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Opposition walkout over renaming of Hyderabad airport

     New Delhi: Heated exchanges took place between the treasury and opposition benches in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday over the proposed renaming of the new international airport near Hyderabad after late Rajiv Gandhi. Staging a walkout from the Upper House, the Opposition NDA and TDP members accused the UPA government "insulting" the Telugu people. The issue was raised by BJP member Venkaih Naidu and several TDP members, who wanted a reversal of the decision to name the New Greenfield airport after Rajiv Gandhi. Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat said he would not allow the matter to be raised again, as whatever had to be said on the matter had been debated yesterday when the House adjourned over the issue after an uproar. But the unrelenting opposition members pressed for a government response on the matter and after 10 minutes of acrimony and heated exchanges staged a walkout.

Sanjay Nirupam says goodbye to Rajya Sabha (Go To Top)

     New Delhi: Sanjay Nirupam, who quit the Shiv Sena recently following differences with the party leadership, resigned from his membership of the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. "I have tendered my resignation from the Rajya Sabha," he said. Nirupam parted ways with the Sena last week following differences with the party leadership over the alleged allotment of Reliance Infocomm shares to a person close to BJP leader Pramod Mahajan. He said the Shiv Sena leadership, following pressure from Mahajan, had asked him not to raise the Reliance issue in Parliament. On Tuesday, Nirupam raised the issue of allotment of Reliance Infocomm shares to "fake" companies in Rajya Sabha. Finance Minister P Chidambaram told Rajya Sabha that government was looking into the issue of whether any law has been violated in the allocation of one crore Reliance Infocomm shares to three unlisted firms at the rate of Re 1 each.

Jharkhand lone NCP MLA joins BJP (Go To Top)

     Ranchi: The BJP in Jharkhand today claimed the NCP state unit had merged with it, but a section of the NCP following the national leadership said they would move court and the anti- defection law against the "illegal merger". "The NCP state unit, led by its president Dhruv Bhagat, today merged with the BJP at our party office. We have welcomed them," BJP state chief Raghuvar Das. In reply to a question, Das said that lone NCP legislator Kamlesh Singh was among those who joined the BJP. Bhagat said, "we are merging with the BJP in the presence of Raghuvar Das". Meanwhile, NCP spokesman Lal Babu Singh Patel said Bhagat was automatically removed from the president's post when the national leadership dissolved the state executive committee on March 11. "So, Bhagat's claim of NCP's merger with BJP today is untenable. I have also spoken to our national general secretary Tariq Anwar who said he would move the court and the anti-defection law against Kamlesh Singh if he also sided with Bhagat," Patel said.

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