Archives for March 2023

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday tore into the BJP for calling her brother Rahul Gandhi a ‘traitor’ and casting aspersions on the Nehru-Gandhi family.  Addressing a gathering at the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ outside Rajghat, she said BJP leaders have repeatedly insulted her family, whose members have sacrificed their lives for the country

The Congress organised similar satyagrahas on Sunday to protest  from Parliament. In Delhi, the party wanted to hold the protest at the Rajghat but Delhi police declined permission. Following this, the leaders decided to sit outside the memorial.

“You call my brother, a martyr’s son, a traitor and your minister insulted my mother in Parliament. One of your chief ministers said Rahul Gandhi doesn’t even know who his father is. Your PM asks why this family does not keep the surname of Nehru… you have insulted the entire family,” she said, adding that leaders of the ruling dispensation get away with their words and deeds. 

“You don’t get a sentence of two years, you are not thrown out of Parliament, you are not barred from contesting elections for eight years,” she said, adding the family has kept quiet till now but not any longer. 
“My brother even hugged the PM and told him that he doesn’t harbour any hatred towards him. How much will you insult one man?” she asked.

Launching a broadside against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Priyanka said: “You can slap a case on me and put me in jail. But the truth is that the PM is a coward. He is hiding behind power.”  Taking a dig at BJP leaders for portraying Rahul Gandhi as ‘Pappu’, Priyanka said the government is scared of him after lakhs of people joined his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

She added: “Our family members shed blood for this flag and the land. Those who think that they can threaten or put us in jail are wrong. We are not scared. We will continue to fight for the democratic values of the country,” she said.

Meanwhile, as a show of protest against Rahul’s disqualification, the Congress has asked its MPs to wear a black dress in Parliament on Monday.

As the Parliament session resumes on Monday, Congress Parliamentarians will wear black to protest against the conviction and subsequent of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Lok Sabha.

The party has intensified its protests across the country after the Congress leader was disqualified on Friday. On Sunday, Congress Lok Sabha leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury conveyed the message to MPs to dress up in black to send a powerful message to the ruling party.

“We are planning that all our MPs will come dressed in black tomorrow i.e. March 27, 2023. I request you to kindly do so that a powerful collective message is sent,” he said. On Sunday, Congress held a day- Protest in the capital, where the top leaders of the party Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot lashed out at the government and reiterated the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 

After losing his MP status, Rahul Gandhi changed his Twitter bio to ‘Dis’Qualified MP’ on Sunday.

The Monday session of the Parliament is likely to see a major showdown as Congress and other Opposition parties are planning to take on the government on and Adani issue. All the Opposition Parties have condemned Rahul’s disqualification and have extended support to the leader in his fight.

The second leg of the Budget session of the Parliament has failed to transact any business in the last two weeks due to vehement protests by both Treasury Benches and opposition on Rahul s remarks in London and Adani issue. On Friday, the government passed the finance bill in Lok Sabha amid sloganeering from the Opposition benches on the demand for a JPC probe into the Adani issue. With the passage of the Finance Bill, tax proposals envisaged in the Budget would be passed.

The Rajya Sabha is scheduled to discuss the Budget today. It has been speculated that the government may cut short the session due to the stalemate. The session, which began on March 13 was scheduled to end on April 6.  

MALEGAON: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said he considers Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar as his “idol”, and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to refrain from “insulting” him.

He said the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance of three parties – Sena (UBT), Congress, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) – was formed to protect democracy and it was necessary to work unitedly for it.

Addressing a rally in the Muslim-dominated textile town of Malegaon in the Nashik district of north Maharashtra, Thackeray also said that deliberate attempts were on to provoke Rahul Gandhi.

“Savarkar is our idol and his insult will not be tolerated if we have to fight together to protect our democracy. Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice,” he said.

”I want to tell Rahul Gandhi that we have come together to save our country’s democracy and its Constitution. But you are deliberately being provoked. If we allow this time to get wasted, then democracy will cease to exist. 2024 will be the last election,” he added.

Rahul gandhi was disqualified from Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat’s Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case.

Addressing a press conference in Delhi over his disqualification “My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone.”

Thackeray said he supported Gandhi for his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“Rahul Gandhi spoke well at his press conference yesterday. He raised valid questions about to whom does Rs 20,000 crore belong. But the government doesn’t want to answer,” he said.

During his press conference on Saturday, Gandhi said the moot questions remain over who invested Rs 20,000 crore in Adani shell firms and what is the businessman’s relationship with the prime minister.

Targeting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Thackeray alleged that those who have no connection with the country’s freedom movement were attempting to finish off democracy.

Thackeray, who was addressing his second rally here after Khed in Ratnagiri district since losing the party name and symbol to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said he was fighting to save democracy and freedom. “The fight is not about me becoming the chief minister again,” he said.

Thackeray also said NCP leader Anil Deshmukh’s six-year-old granddaughter was questioned by probe agencies and even Lalu Prasad Yadav’s pregnant daughter-in-law was quizzed till she fainted.

“If you criticise those in power, police will be after you,” he said.

“Modi is not India. Did our freedom fighters lay down their lives for this?” he asked.

The former CM wondered how good and honest people in the BJP were tolerating the corrupt people brought into their fold from other parties.

Hitting out at CM Shinde, Thackeray said he doesn’t regret losing the chief minister’s post, but a government doing good work was shamelessly toppled. “Farmers are facing a lot of hardships and the Shinde government is doing nothing to ease their problems,” he alleged.

Thackeray said he has been robbed of his party’s name and symbol, but traitors can never rob him of the love and affection of the people.

He said his government has taken several steps for the development of the textile sector in Malegaon and farmers and during the COVID-19 pandemic. “During the pandemic, I had spoken to the religious heads in Malegaon and everyone here cooperated with the government initiatives to control the spread of the virus,” he said.

After Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut may face disqualification as the breach of privilege motion has passed against him in Maharashtra state legislative assembly and referred to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha on Saturday.

Sanjay Raut had called the state assembly members the gang of thieves – chor mandal. The ruling party in Maharashtra took objections to Sanjay Raut’s statement calling state assembly as chor mondal and demanded the privilege motion against Sanjay Raut for insulting the elected representatives and its House which has a very rich tradition.

Maharashtra state legislative assembly speaker Rahul Narvekar read out the privilege committee report that recommended actions against Sanjay Raut. Narvekar said that he approves the breach of privilege motion that was filed against Sanjay Raut.

“We had issued notice to Sanjay Raut asking for his clarifications as part of natural justice. But he sought more time and more time was given, and later he replied but it was not satisfactory therefore decided to pass the privilege motion against him. Sanjay Raut is a member of the Rajya Sabha therefore they decided to refer this passed motion to the chairman of the Rajya Sabha for further actions,” Narvekar added.

Reacting to this development, Sanjay Raut confirmed that there is a conspiracy against him to disqualify him from membership in the Rajya Sabha like Rahul Gandhi, but he is not afraid of such actions.

He said that his remarks calling elected members as a gang of thieves are misinterpreted. “I was never meant to refer to the state assembly as a gang of thieves. But it was intended towards the 40 MLAs of Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde led Shiv Sena who snatched the Uddhav Thackeray’s father-founded party and its traditional bow and arrow symbol. They are a chor gang which are stealing from Uddhav Thackeray therefore my remark was limited to these 40 MLAs of the Shinde group only. I cannot insult the House and its elected members,” Raut clarified.

He said that he will not extend an apology for the statement that was never made. “If I wanted to apologize, then I would not have gone to jail also. I am the true soldier of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Balasaheb Thackeray who will never bow to such frivolous pressure and blackmailing tactics of the BJP and his allied partners in Maharashtra. I will continue to fight at any cost,” Raut said. 

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday reviewed the performance of public sector banks (PSBs) on various financial health parameters and their resilience in the wake of the current global financial scenario emanating from the failure of some international banks in the US and Europe.

She urged the banks to remain vigilant about the interest rate risks and regularly undertake stress tests.

During the two hours meeting with MDs and CEOs of PSBs, an open discussion was held on the global scenario amid the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank (SB), along with the issues leading to the crisis in Credit Suisse.

The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad, Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi and other senior officials, an official statement said.

She also discussed the developing and immediate external global financial stress from both short and long-term perspectives.

During the PSB review meeting, she emphasised that the banks should undertake due diligence and adhere to the regulatory framework by focusing on risk management and diversification of deposits and assets base.

The finance minister underlined that PSBs must look at business models closely to identify stress points, including concentration risks and adverse exposures, the statement said, adding that she also exhorted PSBs to use this opportunity to frame detailed crisis management and communication strategies.

The chiefs of PSBs apprised Sitharaman that they follow the best corporate governance practices, adhere to regulatory norms, ensure prudent liquidity management and continue to focus on having robust asset-liability and risk management.

Further, she was also informed by the PSBs that they are vigilant of developments in the global banking sector and are taking all possible steps to safeguard themselves from any potential financial shock.

All the major financial parameters indicate stable and resilient PSBs with robust financial health, it added.

The minister also stressed that PSBs must leverage the full potential of branches opened in International Financial Services Centres in GIFT City Gujarat to identify international opportunities, including prospects related to Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs).

She asked banks to take focused measures to attract deposits, given the steps taken by the government to reduce the tax arbitrage in some debt instruments and pivot their strengthened financial position to support the credit needs of the growing economy.

The minister asked banks to focus on credit outreach in states where the credit offtake is lower than the national average, particularly in the northeast and eastern parts of the country, and enhance business presence in new and emerging areas like One District One Product (ODOP), e-NAM and drones.

She said PSBs should promote the Mahila Samman Bachat Patra, announced in the Budget, through special drives and campaigns and also focus on increasing brick-and-mortar banking presence in border and coastal areas.