New Delhi: Facing charges of murder, Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, a close associate of Chief Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday resigned from the State Ministry.
“As I landed here in Delhi, I have information that Amit Shah’s resignation has reached my residence in Gandhinagar. On return, I will accept it and complete the formalities,” Mr. Modi, who is here to attend the National Development Council meeting, said. Asked by reporters whether the resignation amounted to accepting that Mr. Shah was guilty, Mr. Modi said, “He was accepting it because under the Constitution, certain formalities have to be fulfilled.”
He said Mr. Shah would fight the issue legally and expressed confidence that judiciary would provide him justice.
Mr. Shah’s resignation comes a day after CBI charged him with kidnapping and murder of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in November 2005.
Though Mr. Shah has resigned still nothing was clear about his whereabouts.
The CBI, which filed the chargesheet on Friday before a court in Ahmedabad, has already sent teams for arresting him after he refused to appear before an agency team by Friday’s 1 pm deadline for questioning.
Mr. Shah’s anticipatory bail application before the CBI court on Friday was rejected and his lawyers were planning to approach the Gujarat High Court.
Attacking the Congress, Mr. Modi said, “The case against Shah was a revenge for its loss in the 2007 Assembly polls when it had made Sohrabuddin a hero. This was a politically motivated action against Shah and the BJP government in Gujarat to corner it and to put obstacles in development work it was carrying out“.
He said, “Shah is completely innocent and the charges against him are fabricated. The CBI is being misused by the Congress against its political rival“.
He said the BJP would go to the people along with those fighting the forces of terror.
Mr. Modi said the Congress and Central government had completely “failed” in all fronts in facing the challenges of Kashmir, Maoists and problems from Pakistan.
“The Congress government at the Centre was fully using the CBI to target political rivals after it failed on all fronts,” Mr. Modi said.
He said, “The government failed on the prices issue and was faced with an unprecedented bandh. Srinagar is on fire and the government came back fully beaten at the Indo-Pak dialogue in Islamabad and the Maoists were replying by bullets in the fight in which innocent people were killed.”
In Ahmedabad, officials in the Chief Minister’s Office said Mr. Shah’s resignation has been accepted by Mr.Modi. www.thehindu.com/news/national/article531635.ece?css=print
3.Shah’s resignation has come too late: Congress
The Congress on Saturday said that the resignation of Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah, an accused in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case, has come too late in the day.
“Since he was involved, he should have resigned much earlier and now that the charge sheet has been filed, he has put in his papers. This has come too late in the day,” Rajiv Shukla, AICC coordinator for Gujarat, said.
On the Bharatiya Janata Party’s attack on the Congress and the Centre for allege misuse of the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case, he said the investigation has been ordered by none other than the Supreme Court.
Mr. Shah’s resignation comes a day after the CBI charged him with kidnapping and murder of alleged gangster Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kauser Bi in November 2005.http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article531645.ece?css=print
3.We don’t want nuclear liability Bill in present form: CPI(M)
New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Friday said the government, instead of proceeding with the Civil Nuclear Liability Bill, should bring in the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha for adoption.
“We do not want the [Civil Nuclear Liability] Bill in the present form. It is not acceptable, as foreign suppliers will not be liable under it,” CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat said at a press conference at the end of a three-day Central Committee meeting here. The Bill neither protected the interests of people nor assured their lives and safety.
With the monsoon session of Parliament starting on Monday, the Central Committee called upon the government to bring in the Women’s Reservation Bill for its passage.
Stating that it was highly unfortunate that the Union government did not take any worthwhile step to initiate a political dialogue with all sections in the Kashmir Valley, which was rocked by violent protests, Mr. Karat said a parliamentary delegation should visit the State immediately to hear the views of all concerned “so that the political forces can also play a role.”
The committee decided to mobilise public opinion against the entry of Foreign Direct Investment in retail trade and accused the government of going ahead with various measures oblivious of people’s livelihood with its latest push to allow multi-brand retail.http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article530308.ece?css=print
