NEW DELHI:

Mallikarjun Kharge, President of Congress, on Friday said a decision on whether to oppose the Centre’s ordinance on the control of administrative services in Delhi would be taken before the Parliament session. His remarks come a day after the AAP’s ultimatum that it will walk out of the Opposition meeting in Patna if the Congress does not promise its support over the issue.

Asked about the ordinance issue and AAP’s ultimatum, Mr. Kharge, before leaving for Patna, said his party would take a decision on it before Parliament’s Monsoon session and wondered why it was being talked about elsewhere when it was a matter that pertains to Parliament. “Opposing it or proposing it does not happen outside, it happens in Parliament. Before Parliament begins, all parties decide what issues they have to work on together. They (AAP) know it and even their leaders come to our all-party meetings. I don’t know why there is so much publicity about it outside,” Mr Kharge said.

“About 18-20 parties decide together on what to oppose and what to accept. So instead of saying anything now, we will take a decision before Parliament begins,” he said. The meeting of opposition parties has been called by Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar to chalk out a joint strategy to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The post Congress to decide on Delhi Ordinance row before Parliament session appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The Congress has called a meeting of its MLAs on May 14 evening to deliberate on the tricky issue of who gets the top job after their thumping victory in the Karnataka assembly elections on May 13. In the meeting, which Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar said is scheduled for 6 pm at the Shangri-La Hotel in Bengaluru, the Congress Legislative Party is expected to pass a resolution leaving it to the Congress national president to decide the chief minister pick.

The Congress bagged 136 seats and the BJP 64. In the election.

Shivakumar and former Chief Minister and leader of Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah have both been vocal about their aspirations for the top post, raising fears of an unpleasant stand-off within the party if the matter isn’t resolved.

Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, who held a joining press conference with the two top state party leaders last evening dedicating the victory to the people of the state and promising to implement welfare schemes promised in the party manifesto, is headed back to Delhi this afternoon.

The scale of Congress victory is a record in terms of both seats and vote share in over 30 years. The party has won 136 seats — 56 more than in 2018 — with a vote share of 42.9 per cent. The closest the Congress came to this score was in 1999 when it won 132 seats and had a vote share of 40.84 per cent.

The post Congress to hold key meeting today to decide on Karnataka CM appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

BENGULURU:

Congress is leading in 131 seats out of the 224 Assembly seats as the counting of votes for the high stake Karnataka assembly elections 2023 is underway. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leads in 73 seats and the Janata Dal (S) in 18 seats with its leader H.D Kumaraswami trailing in his constituency.

The post Congress leads in Karnataka Assembly elections appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Winning the electoral contest in the southern state of Karnataka is key to the revival of its image as the main opposition player against the saffron party for the Indian National Congress.  A win in Karnataka will give the Congress a boost of sorts to take on the BJP later this year in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

During the election campaign in Karnataka run by its state leaders, the grand old party focussed on local issues.. This poll is also a prestige battle in a way for the party with a Kannadiga Mallikarjun Kharge, who hails from Kalaburagi district.

Though the campaign initially centered around its state leaders like Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, Kharge gave it momentum and thereby prepared the pitch for the party’s top leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to join in. Their mother and former AICC president Sonia Gandhi addressed a party rally in Hubballi on Saturday.

The party held 99 public meetings and 33 roadshows by its top state and central leaders. The Congress has set a target of winning 150 seats, and has been urging voters to ensure that it gets an absolute majority, so that BJP doesn’t “steal” the mandate by managing defections of other party legislators and “manufacture” a majority in its favour. The Congress’s main issues to attack the BJP government in this election were over corruption/ scams and the charge of 40 per cent commission, coupled with the Adani issue.

The Congress’ has promised to implement ‘guarantees’ – 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs.2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs.3,000 every month for graduate youth and Rs.1,500 for diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti), on the very first day, on coming to power in the state.

The post Win in Karnataka crucial for Congress appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The NDA has managed to cross the required majority mark of 122 seats even though Tejashwi Yadav’s RJD emerged as the single-largest party in the 243 member Bihar assembly.

From Tejashwi Yadav’s big arrival in Bihar politics, to Nitish Kumar’s position in NDA suffering a blow and Chirag Paswan not performing for LJP as expected , here are some keytakeaways from the Bihar election result.

Thin margin keeps NDA in power

NDA has won 125 seats in the 243-member Bihar assembly where 122 is the majority mark. Nitish Kumar-led NDA with JDU, BJP and the smaller parties of HAM and VIP has managed to cross the halfway mark to give Nitish Kumar his fourth term in the office.

BJP has won 74 seats while JDU has managed to bag 43 seats. Jitan Ram Manjhi’s HAM and VP gained four seats each. Both HAM and VP joind NDA months before the Bihar election after quitting Mahagathbandhan(MGB).

RJD emerged as the single-largest party

This is the first Bihar election that RJD contested without the presence of party supermo Lalu Prasad as he is in jail after convicted in the fodder scam case. Thrity one year old Tejashwi Yadav, who was earlier a part of the Mahagathbandhan with Nitish Kumar, has announced his big arrival with RJD’s startling yet amazing performance in the Bihar assembly election 2020.

RJD has emerged as the single largest party in Bihar and won 75 seats. JDU and BJP kept reminding voters of the atrocities during RJD’s rule under Lalu Prasad Yadav 15 years ago, yet the party has managed to win big. RJD gained the highest vote share among all parties with 23.11%.

This election was a “coming of age” moment for Tejashwi Yadav after RJD’s unprecedented drubbing in the 2019 Lok Sabha election when RJD failed to open its account.

BJP gains upper hand over JDU

Bharathiya Janata Party, has always played second fiddle to Nitish Kumar’s JDU in Bihar.

However in the 2020 Bihar assembly election, BJP has managed to trump not just the MGB, but also its own alliance partner JDU.

With 74 seats, BJP did a better job comparing to 2015 tally of 53 seats, giving the party a upper hand over JDU which has been reduced to 43 seats in 2020, from its 71 seats in 2015.

Although Nitish Kumar is likely to continue as the chief minister of Bihar, BJP will be more assertive and have a greater share in the next Bihar government.

Fall of LJP

During the campaign for Bihar assembly election, Chirag Paswan started attacking Nitish Kumar over his 15 year rule in Bihar, accusing the government of mismanagement. Chirag broke ties with the NDA and announced LJP as an independent party. But LJP decided to support BJP sans JDU.

The Lok Janshakthi Party (LJP) has won just one seat and caused a significant damage to JDU and Nitish Kumar. According to reports, LJP has been instrumental in spoiling JDU’s chances in at least 30 seats.

Congress let down Mahagathbandhan

Congress has barely managed to win 19 seats in the this election, a tally lower than its own count in 2015, when Congress had won 27 seats.

Congress has performed poorly particularly in the seats where it was in direct contest with BJP and became the weakest link for the MGB.

Tejashwi Yadav’s decision to give 70 seats to Congress was a bad move that cost his party MGB a lot.

Left party win big

The Left parties contested in 29 seats in the Bihar assembly elections tying up with MGB and won 16 seats, performing better than some anticipated.

The biggest gainer was the CPI-ML, which clinched 12 seats, followed by the CPI and CPI-M, which won two each. Barring the CPI-ML, which had three seats in the outgoing assembly, none of the Left parties had a presence in Bihar assembly before this.

Surprise performance from Owaisi

Asaduddin Owaisi’s  All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) has managed to win five seats, which was a surprising turn of events. They were slammed as ‘vote cutter’and spoiler in Bihar Assembly elections, but AIMIM won five Muslim-dominated seats, giving a befitting reply to their critics.

The post Key takeaways from Bihar election result appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

It was alleged that the police were forcibly trying to get her body cremated in the middle of the night. The family had said that they will not cremate the body in a hurry and will wait till they get justice . The family also claimed that they follow Hindu rituals and not cremate the body at night.

HAPPENING NOW — #Hathras rape victim’s body has reached her native village, Boolgarhi in Hathras, where the horrific incident took place. SP, DM, Joint Magistrate all here accompanying the family. My camera person Wakar and I will get you all the updates all through the night pic.twitter.com/VxEWDVVpsU

— Tanushree Pandey (@TanushreePande) September 29, 2020

Earlier in the day, the father and brother of the Hathras gangrape victims sat in protest outside the hospital claiming that her body had been taken away without their permission.

They were joined in protest by workers from Congress as well as the Bhim Army. As the crowd at Safdurjung Hospital swelled, security was heightened at the hospital.

Delhi Police later claimed that the family was not sitting on a dharna and said that the issue was “hijacked by different groups”.

“We have talked to the victim’s family members. The last rites of the victim have been performed keeping in view of peace situation here. Four accused have already been arrested. Police and administration will ensure that the perpetrators of the crime are brought to justice,” Prem Prakash Meena, Hathras Joint Magistrate told a news agency.

The woman was raped in a village in Hathras by four men on September 14. The four accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt and in the process, she also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The accused have been arrested. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital where she breathed her last on Tuesday.

As news of her death spread, protests broke out in Delhi as well as in Hathras with all sections of society, including politicians, sports and cine stars and activists, expressing their anguish and demanding justice for her.

Meanwhile Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a 3-member panel to probe the Hathras gangrape and death case and asked the team to submit a report.

The probe panel will be monitored by UP home secretary Bhagwan Swarup. The panel will also comprise members from the Dalit community along with women members. CM has also ordered fasttracking of the Hathras rape case.

The post Hathras gangrape: Family accuses UP police of forcibly cremating victim’s body at midnight appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

The Congress was the first to walkout from the House and was later joined by the members of Aam Aadmi Party, TMC and Left parties.

“We will consider withdrawal of suspension only after suspended members apologise for their behaviour in Rajya Sabha,” Ravi Shankar Prasad told reporters outside Parliament.
“We expected the Congress would oppose such unruly behaviour by Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha,” he said.

What kind of politics is this that a tweet comes from abroad and MPs behave like this, the minister said, apparently referring to tweets by Rahul Gandhi, who is outside the country accompanying his mother Sonia Gandhi for her medical check-up.

“We have never seen a Congress MP dancing on the Rajya Sabha table and tear papers,” Mr Prasad said.

He also asserted that the government had a clear majority in the Rajya Sabha for the passing of the farm Bills on September 22.

The post Ravi Shankar Prasad seeks apology from suspended Rajya Sabha MPs appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

This bills were passed amid most of the opposition including the Congress, Left parties, the TMC, the Samajwadi Party and the NCP decided to boycott House proceedings in protest against the suspension of eight MPs for the remainder of the session for unruly behaviour.

Only members from the ruling BJP and its ally JD-U and those of parties such as AIADMK, BJD, YSR-Congress and TDP, which have been extending support to the Modi government on various issues, participated in the debates on the bills.

In most bills, the members participation was sparse and the minister’s reply brief.

The Upper House took up government legislative business after nearly an hour of discussion over the conduct of opposition MPs during the passage of two agriculture reform bills on Sunday, with Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu saying the suspension could be revoked if the members expressed regret over their action.

The Oppositon decided to boycott the proceedings of Rajya Sabha till three key demands as well as requests of revoking of the suspension of eight members, are met. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad had declared in the upper house on Tuesday as high drama continued for the third straight day.

The suspended members continued their sit-in on the lawns of the parliament complex till about 11:30 AM after spending the night there in protest. They were suspended over Sunday’s unprecedented chaos and “unruly behaviour” in the Rajya Sabha when two controversial farm bills were passed.

Expressing solidarity to the protesting parties, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar announced that he would observe a day-long fast on Tuesday. He criticised the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chaiperson’s conduct and the Modi government’s decision to thwart the Opposition in the House.

The NCP chief further said that the eight MPs were expelled for voicing their opinion and added that the Deputy Chairman did not give priority to rules of the House.

The post Rajya Sabha passes seven key bills in three and half hours appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Responding to concerns raised by the opposition Congress, Facebook’s Public Policy,Trust and Safety Director Neil Potts has said that it has taken the party’s allegation of bias “very seriously” and will ensure that it remain non-partisan and is committed to maintaining the highest levels of integrity.

Facebook said it has a team with deep expertise on terrorism and organized hate, who pay attention to global and regional trends and advise on these matters.

The assurance came days after Congress wrote two letters to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg accusing the social media giant’s bias and showing favouritism to the BJP. The Congress made the move after reports by Wall Street Journal and the Time magazine about the conduct of Facebook and WhatsApp India’s leadership team flagged bias and proximity with the ruling BJP.

The Congress accused Facebook of interfering in India’s democratic process and social harmony and being soft on members of the ruling BJP while applying its hate-speech rules.

The post Facebook responds to Congress’ charge of political bias appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

His attack comes after official data showed on Monday that the country’s economy suffered its worst slump on record in April-June, with the gross domestic product (GDP) contracting by 23.9 per cent as the coronavirus-related lockdown weighed on the already declining consumer demand and investment.

“India is reeling under Modi-made disasters: 1. Historic GDP reduction -23.9% 2. Highest Unemployment in 45 yrs 3. 12 Crs job loss 4. Centre not paying states their GST dues 5. Globally highest COVID-19 daily cases and deaths 6. External aggression at our borders (sic),” Gandhi tweeted.

Rebutting Gandhi’s attack in a video earlier this week on the state of the economy, the BJP had mocked him saying he should release a video about the “G-23”, a reference to the 23 leaders who wrote to the Congress chief seeking the party’s overhaul.

Chief Economic Adviser K. V. Subramanian has said the economy was “experiencing a V-shaped recovery” after the lockdown was eased.

The post India reeling under ‘Modi-made disasters’: Rahul appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

No other Prime Minister or political leader in independent India has participated in so many photo sessions as part of his marketing strategy. As for Modi, who meditates in a cave and looks at a file while sitting in front of a peacock, appears in photos in various guises and the trolls that follow do not affect him in any way. With each of these photo sessions, he is increasing the support of his fans manifold. In democracies, it is rare for a leader to wear a coat emblazoned with his own name in small letters and dare to appear at an important event of international significance. It is doubtful that there is another leader in contemporary world politics who is so “narcissistic”. Maybe Donald Trump is the only world leader who could be a notch above Mr. Modi in certain areas.

Modi will turn 70 on September 17. It is this old man who is constantly appearing in the media, refining and reinventing himself in costume, form and appearance by capturing the self-love that even young people hesitate to express these days. Our Prime Minister gives a look of subtlety that even celebrities have failed to completely master, even in photo sessions and in public.

There is no other leader in Indian politics today that can influence the people like Mr. Modi. Even in the BJP, other leaders lag far behind Modi in terms of popular support. No other head of state in the world has ever received trolls like Prime Minister Modi, who posed for a photo with books folded upside down and read a newspaper in front of a laptop next to flamingos. But Modi gets twice as much adoration and praise from his fans through the same photos. This is what makes Modi the Paradoxical Prime Minister or Prime Minister of Paradoxes. What seems ridiculous to rivals is a paradox that thrills fans. Just like the movies of superstars that are thought to be a super hit by fans when at the same time people with common sense find it ridiculous.

It is this self-cultivated image, which is at once empty and at the same time extremely popular, that the Congress, among others, is trying to fight and defeat. But leaders need leaders to replace them. The leader Modi was formed not only by the BJP’s entrenched party system. The BJP is more indebted to Modi than he owes it to the party. The BJP was able to return to power in 2014 due to Modi’s charisma. The party retained power in 2019 only because of Modi’s strong influence.

It is quite unfortunate that the Opposition has to take on such a charismatic leader today. It is necessary that a visionary leader should emerge among the Opposition parties to overcome that charismas. Revolutionaries like Jayaprakash Narayanan were in the opposition to give a constant headache for Indira Gandhi, who was so authoritarian that she did not hesitate to declare a state of emergency. But there is no leader in the Opposition today who is capable of hurting Modi. That is not the misfortune only of the opposition; It is also the misfortune of modern Indian democracy.

The post The paradoxical Prime Minister appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Siddaramaiah has been admitted to Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru where CM Yediyurappa is currently on treatment for the same.

Taking to Twitter, Siddaramaiah said he has been admitted to the hospital on medical advice.

“I have been tested positive for #Covid19 & also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution. I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms & to quarantine themselves,” his tweet read.

I have been tested positive for #Covid19 & also been admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors as a precaution.

I request all those who had come in contact with me to check out for symptoms & to quarantine themselves.

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) August 4, 2020

The opposition leader didn’t show any symptoms and he was admitted to the hospital as doctors advised him to do so. He is stable and doing well.

On August 2, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram tested positive for covid-19.

Siddaramaiah had requested those who had come in contact with him in the last few days to undergo covid-19 test. He also urged people not to be anxious or panic.

The post K’taka former CM Siddaramaiah tests COVID +ve appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

But had he given a thought to why leaders, both young and old, have been continuously leaving the Congress over the years, that too people who had been with it during the worst of times? 

Rahul’s statement came even as Jyothiradithya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and Sachin Pilot in Rajasthan has been at loggerheads with the Congress leadership.

Jyothiradithya Scindia was one who was trotting around with upper caste credentials as a feather in his cap and that is more in line with the saffron party’s stand. It was no surprise that he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. But the case of Sachin Pilot is different. 

He is the son of Rajesh Pilot who never rejected the secular credentials of the Congress. Even Sachin’s family life reflects this secular mentality. The daughter of National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah Sarah is his wife. He would have to seek the permission of his wife’s family before joining the BJP, which had removed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and brought measures and controls that were against the democratic principles of this country. It was against such a leader that the Congress had initiated action alleging that there is evidence that Sachin was keen on joining hands with the BJP.

A majority of leaders had quit the Congress during the time of Indira Gandhi. But that outflow was on the grounds of idealism. Many of the leaders had quit the party questioning the totalitarian leadership of Indira Gandhi. At the same time, it is strange that leaders, one after the other, are leaving the Congress to join a BJP that has a totalitarian leadership symbolised in Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. It is indeed very surprising that these leaders, because of their hunger for power, are attracted like a magnet to the totalitarian tendencies of these two leaders.

How would a Congress with no popular support survive even if the quitting of young Turks wouldn’t affect the party? What has leaders like Rahul Gandhi done to revive people’s support for the party?

Rahul Gandhi, who was issuing statements, posting photographs and giving interviews when crores of labourers were suffering during the lockdown, failed to utilise the opportunity to inject new blood into the veins of the party to revive it. A party can gain popular support only if it is able to get down to the grassroots level and make people feel that it is with them during their worst of times. 

Under a leadership that has no clue on how to revive the efficiency of the party by tapping into popular disaffection with the ruling dispensation, it is not surprising that it is going from bad to worse and leaders are thinning out. If this outflow of leaders continues, the Congress would soon be reduced to an endangered species.

The post So true. Nothing is going to hurt Congress now appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

Meanwhile, Sachin Pilot is camping at a luxury hotel near Delhi where the Congress MLAs are presently lodging. His official group released a video last night showing at least 20 MLAs supporting him, hours after Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held a meeting at his residence in Jaipur. He insisted that Gehlot had lost his majority and his claim of 106 MLAs was greatly exaggerated. In the 200-member Rajasthan assembly, 101 is the majority mark.

The post Sachin Pilot rejects second chance to reconcile with Congress appeared first on The Gulf Indians.

At the moment Congress sources are viewing this with some amount of concern. According to the sources, this whole incident is brewing since the lockdown began. This is the third attempt by Sachin Pilot to stage coup and become Chief Minister of Rajasthan. The Congress dismissed the claim of Pilot that he has the support of 30 Congress MLAs and said only Congress government will survive the crisis.

At the same time, Congress says the doors for Sachin Pilot are still open and they have been in talks with him in the past two days regarding the present political crisis in Rajasthan.

Meanwhile, the BJP has so far said there are no conditions to Mr Pilot joining the party.

The post Sachin Pilot says he has no plans to join BJP appeared first on The Gulf Indians.