PM's daily to-do list includes raising fuel prices, showing 'hollow' dreams of jobs: Rahul

 New Delhi, Mar 30 (PTI) Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said his daily to-do list includes raising petrol, diesel and gas prices, making farmers more helpless and showing "hollow dreams" of employment to the youth.

Gandhi used the hashtag "RozSubahKiBaat" with his tweet attacking the prime minister on a range of issues.

"Prime Minister's daily to-do list - how much increase in petrol, diesel and gas rates, how to stop discussion on people's expenses, how to show hollow dreams of employment to the youth, which public sector company to sell and how to make farmers more helpless," the former Congress president said in a tweet in Hindi.

On Wednesday, petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each, taking the total increase in rates in the last nine days to Rs 5.60 per litre.

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Election campaign promises in a nutshell Politics

 

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Congress blames NDA govt. for humiliating Governors

New Delhi: Post, Maharashtra Governor K Sankaranarayanan resigned after being transferred to Mizoram, the Congress on Monday blamed the NDA government of 'insulting' and 'humiliating' the Governors.

As per reports, the party also wondered whether the BJP government was using Mizoram as a dumping ground.

Also, the grand old party spoke about Kerala Governor Sheial Dikshit, who if reports are to be believed might resign from the post soon. Congress general secretary Shakeel Ahmed said, "Dikshit is not a member of the Congress party now. When she will not be holding any constitutional post and when she joins politics actively, the party will decide on it. If she joins some other party, who knows… It is for her to decide and choose any party."

The speculations behind Sheila's resignation began after Dikshit met President Pranab Mukherjee and Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi. Her meeting with Singh lasted for less than five minutes. However, when asked whether she will resign, Dikshit said, "You will know if something like this happens."

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3 Congress ruled north-eastern states to face dissent?

The ongoing dissidence in Assam has ignited dissidents of at least three Congress-ruled north-eastern states where legislators have started polarising to demand a change of leadership in their respective states.
In Congress-ruled Manipur, at least 27 out of 47 Congress legislators have revolted against chief minister Okram Ibobi. Insiders in Arunachal Congress claimed that change of leadership in Assam would certainly give more teeth to their demand to replace chief minister Nabam Tuki. The liberal approach of the AICC has also polarised the legislators in the frontier state of Meghalaya to challenge the leaders of Mr Mukut Sangma.

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Cong opposes move to abrogate Article 371(A)

DIMAPUR, Jun 10 : Nagaland Congress has observed that Article 371(A) of the Constitution of India which protects the rights of the Naga people was an agreement of accession of the State to the Union of India.

Reacting to the reports of possibility of abrogation of the Article 371 (A) by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government, former president of Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) KV Pusa said Article 371(A) was an article of faith and accession of Nagas to the Union of India and that any attempt to rewrite or abrogate the Article would tantamount to abrogation of Statehood agreement signed in 1960, which is known as 16-Point Agreement.

The Congress leader suggested the parties engaged in dialogue to hammer out a solution to the protracted Naga political problem. He said any solution below the 16-Point Agreement would not only complicate the Naga issue but would amount to betrayal of the Naga issue. Any solution should be above Article 371(A) of the Constitution. There should be a solution which is honourable and acceptable to all sections of people, Pusa insisted.

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Congress concentrating more on setting house in order than criticizing new government

Congress party symbol

In its pursuit of getting things rearranged, a major overhaul of sorts can be expected in Sonia Gandhi-led party. The party, which is yet to emerge from the ruins of an embarrassing defeat, is trying to bring all dots together again.
In such a crucial and sensitive situation, any decision, if taken in haste may lead to dissent and division within the party and keeping this particular fact in mind, changes will be gradually brought in the next six months.
Till then, the party will be in a position to evaluate the performance of Modi government and also work out on its strategies from an all-new perspective.
According to sources, the results have as of now cast a pall of gloom and abdominal lull in the Congress camp and the party is not in a position to brainstorm over the current situation. No one in the party expected such a poor show.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who switched into an aggressive mode ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, blamed the senior leaders for the party’s poor showing. They were even sidelined and a new team led by Rahul came forward to take the charge.
Since then, the fight between the old and new kept on escalating and its impact could be clearly seen in the results of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress candidates lost their deposits in 178 seats and Team Rahul’s members are on the firing line now.
The real problem with Congress lies in the fact that it has no leader besides Nehru-Gandhi family to lead the party. Even those leaders, who are against Rahul are finding it difficult to move ahead of the Congress vice-president and promoting Priyanka.
After realizing the disastrous outcome of this move, party president Sonia Gandhi has taken the entire control on her own hands as of now. She asked her old loyalists to take care of this delicate situation and look into the issue of appointing Opposition leaders in both Houses of the Parliament.
Besides, the Congress does not have even the required numbers of 55 seats to sit in Opposition as it has been reduced to just 44 seats.
The Union government, if it wishes, can even function without Opposition but the Congress came up with an argument that the Constitution allows the second largest party to be deemed as the Opposition and going by this yardstick, the grand old party, along with its allies, has an overall tally of 59 seats.
The party, which is yet to recover from the aftereffects of results, has decided not to adopt an out and out aggressive stance against the BJP-led government as of now.

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Cosmetic changes not enough Cong needs to use its robust second rung of leadership

Congress party president Sonia Gandhi and vice President Rahul Gandhi attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi.  (AFP photo)

A little first aid here and there simply will not do. The Congress, seemingly in terminal decline, needs a major surgery to recover from this cataclysmic defeat at the hands of the BJP. So there are many things that will not work. One certainly is to replace one Gandhi face with another Gandhi face as some loyalists are suggesting.

The rot has gone too deep for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to set right should she replace her brother Rahul Gandhi. Even if Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who still enjoys considerable popularity, were to take full charge of the party, it still needs a major vision overhaul.

It has to undergo a drastic mindset change and re-evaluate many of its core principles, among them the relevance of dynastic rule. As the Congress Working Committee (CWC) soul-searching meet ended, the party seems to be either unwilling or unable to come up with any decisive action, which will signal a new beginning. There was, of course, the expected offer from both Sonia and Rahul to resign and the expected refusal by the CWC to accept this.

Instead of having a CWC meeting comprising many of the defeated leaders, a better and more constructive thing would have been to call in the state leaders and confer with them on the specific needs of the states where the party did badly. There cannot be an omnibus blueprint for course correction. If the Congress were serious about affixing blame, then surely Mr Gandhi should have resigned from his position and taken it upon himself to spend the next few years rejuvenating the party.

It was also an occasion to admit that the experiment with primaries did not work. The time for shielding non-performers has gone. After getting just 44 seats, the task of rebuilding the party is Herculean. But the Congress has the good fortune of having a robust second rung of leadership. It should make the maximum use of its younger leaders instead of hoping that the family will pull its chestnuts out of the fire. It must also examine why its grand social welfare schemes did not translate into votes. The voter today does not seem to want State largesse. Rather she wants employment opportunities and not perpetual dole. Also bringing up past sacrifices of the Congress leadership finds little resonance in today’s voter. The Congress cannot hope to paper over the cracks and carry on with business as usual.

A stint out of power will perhaps result in the party emerging leaner and meaner come the next election. But for that, some very tough decisions have to be taken now.

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Rahul aides set to come under fire

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s close advisers may come under attack at the Congress Working Committee meeting that will be held here Monday, soon after the party’s worst performance in a general election after Independence. While party managers set the tone of the meeting by saying “it is a collective responsibility”, in a bid to contain dissent, this line may help several party CMs and PCC chiefs to prolong their stay for some time.
Outgoing minister Kamal Nath toed Rahul Gandhi’s line of filling party posts by internal elections, suggesting on Sunday that CWC members be elected through elections, saying it was time to end the “culture of patronage”.
Late Congress chiefs P.V. Narasimha Rao and Sitaram Kesri had elections to choose CWC members at AICC plenaries in Tirupati (1992) and Kolkata (1997). But that created major rivals for them, with Arjun Singh and Rajesh Pilot emerging as claimants for the highest posts in the party.
If the CWC undertakes this exercise seriously, it has to ruthlessly identify mistakes in election planning, strategy and campaigning. The BJP wanted to make the election a Narendra Modi vs Rahul Gandhi contest, and the Congress fell right into that trap. The CWC members, who are nominated by chief Sonia Gandhi, are unlikely to attack the Nehru-Gandhi family directly, but may question the role of advisers.
The 2014 polls were fought under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, who was its campaign committee chief though not projected as its PM candidate.

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Rahul Gandhi addresses rallies in Northeast

Kohima, March 27: Rahul Gandhi will be addressing a public rally in Kohima, Tezpur and Dibrugarh in the Northeast. Currently, he is in Kohima and at first look, the gathering seems to be impressive. A banned terrorist outfit National Democratic Front of Bodoland (S) has called for a 12-hour bandh in the Sonitpur district today to show its protest. At 1 pm, he would be at the election rally at Biswanath Chariali ground. His third rally would be in Chaulhowa playground in Dibrugarh, Assam. Following are the live updates of Rahul Gandhi's rallies: 12:00 pm: The Government of Nagaland has taken the development of state in reverse gear.They have taken Nagaland from 8.3 % to a growth rate of just 3.8%. We know that people of Nagaland are dynamic because we see you are working in different parts of the country. More than 50000 youngsters are employed in Nagaland, the state government is not training them. I am proud to state that the central government has given a lot of funds and created higher education institutes in Nagaland. We know that in Naga culture, women are respected a lot.We have brought 50% reservation in local bodies. We want a dedicated women force in Nagaland. The single biggest problem in N East is connectivity, we have focused on it, but we will dramatically increase infrastructure. I am a big supporter of the "Look East" policy for the North East. It is important to connect North East with neighbouring countries. We are committed to create 100 million jobs in the next government, this can only be done, if we build north east. 11:55 am: I have been taught not to promise anything which I cannot deliver. The UPA government has taken the bold decision to talk with the NSCN. Your CM has made promises which he has not able to deliver. I will only tell you that I am with you from my heart: 11:50 am: The western countries say that they invest in Democracy, but we know India's democracy is stronger: Rahul Gandhi in Kohima. The only promise that I that I can make is that I am with you. OneIndia News

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