trinamool Congress, were stopped by police from reaching Ghazipur border on Thursday to meet farmers protesting against new farm laws, a leader said.

    According to SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal who coordinated the visit, the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site.

    Besides Badal, Supriya Sule from NCP, Kanimozhi and Tiruchi Siva from the DMK, Saugata Roy from the TMC were part of the delegation.

    Members of the National Conference, RSP and the IUML were also part of it.

    During a discussion in Parliament on Wednesday, several opposition parties asked the government to withdraw the three contentious farm laws without making it a prestige issue and not to treat the agitating farmers as “enemies”.

    Stringent security continued at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border, one of the key protest sites where thousands of farmers are camping with a demand that the Centre repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.

    Meanwhile, nails that were fixed near barricades at the Ghazipur border were being repositioned, with security arrangment remaining same at the protest sites.

    “Videos and photos are getting circulated in which it’s shown that nails are being taken off Ghazipur. These are just being repositioned. Position of arrangement at border remains the same,” said Delhi Police.

    They recently cemented nails near barricades at Ghazipur (Delhi-Uttar Pradesh) and Tikri (Delhi-Haryana) borders.

    Also, police have heavily barricaded the Ghazipur border. Barbed wire and cement barricades have been planted on the roads to restrict the movement of the farmers.

    Farmers have been protesting against three of the Centre’s laws: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    Opposition leaders, including Kanimozhi, Supriya Sule and Harsimrat Kaur Badal, were stopped from reaching #GhazipurBorder.Express photo | @parveennegi1.#FarmersProtest pic.twitter.com/lFgs4qNYKO
    — The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) February 4, 2021

    The protesting farmers have expressed the apprehension that these laws would pave the way for the dismantling of the minimum support price (MSP) system, leaving them at the “mercy” of big corporations.

    However, the government has maintained that the new laws will bring better opportunities to farmers and introduce new technologies in agriculture.

    Eleven rounds of formal talks between the government and the protesting farmer unions have failed to break the deadlock.

    While unions have stuck to their main demand of repeal of the laws and legal guarantee of MSP, the government has offered some concessions including keeping these laws on hold for 1-1.5 years.

    Even the Supreme Court has stayed the laws for two months and set up a panel to look into the matter.

    (With ANI Inputs)

  • Three contentious farm laws will affect MSP, weaken mandi system: Sharad Pawar

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Raising concerns over the three new farm laws, NCP President Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the legislation will adversely affect the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and weaken the mandi system.

    Pawar said he virtually participated in the all-party meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in which issues related to the proposed agenda for the Budget session, farmers’ agitation, women’s bill and other important issues were discussed.

    The farmers have been seeking repeal of three farm bills: Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

    Pawar said the new laws will adversely impact the MSP procurement infrastructure thereby weakening the mandi system.

    MSP mechanism has to be ensured and strengthened further, he added.

    “Reform is a continuous process and no one would argue against the reforms in the APMCs or Mandi System, a positive argument on the same does not mean that it is done to weaken or demolish the system,” Pawar tweeted.

    “During my tenure, the draft APMC Rules – 2007 were framed for the setting up of special markets thereby providing alternate platforms for farmers to market their commodities and utmost care was also taken to strengthen the existing Mandi system,” he tweeted.

    Pawar, who served as Union Agriculture Minister from 2004-2014, said he was also concerned about the amended Essential Commodities Act.

    “According to the Act, the Govt will intervene for price control only if rates of horticultural produce are increased by 100 per cent and that of non perishable items increase by 50 per cent.

    “Stock piling limits have been removed on food grain, pulses, onion, potato, oilseeds etc.

    It may lead to apprehensions that Corporates may purchase commodities at lower rates and stock pile and sell at higher prices to consumers,” Pawar tweeted.

  • Governor has time for Kangana, but not farmers: Pawar hits out at Koshyari

    Express News Service
    MUMBAI: NCP president and former Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Monday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not talking to the agitating farmers directly. 

    Addressing a march of farmers in Mumbai, the veteran leader said farmers from Punjab and Haryana have been protesting in Delhi’s chilling weather for last 60 days, yet the Prime Minister has no time to speak with them. 

    “Punjab is not Pakistan. They have protected our land. Farmers in Punjab and Haryana produce and supply ample food grains to us. Why the PM has no time to talk with them? Farmers want to repeal the farm laws but the government remains adamant,” he said.

    Taking a dig at Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who went to Goa on the day the farmers planned to meet him, Pawar said the governor has no time to meet the farmers, who walked to Mumbai in protest against the farm laws, but has time to meet actor Kangana Ranaut. 

    Pawar said a large number of farmers had come in Mumbai to press their demands and planned to submit a charter of demands to the governor.

    “But the governor has no time for farmers but he has all time for Kangna Ranaut. Farmers are in Mumbai and our governor is in Goa. This must be happening the first time in the history of independent India,” the senior politician said. 

    Ajit Nawale, a farmer leader and the secretary of All India Kisan Sabha, condemned the “arrogant” conduct of governor who “refused” to meet the farmers.

    “In protest, we tore down the charter that we had planned to submit to the governor. The farmers came to Mumbai from different parts of the state. Many of them walked down all the way. It is unfortunate that no one in the government cares for the farmers who are actually the real backbone of the economy,” Nawale said.

    However, an official statement from Maharashtra Raj Bhawan said they had already informed the farmer leaders that due to pre-scheduled appointments in Goa on Monday, the governor would not be available to meet them.

    Maharashtra Revenue Minister and state Congress chief Balasaheb Thorat, All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah and others also addressed the rally held at the Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

    You may pass any law undermining the Constitution, not keeping in with the reputation of Parliament and destroying the Parliamentary system on the back of your majority.

    But remember one thing, once the common man and farmers of the country rise, whether you withdraw the laws or not, they will not keep quiet until they destroy you and the law, Pawar said during the rally.

    Pawar alleged that the farm laws were passed without detailed discussion in Parliament despite the opposition parties demanding deliberations on the bills concerned.

    The bills could have been discussed by a select committee, but it did not happen, he said.

    “People (leaders from opposition) opposed it. But the laws were declared passed without discussion.This is the insult of the Constitution, he alleged.

    He said the farmers fight is not easy as those who are in power are not affectionate towards the protesters.

    Pawar hailed the farmers from Punjab for their contribution in the countrys freedom struggle and protecting it during the wars against China and Pakistan post- independence.

    Speaking at the rally, Thorat termed the farmers stir near Delhi as unprecedented.

    The farm laws are for capitalists, hoarders and profiteers.

    the laws were passed without discussion, the Maharashtra minister alleged.

    Thorat claimed there will be no MSP and market committees (APMCs) once the farm laws are implemented.

    The Congress leader said the Maharashtra government wants to pass laws which will be in the interest of farmers.

    No Shiv Sena leader or minister was seen at the rally, but the farmers’ bodies claimed the ruling party had extended its support to the agitation.

    The Shiv Sena heads the MVA government in which the Congress and the NCP are partners.

    The new agri laws seek to encourage private trade, contract farming and remove stock limit on foodgrains.

    The protesting farmers have expressed apprehension that the new laws would pave the way for eliminating the safety cushion of Minimum Support Price and do away with the mandis, leaving them at the mercy of big corporates.

    (With PTI Inputs)