<p>Several Congress leaders paid homage to former prime minister Indira Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Indira Gandhi, the first and to date the only woman prime minister of India was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by her own bodyguards.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi paid floral tribute to Indira Gandhi&#39;s memorial site &quot;Shakti Sthal&quot;.</p>

<p>The day marks the 33rd death anniversary of Ms.Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The then PM&#39;s assassination was the result of an outrage over &quot;Operation Blue Star&quot; where she had ordered the storming of troops at Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar.</p>

<p>Over a thousand&nbsp;people died in the anti-Sikh riots aftermath of Gandhi&#39;s death.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">&quot;Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic&quot; - <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiraGandhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiraGandhi</a> <a href="https://t.co/eDzlLtZCN5">pic.twitter.com/eDzlLtZCN5</a></p>
&mdash; Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShashiTharoor/status/925189791502581760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I pay my humble tributes to former PM Smt <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiraGandhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiraGandhi</a> on her Punyatithi. She contributed immensely towards national unity and<br />
integrity.. <a href="https://t.co/bt6NHULOak">pic.twitter.com/bt6NHULOak</a></p>
&mdash; Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) <a href="https://twitter.com/ashokgehlot51/status/925207459484065792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">My tribute to Iron Lady <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiraGandhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiraGandhi</a> ji, the most powerful, respected and charismatic Prime Minister ever, on her 33rd death anniversary?? <a href="https://t.co/WBx7HR7TUQ">pic.twitter.com/WBx7HR7TUQ</a></p>
&mdash; Kuldeep Bishnoi (@bishnoikuldeep) <a href="https://twitter.com/bishnoikuldeep/status/925190864325951488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">What a pic! (Raghu Rai) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiraGandhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiraGandhi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Indira100?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Indira100</a> <a href="https://t.co/JKXYuJObhl">pic.twitter.com/JKXYuJObhl</a></p>
&mdash; Rachit Seth (@rachitseth) <a href="https://twitter.com/rachitseth/status/925060794907213825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Proud Nation remembers 2 great patriots today<br />
Sardar Patel &amp; <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IndiraGandhi?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IndiraGandhi</a><br />
<br />
Common thread was<br />
a)Congress Party<br />
b)Both fought communal forces <a href="https://t.co/LzmYxOmgM9">pic.twitter.com/LzmYxOmgM9</a></p>
&mdash; Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajaymaken/status/925208867633446913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Also read: <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/runforunity-people-tried-to-ensure-that-sardar-vallabhbhais-contribution-is-ignored-pm-modi-23176" target="_blank">People tried to ensure contribution of Sardar Patel is forgotten: PM Modi</a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Indira Gandhi, the first and to date the only woman prime minister of India was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by her own bodyguards

Several Congress leaders paid homage to former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Indira Gandhi, the first and to date the only woman prime minister of India was assassinated on October 31, 1984, by her own bodyguards. Former President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi paid floral tribute to Indira Gandhi's memorial site "Shakti Sthal". The day marks the 33rd death anniversary of Ms.Gandhi. The then PM's assassination was the result of an outrage over "Operation Blue Star" where she had ordered the storming of troops at Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. Over a thousand people died in the anti-Sikh riots aftermath of Gandhi's death. "Every drop of my blood will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic" - #IndiraGandhi pic.twitter.com/eDzlLtZCN5 — Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) October 31, 2017 × I pay my humble tributes to former PM Smt #IndiraGandhi on her Punyatithi. She contributed immensely towards national unity and integrity.. pic.twitter.com/bt6NHULOak — Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) October 31, 2017 × My tribute to Iron Lady #IndiraGandhi ji, the most powerful, respected and charismatic Prime Minister ever, on her 33rd death anniversary?? pic.twitter.com/WBx7HR7TUQ — Kuldeep Bishnoi (@bishnoikuldeep) October 31, 2017 × What a pic! (Raghu Rai) #IndiraGandhi #Indira100 pic.twitter.com/JKXYuJObhl — Rachit Seth (@rachitseth) October 30, 2017 × Proud Nation remembers 2 great patriots today Sardar Patel & #IndiraGandhi Common thread was a)Congress Party b)Both fought communal forces pic.twitter.com/LzmYxOmgM9 — Ajay Maken (@ajaymaken) October 31, 2017 × Also read: People tried to ensure contribution of Sardar Patel is forgotten: PM Modi

Congress leaders pay homage to Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary

<p>Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel has said that he wants clarity by November 7 on the issue of reservation to his community.</p>

<p>Patel`s statement came just hours after the first formal meeting of the Patidar community and the Congress leaders ahead of the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections.&quot;I am not with or against anyone (Congress). I need clarity by November 7 on an issue of reservation to our community&quot;, he told the reporters.</p>

<p>The PAAS leader, earlier on Monday, extended the deadline for the Congress Party till November 7 to clear its stand on the Patidar community`s demand for reservation.In a meeting with the Congress, the Patidar leaders listed their demands and the party agreed to four of them, but the demand for Patidar reservation did not reach a final conclusion.</p>

<p>Nevertheless, Patel has remarked that the meeting turned out to be fruitful and the PAAS may meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi if the core committee advises so.</p>

<p>Amid the conjectures surrounding the Patidar`s choice of an ally in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election, Patel clarified that he will never support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and added that there is &quot;no match fixing at all&quot;. Meanwhile, the Congress has said that it will make a decision after consulting the matter with legal experts.</p>

<p>&quot;PAAS has put forward their point, and we will go to a legal expert and then take things forward,&quot; Gujarat State President Bharatsinh Solanki said in a press conference yesterday.</p>

<p>The Patidar leader had earlier said that he will extend support to the Congress if it supports their community and provides reservation.The Congress is counting on Patidar votes to sway the election results of Gujarat polls in their favour and overthrow the BJP, which has been in power since 1995 in the state.</p>

<p>The polls will be conducted in two phases in the state.The polling for the first phase will be held on December 9 and for the second phase on December 14.The counting of the votes will be held on December 18</p>


Patel`s statement came just hours after the first formal meeting of the Patidar community and the Congress leaders ahead of the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections.

Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) leader Hardik Patel has said that he wants clarity by November 7 on the issue of reservation to his community. Patel`s statement came just hours after the first formal meeting of the Patidar community and the Congress leaders ahead of the upcoming Gujarat assembly elections."I am not with or against anyone (Congress). I need clarity by November 7 on an issue of reservation to our community", he told the reporters. The PAAS leader, earlier on Monday, extended the deadline for the Congress Party till November 7 to clear its stand on the Patidar community`s demand for reservation.In a meeting with the Congress, the Patidar leaders listed their demands and the party agreed to four of them, but the demand for Patidar reservation did not reach a final conclusion. Nevertheless, Patel has remarked that the meeting turned out to be fruitful and the PAAS may meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi if the core committee advises so. Amid the conjectures surrounding the Patidar`s choice of an ally in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly election, Patel clarified that he will never support the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and added that there is "no match fixing at all". Meanwhile, the Congress has said that it will make a decision after consulting the matter with legal experts. "PAAS has put forward their point, and we will go to a legal expert and then take things forward," Gujarat State President Bharatsinh Solanki said in a press conference yesterday. The Patidar leader had earlier said that he will extend support to the Congress if it supports their community and provides reservation.The Congress is counting on Patidar votes to sway the election results of Gujarat polls in their favour and overthrow the BJP, which has been in power since 1995 in the state. The polls will be conducted in two phases in the state.The polling for the first phase will be held on December 9 and for the second phase on December 14.The counting of the votes will be held on December 18

Hardik Patel wants clarity on Patidar reservation issue by November 7

<p>The BJP has taken a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for his attempt to silence critics <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/whos-been-tweeting-for-rahul-gandhi-he-finally-answers-sort-of-23104">who raise questions on his tweets</a>.</p>

<p>BJP&rsquo;s IT-cell in-charge Amit Malviya has tweeted a modified poster of Akshay Kumar&rsquo;s upcoming movie &#39;Padman&#39; which shows Gandhi with his pet dog Pidi. Gandhi had hit back at his critics by tweeting a video of Pidi,&nbsp;&quot;Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I&rsquo;m coming clean..it&rsquo;s me..Pidi..I&rsquo;m way ?? than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat!&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I&#39;m coming clean..it&#39;s me..Pidi..I&#39;m way ?? than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat! <a href="https://t.co/fkQwye94a5">pic.twitter.com/fkQwye94a5</a></p>
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/924531438661148673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Malviya&rsquo;s tweet says,&nbsp;&ldquo;Pidiman &ndash; the story of a dog who is smarter than his master&rdquo;. It further said, &ldquo;written &amp; directed by Congress&hellip;released today on Twitter&rdquo;.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="und">Pidi ???, Congress ????.. <a href="https://t.co/A677QSIvah">pic.twitter.com/A677QSIvah</a></p>
&mdash; Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) <a href="https://twitter.com/malviyamit/status/924618205959741440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had also attacked Gandhi for his tweet saying</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sir <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OfficeOfRG</a>,who knows him better than me.Still remember you busy feeding biscuits 2 him while We wanted to discuss urgent Assam&#39;s issues <a href="https://t.co/Eiu7VsuvL1">https://t.co/Eiu7VsuvL1</a></p>
&mdash; Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) <a href="https://twitter.com/himantabiswa/status/924556587225645056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 29, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Rahul Gandhi&#39;s Twitter handle &#39;OfficeofRG&#39; has been in news recently due to a rise in retweets as evidence of a resurgence of his interaction on social media. However, a cursory glance at the Twitter handles retweeting the Congress Vice President&#39;s tweets does throw up some questions...are these <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/bots-behind-rise-in-rahul-gandhis-twitter-popularity-22692">automated &#39;bots&#39; mass retweeting Rahul Gandhi&#39;s tweets</a>?</p>

<p>On October 15th, &#39;OfficeofRG&#39; retweeted US President Donald Trump&#39;s tweet praising American-Pakistani relations with a caption &#39;Modi ji quick, looks like President Trump needs another hug&#39;. The tweet quickly reached 20,000 retweets and currently has touched 30,000.</p>

<p>A close analysis of this tweet showed that these alleged &#39;bots&#39; with a Russian, Kazakh or Indonesian characteristic was routinely RT-ing the Congress VP&#39;s tweets. Further scrutiny of these Twitter accounts showed that the follower list was usually under 10 users and retweets comprised of random topics from across the world and those of Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, the content of these twitter timelines comprised merely of retweets and a lack of tweets which could be categorised as an original thought.</p>


The BJP has taken a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for his attempt to silence critics who raise questions on his tweets.

The BJP has taken a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for his attempt to silence critics who raise questions on his tweets. BJP’s IT-cell in-charge Amit Malviya has tweeted a modified poster of Akshay Kumar’s upcoming movie 'Padman' which shows Gandhi with his pet dog Pidi. Gandhi had hit back at his critics by tweeting a video of Pidi, "Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I’m coming clean..it’s me..Pidi..I’m way ?? than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat!" Ppl been asking who tweets for this guy..I'm coming clean..it's me..Pidi..I'm way ?? than him. Look what I can do with a tweet..oops..treat! pic.twitter.com/fkQwye94a5 — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 29, 2017 × Malviya’s tweet says, “Pidiman – the story of a dog who is smarter than his master”. It further said, “written & directed by Congress…released today on Twitter”. Pidi ???, Congress ????.. pic.twitter.com/A677QSIvah — Amit Malviya (@malviyamit) October 29, 2017 × Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had also attacked Gandhi for his tweet saying Sir @OfficeOfRG,who knows him better than me.Still remember you busy feeding biscuits 2 him while We wanted to discuss urgent Assam's issues https://t.co/Eiu7VsuvL1 — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) October 29, 2017 × Rahul Gandhi's Twitter handle 'OfficeofRG' has been in news recently due to a rise in retweets as evidence of a resurgence of his interaction on social media. However, a cursory glance at the Twitter handles retweeting the Congress Vice President's tweets does throw up some questions...are these automated 'bots' mass retweeting Rahul Gandhi's tweets? On October 15th, 'OfficeofRG' retweeted US President Donald Trump's tweet praising American-Pakistani relations with a caption 'Modi ji quick, looks like President Trump needs another hug'. The tweet quickly reached 20,000 retweets and currently has touched 30,000. A close analysis of this tweet showed that these alleged 'bots' with a Russian, Kazakh or Indonesian characteristic was routinely RT-ing the Congress VP's tweets. Further scrutiny of these Twitter accounts showed that the follower list was usually under 10 users and retweets comprised of random topics from across the world and those of Rahul Gandhi. Moreover, the content of these twitter timelines comprised merely of retweets and a lack of tweets which could be categorised as an original thought.

'Pidi can save Congress': BJP's jibe at Rahul Gandhi

<p>Brazilian lawmakers rejected corruption charges against&nbsp;President&nbsp;Michel Temer on Wednesday evening, shelving a case that had threatened to oust a center-right leader who investors hope will bring&nbsp;Brazil&#39;s budget deficit under control.</p>

<p>The corruption case, involving the payment of bribes by meatpacker JBS SA, had paralyzed Temer&#39;s reform agenda for six months and weakened his government.</p>

<p>The lower house of&nbsp;Brazil&#39;s Congress, which has the authority to decide whether a&nbsp;president should stand trial by the Supreme Court, voted 251-233 to throw out charges of obstruction of justice and organized crime filed by federal prosecutors.</p>

<p>The vote means that Temer is safe from prosecution while he remains&nbsp;president. But he is still subject to investigation and possible trial by lower courts after his term ends in late 2018.</p>

<p>While Temer&#39;s opponents were far from the 342 votes - or two-thirds of the seats - needed to put him on trial, he got 12 votes less than in August when the lower house voted 263-227 to block an initial corruption charge against him.</p>

<p>The slip in support signals Temer will have trouble passing a pension reform bill that is crucial for plugging&nbsp;Brazil&#39;s budget deficit. Many lawmakers are reluctant to back the reform, which would make&nbsp;Brazilians work more years before retirement.</p>

<p>The speaker of the house, Rodrigo Maia, said the shelving of the charges against Temer cleared the way for the government and Congress to move ahead with the pension reform debate.</p>

<p>Allies said&nbsp;Brazil&nbsp;could not afford the upheaval of removing a second&nbsp;president&nbsp;in little over a year, as Latin America&#39;s largest economy struggles to overcome a deep recession. Temer succeeded impeached leftist&nbsp;President&nbsp;Dilma Rousseff in 2016.</p>

<p>Opponents criticized Temer for making policy concessions and fast-tracking pork barrel spending to win votes to ensure his survival.</p>

<p>To please the powerful farm lobby that has two-fifths of the votes in the lower house, Temer agreed to lower fines for environmental damage. He attempted to relax a definition of slave labor but was forced to backtrack after an outcry.</p>

<p>A few hours before the vote, Temer was taken to hospital in pain due to a urinary tract obstruction, a health scare that triggered a brief selloff in financial markets.</p>

<p>His office said he underwent a bladder test by a catheter and left the hospital later on Wednesday. Temer, 77, was recently diagnosed with a partial coronary artery blockage.</p>

<p>Brazil&#39;s benchmark Bovespa stock index closed up 0.47 percent at 76,706 points after the house reached a quorum allowing the vote to go ahead.</p>

<p>Earlier, it touched session lows on the news that Temer was in the hospital. Stocks later pared losses and the currency was flat after his office gave details of his condition.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The corruption case, involving the payment of bribes by meatpacker JBS SA, had paralyzed Temer's reform agenda for six months and weakened his government.

Brazilian lawmakers rejected corruption charges against President Michel Temer on Wednesday evening, shelving a case that had threatened to oust a center-right leader who investors hope will bring Brazil's budget deficit under control. The corruption case, involving the payment of bribes by meatpacker JBS SA, had paralyzed Temer's reform agenda for six months and weakened his government. The lower house of Brazil's Congress, which has the authority to decide whether a president should stand trial by the Supreme Court, voted 251-233 to throw out charges of obstruction of justice and organized crime filed by federal prosecutors. The vote means that Temer is safe from prosecution while he remains president. But he is still subject to investigation and possible trial by lower courts after his term ends in late 2018. While Temer's opponents were far from the 342 votes - or two-thirds of the seats - needed to put him on trial, he got 12 votes less than in August when the lower house voted 263-227 to block an initial corruption charge against him. The slip in support signals Temer will have trouble passing a pension reform bill that is crucial for plugging Brazil's budget deficit. Many lawmakers are reluctant to back the reform, which would make Brazilians work more years before retirement. The speaker of the house, Rodrigo Maia, said the shelving of the charges against Temer cleared the way for the government and Congress to move ahead with the pension reform debate. Allies said Brazil could not afford the upheaval of removing a second president in little over a year, as Latin America's largest economy struggles to overcome a deep recession. Temer succeeded impeached leftist President Dilma Rousseff in 2016. Opponents criticized Temer for making policy concessions and fast-tracking pork barrel spending to win votes to ensure his survival. To please the powerful farm lobby that has two-fifths of the votes in the lower house, Temer agreed to lower fines for environmental damage. He attempted to relax a definition of slave labor but was forced to backtrack after an outcry. A few hours before the vote, Temer was taken to hospital in pain due to a urinary tract obstruction, a health scare that triggered a brief selloff in financial markets. His office said he underwent a bladder test by a catheter and left the hospital later on Wednesday. Temer, 77, was recently diagnosed with a partial coronary artery blockage. Brazil's benchmark Bovespa stock index closed up 0.47 percent at 76,706 points after the house reached a quorum allowing the vote to go ahead. Earlier, it touched session lows on the news that Temer was in the hospital. Stocks later pared losses and the currency was flat after his office gave details of his condition.

Brazil's Congress rejects corruption case against President Temer

<p>The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will observe &quot;anti-black money day&quot; on November 8 to counter the Oppostion&#39;s&nbsp;&quot;Black Day&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;November 8 will complete one year of demonetisation. The party has decided to celebrate the day as anti-black money day,&quot; Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, while addressing the media on Wednesday.</p>

<p>Jaitley further said that people who deposited money disproportionate to their income &quot;are now being forced to pay taxes.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Not the confiscation of money, but squeezing the quantum of cash was the objective of demonetisation,&quot; he added.</p>

<p>The finance minister also said that post the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a new transition phase had been heralded in&nbsp;which would make cash generation difficult.</p>

<p>He added that the Congress had adequate opportunity while being in power, but he &quot;can`t recollect a single step that they took against black money.&quot;</p>

<p>The Opposition parties had earlier decided to observe November 8 - the first anniversary of demonetisation - as &quot;Black Day&quot;.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media here, &quot;Possibly, this is the first time that a decision announced by the Prime Minister had to be changed 135 times. It just shows how ill-conceived it was.&quot;</p>

<p>Azad was speaking in the presence of Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O&#39;Brien, besides others.</p>

<p>He claimed that 18 parties would be protesting in their own respective ways in all states.</p>

<p>O`Brien described demonetisation as a &quot;big scam&quot; and added that TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first leader to point this out.</p>

<p>On Monday, the opposition formed a coordination committee and met for the first time in Parliament.</p>

<p>The meeting was attended by Azad, O&#39;Brien, Yadav, CPI MP D. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and BSP MP Satish Mishra.On November 8, 2016, the Centre announced to demonetise 500- and 1000-rupee banknotes.The government also introduced new Rs.200, Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes.The government had then said that the action would curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.&nbsp;</p>


November 8 is the first anniversary of demonetisation

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will observe "anti-black money day" on November 8 to counter the Oppostion's "Black Day". "November 8 will complete one year of demonetisation. The party has decided to celebrate the day as anti-black money day," Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, while addressing the media on Wednesday. Jaitley further said that people who deposited money disproportionate to their income "are now being forced to pay taxes." "Not the confiscation of money, but squeezing the quantum of cash was the objective of demonetisation," he added. The finance minister also said that post the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), a new transition phase had been heralded in which would make cash generation difficult. He added that the Congress had adequate opportunity while being in power, but he "can`t recollect a single step that they took against black money." The Opposition parties had earlier decided to observe November 8 - the first anniversary of demonetisation - as "Black Day". Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media here, "Possibly, this is the first time that a decision announced by the Prime Minister had to be changed 135 times. It just shows how ill-conceived it was." Azad was speaking in the presence of Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav and Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien, besides others. He claimed that 18 parties would be protesting in their own respective ways in all states. O`Brien described demonetisation as a "big scam" and added that TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was the first leader to point this out. On Monday, the opposition formed a coordination committee and met for the first time in Parliament. The meeting was attended by Azad, O'Brien, Yadav, CPI MP D. Raja, DMK MP Kanimozhi and BSP MP Satish Mishra.On November 8, 2016, the Centre announced to demonetise 500- and 1000-rupee banknotes.The government also introduced new Rs.200, Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 notes.The government had then said that the action would curtail the shadow economy and crack down on the use of illicit and counterfeit cash to fund illegal activity and terrorism.

Nov 8: Opposition to observe 'Black Day', BJP 'anti-black money day'

<p>As many as 275 candidates, including former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal,&nbsp;filed their nomination for&nbsp;Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls on Monday, the last day to file nominations.&nbsp;</p>

<p>With this, the total number of nominations filed for the polls went up to 479.</p>

<p>The date of polling in Himachal Pradesh is November 9,&nbsp;and the counting will be held on&nbsp;December 18.&nbsp;The date before which election shall be completed would be December 20, the Election Commission had announced earlier.</p>

<p>In all, 119 candidates filed nomination for 15 seats in Kangra, 74 candidates for 10 seats in Mandi, 64 for eight seats in Shimla, 41 for five seats in Hamirpur, 28 for five seats in Chamba, 29 for five seats in Solan.</p>

<p>Twenty seven candidates filed their nomination for five seats in Sirmaur, 47 for five seats in Una, 17 for four seats in Bilaspur, 23 for four seats in Kullu, five each for one seat in Lahaul and Spiti, and Kinnaur constituencies.</p>

<p>Earlier in the day, Congress leader Deepak Rathore had filed his nomination from Theog seat, but the party later announced that veteran leader, Irrigation and Public Health Minister&nbsp;Vidya Stokes&nbsp;would be the official candidate -&nbsp;who filed her nomiation from Theog in Shimla district.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Stokes had left the seat for Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who&nbsp;shifted to Arki and she was&nbsp;asked by the party high command to contest from Theog, HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu said.</p>

<p>Stokes has contested assembly polls ten times since 1974 and lost twice in 1977 and 1993.</p>

<p>Dhumal filed his nomination from Sujanpur; Sukku entered the fray from Nadaun, while Vikramaditya Singh filed his papers from Shimla (Rural) constituency, vacated by his father Virbhadra Singh.</p>

<p>Former minister Anil Sharma, son of former Union communication minister Sukh Ram who recently joined the BJP, also filed his nomination from Mandi (Sadar) and&nbsp;deputy speaker Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur.</p>

<p>Over two dozen rebel leaders of the Congress and the BJP who were denied tickets also joined the fray as independents.</p>


Nominations filed for the polls went up to 479

As many as 275 candidates, including former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, filed their nomination for Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls on Monday, the last day to file nominations. With this, the total number of nominations filed for the polls went up to 479. The date of polling in Himachal Pradesh is November 9, and the counting will be held on December 18. The date before which election shall be completed would be December 20, the Election Commission had announced earlier. In all, 119 candidates filed nomination for 15 seats in Kangra, 74 candidates for 10 seats in Mandi, 64 for eight seats in Shimla, 41 for five seats in Hamirpur, 28 for five seats in Chamba, 29 for five seats in Solan. Twenty seven candidates filed their nomination for five seats in Sirmaur, 47 for five seats in Una, 17 for four seats in Bilaspur, 23 for four seats in Kullu, five each for one seat in Lahaul and Spiti, and Kinnaur constituencies. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Deepak Rathore had filed his nomination from Theog seat, but the party later announced that veteran leader, Irrigation and Public Health Minister Vidya Stokes would be the official candidate - who filed her nomiation from Theog in Shimla district. Stokes had left the seat for Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who shifted to Arki and she was asked by the party high command to contest from Theog, HPCC president Sukhvinder Singh Sukkhu said. Stokes has contested assembly polls ten times since 1974 and lost twice in 1977 and 1993. Dhumal filed his nomination from Sujanpur; Sukku entered the fray from Nadaun, while Vikramaditya Singh filed his papers from Shimla (Rural) constituency, vacated by his father Virbhadra Singh. Former minister Anil Sharma, son of former Union communication minister Sukh Ram who recently joined the BJP, also filed his nomination from Mandi (Sadar) and deputy speaker Jagat Singh Negi from Kinnaur. Over two dozen rebel leaders of the Congress and the BJP who were denied tickets also joined the fray as independents.

Himachal polls: 275 nominations filed on last day

<p>The Rajasthan assembly was adjourned on Monday after the government tried to table the controversial Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ordinance prevents police from investigating -- and the media from reporting -- wrongdoing by public officials without prior permission from the government.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Congress walked out of the assembly.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The DNA reported that at least one BJP MLA -- Ghanshyam Tiwari -- also protested against the ordinance.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Pandemonium in state assembly as Congress protests against tabling of Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Rajasthan state assembly adjourned till tomorrow.</p>
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<p>The ordinance was also challenged in the Rajasthan high court, with a lawyer filing a PIL against it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Hindustan Times however&nbsp;reported the Centre as defending the ordinance, saying it was &ldquo;perfect and balanced&rdquo;.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Individual rights and media have been both taken care of. This law is very much needed in these times,&rdquo; the Hindustan Times quoted junior law minister PP Chaudhury as telling ANI.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Madam Chief Minister, with all humility we are in the 21&#39;st century. It&#39;s 2017, not 1817. <a href="https://t.co/ezPfca2NPS">https://t.co/ezPfca2NPS</a></p>
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/921983042540904448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Govt wants to cover up their own corruption. We&#39;ll submit memorandum to Pres: Sachin Pilot on Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance <a href="https://t.co/zJIbB6dGHi">pic.twitter.com/zJIbB6dGHi</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/922367340414566400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;The government is trying to cover up their own corruption,&quot; Congress leader Sachin Pilot said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He added that they would subit&nbsp;a memorandum to the President.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Hindustan Times reported&nbsp;Rameshwar Dudi, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly, as saying the Congress opposed the &quot;black law&quot; and would force the government to take back the ordinance.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The ordinance provides immunity to both serving and former judges, and public servants for 180 days or six months from the time&nbsp;an application is made to investigate him or her.&nbsp;</p>

<p>After that, should there be no reply to the application, permission will be deemed to have been given.</p>

<p>The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 was promulgated on September 7.&nbsp;</p>


The ordinance would prevent the police from investigating -- and the media from reporting on -- wrongoing by a public official without prior permission from the government

The Rajasthan assembly was adjourned on Monday after the government tried to table the controversial Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance. The ordinance prevents police from investigating -- and the media from reporting -- wrongdoing by public officials without prior permission from the government. The Congress walked out of the assembly. The DNA reported that at least one BJP MLA -- Ghanshyam Tiwari -- also protested against the ordinance. Pandemonium in state assembly as Congress protests against tabling of Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance — ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2017 × Rajasthan state assembly adjourned till tomorrow. — ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2017 × The ordinance was also challenged in the Rajasthan high court, with a lawyer filing a PIL against it. The Hindustan Times however reported the Centre as defending the ordinance, saying it was “perfect and balanced”. “Individual rights and media have been both taken care of. This law is very much needed in these times,” the Hindustan Times quoted junior law minister PP Chaudhury as telling ANI. Madam Chief Minister, with all humility we are in the 21'st century. It's 2017, not 1817. https://t.co/ezPfca2NPS — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) October 22, 2017 × Govt wants to cover up their own corruption. We'll submit memorandum to Pres: Sachin Pilot on Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) ordinance pic.twitter.com/zJIbB6dGHi — ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2017 × "The government is trying to cover up their own corruption," Congress leader Sachin Pilot said. He added that they would subit a memorandum to the President. The Hindustan Times reported Rameshwar Dudi, the leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly, as saying the Congress opposed the "black law" and would force the government to take back the ordinance. The ordinance provides immunity to both serving and former judges, and public servants for 180 days or six months from the time an application is made to investigate him or her. After that, should there be no reply to the application, permission will be deemed to have been given. The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 was promulgated on September 7.

Rajasthan ordinance protecting officials challenged in HC, Centre says law 'perfect and balanced'

<p>The national general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saroj Pandey today raked up a controversy by making a comment that if the killing of her party workers continued in Kerala, &quot;eyes of the attackers will be gouged out&quot;.<br />
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Her comment drew strong criticism from the main opposition Congress.<br />
<br />
Pandey was speaking to media on the sidelines of a programme in Kumhari area of Chhattisgarh&#39;s Durg district.<br />
<br />
&quot;Our national president has taken out a march (referring to Jan-Suraksha Yatra in Kerala) because in future, if they (attackers) continue to show eyes to our workers, we will gouge them out (humare rashtriya adhyaksh ne march ki shuruwaat isliye ki hai ki aane vale samay me agar hamare karyakarta ke sath isi prakar se aankh dikhane ki sthiti hogi to hum ghar me ghuskar aankh nikla lenge ye tay baat hai),&quot; Pandey said.<br />
<br />
She further said her party has a strength of about 11 crore workers across the world and the killing of people related to RSS and BJP in the coastal state is not acceptable in a democracy.<br />
<br />
&quot;Our party has a strength of 11 crore members across the world more than 300 workers in Kerala who were 20, 22 and 25 years of age were murdered. Everybody has right to present their thoughts. But as far as the politics is concerned, I believe politics should not be done like this,&quot; she said.<br />
<br />
&quot;We have government (at the Centre) and based on our numbers (in Lok Sabha), we can dismiss such (state) governments.<br />
<br />
&quot;But we believe in democracy and the party ruling in Kerala and West Bengal should also respect democracy and should not be based on these issues,&quot; she said.<br />
<br />
Meanwhile, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, talking to PTI, condemned the statement made by BJP general secretary.<br />
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&quot;A senior woman politician should not make such kind of comment. It has exposed the real face of her party and its mindset. Any kind of violence is not justified in a democracy,&quot; Baghel said.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Saroj Pandey was speaking to reporters in Chhattisgarh's Durg district at the time

The national general secretary of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Saroj Pandey today raked up a controversy by making a comment that if the killing of her party workers continued in Kerala, "eyes of the attackers will be gouged out". Her comment drew strong criticism from the main opposition Congress. Pandey was speaking to media on the sidelines of a programme in Kumhari area of Chhattisgarh's Durg district. "Our national president has taken out a march (referring to Jan-Suraksha Yatra in Kerala) because in future, if they (attackers) continue to show eyes to our workers, we will gouge them out (humare rashtriya adhyaksh ne march ki shuruwaat isliye ki hai ki aane vale samay me agar hamare karyakarta ke sath isi prakar se aankh dikhane ki sthiti hogi to hum ghar me ghuskar aankh nikla lenge ye tay baat hai)," Pandey said. She further said her party has a strength of about 11 crore workers across the world and the killing of people related to RSS and BJP in the coastal state is not acceptable in a democracy. "Our party has a strength of 11 crore members across the world more than 300 workers in Kerala who were 20, 22 and 25 years of age were murdered. Everybody has right to present their thoughts. But as far as the politics is concerned, I believe politics should not be done like this," she said. "We have government (at the Centre) and based on our numbers (in Lok Sabha), we can dismiss such (state) governments. "But we believe in democracy and the party ruling in Kerala and West Bengal should also respect democracy and should not be based on these issues," she said. Meanwhile, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel, talking to PTI, condemned the statement made by BJP general secretary. "A senior woman politician should not make such kind of comment. It has exposed the real face of her party and its mindset. Any kind of violence is not justified in a democracy," Baghel said.

Eyes of attackers will be gouged out: BJP gen secy on killing of party workers in Kerala

<p>The filing of nominations for the November 9 Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to begin on Monday, but both the major political parties,&nbsp;the Congress and the BJP, are yet to announce their candidates.<br />
<br />
The last date for filing nominations is October 23, scrutiny of papers is scheduled to be taken up on October 24, the last day for withdrawal of nominations is October 26, while polling will be held on November 9.<br />
<br />
Of the 7,521 polling booths in the state, 136 (two each in the 68 constituencies) would only have women officials, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pushpender Rajput said.</p>

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<h5>The elections will be held on November 9</h5>
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<p>He added that the counting of votes would be taken up on December 18 and the Model Code of Conduct would remain in force till December 20.<br />
<br />
Of the 68 Assembly segments in the state, 17 were reserved for the scheduled castes and three for scheduled tribes, Rajput said.<br />
<br />
The total number of registered voters in the state was 49,13,888, he said, adding that the figure was likely to go up once the pending cases for registration of voters were disposed of.<br />
<br />
The CEO said electronic voting machines (EVMs), connected to voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, would be used in all the 7,521 polling booths.<br />
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VVPAT machines would be used for the first time in the Himachal Assembly polls and they would enable a voter to see the name and election symbol of the candidate he has voted for for seven seconds, he added.</p>


Both the major parties, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to announce their candidates

The filing of nominations for the November 9 Assembly polls in Himachal Pradesh is scheduled to begin on Monday, but both the major political parties, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to announce their candidates. The last date for filing nominations is October 23, scrutiny of papers is scheduled to be taken up on October 24, the last day for withdrawal of nominations is October 26, while polling will be held on November 9. Of the 7,521 polling booths in the state, 136 (two each in the 68 constituencies) would only have women officials, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pushpender Rajput said. The elections will be held on November 9 × He added that the counting of votes would be taken up on December 18 and the Model Code of Conduct would remain in force till December 20. Of the 68 Assembly segments in the state, 17 were reserved for the scheduled castes and three for scheduled tribes, Rajput said. The total number of registered voters in the state was 49,13,888, he said, adding that the figure was likely to go up once the pending cases for registration of voters were disposed of. The CEO said electronic voting machines (EVMs), connected to voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, would be used in all the 7,521 polling booths. VVPAT machines would be used for the first time in the Himachal Assembly polls and they would enable a voter to see the name and election symbol of the candidate he has voted for for seven seconds, he added.

Himachal polls: Filing of nominations to start today

<p>The Congress party&nbsp;on Monday&nbsp;downplayed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley`s assertion that world is praising India for demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) and said they are living in delusion.</p>

<p>Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Ranjeet Ranjan said, &quot;Jaitley ji is saying that world is praising India for demonetisation and GST. On that note, we should also not forget about the statements made by their own party leader Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie&quot;.</p>

<p>She added &quot;they are in a delusion that the world is impressed with India`s structural reforms. On what basis he is saying that all the countries across the world are praising India for these reforms? They are not even able to provide employment. Jaitley ji is senior advocate but not a Finance Minister.</p>

<p>&quot;The Union Finance Minister&nbsp;on Saturday&nbsp;said that countries across the world are lauding India for having the guts to bring in major structural reforms like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST).</p>

<p>In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Finance Minister, who was in the US to attend the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, said that the comments made by the experts worldwide on India`s structural reforms underline the country`s confident image.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img src="https://ssl.gstatic.com/ui/v1/icons/mail/images/cleardot.gif" /></p>


'They are in a delusion that the world is impressed with India`s structural reforms. On what basis he is saying that all the countries across the world are praising India for these reforms? They are not even able to provide employment', said the Congress leader

The Congress party on Monday downplayed Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley`s assertion that world is praising India for demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) and said they are living in delusion. Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Ranjeet Ranjan said, "Jaitley ji is saying that world is praising India for demonetisation and GST. On that note, we should also not forget about the statements made by their own party leader Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie". She added "they are in a delusion that the world is impressed with India`s structural reforms. On what basis he is saying that all the countries across the world are praising India for these reforms? They are not even able to provide employment. Jaitley ji is senior advocate but not a Finance Minister. "The Union Finance Minister on Saturday said that countries across the world are lauding India for having the guts to bring in major structural reforms like demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST). In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Finance Minister, who was in the US to attend the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank, said that the comments made by the experts worldwide on India`s structural reforms underline the country`s confident image.

BJP living in delusion: Congress on Jaitley's remark on GST, demonetisation

<p>The Congress&#39;s Sunil Jakhar has won the Gurdaspur bypoll by close to two lakh votes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The BJP came in second, and the AAP third.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="in">Punjab: Congress&#39;s Sunil Jakhar wins <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll</a> by 1,93,219 votes <a href="https://t.co/rZMlF9qTvX">pic.twitter.com/rZMlF9qTvX</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/919461034070380544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Punjab?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Punjab</a> Congress: 4,99,752, BJP 3,06,533, AAP 23,579 votes.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/919472565852049408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Counting began this morning. The bypoll -- necessitated by the death of the BJP&#39;s Vinod Khanna -- took place on October 11.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Punjab: Congress workers and leaders celebrate as party leads by more than 1 lakh votes in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll</a> <a href="https://t.co/gYlPec5EKG">pic.twitter.com/gYlPec5EKG</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/919444598396559360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Gurdaspur bypoll is being seen as a referendum on Punjab&#39;s six-month-old Congress government.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Jakhar himself had billed the bypoll as a referendum on the Narendra&nbsp;Modi-led government at the Centre and its policies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;People of Gurdaspur have sent a strong message of their resentment to policies pursued by Modiji-led Centre,&quot; ANI reported Jakhar as saying.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ppl of Gurdaspur have sent a strong message of their resentment to policies pursued by Modi Ji led Centre: Sunil Jakhar <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GurdaspurByPoll?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GurdaspurByPoll</a> <a href="https://t.co/6JMxqdHK0k">pic.twitter.com/6JMxqdHK0k</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/919440515371696134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 15, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;This is a beautiful Diwali gift, packed with a red ribbon, for our would-be party president Rahul Gandhi,&quot; ANI reported Navjot Sidhu, who recently joined the Congress from the BJP, as saying.&nbsp;</p>


The Congress's Sunil Jakhar has won the Gurdaspur bypoll by close to two lakh votes. The BJP came in second, and the AAP third. Punjab: Congress's Sunil Jakhar wins #GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll by 1,93,219 votes pic.twitter.com/rZMlF9qTvX — ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2017 × #Punjab Congress: 4,99,752, BJP 3,06,533, AAP 23,579 votes.#GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll — ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2017 × Counting began this morning. The bypoll -- necessitated by the death of the BJP's Vinod Khanna -- took place on October 11. Punjab: Congress workers and leaders celebrate as party leads by more than 1 lakh votes in #GurdaspurLokSabhaBypoll pic.twitter.com/gYlPec5EKG — ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2017 × The Gurdaspur bypoll is being seen as a referendum on Punjab's six-month-old Congress government. Jakhar himself had billed the bypoll as a referendum on the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre and its policies. "People of Gurdaspur have sent a strong message of their resentment to policies pursued by Modiji-led Centre," ANI reported Jakhar as saying. Ppl of Gurdaspur have sent a strong message of their resentment to policies pursued by Modi Ji led Centre: Sunil Jakhar #GurdaspurByPoll pic.twitter.com/6JMxqdHK0k — ANI (@ANI) October 15, 2017 × "This is a beautiful Diwali gift, packed with a red ribbon, for our would-be party president Rahul Gandhi," ANI reported Navjot Sidhu, who recently joined the Congress from the BJP, as saying.

Gurdaspur bypoll: Congress's Sunil Jakhar wins, says voters have rejected PM Modi's policies

<p>The joke in the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh is that Jyotiraditya Scindhia has got traction, Digvijay Singh has got sangathan (organisation) and Kamalnath has got the money muscle. Reasonably speaking all three elements are required to win assembly elections. Congress has not been able to retain Madhya Pradesh since 2003.</p>

<p>This will be the fourth assembly election where Congress will be pitched directly against Shivraj Singh Chauhan, a strong OBC leader who has been able to dodge controversies by playing the affable &#39;mama-ji&#39; image in Madhya Pradesh&rsquo;s politics.</p>

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<h5>Despite a fertile ground and 15 years of anti-incumbency, Congress has not been able to set its house in order.</h5>
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<p>For the first time, it is also not sure whether Shivraj Chauhan will be projected as the chief minister under the new dispensation as at one point of time he was a compatriot of Narendra Modi. Also, for the first time, Shivraj Singh Chauhan is under fire from people on the issue of sadak and bijali which were associated with former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh. It wouldn&rsquo;t be far-fetched to say that even the BJP leadership within Madhya Pradesh is upset with Shivraj Singh Chauhan.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
Despite a fertile ground and 15 years of anti-incumbency, Congress has not been able to set its house in order. As of now Kamalnath and Digvijay Singh are on the same side and Jyotiraditya Scindhia on the other. Then there are leaders, such as Kantilal Bhuria, Suresh Pachouri, Rahul Singh and Arun Yadav. The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are a year away, and despite the massive farmer stir rocking the state, the Congress has not been able to project any leader nor succeeded in getting all of them on the&nbsp;same page. So, MP Congress is full of leaders bereft of unity. That&#39;s&nbsp;the bane. It is not the organisation but fight at the top in Madhya Pradesh which&nbsp;has led to its defeat from 2003 onwards.</p>

<p>Congress should remember that when even former CM Andhra Pradesh YSR Reddy got ample time to organise his padyatra in Andhra Pradesh, which was being run by TDP for the last 10 years, he kept it limited to a 3-months time span. Instead, Digvijay has gone for a 6-month padyatra (though he insists its non-political nature) who will neither be made PCC President nor projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the state.<br />
&nbsp;<br />
What is of great significance is that over the last 10 years, the proportion of votes going to third parties have reduced significantly, with the Congress and the BJP votes swelling every time. In 2007, third parties got 29.97 per cent votes. In 2013, they got 18.74 and during the Lok Sabha elections, the numbers got reduced to 9.89 per cent of votes. On the other hand, even during its worst performance in 2014, Congress retained 35 per cent votes, whereas, BJP&rsquo;s vote swelled to 55 per cent.</p>

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<p>Unlike Gujarat, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi&rsquo;s domain, Madhya Pradesh revolves more around Shivraj Singh Chauhan&#39;s gentle persona. For the first time, Congress is within the striking distance of victory but its leaders remain unorganised and the party seems to be dithering in taking a call to project one person as the face of the state.</p>

<p>Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi must call off the bluff of the vested leadership in the state and decide the candidate who would front the state.</p>

<p>If Congress leadership cannot pick up a ripe state like Madhya Pradesh then it should rethink whether it has the right to continue in the present avatar. Rahul Gandhi must solve the problem of plenty.</p>


Congress can win Madhya Pradesh: Rahul Gandhi must call of the bluff and declare the leader for Madhya Pradesh

The joke in the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh is that Jyotiraditya Scindhia has got traction, Digvijay Singh has got sangathan (organisation) and Kamalnath has got the money muscle. Reasonably speaking all three elements are required to win assembly elections. Congress has not been able to retain Madhya Pradesh since 2003. This will be the fourth assembly election where Congress will be pitched directly against Shivraj Singh Chauhan, a strong OBC leader who has been able to dodge controversies by playing the affable 'mama-ji' image in Madhya Pradesh’s politics. Despite a fertile ground and 15 years of anti-incumbency, Congress has not been able to set its house in order. × For the first time, it is also not sure whether Shivraj Chauhan will be projected as the chief minister under the new dispensation as at one point of time he was a compatriot of Narendra Modi. Also, for the first time, Shivraj Singh Chauhan is under fire from people on the issue of sadak and bijali which were associated with former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that even the BJP leadership within Madhya Pradesh is upset with Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Despite a fertile ground and 15 years of anti-incumbency, Congress has not been able to set its house in order. As of now Kamalnath and Digvijay Singh are on the same side and Jyotiraditya Scindhia on the other. Then there are leaders, such as Kantilal Bhuria, Suresh Pachouri, Rahul Singh and Arun Yadav. The assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh are a year away, and despite the massive farmer stir rocking the state, the Congress has not been able to project any leader nor succeeded in getting all of them on the same page. So, MP Congress is full of leaders bereft of unity. That's the bane. It is not the organisation but fight at the top in Madhya Pradesh which has led to its defeat from 2003 onwards. Congress should remember that when even former CM Andhra Pradesh YSR Reddy got ample time to organise his padyatra in Andhra Pradesh, which was being run by TDP for the last 10 years, he kept it limited to a 3-months time span. Instead, Digvijay has gone for a 6-month padyatra (though he insists its non-political nature) who will neither be made PCC President nor projected as the chief ministerial candidate of the state. What is of great significance is that over the last 10 years, the proportion of votes going to third parties have reduced significantly, with the Congress and the BJP votes swelling every time. In 2007, third parties got 29.97 per cent votes. In 2013, they got 18.74 and during the Lok Sabha elections, the numbers got reduced to 9.89 per cent of votes. On the other hand, even during its worst performance in 2014, Congress retained 35 per cent votes, whereas, BJP’s vote swelled to 55 per cent. Congress is within the striking distance of victory, its leaders remain unorganised and the party seems to be dithering in taking a call to project one person as the face of the state. × Unlike Gujarat, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domain, Madhya Pradesh revolves more around Shivraj Singh Chauhan's gentle persona. For the first time, Congress is within the striking distance of victory but its leaders remain unorganised and the party seems to be dithering in taking a call to project one person as the face of the state. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi must call off the bluff of the vested leadership in the state and decide the candidate who would front the state. If Congress leadership cannot pick up a ripe state like Madhya Pradesh then it should rethink whether it has the right to continue in the present avatar. Rahul Gandhi must solve the problem of plenty.

Cong leadership squabble must end in Madhya Pradesh

<p>Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that RSS and BJP do not give importance to women in their rank and file.</p>

<p>&quot;Their organisation is the RSS. How many women are there in the RSS... Have you ever seen any woman in shakhas wearing shorts?&quot; Gandhi said at a gathering of students in Vadodara on the second day of his election campaign in Gujarat.</p>

<p>&ldquo;I want to ask Rahul and Congress: Is this why you look at a woman? To see what she is wearing?&rdquo; Anandiben Patel lashed out. &ldquo;All the women in Gujarat have been insulted by Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s comments. He should apologise, otherwise all the women together will ensure that Congress loses whatever handful of seats they have in the state.&rdquo;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a>: Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel demands Congress&#39; apology for Rahul Gandhi&#39;s statement &quot;Ever saw women in shorts at RSS shakhas&quot;? <a href="https://t.co/HDMXJoJBIy">pic.twitter.com/HDMXJoJBIy</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/917699820252364800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Saying that Congress party has demeaned and insulted the women of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel asked, &ldquo;Do Rahul&rsquo;s mother and his sister find his comments acceptable?&rdquo;</p>

<p>Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi said at the gathering in Vadodara, &quot;The BJP&#39;s thinking is that till women are silent they are good, when they start speaking up they try to shut them (women) up.&quot;</p>

<p>He said in contrast, women work at every level in the Congress.</p>

<p>Gandhi also said that if his party&#39;s government comes to power in Gujarat, it will give importance to women and try to resolve their issues.</p>

<p>The Congress leader began his second day of &#39;Navsarjan Yatra&#39; in central Gujarat region from Vadodara by addressing the students.</p>

<p>He addressed 10 meetings on Monday and offered prayers at the famous Santram Temple in Nadiad.</p>

<p>In the first leg of the Navsarjan Yatra last month, Gandhi had travelled in the Saurashtra.</p>

<p><em>(With inputs from news agency PTI)</em></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that RSS and BJP do not give importance to women in their rank and file.

Former Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel has hit back at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his remarks that RSS and BJP do not give importance to women in their rank and file. "Their organisation is the RSS. How many women are there in the RSS... Have you ever seen any woman in shakhas wearing shorts?" Gandhi said at a gathering of students in Vadodara on the second day of his election campaign in Gujarat. “I want to ask Rahul and Congress: Is this why you look at a woman? To see what she is wearing?” Anandiben Patel lashed out. “All the women in Gujarat have been insulted by Rahul Gandhi’s comments. He should apologise, otherwise all the women together will ensure that Congress loses whatever handful of seats they have in the state.” #WATCH: Former Gujarat CM Anandiben Patel demands Congress' apology for Rahul Gandhi's statement "Ever saw women in shorts at RSS shakhas"? pic.twitter.com/HDMXJoJBIy — ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2017 × Saying that Congress party has demeaned and insulted the women of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel asked, “Do Rahul’s mother and his sister find his comments acceptable?” Earlier on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi said at the gathering in Vadodara, "The BJP's thinking is that till women are silent they are good, when they start speaking up they try to shut them (women) up." He said in contrast, women work at every level in the Congress. Gandhi also said that if his party's government comes to power in Gujarat, it will give importance to women and try to resolve their issues. The Congress leader began his second day of 'Navsarjan Yatra' in central Gujarat region from Vadodara by addressing the students. He addressed 10 meetings on Monday and offered prayers at the famous Santram Temple in Nadiad. In the first leg of the Navsarjan Yatra last month, Gandhi had travelled in the Saurashtra. (With inputs from news agency PTI)

Anandiben Patel attacks Rahul for 'ever seen women in shorts at RSS?' remark

<p>India is still not able to do away with its caste politics as demonstrated by recent attacks on members of lower caste in the south-western state of Gujarat during a festival.</p>

<p>Yet Narendra Modi&rsquo;s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a dramatic effort to woo such lower castes. Three of these are especially important: reviewing social justice schemes, revisiting job reservations, and the sub-categorisation of lower castes.</p>

<p>These measures will eventually deepen India&rsquo;s caste politics and strengthen&nbsp;the caste system &ndash; the world&rsquo;s oldest surviving social hierarchy.</p>

<p>In India, society is divided among higher castes, lower castes (known as Other Backward Castes or OBCs, among the socially and &ldquo;educationally backwards&rdquo; sections of Indian society), Scheduled Castes (known as Dalits, formerly &ldquo;Untouchables&rdquo;), and Scheduled Tribes (known as Adivasis).</p>

<p>Today, the BJP is strategically working to win the heart and the vote of millions of lower castes, who make up 41% of the Indian population. However, the BJP&rsquo;s outreach initiatives are not born out of a concern for social justice; they are part of an electoral agenda.</p>

<p><strong>Changing the BJP&rsquo;s image</strong></p>

<p>The BJP&rsquo;s defeat in the 2009 general election proved a turning point for its engagement with lower castes. While still playing the Hindu nationalism card with dominant upper castes, the BJP is now deploying multiple strategies to win over lower castes too.</p>

<p>For example, Amit Shah, now the party&rsquo;s president, first highlighted Modi&rsquo;s own lower-caste background in the 2014 election in Uttar Pradesh. Later on, as prime minister, Modi was projected as the champion of lower caste groups. The party&rsquo;s support for a Dalit presidential candidate&nbsp;was internationally hyped. Similarly, a recent cabinet reshuffle brought in more lower-caste leaders to appropriate the &ldquo;numerical demographic&rdquo; of OBCs for political gain.</p>

<p>The BJP is also making lower caste-friendly gestures in assembly elections campaigns in Gujarat and Karnataka. It highlights its commitment to provide constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), a statutory body that works for the welfare of lower castes.</p>

<p>Interestingly, the BJP is also pushing the idea of revisiting the existing system of reservation, which allocates 27% of government jobs and seats in educational institutions to lower castes. This the party proposes to do by setting up a committee to sub-categorise these groups into &ldquo;backwards&rdquo;, &ldquo;extremely backward&rdquo; and &ldquo;most backward&rdquo; classes.</p>

<p><strong>Lower caste identity through history</strong></p>

<p>These are big developments. For decades, most political parties &ndash; including the Jana Sangh, which morphed into the BJP in 1980 &ndash; played their politics in the usual framework, excluding the lower-caste categories from the power structure of the state.</p>

<p>The notion of &ldquo;affirmative action through reservation&rdquo; only appeared in the mid-1970s when socialist parties led by politicians Ram Manohar Lohia and Chaudhary Charan Singh started using it to mobilise and consolidate the lower castes as a separate political identity.</p>

<p>The identity of lower castes only began to coalesce in 1955, when the first Backward Classes Commission under Kaka Kalelkar recommended various reservation quotas in technical, professional and government institutions.</p>

<p>Then in 1990, lower-caste mobilisation was galvanised when the Second Backward Classes Commission &ndash; popularly known as the Mandal Commission &ndash; recommended that 27% of positions in educational institutions and public employment be reserved for OBCs.</p>

<p>This was violently opposed by non-political bodies, including conservative student organisations. Many of these were close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an ultra-nationalist ideological group that supports the BJP. In 2006, these student wings fiercely opposed the Congress-led government&rsquo;s decision to implement 27% lower caste job reservations in premier higher educational institutions.</p>

<p><strong>Towards a universal Hindu identity</strong></p>

<p>But now, India&rsquo;s right-wing organisations have made peace with lower-caste aspirations. This has proved electorally rewarding, with the BJP successfully winning a greater share of the OBC vote. A third of the OBCs shifted to the BJP in the 2014 election, and in subsequent state elections.</p>

<p>Strategically, the BJP has focused on dismantling the caste-based parties&rsquo; monopoly over lower-caste votes. The tactic of painting other parties as corrupt bastions of single-caste politics worked wonders, as did an effort to compress the existing 2,479 lower castes into a smaller unit of individualised caste identity to diminish their collective heft.</p>

<p>The BJP also supported the aspirations of lower castes&rsquo; leaders through either finance or political alliance, accommodating OBC leaders in the party or ministerial portfolios at local, state and national level.</p>

<p>At the same time, the party is building a network of lower castes cadres in both rural and urban areas, as well as among young people and women. To penetrate the lower castes&rsquo; social base, the BJP formed an OBC Morcha or &ldquo;special wing&rdquo; in July 2015.</p>

<p>On the one hand, right-wing Hindu organisations are engaged in the radical Hinduisation of lower castes and Dalits through programmes such as &ldquo;Ghar Wapsi&rdquo; or &ldquo;Home Coming&rdquo;, rituals of conversion to Hinduism, and running religious, spiritual and service programmes in lower caste areas.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the BJP&rsquo;s core clientele of higher castes is satisfied thanks to the works of its right-wing support organisations. They continue spreading messages they want to hear, such as tactically portraying Muslims as a common enemy.</p>

<p>With many of its much-acclaimed policies failing to deliver, the BJP knows it has to sustain the charisma of Narendra Modi long enough to fight the 2019 legislative elections.</p>

<p>The party&rsquo;s central challenge is to retain its support base while simultaneously supplementing it enough to ensure electoral victories. To do this, it must mobilise the emerging middle-class OBC vote &ndash; and it&rsquo;s clearly prepared to do almost whatever it takes.</p>

<p>This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" nofollow="" rel="">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-caste-politics-curse-that-india-just-cant-shake-off-84216" nofollow="" rel="">original article</a>.</p>


BJP concentrates on lower caste to change its political image

India is still not able to do away with its caste politics as demonstrated by recent attacks on members of lower caste in the south-western state of Gujarat during a festival. Yet Narendra Modi’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is making a dramatic effort to woo such lower castes. Three of these are especially important: reviewing social justice schemes, revisiting job reservations, and the sub-categorisation of lower castes. These measures will eventually deepen India’s caste politics and strengthen the caste system – the world’s oldest surviving social hierarchy. In India, society is divided among higher castes, lower castes (known as Other Backward Castes or OBCs, among the socially and “educationally backwards” sections of Indian society), Scheduled Castes (known as Dalits, formerly “Untouchables”), and Scheduled Tribes (known as Adivasis). Today, the BJP is strategically working to win the heart and the vote of millions of lower castes, who make up 41% of the Indian population. However, the BJP’s outreach initiatives are not born out of a concern for social justice; they are part of an electoral agenda. Changing the BJP’s image The BJP’s defeat in the 2009 general election proved a turning point for its engagement with lower castes. While still playing the Hindu nationalism card with dominant upper castes, the BJP is now deploying multiple strategies to win over lower castes too. For example, Amit Shah, now the party’s president, first highlighted Modi’s own lower-caste background in the 2014 election in Uttar Pradesh. Later on, as prime minister, Modi was projected as the champion of lower caste groups. The party’s support for a Dalit presidential candidate was internationally hyped. Similarly, a recent cabinet reshuffle brought in more lower-caste leaders to appropriate the “numerical demographic” of OBCs for political gain. The BJP is also making lower caste-friendly gestures in assembly elections campaigns in Gujarat and Karnataka. It highlights its commitment to provide constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), a statutory body that works for the welfare of lower castes. Interestingly, the BJP is also pushing the idea of revisiting the existing system of reservation, which allocates 27% of government jobs and seats in educational institutions to lower castes. This the party proposes to do by setting up a committee to sub-categorise these groups into “backwards”, “extremely backward” and “most backward” classes. Lower caste identity through history These are big developments. For decades, most political parties – including the Jana Sangh, which morphed into the BJP in 1980 – played their politics in the usual framework, excluding the lower-caste categories from the power structure of the state. The notion of “affirmative action through reservation” only appeared in the mid-1970s when socialist parties led by politicians Ram Manohar Lohia and Chaudhary Charan Singh started using it to mobilise and consolidate the lower castes as a separate political identity. The identity of lower castes only began to coalesce in 1955, when the first Backward Classes Commission under Kaka Kalelkar recommended various reservation quotas in technical, professional and government institutions. Then in 1990, lower-caste mobilisation was galvanised when the Second Backward Classes Commission – popularly known as the Mandal Commission – recommended that 27% of positions in educational institutions and public employment be reserved for OBCs. This was violently opposed by non-political bodies, including conservative student organisations. Many of these were close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an ultra-nationalist ideological group that supports the BJP. In 2006, these student wings fiercely opposed the Congress-led government’s decision to implement 27% lower caste job reservations in premier higher educational institutions. Towards a universal Hindu identity But now, India’s right-wing organisations have made peace with lower-caste aspirations. This has proved electorally rewarding, with the BJP successfully winning a greater share of the OBC vote. A third of the OBCs shifted to the BJP in the 2014 election, and in subsequent state elections. Strategically, the BJP has focused on dismantling the caste-based parties’ monopoly over lower-caste votes. The tactic of painting other parties as corrupt bastions of single-caste politics worked wonders, as did an effort to compress the existing 2,479 lower castes into a smaller unit of individualised caste identity to diminish their collective heft. The BJP also supported the aspirations of lower castes’ leaders through either finance or political alliance, accommodating OBC leaders in the party or ministerial portfolios at local, state and national level. At the same time, the party is building a network of lower castes cadres in both rural and urban areas, as well as among young people and women. To penetrate the lower castes’ social base, the BJP formed an OBC Morcha or “special wing” in July 2015. On the one hand, right-wing Hindu organisations are engaged in the radical Hinduisation of lower castes and Dalits through programmes such as “Ghar Wapsi” or “Home Coming”, rituals of conversion to Hinduism, and running religious, spiritual and service programmes in lower caste areas. On the other hand, the BJP’s core clientele of higher castes is satisfied thanks to the works of its right-wing support organisations. They continue spreading messages they want to hear, such as tactically portraying Muslims as a common enemy. With many of its much-acclaimed policies failing to deliver, the BJP knows it has to sustain the charisma of Narendra Modi long enough to fight the 2019 legislative elections. The party’s central challenge is to retain its support base while simultaneously supplementing it enough to ensure electoral victories. To do this, it must mobilise the emerging middle-class OBC vote – and it’s clearly prepared to do almost whatever it takes. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The caste politics curse that India just can't shake off

<p>It will be a tough election for BJP in Gujarat. The state is feeling Narendra Modi&rsquo;s absence acutely as it has failed to manage agitations launched by Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor.</p>

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<h5>Congress has taken a big risk by churning out a campaign which will eventually end up pitting Rahul Gandhi against Narendra Modi.</h5>
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<p>The situation gets further complicated for BJP because of dwindling economy as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi continues to pillory the PM on the issue of jobs in Gujarat.</p>

<p>The question is that despite everything in place, is Congress walking the right path?</p>

<p>In my opinion, Congress has taken a big risk by churning out a campaign which will eventually end up pitting Rahul Gandhi against the Indian Prime Minister in his home state Gujarat. The believers can dismiss it as Goliath vs David adventure but assembly elections in the past have shown that investing Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s political equity in state elections is an exercise in futility. Uttar Pradesh has demonstrated it twice. Once Rahul Gandhi went alone and the second time, he went into a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party.</p>

<p>Even in 2004, when the Congress campaign was lethargic, it ended getting 12 seats out of 26 seats. The campaign was not focused on Modi and it attended to local issues. Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat has symbolically reaffirmed that neither he is an atheist not averse to participation in the religious ceremony but he has chosen to attack Narendra Modi directly.</p>

<p>After Ahmed Patel&rsquo;s re-election to Rajya Sabha, the confidence of the Congress Party has gone up but it neither has big faces nor a viable leadership in Gujarat which atrophied in the last 15 years. It is in this context, Congress must revaluate whether high pitched anti-Modi campaigns serves well in Gujarat or a more low-key campaign, using the faces of state faces which avoids polarisation on the basis of personality.</p>

<p>Many in the Congress would believe that time has come to turn the tide as GST has caused a massive economic problem to the traders and in&nbsp;organised sectors. However, it would be foolhardy to believe that it has impacted Narendra Modi&rsquo;s credibility.</p>

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<h5>The electorate will reach an equilibrium and it can only reach if it doesn&rsquo;t become Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi.</h5>
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<p>It is not a 1987 moment where Rajiv Gandhi was accused of taking a bribe and led to a split in the&nbsp;Congress. Amit Shah is not Narendra Modi nor Rajiv&#39;s son-in-law Robert Vadra whose public profile added fuel to the fire when reports on him started coming out. Gujarat is a golden opportunity for the Congress to beef up its support base. Even during 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress got 33.5 per cent of the vote, a down from 38.9 that it got in the Assembly election of 2012.</p>

<p>BJP&rsquo;s vote share has increased to 60 per cent in 2014 but it will not get this vote in the assembly. The electorate will reach an equilibrium. The only chance BJP has of reaching the numbers is if the electoral show can only reach if it doesn&rsquo;t become Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi. Congress can make gains if it avoids polarisation around Narendra Modi&rsquo;s personality.</p>

<p>Even if the issue is economic, it is impinging on the prime minister. Many would argue that politics cannot be done without taking a risk. In my opinion, it is not a calculated political risk. It seems party wants to go out for a kill. It is hubris. If Congress continues to make elections a fight between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, it might end up in the same space where it found itself in 2012</p>


Rahul Gandhi's strategy of going against Modi won't work out for coming elections

It will be a tough election for BJP in Gujarat. The state is feeling Narendra Modi’s absence acutely as it has failed to manage agitations launched by Hardik Patel and Alpesh Thakor. Congress has taken a big risk by churning out a campaign which will eventually end up pitting Rahul Gandhi against Narendra Modi. × The situation gets further complicated for BJP because of dwindling economy as Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi continues to pillory the PM on the issue of jobs in Gujarat. The question is that despite everything in place, is Congress walking the right path? In my opinion, Congress has taken a big risk by churning out a campaign which will eventually end up pitting Rahul Gandhi against the Indian Prime Minister in his home state Gujarat. The believers can dismiss it as Goliath vs David adventure but assembly elections in the past have shown that investing Rahul Gandhi’s political equity in state elections is an exercise in futility. Uttar Pradesh has demonstrated it twice. Once Rahul Gandhi went alone and the second time, he went into a tie-up with the Samajwadi Party. Even in 2004, when the Congress campaign was lethargic, it ended getting 12 seats out of 26 seats. The campaign was not focused on Modi and it attended to local issues. Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat has symbolically reaffirmed that neither he is an atheist not averse to participation in the religious ceremony but he has chosen to attack Narendra Modi directly. After Ahmed Patel’s re-election to Rajya Sabha, the confidence of the Congress Party has gone up but it neither has big faces nor a viable leadership in Gujarat which atrophied in the last 15 years. It is in this context, Congress must revaluate whether high pitched anti-Modi campaigns serves well in Gujarat or a more low-key campaign, using the faces of state faces which avoids polarisation on the basis of personality. Many in the Congress would believe that time has come to turn the tide as GST has caused a massive economic problem to the traders and in organised sectors. However, it would be foolhardy to believe that it has impacted Narendra Modi’s credibility. The electorate will reach an equilibrium and it can only reach if it doesn’t become Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi. × It is not a 1987 moment where Rajiv Gandhi was accused of taking a bribe and led to a split in the Congress. Amit Shah is not Narendra Modi nor Rajiv's son-in-law Robert Vadra whose public profile added fuel to the fire when reports on him started coming out. Gujarat is a golden opportunity for the Congress to beef up its support base. Even during 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Congress got 33.5 per cent of the vote, a down from 38.9 that it got in the Assembly election of 2012. BJP’s vote share has increased to 60 per cent in 2014 but it will not get this vote in the assembly. The electorate will reach an equilibrium. The only chance BJP has of reaching the numbers is if the electoral show can only reach if it doesn’t become Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi. Congress can make gains if it avoids polarisation around Narendra Modi’s personality. Even if the issue is economic, it is impinging on the prime minister. Many would argue that politics cannot be done without taking a risk. In my opinion, it is not a calculated political risk. It seems party wants to go out for a kill. It is hubris. If Congress continues to make elections a fight between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, it might end up in the same space where it found itself in 2012

Modi vs Rahul Gandhi: Political harakiri for Congress in Gujarat election

<p>Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath today virtually confirmed that&nbsp;Jyotiraditya Scindia will <a href="http://www.wionews.com/india-news/gujarat-government-is-running-from-a-remote-control-rahul-gandhi-20680" target="_blank">lead the&nbsp;party</a> in the run-up to Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Kamal Nath&nbsp;told reporters in his Lok Sabha&nbsp;constituency Guna that there was no opposition to Scindia&#39;s&nbsp;name&nbsp;as the leader of the party in the state.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, the official announcement would be made by the party at an appropriate time, he said.</p>

<p>As Madhya Pradesh goes to poll by next year-end, the party is taking gears for good electoral gains in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been out of power for the last 14 years.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Scindia said the official announcement by the party will be made at an appropriate time

Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath today virtually confirmed that Jyotiraditya Scindia will lead the party in the run-up to Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections. Kamal Nath told reporters in his Lok Sabha constituency Guna that there was no opposition to Scindia's name as the leader of the party in the state. However, the official announcement would be made by the party at an appropriate time, he said. As Madhya Pradesh goes to poll by next year-end, the party is taking gears for good electoral gains in Madhya Pradesh, where it has been out of power for the last 14 years.

Madhya Pradesh polls: Jyotiraditya Scindia to lead Congress, says Kamal Nath

<p>Former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Choudhary who was sacked by party president Sonia Gandhi said he expected an honourable exit.</p>

<p>However, he said that he did not deserve the kind of insult that was inflicted upon him through his expulsion.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Choudhary was ousted from the Congress because he was planning&nbsp;a split in the Bihar Congress party, media reports said.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Party ke nirnay ka swagat karte hain lekin...:Ashok Choudhary,who was relieved from the post of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief y&#39;day</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/912890181581189121">September 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="tl">...jis tarah se humein apmanit karke nikala gaya hum woh deserve nahi karte: Ashok Choudhary, frmr Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/912890526965301248">September 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>He added that though he was not willing to quit from the party at this stage, he would have to because the insult was not acceptable.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Abhi humara party chorrne ka koi irada nahi hai lekin yeh bhi manzoor nahi hai: Ashok Choudhary, frmr Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/912890802745077761">September 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Claiming himself to be a &quot;committed Congressman&quot; he said he expected an honourable&nbsp;exit from the party post.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">As a committed Congressman, I expected an honorable exit from the party post: Ashok Choudhary, former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief <a href="https://t.co/EXgMLowUwm">pic.twitter.com/EXgMLowUwm</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/912918607335710721">September 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>VP Kaukab Quadri has been given the responsibility till new chief of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is appointed. &nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Ashok Choudhary relieved;VP Kaukab Quadri to take charge of responsibilities till new chief of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is announced</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/912693796088963072">September 26, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>A full-time Bihar Congress State Committee president will be elected after organisational elections in November.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Former Bihar pradesh Congress committee chief Ashok Choudhary was sacked by party president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday

Former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ashok Choudhary who was sacked by party president Sonia Gandhi said he expected an honourable exit. However, he said that he did not deserve the kind of insult that was inflicted upon him through his expulsion. Choudhary was ousted from the Congress because he was planning a split in the Bihar Congress party, media reports said. Party ke nirnay ka swagat karte hain lekin...:Ashok Choudhary,who was relieved from the post of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief y'day — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2017 × ...jis tarah se humein apmanit karke nikala gaya hum woh deserve nahi karte: Ashok Choudhary, frmr Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2017 × He added that though he was not willing to quit from the party at this stage, he would have to because the insult was not acceptable. Abhi humara party chorrne ka koi irada nahi hai lekin yeh bhi manzoor nahi hai: Ashok Choudhary, frmr Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2017 × Claiming himself to be a "committed Congressman" he said he expected an honourable exit from the party post. As a committed Congressman, I expected an honorable exit from the party post: Ashok Choudhary, former Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee chief pic.twitter.com/EXgMLowUwm — ANI (@ANI) September 27, 2017 × VP Kaukab Quadri has been given the responsibility till new chief of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is appointed. Ashok Choudhary relieved;VP Kaukab Quadri to take charge of responsibilities till new chief of Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee is announced — ANI (@ANI) September 26, 2017 × A full-time Bihar Congress State Committee president will be elected after organisational elections in November.

Did not deserve insult: Ashok Choudhary after expulsion from Congress

<p>Former U.S. Representative&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.</p>

<p>Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce.</p>

<p>He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor and agreed he would not appeal any sentence of 27 months or less.</p>

<p>&quot;I was a very sick man for a very long time, but I&#39;m also responsible for the damage I have done,&quot; Weiner&nbsp;read from a statement in court before he was sentenced. He said he was being treated, and asked Cote to spare him prison and sentence him to probation so he could continue treatment.</p>

<p>Weiner&#39;s lawyer, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said that while&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;exchanged sexually explicit messages with many women, all of the others were adults.</p>

<p>Cote said she believed&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;was suffering from an addiction and was serious about being treated. However, she said it was important to deter others from committing similar crimes.</p>

<p>&quot;There is the opportunity to make a statement that could protect other minors,&quot; she said.</p>

<p>&quot;We are of course disappointed that&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;was sentenced to prison, particularly so given that Judge Cote found that the treatment programme&nbsp;Anthony&nbsp;had engaged in for the past year was showing great promise and should be continued,&quot;&nbsp;Weiner&#39;s lawyer, Devlin-Brown, said in a statement Monday afternoon.</p>

<p>Weiner&nbsp;declined to speak to reporters as he left the courtroom. He was ordered to surrender by Nov. 6.</p>

<p>The investigation into&nbsp;Weiner&rsquo;s exchanges with a North Carolina high school student roiled the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in its final days when authorities found emails on&nbsp;Weiner&rsquo;s laptop from his wife.</p>

<p>Weiner, who wore his wedding band at the sentencing, and Abedin have a son, Jordan, who is 5 years old.</p>

<p>The discovery of the emails prompted James Comey, then director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to announce in late October that the agency was reopening its investigation into Clinton&rsquo;s use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state.</p>

<p>Clinton has said the announcement contributed to her upset loss to Republican Donald Trump, who had accused her of endangering national security by using the private server.</p>

<p>President Trump fired Comey in May amid the FBI&rsquo;s probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Clinton, a claim the president has denied.</p>

<p>Weiner&nbsp;represented parts of New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years before resigning in 2011, after it emerged that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with adult women.</p>

<p>In 2013,&nbsp;Weiner&nbsp;ran for New York City mayor but dropped out of the race when more lewd messages became public.</p>


Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce.

Former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Monday for sending sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old girl, setting off a scandal that played a role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Weiner, 53, started to cry as soon as the sentence was announced by U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan. His wife Huma Abedin, an aide to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, was not in the courtroom and has filed for divorce. He pleaded guilty in May to transferring obscene material to a minor and agreed he would not appeal any sentence of 27 months or less. "I was a very sick man for a very long time, but I'm also responsible for the damage I have done," Weiner read from a statement in court before he was sentenced. He said he was being treated, and asked Cote to spare him prison and sentence him to probation so he could continue treatment. Weiner's lawyer, Arlo Devlin-Brown, said that while Weiner exchanged sexually explicit messages with many women, all of the others were adults. Cote said she believed Weiner was suffering from an addiction and was serious about being treated. However, she said it was important to deter others from committing similar crimes. "There is the opportunity to make a statement that could protect other minors," she said. "We are of course disappointed that Anthony was sentenced to prison, particularly so given that Judge Cote found that the treatment programme Anthony had engaged in for the past year was showing great promise and should be continued," Weiner's lawyer, Devlin-Brown, said in a statement Monday afternoon. Weiner declined to speak to reporters as he left the courtroom. He was ordered to surrender by Nov. 6. The investigation into Weiner’s exchanges with a North Carolina high school student roiled the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign in its final days when authorities found emails on Weiner’s laptop from his wife. Weiner, who wore his wedding band at the sentencing, and Abedin have a son, Jordan, who is 5 years old. The discovery of the emails prompted James Comey, then director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to announce in late October that the agency was reopening its investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was U.S. secretary of state. Clinton has said the announcement contributed to her upset loss to Republican Donald Trump, who had accused her of endangering national security by using the private server. President Trump fired Comey in May amid the FBI’s probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to defeat Clinton, a claim the president has denied. Weiner represented parts of New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives for 12 years before resigning in 2011, after it emerged that he had exchanged sexually explicit messages with adult women. In 2013, Weiner ran for New York City mayor but dropped out of the race when more lewd messages became public.

Ex-U.S. Rep. Weiner sentenced to 21 months in teen 'sexting' case

<p>The biggest questions asked about India outside India today are what happened to tolerance, what happened to harmony, said Rahul Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He was speaking to non-resident Indians in New York.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Biggest questions raised outside India now are what happened to tolerance that used to prevail? What happened to the harmony?: Rahul Gandhi</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/910664587640311809">September 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">There are forces in our country that are dividing India &amp; its is very dangerous, it ruins our reputation abroad: Rahul Gandhi in NY <a href="https://t.co/S3s5W98Slo">pic.twitter.com/S3s5W98Slo</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/910688595928690688">September 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">For thousands of years, India has had a reputation of peace &amp; harmony, this is being challenged: Rahul Gandhi in New York <a href="https://t.co/wvHQinkPdm">pic.twitter.com/wvHQinkPdm</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/910688177051992064">September 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">India simply can&#39;t give its youngsters a vision if it is unable to give them a job. Congress has vision to solve this problem-RG in New York <a href="https://t.co/Miw3Rc14L4">pic.twitter.com/Miw3Rc14L4</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/910686800921772032">September 21, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;India has people of many religions, languages living happily together,&quot; said Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Reason they have been able to do so are the ideas of Congress,&quot; he added.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Gandhi repeated what he had said a day earlier at Princeton University -- that the central question facing India is how it will create jobs for the millions of young people entering the job market every year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Every day 30,000 new people enter the job market in India but only 450 are getting employed,&quot; said Gandhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Everywhere you look there is an Indian working for US &amp; India, building both countries. You are our backbone,&quot; Gandhi also said to his NRI audience.&nbsp;</p>


The biggest questions asked about India outside India today are what happened to tolerance, what happened to harmony, said Rahul Gandhi. He was speaking to non-resident Indians in New York. Biggest questions raised outside India now are what happened to tolerance that used to prevail? What happened to the harmony?: Rahul Gandhi — ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2017 × There are forces in our country that are dividing India & its is very dangerous, it ruins our reputation abroad: Rahul Gandhi in NY pic.twitter.com/S3s5W98Slo — ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2017 × For thousands of years, India has had a reputation of peace & harmony, this is being challenged: Rahul Gandhi in New York pic.twitter.com/wvHQinkPdm — ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2017 × India simply can't give its youngsters a vision if it is unable to give them a job. Congress has vision to solve this problem-RG in New York pic.twitter.com/Miw3Rc14L4 — ANI (@ANI) September 21, 2017 × "India has people of many religions, languages living happily together," said Gandhi. "Reason they have been able to do so are the ideas of Congress," he added. Gandhi repeated what he had said a day earlier at Princeton University -- that the central question facing India is how it will create jobs for the millions of young people entering the job market every year. "Every day 30,000 new people enter the job market in India but only 450 are getting employed," said Gandhi. "Everywhere you look there is an Indian working for US & India, building both countries. You are our backbone," Gandhi also said to his NRI audience.

What happened to tolerance, harmony in India? Rahul Gandhi in US

<p>A day after <a href="http://www.wionews.com/business-economy/google-to-utilise-the-chinese-ai-19880">Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi announced his plans of visiting the United States to expand his knowledge on Artificial Intelligence,</a> the&nbsp;matter has become a subject of ridicule on Twitter.</p>

<p>The incident has attracted extensive reactions from people on the social networking site. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Twitterati has&nbsp;poked fun at Rahul Gandhi for his claims of expanding his knowledge&nbsp;in order to improve India&#39;s Artificial Intelligence.</p>

<p>One of the posts on twitter says &quot;Rahul Gandhi is going to deliver lecture on <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/is-artificial-intelligence-boon-or-bane-4703">Artificial Intelligence</a>&nbsp;I fear that Albert Einstein may come out of his grave to slap organizer&quot;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Rahul Gandhi is going to deliver lecture on Artificial Intelligence<br />
<br />
I fear that Albert Einstein may come out of his grave to slap organizer</p>
&mdash; Farrago Abdullah (@abdullah_0mar) <a href="https://twitter.com/abdullah_0mar/status/904756854907133952">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Recently Elon Musk warned the world that Artificial Intelligence may lead to third world war, however, a user made all those claims bogus after Rahul Gandhi&#39;s attempt on learning Artificial Intelligence.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Elon Musk: Artificial intelligence is a threat to humanity<br />
<br />
*Rahul Gandhi speaks on AI*<br />
<br />
Elon: I was wrong...this man is the greatest threat</p>
&mdash; InGenious (@Bees_Kut) <a href="https://twitter.com/Bees_Kut/status/904756483832725505">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Artificial Intelligence, the science of creating intelligent machines that think like human brains, is still in its nascent&nbsp;phase in India. However many other countries including China have already invested in the field.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Reaction of Elon Musk when told Rahul Gandhi will be addressing Americans on Artificial Intelligence... <a href="https://t.co/ydk9qBKhB5">pic.twitter.com/ydk9qBKhB5</a></p>
&mdash; The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) <a href="https://twitter.com/KyaUkhaadLega/status/904743094083510274">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sequence Of Events:<br />
1. Putin:&quot;Leader In Artificial Intelligence Will Rule World&quot;<br />
2. Rahul Gandhi To Speak On AI<br />
3.Putin Takes His Words Back <a href="https://t.co/B4cpq735Vg">pic.twitter.com/B4cpq735Vg</a></p>
&mdash; Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) <a href="https://twitter.com/SirJadeja/status/904745946516398080">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">When Robot heard Rahul Gandhi is coming to address on Artificial Intelligence ?? <a href="https://t.co/4aCZDzwsVT">pic.twitter.com/4aCZDzwsVT</a></p>
&mdash; Vishal Surywanshi (@vsurywanshi87) <a href="https://twitter.com/vsurywanshi87/status/904910281624584192">September 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mahatma Gandhi ji ne kaha tha, &quot;An AI for an AI will make the whole world blind&quot;<br />
<br />
- Rahul Gandhi in his speech on Artificial Intelligence</p>
&mdash; Punk (@punk_hardik) <a href="https://twitter.com/punk_hardik/status/904777972028018688">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">When World Leaders Came To Know Bambino Rahul Gandhi Is Going To Speak On <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ArtificialIntelligence?src=hash">#ArtificialIntelligence</a> At US ! <a href="https://twitter.com/Swamy39">@Swamy39</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hash">#Trump</a> ?????? h <a href="https://t.co/AXS0QIN60A">pic.twitter.com/AXS0QIN60A</a></p>
&mdash; Mahesh Joshi MJ (@MaheshJoshi_MJ) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaheshJoshi_MJ/status/905258162651004928">September 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">The genius of Rahul Gandhi lies in how effectively he will blame Modi govt for suppressing Artificial Intelligence. ??</p>
&mdash; Sweetsie C2 (@itssitu) <a href="https://twitter.com/itssitu/status/905307672433524736">September 6, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Prepration done by Rahul Gandhi to address a gathering on the topic &quot;Artificial intelligence&quot;. <a href="https://t.co/0wOSgctA9B">pic.twitter.com/0wOSgctA9B</a></p>
&mdash; IBN battuta (@theesmaarkhan) <a href="https://twitter.com/theesmaarkhan/status/904749917960151041">September 4, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>According to<a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/the-sultanate-has-gone-but-we-behave-as-if-we-are-sultans-still-jairam-ramesh-on-congress-party-18670"> Congress&nbsp;party&nbsp;source</a>, Rahul Gandhi wants India to excel in Artificial Intelligence.</p>


Twitterati has?poked fun at Rahul Gandhi for his claims of expanding his knowledge?in order to improve India's Artificial Intelligence

A day after Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi announced his plans of visiting the United States to expand his knowledge on Artificial Intelligence, the matter has become a subject of ridicule on Twitter. The incident has attracted extensive reactions from people on the social networking site. Twitterati has poked fun at Rahul Gandhi for his claims of expanding his knowledge in order to improve India's Artificial Intelligence. One of the posts on twitter says "Rahul Gandhi is going to deliver lecture on Artificial Intelligence I fear that Albert Einstein may come out of his grave to slap organizer" Rahul Gandhi is going to deliver lecture on Artificial Intelligence I fear that Albert Einstein may come out of his grave to slap organizer — Farrago Abdullah (@abdullah_0mar) September 4, 2017 × Recently Elon Musk warned the world that Artificial Intelligence may lead to third world war, however, a user made all those claims bogus after Rahul Gandhi's attempt on learning Artificial Intelligence. Elon Musk: Artificial intelligence is a threat to humanity *Rahul Gandhi speaks on AI* Elon: I was wrong...this man is the greatest threat — InGenious (@Bees_Kut) September 4, 2017 × Artificial Intelligence, the science of creating intelligent machines that think like human brains, is still in its nascent phase in India. However many other countries including China have already invested in the field. Reaction of Elon Musk when told Rahul Gandhi will be addressing Americans on Artificial Intelligence... pic.twitter.com/ydk9qBKhB5 — The-Lying-Lama (@KyaUkhaadLega) September 4, 2017 × Sequence Of Events: 1. Putin:"Leader In Artificial Intelligence Will Rule World" 2. Rahul Gandhi To Speak On AI 3.Putin Takes His Words Back pic.twitter.com/B4cpq735Vg — Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) September 4, 2017 × When Robot heard Rahul Gandhi is coming to address on Artificial Intelligence ?? pic.twitter.com/4aCZDzwsVT — Vishal Surywanshi (@vsurywanshi87) September 5, 2017 × Mahatma Gandhi ji ne kaha tha, "An AI for an AI will make the whole world blind" - Rahul Gandhi in his speech on Artificial Intelligence — Punk (@punk_hardik) September 4, 2017 × When World Leaders Came To Know Bambino Rahul Gandhi Is Going To Speak On #ArtificialIntelligence At US ! @Swamy39 #Trump ?????? h pic.twitter.com/AXS0QIN60A — Mahesh Joshi MJ (@MaheshJoshi_MJ) September 6, 2017 × The genius of Rahul Gandhi lies in how effectively he will blame Modi govt for suppressing Artificial Intelligence. ?? — Sweetsie C2 (@itssitu) September 6, 2017 × Prepration done by Rahul Gandhi to address a gathering on the topic "Artificial intelligence". pic.twitter.com/0wOSgctA9B — IBN battuta (@theesmaarkhan) September 4, 2017 × According to Congress party source, Rahul Gandhi wants India to excel in Artificial Intelligence.

How Twitter reacted to Rahul Gandhi's Artificial Intelligence learning

<p>Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, today, said that Sharad Yadav, who has questioned the party&#39;s alliance with the BJP, is free to take his own decisions.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Party has taken a decision with everyone&#39;s consensus, he is free to make his own decisions: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Sharad Yadav <a href="https://t.co/LHpb2ZvnXm">pic.twitter.com/LHpb2ZvnXm</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/895934836493344769">August 11, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Bihar chief minister also said that the decision to go with the BJP had the nod of the entire party.</p>

<p>&quot;He (Yadav) is free to take his decision. As far as the party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so,&quot; Nitish said.</p>

<p>He was speaking to reporters after meeting the Prime Minister on his first visit to Delhi after breaking ties with the RJD and the Congress.</p>

<p>Sharad Yadav, who is on a tour of Bihar, has <a href="http://www.wionews.com/south-asia/i-continue-to-stand-for-the-gathbandhan-sharad-yadav-18834" target="_blank">hit out at the decision of the Nitish Kumar to go with the BJP</a>.</p>

<p>The Rajya Sabha member of parliament (MP) from JD(U) had earlier said that the&nbsp;decision to ally with the BJP and split the Mahagathbandhan has betrayed the trust of those who voted for us and it has hurt him.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


He said that the decision to ally with the BJP had the entire party's nod

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, today, said that Sharad Yadav, who has questioned the party's alliance with the BJP, is free to take his own decisions. Party has taken a decision with everyone's consensus, he is free to make his own decisions: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Sharad Yadav pic.twitter.com/LHpb2ZvnXm — ANI (@ANI) August 11, 2017 × The Bihar chief minister also said that the decision to go with the BJP had the nod of the entire party. "He (Yadav) is free to take his decision. As far as the party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so," Nitish said. He was speaking to reporters after meeting the Prime Minister on his first visit to Delhi after breaking ties with the RJD and the Congress. Sharad Yadav, who is on a tour of Bihar, has hit out at the decision of the Nitish Kumar to go with the BJP. The Rajya Sabha member of parliament (MP) from JD(U) had earlier said that the decision to ally with the BJP and split the Mahagathbandhan has betrayed the trust of those who voted for us and it has hurt him.

Rift in JD(U) widens as Nitish Kumar says Sharad Yadav free to take own decisions

<p>Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to be hitting right chords over the past three months by pushing BJP to a corner in the state. It would be safe to say that Karnataka is the only state where BJP is facing a resurgent Congress under&nbsp;Siddaramaiah, who after 3 years of bad press has turned the table around and pushed BJP to the corner on issues central to the people of the state.<strong> </strong>In every other state but Karnataka, BJP has successfully used corruption, dynasty and disunity themes to marginalise the Congress. It is only&nbsp;in Karnataka that the state&#39;s chief minister has successfully played the &lsquo;son of the soil&rsquo; card to push back an aggressive BJP.</p>

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<h5>It is only&nbsp;in Karnataka that the state&#39;s chief minister has successfully played the &lsquo;son of the soil&rsquo; card to push back an aggressive BJP.</h5>
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<p>Whether it his position on the language or the flag, the sentiments which the CM has evoked is that of a person who cares intensely about the cultural landscape of the state. He has also shown an inclination to implement a new cultural policy which would be dedicated to promoting local cinema and literature. The policy is also inclusive. It also entails local harmony cells. It also intends to curb moral policing which has become a scourge in some of the state ruled by BJP where the male aggressor is always imagined as a minority. The state also intends to set aside a sum of money to promote local artists. People may dismiss it as populist or superficial, but for a state with the rich history of literary culture and modern aspiration, Siddaramaiah has taken the right step.<br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
Many can still accuse Siddaramaiah of pushing state level chauvinism but if you look all across India, successful chief ministers have been the ambassadors of the state pride and have successfully positioned themselves as the custodian of culture and political pride of their respective regions as opposed to the Centre. Whether it is a resurgence of TDP in united Andhra or TRS of Telangana or BJD of Orissa, all of them represent&nbsp;unique political aspirations of the state within the Indian democratic setup.</p>

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<h5>The concept of undivided Hindi vote is an accepted academic and political jargon then exceptional Kannadiga linguistic pride too shouldn&rsquo;t bother the Indian right.</h5>
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<p>Nitish Kumar, when opposed to the BJP, won Bihar on the issue of Bihari asmita. For Mamata, it was &#39;Ma Maati and Maanush&#39;. Similarly, the Karnataka chief minister has very successfully deployed the son of the soil culture card, which is laced with the sensitivity attached to the language.</p>

<p>Though polishing off Hindi names from metro and railway station is extreme but if seen through the prism of sending a message to the electorate then the job has been done. It is like saying that if the concept of undivided Hindi vote is an accepted academic and political jargon then exceptional Kannadiga linguistic pride too shouldn&rsquo;t bother the Indian right. It is expected of them to oppose it from the position of nationalism but they understand that such politics is replete with danger. It can get TV eye balls in Delhi, but will definitely cut votes in Karnataka.</p>

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<h5>For BJP&nbsp;to win it, will have to come down from the issue of corruption as Siddaramaiah has changed the rule of the game.</h5>
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<p>If BJP wants to fight the elections against Siddaramaiah then it will have to intelligently focus on meatier issues rather than using the department of income tax and Central Bureau of Investigation liberally. For BJP&nbsp;to win, it will have to come down from the issue of corruption as Siddaramaiah has changed the rule of the game. Karnataka, this time too, might keep up with its reputation of voting against the national trend. It will also reaffirm how important prominent regional faces are which Congress today finds bereft of. A lot of people might not like Karnataka CM in Delhi, but he is the only one who can take the might of an aggressive BJP in the country.<br />
&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
Siddaramaiah might have lost the earlier rounds by generating bad press in Bengaluru, but the canny old politician seems to have learned his lesson well, namely, publically associating with issues which are central to the Kannadiga pride and making other issues irrelevant. Lastly, he has an added advantage in Karnataka: he neither has the baggage of a Laloo type of a politician nor internal bickering which is jeopardising BJP&#39;s prospect in the state.</p>


BJP is finding the charges of corruption, dynasty and disunity themes irrelevant to corner the Congress party in Karnataka

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to be hitting right chords over the past three months by pushing BJP to a corner in the state. It would be safe to say that Karnataka is the only state where BJP is facing a resurgent Congress under Siddaramaiah, who after 3 years of bad press has turned the table around and pushed BJP to the corner on issues central to the people of the state. In every other state but Karnataka, BJP has successfully used corruption, dynasty and disunity themes to marginalise the Congress. It is only in Karnataka that the state's chief minister has successfully played the ‘son of the soil’ card to push back an aggressive BJP. It is only in Karnataka that the state's chief minister has successfully played the ‘son of the soil’ card to push back an aggressive BJP. × Whether it his position on the language or the flag, the sentiments which the CM has evoked is that of a person who cares intensely about the cultural landscape of the state. He has also shown an inclination to implement a new cultural policy which would be dedicated to promoting local cinema and literature. The policy is also inclusive. It also entails local harmony cells. It also intends to curb moral policing which has become a scourge in some of the state ruled by BJP where the male aggressor is always imagined as a minority. The state also intends to set aside a sum of money to promote local artists. People may dismiss it as populist or superficial, but for a state with the rich history of literary culture and modern aspiration, Siddaramaiah has taken the right step. Many can still accuse Siddaramaiah of pushing state level chauvinism but if you look all across India, successful chief ministers have been the ambassadors of the state pride and have successfully positioned themselves as the custodian of culture and political pride of their respective regions as opposed to the Centre. Whether it is a resurgence of TDP in united Andhra or TRS of Telangana or BJD of Orissa, all of them represent unique political aspirations of the state within the Indian democratic setup. The concept of undivided Hindi vote is an accepted academic and political jargon then exceptional Kannadiga linguistic pride too shouldn’t bother the Indian right. × Nitish Kumar, when opposed to the BJP, won Bihar on the issue of Bihari asmita. For Mamata, it was 'Ma Maati and Maanush'. Similarly, the Karnataka chief minister has very successfully deployed the son of the soil culture card, which is laced with the sensitivity attached to the language. Though polishing off Hindi names from metro and railway station is extreme but if seen through the prism of sending a message to the electorate then the job has been done. It is like saying that if the concept of undivided Hindi vote is an accepted academic and political jargon then exceptional Kannadiga linguistic pride too shouldn’t bother the Indian right. It is expected of them to oppose it from the position of nationalism but they understand that such politics is replete with danger. It can get TV eye balls in Delhi, but will definitely cut votes in Karnataka. For BJP to win it, will have to come down from the issue of corruption as Siddaramaiah has changed the rule of the game. × If BJP wants to fight the elections against Siddaramaiah then it will have to intelligently focus on meatier issues rather than using the department of income tax and Central Bureau of Investigation liberally. For BJP to win, it will have to come down from the issue of corruption as Siddaramaiah has changed the rule of the game. Karnataka, this time too, might keep up with its reputation of voting against the national trend. It will also reaffirm how important prominent regional faces are which Congress today finds bereft of. A lot of people might not like Karnataka CM in Delhi, but he is the only one who can take the might of an aggressive BJP in the country. Siddaramaiah might have lost the earlier rounds by generating bad press in Bengaluru, but the canny old politician seems to have learned his lesson well, namely, publically associating with issues which are central to the Kannadiga pride and making other issues irrelevant. Lastly, he has an added advantage in Karnataka: he neither has the baggage of a Laloo type of a politician nor internal bickering which is jeopardising BJP's prospect in the state.

Karnataka CM plays 'son of the soil' card to corner BJP in the state

<p>The Congress is facing an &quot;existential crisis&quot;, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh today said and pitched for &quot;a collective effort&quot; by party leaders to &quot;overcome&quot; the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.</p>

<p>Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah and advocated for a flexibility in approach to make Congress relevant.</p>

<p>&quot;Yes, the Congress party is facing a very serious crisis,&quot; Ramesh told PTI in an interview.</p>

<p>He said the Congress had faced &quot;electoral crisis&quot; from 1996 to 2004 when it was out of power. The party had also faced &quot;electoral crisis&quot; in 1977 when it lost the elections held soon after the emergency.</p>

<p>&quot;But today, I would say that the Congress is facing an existential crisis. It is not an electoral crisis. The party really is in deep crisis,&quot; he said, when asked whether the threat of &quot;poaching&quot; of MLAs posed by the BJP in Gujarat had forced the party to transport its MLAs to Karnataka to ensure party leader Ahmed Patel&#39;s victory in the Rajya Sabha polls.</p>

<p>He, however, justified the Gujarat Congress&#39;s decision to send 44 of its MLAs to a resort in party-ruled Karnataka on July 29 to fend off the alleged &quot;poaching&quot; attempts by BJP, saying the saffron party had also &quot;transported&quot; MLAs in the past.</p>

<p>He said it was wrong for the Congress party to think that anti-incumbency will work automatically against the Modi-led government in the states being ruled by the BJP in the elections.</p>

<p>&quot;We have to understand we are up against Mr Modi, Mr Shah. And they think differently, they act differently, and if we are not flexible in our approach, we will become irrelevant, frankly,&quot; the Congress leader said.</p>

<p>He said the Congress party must also recognise that India has changed. &quot;Old slogans don&#39;t work, old formulas don&#39;t work, old mantras don&#39;t work. India has changed, the Congress party has to change,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The former union minister hoped that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would end the uncertainty over his taking over as the Congress president to make the party ready for crucial electoral battles in key states in 2018 and the Lok Sabha polls scheduled a year later.</p>

<p>&quot;I think in all probability, Rahul Gandhi will take charge (as Congress president) before the end of 2017,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>The senior leader lamented that he had been proved wrong in the past about his prediction about Rahul&#39;s assuming charge of the top party job.</p>

<p>&quot;I thought it will happen in 2015, it didn&#39;t happen. I thought it will happen in 2016, it didn&#39;t happen. So I am the wrong person to ask this question. I feel that it may happen before the end of 2017,&quot; Ramesh said.</p>

<p>He said he had &quot;no&quot; indication about the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president.</p>

<p>&quot;I have only expectation. That&#39;s all. In 2018 and 2019 you will be busy with elections. State elections, national elections...And this type of thing ...Uncertainty is not good,&quot; and urged the Gandhi scion to &quot;finish it off.&quot;</p>

<p>Asked if there is anyone in the Congress party to give a strong challenge to Modi in 2019 elections, Ramesh said, &quot;I have always maintained that it is the collective strength of the Congress that will overcome Mr Modi not some individual magic wand&quot;.</p>

<p>&quot;It has to be a collective effort,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Ramesh took potshots at party leaders who still behave as if the party is still in power.</p>

<p>&quot;The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still. We have to completely redo the way of thinking, the way of acting, the way of projecting, the way of communicating.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;I think there is a lot of goodwill for the Congress, a lot of support for the Congress but people want to see a new Congress. They don&#39;t want to see old mantras, old slogans. We must recognise this is a big challenge. Huge challenge for us,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>He said Nitish Kumar&#39;s return to the Indian fold was a big setback for anti-BJP coalition in the country, describing it as a &quot;completely betrayal of the mandate&quot; given to the Mahagathbandhan by the people of Bihar.</p>

<p>Ramesh, who shares a personal rapport with Kumar, said, &quot;personally, I was aghast, astonished, deeply disappointed, but we have to move on and we don&#39;t have time.&quot;</p>

<p>Ramesh, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, expressed hope that the &quot;revival&quot; of Congress will happen in Karnataka next year as it had happened 40 years ago in 1978 in Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in the state which gave political rebirth to Indira Gandhi who faced defeat in Rae Bareli in the elections held after the Emergency.&nbsp;</p>


Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah

The Congress is facing an "existential crisis", senior party leader Jairam Ramesh today said and pitched for "a collective effort" by party leaders to "overcome" the challenges it faced from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Ramesh also said that business as usual approach will not work against Modi and Shah and advocated for a flexibility in approach to make Congress relevant. "Yes, the Congress party is facing a very serious crisis," Ramesh told PTI in an interview. He said the Congress had faced "electoral crisis" from 1996 to 2004 when it was out of power. The party had also faced "electoral crisis" in 1977 when it lost the elections held soon after the emergency. "But today, I would say that the Congress is facing an existential crisis. It is not an electoral crisis. The party really is in deep crisis," he said, when asked whether the threat of "poaching" of MLAs posed by the BJP in Gujarat had forced the party to transport its MLAs to Karnataka to ensure party leader Ahmed Patel's victory in the Rajya Sabha polls. He, however, justified the Gujarat Congress's decision to send 44 of its MLAs to a resort in party-ruled Karnataka on July 29 to fend off the alleged "poaching" attempts by BJP, saying the saffron party had also "transported" MLAs in the past. He said it was wrong for the Congress party to think that anti-incumbency will work automatically against the Modi-led government in the states being ruled by the BJP in the elections. "We have to understand we are up against Mr Modi, Mr Shah. And they think differently, they act differently, and if we are not flexible in our approach, we will become irrelevant, frankly," the Congress leader said. He said the Congress party must also recognise that India has changed. "Old slogans don't work, old formulas don't work, old mantras don't work. India has changed, the Congress party has to change," he said. The former union minister hoped that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would end the uncertainty over his taking over as the Congress president to make the party ready for crucial electoral battles in key states in 2018 and the Lok Sabha polls scheduled a year later. "I think in all probability, Rahul Gandhi will take charge (as Congress president) before the end of 2017," he said. The senior leader lamented that he had been proved wrong in the past about his prediction about Rahul's assuming charge of the top party job. "I thought it will happen in 2015, it didn't happen. I thought it will happen in 2016, it didn't happen. So I am the wrong person to ask this question. I feel that it may happen before the end of 2017," Ramesh said. He said he had "no" indication about the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president. "I have only expectation. That's all. In 2018 and 2019 you will be busy with elections. State elections, national elections...And this type of thing ...Uncertainty is not good," and urged the Gandhi scion to "finish it off." Asked if there is anyone in the Congress party to give a strong challenge to Modi in 2019 elections, Ramesh said, "I have always maintained that it is the collective strength of the Congress that will overcome Mr Modi not some individual magic wand". "It has to be a collective effort," he said. Ramesh took potshots at party leaders who still behave as if the party is still in power. "The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still. We have to completely redo the way of thinking, the way of acting, the way of projecting, the way of communicating." "I think there is a lot of goodwill for the Congress, a lot of support for the Congress but people want to see a new Congress. They don't want to see old mantras, old slogans. We must recognise this is a big challenge. Huge challenge for us," he said. He said Nitish Kumar's return to the Indian fold was a big setback for anti-BJP coalition in the country, describing it as a "completely betrayal of the mandate" given to the Mahagathbandhan by the people of Bihar. Ramesh, who shares a personal rapport with Kumar, said, "personally, I was aghast, astonished, deeply disappointed, but we have to move on and we don't have time." Ramesh, representing Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, expressed hope that the "revival" of Congress will happen in Karnataka next year as it had happened 40 years ago in 1978 in Chikmagalur Lok Sabha seat in the state which gave political rebirth to Indira Gandhi who faced defeat in Rae Bareli in the elections held after the Emergency.

'The sultanate has gone, but we behave as if we are sultans still': Jairam Ramesh on Congress party

<p>One person has been detained in for allegedly throwing a stone at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi&#39;s car while he was on a visit to the flood-hit Banaskantha in Gujarat.</p>

<p>A top police official from Banaskantha confirmed to PTI that the accused, Jayesh Darji alias Anil Rathod,&nbsp;has been detained by the police over the attack on Rahul Gandhi&#39;s convoy in Dhanera yesterday.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He said the accused had been arrested after Congress workers gave his name during investigations.</p>

<p>&quot;We have arrested one person named Jayesh Darji alias Anil Rathod for allegedly throwing a stone at the vehicle in which Gandhi was travelling,&quot; Banaskantha &nbsp;Superintendent of Police Niraj Badgujar told PTI.<br />
<br />
&quot;We arrested Darji after his name was given by Congress members during the course of investigation,&quot; Badgujar said.</p>

<p>The Congress claimed that Darji was a BJP worker and was behind yesterday&#39;s incident.<br />
<br />
&quot;Jayesh Darji is the secretary of Banaskantha district BJP Yuva Morcha. He is the man who threw the stone at Rahul Gandhi. We have also submitted names of three more persons who conspired along with Darji to throw the stone at Gandhi&#39;s vehicle,&quot; said district Congress general secretary, Prithviraj Kathwadia.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Gujarat: BJP worker Jayesh Darji detained by Police in Dhanera over attack on Rahul Gandhi&#39;s convoy, yesterday.</p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/893764563929255936">August 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Rahul Gandhi has asked Congress workers to call off protests being staged by them to protest the attack on him. He asked them to &quot;divert&nbsp;their energy in helping the people affected by floods in the state&quot;.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Respect the sentiments of Congress workers in Gujarat protesting against the administration not filing an FIR against the stone pelting(1/2)</p>
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/893747610560806912">August 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">but I urge them to divert their energy in helping the people affected by floods in the state</p>
&mdash; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) <a href="https://twitter.com/OfficeOfRG/status/893747678214893569">August 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>Congress workers staged protests across the nation today including in Gujarat capital Ahmedabad, Punjab capital Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh&nbsp;capital Bhopal and Maharashtra&nbsp;capital Mumbai.</p>

<p>In Ghatkopar, the Mumbai Youth Congress workers threw flowers inside the BJP office and shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.</p>

<p>Earlier in the day, Rahul cornered Prime Minister Modi, calling the incident the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) way of politics.</p>

<p>&quot;In yesterday&#39;s incident, BJP workers threw a stone at me which hit my personal security officer (PSO). This is Prime Minister Modi and BJP- RSS &#39;s way of politics. What can I say?&quot; Rahul told the press.</p>

<p>Indirectly referring to the prime minister, Rahul Gandhi said, &quot;Why the one, who has done this, would condemn the incident?&quot;</p>

<p>The Congress said the &quot;murderous&quot;&nbsp;attack on Rahul Gandhi was orchestrated the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and that both parties believed in violence, intimidation and physical assaults on political opponents or leaders.</p>

<p>Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media during the press conference, &quot;I termed such an attempt&nbsp;a murderous attack by the BJP and RSS on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The Central Government and the state government are answerable to this.They are responsible for Rahul Gandhi&#39;s security in upcoming election campaigning. Rahul Gandhi was under SPG protectee when he was attacked by a&nbsp;boulder.&quot;</p>

<p>Senior party leader Anand Sharma said such attacks not only deserved serious condemnation but also the exposure of the intent, ideology, characteristic of the BJP and the RSS.</p>

<p>&quot;Whatever happened is unacceptable in Indian democracy. Not only does it deserve serious condemnation but also the exposure of the intent, ideology, characteristic of the BJP and the RSS which believe&nbsp;in violence, intimidation and physical assaults on political opponents or leaders. We will fight against the BJP and the RSS agenda,&quot; Anand Sharma said.</p>

<p>Rahul&#39;s car was attacked on Friday when he was on his way to the helipad after visiting the flood-hit areas in Gujarat.</p>

<p>After the attack, Rahul wrote on Twitter: Narendra Modi <em>ji</em>&#39;s slogans, black flags and stones will not stop us.... We will put in all our might into the service of people.</p>

<p>Condemning the incident, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that a senior officer has been appointed to investigate&nbsp;the incident and assured that a strict action will be taken against the guilty.</p>

<p>He tweeted: I condemn the unfortunate attack on Rahul Gandhi&#39;s convoy. I have instructed officers to take strict action against those responsible. Govt has appointed Add DG rank officer to investigate in detail and will take&nbsp;strict action against those found responsible.</p>

<p>Banaskantha is represented by six Congress legislators who have been flown by the Congress to a resort in Bengaluru to protect them from being poached before the Rajya Sabha polls.<br />
&nbsp;</p>


A top police official from Banaskantha confirmed that the accused, Jayesh Darji,?has been detained by the police

One person has been detained in for allegedly throwing a stone at Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's car while he was on a visit to the flood-hit Banaskantha in Gujarat. A top police official from Banaskantha confirmed to PTI that the accused, Jayesh Darji alias Anil Rathod, has been detained by the police over the attack on Rahul Gandhi's convoy in Dhanera yesterday. He said the accused had been arrested after Congress workers gave his name during investigations. "We have arrested one person named Jayesh Darji alias Anil Rathod for allegedly throwing a stone at the vehicle in which Gandhi was travelling," Banaskantha Superintendent of Police Niraj Badgujar told PTI. "We arrested Darji after his name was given by Congress members during the course of investigation," Badgujar said. The Congress claimed that Darji was a BJP worker and was behind yesterday's incident. "Jayesh Darji is the secretary of Banaskantha district BJP Yuva Morcha. He is the man who threw the stone at Rahul Gandhi. We have also submitted names of three more persons who conspired along with Darji to throw the stone at Gandhi's vehicle," said district Congress general secretary, Prithviraj Kathwadia. Gujarat: BJP worker Jayesh Darji detained by Police in Dhanera over attack on Rahul Gandhi's convoy, yesterday. — ANI (@ANI_news) August 5, 2017 × Rahul Gandhi has asked Congress workers to call off protests being staged by them to protest the attack on him. He asked them to "divert their energy in helping the people affected by floods in the state". Respect the sentiments of Congress workers in Gujarat protesting against the administration not filing an FIR against the stone pelting(1/2) — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 5, 2017 × but I urge them to divert their energy in helping the people affected by floods in the state — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 5, 2017 × Congress workers staged protests across the nation today including in Gujarat capital Ahmedabad, Punjab capital Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal and Maharashtra capital Mumbai. In Ghatkopar, the Mumbai Youth Congress workers threw flowers inside the BJP office and shouted slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Earlier in the day, Rahul cornered Prime Minister Modi, calling the incident the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) way of politics. "In yesterday's incident, BJP workers threw a stone at me which hit my personal security officer (PSO). This is Prime Minister Modi and BJP- RSS 's way of politics. What can I say?" Rahul told the press. Indirectly referring to the prime minister, Rahul Gandhi said, "Why the one, who has done this, would condemn the incident?" The Congress said the "murderous" attack on Rahul Gandhi was orchestrated the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) and that both parties believed in violence, intimidation and physical assaults on political opponents or leaders. Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad told the media during the press conference, "I termed such an attempt a murderous attack by the BJP and RSS on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi. The Central Government and the state government are answerable to this.They are responsible for Rahul Gandhi's security in upcoming election campaigning. Rahul Gandhi was under SPG protectee when he was attacked by a boulder." Senior party leader Anand Sharma said such attacks not only deserved serious condemnation but also the exposure of the intent, ideology, characteristic of the BJP and the RSS. "Whatever happened is unacceptable in Indian democracy. Not only does it deserve serious condemnation but also the exposure of the intent, ideology, characteristic of the BJP and the RSS which believe in violence, intimidation and physical assaults on political opponents or leaders. We will fight against the BJP and the RSS agenda," Anand Sharma said. Rahul's car was attacked on Friday when he was on his way to the helipad after visiting the flood-hit areas in Gujarat. After the attack, Rahul wrote on Twitter: Narendra Modi ji's slogans, black flags and stones will not stop us.... We will put in all our might into the service of people. Condemning the incident, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said that a senior officer has been appointed to investigate the incident and assured that a strict action will be taken against the guilty. He tweeted: I condemn the unfortunate attack on Rahul Gandhi's convoy. I have instructed officers to take strict action against those responsible. Govt has appointed Add DG rank officer to investigate in detail and will take strict action against those found responsible. Banaskantha is represented by six Congress legislators who have been flown by the Congress to a resort in Bengaluru to protect them from being poached before the Rajya Sabha polls.

Attack on Rahul Gandhi: One person detained

<p>The BJP on Thursday overtook Congress to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha, where it now has 58 members against 57 of the main opposition party</p>

<p>BJP MP Sampatiya Uikey, who was elected to the Upper House following a bypoll in Madhya Pradesh took oath on Thursday</p>

<p>His election was necessitated by the death of Union Minster, Anil Madhav Dave</p>

<p>This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the RS after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014</p>

<p>The BJP-led NDA, however, is still short of a decisive majority in the house but the joining of JD(U) to the ruling block has further boosted its numbers.</p>


This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the RS after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014

The BJP on Thursday overtook Congress to become the largest political party in the Rajya Sabha, where it now has 58 members against 57 of the main opposition party BJP MP Sampatiya Uikey, who was elected to the Upper House following a bypoll in Madhya Pradesh took oath on Thursday His election was necessitated by the death of Union Minster, Anil Madhav Dave This is the first time that the saffron party has become the number one formation in the RS after the Narendra Modi government came to power in May 2014 The BJP-led NDA, however, is still short of a decisive majority in the house but the joining of JD(U) to the ruling block has further boosted its numbers.

BJP overtakes Congress to become largest party in Rajya Sabha

<p>Congress Party on Wednesday moved Supreme Court against &#39;None of the Above&#39; (NOTA) option in Rajya Sabha elections. The court is likely to hear the matter on Thursday.</p>

<p>The Congress has been protesting since the Election Commission has notified that NOTA option will be available for the first time in upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat.</p>

<p>Rajya Sabha elections do not take place by secret ballot as the voter has to show the marked ballot to the party&#39;s polling agent before putting it in the ballot box.</p>

<p>Despite its six Gujarat MLAs joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress is leaving no stone unturned to secure Rajya Sabha berth for its leader Ahmed Patel.</p>

<p>It has also decided to issue a whip to all Congress MLAs, including Shankersinh Vaghela, who resigned last month to ensure that Ahmed Patel is voted back into the Rajya Sabha.</p>

<p>The BJP has fielded party president Amit Shah, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Balwantsinh Rajput for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled on August 8.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Congress has been protesting after the Election Commission notified that NOTA option will be available for the first time in upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat

Congress Party on Wednesday moved Supreme Court against 'None of the Above' (NOTA) option in Rajya Sabha elections. The court is likely to hear the matter on Thursday. The Congress has been protesting since the Election Commission has notified that NOTA option will be available for the first time in upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat. Rajya Sabha elections do not take place by secret ballot as the voter has to show the marked ballot to the party's polling agent before putting it in the ballot box. Despite its six Gujarat MLAs joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress is leaving no stone unturned to secure Rajya Sabha berth for its leader Ahmed Patel. It has also decided to issue a whip to all Congress MLAs, including Shankersinh Vaghela, who resigned last month to ensure that Ahmed Patel is voted back into the Rajya Sabha. The BJP has fielded party president Amit Shah, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Balwantsinh Rajput for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled on August 8.

Rajya Sabha elections: Congress moves SC against NOTA option, hearing tomorrow

<p>The commentators and the politically influential people in this country have started writing the epitaph of the Congress party.</p>

<p>They have all the right to believe so because, since past three years or so, the electoral fortunes of the party have seriously dithered, particularly after the miserable defeat of 2014.Their intense speculation about the future of the Grand Old Party is something which passionate flag bearers like me cannot discount, but are profoundly anguished with. The Liberals are angry at us. But we need to convert that anger into love. I am a Congressman and will remain a Congress party admirer even if I am the last man standing, although I shall do everything within my means to prevent that &lsquo;last man&rsquo; scenario.</p>

<p>I know I may be painting a pessimistic picture, and some of you who will read this will definitely not agree with my assessment. Some of you may also question my locus-standi for writing this- since I am also part of that very system, albeit a very small part in which the Congress system works, I am responsible too. But, considering that I am an eternal optimist, I shall always yearn that such an eventuality shall never come.</p>

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<h5>Congress will remain strong and&nbsp;will&nbsp;overcome its present problems. We shall again redeem India and will not let it slip into the darkness.</h5>
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<p>Congress will remain strong and&nbsp;will&nbsp;overcome its present problems. We shall again redeem India and will not let it slip into the darkness. <a href="http://countryawake.blogspot.in/2015/01/the-idea-of-congress.html">Our ideals and ideology</a> are rock solid and our commitment to secularism is unflinching. Compassion, brotherhood, love and respect are the pillars on which the Congress party stands.There are lots of inherent flaws with which our inner party system works, but there are innumerable positive aspects too.</p>

<p>In the initial years of the Modi Government, the Congress party believed that as the BJP lacks the ability to solidly govern and administer, it will never be able to live up to the expectations of people. This has actually led to the former&#39;s complacency that has turned it into a reactive force. &ldquo;Jab yeh galitiya karenge, abhi nahi toh 5-10 saal baad humara waqt aayega&rdquo; (When they will make mistakes, not today, but eventually after 5-10 years we will be back in power) was the drawing room chatter of every Congressman.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Both critics and admirers would agree that the single biggest mistake which the Congress party made in the UPA era was not to build its cadre, especially in states where it was organisationally weak.</h5>
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<p>Then came a period during which failures&nbsp;after failures marred BJP&#39;s image but the Congress merely acted as a reactionary force, failing to capitalise the blunders of the ruling party. Both critics and admirers would agree that the single biggest mistake which the Congress party made in the UPA era was not to build its cadre, especially in states where it was organisationally weak. An Opposition needs a rank of robust and committed workers to carry on its political work. The Congress is a mass-based party and not a cadre based one, yet it has certain unique organisational strengths, which could have been tapped into. The party&#39;s frontals are more or less defunct and, at the most, have become extremely sycophantic in nature- with almost no vision or plan of action.</p>

<p>After three years&nbsp;into the Modi Government, where the BJP is using every trick in the political book to expand its bases, the Congress is making last ditch attempts to somehow foster unity among the Opposition, without much success. The Nitish Kumar fiasco may have its opportunistic and political strokes, and broad ones indeed, yet the Congress has to somehow take its share of the blame too. I know, I will again be accused of crossing the Lakshman Rekha (Red Line) while I try to objectively put forth this assessment, but acceptance of failures is the first stepping stone to success.</p>

<p>I have been hinting and posting on social media, <a href="http://countryawake.blogspot.in/2014/05/humbled-by-mandate-thoughts-unlimited.html">since long</a>, that the Congress needs a positive agenda. A solid, implementable narrative and a new vision to take along those committed liberal voters who still believe in those ideals on which the edifice of our Constitution was laid. Time and again, I have come to the conclusion that only a positive narrative can resurrect the Congress.</p>

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<h5>Time and again, I have come to the conclusion that only a positive narrative can resurrect the Congress.</h5>
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<p>For starters, we should look at our own 2014 Manifesto. This 45-page document should be our Magna Carta to attack and question the BJP. It will give us more credibility because we shall not be merely criticising the policies, but also put forth a positive policy solution, for instance, we would go to the people of the country pointing out, &ldquo;Had the Congress been in power, there were the 5 steps it would have taken to solve agrarian distress&rdquo; and &ldquo;These are the steps that the Congress party would have taken to create more jobs&rdquo;.</p>

<p>It is not that the Congress party is not taking steps to revamp its organisational structure. The election process will be completed this year and a new team is slowly and steadily been set up. New General Secretary in-charge of the states are being appointed. The Communications department of the party is seeing new faces and a newer strategy for the same is in place now. Research and Social Media wings have also been refurbished and are working with a new vigour. Yes, we lack in media management, and that needs to be proactively dealt with. The voter connect is only possible when you gather small constituencies of groups together and focus on the liberal supporters. Laziness, complacency and arrogance should be done away with. A strong ideological resolve is needed so as solidify our support base. We all know what ails the Congress party, we should&nbsp;have solutions for the same.&nbsp;</p>

<p>No political party that has a closed system and is secretive in nature can function in a vibrant democracy. We have to open the doors for the converts as well as for the swing ones.</p>

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<h5>A large section of media has become the mouthpiece for the BJP, and the Congress needs to find an alternate for the same.</h5>
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<p>The Congress should aim to unite with other opposition parties, but that does not mean that it can tie up with any political party which is ideologically not on the same page as it is. At the end of the day, such an alliance falls through as we have seen in West Bengal and in Uttar Pradesh. Let us not repeat that. The Congress should try and build consensus, but if that is not possible, just leave these regional parties to fend for themselves. We should stop pandering to them. Let us built our own identity, we were successful because we had one. We should not leave it. Opposition unity is good for short term goals, but in the long term, we should strive for our own national space. In states, where we are dependent on regional satraps, we have only declined. Even if we win one seat, it should be on our own.</p>

<p>If we do not implement a positive agenda and restructure ourselves, then even our forefathers, who so painstakingly built this country, will not forgive us for sending India to the dark ages.</p>

<p>(All the views expressed in the article by the author are strictly personal.)</p>


The Liberals are angry at Congress. But Congress needs to convert that anger into love.

The commentators and the politically influential people in this country have started writing the epitaph of the Congress party. They have all the right to believe so because, since past three years or so, the electoral fortunes of the party have seriously dithered, particularly after the miserable defeat of 2014.Their intense speculation about the future of the Grand Old Party is something which passionate flag bearers like me cannot discount, but are profoundly anguished with. The Liberals are angry at us. But we need to convert that anger into love. I am a Congressman and will remain a Congress party admirer even if I am the last man standing, although I shall do everything within my means to prevent that ‘last man’ scenario. I know I may be painting a pessimistic picture, and some of you who will read this will definitely not agree with my assessment. Some of you may also question my locus-standi for writing this- since I am also part of that very system, albeit a very small part in which the Congress system works, I am responsible too. But, considering that I am an eternal optimist, I shall always yearn that such an eventuality shall never come. Congress will remain strong and will overcome its present problems. We shall again redeem India and will not let it slip into the darkness. × Congress will remain strong and will overcome its present problems. We shall again redeem India and will not let it slip into the darkness. Our ideals and ideology are rock solid and our commitment to secularism is unflinching. Compassion, brotherhood, love and respect are the pillars on which the Congress party stands.There are lots of inherent flaws with which our inner party system works, but there are innumerable positive aspects too. In the initial years of the Modi Government, the Congress party believed that as the BJP lacks the ability to solidly govern and administer, it will never be able to live up to the expectations of people. This has actually led to the former's complacency that has turned it into a reactive force. “Jab yeh galitiya karenge, abhi nahi toh 5-10 saal baad humara waqt aayega” (When they will make mistakes, not today, but eventually after 5-10 years we will be back in power) was the drawing room chatter of every Congressman. Both critics and admirers would agree that the single biggest mistake which the Congress party made in the UPA era was not to build its cadre, especially in states where it was organisationally weak. × Then came a period during which failures after failures marred BJP's image but the Congress merely acted as a reactionary force, failing to capitalise the blunders of the ruling party. Both critics and admirers would agree that the single biggest mistake which the Congress party made in the UPA era was not to build its cadre, especially in states where it was organisationally weak. An Opposition needs a rank of robust and committed workers to carry on its political work. The Congress is a mass-based party and not a cadre based one, yet it has certain unique organisational strengths, which could have been tapped into. The party's frontals are more or less defunct and, at the most, have become extremely sycophantic in nature- with almost no vision or plan of action. After three years into the Modi Government, where the BJP is using every trick in the political book to expand its bases, the Congress is making last ditch attempts to somehow foster unity among the Opposition, without much success. The Nitish Kumar fiasco may have its opportunistic and political strokes, and broad ones indeed, yet the Congress has to somehow take its share of the blame too. I know, I will again be accused of crossing the Lakshman Rekha (Red Line) while I try to objectively put forth this assessment, but acceptance of failures is the first stepping stone to success. I have been hinting and posting on social media, since long, that the Congress needs a positive agenda. A solid, implementable narrative and a new vision to take along those committed liberal voters who still believe in those ideals on which the edifice of our Constitution was laid. Time and again, I have come to the conclusion that only a positive narrative can resurrect the Congress. Time and again, I have come to the conclusion that only a positive narrative can resurrect the Congress. × For starters, we should look at our own 2014 Manifesto. This 45-page document should be our Magna Carta to attack and question the BJP. It will give us more credibility because we shall not be merely criticising the policies, but also put forth a positive policy solution, for instance, we would go to the people of the country pointing out, “Had the Congress been in power, there were the 5 steps it would have taken to solve agrarian distress” and “These are the steps that the Congress party would have taken to create more jobs”. It is not that the Congress party is not taking steps to revamp its organisational structure. The election process will be completed this year and a new team is slowly and steadily been set up. New General Secretary in-charge of the states are being appointed. The Communications department of the party is seeing new faces and a newer strategy for the same is in place now. Research and Social Media wings have also been refurbished and are working with a new vigour. Yes, we lack in media management, and that needs to be proactively dealt with. The voter connect is only possible when you gather small constituencies of groups together and focus on the liberal supporters. Laziness, complacency and arrogance should be done away with. A strong ideological resolve is needed so as solidify our support base. We all know what ails the Congress party, we should have solutions for the same. No political party that has a closed system and is secretive in nature can function in a vibrant democracy. We have to open the doors for the converts as well as for the swing ones. A large section of media has become the mouthpiece for the BJP, and the Congress needs to find an alternate for the same. × The Congress should aim to unite with other opposition parties, but that does not mean that it can tie up with any political party which is ideologically not on the same page as it is. At the end of the day, such an alliance falls through as we have seen in West Bengal and in Uttar Pradesh. Let us not repeat that. The Congress should try and build consensus, but if that is not possible, just leave these regional parties to fend for themselves. We should stop pandering to them. Let us built our own identity, we were successful because we had one. We should not leave it. Opposition unity is good for short term goals, but in the long term, we should strive for our own national space. In states, where we are dependent on regional satraps, we have only declined. Even if we win one seat, it should be on our own. If we do not implement a positive agenda and restructure ourselves, then even our forefathers, who so painstakingly built this country, will not forgive us for sending India to the dark ages. (All the views expressed in the article by the author are strictly personal.)

How the Congress party can be revived in India

<p>The Congress party on Sunday accused the BJP of offering the 44 lawmakers from Gujarat currently camping in Bengaluru Rs&nbsp;15 crore in bribe and alleged that they were being threatened.</p>

<p>The 44 MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly) were flown by the party to Bengaluru to stop more of them from switching over to the BJP.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Senior Congress MLA from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil said&nbsp;at a press conference, &quot;Ask these MLAs the way they are threatened, they chose to stand by the&nbsp;party even when offered Rs 15 crore.&quot;</p>

<p>The Congress leader said that the party had also managed to establish contact with seven Congress MLAs who were reportedly inaccessible.</p>

<p>&quot;Seven MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) are in our contact, their conscience is awakening. We have requested them not to come in people&#39;s tricky ways, stick to the party,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>Gohil alleged that the BJP was horse-trading even while the Congress was trying to protect democracy.</p>

<p>&quot;BJP is hitting below the belt; we are fighting to protect democracy. We have the required numbers. There is no need for us to stay here (Bengaluru) for even a minute if they (BJP) say they won&#39;t threaten,&quot; the Congress MLA said.</p>

<p>Gohil also defended the BJP&#39;s accusations that the lawmakers were staying at a high-end hotel in Bengaluru at a time when Gujarat was being ravaged by floods.</p>

<p>&nbsp;&quot;When there was flood in Banaskantha, my MLAs were there with people but no BJP minister, leader or chief minister was there,&quot; the Congress leader said.</p>

<p>Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had accused the Congress party of being insensitive and irresponsible by sending 40 MLAs to stay in a 5-star hotel in Bengaluru during the floods.</p>

<p>The Congress had earlier accused the BJP of using &quot;money, muscle and state power&quot; to engineer defections, after at least six of its legislators resigned from the party to join the BJP.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Congress accused the BJP of offering their MLAs Rs?15 crore

The Congress party on Sunday accused the BJP of offering the 44 lawmakers from Gujarat currently camping in Bengaluru Rs 15 crore in bribe and alleged that they were being threatened. The 44 MLAs (Members of Legislative Assembly) were flown by the party to Bengaluru to stop more of them from switching over to the BJP. Senior Congress MLA from Gujarat Shaktisinh Gohil said at a press conference, "Ask these MLAs the way they are threatened, they chose to stand by the party even when offered Rs 15 crore." The Congress leader said that the party had also managed to establish contact with seven Congress MLAs who were reportedly inaccessible. "Seven MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) are in our contact, their conscience is awakening. We have requested them not to come in people's tricky ways, stick to the party," he said. Gohil alleged that the BJP was horse-trading even while the Congress was trying to protect democracy. "BJP is hitting below the belt; we are fighting to protect democracy. We have the required numbers. There is no need for us to stay here (Bengaluru) for even a minute if they (BJP) say they won't threaten," the Congress MLA said. Gohil also defended the BJP's accusations that the lawmakers were staying at a high-end hotel in Bengaluru at a time when Gujarat was being ravaged by floods. "When there was flood in Banaskantha, my MLAs were there with people but no BJP minister, leader or chief minister was there," the Congress leader said. Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani had accused the Congress party of being insensitive and irresponsible by sending 40 MLAs to stay in a 5-star hotel in Bengaluru during the floods. The Congress had earlier accused the BJP of using "money, muscle and state power" to engineer defections, after at least six of its legislators resigned from the party to join the BJP.

Congress Gujarat crisis: Party alleges 44 lawmakers camping in Bengaluru bribed, threatened

<p>End of Mahagathbandhan was expected but not the sudden exit of Nitish Kumar who took a moral high ground on the issue of corruption. His act of resignation on the principle of probity not only helps him to set aside the charge of having struck a deal with tainted Laloo, but also revives the issue of corruption against the Opposition. Patna will see new power partnering with JDU but the revival of the issue of corruption will take the breath away from the Opposition for the time.</p>

<p>This development was accompanied by Prime Minister Modi tweeting and congratulating the Bihar Chief Minister for taking a stand against corruption. This is a signal that the PM intends to revive the issue again closer to the election times, using it effectively against prominent Opposition faces in different parties. It will help to blunt the Opposition&rsquo;s campaign against Modi on several fronts. This development will also bring to a grind Congress&#39;s grand plan of building a grand alliance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It also brings BJP and JDU together, putting a spanner in the Opposition&rsquo;s plan to counter BJP in the Hindi heartland during national elections. The thinking was that BJP will not be able to repeat its performance again but with Nitish, the BJP&rsquo;s vote will consolidate further.</p>

<p>Many would say that Nitish Kumar is a political shapeshifter, and he is being opportunistic.&nbsp; However, in politics, there are no permanent enemies or friends. It also reflects the reduced strength of the Congress to influence decision-making at the regional level. The decision would put further pressure on the Congress to explain its position on the issues of corruption that are plaguing the political system.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It is not without reason that Nitish Kumar mentioned Rahul Gandhi&rsquo;s name in the press conference. Rahul Gandhi tore the ordinance before the Lok Sabha elections, embarrassing then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of corruption. It ended Laloo&rsquo;s political career but on the issue of Bihar&rsquo;s deputy chief minister and Laloo&rsquo;s son Tejashwi Yadav, he came across taking a different political stand. One will have to wait and see as to how many Congress MLAs would remain with the party at the state level. Chances are high that the numerical strength of the Congress party will be further eroded in the legislature.</p>

<p>For Laloo, it is going to be a lonely walk in the national politics. He might receive support from other political parties but in the long run, he may run out of support as corruption will again become a dominant narrative as opposed to lynching and economic issues. But the biggest worry for the Opposition should be that they will not have a Prime Ministerial face in 2019. Nitish was being touted as a political face who could have united various regional satraps. Under the circumstances, however, the only option for the regional parties would be to push Rahul Gandhi on the Centre stage which in today&rsquo;s scenario is not a viable option as the party might not be able to create a consensus around his name.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The net gainer in the current scenario remains Nitish Kumar. He has not only dumped the incumbency of his tenure on the RJD but has also come out unscathed and reinvented himself by taking a position on the issue of corruption. RJD will only have the option of launching a personal attack against Nitish. But all such attacks usually have a limited time span.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Lastly, the current development should also be food for thought for the Congress Party. Congress has been after alliance building from state to state. For instance, in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The sole motive of these alliances is to defeat Bhartiya Janta Party. So far, it has been unsuccessful to reap political benefits of the alliance except in Bihar. The Congress, therefore, needs to introspect about its shrinking strength and BJP&rsquo;s ability to sideline the grand old party through maneuvering political developments in the states. Rather than finding purpose in defeating BJP, the Congress needs to rebuild itself. The wait can be long but the return would be meaningful and lasting.</p>


The revival of the issue of corruption -- that is why Nitish resigned, ostensibly -- will take the breath out of the Opposition for the time being

End of Mahagathbandhan was expected but not the sudden exit of Nitish Kumar who took a moral high ground on the issue of corruption. His act of resignation on the principle of probity not only helps him to set aside the charge of having struck a deal with tainted Laloo, but also revives the issue of corruption against the Opposition. Patna will see new power partnering with JDU but the revival of the issue of corruption will take the breath away from the Opposition for the time. This development was accompanied by Prime Minister Modi tweeting and congratulating the Bihar Chief Minister for taking a stand against corruption. This is a signal that the PM intends to revive the issue again closer to the election times, using it effectively against prominent Opposition faces in different parties. It will help to blunt the Opposition’s campaign against Modi on several fronts. This development will also bring to a grind Congress's grand plan of building a grand alliance against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It also brings BJP and JDU together, putting a spanner in the Opposition’s plan to counter BJP in the Hindi heartland during national elections. The thinking was that BJP will not be able to repeat its performance again but with Nitish, the BJP’s vote will consolidate further. Many would say that Nitish Kumar is a political shapeshifter, and he is being opportunistic. However, in politics, there are no permanent enemies or friends. It also reflects the reduced strength of the Congress to influence decision-making at the regional level. The decision would put further pressure on the Congress to explain its position on the issues of corruption that are plaguing the political system. It is not without reason that Nitish Kumar mentioned Rahul Gandhi’s name in the press conference. Rahul Gandhi tore the ordinance before the Lok Sabha elections, embarrassing then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the issue of corruption. It ended Laloo’s political career but on the issue of Bihar’s deputy chief minister and Laloo’s son Tejashwi Yadav, he came across taking a different political stand. One will have to wait and see as to how many Congress MLAs would remain with the party at the state level. Chances are high that the numerical strength of the Congress party will be further eroded in the legislature. For Laloo, it is going to be a lonely walk in the national politics. He might receive support from other political parties but in the long run, he may run out of support as corruption will again become a dominant narrative as opposed to lynching and economic issues. But the biggest worry for the Opposition should be that they will not have a Prime Ministerial face in 2019. Nitish was being touted as a political face who could have united various regional satraps. Under the circumstances, however, the only option for the regional parties would be to push Rahul Gandhi on the Centre stage which in today’s scenario is not a viable option as the party might not be able to create a consensus around his name. The net gainer in the current scenario remains Nitish Kumar. He has not only dumped the incumbency of his tenure on the RJD but has also come out unscathed and reinvented himself by taking a position on the issue of corruption. RJD will only have the option of launching a personal attack against Nitish. But all such attacks usually have a limited time span. Lastly, the current development should also be food for thought for the Congress Party. Congress has been after alliance building from state to state. For instance, in Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The sole motive of these alliances is to defeat Bhartiya Janta Party. So far, it has been unsuccessful to reap political benefits of the alliance except in Bihar. The Congress, therefore, needs to introspect about its shrinking strength and BJP’s ability to sideline the grand old party through maneuvering political developments in the states. Rather than finding purpose in defeating BJP, the Congress needs to rebuild itself. The wait can be long but the return would be meaningful and lasting.

As 'mahagathbandan' ends in Bihar, corruption comes back to haunt Opposition

<p>Lalu Prasad said on Thursday that he was considering appealing to the Supreme Court against the governor&#39;s decision to invite the JD(U)&#39;s Nitish Kumar and the BJP to form a government in Bihar considering the RJD is the largest party in the state.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The RJD has 81 MLAs, the JD(U) 71, the BJP 53, and the Congress 27.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He added that efforts to cobble together a combined Opposition would continue.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Mayawati, Akhilesh, Mamata, we will get them all together, so what if Nitish has gone to the BJP?&quot; ANI quoted Lalu as saying.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When asked if he had been asked to break the mahagatbandhan -- the former JDU-RJD-Congress alliance that was ruling the state -- he said that was fake news emanating from Delhi.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;This is all fake news from Delhi,&quot; ANI quoted him as saying.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Amit Shah is the Super Editor, he decides how news should be &amp; he tells owners of media, who tells editors, not reporters fault: Lalu Yadav <a href="https://t.co/3xVbAEIMqk">pic.twitter.com/3xVbAEIMqk</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/890467520141967360">July 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Some media who we had thought were good, they took supari. See how the US media is fighting Trump, here media fights opposition: Lalu Yadav <a href="https://t.co/gp58ASzg3b">pic.twitter.com/gp58ASzg3b</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/890467221301977088">July 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>He added that Wednesday&#39;s breakneck developments -- Nitish&#39;s sudden resignation, the announcement that he was joining hands with the BJP -- had been fixed in advance. &nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;On many occasions, Nitish met PM Modi, had lunch. The timing of whatever happened was already fixed,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>And, perhaps optimistically, he added that this was the end of Nitish Kumar.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Most political commentators however were on Wednesday (when the news first broke that Nitish was joining hands with the BJP) and Thursday saying the opposite -- that it is Lalu who is going to find the going lonely.&nbsp;</p>


He added that efforts to cobble together a combined Opposition would continue

Lalu Prasad said on Thursday that he was considering appealing to the Supreme Court against the governor's decision to invite the JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar and the BJP to form a government in Bihar considering the RJD is the largest party in the state. The RJD has 81 MLAs, the JD(U) 71, the BJP 53, and the Congress 27. He added that efforts to cobble together a combined Opposition would continue. "Mayawati, Akhilesh, Mamata, we will get them all together, so what if Nitish has gone to the BJP?" ANI quoted Lalu as saying. When asked if he had been asked to break the mahagatbandhan -- the former JDU-RJD-Congress alliance that was ruling the state -- he said that was fake news emanating from Delhi. "This is all fake news from Delhi," ANI quoted him as saying. Amit Shah is the Super Editor, he decides how news should be & he tells owners of media, who tells editors, not reporters fault: Lalu Yadav pic.twitter.com/3xVbAEIMqk — ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2017 × Some media who we had thought were good, they took supari. See how the US media is fighting Trump, here media fights opposition: Lalu Yadav pic.twitter.com/gp58ASzg3b — ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2017 × He added that Wednesday's breakneck developments -- Nitish's sudden resignation, the announcement that he was joining hands with the BJP -- had been fixed in advance. "On many occasions, Nitish met PM Modi, had lunch. The timing of whatever happened was already fixed," he said. And, perhaps optimistically, he added that this was the end of Nitish Kumar. Most political commentators however were on Wednesday (when the news first broke that Nitish was joining hands with the BJP) and Thursday saying the opposite -- that it is Lalu who is going to find the going lonely.

Lalu: Considering appealing to Supreme Court

<p>Rahul Gandhi has said they had known for three to four months that this -- Nitish leaving his alliance with the RJD and Congress and joining hands with the BJP -- was being planned.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;3-4 mahine se humein pata tha ye planning chal rahi hai. Apne swaarth ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jata hai,&quot; ANI reported him as saying.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="hi">Satta ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jaata hai, koi neeyam, credibility nahin hai: Rahul Gandhi on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NitishKumar?src=hash">#NitishKumar</a> <a href="https://t.co/8eRvp6hdvV">pic.twitter.com/8eRvp6hdvV</a></p>
&mdash; ANI (@ANI_news) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI_news/status/890439767019487232">July 27, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<p>&quot;Mandate was given to Nitish ji for the anti-communal fight but now he has joined hands with them for his personal politics,&quot; he said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Rahul added that for political power, a man can do anything. &nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;Satta ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jaata hai, koi neeyam, credibility nahin hai,&quot; he said.&nbsp;</p>


'Mandate was given to Nitish ji for the anti-communal fight but now he has joined hands with them for his personal politics,' Rahul said

Rahul Gandhi has said they had known for three to four months that this -- Nitish leaving his alliance with the RJD and Congress and joining hands with the BJP -- was being planned. "3-4 mahine se humein pata tha ye planning chal rahi hai. Apne swaarth ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jata hai," ANI reported him as saying. Satta ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jaata hai, koi neeyam, credibility nahin hai: Rahul Gandhi on #NitishKumar pic.twitter.com/8eRvp6hdvV — ANI (@ANI_news) July 27, 2017 × "Mandate was given to Nitish ji for the anti-communal fight but now he has joined hands with them for his personal politics," he said. Rahul added that for political power, a man can do anything. "Satta ke liye vyakti kuch bhi kar jaata hai, koi neeyam, credibility nahin hai," he said.

Rahul on Nitish: Knew for 3-4 months this was being planned

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