Problem with Rahul is that he thinks BJP will be overthrown by people: Prashant Kishore

News Network
October 28, 2021

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor has said that the Bharatiya Janata Party 'is not going anywhere for many decades and the problem with Rahul Gandhi is that he thinks that the BJP will be overthrown by people'.

Kishor said this in Goa on Wednesday and a clip of his Q and A session has been shared on social media.

The statement comes at a time when the Trinamool is spreading itself outside Bengal, and is also proof that the talks of Kishor's entry into the Congress have ended.

He said that the BJP will be at the centre of Indian politics for years, it wins or loses, much like the Congress in the first 40 years after Independence.

"BJP is going to be the centre of Indian polity, whether they win, whether they lose, like it was for the first 40 years for Congress. BJP is going nowhere. Once you secure 30 per cent plus votes at the national level you are not going away in a hurry. So do not ever get into this trap that people are getting angry and they will throw away (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi," he said.

"Maybe they will throw away Modi, but BJP is not going anywhere. They are going to be here, they are to fight it out for the next many decades. It is not going in a hurry," Kishor answered when asked.

He added: "Unless you examine, understand and take cognizance of strength, you will never be able to put a counter to defeat him (BJP & Modi's strength)".

He said the problem with Rahul Gandhi is he does not realise this but thinks people will overthrow the BJP.

Earlier, he had said that the Congress party's fortunes in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to the polls next year, would not be revived despite all the "hype" generated around the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and the subsequent arrest of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

"People looking for a quick, spontaneous revival of GOP led opposition based on #LakhimpurKheri incident are setting themselves up for a big disappointment. Unfortunately there are no quick fix solutions to the deep-rooted problems and structural weakness of GOP," Kishor, who played an instrumental role in propelling Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress back to power in the West Bengal Assembly polls held in March-April this year, wrote on Twitter.

The remarks have come amid "strong speculation" that Kishor would join the Congress and the party was deliberating on the issues raised by him.

Even as no one in the party is averse to the idea of Kishor joining the Congress, the party leaders have said that he should not be given sweeping powers regarding elections.The Congress is preparing for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh along with a few other states which are going to polls next year.

In the politically crucial north Indian state, the Congress is pitted against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

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News Network
March 12,2024

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The Congress on Tuesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Anantkumar Hegde's remark about amending the Constitution, asking whether he would take action against the BJP MP to demonstrate his commitment to the Constitution.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at the prime minister who is on a visit to Gujarat and Rajasthan and posed five questions to Modi.

"The prime minister is in Ahmedabad for the Sabarmati Ashram Memorial Project. While the prime minister is embracing the Mahatma for his political gains, will he commit to Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of non-violence, inclusivity, and equality?" he said in a post on X.

The Congress leader also asked whether PM Modi would take action against Anantkumar Hegde, the BJP MP from Karnataka, to demonstrate his personal commitment to the Constitution that he swore an oath to bear true faith and allegiance to.

Hegde, at a gathering at Karwar in Karnataka on Saturday, had said the BJP needed a two-third majority in both Houses of Parliament to amend the Constitution and 'set right the distortions and unnecessary additions made to it by the Congress'.

In his posers to the prime minister, Ramesh also asked whether PM Modi would explain the 14 paper leaks that have occurred in Gujarat over the last seven years.

'The Congress has announced a comprehensive plan, 'Paper Leak se Mukti' under its Yuva Nyay guarantees to tackle the issue. How does the Prime Minister plan to address it?' he said.

Ramesh said on crucial indicators of development, Gujarat fares poorly compared to other states.

'Gujarat does worse on retention of students in higher secondary education and spends less on public education than poorer states like Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Gujarat currently ranks 10th among 20 major states in terms of its population living Below Poverty Line,' he said.

'Despite the prime minister's public posturing on 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', Gujarat ranks 15th out of 20 states in sex ratio. How does PM Modi reconcile the reality of Gujarat's socio-economic backwardness with the 'Gujarat Model' that he publicised in 2014 or the 'Double Engine' Sarkar model that he espouses today? the Congress leader said.

Ramesh said Prime Minister Modi will also visit Pokhran in Rajasthan, made famous exactly 50 years ago by Indira Gandhi as the site of India's first 'peaceful nuclear explosion', to celebrate India's indigenous defence capabilities which have incidentally been developed despite his best efforts.

'The share of expenditure on defence has fallen from 17.43 per cent of the Union Budget in FY19 to 13 per cent for FY25. As percentage of GDP, it has fallen from 2.13 per cent to 1.9 per cent between 2014 and 2024 - below the global standard of at least 2 per cent,' he said.

How does the prime minister intend to safeguard India's border or show China his 'Lal aankh' (red eye) without adequate expenditure on the armed forces, Ramesh asked.

'In the same vein, the prime minister has set up two committees in the last three years to investigate ways in which he can privatise or shut down the DRDO. The K VijayRaghavan committee has reportedly suggested that the DRDO's role be limited to research and development without being involved in developing prototypes or technology demonstrations,' he said.

'Instead, any production and further development would be done by selected private players. What is the prime minister's motivation in privatising defence research and development? Is it an attempt to bring his favoured industrialist friends into the industry through the backdoor?' Ramesh asked.

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News Network
March 7,2024

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Thiruvananthapuram: Padmaja Venugopal, daughter of late Congress leader and former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran, is joining the BJP.

Amidst rumours in this regard, Padmaja told a news channel that neglect from Congress leadership and attraction towards Narendra Modi's leadership led her to take the decision to join the BJP.

She is scheduled to formally join the party today itself.

Congress is already facing much embarrassment over many leaders and workers joining the BJP. Senior leader A K Antony's son Anil Antony, who joined the BJP last year, is now contesting as the BJP candidate at Pathanamthitta in Kerala.

Padmaja's elder brother K Muraleedharan, who is Congress MP from Vadakara in Kozhikode, told reporters that his sister ditched the Congress despite the hardships faced by their father in building up the party in Kerala.

Karunakaran, who died in 2010, is still popularly known as 'leader' in Kerala. He served as Chief Minister for four terms and also as a union minister.

Padmaja, who is a member of Congress Political Affairs Committee in Kerala, contested twice in assembly polls and once in Lok Sabha polls, but got defeated in all.

Padmaja alleged that a section in the Congress itself worked for her defeat in 2021 assembly polls in Thrissur. Even as she complained to party leadership in this regard there was no action taken, she said.

Sources said that Padmaja was expecting a Rajya Sabha seat, which was not considered by the Congress. She was also unhappy that the work on the Karunakaran Foundation building in Thiruvananthapuram was getting delayed

CPM has been campaigning that Congress and BJP are two sides of the same coin as many Congress leaders are joining the BJP.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan said that many Congress leaders in Kerala would be joining the BJP in due course and that could be the reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently expressed hopes that BJP will win double digit number of seats in Kerala this time.

Padmaja is based in Thrissur and hence her decision to join the BJP could be a boost to BJP's hopes of winning the Thrissur Lok Sabha seat where actor-turned politician Suresh Gopi is in the fray.

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News Network
March 10,2024

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The Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress on Sunday, March 10, declared its candidate list for the Lok Sabha polls expected to be held in April-May this year.

Banerjee's nephew and TMC general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, announced the names of 42 candidates for all the seats in Bengal.

Abhishek surprised many when he announced the name of former cricketer Yusuf Pathan from Baharampur, which is the bastion of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Party leader Mahua Moitra also appears among the candidates from her usual seat of Krishnanagar.

Banerjee and her team of candidates arrived at Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground on Sunday afternoon as the TMC kicked off the campaign for the elections.

Banerjee also announced that the party is in talks with the Samajwadi Party for contesting in one Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Among some of the prominent names, Abhishek Banerjee will contest from Diamond Harbour, expelled Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra from Krishnanagar, Bengali film actor Dipak Adhikary from his usual constituency Ghatal, former cricketer and politician Kirti Azad from Bardhaman-Durgapur. Bollywood veteran Shatrughan Sinha will contest from Asansol.

Before announcing the names, Abhishek slammed the Modi government at the Centre, claiming that "Modi ki guarantee" has "zero warranty". He also labelled BJP leaders as "outsiders and anti-Bengal", who only visit the state during elections.

Banerjee also asserted that the people of the state will give a befitting reply to the saffron camp during the Lok Sabha elections for "withholding the state's funds".

Check out the full list of candidates here:

  • Coochbehar: Jagdish Chandra Basuniya
  • Alipurduar: Prakash Chik Baraik
  • Jalpaiguri: Nirmal Chandra Roy
  • Darjeeling: Gopal Lama
  • Raigunj: Krishna Kalyani
  • Balurghat: Biplab Mitra
  • Malda North: Prasun Banerjee
  • Malda South: Shahnawaz Ali Raihan
  • Jangipur: Khalilur Rehman
  • Baharampur: Yusuf Pathaan
  • Murshidabad: Abu Teher Khan
  • Krishnanagar: Mahua Moitra
  • Ranaghat: Mukutmani Adhikari
  • Bangaon: Biswajit Das
  • Barrackpore: Partha Bhowmik
  • Dum Dum: Sougata Roy
  • Barasat: Kakali Ghosh Dastidar
  • Basirhat: Haji Nurul Islam
  • Joynagar: Pratima Mondal
  • Mathurapur: Bapi Haldar
  • Diamond Harbour: Abhishek Banerjee
  • Jadavpur: Sayoni Ghosh
  • Kolkata South: Mala Roy
  • Kolkata North: Sudip Bandyopadhyay
  • Howrah: Prasun Bandyopadhyay
  • Uluberia: Sajdah Ahmed
  • Srirampore: Kalyan Banerjee
  • Hoogly: Rachana Banerjee
  • Arambagh: Mitali Bag
  • Tamluk: Debangshu Bhattacharya
  • Kanthi: Uttam Barik
  • Ghatal: Dipak Adhikary (Dev)
  • Jhargram: Kalipada Soren
  • Medinipur: June Malia
  • Purulia: Shantiram Mahato
  • Bankura: Arup Chakraborty
  • Bardhaman North: Dr. Sharmila Sarkar
  • Bardhaman-Durgapur: Kirti Azad
  • Asansol: Shatrughan Sinha
  • Bolpur: Asit Kumar Mal
  • Birbhum: Shatabdi Roy
  • Bishnupur: Sujata Khan

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