Congress then and now is poles apart : Gulam Nabi

 

Exclusive interview of Congress leader Gulam Nabi Azad by Harish Gupta

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra quarantined, Cook Covid +ve

Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Priyanka Gandhi

New Delhi, Sep 14

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, AICC general secretary incharge of UP is understood to have been quarantined.

Highly placed sources in the Gandhi household say that since her cook has been found Covid positive, she has been advised home quarantined until September 21.

It was due to this sudden development that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had to abandon her plans to accompany her mother Sonia Gandhi to the USA.

At the last minute, Rahul Gandhi had to chip in and go with the mother for her annual checkup. Rahul Gandhi had to skip the Parliament session though he was scheduled to take on the government on the very first day during the Zero Hour.

It is also emerging now that Priyanka Gandhi will shift from her Gurgaon residence and shift to Lutyen’s Delhi flat soon. Her new address will be a duplex apartment in Sujan Singh Park facing Ambassador Hotel near Khan Market.

The complex was built by author-editor Khushwant Singh’s father Sir Sobha Singh. Priyanka will be staying in the apartment as a tenant. It is learnt that Rahul Gandhi will come back early from the USA while Sonia Gandhi will stay back and later be joined by Priyanka Gandhi.

Fly on the wall :BJP-JD (U) tussle for Araria LS seat

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

BJP-JD (U) tussle for Araria LS seat

The new alliance partners, BJP and Janata Dal (U) are engaged in a bitter battle as to who will contest the Araria Lok Sabha seat which fell vacant after the demise of Shahabuddin (RJD). Since the BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh had secured 40,000 more votes than JD (U)'s Vijay Kumar Mandal during 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wants the seat. But Nitish Kumar wants the BJP to decide the seat-sharing formula between the two parties for 2019 polls. The BJP is in no mood to open this kind of a dialogue as it had won 32 Lok Sabha seats on its own in 2014 polls out of 40. It thinks a joint candidate of BJP-JD (U) will defeat the RJD in Araria and Nitish Kumar should make a sacrifice. Nitish Kumar is in no mood to do so without a price.

Baffling Defiance by BJP Mps in Lok Sabha

The failure of the Triple Talaq Bill to clear the Rajya Sabha muster hogged the limelight. But what was lost in the din was disaster in the Lok Sabha at the fag end of the Winter session where the BJP Mps defied the party whip. They failed to be present in the House to pass the Backward Classes bill. The NDA has 340 Mps in the Lok Sabha and the presence of only 270 Mps with two third voting in its favour was required. To the shock and disbelief of the ruling BJP, the Mps failed to turn up to complete the quorum when the bill was about to be put to vote. It had to be deferred twice. The Prime Minister was furious and BJP chief Amit Shah was losing his cool in the chamber. But nothing worked. Even the BJP's allies, TDP, Shiv Sena, etc had signaled that they won't be in a position to support the bill. Any lessons learnt ? Not really ! A top BJP manager said that the party had decided to defer its passage due to its own political reasons.

Rahul, Amit Shah face-to-face again

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah will be face-to-face again. If they entered into bitter power struggle in Gujrat, they will be face-to-face again in Karnataka. BJP chief Shah believes that Karnataka will be the real test of Rahul Gandhi as his challenge will be to retain the most crucial and only major state with the party. “I faced the same challenge in Gujrat,” Amit Shah quipped in an informal chat and added, “Gujrat was not Rahul Gandhi's test, it was our test to retain the state.” Obviously, Karnataka will be the first battle ground between the two party chiefs where both parties are strong. The battle becomes interesting as Rahul Gandhi has transformed into a "Janaudhari" Brahmin. Shah is extremely happy with it as Rahul Gandhi has come to play into BJP's Hindu turf. The battle in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland is essentially not between the Congress and the BJP as north eastern states go with the wind at the centre.

Team Rahul to decide AICC session date, venue

The Team Rahul is unable to make up it mind whether to hold the AICC session before the Karnataka Assembly polls in February or in May. The new dispensation is also unable to make it mind whether to hold the AICC session in Delhi, Bengaluru or somewhere else. Since Parliament will go into recess for a month from February 10, there was a suggestion that one-day AICC session be held to ratify the election of Rahul Gandhi during this period. Another view is that Rahul Gandhi has already been elected unanimously by the Congress Working Committee and there is no hurry to hold AICC. The session can be held whenever possible. The party has to work hard to retain Karnataka which will go to polls before May 5. The Election Commission will most likely declare poll dates in mid-March. The Assembly polls are already underway in three states. Then the biennial elections for 60-odd Rajya Sabha seats will come up in states in March. The venue of the AICC is also a matter of serious consideration. The Gujrat unit is insisting that the AICC be held there to send the right signal to the Modi-Shah team. The BJP is vulnerable in the state and its time to give more attention.

BJP National Executive in February

Even as the Congress continues to in a dilemma over holding of the AICC session, the BJP is likely to hold its National Executive meeting in early February. The reason is that BJP's new 5-storied headquarter will be ready by February and party president Amit Shah is wants to show-case it to the world. The building will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi. Amit Shah is also setting up party's top secret War Room on the 5th floor which be a restricted area. If all goes as per plans, the National Executive may be held around the same time.

Major bureaucratic reshuffle in offing

PM Modi will have to undertake another reshuffle in top bureaucracy as two senior secretaries are retiring this month end and another four in a couple of months. Panchayati Raj Secretary Jitendra Shankar Mathur, and Parliament Affairs Secretary Rajiv Yadav will retire in the next 15 days while Kewal Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Dept of Higher Education, Ajay Mittal, Secretary, DOPT, Dr. P Parameshwaran Iyer, Secretary Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation. Iyer and Mines Secretary Arun Kumar will demit office as well. Interestingly, Modi had brought Dr P Parameshwaran Aiyer from retirement and made him secretary again for two years raising eyebrows in the bureaucracy. He has already served his tenure of two years in the ministry and there is resentment in the bureaucracy as new trend has been set by Modi. Normally, serving secretaries are given extensions. But this first time that a retired secretary who had gone home was brought back into the post while serving additional secretaries waiting in the wings for promotion. It is learnt that Modi continues to be upset with the bureaucracy for not taking forward his development agenda. Therefore, he has decided to send senior bureaucrats to district headquarters to be part of his development model.

Fly on the Wall : No political secretary for Rahul Gandhi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Fly on the Wall

Harish Gupta 

No political secretary for Rahul Gandhi

There may be a mad race to grab the post of Political Secretary to Rahul Gandhi, insiders say that the new Congress President will not have a political secretary. The AICC is witnessing an interesting battle with top guns throwing their hat in the ring to grab the coveted post of political secretary to “CP”, it is emerging that there will no such post available. Insiders say that Ahmad Patel is Political Adviser to Sonia Gandhi and he will continue to hold the fort. Sonia Gandhi may not remain CP. But she will continue to be the Chairman of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) and Patel will be political adviser to the CPP. But Rahul Gandhi has his own style of functioning and will have his own team in his office. But there may not be much of a tinkering in the AICC office as a number of changes have already been made. If he has Mohan Gopal, an ideologue and director of Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS), he has K Raju a former IAS working for him as key person in his office. Then former Union Minister Ajay Maken, Kanishka Singh and Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh are also in the reckoning for the key post. Jairam Ramesh's supporters say that he has all the credentials to hold the post as he writes speeches for Rahul. But Rahul's Man-Friday these days is Sam Pitroda who will play a key role in the selection of Rahul's new team. Pitroda is the man who runs the show in the Rahul Establishment. But when it comes to political secretary's post, Rahul Gandhi will not have one. It is explained that there were historic reasons for Sonia Gandhi to appoint a political adviser. Rahul Gandhi doesn't need one.

Rane left high & dry !

Naraian Rane may have been left high and dry, at least foe the time being. He quit Congress and his Legislative Council seat as well. Though there was no formal announcement of his outfit joining the NDA by the BJP, Rane made a suo-moto declaration. It was conceived that Rane will be re-contesting his Council seat with the support of the NDA. The BJP leaders also went to town about it. But after a thorough internal discussion, it is felt that no useful purpose will be served by confronting the Shiv Sena at this juncture in Maharashtra. The Sena had made it clear that if Rane is fielded as a candidate with the support of the BJP, the “war” will begin. Rane doesn't have the strength to file nomination papers on his own. He can do it only with the support of the BJP. The BJP on its own strength cannot ensure Rane's victory either. Secondly, it will provide an opportunity to the Shiv Sena to form an alliance with NCP and Congress to ensure the defeat of Rane. The BJP leadership feels that the risk is not worth taking. The last word has not yet been written on the issue as yet.

The silence for 48 hours

Prime Minister Modi had given one mantra to his core diplomatic team including External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj; to maintain total secrecy. He had burnt his fingers in 2016 when massive diplomatic effort was launched to secure the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers's group which miserably failed. But this time, the PM was very cautious and personally supervised the world-wide campaign for the victory of India's Dalveer Bhandari for the seat at the International Court of Justice. Modi was personally focusing on US, China, France, Germany and Russian and even UK who are members of the P5+1 powerful club. It was Modi who won over China in this crucial battle and in the end all 15 UNSC members voted for India. This is in complete contrast to New Delhi's widely publicized bid for the membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2016. Even Justice Bhandari was told not to make any statement. The 48 hours preceding the vote for Dalveer Bhandari in the UN General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Security Council (UNSC) were crucial. It was the silence of India for 48 hours that made the difference. It was a massive diplomatic campaign but all private.

Green Tribunal in great misery

The Modi government's apathy towards the National Green Tribunal was too well known and it was felt that this may be confined to the out-going chief Swatanter Kumar. But now it transpires that the government is in no mood to fill the vacancies even in four branches of the NGT at Chennai, Kolkata, Bhopal and Delhi. In fact, the government has virtually stopped communicating except for its lawyers appearing before the body. The NGT is virtually gasping for its own survival and no vacancies are filled of judicial and expert members of the body at its four principal branches. Interestingly, even in benches where judicial members are working, there are no expert members as vacancies remain unfilled. The two names that were sent for consideration of the government to replace NGT chief Swatanter Kumar who is retiring on December 18, have not been accepted by the Modi government. It transpires that the lone judicial member in Delhi NGT justice V D Salvi is also retiring February 2018. Tragically, the other benches of the NGT in Delhi are not even functioning as there are no members.

Modi wants NHRC Act to be amended

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also signaled to the judiciary that he is not comfortable with the current law governing the National Human Rights Commission. Under the law, only a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court can be the Chairman of the NHRC. The law was made at the prodding of the Supreme Court when the executive was weak. The government feels that the law benefits only the retiring CJIs and doesn't send a positive signal. Modi is of the view that the law be changed and scope of appointing NHRC chief be expanded. Why only retired CJIs be its chairman and why not a human rights activist of acclaim or veteran jurist, wondered Modi at a close door meeting. The UPA under the Manmohan Singh dispensation also thought of amending the law. But it could not muster the courage to amend the law. But Modi is of the firm view that monopoly of post-retirement post reserved for CJI is discriminatory and be changed. Watch out ! 

Rahul Gandhi elevation deferred again

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive 

Rahul Gandhi elevation deferred again

No AICC session for now

New Delhi, June 14

The anointment of Rahul Gandhi as Congress president is understood to have been delayed again; so it seems. Though clamour for Rahul's elevation is growing in the party. But it has now been delayed again. 

Highly placed sources in the Congress say that the AICC session to elevate party’s vice president to the president’s post, will not be held at least for the next two months.

“The AICC session may now be held sometime in August end or September,” said a senior party functionary on the condition of anonymity.

These sources say that no useful purpose will be served by elevating Rahul Gandhi as he is already taking major decisions in the party. What Rahul Gandhi has lately realized that the team he trusted during the past two years did not deliver. Madhusudan Mistry who was even rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat failed to infuse confidence within the UP unit of the party. The bitter battle with the BJP and other parties is being fought in UP and Mistry was unable to coordinate with Prashant Kishore, Rahul’s strategist.

The return of Ghulam Nabi Azad as incharge of UP and Kamal Nath for Haryana and Punjab signals that Rahul had to fall back on Sonia Gandhi’s loyalists only.

Rahul has realized that the Haryana Congress unit is in disarray particularly after the huge set back in the Rajya Sabha polls. He also  knows that party will be crippled without Bhupinder Singh Hooda who was Chief Minister for ten years. Though it is clear that 13 MLAs allegedly close to Hooda used a different marker pen to cast their votes. But the situation has to be retrieved.

Since Kamal Nath has never been Rahul Gandhi favourite  and had been dumped by him during the past two years, his sudden rehabilitation signals that Sonia Gandhi is playing more active role.

Kamal Nath is senior to Hooda and rather had helped him when the latter needed him. Similarly, Kamal Nath will have to keep Capt Amrinder Singh under check. He becomes uncontrollable. Kamal Nath has been his Doon school buddy and original Rajiv Gandhi era friends. The high command is aware that Congress is capable of winning Punjab and doesn’t want to wither away the prospects.

These sources say more changes may be in store in the party and general secretary C P Joshi who handled Assam elections may be given another responsibility. It seems that the party wants to focus on ensuing Assembly polls in five states early next year rather than elevating one Gandhi with another.