Questioning the timing of allegations levelled against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by former telecom minister Arun Shourie, the Congress dubbed his move as a diversionary tactic, as no communication ever took place between him and Dr Singh. Mr Shourie is reported to have claimed that he had informed the Prime Minister of DMK leader A. Raja’s “loot” nearly 17 months ago.

The main Opposition BJP on Friday asked government to bring the motion for the formation of a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) on February 22. The BJP and other Opposition parties have been demanding the JPC probe into corruption issues, including 2G spectrum allocation. The party also clarified that it will not boycott the

The Congress media managers on Friday held deliberations on how to project the party’s image in a better way in public as the Opposition braces to attack the ruling combine on the issue of corruption inside and outside Parliament.

Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, who is under attack from the Opposition for land scams, on Friday said he would bring out a “chargesheet” against JD(S) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda and his family members on the issue of land scams. Declaring that his government would last a full five-year term, the Karnataka chief minister claimed the BJP top brass is “happy about my performance”.

As election time draws near, the sun is beginning to shine for dalit officers in UP. UP chief minister Mayawati is apparently unnerved by the fact that she has been receiving maximum complaints from dalits during her inspection tours of the state.

Alluding to what he sees as a growing police-politician nexus in Punjab, former chief minister Amarinder Singh chided the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party coalition for its reliance on police officers to win elections.

The Congress on Friday dismissed suggestions that formation of NR Congress in Puducherry and YSR Congress in Andhra Pradesh would have an adverse impact on the party.

In a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the RSS has sought for setting up an independent commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat and other senior leaders by Col. Srikant Purohit and Dayanand Pandey, both accused in the Malegaon blast case.

The Rajasthan ATS has completed its investigations with Swami Aseemanand, a key suspect in the Ajmer blast case, while a local court in Ajmer sent him to judicial custody till February 15. But the court sent Bharat Bhai to police custody for a week as the ATS demanded it.

The Amar Singh phone tapping case on Friday took a new turn with the Supreme Court taking serious view of Reliance Communications putting his phone on surveillance on a forged letter of the Delhi home secretary and asked the Centre why the licence of the service provider was not cancelled for such a casual approach.