New Delhi, The nation today paid homage to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed in a suicide bomb attack on this day 21 years ago. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the departed leader's wife and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi went to the late leader's memorial 'Vir Bhumi' here and paid their respects. Rahul and Priyanka also paid floral tributes at the memorial of their father, who was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign. Vice President Hamid Ansari, Delhi Lt Governor Tejinder Khanna, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal and Urban Development also paid homage to Gandhi. Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra was present on the occasion. School children waving national flags were also present at the memorial. A speech by the late prime minister, during which he talked about preserving the dignity of institutions, was played at the ...
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New Delhi, At least 25% of Central schemes are named after late PM Rajiv Gandhi. Planning Commission data suggests that government runs 58 schemes named after eminent people, MoS for Planning Ashwani Kumar said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Of these, 16 schemes bear Gandhi's name like Rajiv Awaas Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Udyami Mitra Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Shashaktikaran Abhiyan, Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowships for ST students etc. Eight schemes are named after late PM Indira Gandhi such as Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana, Indira Awaas Yojana, Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme. There is one institute named after former PM and BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee. And, two schemes were named after BJP stalwart Deen Dayal Upadhyaya of which one Deen Dayal Hathkargha Yojana was continued till the 10th Plan. Schemes are also named after Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, B R Ambedkar, Zakir Hussain, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Maharishi Sandipini, Khuda Bakhsh, the minister said. Babu Jagjivan Ram, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Rani ...
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New Delhi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday asked her party MPs to avoid factionalism, fight the opposition as one "disciplined team" and speak in one voice for the achievements of the government led by her party. "We must shed all manner of factional behaviour and fight as one disciplined team at all levels. That will be the single most important factor to decide whether we win or lose," Gandhi told a meeting of Congress MPs which was also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In her speech, the Congress president talked tough and said that people of the country were looking to the party. She asked her MPs to "show our commitment and unity if we are to convert this sentiment into electoral victories". She asked her party leaders to "expose the opposition's double-speak and its obstructive behaviour" and "defend and project the government's achievements" as it had become "fashionable to criticise the government". "We must speak forcefully and with confidence on what we have achieved and there is much we have to show despite difficult economic times. We must project our government's accomplishments and our ambitious legislative ...
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New Delhi, Asking partymen to draw lessons from the previous polls, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said that leaders must shed factional behaviour and fight as one disciplined team as the party braces to face a series of state elections in the coming months. "We must all shed all manner of factional behaviour, and fight as one disciplined team at all levels. That will be the single-most important factor to decide whether we win or lose. "People look to us-- but we need to show them our commitment and our unity if we are to convert this sentiment into electoral victories," Gandhi said addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party here, which was also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Commenting on the elections results in the five states including Uttar Pradesh, where the party could not perform as expected, Gandhi said, "While we can take satisfaction in the fact that we returned to power in Manipur for the third time and formed the government in Uttarakhand, the results in Punjab and Goa are very disappointing. "In Uttar Pradesh, even though we did not perform as well as we had hoped to, we increased our vote share quite considerably and ...
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Amethi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday cut short his visit to his parliamentary constituency here and rushed to Assam where over 100 people died in a boat tragedy in Brahmaputra. The Congress leader, who had to fly from here for Delhi in the evening, winded up his three-day visit in the forenoon and left for Assam, Congress sources said. The review meeting of Jagdishpur assembly segment, which was scheduled to start around 11am, was advanced and got underway at 9am after which Gandhi left for the Fursatganj airstrip, the sources said. Gandhi had arrived here on April 30 for the first time after UP poll debacle to review the party's ...
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Islamabad, The contact between Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of ruling Congress party, and Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, who heads the Pakistan Peoples Party, is "important given that both might lead their respective countries one day and determine the future course of events", said a daily. Rahul and Bilawal met on Sunday during a day-long trip by President Asif Ali Zardari to India. Zardari interacted with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and later paid obeisance at the dargah of a Sufi saint in Ajmer. An editorial in the News International on Tuesday said that the general tone of friendship between the two leaders also "passed on to the torch-bearers of the future". "Rahul Gandhi, 40, accepted an invitation from Bilawal Bhutto Zardari 23, to visit Pakistan. "This initial contact between the two young men, who share some similarities as far as family history goes, is also important given that both might lead their respective countries one day and determine the future course of events," it added. The daily said that private or otherwise, "any contact between Pakistan and India is important". Zardari "managed to discuss some delicate but crucial issues during his ...
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New Delhi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday will meet the party leaders from Uttar Pradesh to analyse the disappointing result of the party in the Assembly polls in the crucial north Indian state. Gandhi will meet the leaders in New Delhi in an attempt to "fix things" before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, media reports said. All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Digvijay Singh, who is currently out of the country, will not be attending the meeting. Newly elected Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly will attend the meeting on Thursday. Gandhi, who lead the campaign for Congress in Uttar Pradesh, failed to produce a winning result for the party in the politically critical state in the recent Assembly elections. Gandhi had taken the 'responsibility' behind the dismal show of the party in Uttar Pradesh on himself. Akhilesh Yadav, the 38-year-old Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and son of Mulayam Singh Yadav, scripted a stunning victory of the outfit in Uttar Pradesh elections. ...
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Gandhinagar, Two BJP MLAs accused of watching obscene pictures on an ipad in the Gujarat Assembly have been given a clean chit by the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) here. The FSL on Friday submitted a report of scrutiny of the ipad, in a sealed cover, to Assembly Speaker Ganpat Vasava. Vasava read out the conclusions in the House. Accordingly, there were no obscene videos or pictures on the ipad. Vasava said the allegations in media reports that MLAs Shankar Chaudhary and Jetha Bharvad were watching obscene pictures had turned out to be false. He said he will be handing over the FSL report to the privilege committee of the house, which is investigating the entire issue. According to the FSL report, the ipad contained communications by the MLA, some reports, over 4,000 pictures and 11 video clips, but none of the pictures or clips were obscene. The ipad had been submitted to the Speaker immediately after the uproar in the house on March 21. The Speaker also condemned the opposition Congress for disrupting the House proceedings for the last three days over the issue, saying Congress had dishonoured the house by stalling proceeding during the question hour and the ...
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Chandigarh, As simmering tension runs across Punjab Congress after its loss in the assembly elections earlier this month, a number of Congressmen, including MLAs, met on Thursday to express their anguish and decided to refer the matter to AICC president Sonia Gandhi so that she can decide on the leadership issue. The Congressmen, including four sitting MLAs, met at the house of Amloh MLA Randeep Singh Nabha. Sources said they demanded that a meeting of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee should be held with a neutral observer so that growing dissensions within the party are resolved within the PPCC. Those present reportedly expressed aguish over the poll debacle and how the morale of party is at a low. Sources said it was decided that they would approach Sonia Gandhi and leave it to her to decide who she wanted as leader of Punjab Congress. "We will appeal her that president of the party in the state should get a five-year term as that would prevent a regular scramble for the post," said a ...
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Chennai, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has told DMK chief M. Karunanidhi that a suitable outcome would be reached on the Sri Lankan issue soon, according to her letter released Monday. Acknowledging the DMK's chief March 9 letter, Gandhi in her letter dated March 15, copies of which were released to the media by the DMK here, said: "I have been informed that the government is fully aware of the important issues involved and is engaged with all parties to find a just solution." "I believe the prime minister is writing to you in this regard. I hope that a suitable outcome is reached soon," she said. Amid increasing pressure from coalition ally DMK, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Monday assured parliament that India was "inclined" to vote in favour of a UN resolution over Sri Lanka's "war crimes" and hoped it will ensure the Tamil community in Sri Lanka "equality, justice and self-respect". Karunanidhi was quick to welcome the prime minister's assurance, describing it as "a victory for the Sri Lankan ...
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New Delhi, There was no question of the prime minister stepping down, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said Wednesday after the party's dismal show in state elections and stressed that the results will not "damage" the UPA government. "The question does not arise," Gandhi said when asked if there was a possibility of Manmohan Singh stepping down and the Congress selecting another leader for the post. "I do not think the results will damage the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government," Gandhi told reporters outside her residence after reviewing the results in five states with party leaders here. Asked who would be the party's candidate for prime minister in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, she said: "This is 2012." The party came a poor fourth in Uttar Pradesh, barely scraped past the BJP in Uttarakhand and lost in Goa and Punjab. The only silver lining was Manipur where it retained ...
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Ghaziabad, Going against the wave of the "red cap" party across UP, Ghazibad voted for BSP. Mayawati's partymen were elected from four of the eight constituencies which are part of the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha segment. While the Congress-RLD alliance and SP won two seats each, BJP was completely wiped out on Tuesday from this region bordering the national capital. BSP winning from Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, Muradnagar and Loni is likely to cause greater worry for the saffron party considering its eroding support base - particularly its loyal baniya and upper caste votes. BJP was rooted out completely in less than three years after people of Ghaziabad had elected its former national president Rajnath Singh to the XIVth LS. Political analysts feel wrong selection of candidates and Singh's lack of interest in local issues were responsible for BJP's big loss from these urbanized blocks. However, there are also theories of Muslims and dalits rallying behind the BSP apprehending BJP could win from these seats. Moreover, Mayawati's move to allot houses to the poor seems to have worked for her party. For the Congress-RLD combine, it was equally bad considering the alliance had high ...
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New Delhi, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday accepted responsibility for the party's disastrous showing in Uttar Pradesh where he aggressively led the election campaign. "I fought, so it is my responsibility (for what happened)," Gandhi told reporters here, as it became clear that the Samajwadi Party was poised to take power in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress was decimated, winning barely 27 of 403 seats -- marginally more than the 22 it won five years ago. "We fought well but the results are not so good," he said, looking tired but managing a smile now and then. "I promised to the people of UP that I will be seen with the poor, on the roads and fields. "My work will continue. My efforts will be to re-erect the Congress in UP." Gandhi said it was too early to explain why the Congress was routed. "One or two reasons are very clear... Organisationally we are not where we should be. And the general mood was for the Samajwadi Party... "The Congress fundamentals were weak. Until we set that right, that weakness will not go away. "Overall our position has improved but it has to be taken forward." Gandhi politely sidestepped questions as to why ...
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New Delhi, Social activist Arvind Kejriwal, a key member of veteran anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare’s group, on Monday asked Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to disclose his election campaigning expenses. He also dared All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh to make Gandhi's helicopter and the party's other election expenses public, adding that it was the Congress’ turn to publish expenses. Kejriwal reiterated how their group of activists, led by Hazare, had disclosed their expenses and sources of funding for their last year’s extensive campaigning for a tough anti-graft law, the Lokpal Bill, within 24 hours of being asked. The group, nicknamed ‘Team Anna’ asserted that they were not just seeking a disclosure from the Congress but also from all political parties who had canvassed votes for this year’s assembly elections in five states. Backing Kejrijwal, the Hazare who is in New Delhi to attend a meeting of the core committee of his activist group to chalk out a “post-poll strategy”, said "People should know, where their money is being used by these politicians.” Hazare’s group had last year campaigned against ...
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New York, A US based Sikh group, has approached Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanding the exclusion of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi from the United States. "Sonia Gandhi's entry and presence in the US is in violation of section 212(a)(3)(E)(ii) & (iii) of the Immigration and Nationality Act and section 604 of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998," the Sikhs for Justic (SFJ) said in a letter to Cliunton. These laws prohibit entry into the US of any individual who, outside of the US, has ordered, incited, assisted or in any way participated in the commission of any act of torture or extra judicial killing, SFJ legal advisor, Gurpatwant Singh Pannun wrote. Sonia Gandhi is "inadmissible" to the US because as President of the Indian National Congress party she has been actively covering up the Sikh genocide and shielding her party leaders who were key players in executing the atrocities of November 1984, he said. SFJ alleged that India's Congress party had organized the genocide to avenge the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her two Sikh ...
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Muzaffarnagar, "Ek do zakhm nahi, saara jism hai chhalni; dard bechara pareshan hai kahan se uthe," says Mufti Zulfiqar, the shehar mufti of Muzaffarnagar, ruing the lack of higher education among the region's Muslim youth famous for sugarcane farming. "In the land of sugarcane, there is bitterness all around," he adds. Barely a few hundred metres away from his home at Khalapar, Mayawati is holding a rally at Numaish Maidan which, like elsewhere, has overshadowed the one held by Rahul Gandhi at a management college at the same time. "Don't go by those present in these rallies wearing skull caps. In these bad times, people here seem to have realized that Mulayam is their best bet," he adds. Coming from somebody who aspires to one day contest Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket, the comment is surprising. "My feelings for the Congress notwithstanding, its alliance with the RLD to forge a Jat-Muslim alliance would have had a better chance if the Centre had implemented the Ranganath Mishra Committee report or if Rahul himself was projected as CM," he says. In the Jat-Muslim stronghold of Muzaffarnagar, the attempt by RLD chief Ajit Singh and the Congress to revive his ...
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Luckmow, A day after Kanpur administration lodged an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for violating the model code of conduct, Union telecom minister Kapil Sibal accused CM Mayawati of patronizing politicians with criminal antecedents. "Mayawati came to power promising to put criminals behind bars. However , since she became CM, her government has quietly been withdrawing criminal cases against her party MLAs and MPs with of kidnapping, rape and murder. It started in May 2007 when she was sworn in as CM and is still on," Sibal told reporters. The Bahujan Samaj Party rubbished Sibal's allegations and said it was the only party that acted against legislators found guilty of wrongdoing. To prove his point, Sibal presented a list of nine cases that included BSP state president Swami Prasad Maurya. "The state government wants to withdraw a case against Maurya where he is charged with attempt to murder," said Sibal. He added that when a Rae Bareli lower court rejected the application , the state government moved to the district judge's court that directed the court to re-consider the case. The case was filed by head constable Ram Surat Upadhayay in 1987 posted in the ...
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Kanpur, A combative Congress on Tuesday asserted that it will move the High Court seeking quashing of the FIR lodged against Rahul Gandhi for alleged violation of poll code, saying the action was taken at the behest of Chief Minister Mayawati. "Because of the successful election campaign of the Congress, this action has been taken on the direction of Mayawatiji," Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters here. "We will go to the High Court to get the FIR quashed. I also want to clarify that we haven't received any notice regarding violation of Model Code of Conduct," he said. The FIR was lodged against Rahul by the district authorities which said his road show here had breached the time limit and the route map set by them. District Magistrate Hari Om said the FIR has been filed against Rahul and city Congress chief Mahesh Dikshit who have been booked under Section 188 of IPC for violating prohibitory orders (Section 144) imposed in the city and under Sections 283 (danger or obstruction in public way) and 290 (public nuisance). "The district administration had allocated time till noon and fixed a 20-km route for Rahul Gandhi's road show but he ...
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Kanpur, A cautious Rahul Gandhi on Sunday sought to ensure that he stayed within the limits set by the EC even as he insisted that the original author of the quota-for-Muslims pledge was the Congress. Mulayam Singh Yadav was merely doing a me-too act promising a higher reservation for the community. Speaking in Kanpur, Rahul questioned the very legitimacy of Mulayam Singh Yadav as a genuine leader of the Muslim community. He said : "Mulayam claims to be the leader of Muslims. If that's true, he should actually specify what he did for the community during his three stints as CM." The crowd responded to him with cries of "nothing, nothing". The Congress general secretary continued : "Tell me what kind of leader is he? He claims to be your leader and does nothing for you." Insisting that Mulayam had latched on to the reservations for Muslims pledge as an afterthought, Rahul said : "When Mulayam was CM, the media would ask him his views on Muslim quotas. But he would remain tightlipped. You will be surprised to know that the state which has over 70 districts has only one Muslim DM. Now Congress has given you reservation, so Mulayam says that he would have done more." Accusing SP ...
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Kanpur, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj has called election campaign of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi ' theatrics', which would not translate into votes. "Tearing up a list while standing on stage might make a good front-page photograph, but it cannot translate into votes. In order to get votes, one has to connect with the people and raise their issues," Swaraj told a gathering here on Saturday. Gandhi, while addressing a public gathering in Lucknow on Wednesday, tore a piece of paper carrying a list of the Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party's poll promises, drawing huge cheers from his listeners. Swaraj also criticised the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for not having done justice to a widespread mandate that had given it an absolute majority in the 2007 state poll. "The BSP had an absolute majority government, but when I hold them to account after five years, then the performance register shows a zero. Their campaign slogan did not translate into ideology or practice. In this term, they pushed aside even their main voters, and the slogan 'For the Good of All' got changed to 'For Individual Good'," Swaraj said. The Uttar Pradesh polls ...
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