NEWS

In a major decision in favour of Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh who is facing heat after former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh wrote a letter to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, accusing him of corruption, the Nationalist Congress Party on Sunday said the minister need not resign from his post.

"There is no question of Anil Deshmukh's resignation. ATS is investigating (Antilia Case & Mansukh Hiren Case) and we believe the culprit will be punished," said NCP leader Jayant Patil.

A meeting over the matter was held at the residence of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar this evening. Party leaders Praful Patel, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and Supriya Sule were present.

Makkal Needhi Maiam chief and actor Kamal Haasan unveiled his party's manifesto here on Friday and promised income for housewives by honing their skills.

By initiatives like skill development, women could earn as much as ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 per month and "that is what we call payment to housewives and not doles to them."

Haasan was the first to promise what he called in December last 'payment' to homemakers for their work.

The major parties of Tamil Nadu, the ruling AIADMK and main opposition DMK days ago promised ₹1,500 and ₹1,000 assistance to women family heads in their manifestos.

The ruling alliance LDF on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Kerala Assembly Election 2021. The manifesto offers a series of sops like 40 lakh jobs, pension for all housewives, infrastructure upgrade and hike in farmers' income.

The manifesto was released at the AKG centre in Thiruvananthapuram by CPI (M) state secretary in charge A Vijayaraghavan, CPI Secretary, Kannan Rajendran and other leaders of the Left Democratic Front (LDF), which is seeking a second straight term.

In his address on the occasion, Vijayaraghavan said pension would be given to all housewives, but did not elaborate. The social security pension would be increased to Rs 2,500 in phases, he added.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh Thursday expressed confidence that Navjot Singh Sidhu will be back in his Cabinet, nearly two years after the cricketer-turned-politician quit the government after being divested of a key portfolio.

Singh's statement came a day after the two Congress leaders met at the chief minister's farmhouse, where they had discussed Sidhu's possible reinduction into the state Cabinet.

"Everyone wants Navjot to be part of our team," Singh told a press conference on Thursday, replying to a question on the meeting.

He was addressing a press conference to mark the completion of four years of his government.