Senior BJP leaders, including party president Nitin Gadkari, parliamentary party chairman LK Advani, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her Rajya Sabha counterpart Arun Jaitley, led party MPs to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to present the memorandum.

The leaders marched from Parliament House to the presidential palace a short distance away after both houses were adjourned for the day.

Gadkari later told reporters that the government had promised to bring prices under control within 100 days of coming to power but it had been an all round failure. “The common man is suffering because of this.”

“The basic reason of price rise is the wrong economic policy of the UPA government. We have urged the president to intervene and find solution after talking to the government,” Gadkari said outside Rashtrapati Bhavan after presenting the memorandum.

“Foodgrains worth Rs.58,000 crore are rotting because of the failure of the government to arrange adequate storage facilities.”

Quoting a Planning Commission report, he said 90 percent of the people in the country have a daily income of less than , while 51 percent of the population earns less than Rs.20 (less than 50 cents).

“If things continue like this, the poor man would not be able to afford a one time meal. Already, farmers are committing suicide.”

Veteran leader Advani added that the party had “fulfilled its main responsibility as the main opposition party by presenting signatures of aam admi in whose name the government had come to power”.

“I was surprised (by the government’s statement Wednesday that it had not failed in containing the prices). If it is not government failure, what else is it,” he asked.

The former deputy prime minister said the July 5 Bharat Bandh organised by the opposition was very successful as the common man had expressed his anger against the increasing prices of essential commodities, petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Meanwhile, retired IPS officer and former ADGP OP Mathur has been granted two days time by the CBI to appear before the investigating agency. Mathur, who had been issued a notice by the CBI on Monday, had sought the time saying that je was in Rajasthan attending his mother who was ill.

The CBI has already managed to turn former deputy superintendent of police MK Amin an approver in the fake encounter case of Sohrabuddin Sheikh. Amin is an eyewitness to the killings of both Sohrabuddin and Kauser.

Amin had taken the body of Kauser Bi from Arham Farms outside Ahmedabad to Illol village, which is the home village of IPS officer and former DGP DG Vanzara.

He was arrested by ADG Crime Rajnish Rai for his alleged involvement in the crime. He reportedly can give the exact sequence of events about what happened from November 25, 2005 to November 29, 2005. Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi were killed in between the date dates.

Amin, who is in jail, is charged with the murder of Sohrabuddin and his wife. He was also instrumental in disposing off the body of Kauser Bi.

Aiyar, a former sports minister, on Tuesday said he would be “happy” if the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi are “spoilt”. “Personally, I will be unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are successful,” Aiyar, a nominated Rajya Sabha member, told reporters outside parliament.

“I am very happy with the rains, firstly because it will ensure a good agriculture for the country and secondly because it will ensure that the Commonwealth Games are spoilt,” Aiyar said.

“If the Commonwealth Games are successful, they will further organise Asian Games and other events… I will be happy if the Games are spoilt,” he said.

Aiyar said the funds spent for the October 3-14 Games could have been utilised for ensuring a better sporting future for Indian children by providing them sports training.

“Just imagine if we would have spent the Rs 35,000 crore in providing training to the children, we would have won medals in every international sporting event,” Aiyar said.

Aiyar, who was nominated to Rajya Sabha after he lost the Lok Sabha election, also alleged that India has bribed other Commonwealth nations for the Games.

“To take the Games, the Olympic association of every Commonwealth country was given one lakh dollars; it was given to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Britain. Those countries did not need this money,” he said. “I would call it a bribe, I don’t know what it is called from the legal point of view.”

Kalmadi hits back

Kalmadi, while speaking at a function in Delhi, gave a curt response to Aiyar’s comments. “Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, nobody can spoil the Commonwealth Games. Things are on track; stadiums have been built. If Mr Aiyar had continued to be the Sports Minister, you probably would not have seen these stadiums,” he said.

“No individual can spoil the Games. It is totally irresponsible and ridiculous statement from such a senior person, who has also headed the sports ministry earlier. No Indian national can speak like that.

“With the Commonwealth Games fast approaching, he should know his responsibilities and think before making such a statement. He is a nominated member of Rajya Sabha and it is totally an anti-national statement from him,” said Kalmadi.

“It was because of his openness that he was removed from the Sports Minister’s post. If he would have been the minister, the Commonwealth Games would never have come to India,” he said.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, however, refused to comment on Aiyar’s “personal opinion” and said the whole world will see a successful Commonwealth Games 2010.

“Honourable Mani Shankar Aiyar is a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, I will not comment on his personal opinion,” Tewari told reporters.

“The Commonwealth Games is a matter of pride for the entire nation and when it will be executed the whole world will see successful Games,” Tewari said.

Congress MP from Delhi Sandeep Dikshit played down Aiyar’s comments. “I do not take him seriously,” he said.

Today it witnesses an electoral tussle. A political battle for 12 Assembly constituencies, necessitated by the resignation of 10 TRS, one BJP and one TDP MLA on the issue of statehood to Telangana in February this year after the Srikrishna Committee was announced.

Sixty eight thousand security personnel have been deployed in the 12 constituencies. There are 1538 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) seven and 1201 ballot boxes in five seats.

The highest number of candidates, 78, are in Sircilla.

Statehood for Telangana may be the top stated agenda here, but these by-elections mean different things to different people and their parties. The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is sparing no effort to win back the 10 seats it resigned. K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)knows any setback will dent his standing in the region.

KCR, the TRS chief and the man whose agitation eight months ago set the stage for the latest unrest in Telangana, says, “Including D Srinivas, all 12 Congress candidates should lose their deposit. Only then will Sonia Gandhi realise the heat of the Telangana sentiment.”

His son K T Rama Rao will be contesting from Sircilla in Karimnagar district. He had won by a margin of just 171 votes last year. Also, KCR’s nephew is recontesting from Siddipet in Medak district.

This election sees KCR with a new politicial friend yet again, the BJP. Only a year ago he had joined hands with Chandrababu Naidu for the Lok Sabha 2009 battle and in 2004, had fought alongside the Congress.

D Srinivas, the president of the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, too knows this by-election will make or break his political career. Srinivas lost to the BJP from the Nizamabad urban seat in 2009. He desperately needs to win this one.

Srinivas’ supporters hold out hope that if Srinivas is victorious, the Congress leadership will replace Rosaiah with him as chief minister to appease the people of Telangana. So Srinivas is going all out to project himself as the man for a Telangana state.

“Telangana is very near. We need not wait any more. The next elections will be contested in two states. I have confidence in that,” the Congressman says.

Interestingly, there is talk that Nizamabad may see “match-fixing” between Srinivas and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to ensure that the state Congress chief wins.

The TDP has an ulterior motive in doing that. A tussle for the CM’s job in Hyderabad will mean disarray in the Congress camp and that can only be music to Chandrababu Naidu’s ears.

Not a great Telangana favourite for being seen as supporting a unified Andhra Pradesh, Naidu himself gave it a shot last week when he drove to Maharashtra to inspect the contentious Babhali barrage being built on the river Godavari. Maharashtra refused permission, Naidu was arrested, refused bail and then in a dramatic turn of events, was flown back to his state teary-eyed.

Naidu was championing the cause of six districts of Telangana that are irrigated by the Godavari and would be severely affected by the Maharashtra project. The timing was commented upon by all, the Congress crying “political stunt.”

The other heavyweights include Shabbir Ali, former energy minister in YSR cabinet who lost elections from Kamareddy in 2009. He is contesting from Yellareddy this time. Also, G vinod, another former minister from YSR cabinet who is contesting again from Chennur seat in Adilabad after he lost to the TRS last year.

Apart from the political significance of these by-elections, there is the return of the ballot box in five constituencies. This is because these constituencies have more than 64 candidates, the maximum an Electronic Voting Machine can list.

The BJP and other Opposition parties are all set to put the government on the mat today in Parliament on the issue of spiralling prices.

With others in the Opposition not joining its pitch on Amit Shah that the CBI is being misused by the government, the BJP has decided to focus all its energies on the government’s handling of prices.

The Congress has rejected the demand for a discussion ending with a vote, that is, an adjournment motion as it’s nervous about facing a test of its numbers in Parliament. After all its own allies like the Trinamool Congress and DMK have reservations on the government’s effort in tackling prices.

But it’s not a united Opposition that the government will face today in the war over prices. Parties which are not part of the BJP-led NDA are trying to unite their efforts to take on the government on rising prices. And to discuss their common strategy, the RJD’s Lalu Yadav, the LJP’s Ram Vilas Paswan and the Samajwadi Party’s Mulayam Singh Yadav met late last night.

The visit comes at a time when there has been growing criticism by the West of the ruling Junta which says it will hold elections this year but has disqualified Aung San Suu Kyi from contesting. India on the other hand, has only deepened its enagagement with Myanmar’s Generals.

Against the backdrop of China’s growing clout in Southeast Asia, India and Myanmar are expected to sign a clutch of pacts on Tuesday to expand cooperation across a swathe of areas, including counter-terrorism, business, energy and infrastructure.

India has rolled out the red carpet to welcome Than Shwe and has designated his trip as a state visit with a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhawan and a gala state banquet thrown in for the visiting leader.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold wide-ranging talks with the 77-year-old Than Shwe, the head of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), as Myanmar’s junta calls itself, on a wide range of bilateral issues.

Expanding counter-terror cooperation will top the agenda. Indian intelligence sources say that insurgents from India’s northeastern states continue to shelter along the India-Myanmar border even after a crackdown by the junta.

The two countries are set to ink a treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters to combat transnational organised crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering and smuggling of arms and explosives, sources said.

A slew of pacts on boosting Indian investment in the energy, transport and infrastructure sectors are expected to be signed after the delegation-level talks.

In view of China’s growing influence in Myanmar, India is likely to air its concerns over the Chinese traders’ growing presence in the trade hubs of Mandalay and Tamu, undercutting the presence of the Tamil diaspora in those parts of Myanmar.

India is likely to announce grants and lines of credit for developing power, road, railway and cross-border connectivity projects with Myanmar along the 1,645 km border between the two countries. A $60 million line of credit for developing the railway sector is on the way, said sources.

A $1 billion-plus Indian investment in Myanmar’s gas and energy sectors may also be unveiled.

India’s state-run oil firms ONGC Videsh, the overseas arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corp, and and GAIL have a 30 percent stake in two gas-producing blocks in Myanmar as part of a consortium which is supplying the hydrocarbon gas that goes to China. Officials said the two companies — which will continue to pursue hydrocarbon interests in Myanmar — are also part of the pipeline project which will link the two blocks to China. The total investment by the state companies is around $1 billion.

The visit of Than Shwe to India takes place against a backdrop of mounting criticism of the junta’s dismal record in human rights and recent renewal of US sanctions barring trade with companies tied to the junta in energy-rich Myanmar.

On eve of the visit, the US has said it “expects to send a clear message to Burma that it needs to change its course.”

India, which supported the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 but turned realist in the mid-1990s after increasing Chinese forays into that country, will have to do a delicate balancing act in view of its energy and security interests.

New Delhi :  The President’s Estate today became the first urban habitat in the country to be ISO certified following introduction of solar power and waste management system among other energy-efficiency measures under the project ‘Roshini’.

“The ISO 14001:2004 certification means the standards set by the International Organisation of Standards (ISO) for Environmental Management Systems are now in place in the 340 acre President’s Estate,” a statement released by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

The certificate was  handed over to Christy Fernandes, Secretary to the President by R K Sharma, Director, Bureau Veritas Certification India on Sunday. Incidentally, today also marks the completion of three years in office for President Pratibha Patil and second anniversary of the launch of Project Roshini.

The project is an initiative that aims at making the President’s Estate a green and an environment-friendly habitat in which good practices of conservation and efficient use of resources are encouraged, Fernandes said.

The Estate has seen a host of energy saving measures been initiated under Roshini. This includes electronic synchronisation of street and security lights with sunrise and sunset, use of energy efficient pumps, lights and equipment besides use of renewable energy sources like solar energy, bio-gas plant, piped natural gas among others.

As per the statistics of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, during January-June 2009, 78.95 lakh units of electricity was consumed in the President’s Estate. “Due to the energy efficient measures, the corresponding electricity consumption from Jan-June 2010 has come down to 64.03 lakh units, which is a reduction of 14.92 lakh units saving more than Rs 90 lakh,” the statistics report said.

The certification was one of the goals of the Roshini Project, inaugurated by Patil in 2008. Patil who spoke at the certificate handing over ceremony, congratulated everyone involved in the project. She said, “Don’t sleep as you have to continuously work” as after one year another survey would be done and three years later there would be a re-certification process.

Also present on the occasion were Union Minister of Urban Development Jaipal Reddy, Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Tourism Kumari Selja, Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit.

Patil also gave away awards to winners of a painting competition organised recently within the Estate.

New Delhi :  The government is gearing up for a stormy Monsoon Session of Parliament and minutes before it began, the Prime Minister commented on the case of Amit Shah, the Gujarat minister who has been arrested by the CBI for murder.

Dr Manmohan Singh rejected BJP claims that the case against Shah is a concerted effort by the government to undermine Narendra Modi’s government in Gujarat.

“I refute this allegation that the CBI is being used… there is no truth in the allegation that it is ‘Congress Bureau of Investigation’. It is part of the Supreme Court directive.” Referring to the preparations of the government for attacks by the BJP on issues like price rise and the recent India-Pakistan talks, the PM said, “We are ready for discussion on any issue and there are substantive issues to be discussed and legislated.”

But the BJP has hit back, saying the CBI has become a political arm of the government.

“CBI gives Jagdish Tytler clean chit and then arrests Amit Shah, that too, to protect someone like Sohrabbudding as if he is a national hero. There are so many cases where CBI has bungled under political pressure of the government. We will expose all that because CBI has become political arm of the government,” BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu.

Amit Shah, the Minister of State for Home in Gujarat, has been accused of murder and criminal conspiracy in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case. The CBI has been handling the case since January this year, after the Supreme Court expressed its discontent with the investigation conducted by the Gujarat police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Sohrabuddin and his wife, Kauser Bi, were killed on the outskirts of Ahmedabad in November 2005, allegedly by top officers of the Gujarat police, many of who are now in jail. Shah was reportedly in regular touch with these policemen as they illegally detained Sohrabuddin and Kauser, and then murdered them. The Gujarat police at the time insisted that Sohrabuddin was planning to assassinate the chief minister on behalf of terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Statements given by various witnesses to the CBI allegedly implicate Shah for trying to influence testimony and the investigations of the Gujarat police. One witness – a police inspector – has reportedly said that Shah ordered the death of Kauser after Sohrabuddin’s murder- the minister is quoted as saying, in the witness’ statement- that he wanted Kauser’s body to be disposed off so that it could not be identified.

Shah had been missing all of last week. He was summoned by the CBI on Thursday and finally presented himself on Sunday for arrest, though not before addressing a press conference where he said the case against him was “politically motivated.”

The BJP’s Central leadership and Narendra Modi have both emphasized the same line. Last week, four of the party’s top members, including LK Advani and Nitin Gadkari, boycotted a lunch hosted by the PM to express their unhappiness- they say the CBI being used by the Congress to settle political scores with its opponents.

That lunch was meant to help the government and Opposition parties discuss the agenda for the monsoon session of Parliament which begins today.

New Delhi :  An all-party meeting was held by the Speaker on Sunday, who is hoping for a smooth Monsoon session but that could be tough.

The Opposition and even some allies of the government are united on the price crisis which they say has been aggravated by the fuel price hike.

So, they want a discussion ending with a vote which could be embarrassing for the govt.

“Price rise is the main issue,” said Mulayam Singh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief.

But there’s more.

LK Advani has said the government’s Pakistan policy is in shambles and the BJP has accused Foreign Minister SM Krishna of insulting the Home Secretary by not defending him on Pakistani soil.

The main Opposition party will demand a new deal for Bhopal victims and ask who in the 1984 Congress government allowed Warren Anderson to get away.

But the BJP will launch an offensive on what it calls the misuse of CBI because of the Amit Shah case. But the Opposition is divided on this, Mulayam Singh Yadav who too faces CBI cases, decided to stay mum.

And the Left who too says CBI is a political tool, refused to give BJP any reason to cheer.

“We agree about politicisation of CBI but do not agree in the case of the Gujarat minister,” said Gurudas Dasgupta.

“The government brought this CBI issue to divide the Opposition,” said Sushma Swaraj, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha.

In fact, the Left would target the BJP government in Karnataka for protecting those allegedly involved in illegal mining, the killing of an RTI activist in Gujarat and the recent evidence of saffron terror links.

On its part, the government says it’s ready to discuss all issues.

“We are ready for any discussion but under what rule is something the Speaker will decide,” said Prithviraj Chavan, Congress leader.

High food prices and the recent fuel hike are the only issues where the Opposition seems to be united. Otherwise, everybody has their own political agenda and a divided Opposition is good news to the government.

Ahmedabad :  Former Gujarat Minister of State for Home Amit Shah has been arrested by the CBI in the Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter case. He was taken to the CBI judge A Y Dave’s house, who has remanded him to 13 days in judicial custody. Shah will spend the next two weeks in  Sabarmati Jail, but can appeal for bail.

Shah, who has been charged with murder by the CBI, arrived at their office in Gandhinagar this afternoon at about 2:00 pm, to answer to the summons sent to him. He was missing since Thursday  and had not appeared when summoned repeatedly by the CBI for questioning.

He had sent in his resignation letter to Chief Minister Narendra Modi yesterday. The letter has been forwarded to the Governor.

Earlier in the day, Shah made a dramatic entry at a Press conference being held by the state BJP unit to declare that he is innocent, and that he will go straight to the CBI headquarters for questioning.

Surrounded by posters bearing legends proclaiming his innocence and slamming the Congress and the CBI, Shah calmly said all charges against him were “fabricated and politically-motivated” and that he would expose the people framing him.

“The chargesheet had already been made at the behest of the Congress. It is fabricated and had nothing to do with my summons. I am not afraid of anyone. We will fight the legal battle, and expose those who have tried to wrong us in court”, said Shah.

Shah said he had received the CBI summons only yesterday and would respond to all charges. He requested that all his questioning before CBI be video-taped and be presented to court.

He said he would go to the CBI office after the press conference and “if they arrest me  then all legal options are open to me.” (Watch: Amit Shah- the insider)

The Modi protege added, ” Gujarat is the only state which doesn’t have a case of terrorism pending, all cases have been solved. The police officers, who have wrongly charged with killing Sohrabuddin, have arrested 400 people in terror-related cases. That is not highlighted. There are 1700 encounters aross India, to highlight those in Gujarat, is a political conspiracy of the Congress government.”

Shah said the Congress is misusing the CBI for electoral gains in Gujarat, ” For the last 20 years, Congress has not won even municipal elections in Gujarat. Gujarat’s electorate has not accepted them and they’ve been comprehensively beaten in the polls. This is their only recourse.”   (Read: Gujarat minister Amit Shah resigns, Modi says Shah is not guilty)

CBI: the marble lobby nexus

Sources tell NDTV that in the 30,000 page chargesheet filed by the CBI, the agency has said Sohrabudin was killed as he was becoming a nuisance for the marble manufacturing lobby in Rajasthan. Amit Shah and 14 other senior police officers have been named in the chargesheet.

The chargesheet also states that during October and November 2004, Sohrabudin had threatened owners of R M Marbles and Sangam Textiles in an attempt to extort money.

However, the two traders who were quite well connected approached political leaders as well as police officers of Rajasthan for Sohrabuddin’s elimination.

This is perhaps what makes the BJP uncomfortable – the chargesheet hints at links between Amit Shah and the marble lobby which wanted Sohrabudin eliminated.

Sources also tell NDTV that Shah, along with two other accused, tried to hamper the probe and threaten witnesses.

Shah directed Ajay Patel and Yashpal Chudasama, his close confidants and accused, to “convince, coerce, threaten and influence witnesses on his behalf to conceal the truth from CBI about the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin”, they add.

In November 2005, Sohrabuddin was shot dead on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. His wife, Kauser Bi, was also killed. At the time, Gujarat’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) said that Sohrabuddin was a terrorist who planned to assassinate Modi. In 2007, the Gujarat state government admitted in court that Sohrabuddin and Kauser Bi had been wrongly killed. Some of the state’s senior-most policemen are in jail, charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, and kidnapping.(Read: Who was Sohrabuddin Sheikh?)

Phone records allegedly show that those same policemen were in close and constant touch with Shah once they picked up Sohrabuddin and his wife, Kauser Bi, from a bus headed from Hyderabad to Sangli.  The policemen who framed and shot Sohrabudin allegedly include DG Vanzara, who was the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of the Gujarat police, and Abhay Chudasama, the head of Ahmedabad’s crime branch.

What the CBI wants to ask Amit Shah

The CBI has refused to give Amit Shah’s lawyer the questions it wants to put to the minister. However, CBI sources reveal this interrogation will revolve around these questions:

* Do you know Sohrabuddin Sheikh was killed by the Gujarat Police?
* Was the killing sanctioned by you?
* If not, when and how did you learn about his death?
* How was Sohrabuddin’s wife, Kausar, killed?
* Did you know Kausar was in police custody when Sohrabuddin was killed?
* Who killed Kausar and how?