SC directs food commissioners to visit Dantewada

The Supreme Court has directed food commissioners N C Saxena and Harsh Mandar to visit three interior villages of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district along with the collector. This comes on a day when a delegation of 10 Congress MLAs made a bid to reach the villages but were turned back citing 'security concerns', 50 kilometres short of their destination.

The three villages - Tadmetla, Morepalli and Teemapuram - have been in the news since March 23 when two newspapers reported that nearly 300 homes here have been allegedly burnt by special police officers. Five days later, a hindi daily reported that six people had died in Morepalli village due to starvation. The villages lie in an area controlled by Maoists and bereft of any civil administration.

While food rations and relief material sent by the administration reached the villages, no senior official has visited yet. On March 26, en route to distribute relief, social activist Swami Agnivesh and journalists were attacked by a mob in Dornapal, that allegedly comprised special police officers in civilian clothes and Salwa Judum members. The same evening, in damage control mode, the government transferred both the senior superintendent of police and the collector of Dantewada.

But the siege like situation continues. On Wednesday, 10 Congress MLAs travelled to Dantewada to visit the villages but could not proceed beyond Polampalli. Bastar Commissioner K Srinivasulu and Inspector General of Police T J Longkumer were travelling with the group. "They blocked our path, citing security concerns. We said we would go ahead even if they did not provide security. They finally arrested and detained us," said Nand Kumar Patel, Congress MLA.

"The police had inputs of disturbances ahead," said Srinivasulu, justifying the decision. "Besides it was already 2 pm, and it would not be safe to travel on an interior road in the evening". (According to one account, the back window his official car was smashed by stone pelted by a group of Salwa Judum supporters. But Srinivasulu said his car was parked near a school and ascribed the 'minor damage to the glass' to mischievous school children).

On Monday, the Home Minister Nankiram Kanwar had read out a statement in Vidhan Sabha, claiming the villages had been burnt by Maoists, not by the police. Nand Kumar Patel said by obstructing members of the opposition and the media, the government was simply trying to cover up excesses by the police. "Is there any place in the country which is made as inaccessible?," said Patel.

Given the Supreme Court directive, it would now become mandatory for Chhattisgarh government to faciliate a visit of the food commissioners, who would assess the reported hunger deaths, and report back to the apex court. The SC directive came in the ongoing hearing in the petition by the Right to Food campaign.

Source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-directs-food-commissioners-to-visit-Dantewada/articleshow/7823548.cms

All eyes on 2G probe after DMK-Cong deal

The three days of political drama finally ended on Tuesday with the DMK conceding 63 seats for the Congress in Tamil Nadu polls."We are happy to announce the alliance. It's a winning alliance and we will come back to power again," said Gulam Nabi Azad.Now that the seat sharing deal is sealed, the questions being asked are who blinked first and what is the deal that has been hammered out? The deal raises many more questions over the investigations into the 2G scam, like if there will be a slow down in the ongoing CBI investigations into the 2G scam.

Congress sources have said the demand by the DMK is to go slow on the family with regard to the investigations.

Former telecom minister A Raja's arrest and the raids by the CBI on the DMK-owned Kalaignar TV have been seen as attacks on the Karunanidhi family.

But the 2G investigations are under the direct monitoring of the Supreme Court and Congress sources say that it will not be possible for the Congress to intervene at this juncture.

The question however is if the CBI digs deep into the 2G scam, will the alliance be able to survive?

The Congress and the DMK were deadlocked on a deal over sharing of seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu assembly elections following DMK's decision on Saturday to pull out its ministers from the UPA Government over Congress attitude.

The Congress was insisting on contesting 63 seats whereas the DMK was prepared to give 60, twelve more over the number Congress contested in the last elections. DMK was also not wiling to concede to Congress the choice of seats.

On Friday night, Karunanidhi had accused the Congress of being unreasonable by escalating the demand for seats from 50 to 53 to 57 and then to 60. And after agreeing to settle for 60, the party later raised the demand to 63, he had complained.

DMK's sudden announcement of resignation by its ministers on Saturday took the Congress by surprise. A miffed Congress - used to succumbing to allied pressure - decided to finally take a stand. Congress sources said that what upset it the most was the demand by the party to go slow on the family with regard to 2G investigations. Congress said its hands were tied by the Supreme Court order. It’s when the DMK was unrelenting that Sonia decided to step in.

The DMK-Congess alliance is back on track after Sonia Gandhi decided to step in. An angry Sonia even ticked off Azhagiri and Dayanidhi Maran. Sources said that she accused the DMK of violating the coalition dharma. She went on to suggest that her party was prepared to go it alone in the elections.

This is when the message hit the DMK hard, having realised that things could go worse on the 2G front and that there was no way Congress would relent. Now, the DMK will have to explain its cadre and voters that it did not give in completely to the Congress.

Source http://ibnlive.in.com/news/all-eyes-on-2g-probe-after-dmkcong-deal/145330-37-64.html