The defining punchline of 2007 Gujarat polls, maut ka saudagar, was back in circulation, when Gujarat CM N Modi hurled it back at its author, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, to scale up controversy over Bhopal gas leak. Modi, at a rally in Patna, questioned Sonias silence over Bhopal gas leak and asked her who was Bhopals maut ka saudagar, eliciting strong words from Congress which said he had no moral right to question their party chief. The comment threatens to revive the Modi vs Sonia clash. The Congress president had called the Hindutva strongman merchant of death for his role in the 2002 riots. The barb had stirred an otherwise placid assembly poll campaign with Modi seizing on the appellation to turn it into an issue of Gujarati pride. The ensuing polarisation is said to have turned the tide in favour of BJP. The two leaders have hurled bitter barbs at each other since Modis comments in 2002 assembly elections held after Gujarat riots lent the political battle a sharp personal edge. His references to Sonias Italian origin and religion have particularly riled Congressmen. Congress has since captured power in New Delhi twice in succession but Soniaspolitical objective of unseating Modi from Gandhinagar has remained a sort of elusive final frontier. The Sunday offensive from Modi may be the catalyst to break the pause in hostilities between them since the 2009 Lok Sabha polls. As Modi exhumed the maut ka saudagar epithet and hurled it at Sonia, AICC spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan said the CM had no moral right to question her as he preached a divisive brand of politics.
Coming in the backdrop of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar angrily calling off a dinner for BJP brass on Saturday over advertisements placed in local media showing him in Modis company, Congress tried to rub it in to turn the provocation into a political advantage. Natarajan said, Modi practises a divisive and bankrupt brand of politics to the extent that BJPs alliance partner Nitish Kumar has refused to share a platform with him. AICC secretary Rajiv Shukla said Modi was jhoot ka saudagar and his lies had been caught by Nitish Kumar. The Sunday stand-off hinted that Congress was ready to counterattack BJP over Bhopal after fielding allegations for over a week over release of Warren Anderson. Natarajan, retaliating to questions asked by Modi on injustice to the Bhopal victims, said BJP itself had a lot to answer for. Why did BJP take legal opinion of an American law firm for extradition of Anderson and not take any steps to extradite him, she asked. The spokesperson said BJP also had to answer why MP government had opposed the setting up of Bhopal Commission and why it had not used the central money to clean up water in Bhopal.
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Draft law on CBI powers with govt
Burdened by the limited inadequacy of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act of 1946, and fighting ambiguity over its duties,the CBI now seeks draft law aimed at replacing dated DSPE Act that governs the agency. The draft law is now with the government. At present, CBI is limited to specific crimes based on Acts mainly the DSPE Act. The agency can investigate offences notified by the central Govt. under the Act though it conducts operations related to different Acts including IPC, NDPS and IT Act.
CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said, There are more than 300 Acts which are investigated by the agency and we have proposed the same in our draft. The draft has been submitted as per provisions of Article 246 of the Constitution seeking replacement for the DSPE Act. The CBIs draft says the central Govt. may by order extend to any area, including railway areas, in a state, not being Union Territory, powers and jurisdiction of officers of the agency for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of offences included in Schedule II and those related to matters in the concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. The draft seek to have an all India jurisdiction for 53 categories of offences which includes to Explosive Substances Act,Anti-Hijacking Act,Drugs and Cosmetics Act etc.
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(source-toi)
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