In battle mode, Sonia backs beleaguered PM

May 23, 2013

sonia

Sonia_backs

New Delhi, May 23: A combative UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, clearly in battle mode, forcefully defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday night against the unrelenting criticism he has been facing recently even as she tore into the Bharatiya Janata Party for disrupting Parliament and blocking the passage of key laws.

“The Prime Minister is carrying out his responsibilities with great dignity in the face of unrelenting hostility and abuse from the Opposition,” Ms. Gandhi said in her speech at the UPA’s ninth anniversary celebrations, stressing, “We respect him, and we all stand by him.”

She said the UPA government, the Congress and its coalition partners “have all worked closely and unitedly all these years … to pursue our policies and programmes, and provide effective governance.” The UPA was, therefore, “not going to be deterred or distracted by the drummed up noise being created around us,” she said, expressing the government’s determination to pass the food security and land acquisition Bills and asking the government to “impart new energy” to the Aap Ka Paisa, Aap Ke Haath initiative.

It was the battle cry that gathered UPA MPs wanted to hear.

If that was the uncompromising message from the stage, later during dinner on the lawns of the Prime Minister’s residence, Ms. Gandhi told journalists — in answer to a question — that there were no differences between her and the Prime Minister, that the party had a system of collective leadership, and that it would be a joint election campaign for 2014. This was a line party vice-president Rahul Gandhi — who sat along with the UPA brass on stage for the first time — repeated later to the media.

Later, the Prime Minister, responding to a question on the BJP’s attack on the UPA, said, “What else do you expect from a non-result oriented Opposition? ... There is lot of motivated criticism. Sometimes there are attempts to derail us.”

Asked about his current state of mind, he quoted one of his favourite poets, Iqbal: “Sitaron se aage jehan aur bhi hain … (there are many other worlds beyond these stars),” an indication that Dr. Singh has not yet given up the fight.

This was evident in his speech, too, as the Prime Minister emphasised that six per cent growth in the current year will set the stage for returning to an eight per cent growth rate in the current Five Year-Plan period ending March 31, 2017: “This will be difficult, but it is not impossible,” he said, pointing out, “We have done it before, and if we receive a mandate next year, we will certainly achieve it again.”

Taking on allegations of corruption in allocation of telecom spectrum and coal mines head on, the Prime Minister not only promised to punish wrongdoers but said all future allotment of scarce natural resources would happen only through “more transparent systems, i.e. auctions rather than relying on administrative allocations.”

If last year’s anniversary celebrations had seen both Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on stage, this year, the SP leader was missing, not turning up even for dinner — nor, indeed, sending a representative. But Mr. Prasad and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ramvilas Paswan were seated on the dais, along with the top UPA leaders, hinting at the possibility of the Congress forging an alliance with the RJD and the LJP for 2014. The stage also looked emptier, thanks to the exit of two key allies, the DMK and the Trinamool Congress.

An interesting addition to the guests seated at Ms. Gandhi’s table at dinner was a bearded MP no one recognised: it turned out to be the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Sanjay Kumar, a Rajya Sabha MP, indicating the possibility of a Congress-JMM government soon in Jharkhand, currently under President’s Rule.

Also seated at the same table was Mr. Mulayam Singh Yadav’s former alter ego Amar Singh: he turned up at the celebrations with SP MP Jayaprada in tow — the buzz is she will be shortly joining the Congress. And finally, though BSP leader Mayawati did not show up, her two MPs, Satish Mishra and Brajesh Pathak, came — all given pride of place at Ms. Gandhi’s table.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 18,2024

election.jpg

New Delhi, Mar 18: The Election Commission on Monday afternoon issued orders for the removal of six Home Secretaries - including the top bureaucrats from Gujarat, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh.

The poll panel also directed the transfer of West Bengal's Director-General of Police, the top cop of a state that has seen several instances of poll-related violence in recent years. The poll panel further said a shortlist of three potential replacements had to be prepared and submitted by 5 pm.

The re-shuffle, not an uncommon move by the Election Commission before major polls, also includes the transfer of the Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand Home Secretaries, as well as senior officials attached to the offices of the Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh Chief Ministers.

In addition, Iqbal Singh Chahal, who is Commissioner of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and other officials in municipalities across Maharashtra, have been removed too.

All of this comes less than a month before the 2024 Lok Sabha poll; the ECI on Saturday said voting will begin on April 19 and run over seven phases till June 1.

This is, in fact, the first bureaucratic re-jig by the ECI since it announced polling dates.

The ECI's move comes after a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar and his two associates, the newly-appointed Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. This step comes as part of the poll panel's commitment to ensure a level playing field for all political parties in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, as well as by-polls for 26 seats in 13 states.

Sources said the personnel removed were found to be holding dual charge in the offices of the respective chief ministers of each state, and this could compromise, or be seen to be compromising, required neutrality, particularly in relation to law-and-order before, during and after polling.

Bengal's ruling Trinamool has not yet reacted to the removal of DGP Rajiv Malik, who is seen by some to be close to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party. In the past, the state government has questioned the last-minute re-shuffle of senior civil service and police officials so close to an election, arguing it actually hampers prep work since the new faces need time to adjust to the post.

Bengal has frequently witnessed violence during polling season; in June last year over a dozen people were killed across the state as voting for a panchayat election was underway.

The Trinamool accused the opposition of instigating violence and criticised central forces for their failure to protect voters, while the Congress claimed the state had let thugs loose on the people.

While announcing the dates on Saturday, the Chief Election Commissioner said the poll panel would take a very dim view of any violence during the election. Mr Kumar said the ECI is prepared to come down hard on any such incident. "We're putting political parties on notice," he declared.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 22,2024

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday produced Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal before the Rouse Avenue court and sought a 10-day custody in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. "Kejriwal was the kingpin of the scam," the ED reportedly told the court after the AAP chief was produced before Special Judge Kaveri Baweja around 2 pm amid tight security. 

ASG S V Raju was appearing for the agency, while Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi is representing Kejriwal. 

Raju in his argument said Kejriwal was "directly involved in formulation of the (liquor) policy... he was involved in handling of proceeds of crime as well in the Goa election campaign."

"The expert committee was constituted but it was a sham committee. The policy was made in such a manner that it would enable the taking of bribes and recoupment of people who gave the bribes," the ED counsel said. 

Kejriwal was produced in the trial court shortly after he withdrew from the Supreme Court his plea against arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. Kejriwal's counsel said he would contest the remand proceedings before the trial court and then come back to the apex court with another petition.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 14,2024

kovindpanel.jpg

The high-level committee on simultaneous elections, chaired by Ram Nath Kovind, on Thursday met President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan and submitted its report on 'One Nation, One Election'. The report comprises 18,626 pages.

Home Minister Amit Shah was also present at Rashtrapati Bhawan when Kovind led panel submitted the report.

"Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be held in first step, followed by local body polls within 100 days in second step," reported PTI quoting the panel.

"Synchronised polls for all three tiers of government to improve governance architecture, in line with quest of aspirational India," it added.

The report has been submitted 191 days after the constitution of the panel on September 2, 2023.

It's further reported that the proposal also puts focus on having a singular electoral roll for holding Lok Sabha, state assembly and local body polls.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.