by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, Politics
By Vishal Gulati,
Shimla : Facing the challenge of retaining all the four Lok Sabha seats, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur says he is not being dictated to by the RSS and that he enjoys a free hand to lead the party in the coming elections.
For him, development work and no witch hunting is the mantra.
“This accusation (of RSS remote controlling him) does not have an iota of truth. “Our central leadership has reposed full faith in me and has given a free hand to run the affairs in the state. The RSS is an apolitical nationalist organisation, which has nothing to do with state affairs,” Thakur told IANS in an interview, dismissing rumours in political circles that he is being dictated by BJP ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and party’s senior leaders.
Five-time legislator Thakur (54) was elevated after the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, Prem Kumar Dhumal, suffered an abject defeat in the 2017 assembly polls. Several names were doing the rounds at the time, including that of Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, whom the party did not relieve from national politics.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong in seeking the advice of Dhumal and Nadda, on any regarding matter related to the development of the state,” Thakur stated categorically.
On getting free hand from the high command to lead the party in the elections, Thakur, who has won his fifth consecutive assembly election, said: “The elections are fought with collective efforts and with collective strategy. Being head of the state I would have greater responsibility to motivate the rank and file to ensure the party’s victory.”
“I am fully confident that the BJP will retain all the four Lok Sabha seats (from the state) in the General Elections,” Thakur added.
Carrying out development on the debris of decades of vendetta politics, Thakur said the BJP has brought a generational change in the state politics.
“This change has brought new ideas of governance. Shunning the politics of revenge and counter accusations, we have put forth development as our guiding principle in reforms. We have taken several new people-centric initiatives in 13 months,” the plain-speaking Thakur said.
The first-time Chief Minister, who has 11 ministers — half of them first-timers, believes the biggest achievement of his government has been winning over the confidence of the people.
“The government from the day one started working with a sole aim of development and welfare of the people. My government is working without any vendetta and vengeance towards our political opponents.”
The state, he said, has implemented several decisions and schemes which are bound to transform the economy and the people.
“The Jan Manch (public meeting in every district headquarters on first Sunday of a month) programme launched by us has been appreciated even by our political opponents.
“Till date, over 33,966 grievances of the public have been redressed in 106 Jan Manchs. Similarly, the very first decision of the government to lower the age limit of senior citizens for availing old-age pension without any income criteria from 80 to 70 years have benefitted over 1.60 lakh people,” he said.
Thakur, who rose through the ranks, believes establishing direct contact with the common masses will definitely help his party retaining four Lok Sabha seats in the ensuing General Elections.
On the central leadership reposing faith in him and his first-time cabinet colleagues and bringing generation change in the state politics, he said: “Yes, I agree that the Vidhan Sabha elections results of 2017 brought in a generation change in the state politics. Since all my cabinet colleagues are young and have a new vision and new vigour, this would definitely help progress and development of the state.”
“I did not face any challenge as such during the last one year. But still the major concern before me has been to bring back the derailed economy of the state back on track and understand the developmental aspirations of the people. For this, I toured 65 (of the 68) assembly constituencies during this one year to understand the developmental needs.
“I am sure that after a year in office now I am more clear and precise about the expectations of the people,” he said.
The Himalayan state, whose hydropower generation as well as horticulture and tourism are major contributors to the economic development, is facing one of its worst financial crises – with its loan liability at nearly Rs 50,000 crore.
“We have inherited a loan burden of over Rs 46,500 crore from the previous government due to their financial mismanagement and unmindful expenditure. Therefore, the biggest challenge before us was to bring back the derailed economy back on the track.”
“It is true that due to limited financial resources of its own the state has to heavily depend on financial assistance and loans from the Centre and external funding agencies. Still soon after assuming the office in the state, the government took some concrete steps to stop wasteful and unproductive expenditure, besides striving hard to create its own resources for income generation.”
(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
Pema Khandu
Itanagar : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday changed his stance on the Citizenship Bill, asking Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh not to table the bill in the Rajya Sabha.
He made the appeal as he and his Manipur counterpart N. Biren Singh met Rajnath Singh in New Delhi to apprise him about the prevailing situation in their respective states in particular and in the northeast following the passing of the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in the Lok Sabha on January 8.
“We have requested the Home Minister not to table the Bill in the Rajya Sabha as there is lot of hue and cry in the northeastern states,” Khandu said.
Khandu, who is heading a BJP government in the border state, had been so far defending the bill which is facing strong opposition from civil society groups and the opposition Congress in his state and across the northeast.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Mohit Dubey,
Lucknow : On her first public outing after making the political debut as Congress General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday may have succeeded in drawing enough eye balls in the roadshow here but the road ahead may be arduous and bumpy.
After seeing the response of the moribund party workers during the 17-km-long event, political observers say it would take much more than a mere show on streets to revive the Congress fortunes in 44 Lok Sabha seats of eastern Uttar Pradesh which Priyanka Gandhi will oversee.
While a team of party veterans and young leaders is working overtime to brief Priyanka Gandhi on what lies ahead, she has the task cut out that is daunting, keeping in mind the organisational structure which is in shambles and the beaten morale of the grassroot workers.
The party has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh for more than three decades. As the Modi juggernaut rolled in 2014, its woes only worsened.
A weak organisation seems to be her biggest challenge. And so while the district units of Congress remain on paper, their existence and efficiency beyond that stands in serious doubt. Barring the big names in the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) that jostled to find a place next to the Gandhis on the flower-decked bus during the roadshow, the party has a huge paucity of good faces at district level.
“There are no ‘karyakartas’ (workers)… only netas (leaders) at the state level,” rues a party activist at the Mall Avenue office of the Congress in Lucknow.
Leaders like former UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, the one-day-Chief Minister Jagdambika Pal have migrated to greener or rather saffron pastures — the former is the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Minister while Pal is a Lok Sabha member of the BJP.
Forget, other parts of the state, the party is having chinks in the armour even in pocket boroughs like Amethi and Rae Bareli, where old loyalists like legislators Rakesh Prakash Singh and MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh have bid adieu to the party, jolting its prospects even in party strongholds, hitherto considered invincible.
Eastern UP, a task assigned to Priyanka Gandhi by her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, is the toughest region to win over, even the most overzealous party men admit.
There are 44 seats in all if the eastern UP (Poorvanchal) and Avadh region in which Lucknow and Amethi fall under are taken together. And it is from here that Prime Minister Narendra Modi (Varanasi) and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Gorakhpur) come from.
The party is not cadre based and had once the support, largely from a cocktail of communities and castes, which have now slipped out of its hands, barring Muslims and upper castes cut up with the BJP. Putting back the caste matrix which worked in its favour for decades in an uphill task for the 47-year-old Priyanka Gandhi.
The SP-BSP alliance and the 10 per cent jobs and educational quota for the upper caste poor decided by the Modi government have put a spanner in the Congress works. While Priyanka Gandhi may carry an aura around her, the party is still facing a dearth of “winnable candidates” in almost all parliamentary constituencies. If it has to win back its core Dalit, Pasi and Muslim vote, it will have to convince them about its winning chances.
“Floating voters and minorities vote tactically and would throw in their lot with Congress if it puts up winnable faces but the truth is there aren’t many,” says Asif Qureshi, a party sympathiser from Chowk in old Lucknow.
The party had put up 105 candidates in the 2017 Assembly elections when it tied up with the Samajwadi Party and won just 7 seats. It contested all the Lok Sabha seats in 2014 but won just two.
The BJP onslaught on her husband Robert Vadra — his clouded land deals and continued questioning by central agencies — could put the Gandhi scion in an uncomfortable position as and when the issue crops up from the electorate.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News, Politics
New Delhi : Charging the Centre with betrayal by not granting special status to Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday claimed there is a threat to democracy and the country under the Narendra Modi-led BJP regime.
With a host of opposition leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extending their support, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President sat on the fast in the national capital demanding the Centre to accord Special Category Status and fulfil other commitments made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
A day after Modi addressed a rally in Andhra Pradesh and made a bitter attack on Naidu, a number of opposition leaders turned up at the Andhra Bhavan here and launched a scathing attack on the Prime Minister.
Pointing to the issue being repeatedly raised in Parliament by the TDP, Naidu said his agitation was a way to communicate to the nation “the betrayal by the Modi government of Andhra Pradesh”.
“Modi is threatening everybody — the opposition, bureaucracy, corporates and even the media. He is using the CBI, ED and the IT Department to crush the opposition and dissent,” said Naidu claiming democracy and the nation was “under threat” under Modi.
“We want to save democracy. Today there is a democratic compulsion for all political parties to join together to save the country,” he said.
Calling upon the opposition parties to unite, Naidu said: “We need to keep this in mind. Modi was given absolute majority. What did he do? Nothing. The BJP and Modi were playing games to divide the opposition by asking who’s their leader.
“He is responsible for the falling standard of public discourse. PM must stop first hitting below the belt. Then everyone will stop and then we will maintain dignity and discourse of politics.”
Naidu said his protest was against the injustice done to the state, to remind the Centre of its promises and to demonstrate the strength of Andhra Pradesh.
Warning the Prime Minister to stop the attacks, Naidu said he should act immediately to fulfil the commitments as only “two days were left” to the ongoing Parliament session, which could be the last session before the Lok Sabha elections.
“If you don’t fulfil the promises you have made, we know how to get it done,” he said, adding that the Centre failed to implement the provisions of Bifurcation Act, including funds to bridge the revenue deficit, railway zone in Visakhapatnam, steel plant in Kadapa and a petrochemical corridor.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, Media
New Delhi : The Central government on Monday told the Delhi High Court that Young Indian company, in which Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi are shareholders, was formed with an intention to take over Herald House.
The court was hearing the Associated Journals Ltd (AJL) — which publishes National Herald newspaper — appeal challenging the December 21 order of a single judge dismissing its plea against the Urban Development Ministry’s October 30 direction that AJL’s 56-year-old lease on Herald House was over and that it should vacate.
The single judge in its order on December 21 had noted that by transfer of AJL’s 99 per cent shares to Young Indian company, the beneficial interest of AJL’s property worth Rs 413.40 crore stands clandestinely transferred to Young Indian company.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V. Kameswar Rao that AJL “clandestinely” transferred its majority shares to Young Indian and requested the court to dismiss AJL’s appeal.
He also told the court that AJL has violated the lease agreement and asked the court to lift the corporate veil. He also said that the Gandhis are directly liable for the defaults in the company.
However, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi defended AJL and denied the allegations.
He also told the court that the digital version of the newspaper was started on November 14, 2016, while the publication of weekly “National Herald on Sunday” was resumed on September 24, 2017.
The government has said that National Herald was revived only after the Centre sent a notice for inspection of the property in September 2016.
The court listed the matter for further arguments on February 18.
—IANS
