When Sonia Gandhi was persuaded to take charge of the Congress once again earlier this year, it was expected that her return would bring about a semblance of order in the party.

When Sonia Gandhi was persuaded to take charge of the Congress once again earlier this year, it was expected that her return would bring about a semblance of order in the party, which had been thrown into turmoil after its debacle in the Lok Sabha elections, and Rahul Gandhi’s decision to relinquish the presidency.

To be fair, there were no grand expectations from Sonia Gandhi’s second stint, as there was all-round agreement that it would not be possible for her to transform the crisis-ridden Congress overnight into a dynamic and robust organisation.

However, it was believed that the respect Sonia Gandhi commands from the party cadre would, at least, help end the ongoing internal bickering which has been the bane of the Congress. But two months after she took over, the Congress continues to hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, as the angry, frustrated voices within refuse to be silenced, while desertions from the party ranks have become a routine affair.  

The latest to speak up is former external affairs minister Salman Khursheed, who publicly bemoaned that Rahul Gandhi had walked away from the party even before it could introspect the reasons for its crushing electoral defeat. His former cabinet colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia endorsed the view that the Congress needs to analyse why it fared so poorly in the last general election.

Earlier, Ashok Tanwar, who was handpicked by Rahul Gandhi to head the party’s Haryana unit, quit the Congress as he was upset when he was replaced by senior leader Selja. Another Rahul Gandhi appointee, Sanjay Nirupam, former head of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, is on the warpath because the candidates suggested by him for the October 21 Maharashtra assembly polls, were not accommodated.

Former Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora, known for his proximity to Rahul Gandhi, has been cosying up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Others like Uttar Pradesh MLA Aditi Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu and Pradyot Debbarman from Tripura, who have also rebelled, have all been associated with the former Congress president. They are complaining that there is nobody to speak up for them as the party’s old guard is marginalising those close to Rahul Gandhi. 

This ongoing churn in the Congress is being widely seen as a continuation of the never-ending turf war between the party’s old guard or Sonia Gandhi loyalists, and the younger leaders who are better known as members of Team Rahul. This tussle between the two goes back to the years even before Rahul Gandhi took over as Congress president. Afraid that they would be sidelined once Rahul assumed charge of the party, Sonia Gandhi’s supporters blocked the Nehru-Gandhi scion at every stage.

On his part, Rahul did not endear himself to the senior leaders as he suspected them of failing the party and using it for their personal ends. In his attempts to build his own team, Rahul relied heavily on younger leaders and lateral entrants to the party like Sanjay Nirupam, Madhusudan Mistry and Raj Babbar, while his advisers comprised non-political players. Rahul Gandhi did make amends when he accommodated senior leaders in the party organization after taking over as party chief. But he was prevented from consolidating his position when the Congress suffered a humiliating electoral defeat.   

However, the current crisis in the Congress is much more than a battle between two generations. There is no doubt that younger leaders owing allegiance to Rahul Gandhi first felt let-down when he decided to step down as party chief, and are now upset that he has turned his back on them. If GenNext leaders are justifiably unhappy over the turn of events, many older leaders are equally frustrated.

Salman Khursheed’s latest statement is a case in point.

The former minister has chosen to publicly express his anguish over the state of affairs in the party, but he is also speaking for many others who have chosen to remain silent though they are equally perturbed because they find themselves staring at a bleak political future.

This is symptomatic of the deeper malaise afflicting the Congress, which goes beyond making routine changes in the appointment of party personnel.

“We need to identify an issue and launch a movement like the BJP did after Balakot,” remarked a senior Congress leader. 

However, there is one view that both Sonia and Rahul Gandhi are deliberately turning a blind eye to this drift in the Congress, to eventually discredit the section of the old guard which currently controls the party.

This, it is said, will make it easier for Rahul Gandhi to return as Congress president. But it would be foolish to underestimate the seniors, who are masters of backroom politicking and have been constantly outsmarting their younger leaders who lack both mass connect and political skills.

In the meantime, Congress remains trapped between Sonia Gandhi’s ineffectiveness and Rahul Gandhi’s indifference.

A BJP legislator from Surat-West had alleged the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remark, made during the Lok Sabha campaign this year.

SURAT: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday appeared before a magisterial court and pleaded not guilty in a criminal defamation case filed against him for his “why do all thieves share the Modi surname” remarks.

Gandhi appeared before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate B H Kapadia here and pleaded not guilty when asked by the court whether he accepts the charges, levelled against him by BJP legislator from Surat-West, Purnesh Modi.

After Gandhi’s plea was recorded, his lawyers moved an application seeking a permanent exemption from personal appearance in the next hearings.

After Modi’s lawyers raised an objection to the exemption plea, the court said it will decide on the plea on December 10.

The court said Gandhi is not required to remain present during the next hearing on that date.

During the last hearing in July, the court had granted Gandhi exemption from personal appearance for that hearing and fixed October 10 as the next date of hearing.

In his complaint, the BJP legislator had alleged the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his remarks, made during the Lok Sabha campaign this year.

The court, while admitting the suit, had held that there was a prima facie case of criminal defamation against the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad.

At a campaign rally at Kolar in Karnataka on April 13, Gandhi had said, “Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi. How come they all have Modi as common surname? How come all thieves have Modi as common surname?” In his complaint, Purnesh Modi had said the Congress leader had defamed the entire Modi community with his statement.

Gujarat Congress president Amit Chavda on Tuesday held a meeting with local party leaders in view of Gandhi’s visit.

Gandhi has on the other hand faced flak for going abroad ahead of assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, which will be held on October 21.

The BJP has targeted Gandhi specifically over his foreign visits.

The Congress did not disclose where Gandhi had gone, but defended his visits saying there is a difference between public and private life and private life needs to be respected in politics.

The former Congress chief also faced criticisms within the party, as senior leader and former Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said there is nothing wrong in his comment that the biggest problem was that Rahul Gandhi walked away after party’s debacle in the general elections even as the party advised its leaders to refrain from making such statements ahead of assembly elections.

The comments come at a time when the party is facing an existential crisis, made worse by infighting in state units.

Elaborating his comments, Khurshid said he is pained by the state of the party at present and there is an immediate need to put the things in order.           

“The party could have fared better in assembly elections if he (Rahul) would have stayed. I have very deep pain and concern about where we are today as a party. We won’t leave the party no matter what happens, we aren’t like those who got everything from the party and when things were difficult they left the party and walked away,” Khurshid said.

Emphasising that Sonia Gandhi should continue as full-time party chief, Khurshid said: “We have very less time and the party should take some immediate steps. The reason for some delay in those steps was because our leader Rahul Gandhi has left us. By this, I mean that he was our president and we wanted him to be on that seat for long.”

The Congress party asked its leaders to avoid making such comments and rather should put their act together to expose BJP’s failure on various issues.

“The party is working united to take on the BJP in Haryana and Maharashtra and leaders should avoid making such comments,” said party spokesperson Pawan Khera.

Another senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia too called for urgent introspection within the party.

“I don’t comment on statements made by others, but it is true that the Congress is in dire need of introspection. The party’s situation should be assessed and improved, that’s the need of the hour,” Scindia told media.

BJP also targeted Rahul over Khurshid’s comment, saying even the Congress leaders do not know where the Gandhi scion is at present.

The voice samples of both Chinmayanand and the LLM student, 23, will be used to corroborate the audio-visual evidence in the case.

LUCKNOW: Two separate teams of  Shahjahanpur police brought former Union minister and rape accused Chinmayanand and the accuser LLM student to Lucknow for taking their voice samples at the Forensic Science Laboratory here on Wednesday.

The voice samples of both Chinmayanand and the LLM student, 23, will be used to corroborate the audio-visual evidence in the case.

Notably, the LLM student is also in jail on judicial remand on charges of a bid of extortion of Rs 5 crore and blackmailing Chinmayanand.

Several video clips were released from both parties on social media to substantiate their respective charges against each other.

Moreover, three friends of the alleged rape victim are also in jail in connection with the extortion case. Their voice samples will also be tested.

According to Shahjahanpur SP Dinesh Tripathi, the voice notes were taken in compliance with the court orders. 

The comments come at a time when the party is facing an existential crisis, made worse by infighting in state units.

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Wednesday said there is nothing wrong in his comment that the biggest problem was that Rahul Gandhi walked away after party’s debacle in the general elections even as the party advised its leaders to refrain from making such statements ahead of assembly elections.

The comments come at a time when the party is facing an existential crisis, made worse by infighting in state units.

Elaborating his comments, Khurshid said he is pained by the state of party at present and there is immediate need to put the things in order.           

“The party could have fared better in assembly elections if he (Rahul) would have stayed. I have very deep pain and concern about where we are today as a party. We won’t leave the party no matter what happens, we aren’t like those who got everything from the party and when things were difficult they left the party and walked away,” Khurshid said.

Emphasising that Sonia Gandhi should continue as full-time party chief, Khurshid said: “We have very less time and the party should take some immediate steps. The reason for some delay in those steps was because our leader Rahul Gandhi has left us. By this I mean that he was our president and we wanted him to be on that seat for long.”

The Congress party asked its leaders to avoid making such comments and rather should put their act together to expose BJP’s failure on various issues.

“The party is working united to take on the BJP in Haryana and Maharashtra and leaders should avoid making such comments,” said party spokesperson Pawan Khera.

BJP targeted Rahul over Khurshid’s comment, saying even the Congress leaders do not know where the Gandhi scion is at present

The demonstrators, mostly youngsters, resumed their march from Garhi Dupatta where they had reached on Saturday from Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

ISLAMABAD: Thousands of people from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were on Sunday stopped from marching towards the highly militarised Line of Control to protest India’s move to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and to express solidarity with Kashmiris.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday warned the protesters not to cross the LoC, saying anyone crossing it to provide humanitarian aid or support for Kashmiris will “play into the hands of the Indian narrative.”

Tension between India and Pakistan escalated after New Delhi revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5.

Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties with New Delhi and expelled the Indian High Commissioner.

Islamabad has been trying to internationalise the Kashmir issue but India has asserted that the abrogation of Article 370 was its “internal matter”.

New Delhi has also asked Islamabad to accept the reality and stop its anti-India rhetoric.

The demonstrators, mostly youngsters from Garhi Dupatta where they had reached on Saturday from Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

They were moving on the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar Highway, but the authorities blocked the road by putting containers and barbed wires at Jiskool, which is almost 6-8 kilometres from the LoC.

Some of the protestors tried to remove the barbed wires but were stopped by police.

Others tried to circumvent the blockage by climbing the steep mountains but could not do so as heavy contingent of police was deployed to foil any such attempt.

The protest march has been organised by Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF).

A local JKLF leader Rafiq Dar told the media that they would try to convince the authorities to let them go up to Chakothi – a village about 3 kilometres from the LoC.

“I hope they will allow us carry on our peaceful march to the town of Chakothi. Our march is peaceful and we do not want any kind of confrontation,” he said.

Dar said UN Military Observers Group for India and Pakistan had also contacted them.

He said the UN was urged to persuade India and Pakistan to not use force against peaceful protestors.

Dubbed as the ‘freedom march’, the organisers have announced to cross the LoC to defy the line dividing Kashmir and show support for the people of Kashmir.

The protestors were chanting mostly anti-India slogans and most of their banners carried anti-India messages.

The protestors started the march on Friday from different parts of PoK and got together in Muzafarabad from where they started moving towards the LoC on Saturday but stayed for overnight at Garhi Dupatta.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi urged US Senator Chris Van Hollen to visit areas on the two sides of the LoC to see the ground situation.

Hollen, along with US Charge d’Affaires Ambassador Paul Jones, travelled to Multan on Saturday afternoon to meet with Qureshi, the Foreign Office said in statement issued after midnight.

Qureshi appreciated Senator’s leadership role in proposing an amendment to the Senate Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Bill, 2020 that explicitly expresses concern about the “humanitarian crisis in Kashmir.” 

Muslims seeking to go to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage can file online applications during October 10—November 10.

NEW DELHI:  The Haj 2020 will be fully digitised and the process for filing applications for the pilgrimage will start on October 10, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi announced on Friday.  When asked how people in the Kashmir Valley would apply for Haj, the minister assured Kashmiris will not face problems.  

“There will be no difficulty in filling Haj forms in Kashmir. People who cannot fill the forms at their homes will be facilitated at government centres,” Naqvi told this newspaper.

Haj 2020 will be “100 per cent online” and a system has been developed to provide e-visa to all the pilgrims, Naqvi said, adding “Applications for Haj can also be filed through a mobile application.”

Muslims seeking to go to Saudi Arabia for the pilgrimage can file online applications during October 10—November 10.  Mobile phones and internet services remain suspended in Kashmir since August 5 when the Centre hollowed Article 370 of the Constitution and scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. 

He also said there will be 22 Haj embarkation points in 2020 as compared to 21 last year.  Naqvi said the ministry was also considering another new embarkation point. There have been many requests of making Kannur International Airport as a Haj embarkation point and that is being examined by the authorities, he said. 

Naqvi made the announcements after chairing a review meeting organised on the completion of Hajj 2019 where he took stock of the preparations for next year’s pilgrimage.  

The meeting was attended by senior officials from the ministries of External Affairs, Civil Aviation,  Health, India’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ausaf Sayeed and officials of the Haj Committee of India.

Khan, however, added that a preliminary probe did not suggest that the urn contained ashes of the Mahatma.

BHOPAL:  Police in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh have lodged a case against unidentified persons for allegedly writing the word ‘rashtra drohi’ (traitor) on a photograph of Mahatma Gandhi at the Laxman Bag museum on October 2, the 150th birth anniversary of the Mahatma. The complainant in the case, Rewa District Congress president Gurmeet Singh, also alleged in his complaint that an urn containing Mahatma Gandhi’s ashes had been stolen from the premises of the sprawling museum in Rewa town.

However, it’s not clear whether or not the urn actually bore Gandhi’s ashes, as there doesn’t seem to be any historical evidence about any urn containing Gandhi’s ashes at the place concerned.

The matter came to light on Wednesday, when Congress leaders went to the museum to garland the picture of Mahatma Gandhi and were shocked to find the word ‘rashtra drohi’ written on it. Police reached the spot and removed the word written on the photograph.

“A case has been registered under Sections 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) 504 (intentional insult with an intent to provoke the breach peace) and 505 (statements conducing public mischief) against unidentified persons and investigations are underway,” Rewa district police superintendent Abid Khan said on Thursday.

Khan, however, added that a preliminary probe did not suggest that the urn contained ashes of the Mahatma. “The ashes were not stolen. We were told that the urn was used to take his ashes in 1948 and the empty urn is now missing. That’s all. The Trust (Lakshman Bag Trust) which maintains the entire premises) should know about what was kept there,” he said. He added that a probe was underway to ascertain who defaced Gandhi’s photograph.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and AAP supremo also stated that the party has been working relentlessly for the welfare of  Purvanchalis.

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party on Monday defended the comments of the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, after the state Bharatiya Janata Party labelled his remarks as ‘anti-Purvanchali’ and ‘regionalist’.

AAP supremo Kejriwal on Sunday claimed that the influx of patients from other states was the reason behind long queues at government hospitals in the national capital.

Slamming the Delhi BJP, senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Sanjay Singh said the ruling party has no issues to raise for the upcoming assembly polls and that is why it is making baseless allegations.

“Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made a simple statement that the people from the UP and Bihar come to Delhi for better treatment because the Delhi government has improved the health sector of the state,” he said.

“BJP is the party that has thrown people from UP and Bihar from states ruled by it, whether it was Gujarat, Maharashtra or through NRC in Assam. Now, suddenly, the BJP leaders are worried about Purvanchalis,” said Singh.

Singh, a Rajya Sabha MP, said the BJP is accusing the AAP, “a party whose state chief minister is pro-Purvanchali, and whose  state president as well as 13 MLAs are from Purvanchal.”

The AAP leader also stated that the party has been working relentlessly for the welfare of  Purvanchal.

 “The Delhi government has set up more than 1,000 Chhath Ghats in the city, declared a holiday for the festival of Chhath Puja. We developed education and health system for all and worked for the development of the unauthorised colonies where mostly people from Purvanchal live,” he said.

Zilla Parishad president Gour Chandra Mandal said that the low-lying areas in all the blocks of the district have been inundated and a large number of mud houses have collapsed due to heavy rainfall.

MALDA: Over 2.5 lakh people in West Bengal’s Malda district have been affected by a flood-like situation owing to incessant rain, officials said.

Zilla Parishad president Gour Chandra Mandal said that the low-lying areas in all the blocks of the district have been inundated and a large number of mud houses have collapsed due to heavy rainfall over the past two days.

“A total of 2.5 lakh people of 50,000 households have been affected by the flood-like situation in the district. Operations are on to rescue the residents of the islets of the Ganga, who are stranded there,” he said.

The district has received over 99.80 mm rain since 8.30 am on Monday, an Irrigation Department official said.

The emergency, operation theatres and the male and female medical wards of the Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) were also inundated.

Surgeries, nevertheless, were conducted in the inundated operation theatres, hospital superintendent Amit Dawn said.

Most of the wards of the district headquarter, English Bazaar, are under the water, officials said.

Water also entered the district collectorate, the district magistrate’s residence and government offices, they said.

Residents blocked roads at several places demanding that the stagnant water be cleared.

On the other hand, all the major rivers in the district are flowing above the danger mark.

“While Ganga is flowing 66 cm above the ‘extreme danger’ level mark at Manikchak Ghat, Fulhar is flowing 57 cm above the danger mark at Teljana. Mahananda is also rising steadily but no alert has been sounded,” Executive Engineer of Malda Irrigation Division, Pranab Samanta, said.

Flood embankment at Sakullapur under Kaliachak 2 block and Keshorpur in Manikchak block are being repaired on a war- footing, Samanta said.

District Magistrate Kaushik Bhattacharya, Superintendent of Police Alok Rajoria and Samanta visited Sakullapur to inspect the work on Monday.

Samanta said, while damage of Sakullapur embankment will affect residents of nine blocks in the district, around one lakh residents of Bhutni islet will be affected in an event of a breach in the Keshorpur ring embankment, which was constructed in the 1970s.

Additional District Magistrate Arnab Chatterjee said cooked food is being distributed to the people who have taken shelter at the 10 relief camps set up across the district.

An NDRF team has been stationed at Ratua area in the district for relief and rescue operation.

The FIR states that PMC Bank officials, along with HDIL directors, had caused the loss by not declaring NPAs even though there was no repayment of dues between 2008 and August 2019.

MUMBAI: The Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Mumbai, on Monday said it has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-Operative Bank’s (PMC Bank) former managing director, the chairman, as well as the bank’s major borrower Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) for alleged fraud and irregularities.

Mumbai Police said as per the Reserve Bank of India’s directives, PMC Bank’s administrator Jasbir Singh Matta filed the complaint against ex-managing director Joy Thomas, chairman Waryam Singh and other bank officials for not declaring big loan accounts and Non-Performing Assets (NPA), and prima facie causing a loss of Rs 4,355.46 crore to the bank.

The FIR states that PMC Bank officials, along with HDIL directors, had caused the loss by not declaring NPAs even though there was no repayment of dues between 2008 and August 2019.

The information was hidden from the RBI with false and forged report of accounts with small loans and fake accounts leading to the loss, it said.

“The aforesaid persons (PMC Bank officials as well directors of HDIL, Wadhawans) colluded with criminal intent and conspired to use the loan amount for their own benefit by cheating the bank. Hence, EOW has filed the FIR under Sections 409, 420, 465, 466, 471 and 120(B). A special team has been formed to investigate the case,” a Mumbai Police statement said.

While Thomas last week said he was not aware of how the large exposure and NPAs were hidden, he admitted to wrongdoings to hide the NPAs in the letter to RBI last week.

The letter, now in public domain, shows him admitting that some of the large accounts were not reported to RBI from 2008 due to fear of reputational risk. In 2011, loans to HDIL at Rs 1,026 crore was more than half of the total advances of Rs 2,000 crore, he said.

When RBI started asking for indent for Advances master 2017 onwards, Thomas said the “stressed legacy accounts belonging to this group were replaced with dummy accounts to match the outstanding balances in the balance sheet. As the loans were mentioned as loans against deposits and were of lower amounts they were never checked by RBI.”