NEW DELHI, June 21:
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan held talks with Congress central leadership here amid indications that decision on replacement of chief Ministers will be made soon starting with Assam.
Hooda had a 30-minute meeting with Gandhi this morning while Chavan met Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel here last night for nearly an hour.
Senior Minister from Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma was also likely to meet top Congress leadership, party leaders said.
They said Assam could be the first state where a change of guard can take place followed by Maharashtra.
However, a decision in the case Haryana could be difficult as the state is going to elections later this year and a section feels that time is short, they said, pointing to the ‘TINA’ (there is no alternative) factor.
Sources close to Hooda termed it as a “routine meeting”. They said there was no talk about change of leadership in the state.
AICC general secretary incharge for Haryana Shakeel Ahmed told, “Change of leadership either at PCC level or CLP level is not under consideration”.
The decision on replacement of the Chief Ministers is expected soon as part of massive organisational rejig in states after the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls.
While Assembly elections in Assam are scheduled in 2016, the term of Haryana Assembly expires in October and that of Maharashtra in December this year.
Congress leadership has been under pressure to replace Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for long time as rebellion had mounted in the state unit, more so after the poor show of Congress in the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress had managed to win only three of the 14 seats in Assam which was much below the party’s expectations.
Since there are no early elections in Assam, the leadership views that if a change has to take place, it should be done now so that there is enough time for the new leadership in the state to prepare and perform in the Assembly elections.
However, the central leadership of the Congress is keen that any change of guard in the state should be done in an amicable manner. Gogoi had been in touch with the central leadership in the last few days.     The party is likely to send some senior leaders as observers in the state before a final decision is taken.
Party sources have said that in case of Maharashtra party veterans A K Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad could go as observers after the party decides to replace Chavan.
Congress could win only two and it ally NCP just four of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra this time.
In Haryana, where Hooda is the Chief Minister, the party could win only one of the ten Lok Sabha seats. The Chief Minister’s son Deepinder Hooda was the sole Congress candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat from the state.
There were voices against the style of functioning of Hooda in the Haryana unit of the Congress with former Union Minister Kumari Selja saying that the Chief Minister should have at least offered to resign following the party’s poor show in the Lok Sabha polls.
The party also plans to replace PCC chiefs in ten states including Uttar Pradesh. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 21:
Underlining the Modi Government’s commitment to equal opportunities for Muslims, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Najma Heptulla today said she believed more in giving level playing field to the community than giving them reservation.
“I sincerely believe that Prime Minister Modi will deliver it. He feels lopsided development was not good for the country,” Ms Heptulla said talking to UNI here.    She said reservation on religious ground was not permitted in the Constitution, but on the basis of backwardness, some castes of the minority community were already enjoying quota.    Ms Heptulla also said the security of minorities was linked with the inclusive development of the country, which was the main plank on which Prime Minister Modi contested the elections and got a massive mandate from the people.    She sought to underline that development as envisioned by the Modi Government could take place in the country only if there was peace, so there should be no doubt about the commitment of the new Government to ensure safety and security of all the sections of the people of the country, including minorities.    “Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas (inclusion and development of all) was main focus of the Prime Minister during the election campaign, and people believed in his word despite all attempts to communalise the elections,” Ms Heptulla said.    Admitting that there was no doubt about the socio-economic and educational backwardness of Muslims, the Minister said the mandate of her ministry includes giving them a level playing field.
“Our basic focus is economic development that was linked too educational status,” she said.
Replying to a question in this context, she said all the 72 recommendations of the Sachar Committee that had been accepted by the Government would be implemented.    She also promised to look into the complaints that the benefits of Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) for minority concentration districts were not percolating down to the targeted sections. (UNI)

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON, June 21:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi may address a joint session of the US Congress during his coming visit  to Washington in September.
Media reports from the US capital said that Chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee Ed Royce had written to House Speaker John Boehner, proposing that he invite Mr Modi to address a joint session of the House and the Senate.    Mr Modi, who had been denied a visa for the US in the wake of 2002 Gujarat riots, had been invited by President Barack Obama to visit his country soon after the BJP scored a landslide victory under his leadership last month.
Mr Royce, in his letter to Mr Boehner, is understood to have underlined that India was the most important partner of the US in South Asia in every aspect – whether it be in political, economic or security relations.
He also pointed out to Mr Obama’s own observation that  the US-India relationship will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century.
(UNI)

PATNA, June 21:
Union Minister Harsh Vardhan today directed officials of All India Institute of Medical Sciences here to complete the project ‘at any cost’ by this year end so that it can be inaugurated on December 25, the birthday of former prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“I am directing the officials to work on war-footing and get this AIIMS ready by the end of the year at any cost. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate it to the nation on December 25 on the occasion of the birthday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee,” he told reporters here.
The date assumes significance as Vajpayee, during his tenure as the prime Minister, had conceptualised the project in 2004 of having six more AIIMS in the country, including the one at Patna.
Asked about the reasons behind the delay in completion of the AIIMS Patna project, even as the deadline for it was extended five times over the last couple of years, the Minister said he wants to look ahead and forget the past.
“My motto is to forget the past and look into the future. The country had another Government for the last 10 years and so I will not comment on it,” Vardhan said.
The Union Health Minister is in the city to take stock of the construction work of AIIMS.
Interacting with faculty members of the institute, he said researchers and faculty members could play a big role in countering diseases like Kala-azarand Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).
Vardhan will visit Muzaffarpur later in the day to inspect the situation prevailing there in the light of AES outbreak as around 130 children have succumbed to the disease and another 700 admitted in hospitals.
The disease has spread to nine districts till now, and has assumed epidemic proportions. Scientists have so far been unable to find out the reasons behind the disease, which mostly affects kids below the age of six years. (PTI)

PUNE, June 21:
The chief of right wing outfit Hindu Rashtra Sena Dhananjay Desai has been remanded in a four-day police custody by a court here for alleged involvement in murder of 28-year-old techie Mohasin Shaikh by a violent mob at suburban Hadapsar following surfacing of a Facebook post denigrating King Shivaji and late Bal Thackeray.
Desai, who has been charged with murder and conspiracy under sections 302 and 120(b), was produced yesterday before Additional Sessions Judge N P Dhote.
Setting aside a magistrate’s order, the judge granted police his custody till June 24 to further investigate the role of HRS in the conspiracy and murderous attack on Shaikh.
Dhote said the crime is of a serious nature and needed proper investigation which was only possible in police remand.
The police had filed a revision petition before the court requesting eight days of police custody of Desai for investigating the murder case.
Earlier, police had sought Dhananjay’s police custody to find out the flow of funds to the HRS, which was refused by Pune Cantonment court’s judicial magistrate (first class) P D Zambare.
On June 12, the magistrate court had remanded Desai and 20 others in 14 days judicial custody in connection with the murder till June 26.
Opposing the police remand, Desai’s lawyers Chetan Bhutada and Atul Malviya said the HRS chief was being falsely implicated in the case and did not have any role in the alleged conspiracy.
Desai was arrested by police for his alleged involvement in a criminal conspiracy that led to the murder of the IT professional on June 2 in Hadapsar.
The self-styled HRS head had already been in judicial custody in connection with another case registered in rural Pune for an inflammatory speech and circulation of provocative literature, when he was arrested by crime branch officials in the murder case. (PTI)