Jammu: "I'd hate to be in Dinesh Trivedi's
shoe's today."
This was Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah's
reaction to the railway budget presented by Railway Minister
Dinesh Trivedi on Wednesday.
"All said and done I'd hate to be in Dinesh Trivedi's
shoe's today. Today was supposed to be the highlight of his
political career. Poor chap," the NC leader wrote in
microblogging site Twitter.
Within minutes of presenting his maiden budget, Trivedi
found himself in a piquant situation with his own party TMC
demanding roll back of the passenger fare hike proposed by
him, triggering speculation about his continuance in office.
TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
declared she would not allow hike in fares which Trivedi has
proposed in a bid to raise Rs 4,000 crore mainly for railway
safety measures.
Omar said, "We take populism to ridiculous levels. I
genuinely believe people would happily accept the modest hike
if safety & quality of service (are) better."
Taking a dig at Banerjee, Omar tweeted, "The PM has his
'M' and I have mine. The only difference is that I know what
to expect from my 'M' (PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti)."
PTI
Delhi BJP chief threatens to file defamation suit against CM
New Delhi: Delhi BJP chief Vijender Gupta
today served a legal notice on Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
asking her to tender an unconditional apology and withdraw the
statement alleging that an NGO run by his wife was involved in
"wrongdoings", failing which he will file a defamation suit
against her.
Accusing Dikshit of unleashing a "vilification campaign"
against him to get political mileage in next month's civic
polls, Gupta said the chief minister's "baseless and unfounded
statements" at a press meet linking him to irregularities in
NGO Sampurna have caused substantial damage to his reputation.
"You are therefore called upon to convene a press
conference and to retract and withdraw your aforesaid
statement. You are also called upon to forthwith tender an
unconditional public apology," the notice served on Dikshit
said.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Dikshit alleged
that NGO 'Sampurna', being run by Gupta's wife Shobha Vijender
was involved in various irregularities and that it has managed
to collect huge sums of money from MCD as well as Social
Welfare department of Delhi government but nobody knows how
the outfit was spending the funds.
Vijender, who runs the NGO, has rejected the allegations
and said her entire team was deeply "hurt by the baseless
charges levelled by Dikshit.
Alleging that the Chief Minister has failed to adhere to
the norms of "political conduct" while eyeing to regain power
in the municipal corporation, Gupta claimed that Dikshit
levelled the allegations to damage his political image knowing
well that the charges were false.
In the notice, Gupta said he would file a defamation suit
if Dikshit does not retract her statements.
Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed with the city
Lokayukta seeking action against the NGO based on a
preliminary probe by the government.
Complainant Rajesh Garg, who runs an NGO called Jan Adhar
Manch, has sought action against NGO 'Sampurna'.
Garg said he has filed a similar complaint with the
Central Vigilance Commission seeking direction to Registrar of
Societies to take punitive action against Sampurna alleging
that a probe by the government has found that the NGO was
registered by filing a "false" affidavit.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 23:13