Giving credence to the possibility of this change that could have altered the dynamics of India’s politics, many coalition partners, including DMK, too had taken it up with Sonia Gandhi.

BENGALURU: Two years before the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2014 general elections and Narendra Modi landed firmly in the national capital as the Prime Minister, there was a possibility of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi taking over the top job from Manmohan Singh who was then the premier.

It has now come to light that many senior leaders and the Congress’s allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) had discussed with the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to bring in Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister in place of Manmohan Singh.

This was not because Manmohan was found incompetent but the seniors felt that they need to go to the polls with a new face and rejuvenate the party which was by then on a downhill journey.

Giving credence to the possibility of this change that could have altered the dynamics of India’s politics, many coalition partners, including DMK chief M Karunanidhi, too had taken it up with Sonia Gandhi.

They tried to persuade her on the need for this tectonic shift, Congress Working Committee member K H Muniyappa who was present at these discussions.

But Sonia Gandhi had declined the suggestion, as she felt that it was not ‘the right time’ to make such a radical shift in the leadership. And two years down the line, the 2014 LS polls gave Congress an electoral punch, from which it is only now showing signs of a slight recovery in some states’ polls. 

From being the single dominant party in the country, it was reduced to double digits in the Lok Sabha then. And red flags were raised within the Congress circles to save it from ruin.  The general elections threw up a leader in Modi and launched a new political discourse in the country.

Again, in 2019, the party met a similar fate. Rahul Gandhi immediately stepped down as party president.

“As President of the Congress party, I am responsible for the loss of the 2019 election. Accountability is critical for the future growth of our party” he had said in a tweet.

Muniyappa, who was first to speak for the Gandhi family at the recent CWC meeting, said the party “failed” to use that opportunity and it almost went to elections “empty-handed.”

Now, when the stage is again said to be set for Rahul’s return to the top job in the party, the only option before Congress seems to be to make him the president. 

“It is not possible for Congress to appoint anyone outside the Gandhi family as the party president. We have to make new strategies with him, and the seniors and the experts must guide him in taking people from all sections of the society into confidence,” says Muniyappa.

Ironically, historian Ramachandra Guha had recently remarked that a “fifth-generation dynast” Rahul Gandhi had no chance in Indian politics against a “hard-working and self-made” Narendra Modi.

Rahul Gandhi, who in 2019 general elections lost from his family bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, had won from the Wayanad seat in Kerala.

Modi shared his experience at the Indian Space Research Organisation headquarters in September last year, when India’s first moon landing mission suffered a setback.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday referred to the Chandrayaan 2 moon landing setback as an example of taking lesson from failures and overcoming “demotivation” during exams, while interacting with students in his annual pep talk on dealing with examination related stress, ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’.

“Motivation, demotivation are very common. Everyone goes through these feelings. In this regard, I will tell you a secret: I can never forget my visit to ISRO during Chandrayaan 2 and the time spent with our hardworking scientists,” Modi told a house packed with students at Talkataora stadium here and lakhs others who were watching him deliver the talk.

This was in response to the first question he was asked, by a student from Rajasthan, Yashashri, on what to do when board exams “put off moods”.

Modi shared his experience at the Indian Space Research Organisation headquarters in September last year, when India’s first moon landing mission suffered a setback.

“I was advised against attending the Chandrayaan 2 landing at ISO as there was no guarantee of success, but I went ahead with what I felt was right,” he said.

Recounting how ISRO scientists overcame their dismay, Modi told students: “We can add enthusiasm to every aspect of life. A temporary setback doesn’t mean success is not waiting. In fact, a setback may mean the best is yet to come.”

He also spoke about the India-Australia test series in 2001.

“Our cricket team was facing setbacks. The mood was not very good. But in those moments, can we ever forget what Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did? They turned the match around… Similarly, who can forget Anil Kumble bowling with an injury. This is the power of motivation and positive thinking.”

Modi suggests anti-CAA campaign is Oppn way to get back at BJP

NEW DELHI: Seeking to portray the protests against the Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA) as an ideological battle waged by the Opposition against the BJP after the party returned to power at the Centre with improved numbers last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that those rejected by the people were spreading “lies and misinformation”. 

The veiled reference was the opposition support to the anti-CAA protests across the country. 

“There are people who dislike the principles which guide us. Our problems are not because we’re doing something wrong. It’s because people of this country are blessing us. Those rejected by the public in elections are left with very few weapons, and one of them is to spread misinformation,” remarked Modi at the BJP headquarters on Monday, while hailing the unanimous election of J P Nadda as party chief.

The PM asserted that “those rejected by the people are taking recourse to spreading falsehoods and they have a full ecosystem for that”. BJP workers “do not need to seek validation from an ecosystem that will never accept us”, he asserted.Some people have objections to the BJP’s ideals, and party workers should not hope for these critics to change their stand, Modi said, adding, “This group has never been with us and will not be with us.”

Addressing BJP workers, Modi stated, “We will have to face more challenges than what we faced as a political party in the opposition.” Lauding Nadda, who took over the reins of the party on Monday, Modi shared anecdotes about working with him in the past as a BJP functionary. He illustrated Nadda’s example to stress on the rise of the party workers to high positions in the party.    

“From the beginning itself, the party has had the tendency to expand horizontally with the vertical development of the workers. Workers of the party grow in the organisation and the outfit also expands,” said the PM, while exuding confidence that the BJP under Nadda will march ahead by abiding to basic principles and ideologies of the party.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the star attraction in the electoral college for the election of the BJP president. Party leaders and workers mobbed him to take selfies. Later, Yogi warmly greeted Nadda in his office.

BJP patriarch L K Advani visited the party headquarters after a long gap. He along with former BJP president MM Joshi shared dais to felicitate Nadda. Large pictures of Advani also dotted banners at the BJP headquarters.

Heartiest congratulations to J P Nadda ji…This is a matter of pride for Bihar residents that a son of Patliputra has taken charge of the world’s largest political organisation-Ram Vilas Paswan, LJP leader

Heartiest congratulations to JP Nadda ji on being elected as the National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Wishing him all success in his new task-Sukhbir Singh Badal, SAD president

The Hyderabad MP lashed out at the BJP-led Central government for failing to address unemployment issues in the country over the last few years.

HYDERABAD: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi hit out at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for suggesting that two-child norm be made mandatory in the country. He lashed out at the BJP-led Central government for failing to address unemployment issues in the country over the last few years.

Owaisi was addressing a rally in Nizamabad on Saturday night. He said, “Mohan Bhagwat saab has sought a two-child policy. Please reveal how many jobs you have been able to provide. You have not been able to give employment in the last five-and-half years.”

Owaisi said, “In 2018, 36 youngsters killed themselves due to unemployment. What do you have to say about that? In the country 60 per cent of the population is below 40 years of age. You will not talk about this.”

Owaisi pointed out that Modi had once talked about providing 2 crore jobs annually. “However, when I speak about unemployment, they say I give inflammatory speeches,” he said. 

Recalling that PM Modi had once talked about providing two crore jobs annually, the AIMIM leader said, “You are running the government, not me and hence, I will ask the question and you answer. RSS asks to control the population of Muslims. They will not talk of providing employment when I ask the question.”

Owaisi also slammed Bhagwat’s attempt to equate the Constitution to Hindutva. The RSS chief in a rally had said, “Constitution says we should try to bring emotional integration. But what is the emotion? That emotion is — this country belongs to us, we are descendants of our great ancestors and we have to live together despite our diversity. This is what we call Hindutva.”

Owaisi issued a rebuttal saying, “Constitution doesn’t say anything even close to it. Preamble assures dignity of individual along with unity and integrity. Integration for RSS is different from Constitution’s. Emotional integration for RSS means making Assam’s Bengali-Hindu citizens and not Muslims; making citizenship laws on religion, calling minorities termites, etc.”

The professor further said that an attempt to create a unifying national project of othering Muslims was on its way, and all other sections of the society are invited to participate in it.

HYDERABAD:  An attempt to corner the Muslim community was underway through a legal route, said Satish Deshpande, a sociology professor from the University of Delhi, while delivering the ninth SR Sankaran Memorial Lecture on ‘Casteism and Communalism: Friends and Enemies’ organised by the Centre for Dalit Studies (CDS), on Sunday. 

“Today’s communal agenda is to overthrow the existing reality — equality of all religions. Our Constitution doesn’t recognise the difference between religions. The communal agenda is to ‘correct’ personal law, so that due recognition will be given to the Hindus, that is the communal agenda,” he said.

The professor further said that an attempt to create a unifying national project of othering Muslims was on its way, and all other sections of the society are invited to participate in it. “If you leave aside minute differences, it is Dalitization of Muslims, where a particular group is being considered as inferior and unrescualbly other,” said Deshpande. 

Stating that a legal route is adopted to corner Muslims, he said, “There is an attempt to turn this into legal reality, by making set legally unequal laws.” He alleged that there is an attempt to “re-enact” Manusmriti, which is de facto unequal. “The Constitution of India has no room for discrimination against religious minorities or lower castes,” he added.

Recalling the work of late IAS officer SR Sankaran, Mallepalli Laxmaiah, the chairperson of CDS, said, “During his career, Sankaran had worked to eradicate bonded labour, Jogini system, and for the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden communities. He collected over 1,500 books for CDS’s library.”

Amit Shah is currently serving as Union Home Minister in Narendra Modi cabinet and had been serving party chief till now.

NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party will on Monday announce the name of its new chief, who would take over the reins of the party from Amit Shah under whose leadership BJP has witnessed emphatic electoral victories.

Shah is currently serving as Union Home Minister in Narendra Modi cabinet and had been serving party chief till now.

The announcement of the BJP national president will be made at party’s Headquarters at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg.

As per the party sources, BJP working president Jagat Prakash Nadda is set to be the party chief and would be elected unopposed. Nadda will file his nomination at around 10:30 am.

A former Himachal Pradesh minister, Nadda has the organisational experience and became party’s working president in June 2019 after the ruling party swept the Lok Sabha elections. BJP state chiefs, general secretaries and senior leaders would be present at the party headquarters on Monday.