Archives for July 2018

Launching a blistering attack on the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal govenrment, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday accused it of forming a nexus with the “all pervading syndicates”, murdering Dalit political activists and having no faith in democracy, the Indian constitution or the electoral process.

In one of his strongest tirades against the Trinamool Congress government, Modi told a rally here that none of the forces which perpetrated atrocities in Bengal in the past were spared, and prophesied that the “state will be freed of all crimes and corruptions within months and it is just a matter of an opportunity”.

Asking didi (elder sister, as Banerjee is called) to take note of “the strength and discipline” of the people at the rally, Modi urged the people and the workers of BJP to “think together and bravely” to shake the “foundation of the syndicate” as was done in Tripura – where the BJP won the assembly polls earlier this year by ending 25 years of Left Front rule.

“The way Tripura’s syndicate was broken, it can be repeated in West Bengal. The resolution from this historic land has never been in vain.

“Those who do not support democracy, do not believe in the process of election, follow the Constitution and the Government that has to be reprimanded by High Court and Supreme Court, will not be spared,” he said to tumultuous applause and high-decibel chants of “Modi, Modi”.

Refering to the 34 years of Left Front rule in West Bengal that ended in 2011 when the Trinamool was voted to power, he said while it took time to vote out the communists, it won’t take long this time around.

“People of Bengal saved themselves from the torture of the Left rule with the help of democracy. It took time then. Now Bengal will once again free itself of the wrongdoings and crimes within months. Bengal is waiting for its chance. People of Bengal are waiting for their opportunity.”

“The people of Bengal have seen the real faces of those who talked about ‘Maa, Mati, Manush’ (Mother, motherland and people – Banerjee’s pet slogan). People know what they have done for the last eight years and also know about their syndicate.

“These are the syndicate for snatching away the profit of the farmers, for conspiring to murder the political oppositions, for torturing the poor and for maintaining their own vote banks to stay on in the power,” Modi said while addressing the farmer’s rally at the Midnapore college grounds.

Referring to the violence and killing centring the recent state rural body elections, Modi congratulated the BJP activists for “standing firm” against the ruling party’s attack in spite of several of them being killed and said the victory of the saffron outfit in a number of seats was an indication of Bengal’s “bright future”.

“I bow down my head to salute the people of Bengal who supported the BJP in the last state Panchayat election in spite of widespread violence and attacks on them. Our party activists were murdered one after the other. Many Dalit sons were snatched away from their parents,” Modi said.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to seek his support for the passage of the Womens Reservation Bill in Parliament’s monsoon session, claiming that the BJP appears to have had second thoughts on the proposed law even though it was a key promise in its 2014 manifesto.

The Congress leader said that the bill — passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2010 — has been stalled on one pretext or the other in the Lok Sabha for over eight years now.

Gandhi said that the bill holds the potential to transform the country’s governance and any further delay will make it impossible to implement it before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“I write to request (for) your support to ensure the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the coming monsoon session,” he said.

The monsoon session is slated to begin on July 18 and will continue till August 10.

“Given the fact that the BJP and its allies have a majority in the Lok Sabha, all this landmark (proposed) legislation requires to become a reality is your support. I am sure it will not be withheld,” Gandhi said.

Stepping up its attack on the Congress, the BJP on Monday dubbed it the “worst communal party” and sought its clarification over the reported remarks of Rahul Gandhi that his party is for the Muslims.

“The Congress is the worst communal party. It has always done communal politics. What Rahul Gandhi has said is against the spirit of the Constitution and against every principle of democracy,” Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters here.

Javadekar’s attack comes in the wake of a report in an Urdu daily according to which Gandhi told a meeting of Muslim intellectuals earlier this week that the “Congress is a party for the Muslims”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday attacked Gandhi, saying whether the Congress was interested only in the welfare of Muslim men and not women.

“The Congress has damaged the country to a great extent. We condemn their policies. The communal policies do not serve the country. Rahul Gandhi should speak on this,” he said.

He said that though the Congress has denied that the party President made such remarks, the party’s minority cell chief clarified that Rahul Gandhi has spoken the truth.

“The Congress is exposed. Its appeasement policies have damaged the country. You are distributing natural resources on the basis of religion. That was exactly the basis of whole history of partition. The Congress is a communal party. Their thinking is destructive. Shah Bano case is the biggest example of Congress being a communal party,” Javadekar said.

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday targeted the Congress over Karnataka Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy breaking down at a public event, saying the party believed that “only members of one family can rule India” and that others should be pushed to weeping publicly.

Jaitley’s remark came in a facebook post: “Is the Karnataka a preview of what the Congress and the Federal Front promise for the future?” Jaitley said the country is keenly watching Karnataka where the Congress and the Janata Dal-Secular joined hands post-elections to form a government in May.

“It is a repeat of what the Congress did to Chaudhary Charan Singh, Chandra Shekhar, H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral. It is the obvious consequence of a non-ideological opportunistic alliance (working) with no positive agenda. The basis of the negative agenda is ‘keep Modi out’,” Jaitley said.

He said people had, in the last few days, seen Kumaraswamy pouring out his emotions with tears, declining to accept bouquets and garlands.

Kumaraswamy broke down at a public event on Saturday stating that he was “not happy” holding the top post and that he was swallowing the pain like ‘Vishakantha’ (Lord Shiva), who drank poison.

Jailtley said non-ideological opportunistic coalitions always get trapped within their own contradictions and their only objective remains survival and not service of the nation.

“Their longevity is suspect. If a Prime Minister of such a coalition has to weep before cameras with a wish to exit from office, it will be a scenario worse than the policy paralysis of UPA II. The Congress firmly believes that only members of one family can rule India. If anybody else gets a chance, he should be pushed to the desperation of throwing his hands up and weeping publicly,” he said.

Jaitley said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has clearly demonstrated the advantages of a decisive leadership.

“India’s Prime Minister and his government have to overcome the challenges that India faces today. He cannot be seen like the Chief Minister of Karnataka as a tragedy king. If such a coalition is a cup of poison, why even dream of inflicting it on the nation?” he said.

Jaitley cited parts of Kumarswamy’s speech and said it reminded him of tragedy-era Hindi films.

He said India needs a sustained high-trajectory growth, cohesive government and a decisive political leadership to face global challenges, including terrorism.

The minister said the country needs a government which is able to resist unfair pressures of allies and regions.

“If fighting terror has to be compromised because of vote-bank pressures of allies, then such a government would be a liability. Can a leadership unsure of itself meet the challenge of eliminating poverty and transforming the world’s fastest growing economy into a developed nation?” he asked.

(IANS)

National Agenda Forum (NAF) — As a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary
year, I-PAC has launched a unique citizen-centric initiative to formulate an actionable agenda
for the General Election, 2019.
Inspired by Gandhiji’s 18-point Constructive Programme, which outlined the key priorities for
independent India in 1945, NAF was launched on 29th June 2018. More than 25,000 youth volunteers
from 1,788 colleges spread over 530 districts across India came together to launch this platform.
NAF aims to resurrect the conversation around Gandhiji’s vision and use it to reimagine and co-create India’s
priorities by mobilizing more than 1 crore citizens across the country, to formulate an actionable
agenda for contemporary India and choose a leader who could take this agenda forward.
An initiative by the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), NAF has 4 key action points:
1. Share the vision: Make the nation aware of Gandhiji’s 18-point constructive programme
2. Set the Agenda: Reimagine and co-create India’s key priorities and help formulate an actionable
agenda for contemporary India.
3. Choose the Leader: Nominate the leader best suited to adopt and execute this agenda.
4. Campaign for India: Help the chosen leader to get elected in the upcoming General Elections in 2019.
Citizens can become a part of NAF by logging on to www.indianpac.com/naf/ and voting on the agenda
and the leader from 11th Jul to 14th Aug 2018.
Once the results are out on 15th August, youth volunteers would meet the chosen leader in SeptemberOctober.
The agenda would then be taken to the entire nation before it is adopted as part of the party
manifesto in January 2019.
About I-PAC
Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) is a platform of choice for educated youth and young professionals
who want to participate in the Indian political system and contribute meaningfully in setting the agenda for
incoming governments, without necessarily being part of a political party.
I-PAC started as Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG) in 2013 and has been operating in the sociopolitical
domain over the last 5 years. This group, founded by young professionals from renowned academic
and professional backgrounds, is described as “India’s first Political Action Committee”. I-PAC has
transformed the way elections are fought in India by introducing professionalism and innovation at scale in
campaigning.
I-PAC aims to bridge the gap between citizens’ aspirations and the incoming Government’s priorities in its
endeavor to support the election of visionary, progressive and inclusive leaders to public offices. I-PAC has
ensured that citizens’ agenda becomes focal to its campaigns through ‘Nitish ke Saat Nishchay in Bihar and
‘Captain de Nau Nukte’ in Punjab. In UP the ‘Kisan Yatra’, I-PAC brought back the focus on the demand for
farm loan waiver, which found resonance across the country.

The death toll in the suicide attack targeting an election meeting in Pakistan has increased to 149, while the number of injured stands at 186, an official said on Monday.

The attack on Friday, claimed by the Islamic State (IS) terror group, is one of the worst in recent years in the country and adds to a series of attacks perpetrated against electoral events and candidates for the upcoming elections on July 25.

“The death toll has reached 149 including nine minors and the injured are 186,” Qaim Lashari, Deputy Commissioner of Mastung in Balochistan province, where the attack took place, told Efe news.

The attack took place when Siraj Raisani, a leader of the regional Balochistan Awami Party, was holding an electoral meeting in a market.

Raisani was seriously injured in the attack and died later in a hospital.

On Friday, another attack had targeted an election campaign in the city of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving four dead and another 19 injured.

On July 10, at least 20 people were killed and 60 were wounded in an attack on the regional Awami National Party election campaign in the same province.

According to South Asia Terrorism Portal, of late there has been a decline in violence in Pakistan, with 1,260 terror-related deaths in 2017, comprising 540 civilians, 208 security force members and 512 alleged terrorists, the lowest figure in a decade.