Posts tagged ‘Jaipur’

14/01/2014

Ready for whatever Congress wants me to do: Rahul Gandhi – The Hindu

Ahead of the AICC meeting on Friday when he is expected to be named the Congress Prime Ministerial candidate, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday appeared ready to take up the responsibility.

“None of my family members ever worked for the sake of power. Neither my father nor my grandmother,

“I am a sepoy of Congress. I will obey whatever order is given to me. I will do whatever Congress wants me to do… Decisions are taken in our party by senior leaders,” he told Hindi daily ‘Dainik Bhaskar’ in an interview.

“Earlier also some decisions were taken…Power is poison ….does not mean that I am not keen to take responsibility. There is no word of reluctance in my life…Congress has never been specific. Whatever task the Congress wanted me to accomplish, I have done that,” Mr. Gandhi said when asked whether he was ready to take up the post of Prime Minister and about perceptions of him being reluctant.

Mr. Gandhi’s remarks at the party’s Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January 2013, that his mother Sonia Gandhi had told him that power is poison had led to speculation as well Opposition attack that the Congress vice-president was not willing to take up responsibility.

Explaining his remarks, he said, “Power is poison is an observation that when power comes, one should know how to deal with the associated dangers that come with it. This is it. Power is poison means use power for the welfare of people and do not use it to make oneself bigger or more powerful.”

To a direct question on whether he will accept any such responsibility, Mr. Gandhi said, “None of my family members ever worked for the sake of power. Neither my father nor my grandmother.”

Mr. Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi were both Prime Ministers of the country.

via Ready for whatever Congress wants me to do: Rahul Gandhi – The Hindu.

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24/11/2013

Indian Congress did nothing for tribals: Modi – The Hindu

The BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress of not even acknowledging the existence of the tribal population in the country in the past 60 years.

BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi during an election rally. File photo: Shanker Chakravarty

The Gujarat Chief Minister was addressing a gathering of people from a tribal belt in Rajasthan’s Banswara district, some 500 km from state capital Jaipur.

Rajasthan will go to the polls December 1 to elect new members to with its 200-seat assembly.

“The tribal population exists in this country since the time of Ramchandraji. It existed during the Independence struggle. Everyone but the Congress is aware of the existence of the tribes for centuries,” Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi said that it was former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who brought a tribal ministry into being, and also allocated a separate budget for tribals.

“Congress doesn’t consider tribal people as humans. For them, it is just a vote bank,” Mr. Modi said.

“They keep screaming about irrelevant things, but they don’t talk about inflation. Congress had promised to contain inflation in 100 days, but nothing happened,” he said.

“Did Sonia, Manmohan or Rahul speak or mention anything about rising prices in their speeches?” he asked.

Mr. Modi also referred to union Law Minister Kapil Sibal’s statement, claiming that the prices of vegetables have risen because the poor are able to purchase them, and demand for these has gone up.

“A senior minister of the Congress party said a couple of days ago that the poor used to eat chapatis without vegetables but they are now affording to eat two dishes of vegetables. He termed it the reason for rising inflation,” said Mr. Modi.

Mr. Modi referred again to Mr. Rahul Gandhi as Shahzada, and said that the All India Congress Committee vice president usually spoke of the poor, but there are slum areas near his own house in Delhi.

“These slum areas fall in the constituency of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit. The conditions are so pathetic at these places that there are only two toilets for 200 people,” Mr. Modi said.

Mr. Modi will address three more election rallies in Rajasthan on Sunday.

via Congress did nothing for tribals: Modi – The Hindu.

21/01/2013

* Women voters in India want to stand up and be counted

It’s about time!

Reuters: “Several years ago, a dinner-table conversation about state elections in Himachal Pradesh veered towards a candidate who gave away pressure cookers to woo women voters. Of course, bribing voters is illegal, but I remember wondering whether all I wanted as a woman was a pressure cooker.

The Delhi rape case and the molestation of a young girl in Guwahati in Assam last year have underscored the place that women often occupy in Indian society. These incidents have made me wonder to what extent our country’s political parties will focus on gender inequality as they look forward to the 2014 general elections. How will they vie for the women’s vote?

Until now, political parties and their largely male leadership focussed on the ‘aam aadmi’, or the common man, a phrase which subsumes women. Politicians and other public figures don’t make much hay of gender inequality and many of the attitudes toward women that hurt a large portion of our society — and when they do, they’re often lacking. The best attitude that politicians often apply to women is a patronising one. Instead of focusing on women’s empowerment through education and awareness, politicians distribute saris, cookers and sanitary napkins.

There is some attempt to change that. The Congress party’s weekend “Chintan Shivir“, or brainstorming session, in Jaipur put a special focus on women.

“Discrimination against the girl child and atrocities against women are a blot on our collective conscience,” party chief Sonia Gandhi said while opening the gathering. “Gender issues are fundamental and should be of concern to all of us.””

via India Insight.

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