Congress | CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

27/09/2013

Post Rahul wrap, Congress takes a U-turn

The Hindu: “Party hints at withdrawal of the controversial measure.

With Rahul Gandhi slamming the ordinance against disqualification of convicted lawmakers, the government is expected to take back the controversial measure, the Congress indicated on Friday.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference as party general secretary Ajay Maken looks on, in New Delhi on Friday. Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

“Rahulji’s opinion is the opinion and the line of Congress… Now Congress party is opposed to this ordinance. The views of the Congress party should always be supreme,” party general secretary and communication department in-charge Ajay Maken said when asked about the fate of the ordinance in the wake of Mr. Gandhi’s views and whether it is likely to be withdrawn.

The Congress clearly appeared flummoxed by Mr. Gandhi’s stand as Mr. Maken, at a meet-the-press programme at the Delhi Press Club, completely backtracked from his statement praising the ordinance as “perfect”, made minutes before the party vice-president took the stage and denounced the measure calling it “complete nonsense” and “wrong” on the part of the government.

Mr. Maken sidestepped questions on whether Mr. Gandhi’s remarks meant a “rebellion” against the government or a public snub to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government.

“Rahul Gandhi is our leader. His views are views of the Congress party. The situation with any issue evolves with time and it has evolved and no one should have any objection to it,” he merely said in reply to such questions.

“What Rahul Gandhi said is the most important thing… that this ordinance will not help us fight corruption. He is our leader and I think this is our official political stand. Rahulji’s opinion is the opinion and the line of Congress… Now Congress party is opposed to this ordinance,” he said.”

via Post Rahul wrap, Congress takes a U-turn – The Hindu.

Posted in India alert, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Congress, congress party, Gandhi, Government, Indian National Congress, manmohan singh, mr gandhi, politics, prime minister manmohan singh, rahul gandhi

29/08/2013

India’s parliament gets its groove back, at least for now

Reuters: “(Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters)

India’s notoriously disruptive parliament has been going through a productive phase in the past two days. Bills are getting passed, politicians are discussing the state of the economy and for a change, members are listening to each other as they deliver well-researched speeches.

For a house with one of the poorest records of accomplishments in Indian history, the last two days were downright atypical.

On Monday, parliament debated a $20 billion plan for nine hours to provide cheap food to two thirds of the population. For a change, the government got the main opposition party on board by incorporating some of the changes that its opponents proposed.

A similar script played out on Tuesday. Politicians from all parties discussed the state of the economy, reeling under a widening current account deficit, slowing growth and a falling currency.

The opposition party’s well thought-out arguments moved Finance Minister P. Chidambaram to admit that domestic factors indeed have played a part in creating the dismal economy, a rare statement coming from the man who usually blames the global financial meltdown for India’s woes.

Chidambaram on Tuesday urged parliamentarians to work together.

“If parliament is not able to point to the direction in which the country’s economy will go, parliament is not able to agree on, say 10 steps which the government should take today … what kind of a message will it send to the rest of the world?” Chidambaram asked the house.

“The fact is, polity of this country is divided on economic policies and that is understandable … My plea to everyone, despite our differences, can we agree upon some measures which have to be taken in order to lift the country’s economy from what it is today,” he said.

Politicians are taking note. Derek O’Brien, the famous quizmaster who is now a lawmaker from estranged government ally Trinamool Congress, tweeted: “When #Parliament works we are very,very good.(like today)…but when we are bad we are horrid.”

The Lok Sabha, the lower house of India’s parliament, led by a minority Congress-party coalition government, has a rather dismal track record. Before the ongoing Monsoon session, it passed just 39 percent of tabled bills. In five years, the Lok Sabha has passed just over 150 bills, in contrast to an average 317 bills passed by any other lower house completing over three years.

The last two days have been different. This is what voters expect their representatives to do. If lawmakers keep it up, we might have one of the most successful sessions in recent memory. One would hope that the mood extends itself into the hurly burly of the 2014 campaign season.

What remains unanswered is what changed overnight and why the opposition parties suddenly stopped disrupting the house. It would be good to know. Whatever be the reason, one hopes that the country does not go back to when “Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha adjourned for the day” was probably the most frequent breaking news headline on TV screens.”

via India’s parliament gets its groove back, at least for now | India Insight.

Posted in Economics, Good news, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Congress, current account deficit, financial meltdown, Government, India, Indian National Congress, Lok Sabha, main opposition party, p chidambaram, Parliament of India, politics, Rajya Sabha

20/08/2013

Bombay mix: Party pooper’s move takes golden glow off festival of lights

The Times: “Festival season is fast approaching in India, with a feeling in some ways equivalent to the run-up to Christmas in the West, and, right on cue, a would-be Scrooge has stepped forward.

Buying gold is especially popular around Diwali and the Indian wedding season

Palaniappan Chidambaram may have little option, of course. The country’s embattled Finance Minister is struggling to shore up a collapsing rupee and revive a moribund economy, all with less than nine months to go before national elections.

So last week, as the rupee sank to fresh, record lows against the dollar — and with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights looming in November — a panicking Mr Chidambaram wheeled out his latest package of measures designed to bolster the currency.

In a move that many Indians viewed as being distinctly short on seasonal good cheer, he slapped a ban on imports of gold medallions and coins, extending an attempt to curb the nation’s voracious appetite for the metal. Other measures included a reduction in the amount of cash that Indians and companies may remit overseas from $200,000 to $75,000 a year, a rule that Mr Chidambaram argued unconvincingly did “not amount to capital controls”.

Yet if the latter measure will not endear him to the millions of Indians with friends and relatives studying overseas, it is the gold ban that could prove a bigger issue. India’s lust for gold is undimmed and trying to temper it before the polls next spring — and before the wedding season that peaks around Diwali — could be catastrophic for the ruling Congress party.

The markets, certainly, were unimpressed by the minister’s efforts, sending the rupee crashing to new lows within hours of the announcement. The sell-off continued yesterday.

With the sliding rupee already forcing up the price of goods from petrol to food, Congress is desperately searching for new ways to head off a full-blown financial crisis as Indians prepare to vote. And while there is only so much that can be done to curb the nation’s demand for imported crude oil, the single biggest strain on India’s current account deficit, reining in India’s gold addiction may seem the next best alternative.

If his latest measures don’t work, and with that election due, it looks increasingly as if Mr Chidambaram’s days as Finance Minister may be numbered, one way or another.

As if policymakers didn’t have enough on their plates, India is in the grip of a new crisis. Last week, ministers held emergency talks to address a 36 per cent surge in the wholesale price of onions over a single weekend.

Onions are a key ingredient in virtually every Indian dish, so are viewed as almost as much of a staple crop as rice. Thus a fall in onion production prompted by poor harvests in the nation’s south has proved politically explosive. Shoppers have staged angry protests.

Yet there may be a welcome extra dish to this sorry tale. One option being considered by ministers is a loosening of trade restrictions with Pakistan, arch-foe and nuclear-armed rival, to start emergency onion imports.”

via Bombay mix: Party pooper’s move takes golden glow off festival of lights | The Times.

Posted in Economics, India alert, local tastes, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Chidambaram, Congress, Diwali, finance minister, India, p chidambaram, Pakistan, politics

30/07/2013

India coalition approves new state of Telangana

There were 14 states and six union territories when reorganised in 1956 after independence, totalling 20. Now there are 35, with Telangana – if approved by parliament – becoming the 36th. And there are another six or so others lobbying for statehood. The primary reason is ethnic / language differences between different population mixes in the original / existing states. Given that there are 22 officially recognised languages, plus another c6 adopted by some of the new states, it would seem that the pressure for more sub-divisions is in sight.

Apparently, it is said that some Chinese strategist predicts there will be 40 Indian states! (http://wakeap.com/news/political/china-plans-to-split-india-into-40-smaller-states.html)

BBC: “India‘s ruling Congress-led coalition has unanimously agreed to the formation of a new state in the Telangana region of southern Andhra Pradesh state, officials say.

Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC) activists demonstrate as riot police stand behind a barrier during a pro-Telangana protest in Hyderabad on June 14, 2013

With a population of 40 million, the proposed state comprises 10 of Andhra Pradesh’s 23 districts including Hyderabad, India‘s sixth biggest city.

The state has seen protests for and against the proposal in recent years.

Backers of the new state say the area has been neglected by the government.

“It wasn’t an easy decision but now everyone has been heard and a decision has been taken,” senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh told Indian media.

Opponents of the move are unhappy that Hyderabad, home to many major information technology and pharmaceutical companies, could become Telangana’s new capital.

Congress party spokesman Ajay Maken said that Hyderabad would remain the common capital for the two states for a period of at least 10 years until Andhra Pradesh develops its own capital.

“A resolution was passed in the meeting where it was resolved to request the central government to take steps to form a separate state of Telangana,” Mr Maken told a news conference in Delhi.

He said that the resolution was cleared “after taking into account the chequered history of the demand for a separate state of Telangana since 1956”.

The final decision on a new state lies with the Indian parliament. The state assembly must also pass a resolution approving the creation of what will be India’s 29th state.”

via BBC News – India coalition approves new state of Telangana.

Posted in Construction, Consumer, debt, India alert | 1 Comment »

Tags: Andhra Pradesh, Congress, Delhi, Hyderabad, Hyderabad India, India, politics, Telangana

11/05/2013

* India Congress ministers quit amid scandals

BBC: “Two Indian ministers have resigned in one day over links with corruption claims, plunging the Congress party into crisis.

Former Indian Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and former Law Minister Ashwani Kumar Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal and Law Minister Ashwani Kumar resigned in separate incidents.Mr Bansal quit after police arrested his nephew for bribery, and Mr Kumar stepped down amid claims he influenced a report into the coal industry.Reports suggest Congress leaders are holding crisis meetings.The coalition government has been beset by corruption scandals recently.Mr Bansal called for a police investigation into the bribery allegations.”I have always observed the highest standard of probity in public life,” he told local media.”

via BBC News – India Congress ministers quit amid scandals.

Posted in corruption, India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Ashwani Kumar, Bansal, bribery allegations, Congress, India, Indian National Congress, manmohan singh, Pawan Kumar Bansal, politics, Railway Minister

04/04/2013

* Rahul pitches for inclusive growth, says India largest pool of human capital

Times of India: “In a veiled criticism of BJP‘s policies, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said politics of alienating communities affects growth and the Congress stood for inclusive growth even as he sidestepped questions on becoming Prime Minister.

Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Ernakulam, Kerala. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

India had witnessed faster economic growth under the UPA because it had greatly lowered tensions among communities and fostered harmony, the Congress vice-president said.

“When you play the politics of alienating communities, you stop the movement of people and ideas. When that happens we all suffer. Businesses suffer and the seeds of disharmony are sown and the dreams of our people are severely disrupted,” he said, adding that this damage takes a very long time to reverse.

“It is very dangerous to leave people behind. Inclusive growth is a win-win for everybody,” Rahul said addressing the Annual General Meeting of the CII here.

Likening India to a movement where a billion people were trying to break the shackles, he said there was a need to use the energy and ideas generated by this exercise to help everybody.

“There are two ways this movement can go. It can go harmoniously or it can go disruptively. The idea of the Congress party is that it should go harmoniously and everybody should move together and happily,” he said.

Anger, hatred and prejudice did not contribute to growth, he added.

Spelling out his priorities for India’s growth, Rahul Gandhi said: “The biggest danger is excluding people, excluding the poor, the middle class, the tribals, the Dalits.”

“Whenever we excluded women, the minorities, Dalits… we have always fallen back,” the 42-year-old Gandhi scion said.”

via Rahul pitches for inclusive growth, says India largest pool of human capital – The Times of India.

Posted in Economics, India alert, Leadership change, Politics | 4 Comments »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Dalit, India, politics, Rahul, rahul gandhi

07/03/2013

* Rahul slips into Sonia’s shoes

The Hindu: “The transition of power in the Congress is taking place gradually as its less than two-month-old vice-president has begun to take regular meetings with the organisation’s functionaries and MPs, presiding over meetings that the party president — and his mother — Sonia Gandhi held till recently.

Learning the ropes? A file photo of Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi at a party meet. File Photo: AP

Streamline the party organisation and put in place a system that will bridge the communication and coordination deficit, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi told central office-bearers here on Wednesday evening.

In the next fortnight, he added, he intended bringing together PCC chiefs, CLP leaders, and central general secretaries and secretaries in charge of States for a discussion, even as some senior functionaries suggested holding conventions in States where the Congress is in power to publicise the UPA government’s flagship programmes and dharnas in the Opposition-ruled States.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gandhi met party MPs from Madhya Pradesh as part of a series of discussions he is holding daily with parliamentarians from different States. The focus at this meeting was on the party working concertedly to oust the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh in the Assembly elections later this year and ensuring that the Congress received the credit for Centrally sponsored welfare schemes being implemented in the State.

The transition of power in the Congress is taking place gradually as its less than two-month-old vice-president has begun to take regular meetings with the organisation’s functionaries and MPs, presiding over meetings that the party president — and his mother — Sonia Gandhi held till recently.

But the paradox is that while Mr. Gandhi is seen to be leading from the front in a bid to strengthen, energise and democratise the Congress, on Tuesday, he told MPs and journalists that becoming Prime Minister was not his priority as he believed in “long-term politics” — he wanted to empower everyone. He said he wanted to focus on strengthening his party ahead of next year’s general elections.”

via Rahul slips into Sonia’s shoes – The Hindu.

Rahul Gandhi says he’s not interested in becoming PM (ibnlive.in.com)
Rahul Gandhi shuts doors on rebels, says no more re-induction into Congress (ndtv.com)

Posted in India alert, Politics | Leave a Comment »

Tags: Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress, Gandhi, Member of Parliament, mother sonia gandhi, politics, rahul gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

20/01/2013

* India Congress Party Names Rahul Gandhi No. 2

Rahul finally throws his hat in the ring.

WSJ: “India’s Congress party has named Rahul Gandhi as the party’s vice president, giving a clear indication that the scion of the Gandhi-Nehru dynasty would be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the federal elections next year.

The appointment of Mr. Gandhi—son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and party President Sonia Gandhi—as the party’s No. 2 sets the stage for a likely face-off with Narendra Modi, chief minister of the western state of Gujarat and a top contender within the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party for the country’s highest executive post, ahead of federal polls due before May 2014.”

via India Congress Party Names Rahul Gandhi No. 2 – WSJ.com.

Posted in Democracy, India alert, Leadership change, Politics | 2 Comments »

Tags: Congress, Gandhi-Nehru, India, india congress, Indian National Congress, mr gandhi, Nehru–Gandhi family, politics, rahul gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, state of gujarat

16/11/2012

* Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress poll campaign

Reluctant Rahul finally emerges with key role.

BBC: “Congress party leader, Rahul Gandhi, has been appointed the head of a committee which will look after party activities relating to the 2014 general elections.

Rahul Gandhi, a lawmaker and son of India"s ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, attends the Nehru memorial lecture in New Delhi November 14, 2012

Correspondents say this appointment effectively means that Mr Gandhi will lead the campaign for the party.

Party leaders have been demanding a larger role for Mr Gandhi.

Support for Congress in its second term has been hit by economic concerns and corruption cases.

Last month, PM Manmohan Singh inducted 22 new ministers into the government in a major reshuffle, a move seen as an attempt to get younger politicians into the Congress party-led government ahead of general elections.

And, earlier this month, the party held a conclave, attended by 70 leaders, including Mr Gandhi and his mother and party chief, Sonia Gandhi.

The meeting was seen as another attempt to revitalise the party and government ahead of the polls.

Congress spokesman Janardhan Dwivedi said Mr Gandhi will head a party “coordination committee … keeping in view the general elections to be held in 2014″.

Results of elections in the states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are expected by this year-end.

A number of crucial state polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattishgarh, Rajasthan and Delhi will be held next year ahead of the general elections.

The two-term Congress government is expected to face a tough general election in 2014, correspondents say.

It has been beset by allegations of corruption and inaction in its present second term.”

via BBC News – Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress poll campaign.

See also: https://chindia-alert.org/2012/10/28/rahul-gandhi-mia/

* Rahul Gandhi can change Congress’ image with cabinet entry (chindia-alert.org)

Posted in Elections, India alert, Politics | 1 Comment »

Tags: Congress, congress spokesman, corruption cases, Gandhi, Indian National Congress, manmohan singh, mr gandhi, politics, rahul gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

28/10/2012

* Rahul Gandhi MIA

It is becoming clear to any innocent bystander that Rahul Gandhi is not interested in taking a leading role in Indian national politics. But will he be able to resist the urging from his Grandmother and the Congress |Party? Only time will tell.

WSJ: “The question has swirled around New Delhi for months: Is Rahul Gandhi, scion of India’s most powerful political family, finally poised to take on a major role in running the country’s government?

The answer, apparently, is no. India announced a leadership reshuffle on Sunday that brought several new faces into ministerial positions, but Mr. Gandhi wasn’t among them.

The 42-year-old, a descendant of three past prime ministers, is a general secretary in the ruling Congress party. He has long been viewed as a prime-minister-in-waiting and is widely seen as the face of the Congress party as national elections approach in 2014.

But political analysts say Mr. Gandhi may be running out of time to make himself a credible candidate by showing voters he’s willing to take on real governing duties. “If you’re projected as a prime minister candidate and you don’t take responsibility, that doesn’t say a lot about you,” said Pradip Datta, a political science professor at Delhi University. “It can be interpreted that you don’t want responsibility.””

via Rahul Gandhi MIA – India Real Time – WSJ.

CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Posts tagged ‘Congress’

Post Rahul wrap, Congress takes a U-turn

India’s parliament gets its groove back, at least for now

Bombay mix: Party pooper’s move takes golden glow off festival of lights

India coalition approves new state of Telangana

* India Congress ministers quit amid scandals

* Rahul pitches for inclusive growth, says India largest pool of human capital

* Rahul slips into Sonia’s shoes

* India Congress Party Names Rahul Gandhi No. 2

* Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress poll campaign

* Rahul Gandhi MIA

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats

Chindia Alert: You’ll be Living in their World Very Soon

Categories

Blogs I Follow

Posts tagged ‘Congress’

Related articles

Related articles

Related articles

Tags

Creative Commons

Archives

Meta

Blog Stats