BJP destabilising northeast in blind quest for power: Congress

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday launched a fierce attack on the BJP accusing it of destabilising the northeast in its blind quest for power . Still reeling from a dismal show in the recently-concluded assembly polls in Tripura Nagaland and Meghalaya senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala tweeted up a storm and charged that the saffron party was forsaking the stability of the region so it can assume power at any cost and by any means . Tell tale signs of BJP s blind quest for power superseding the stability of region propagation of democracy nipping the separatist tendencies and ignoring core issues of region are already visible Surjewala tweeted. The Congress communications in-charge pointed out that the BJP was allying itself with regional parties whose ideology and demands it did not necessarily prescribe to or support thereby undermining the mandate of the people of the state. The BJP-IPFT combine decimated the Left Front in Tripura by securing 43 seats in the 60-strong assembly. In Tripura BJP aligned with IPFT whose election plank is division of state and now demands a tribal CM. Time for Modi government and BJP to address both issues. Does it stand for demand for division https://notehub.org/60y0t of state of Tripura? Would it reject the demand for a tribal CM? enquired Surjewala. Turning to Nagaland where Congress and BJP had till last month been part of the NPF-led government Surjewala called out the saffron party for switching sides at the eleventh hour to join hands with the fledgling NDPP floated by former chief minister Neiphiu Rio. In Nagaland BJP is in government with NPF yet fought election in alliance with its opposition party NDPP. NPF won 26 seats and NDPP won 18 seats. With both NPF and NDPP staking claim to form the government is Nagaland headed for another round of instability like in last 5 years? And Naga Accord? said Surjewala. He was referring to Nagaland Peace Framework signed by the Modi government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in 2015 that brought an end to insurgency and made way for peace talks in the north-eastern state. Many regional parties had called for a boycott of the February 27 polls in the absence of clarity over the Naga peace accord. Congress President Rahul Gandhi has previously targeted PM Modi over the Naga accord and said it was nowhere to be found after nearly three years of being finalized. Surjewala then touched upon the sore spot of Meghalaya where the BJP with only two seats in hand once again outmaneuvered the ruling Congress by negotiating an alliance with other parties to form the government. Even after emerging as the single largest party with 21 seats the grand old party failed to retain power in the state it had ruled for the last 15 years. In Meghalaya as BJP assumes power with just 2 MLAs every discordant party that fought BJP and each other ideologically-politically-electorally is sewn up to form the government at any cost - NPP UDP PDF HSDP BJP Ind. Is this the answer to Meghalaya s aspirations and a stable government he railed. Meghalaya is the second state after Manipur and Goa where the Congress has not been able to forge a post-poll alliance with any of the regional parties despite emerging as the largest single party. BJP is following a dangerous game of destabilsation subversion and usurpation of power in North East unmindful of the stability security peace and progress. Hope Modiji had cared to learn from Rajivji who put Nation First and brought peace to the region by Assam and Mizo accords Surjewala said.
By: Express News Service | Mumbai | Updated: March 10 2018 7:30 am In my party the great majority is Hindu. Yes there are Muslims too. So I fail to understand this branding us as a Muslim party said Sonia Gandhi in Mumbai. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi Friday said the BJP had managed to convince people that the Congress was a Muslim party and indicated that Congress president Rahul Gandhi s visits to temples was an attempt to shed that perception. The BJP has managed to I don t say brainwash because that is a rude word but it has managed to convince people to persuade people that the Congress party is a Muslim party. In my party the great majority is Hindu. Yes there are Muslims too. So I fail to understand this branding us as a Muslim party she said at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai. She also said the Congress had been pushed into a corner and so felt the need to draw attention rather than keeping quiet to Rahul s frequent temple visits before the Gujarat assembly elections in December 2017. Then his visits had sparked a debate on whether the Congress party was resorting to soft Hindutva . Gandhi said that as a family they have always visited temples but never made it a spectacle. We have always been to temples. When I used to travel with Rajiv wherever we went we would visit at least one major important temple. We never made a show of it. It was quite a natural thing. Rahul has gone to temples before she said. Asked if Rahul s temple visits were aimed at not letting the BJP monopolise the Hindutva movement she said There is a bit of that because we have been pushed into a corner. Perhaps rather than going to a temple quietly may be a little more public focus on that. In her address Gandhi a Member of Parliament from Rae Bareli also took on the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. She said India s liberal and open democracy was giving way under the ruling establishment s dangerous design and the country s social DNA was being re-engineered. Political opponents are being targeted through the misuse of investigative agencies. The judiciary is in turmoil civil society is being silenced universities and students are being straight-jacketed. Much of the media is being coerced away from its proper watchdog role which is surely to expose misgovernance scams and frauds said Gandhi. The noise of politics is the music of democracy. Yet that very noise is now being muzzled. The pretext is to make India a 10 trillion economy. Yes we need to move fast. But fast F-A-S-T cannot stand for first act second think she said. Acronymitis can be very contagious . Gandhi also said the acche din slogan of the BJP would go the same way as the party s India shining campaign in 2004 which brought the Congress to power. She also asked opposition parties to think of the larger picture join hands and put aside local differences to fight against the BJP . She also said she would contest the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh again if her party asked her and did not rule out daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra s entry into politics. It is up to her I don t see it now. But one never knows in the future. I don t know really she said. Responding to the Prime Minister s constant criticism of the Congress party s rule for decades she asked if India was really a giant black hole before May 2014 and marched to progress only after the BJP came to power at the Centre. Anil Baluni the national head of the BJP s media wing said the country was defamed internationally under the UPA. The country has seen Sonia Gandhi in different forms. As the most powerful figure when UPA was in government the country went through depression. As the party president she presided over the party s decline to 44 seats and its decimation across states. And as an opposition leader she is practising the politics of fear and deception. She has taken both the country and her own party down he said. For all the latest India News download Indian Express App Tags: Sonia Gandhi VVikramMar 10 2018 at 7:51 amIE gives space and importance to all biased and anti Modi anti Hindu people and ideas.(2)(0) Reply Narendra M. ApteMar 10 2018 at 7:46 am1. The Congress cannot be part of anti-BJP front in the present scenario. 2. Smt. Sonia Gandhi is not ready to find reasons why the Congress is perceived rightly or wrongly as a pro-Muslim party. 3. It is a fact that Congress succumbed to pressures of leaders of Muslim communities and instead of telling them to reform the Muslim Personal Law and move with the times it supported Muslim leaders in their efforts to deny basic rights to Muslim women in name of religion. Here let us not forget that enactment by Rajiv Gandhi led Congress govt of Muslim Women (Right to Protection on Divorce) Act 1986 which curtailed the right of a Muslim woman for maintenance under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was blow to poor Muslims. But the Congress is not ready to accept such b ers. 4. Rahul Gandhi s visits to temples do not mean anything for many citizens: they just underscore fact that the Congress is helpless and is somehow trying to woo voters. Would it succeed- no one knows.(2)(0) Reply SswaMar 10 2018 at 7:36 amSonia Madam Please read Khaled Ahmed article on Alauddin portrayal in today s The Indian Express.(4)(1) Reply Shashichandra DesaiMar 10 2018 at 7:31 amSoniaji your puppet PM Manmohansngh declared that the minorities have first right over India s resources!Is not this statement anti cons utional and favouring MUSLIMS and Christians.Why blame BJP?(11)(2) Reply Yogesh BhardwajMar 10 2018 at 7:31 amFor a party for whom Uniform Civil Code is communal. One which hiccups and coughs over Ram Madir at his birthplace and could not reconcile two communities over it. Shah Bano Maut ka Saudagar Kashmiri Pandit Riot Bill Aurangzeb and Babar roads RTE Act and so on. The list to your anti-Hindu sins is endless.(12)(2) Reply Load More Comments
Hours after inducting them to the Biju Janata Dal party chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik named editor and politician Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and educationist Dr Achyuta Samanta as his party s candidates for Rajya Sabha seats. His party will also be sending current Begunia MLA and party Vice President Prashanta Nanda to the upper house. Three RS seats would fall vacant with the terms of BJD MPs A U Singh Deo former hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and BJD-backed independent candidate AV Swamy coming to an end on April 2. Soumya Ranjan Patnaik son-in-law of late Indian National Congress Chief Minister JB Patnaik was with the BJP and then with Congress. Patnaik had been sacked soon after his brother Niranjan Patnaik had been removed from the post of PCC President in 2013. The influential businessman who owns the regional paper Sambad an Odia TV channel and radio station had then launched his own party Ama Odisha in 2013. He contested from the Khandapada constituency in Nayagrh district in 2014 but lost from a narro margin. Since then he has lent his support to issues like chit fund and farmers plight keeping up the pressure against Patnaik s government On Wednesday the editor who has served a term as Lok Sabha MP from the Congress said right now he it was important for people to consolidate around issues that mattered. Being a lone voice was of no use. Speaking to ET Patnaik said We have been giving far too much importance to parties and leaders and letting issues take a backseat. It is issues that I have prioritised and I think all political parties small and big must consolidate themselves around issues. Today am concerned about two important issues. Nationally I think the idea of India is in danger and any right thinking person must do whatever he can to consolidate in this fight to protect it. there has never been a more important time to fight for Odisha s interest whether it is for special category status or the Mahanadi river dispute. I think a regional party is the best platform to fight for the state s interest he added. Samanta whose organisation runs engineering and medical colleges and the county s single largest educational institute dedicated to tribal children Kalinga institute of Social Sciences also made his foray into active politics on Wednesday. Samanta enjoys considerable goodwill as a philanthropist and for the free education KISS provides to thousands of children. Naveen Patnaik s pro- people policy clean image and dedication to development of the weaker section inspired me to join BJD he told the media. Nominations for the three seats are to be filed before March 12 and polling is to be held on March 23. Naveen Patnaik s BJD occupies 117 of the state s 147 house assembly seats.
NEW DELHI: The Congress today launched a blistering attack on the government s over its continuing silence on the Rafale aircraft deal and accused PM Modi and his coterie of ministers of dishing out lies to deceive the people. Modi government is unforgivably guilty of compromising national interest and national security. Shoddy cover-up self-defeating assertions and deliberate lies are being dished out to divert dupe and deceive said a party communique giving it back to the ruling party which has previously accused the Congress of undermining national security with its demands for disclosure of the Rafale deal. Modi Govt is unforgivably guilty of compromising National interest & National Security . Shoddy cover-up sel https://t.co/7fNFKZugHy Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) 1520591073000 The salvo against the NDA-led Centre came hours ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron s arrival in India on a four-day bilateral visit. Macron recently came on record to say that the negotiation for Rafale jets was a win-win for both the countries but the fine print of the deal could not be revealed due to commercial reasons. Now Congress has seized upon the annual report of Dassault Aviation the manufacturer of Rafale fighter jets to claim that the deal inked by PM Modi caused a loss of Rs 12 632 crore to the national exchequer. According to the report Dassault sold 36 Rafale jets to India at 7.5 billion in 2016 while 48 jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at 7.9 billion in 2015. This amounted to Rs 1 670.7 crore per aircraft for India and Rs 1 319.8 crore to Qatar and Egypt. Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Surjewala pointed out that each jet was sold to India at Rs 351 crore higher than those sold to Qatar and Egypt 11 months ago. Dassault Aviation s Annual Report discloses the price of 48 aircrafts (24 each) sold to Egypt & Qatar in 2015 as https://t.co/6aFs6uPMg3 Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) 1520591453000 Why did India pay Rs.350.90 crore per aircraft more i.e. a total of Rs.12 632 crore for 36 aircrafts? Dassault Av https://t.co/flx0ZEetIW Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) 1520591602000 Congress highlighted the fact that the purchase price negotiated by the Modi dispensation was significantly higher than the Rs 526 crore bid by the erstwhile UPA regime. Why are PM & Def Minister hiding the purchase price ? Is it correct that per aircraft pricing of Rafale as per bid https://t.co/pWAieo0jVW Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) 1520591219000 Furthermore the Inter-Governmental Agreement which ensured that India would get the lowest price of the Rafale aircraft in comparison to other buyers was mooted since the annual report shows that Qatar and Egypt obtained the jets more cheaply. What is the purpose object and sanctity of IGA with France once the assurance of India getting the lowest price of Rafale aircraft in comparison to every other buyer is violated? demanded Surjewala. The Congress also charged the PM with non-transparency violation of the provisions of the Defence Procurement Procedure foregoing prior clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Security and sacrificing national interest by failing to include Transfer of Technology in the Rafale deal. Pressure has been mounting on the Modi government to make public the details of the Rafale deal with opposition parties criticizing the Centre s refusal to disclose per aircraft price for the sake of confidentiality thereby hiding the information from the country and the Parliament .
New Delhi: HighlightsJets sold to India by company at higher price than Qatar Egypt: Congress Party accused PM Modi of compromising on national security interests BJP countered charges accusing Congress of misleading the nation The Congress on Friday accused the Modi government of compromising national security and causing a loss of over Rs 12 000 crore to the taxpayer with its deal to buy 36 French Rafale fighter jets.Quoting from the annual report of Dassault Aviation makers of the fighter aircraft the party alleged that the company sold each jet to India at Rs 351 crore higher than those sold to Qatar and Egypt 11 months ago.Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Randeep Surjewala said while 36 Rafale jets were sold to India at 7.5 billion Euros in 2016 48 jets were sold to Qatar and Egypt at 7.9 billion Euros in 2015.This amounted to Rs 1 670.70 crore per aircraft for India and Rs 1 319.80 crore to Egypt and Qatar. There was a difference of Rs 351 crore for each aircraft the party claimed.Addressing a joint press conference Mr Azad Mr Surjewala and former Minister of State for Defence Jitendra Singh asserted that the government had adopted complete opaqueness in the purchase of the Rafale fighter aircraft.Mr Azad asserted that had the Modi government not cancelled the deal struck by the UPA dispensation for 126 Rafale jets it could have saved Rs 41 212 crore. The Modi government s diversionary tactics on Rafale deal has left more questions than answers they said in a statement.Accusing the prime minister of compromising on national security and interests Mr Azad asked why were only 36 fighter jets purchased instead of 126 jets for which international bids were called for. Is this not compromising with national security? Why are prime minister and defence minister hiding the purchase price (of the jets)? Is it correct that per aircraft pricing of Rafale as per bid dated 12.12.2012 (during the UPA-Congress government) was Rs 526.1 crore as against the Modi government s per aircraft purchase price of Rs 1 670.70 crore? he asked.Mr Surjewala said the deal was also made in absence of prior clearance from Cabinet Committee on Security thus sacrificing the national interest and bypassing Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on the Rs 36 000 crore offset contract in favour of a private entity with no defence manufacturing experience. Grave apprehensions and claims of insurmountable loss being caused to public exchequer stand exposed as the government refuses to state the truth. A huge scam is brewing in procurement of fighter aircrafts for the Indian Air Force yet the Modi government remains opaque intransient obscure and obstinate the Congress leaders alleged.The BJP however countered the charges accusing the Congress of misleading the nation on the issue. It said the Congress-led government never inked any deal for the fighter aircraft before 2014 and sat on its file due to its greed .BJP spokesperson Anil Baluni called the Congress allegations a pack of lies and part of its strategy to spread untruth and confusion against the Modi government. Comments The Congress has again misled the country over a sensitive issue like defence. It is comparing a best deal struck by this government in the national interest with an alleged deal of the UPA government which had never happened the BJP s national media head said.The trust is that the UPA dispensation sat on the Rafale deal file for reasons of its greed and personal benefits and compromised the nation s security interests he claimed.
By: PTI | Kolkata | Published: March 9 2018 8:31 pm Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (Express photo by Subham Dutta/File) Related News TMC to back Abhishek Singhvi in RS polls: Mamata BanerjeeRajya Sabha elections 2018: TMC to support Abhishek Singhvi from West Bengal says MamataUP bypolls: Congress blames SP for ruining joint front against BJPAlleging that the country was facing a super emergency under the BJP-led central government Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she would try to unite all the anti-BJP forces to defeat the saffron party in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. The West Bengal chief minister also met senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Praful Patel today to discuss national politics. After the meeting with Banerjee Patel told reporters that the idea of having a federal front in the future was discussed between them. A beginning has to be made. She (Banerjee) was very happy. She said the leadership should not be discussed the idea is to have a formidable alternative to bring in a change in the government at the Centre. There will be a series of meetings he added. Addressing the TMC s extended core committee meeting here Banerjee said Someone has to bell the cat. We want everybody to come together to fight against the BJP. We will help them in all possible ways. Stating that she was not for power nor any chair the TMC chief said I will be helping everyone. I will coordinate with all the anti-BJP parties so that they can work together. This is a big fight. A super emergency is going on in the country under the (Narendra) Modi government. The TMC is not scared of anyone. We cannot be intimidated and will show the way to the country. It was from Bengal that renaissance had started. Stating that if the BJP had targeted Bengal her party was looking at the Lal Quila in 2019 Banerjee said I will ask them (BJP) to manage Delhi first and then think about Bengal. Pointing out that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) had pulled out its ministers from the Modi government she said The Shiv Sena is saying it will go on its own. They (BJP) have somehow managed to retain Gujarat. Alleging that the saffron party might try to disturb peace in Bengal the chief minister exhorted the party workers to be alert. She even asked them to take along the CPM and Congress workers who could be intimidated to join the BJP during the upcoming panchayat polls in the state. Banerjee asked the TMC workers to strengthen the party in the run-up to the panchayat polls. Patel said not only NCP chief Sharad Pawar or Banerjee but other senior political leaders would also meet in New Delhi on March 27-28 to chalk out a future programme as regards how the shape of national politics would evolve in the coming days. He said Banerjee had spoken to Pawar over phone and added that the two leaders would decide on their next course of action after the March 27-28 meeting For all the latest India News download Indian Express App More Related News Rafale deal: Cong asks govt to disclose purchase price of fighter jet claims other countries paying less Jammu & Kashmir: Two BJP ministers say restrictions on eviction of tribals hold no ground Tags: BJP Lok Sabha 2019 elections Mamata Banerjee No Comments.
WASHINGTON: A signed vintage photo of Mahatma Gandhi walking alongside Madan Mohan Malaviya was auctioned for USD 41 806 in the United States. Signed in fountain pen MK Gandhi the rare photo was taken after the second session of India s Round Table Conference in London in September 1931 according to Boston-based RR Auction. As the delegate acting on behalf of the Indian National Congress Gandhi attended the second session of the British-organised round table conference a three-part conference series held in London from 1930 to 1932 with the aim of discussing the ongoing constitutional reforms in India a media release said. Malaviya who had formerly been president of the Congress and played a significant role in the Gandhi-led non-cooperation movement joined him as a representative advocating for a free India. The photo dates to a period in which Gandhi suffering from pain in his right thumb opted to write with his left hand a temporary inconvenience that lasted from August 8-December 19 1931 according to RR Auction. The autographed photo of Gandhi presents him as he is doing his life s work said Bobby Livingston executive VP at RR Auction. We are not surprised that this giant of the 20th century still resonates today he added. At the auction Karl Marx s letter requesting copies of his Revelations from a noted radical editor sold for USD 53 509. Leo Tolstoy letter written in 1903 offering editorial advice sold for USD 21 450. Claud Monet letter describing the intensity of his artistic process fetched USD 21 128. Wolfgang Pauli letter written in 1949 to an eminent American physicist sold for USD 14 700 while Jean-Paul Sartre portion of a handwritten draft for his autobiographical work Les Motes sold for USD 12 105 according to PR Auction. The Fine Autographs and Artifacts auction began on February 17 and concluded on March 7.
Chandigarh: Dismissing Prime Minister Narendra Modi s remarks regarding him as frivolous Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday said that such remarks will not be able to create wedge between him and the Congress party.PM Modi had said on Saturday that the Congress did not even consider the Punjab Chief Minister as their own. PM Modi added that Mr Singh marched on like an independent soldier.In his retort Mr Singh dismissed the Prime Minister s remarks as part of the BJP s futile attempts to create a wedge between him and the Congress high command through frivolous and unsubstantiated statements ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections .Questioning the source of PM Modi s information Mr Singh quipped: I don t remember complaining to him (PM Modi) http://blurpalicious.com/p/shopozo-flipkart-offers/ against the Congress high command. Did the high command go and complain to him against me? One really fails to understand what prompted Modi s ill-conceived and unfounded remark Mr Singh said asserting that neither he nor the Congress high command needed the Prime Minister s advice on how to manage their internal relations. I know my business and I know how to run my state and manage my relationship with my party high command which is more than one can say about the BJP leaders said the Chief Minister adding that the Congress high command had full faith in his leadership and had given him a free hand to bring Punjab out of the mess into which the BJP in alliance with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had plunged the state.Mr Singh said that he was a loyal soldier of his party and that he was leading the party in Punjab in a truly democratic manner as becoming of a party of the stature of the Indian National Congress and as guided by the party high command . Comments Contrary to what Modi would like to believe the Congress was not a fly-by-night party which he could simply wish away Mr Singh said declaring his party s complete readiness under the leadership of its President Rahul Gandhi to take on the BJP in the parliamentary elections next year. And I am personally set to take this battle to the finish Modi the Chief Minister declared adding that the Prime Minister s jumlebaazi would not have any impact on either the Congress leadership and workers or the citizens of the country.