Farmer commits suicide in Madhya Pradesh

Another farmer has committed suicide in the state. The debt-ridden farmer, Nandram Raikwar, 35, set himself afire in Kalua village in Damoh.

Raikwar was depressed as his crop on leased land was damaged by the pests and he was in a debt of over Rs 1 lakh. He was unable to pay the loan. Recently the farmers had reached Bhopal and brought traffic to standstill.

He had taken land for cultivation from a land-holder, however, when pests attacked the crop, he bought pesticides but that didn't work and spoiled the entire crop. He set himself afire on the fields and died of burns. Local farmers have demanded that the Agriculture minister Dr Ramkrishna Kusmaria should resign as he has failed to redress the problems of farmers.

Women IAS officers face corruption charges in Madhya Pradesh

Tinoo Joshi, Anju Baghel and Salina Singh

Not ready to lag behind their male counterparts, the women IAS officers in Madhya Pradesh are also feeling the heat of corruption charges.

Tinu Joshi's name remained in headlines along with her husband Arvind Joshi for Income Tax raid and later Lokayukta action against the couple for amassing wealth disproportionate to their assets.

The role of former Katni collector Anju Singh Baghel was found in a case of land transfer and she was suspended. The departmental inquiry was initiated but she approached the Central Administrative Tribunal against the decision.

Minister Vijay Shah recommended registration of EOW case against former Commissioner, SC Welfare, Salina Singh, for allegedly misusing fund of Rs 4.5 crore but the recommendation remains stuck in the corridors of GAD.

Local daily Raj Express reports that the case 395/99 against former Principal Secretary Anita Das is still pending with the EOW. The case number 107/09 against Salina Singh is also pending at the Lokayukta office.

Farmers 'invade' Bhopal, capital on a standstill

Thousands of farmers kept the capital of Madhya Pradesh at ransom as they blocked almost all the major roads, bringing the City to a grinding halt.

The farmers who came in over 5,000 tractor-trolleys parked their vehicles in the midst of roads and refused to leave. They were angry with the BJP government for refusing to pay attention to their plight. The administration was absolutely unprepared and hadn't anticipated the traffic jams.

Never before in the history, Bhopal had witnessed such massive jam. On December 20, the farmers under the banner of RSS affiliated Bharatiya Kisan Sangh reached Bhopal to meet Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

True to their threat, the farmers brought Bhopal to a halt. Children were stuck in schools, office-goers couldn't reach to their workplaces and vehicle riders were caught in jams for hours. On the second day, the farmers continued their stir, saying that the state government was not sensitive.

Farmers say that the crop was not fetching adequate money and they were not getting electricity in villages which hurt agriculture. The major intelligence failure exposes the police department's lack of preparedness also.

Kailash Vijayvargiya says Chambal region known for 'abduction industry'

Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvergiya shocked the audience at a programme in Gwalior when he publicly said that Chambal region was known for abduction industry.

He even said that it was a matter of courage that the investors have come to the region which is known for kidnapping industry.

Foreign delegates including industrialists from abroad were present in the programme. The fact that the statement came from no one else but Vijayvergiya who holds the charge of Commerce and Industry portfolio in the cabinet further surprised the audience. The function was organised to mark the birth centenary of JK group Lala Laxmipat Singhania.

Food fatwa: Minister's vegetarian zeal shocks business fraternity

State minister Paras Jain's anger upon seeing non-vegetarian food at a programme in Hotel Jehan Numa has surprised business fraternity and citizens.

Jain got upset that how a meeting hosted by the BJP government should have non-vegetarian delicacies. He 'ordered' that henceforth no government function will have any non-vegetarian stuff for the guests and everyone will have to eat vegetarian food.

His anger and outburst stunned the officers. The Food and Civil Supplies minister seems to have forgotten that it is the government which has to lure businessmen and investors from all over the country by repeatedly cajoling them and at investors' summits, liquor is served openly along with non-vegetarian food.

Shouldn't it be a person's choice whether he wants to adopt vegetarianism or non-vegetarian ways? Will his suo-moto fatwa of banning the non-vegetarian cuisines be accepted by the other government departments or it is just a gimmick to attract publicity.

Farmer ends life due to crop failure in Madhya Pradesh

Farmers continue to reel in severe economic hardships in the state due to crop failure and lack of proper action on part of the district administration.

On Tuesday a farmer committed suicide in Tendukheda block in Damoh. The farmer Nandkishor Yadav, 30, committed suicide by hanging himself in Harrai village.

He was under heavy debt along with other farmers. The farmers had approached the district collection and informed him about the crop failure in the region.

As a result of failure of rabi crop, farmers lost money. Nandkishor's brother Raja Ram said that his brother had sowed crop on 15 acres of land but the entire crop was affected by pest and destroyed. Depressed due to the huge loss, Nandkishor consumed pensticide and killed himself.

Sunil Joshi murder case: Reluctant police moves, State government cautious

Sunil Joshi

The murder of RSS pracharak Sunil Joshi has once again come back to haunt Madhya Pradesh police and the Sangh Parivar as almost all the invetigation cases including Ajmer Dargah, Mecca Masjid and Samjhauta Express blast in which Saffron groups are found involved lead the police to Joshi's murder.

Joshi, 45, who was considered a leading Hindutva idealogue in Malwa region, was shot dead in Dewas on December 29, 2007. The Madhya Pradesh police had stopped investigation when they found that leaders of BJP and Sangh Parivar may get exposed in the probe.

It was an inside job. There are various theories. The first linked to Congress leader Pyar Singh Ninama, who had cut Joshi's 'choti' (tuft of hair) publicly in Mhow. Joshi had left Mhow and shifted to Dewas where he lived with four RSS workers in a house.

Later Ninama was murdered. Later Ninama's son was also killed. Following the tribal leader's killing, Joshi was shot dead and three bullets pumped in his body. There was theory that he was bragging about his role in organising the terrorist attacks and this scared others who feared that he would expose them also.

Shrikant Purohit had allegedly said that it was Joshi who had been behind the Samjhauta Express bomb strike. But police closed the case and the investigation including the last calls made on his cell phone, his roommates and other evidences was buried.

Hindi Newspaper Dainik Bhaskar's report

Joshi's uncle Madan Mohan Modi and family members has openly said that it was his companions who had killed him. He said that the police were aware of the case but were not pursuing the matter for reasons known to them only.

But in 2010, when NIA and ATS teams of Rajasthan and other states again focused on Hindutva groups like Abhinav Bharat and Jai Vande Mataram after the arrest of Aseemanand, to solve the Mecca Masjid and Ajmer Dargah blast cases, MP police were forced to reopen the investigation.

Newspaper reports suggest that it was during the Kumbh Mela at Ujjain that Swami Aseemanand had planned to bring the militant Hindutva groups together to avenge Islamic terrorism by targeting Muslim places of worship.

It is also believed that Joshi's closeness with Pragya Thakur, who is in jail for Malegoan blast, led to the killing. She had given her bike to Joshi and it was used in planting bomb in Muslim-dominated Malegaon. Now role of a BJP leader and other Sangh workers has also been found. The MP police are in a tough situation.

If it solves the case, persons linked to Sangh Parivar would be caught. If it doesn't, then central agencies and Rajasthan ATS can claim success. In this scenerio, the police have begun fresh investigations but are unsure how to move ahead.

Chief Minister's goof up: Do away with Rajya Sabha

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stunned audience with his statement during a function in Bhopal on Sunday.

Chouhan said that Rajya Sabha had lost its relevance and persons like Vijay Mallya get entry into the Rajya Sabha through wrongful means. He also said that British had instituted the Upper House of Parliament but it was no longer serving its purpose.

If at all there is need for prominent citizens, artists and intellectuals, then a quota of 25-30 persons should be reserved in the Lok Sabha itself. At the seminar on electoral reforms, Shivraj's utterances surprised the audience.

As a host of top BJP leaders have also failed to win Lok Sabha election and are in Rajya Sabha, the comments were clearly going to unruffle feathers in the central leadership of the party. Also, the statement was against the constitutional body.

Later in the night, Chouhan 'clarified' that he didn't mean that Rajya Sabha had lost its significance. He said that his statement reflected his concern for parliamentary democracy and decorum in the houses. Chouhan said that he respected the leaders of Rajya Sabha and regrets if any other inference was made from his statement.

Police quiz Ajmer blast accused in Bhopal Ijtima bombs case

The police are interrogating the links of Harshad Solanki, an accused in terrorist attack on Ajmer Sharif shrine, with the attempt to plant bombs at Bhopal's Islamic congregation.

For two years bombs were planted at Ijtima, the biggest Muslim congregation, in Bhopal. The bombs were diffused due to alertness of local youths in 2002.

The next year the bomb was found on way to Ijtima venue at Ghasipura near Eintkhedi in outskirts of Bhopal but due to technical flaw it failed to explode.

The police had earlier also got clues that former RSS activist Sunil Joshi and absconding terror accused Ramji Kalsangra were involved in planting the bombs.

Joshi was murdered before it is believed that he had begun bragging about his module's involvement in blasts in Ajmer and Mecca Masjid at Hyderabad. After Joshi's co-accused were arrested by Rajasthan ATS, MP police have also brought Harshad Solanki to Dewas to interrogate him. MP ATS is also interrogating accused in Ijtima case that remains unsolved.

Ijtima is the biggest congregation of Muslims in India and a million persons attend it every year. Sources said that there are orders to policemen to go slow in these cases as links of more right-wing militants may be disclosed. The People's Samachar newspaper published this news in December 2010.

Damoh woman dies in Varanasi blast

A woman from Madhya Pradesh who was injured in the blast at Varanasi has died, taking the death toll to the terror strike, to two.

Phoolvati, also known as Phoolmani, 60, belonged to Damoh district of the state. She was present at the 'ghat' when the bomb blast occurred. She was among the three persons belonging to the state who were injured in the blast.

A child had died earlier. Phoolvati's condition was serious and she succumbed to injuries in the hospital. She had gone to the City to see the ancient town. Her son studied in an educational institution in Varanasi, policemen said.

Nearly 40 persons were injured when the bomb planted by terrorists had gone off in Uttar Pradess' Varanasi earlier this week. Some other injured persons are undergoing treatment but none of them is in a critical state now.

Corruption case against Panna, Vidisha district collectors

Bureaucrats in Madhya Pradesh are certainly minting money by siphoning off funds.

In a fresh development, Lokayukta has registered corruption case against Panna collector KC Jain and former Indore Municipal Corporation commissioner CB Singh who is now Vidisha Collector and five other municipal officers.

The case is regarding a property-related fraud. All the persons named in FIR had acquired plots in Vasant Vihar Colony in Indore without the due permission. The complainant Rajendra Gupta has alleged that Jain got four plots in the name of his relatives and though they were not permitted for joint construction, construction of one huge building structure began on the plots clubbed together.

There is complaint that Jain has purchased ten dumpers in the name of his brother. The other officers include building permission officer, building inspector and former IDA CEO have been booked, according to Hindi daily Raj Express.

Lokayukta case against former Jhabua collector for NREGA corruption

Bureaucrats in Madhya Pradesh appear involved in massive corruption. The latest officer charged of corruption is Jagdish Sharma, an IAS officer, who is posted as Deputy Secretary with the Vallabh Bhawan. 

Sharma is accused of causing a loss of Rs 28 lakh to the state government through fraud and conspiracy. Chief Executive Officer Jagmohan Dhurve and others are also accused in the case filed by Lokayukta police. The accused persons had got documents relating to National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme printed from a private press rather than government press.

Sharma was then Collector of Jhabua. On the complaint of Rajesh Solanki, a resident of Jhabua, the police conducted inquiry and found that there were irregularities in printing of posters, registers, pamphlets, NREGS booklets and other documents. 

'Moderate' Shivraj wants Omar Abdullah behind bars

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is considered a moderate leader among BJP and is praised for his measured speech.

But his speech at a symposium in Bhopal was not in line with his overall image. Chouhan said that Jammu & Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah should be behind bars.

Chouhan said that instead of sitting on CM's chair, Abdullah's rightful place is a jail along with Arundhati Roy and Hurriyat leader Gilani. This was a bit unusual for the MP Chief Minister, as he rarely attacks fellow politicians even if they belong to opposition or other political parties.

Dumper Case: State government, Chief Minister again feel heat

Lokayukta is probing dumper case

Four years after the 'dumper case' had rocked Madhya Pradesh, Congress has again stepped up pressure on the ruling BJP government over the major scandal in order to corner Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

With Congress leaders deciding to go to Delhi and meet President Pratibha Patil on the issue, the dumper scam is again hitting headlines. It was alleged that Chief Minister's wife Sadhna Singh had bought four dumper trucks in May 2006.

A case was filed in the court to seek details of purchase of dumpers. It was alleged that the dumpers were attached to JP Group's cement plant in Rewa. It was raised as a case of corruption and allegations were made against Chouhan.

Former Leader of opposition late Jamuna Devi had shot a letter to CM and asked him to explain the situation. It was later found that Sadhna Singh had taken a loan of Rs 77 lakh from bank to buy four dumpers for personal travels business.

It was clarified that it is not wrong to earn living through business. She had earned Rs 16 lakh through the dumpers. Congress leaders had alleged that her company got Rs 75,000 monthly rent from JP Cement which was raised by Rs 10,000 later.

The opposition had alleged that how the dumpers were purchased, who financed them, whose photographs were affixed on the bank documents and why the dumpers were sold all of a sudden. They demanded that if everything was in order, why the record was not put in the Assembly.

Though it was accepted by CM that a loan of Rs 77 lakh was taken to buy dumpers in 2007, no details were released in his personal assets revealed in 2009-2010. Neither purchase and sale of dumpers, nor the earnings from this business to his wife, were mentioned. The Congress had alleged that the aim was to provide benefit to the JP group.

Jamuna Devi had questioned how the margin money was paid and despite not having an account in Oriental bank, how the instalments were paid and whether the Income Tax department was informed. The court had asked the Lokayukta police to conduct inquiry and submit report.

Once again the Congress is now forcefully raising the issue. Opposition didn't let the house function and the Assembly was adjourned. Congress is insisting on the demand for a CBI inquiry into the entire episode. Seems the opposition is trying to put the government in dock and also energize itself with the four year old case.