Former chief minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta here on Saturday pulled up Union home minister P. Chidambram for his sudden declaratioin to disarm the militant outfits holding ceasefire with the government.

In a veiled attack on the Mayawati government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday that the state government has not shown adequate interest in the development of the Bundelkhand region. The PM, while addressing a Congress rally in Banda on Saturday, said that the Central and state governments must work in

Battling charges that the then Central government had a role to play in the 1995 Purulia district arms-dropping episode, the government appeared to go on overdrive on Saturday to refute this allegation. The allegation has been recently levelled by one of the masterminds of the operation Kim Davy, whose extradition from Denmark to face trial here has been sought for long by the Indian government.

The government late on Saturday evening alerted the department of space and the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) for help in locating the whereabouts of the missing helicopter carrying Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Dorjee Khandu and four others. Union home secretary G.K. Pillai said in New Delhi that Indian satellites

Asked whether he tried to give a clean chit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the 2G issue, Public Accounts Committee chairman Murli Manohar Joshi on Saturday said, “I have not given a clean chit to anybody. The PM remained a mute spectator (to the 2G scam), that is what the report has mentioned.” The report had criticised the

Upping the ante against the most hallowed centre of the UPA government, the BJP on Saturday accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of “directing the ongoing show” of maligning PAC chairman and BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi with the aim of saving the PMO’s skin in the 2G spectrum scam. After the Congress onslaught against

Confrontation between the government and the Opposition could intensify further irrespective of whether the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) report of Parliament on the 2G spectrum scam would be placed in the Lok Sabha.

Though the ruling BSP and SP are arch rivals in UP, the two parties are in a similar position being cornered by the BJP for their support to the UPA coalition partners in PAC on the 2G draft report. Senior leaders of the two parties concede that they might have to pay a political price for their key role in the PAC but officially the two parties are making attempts to wriggle out of the issue.

Maintaining that early resolution of high profile cases being currently handled by the CBI constituted a “litmus test” for the agency, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday called upon the officials of the India’s premier investigating agency to put their heads down and avoid media glare ensuring logical conclusion of the cases.

The Centre’s growing dependence on the Samajwadi Party and BSP could weaken the Congress’ poll plank in Uttar Pradesh as the latter would find it difficult to launch an effective campaign against chief minister Mayawati and Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav in the coming electoral battle.