The CBI is likely to seek the Prime Minister’s permission to question Union railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal in connection with its probe related to the Railgate bribery scam.
The CBI on Wednesday began examining the observations of the Cabinet Committee on Appointments (CCA) on the appointment of Mr Mahesh Kumar as member (staff) of the Railway Board. The CBI indicated that norms were “flouted” while appointing Mr Kumar. It is reliably learnt that the CBI on Wednesday examined the railway minister’s private secretary, Mr Rahul Bhandari. Despite repeated efforts by this newspaper to contact Mr Bhandari, he remained incommunicado.
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Advani, sushma & ananth take heat for rout
Yojna Gusai
New Delhi, May 8
Three BJP heavyweights — L.K. Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Ananth Kumar — are under fire from within the party for its rout in the Karnataka Assembly polls.
While former party chief Nitin Gadkari, Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi were in favour of retaining Mr B.S. Yeddyurappa as Karnataka state unit chief after he had to quit as CM, Mr Advani, Ms Swaraj and Mr Kumar forced his ouster, sources said. It is now being claimed that both Mr Advani and Ms Swaraj are trying to prevent the projection of Mr Modi as the party’s face for the 2014 general election.