 "Cong wields the axe, finally")
Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar gave their resignations this evening, bringing the responsibility for their conduct right to the doors of the Prime Minister.
The resignations came just hours after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Bansal and Kumar's resignations a day before the Congress core group meeting signals a Cabinet reshuffle. Dalit leader from Karnataka and Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is reported to have told his supporters in Bangalore that he could be moving into Rail Bhavan. Another candidate for railway minister is said to be Roads Minister C P Joshi, who had held the portfolio briefly as an additional charge.
Ashwani Kumar arrived at the PM's official residence just as Bansal was leaving. The law minister has been under fire for his involvement in changing the contents of a draft report of CBI into the coal block allocation scam, apparently seeking to deflect the blame from the Prime Minister. The Supreme Court had said "the heart" of the report had been changed.
In Kumar's case, the government ostensibly had time till July 10, when the apex court will hear what the government would do to insulate CBI from extraneous influences. But it was clear that some explanation of the episode would have to be given if the Supreme Court asked.
Bansal's was an "open and shut case", sources said, where money had exchanged hands in return for favours. When it became clear that CBI would question Bansal, his remaining in office became untenable. What aggravated the situation for Bansal was a series of revelations about the stupendous growth of the business interests of his family members, allegedly due to his political clout.
The late night arrests of Vijay Singla, Bansal's nephew, and Railway Board Member (Staff) Mahesh Kumar on May 3 set off a series of events that has led to the arrest of nine.
What had delayed the Congress from taking a decision was "circumstances" - the Karnataka polls on Sunday, the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday and the poll results the same day. With all this in the past, there was nothing to stop the Congress from sacking both ministers.
April 29: CBI tells SC that 20% of original report changed by the government
April 30: SC asks CBI to file an affidavit by May 6 and tell in a “candid and truthful” way the changes made in the probe report
May 6: Sinha files affidavit stating he met Kumar and joint secretary level officers of PMO and coal ministry “as desired by them” and shared the report; says they made changes in the report
May 8: SC raps CBI, calling it a “caged parrot” of the government, questions its autonomy and says that the “heart of the report” has been changed
May 10: Kumar resigns as law minister RAILWAY BOARD POSTING SCAM May 3: Vijay Singla, nephew of Railway Minister Pawan Bansal (pictured), arrested on May 3 for accepting a bribe of ~90 lakh. CBI registers FIR against 8
May 4: Singla sent to CBI custody. He was sent to judicial custody on May 9
May 4: In the morning, Bansal issues a statement distancing himself from nephew, who was admittedly a “close relative” but there was “no business relationship” between the two families. Bansal defends himself at a late evening Congress core group meeting
May 6: Mahesh Kumar, suspended Railway Board member, arrested by CBI in connection with the bribe money paid to Singla
May 6 : Opposition disrupts Parliament over demands for resignation of Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Congress defends ministers
May 7: Mahesh Kumar sent to CBI custody till May 9
May 7: UPA tries to push through food Bill but Opposition demands resignation of two ministers before clearing the Bill
May 8: Parliament adjourned sine die
May 10: Bansal resigns as railway minister
The Opposition has started asking for Prime Minister Singh's resignation as well. The Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "The Prime Minister should take the responsibility for his ministers' conduct and resign as well. This government has no credibility left."
Communist Party of India's D Raja said: "The PM should quit. He has no credibility left."
Congress President Gandhi had earlier said "corruption will not be tolerated".
Therefore, the party's backing of its ministers - one whose close relatives and personal secretary are under a cloud over corruption charges; and the other being involved in manipulating a judicial matter in the government's favour - seemed inexplicable.
Bansal's political history is interesting. He lost the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha polls to BJP legal cell head Satyapal Jain. In theory, the Congress should not have given him the nomination again as he had lost successive elections. But when his bitter opponent, Venod Sharma, could not be given the seat because of son Manu Sharma's involvement in the murder of model Jessica Lal, Bansal was back in favour.
In 1999, the BJP fielded Krishan Lal Sharma from Chandigarh. Bansal won that seat by 5,600 votes. After that, Jain went on losing (2004 and 2009) to Bansal from Chandigarh.
Bansal also took on Punjab Governor and Union Territory administrator Gen S F Rodrigues, who began initiating land projects on his own, which was opposed by Bansal. Later, the CBI and CVC came down heavily on several public servants for their involvement in those projects.
Ashwani Kumar has no political history to speak of. Though he belongs to a political family from Punjab, his nomination to the Rajya Sabha was largely due to the Prime Minister's push. His suggestion that Vinod Khanna be given a ticket in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was turned down. Congress leader from Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa said Kumar has no political base in the state. As a lawyer in the Supreme Court, Kumar represented the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in some cases. He was a government law officer during the seven-month Chandra Shekhar government in 1990-91.
The resignations came just hours after a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Bansal and Kumar's resignations a day before the Congress core group meeting signals a Cabinet reshuffle. Dalit leader from Karnataka and Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge is reported to have told his supporters in Bangalore that he could be moving into Rail Bhavan. Another candidate for railway minister is said to be Roads Minister C P Joshi, who had held the portfolio briefly as an additional charge.
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Sources said Bansal got a hint that he might have to resign yesterday when he got a call from the Prime Minister's Office, asking him not to attend a Cabinet meeting. Congress sources said his position had become untenable, following a possible framing of a charge by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) of "criminal conspiracy" in accepting illegal gratification to give a Railway Board member a plum posting.
Ashwani Kumar arrived at the PM's official residence just as Bansal was leaving. The law minister has been under fire for his involvement in changing the contents of a draft report of CBI into the coal block allocation scam, apparently seeking to deflect the blame from the Prime Minister. The Supreme Court had said "the heart" of the report had been changed.
In Kumar's case, the government ostensibly had time till July 10, when the apex court will hear what the government would do to insulate CBI from extraneous influences. But it was clear that some explanation of the episode would have to be given if the Supreme Court asked.
Bansal's was an "open and shut case", sources said, where money had exchanged hands in return for favours. When it became clear that CBI would question Bansal, his remaining in office became untenable. What aggravated the situation for Bansal was a series of revelations about the stupendous growth of the business interests of his family members, allegedly due to his political clout.
The late night arrests of Vijay Singla, Bansal's nephew, and Railway Board Member (Staff) Mahesh Kumar on May 3 set off a series of events that has led to the arrest of nine.
What had delayed the Congress from taking a decision was "circumstances" - the Karnataka polls on Sunday, the Supreme Court verdict on Wednesday and the poll results the same day. With all this in the past, there was nothing to stop the Congress from sacking both ministers.
| CBI REPORT REVISION TAINT |
| March 8: CBI submits coal block allocation scam status report April 26: CBI chief Ranjit Sinha tells Supreme Court (SC) that the report was shared with Law Minister Ashwani Kumar (pictured) |
April 29: CBI tells SC that 20% of original report changed by the government
April 30: SC asks CBI to file an affidavit by May 6 and tell in a “candid and truthful” way the changes made in the probe report
May 6: Sinha files affidavit stating he met Kumar and joint secretary level officers of PMO and coal ministry “as desired by them” and shared the report; says they made changes in the report
May 8: SC raps CBI, calling it a “caged parrot” of the government, questions its autonomy and says that the “heart of the report” has been changed
May 10: Kumar resigns as law minister
May 4: Singla sent to CBI custody. He was sent to judicial custody on May 9
May 4: In the morning, Bansal issues a statement distancing himself from nephew, who was admittedly a “close relative” but there was “no business relationship” between the two families. Bansal defends himself at a late evening Congress core group meeting
May 6: Mahesh Kumar, suspended Railway Board member, arrested by CBI in connection with the bribe money paid to Singla
May 6 : Opposition disrupts Parliament over demands for resignation of Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. Congress defends ministers
May 7: Mahesh Kumar sent to CBI custody till May 9
May 7: UPA tries to push through food Bill but Opposition demands resignation of two ministers before clearing the Bill
May 8: Parliament adjourned sine die
May 10: Bansal resigns as railway minister
The Opposition has started asking for Prime Minister Singh's resignation as well. The Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravi Shankar Prasad said: "The Prime Minister should take the responsibility for his ministers' conduct and resign as well. This government has no credibility left."
Communist Party of India's D Raja said: "The PM should quit. He has no credibility left."
Congress President Gandhi had earlier said "corruption will not be tolerated".
Therefore, the party's backing of its ministers - one whose close relatives and personal secretary are under a cloud over corruption charges; and the other being involved in manipulating a judicial matter in the government's favour - seemed inexplicable.
Bansal's political history is interesting. He lost the 1996 and 1998 Lok Sabha polls to BJP legal cell head Satyapal Jain. In theory, the Congress should not have given him the nomination again as he had lost successive elections. But when his bitter opponent, Venod Sharma, could not be given the seat because of son Manu Sharma's involvement in the murder of model Jessica Lal, Bansal was back in favour.
In 1999, the BJP fielded Krishan Lal Sharma from Chandigarh. Bansal won that seat by 5,600 votes. After that, Jain went on losing (2004 and 2009) to Bansal from Chandigarh.
Bansal also took on Punjab Governor and Union Territory administrator Gen S F Rodrigues, who began initiating land projects on his own, which was opposed by Bansal. Later, the CBI and CVC came down heavily on several public servants for their involvement in those projects.
Ashwani Kumar has no political history to speak of. Though he belongs to a political family from Punjab, his nomination to the Rajya Sabha was largely due to the Prime Minister's push. His suggestion that Vinod Khanna be given a ticket in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections was turned down. Congress leader from Punjab Partap Singh Bajwa said Kumar has no political base in the state. As a lawyer in the Supreme Court, Kumar represented the Municipal Corporation of Delhi in some cases. He was a government law officer during the seven-month Chandra Shekhar government in 1990-91.