JDS MLA criticises Home Minister for facilitating ‘zero traffic’ to rebel MLAs
Bengaluru, Jul 22: Taking on rebel MLAs in the Karnataka assembly for their statement that they have no vested interest in resigning and it was voluntary, JDS member A T Ramaswamy Monday dared them to declare they will not contest elections in future.
Participating in the debate on the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, he also criticised facilitation of "zero traffic" when the disgruntled MLAs of the ruling Congress and JDS arrived here on July 10 and travelled by road to the Vidhana Soudha to submit their resignations to Assembly Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar.
The confidence motion was moved on Friday in the backdrop of the crisis triggered by the resignation of 16 ruling coalition MLAs 13 of Congress and three JDS. One of the Congress MLAs has withdrawn the resignation.
"If the MLAs who resigned say that they don't have vested interest and greed for, let them declare they won't contest elections in future," Ramaswamy said.
Raising the issue of alleged zero traffic ensured for the rebel MLAs, who came here from Mumbai and went back on July 10, he sought to know from Home Minister M B Patil how such "special treatment" was given to them when there was "no provision" in the law for it.
Intervening, Speaker Kumar sought an explanation from the minister.
In response, Patil denied ensuring "zero traffic" for the movement of the rebel legislators.
"We did not provide zero traffic. Since the Governor had directed police to provide adequate security to them (rebel MLAs), only protection was provided. They took 40 minutes to reach from HAL Airport," he said.
Dissatisfied with the reply, Ramaswamy said the entire nation watched how "zero traffic" was provided and accused the Minister of giving 'misleading' information.
JDS MLA AT Ramaswamy speaks at the #VidhanaSoudha during the Karnataka Assembly.#DHPoliticalTheatre | #KarnatakaPoliticalCrisis pic.twitter.com/C0woga8hHu
— Deccan Herald (@DeccanHerald) July 22, 2019
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
