No clean chit to Modi govt on Rafale from SC: Yechury
Samastipur, Dec 22: Senior CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Saturday asserted that no clean chit has been given to the Narendra Modi government in the Rafale deal by the Supreme Court, which has "merely stated" that it did not have the jurisdiction to intervene in the matter.
The former Rajya Sabha member said the Opposition has, therefore, been seeking a probe by Joint Parliamentary Committee, but the government appears to be wary of the same.
"There is no clean chit. It is a misleading propaganda by the BJP. The Supreme Court has merely said that a scam of this nature did not fall within its jurisdiction and hence, it could not entertain the petitions.
"And, that is exactly the reason why we and other Opposition parties have been demanding the JPC. If the Modi government has nothing to hide, it should not be afraid of agreeing to this demand," Yechury, who was here to address a rally, told reporters.
The CPI(M) general secretary rubbished doubts raised over whether a coalition of Opposition parties could take on the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying people used to say similar things in 2004.
"People used to ask who after Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
But, the BJP lost power despite his leadership and its 'India Shining' campaign and Manmohan Singh went on to become the only Prime Minister, after Jawaharlal Nehru, to have remained in office for two consecutive terms," he said.
"The nation is outraged over the BJP's brazenly communal politics, its tinkering with institutions and its policies, which have led to soaring unemployment, even as those defaulting on huge loans taken from public sector banks have been allowed to flee the country," Yechury alleged.
The combined Opposition, he said, represents the voice of the people dissatisfied with the regime.
The "winds of change" are evident as NDA's allies, one after another, have started walking out of the BJP-led coalition, the CPI(M) politburo member said.
Yechury's remark came in the wake of the recent exit from the NDA of former Rashtriya Lok Samata Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, who has joined the Congress-led UPA.
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Five, including three children, found dead in Kochi house
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Kochi (PTI): Five persons, including three children, were found dead at a rented house at Vaduthala here on Saturday, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Sreekumari (58), her daughter Aswathi Nair (36), two grandsons aged 14 and 4, and a two-year-old granddaughter.
They were natives of Vilappilsala in Thiruvananthapuram and had been staying in a rented house on Karsaka Road in Vaduthala.
Police suspect that the children were poisoned before Sreekumari and Aswathi hanged themselves.
According to police, the family had been living in the house since February for the treatment of the elder son at a nearby private hospital and were about to vacate the premises.
The incident came to light when a cable TV operator, who had come for work, noticed the two women hanging inside the room through a window and alerted others, police said.
The house owner and police soon reached the spot and initiated an investigation.
Police said Aswathi’s husband had died about eight months ago after the couple had separated.
He was allegedly suffering from liver disease due to alcoholism.
Following his death, neighbours and people close to the family had allegedly blamed Aswathi and her mother, officials said.
A police officer said the family was financially sound, as they were paying a monthly rent of Rs 35,000 and owned property and a house in Thiruvananthapuram.
Police said that a suicide note was recovered from the house.
The bodies were later shifted to Kalamassery Medical College, where postmortem examinations will be conducted on Sunday.
Ernakulam North Police have registered a case and begun an investigation.
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