Archives for June 2018

Congress President Rahul Gandhi arrived here on Tuesday morning for a court hearing in a defamation case and for other party engagements in Mumbai.

Hoardings proclaiming Gandhi as the ‘Future Prime Minister’ greeted him on the roads outside the Mumbai Airport to Thane as he was accorded a warm welcome by Congress state President Ashok Chavan, Mumbai city chief Sanjay Nirupam, Janardhan Chandurkar, Bhai Jagtap, Raju Waghmare and other senior leaders.

Thereafter, Gandhi proceeded to the Bhiwandi Court in adjoining Thane district which was virtually converted into a fortress for the framing of charges in a defamation case against him filed by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker four years ago.

The case was lodged by RSS worker Rajesh Kunte who objected to Gandhi’s utterances at an election rally in March 2014 wherein he blamed the RSS for the killing Mahatma Gandhi.

Later this afternoon, Gandhi will go to Mumbai and interact with the party’s over 15,000 booth-level workers at a function in Bombay Exhibition Centre, Goregaon.

This will mark the launch of a national endeavor ‘Project Shakti’ by which the Congress President will establish direct communication between the grassroots workers and the party’s central leadership, said Mumbai Congress President Sanjay Nirupam.

In the evening, Gandhi is scheduled to have a meeting with the party’s municipal corporators and is also likely to call on Nationalist Congress President Sharad Pawar.

Days after accusing Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of indulging in “minority appeasement”, BJP MLA T Raja Singh Lodh on Monday said only those “begging for a vote”, host Iftar parties. In a video posted on Facebook, the MLA from Goshamahal constituency in Hyderabad also said that the “green book (Quran) is responsible for spreading terrorism in India” and that he will neither host nor attend any Iftar party with those who “talk of killing Hindus”.

“These days, many Telangana legislators are busy hosting Iftar parties, wearing skull caps and taking selfies. They think if they have to do vote bank politics, they will have to think of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’ (together with all, development for all). This is their thinking. Those who sit with them (attend Iftar parties) are ‘vote ke bikhari’ (beggars for vote). My thinking is different,” Raja said in the video.

Launching a direct attack on the Muslim community and accusing them of “killing the Hindus”, the MLA said his religion was different as Hinduism taught giving respect to everyone. “But some religions and their religious books preach to kill Hindus as they are ‘Kafir’ (a term literally meaning non-believers but often construed as insulting to followers of other religions). How can I attend an Iftar or host one for those who talk of killing Hindus,” he said.

The BJP leader said in order to substantiate his above claims to his friend, he told him that it was mentioned in the “green book” – a reference made to the Quran, the holy book of the Muslims. “The green book is responsible for the spread of terrorism in India and it should be banned. I will fight to get it banned,” he said.
Raja also said that he dreams of an “akhand Hindu rashtra (undivided Hindu nation), construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, a ban on cow slaughter across the country and the return of displaced Kashmiri Pandits. “When there are over 50 Muslim countries and more than 100 Christian countries, why can’t there be a single Hindu nation?” he asked.

This is perhaps not the first time when the MLA has made such statements. He was booked by the police several times in the past over his alleged provocative speeches. Raja had once said that the heads of those opposing the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya must be chopped off.

While accusing CM Rao of “appeasing” the minorities, he had earlier posted on Twitter, “KCR wants aid from the Centre as the state is in financial crisis but for appeasement of minorities, the Telangana government is spending Rs 66 crore for Iftar party. Development over vote bank politics.”

Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Monday said three out of the four wheels of the national economy have been “punctured” and held the BJP government’s “administrative incompetence”, “reckless decisions” and “policy blunders” responsible for the rising farm distress, unemployment and economic failure.

“The tyres on three of the four wheels on which the economy rides are punctured. Firstly exports: the growth rate in the last four years has been negative. Secondly, private investment: it is in the doldrums, if not dead. Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) is stuck at 28.5 per cent for three years,” he told reporters here.

“Thirdly, private consumption: it was limping until a few months ago, there is a mild uptick, and we keep our fingers crossed.”

He said the only tyre that seemed to be inflated was government expenditure.

“But here too, the government’s options are getting limited because of the pressure on the current account deficit (CAD) and the fiscal deficit (FD),” he said.

“I do not think, situation of the world economy is affecting India. What is affecting (us) is our own policy blunders, reckless decisions and administrative incompetence,” he said.

Chidambaram said the Reserve Bank of India’s confidence survey stated that 48 per cent felt that the economic situation of the country had worsened in the last 12 months.

“The survey is unlikely to have covered the most backward parts of the country or the most deprived sections of the people. Therefore, the number of 48 per cent will be actually higher,” he said.

The senior leader said farm income was not rising even at a fraction of the growth rate of the economy and farm wages were constant for the last three-four years.

“At these rates, it will take another 14 years to double farmers’ income,” he said while taking a dig at the Narendra Modi government’s plan to double farm income by 2022.

He said farmers’ despondency had turned into anger and they had come on to the streets to protest.

“The principal reasons are uneconomic price for farm produce and stagnant wages of farm labour. MSP (Minimum Support Price) is not adequate. Every farmer knows that the promise of MSP = Cost + 50 per cent is a ‘jumla’,” he said.

Chidambaram said unemployment was rampant in the country, which was a “far cry” from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s promised two crore jobs a year.

“There is great ferment in campuses across the country because young men and women know that there will be no jobs when they graduate. So far, nobody has bought the innovative idea that ‘frying pakoras is also a job’,” he said.

He questioned why the Labour Bureau Survey for October-December 2017 was not yet released.

Chidambaram said the gross NPAs (Non-Performing Assets) had risen in the last four years from Rs 2,63,000 crore to Rs 10,30,000 crore and would rise further.

“No bank is willing to lend a big-ticket loan. Credit growth to industry in the last four years was 5.6, 2.7, -1.9 and 0.7 per cent. The Banks Board Bureau (BBB) is an utter failure. Government cannot find the additional money to recapitalise banks,” he said.

When asked about fugitive businessmen Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya, Chidambaram said: “I know, they (government) have made no efforts to get them back. In fact, I doubt if they are making any effort. Our position is that they allowed both the gentlemen to leave the county.”

He said demonetisation had caused the growth rate to decline from 8.2 per cent in 2015-16 to 6.7 per cent in 2017-18.

“The Tamil Nadu government has officially acknowledged that 50,000 MSME units were shut down in the state in 2017-18; 5,00,000 jobs were lost; and capital investment in the MSME sector declined by Rs 11,000 crore,” he said.

A flawed Goods and Services Tax has continued to haunt trade and business, he added.

Chidambaram said the social security laws and programmes have been neglected by the BJP-led central government.

“The Food Security Act has not been implemented. MGNREGA is no longer demand-driven, wage arrears have mounted. Crop insurance covers barely 30 per cent of farmers, it is a windfall for insurers. Health Protection Scheme is another ‘jumla’,” he said.

Chidambaram said there was “widespread anger” about the artificially fixed prices of petrol, diesel and LPG.

“There is absolutely no reason why the prices should be higher today than what they were in May-June 2014. It is nothing but a case of fleecing the helpless consumer.

He said if petroleum products are brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), their prices will decline “immediately”.