Nobody is above the law: Maharashtra CM

MUMBAI: Rejecting that charge that Maharashtra government acted under pressure to arrest MNS chief Raj Thackeray, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh
today said nobody was above the law and warned that anyone indulging in violence will be dealt with sternly.

"There has been no pressure on the government to arrest Raj Thackeray. No one is above the law. Do you want the government to be a spectator?" he asked.

Noting that many MNS activists have been arrested from across Maharashtra, Deshmukh said, "Once we decide to take action, some precautionary steps have to be taken by the police and they have been taken. There have been reports of minor incidents of violence. Those indulging in violence will be dealt with strictly".

Thackeray was arrested early today from Ratnagiri in connection with the attacks on north Indian candidates appearing for a railway recruitment examination on Sunday. The MNS has alleged that the Maharashtra government has acted at the behest of the Centre in arrested its leader.

"We have deployed SRP companies in various towns. So I don't think there is any problem," he said while asking Mumbaikars to go ahead with their routine life.

"It is no problem. There is no question of any fear," the chief minister said.

Source : Times Of India

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DMK's human chain protest on Tamils' plight today

CHENNAI: The ruling DMK wants its human chain agitation on Tuesday to highlight the plight of Tamil civilians in war-torn Sri Lanka to be a massiv
e event and is mobilising members of all its wings as well as various sections of society.

DMK president and chief minister M Karunanidhi has been issuing appeals to cadres through the party organ, 'Murasoli', for the last two days to participate in large numbers, and wrote again for the Tuesday edition.

In his missives, he has been highlighting the party's track record in taking up the cause of Tamils in Sri Lanka over the years.

On Monday, Karunanidhi sought to rebut criticism that the steps he had taken were mere gimmicks by underscoring the UPA regime's positive response to the all-party appeal to the Centre to intervene effectively in Sri Lanka to ensure cessation of hostilities there and commencement of fresh negotiations.

"While we have some detractors here, it is a big consolation for us that the regime in New Delhi is considering our demands sympathetically. The Prime Minister has spoken to the Sri Lankan president and the external affairs minister is due to visit Colombo shortly. A UN convoy carrying 750 tonnes of food could not be distributed in the north last week, but on the very day the Prime Minister spoke to the Sri Lankan leadership, the supplies were sent and distributed among 2,30,000 people," he said.

Source : Times Of India

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17 BJP MLAs rebel against Uttarakhand CM Khanduri

NEW DELHI: Just when it prepares for a crucial round of assembly polls, dissidence has once again wracked BJP in Uttarakhand with 17 party MLAs re
belling against chief minister Major General (retd) B C Khanduri.

Trivendra Singh Ravat, a minister in the Khanduri government, submitted the resignations to party chief Rajnath Singh here on Monday. Though the party chief, it is learnt, urged the MLAs not to precipitate matters ahead of the crucial assembly elections, the rebels were not ready to relent.

The tough posture underlines the challenge that the leadership has faced in the state since it prevailed over the MLAs to accept Khanduri in place of the the popular choice, former chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.

While Khanduri got the nod because of the impressive stint he had as the surface transport minister at the Centre under the NDA government, he has since failed to enhance his appeal among the MLAs who find him to be too bureaucratic in his approach.

Though Khanduri, thanks to goadings by the central leadership, tried to trim his style to suit the MLAs' tastes and restored the perks — ministerial ranks and other trappings of power such as red beacons — he had withdrawn after taking over, this has not helped matters.

Rather, it seems his new-found adaptability seems to have alerted them to the pragmatic streak in a chief minister who, to many, seemed to value his ability to brazen out controversies about his style of functioning.

Source : Times Of India

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