Rising number of Hot Spots worries Centre, states

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rising number of Hot Spots worries Centre, states

1150 sealed off zones today

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 10

The Centre is extremely worried over the rising number of hot-spots or containment zones in states as total sealing and cordoning off large population is a new experience for state machinery. Even for the Centre it’s a new kind of challenge and strategy to deal with national-wide prolonged crisis is evolving by the day if not hour.

Sources in the Union Home Ministry say that there are as many as 1150 such hot-spots spread over 15 states and union territories. Earlier, the parameter for deciding the Hot-spots was 100 cases. But it has now been brought down to  ten considering the fact that enough testing could not be done. The best way was to seal off these areas first, confine the large population inside and undertake intensive testing. The antibody testing is now being done on a large scale.

Some of these cluster containment zones are as small as two lanes in a locality in Delhi and as large as Bhilwara in Rajasthan  where more than 20 lakh people were locked down from March 20 itself.

These sources say Maharashtra alone has more than 400 zones with Mumbai being the largest city in the country and Uttar Pradesh 105. Tamil Nadu is the second state where the number of containment zones is 222, 120 plus in Andhra Pradesh and 125 in Telangana.

It’s a matter of surprise that Covid-19 made serious inroads in Madhya Pradesh with 180 containment zones.

The Centre and state governments are working in complete tandem round the clock to monitor these hot-spots.   

The Centre is working on various modules to handle these clusters comprising more than 1150 hot-spots to contain spread of virus and give all facilities to the residents. The areas under drones and CCTV watch 24x7.

Special team of sanitary workers and health care and local officials going door-to-door. Mumbai has seen double digit growth has during the past two days taking the number to 380 hot-spots has sent shock waves. It is these rising number of hot-spots that has forced the hands of the Centre and states to extend the lock-down.

Ends 

Lockdown to continue But……..

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Lockdown to continue But……..

Govt. Mulls opening some services  to  mitigate hardship

 Harish Gupta

 New Delhi, April 9

As the Covid19 cases are mounting by the day after more testing, the Centre is mulling whether to allow some more areas to open for activities in a staggered manner while continuing the lock-down.

Following areas are on the table of the government to open up after April 15 along with sealing of hot-spots and highly vulnerable areas and lock-down in other parts.

On the top of the agenda is to open up Food processing industry as new crop will arrive at the mandis with the harvesting season beginning from April 14. The vegetables and fruits markets alone cannot consume all products.

Whether to allow the e-commerce companies to open supply chain of essential goods and other goods worth Rs 40,000 crores locked down ready for delivery on roads in trucks and factory gates.

While truckers and service centers have  been opened up on the national highways, the roadside lakhs of eateries and related activities continue to remain shut.

Liquor shops, either owned by the state governments or in private sector is a major source of state revenue. Whether they should be opened for limited hours is also an issue on the table though not many are not in its favour.

How to allow the plumbers, electricians and other maintenance activity in a limited manner through permits be allowed.

Whether to allow the hailing taxi apps to operate service for  limited hours  is under consideration. This is coupled with allowing private vehicles with strict plying norms. There is a proposal that odd-even formula be introduced to curtail vehicular activity.

There is a complete No No for the opening of the Metro service and bus service. But three-wheeler with one passenger rule is under consideration.

Mobile shops and outlets of related activities companies be allowed for limited hours.

The agriculture labour and factory workers need to be moved out of their caves and how this should be done is a major issue.

Railway & Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has also advocated opening up of certain essential industries be moved from their caves and need traveling facilities.

As of now, daily grocery and milk & milk products need, fruits & vegetables and agriculture activities have been opened up by the Centre. The medical supply chains also need work force to maintain supply line and e-commerce companies are virtually non-functional.

Reports of death of patients suffering from other ailments as most hospitals are now giving priority to Covid-19 patients

The 11 task forces set up by the Centre are considering various scenarios to be placed before the Group of Ministers headed by Rajnath Singh.

Centre refutes Maharashtra charge

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Centre refutes Maharashtra charge 

No Permission was needed to Hold Tablighi Markaz

Centre stepped in to diffuse crisis

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 8

The Centre today refused to be drawn into any controversy with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at its Nizamuddin headquarters saying it was for the Delhi government to deal with it. 

The Delhi government, on its part, said since the conference was not to be held at a public place and inside its own six storeyed  building at Nizamuddin, no permission was needed. It was held inside their own building and for their own followers.

The Union Home Ministry deals only with the cases of those persons who come to India from abroad on various kinds of visas. The home ministry through the special branch of the police regularly keeps itself posted through a Foreigners register maintained by the holders of such conferences.  Since no permission was needed to hold a conference inside the Markaz from the special branch, no permission was given.

Without getting involved into the slinging match with the Maharashtra government, sources in the MHA  say that the Tablighi Jammat  was refused permission by the state as they wanted the conference to be held in an open area. But the case in Delhi was different as it was inside its own building.  There were no orders against holding any congregation before March 13 when it began.

The whole problem began when they refused to disperse after the conference on March 16.

Sources in the Home Ministry say that when the Delhi government headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal through the office of Lt. Governor Anil Baijal sought help in getting the followers of TJ dispersed and that too on March 22-23, the Delhi Police stepped in a formal manner.

The MHA sources refused to say anything with regard to the indulgence of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to resolve the issue.

 However, sources in the PMO say that Doval has always been a backroom boy whenever it comes to handling tricky issues for the Prime Minister particularly relating to minorities. When the minorities were needed to be wooed in Jammu & Kashmir, Ajit Doval was deployed to undertake an extensive personal tour for three days and camped there.

Doval was the top official to visit the North East Delhi’s riot-stricken areas in February 27-28. Obviously, the PM deployed Doval as Amit Shah could not have done this for variety of reasons.

In the case of Tablighi Jamaat, the government tried hard to woo them through various sources including Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close associate from Gujrat, Zafar Sareshwala who is a Tablighi himself. But the chief of the TJ, Moulana Saad refused to listen to him. Then Doval stepped in on March 28 to diffuse the situation.

Efforts to solicit response from Ajit Doval did not succeed and it remain a mystery as to why the Delhi Government, Delhi Police and  Union Home Ministry did not disperse the crowd immediately after the conference was over on March 15.

PM To hold meet with CMs on Lock down on April 11

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

PM To hold meet with CMs on Lock down on April 11

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 8

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will start the process of holding extensive consultations with Chief Ministers of states and union territories on April 11, Saturday.

Highly placed sources in the Prime Minister’s Office say this second interaction with the CMs will enable the government to take a final call on extending the country-wide lockdown or resort to easing of some of the restrictions.

The meeting with the Chief Ministers will be held through the video conference as was done earlier. The President and Vice President had also interacted with the Governors, Lieutenant Governors and administrators of Union Territories to directly assess the ground-level situation.

Since many states have advocated continuing the lock-down in the wake of mounting Covid-19 cases and results of large scale testing still in the pipeline, the most vulnerable states do not want to risk human lives. All agriculture related activities in states including of farm labour have already been permitted by the Central government. The Prime Minister is likely to obtain the views of the Chief Ministers about a way forward after April 14. In the last meeting the PM had sought the suggestions of the CMs on lifting the lockdown in a partial/staggered manner. Since many chief ministers have already expressed their views on the subject, the PM wants them to update the Centre their “final view” about the next course of action after April 14.

Sources say the government is exploring the reopening of certain sectors in a phased manner with huge restrictions. But it has not made up its mind  and wants to take a decision only after consulting the states. It is also pointed out that some of the state including Punjab had imposed lock-down even before the PM’s announcement of lockdown on March 24.  Capt. Amrinder Singh, Punjab Chief Minister, is on record to say that he will review the continuation of lock-down on April 10^th evening. It is likely that all Chief Ministers will undertake a review in their own states and apprise the Centre on April 11.   

ends 

Rapid diagnostic kit being developed by Pune based startup for COVID 19 screening

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Rapid diagnostic kit being developed by Pune based startup for COVID 19 screening

FastSense Diagnostics, a start up incorporated in 2018, developing innovative products for rapid disease diagnosis, funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is now developing two modules for detection of COVID 19.

"The major challenges of testing for COVID-19 are speed, cost, accuracy and accessibility at the point-of-care or use. Several startups have developed rather creative and innovative ways to address these needs. DST is supporting the most promising of these to facilitate their development to commercialization chain if found suitable on technical grounds” said Professor Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, DST.

 In the lines of their existing universal platform “Omni-Sens” for early detection and screening of complex diseases i.e. cancers, liver ailments and neonatal sepsis etc., the company has proposed a technology CovE-Sens specifically for COVID 19. A patent has been filed for CovE-Sens which would provide a rapid, point of care detection along with screening and confirmatory test as well with ease of operation.

 The company plans to roll out two products --- a modified Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based detection kit for confirmatory analysis in lesser time compared to existing detection methods (approximately 50 samples can be tested in an hour) and a portable chip based module for rapid screening of target population based on the on-chip sensing technology that would provide on the spot results in less than 15 min per sample. The sample size for confirmatory tests can also be increased in the future to 100 samples/ hour.

The point of care detection kits of FastSense Diagnostics that can provide on the spot detection rapidly and without highly trained technicians could boost India’s testing efforts in the fight against COVD 19.

 The two proposed modules can be deployed at any real locations and hotspots like airports, densely populated areas, hospitals where screening of population can be done to prevent corona spread to healthy individuals and data can be generated with ease in less than an hour. The company is working on the cost to make it more affordable.

The team is also planning to collaborate with National Institute of Virology for which the formal approval is under process for performance evaluation and they are in touch with existing market players for scaling up and large-scale deployment of the device.

The team working on this comprises experts in virology, molecular biology and bioinstrumentation that can deliver the prototype in 8 to 10 weeks. The company also has few in-house facilities to scale up the production for deployment.

Besides, preventing further spread of the disease during the current pandemic, the portable rapid diagnostics kit can also prevent future relapse by regular monitoring. The low cost and ease of operation can make help reach out to the rural population and prevent overloading of urban health infrastructure. 

Lifting of Lock-down

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report

Lifting of Lock-down 

Centre’s Twin strategy as States Differ

30 states want Lock-down Relaxed

“Cluster Containment Plan” successful, says Govt.

 Harish Gupta

 New Delhi, April 7

 The Centre is toying with the idea of allowing the states to take a decision as they deem fit to lift the lock-down after April 15.

Since states of UP, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Assam, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have advocated continuation of lock-down due to situation prevailing in their states. But there are 30 other states & Union Territories which are pleading with the Centre to relax curbs to allow other activities.

The Centre today gave a big clue of its thinking saying,  the “Cluster Containment Plan (Hot Spots)” has shown “good results”. Love Agrawal, senior Health Ministry official said that the situation on sensitive districts of “Agra, Gautam Budhh Nagar, Buldhana, Bhilwara and even Mumbai had shown considerable improvement.”

However, he evaded a direct reply on lock-down lifting as some states want its continuation, saying, “the Cabinet Secretary (read Committee of Secretaries) is looking into the issue.”

 The Centre does not want to allow inter-state movement of regular traffic will be opened including rail and plane journey. It is for states to open local bus service within the district allow inter-district movement of passenger traffic. It is for the states to allow movement of certain category of private vehicles with strong riders and “Covid-19 clusters” be strictly out of bounds like a war zone.

The example set by Bhilwara in Rajasthan is a living example of its success what is now called the “Bhilwara formula.” Under this plan, the entire Bhilwara township with a population of 22 lakhs was locked down on March 20 itself. “Today, not a single case of Covid-19 has been identified after massive testing,” said a top government official.

The government is keeping a close-watch on the rising numbers of the Covid-19 cases and expressed satisfaction that no major out-break was witnessed from any cluster and more than one lakh testing was done.

The government is keen to bring the economy back on the rails and if the numbers stop rising in a big way after massive testing, the lock-down will be lifted in a partial manner.

Ends 

Centre hints at partial lifting of Lock-Down

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Centre hints at partial lifting of Lock-Down

PM Wants “Action Plan” from Ministers before  lock down ends

 Covid-19 Hot-spots to remain sealed

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 6  

The Centre today gave enough indications that it is moving towards “partial or graded” lifting of lock down in at least 70% parts of the country after April 15.

The PM is quoted as telling his Council of Ministers that “it is essential to strategize for the emergent conditions once lockdown ends.”

In a major signal of what’s in store, the PM told his ministers  “prepare a list of ten major decisions and ten priority areas of focus once lockdown end.”

The PM also noted during the interaction with his ministerial colleagues that a “graded plan to slowly open departments where hotspots aren’t existing should be made.”

Obviously, the government will cordon off and seal completely all the hot spots in the country where cases of “local community transmission” have surfaced in large numbers. The number these hot spots across the country is reported to be as high as 50. There are three such areas in Delhi and 8-10 in Maharashtra, sources say.

Though he gave no clue to as to when exactly the lock-down will end but he left no one in doubt the government is serious considering to paryial lifting of lock-down. The date will be announced once the ground level situation improves.

The PM asked the ministers to concentrate on preparing a “Business Continuity Plan”  relating to their ministries to once the lockdown ends.  Obviously, the PM wants every minister to prepare a detailed plan what are the priority areas as the lock-down will not be lifted in one go in the entire country. It will be done slowly and in a graded manner.  

This is first time that the PM held a rather prolonged meeting with his Council of Minister through video-conferencing and sought their free and frank opinion in their respective domain and wanted them to come out with an action plan.

When asked, Union Minister for I&B, Environment and Heavy Industries when the Lock-down will be lifted, he said, “We will let you know when the right time comes.”

BEL to supply 30000 Ventilators at half the price

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

BEL to supply 30000 Ventilators at half the price

 

Other factories to produce Saniters, Kits 

 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 5

In a major decision, the Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will supply 30,000 ventilators at half the price. Sources say that the BEL will supply these ventilators for Rs 4 lakh per piece at a no-profit no loss basis. The market price of ventilators range from Rs 8 lakhs to Rs 12 lakhs and currently unavailable globally. The BEL was roped in by the government after the SoS from the Ministry Health and Family Welfare to manufacture and supply of ventilators. The BEL will make these ventilators on no-profit no-loss basis and start delivering within the next ten days. The 30,000 ventilators are needed for the Intensive Care Units in hospitals during the next two months. The design of these ventilators was originally developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). The BEL has collaborated with M/s Skanray, Mysore for the production of these ventilators as these require 150 parts and all of these parts are not manufactured by BEL. Some of the parts are needed to be imported and BEL is scouting for them now.

The Ordnance Factory, Medak has undertaken repair of ventilators in various hospitals in Hyderabad and similar exercise is undertaken in other units in states. There are 20000 ventilators in the country which are non-functional and need urgent repairs. 

The task force relating to critical equipment is of the view that ventilators are needed as the Covid-19, even if contained, will continue to be a major problem for the next one year for the health workers and hospitals.

Other Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) have also pitched in to shore up the national fight against COVID-19. 

Apart from this, other defence factories are being geared up to manufacture hand sanitiser as per WHO standards.

Pune company invents chemical free disinfectant to fight COVID 19

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Pune company invents chemical free disinfectant to fight COVID 19

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 4

Weinnovate Biosolutions, a Pune based startup supported by the Central government has invented a non-alcoholic aqueous-based Colloidal Silver solution for disinfecting hands and environmental surfaces.

This liquid is noninflammable and free of hazardous chemicals and can be an effective sanitizer to prevent the spread of the infection through contact – the prime method of transmission of the pandemic, thereby protecting health professionals and other infected people.

The solution has undergone lab testing, and the manufacturers have received the test license. Preliminary work on synthesizing colloidal silver in a small scale and scale-up batch upto 5 liters has been conducted with reproducibility.

“We are aiming to manufacture primarily a minimum of 200 liters of colloidal silver solution per day with our manufacturing set up to cater to the demand of hand sanitization and disinfection. With our solution, we are positive to reduce the number in infection spread and helping India to be infection-free,” said Dr. Milind Choudhari, one of the founders of Weinnovate Biosolutions.

Interestingly, the government today put out this information official at its official portal. The innovation was funded and supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

The colloidal silver solution of Weinnovate Biosolutions, which is based on the ability of the silver nanoparticles to prevent the synthesis of viral negative-strand RNA and viral budding, is free from hazardous chemicals and has no risk of inflammability compared to alcohol-based disinfectants.

 Prof. Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary, Department of Science & Technology, issued a statement supporting the new invention.

Silver nanoparticles have been found to be an effective antiviral which act against many deadly viruses like HIV, Hepatitis B, Herpes simplex virus, Influenza virus, and so on.

An Indian patent has been filed for the process of making of colloidal silver, and a test license for making hand sanitizers and disinfectants has been granted.

No out-break in any cluster in the country

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

GoM on Covid meets

No out-break in any cluster in the country 

All Tablighi Jamaatis isolated, 

No shortage of essentials, Rapid Covid Tests on way

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 3

Rising numbers of Covid-19 cases and its “super spreader”  Tablighi Jamaat incident notwithstanding, the Centre expects that the situation is unlikely to take a turn for the worse.

The high-powered Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and comprising of Home Minister Amit Shah & 11 others held a marathon meeting this evening on the issue. The GoM was apprised that all 9000 TJ followers have been identified and isolated. The work of “contact-tracing” of these persons is almost complete and states are dealing with them firmly.

This apart, there were 22 other hot-spots in the country like the two major Jhuggi clusters in Mumbai and other parts of the country. But there are no reports of massive spread of monster virus. In fact, 66000 Covid-19 tests presented a somewhat relieving picture that only 2500 have been found positive so far. This is less than 2%. Now that the “anti-body rapid tests” have virtually been cleared by the Group dealing with the health to be conducted in all clusters, the situation will become clear within the next 3-4 days.

The GoM was satisfied that there was no major out-break of Covid-19 casesin any of the densely populated clusters in Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala and any other state. The GoM was particularly took note  that all  the states have come down on the violators with a heavy hand and taking pro-active measurers. If the Prime Minister is monitoring the situation himself 24X7 and prodding ministries and Chief Ministers, other wings are also involved in the exercise. For example, the President ans the Vice President are fully involved and holding video conferences with Governors and LGs. The entire bureaucracy has been empowered to take decision by the setting up of 11 groups who reported to the Ministerial GoM today in detail.

The GoM was also apprised of the ground level situation of health preparedness in terms of Personal Protective Kits (PPKs), masks, gloves etc and ventilators. Of course, orders for 1.50 crores PPKs have been placed and first lot of ten lakhs will arrive by Monday.  The home ministry has already stern instructions to the states that violators must be dealt with a heavy hand.

The PM Constitutes GoM under Rajnath Singh on Covid-19

Ten days ago and the first meeting took place on March 29. Today was the second meeting and all major issues were cleared relating to all concerned ministries.

Ends 

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Rahul Gandhi underwent Coronavirus Test at Airport

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

A Lokmat exclusive story

Rahul Gandhi underwent Coronavirus Test at Airport

Returned to India from Italy on Feb 29

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 4

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi underwent Coronavirus test at T-3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) as soon as he returned to India last week.

Highly placed sources in the government say that Rahul Gandhi followed the drill issued by the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued for the passengers coming from Italy and other countries to be thoroughly checked for Covid-19.

Rahul Gandhi boarded the Air India flight no 138 from Milan on February 29 evening and landed at the IGIA in the morning of Saturday. Since Italy is among the watch list of nations for Coronavirus, all passengers disembarking were requested to undergo necessary tests. Rahul Gandhi had been returning to the country after two weeks of stay abroad and the world was rising to fight the Covid-19. Since Rahul Gandhi is a Z-plus security cover VIP and a member of the Lok Sabha, he was offered all due courtesies. But sources say that Rahul Gandhi decided to follow the drill along with other passengers and volunteered to follow all instructions in this regard. The check up went on for 20-25 minutes even as his personal staff and security personnel were getting anxious due to abnormal delay. They were keen to rush through the process. But Rahul Gandhi signaled to them that the systems must be followed, say these sources. 

Rahul Gandhi was also briefed extensively at the airport by the health authorities at the airport do's and don'ts with regard to the Covid-19.

Since Italy has emerged lately as the Europe's global Covid-19 hub, the Indian authorities have not only suspended the visa facilities including visa on arrival. It was also decided all passengers disembarking at Indian airports from Italy and other such named countries be thoroughly checked.

Sources say after the tests, Rahul Gandhi left the airport smiling. He also thanked the health department officials who were deployed for these tests.

Ends

Ex Finance Secretary Garg now Adviser to Andhra CM

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Ex Finance Secretary Garg now Adviser to Andhra CM

New Delhi, March 2

Subhash Chandra Garg, who was unceremoniously shunted out of the Finance Ministry as Finance Secretary, has been appointed by the Andhra Government as  Advisor to Chief Minister (Resource Mobilisation) in the rank of Cabinet Minister.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief Minister Andhra Pradesh made this appointment.

Garg, a retired IAS officer of the 1993 of the Rajasthan cadre had sought VRS after NaMo administration abruptly shifted him to the Ministry of Power in July last year. On completion of three months as mandatory period, he applied for the VRS application. He will hold the Cabinet rank and help in bringing resources for the state. 

Modi purges his own PMO, a first in decades

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

A Lokmat Exclusive report 

Modi purges his own PMO, a first in decades 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 3 

More than 100 personnel including 4th class employees have been transferred out of the Prime Minister's Office as part of a new policy being implemented by the Prime Minister himself.

For the first time in several decades, PM Modi decided to shift personnel working in the PMO for a long time. In fact, PM Modi discovered that there are peons, clerks and junior officers who have been working in South Block for more than 30 years and in the same wing.

In a calibrated move, he decided to send these oldies or what is termed as "veterans" to their parent departments and infuse new new blood in South Block, housing the PMO. It may be mentioned that the PMO doesn't have a cadre of officers and staff of its own and personnel are drawn from other ministries & departments on deputation basis. As part of this new policy,  Modi decided that everyone from top to bottom will go out of the PMO irrespective of the designation once his deputation period ends. P K Mishra, Principal Secretary to the PM, is reported to have crafted this new policy on the directions of the PM and now being implemented.

The Prime Minister's concept is that no officer should be in one place for more than seven years - five years in first tranche extendable by another two years. In a rare cases, the officer can be given another three years but not at the same place. The officers should not be transferred out of Delhi if he has seriously sick parents/wife or children are due for board examinations or any other compelling reason. Otherwise, there is no relaxation. All such cases are personally brought to the notice of the PM, sources say.

Insiders say that this is Modi's style of bureaucratic cleansing which he began after coming to power in 2014. He began cleansing the ministerial staff first and now he has implemented the same policy from top to bottom in his PMO too.

In fact, the PM has directed various ministries & departments under him to implement the same policy in letter & spirit. The Department of Personnel under his command & control has issued such guidelines from time to time.

ends 

Rahul returns after Sojorn !

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report

Rahul returns after Sojorn !

“Family” decides No RS Seat for Priyanka

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, March 1

After holidaying in Italy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi returned to India yesterday and took a stock of political situation in the country.

If sources are to be believed, the members of the Gandhi family- Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi- met twice over two days.

These sources told Lokmat today that the issue of sending Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to the Rajkya Sabha was  part of the agenda and the Gandhis decided that she will continue to serve in the organization. She will stay away from the parliamentary responsibilities considering the challeneges ahead. Her task has been to strengthen the organization and assist her brother Rahul Gandhi. Whether Rahul Gandhi takes over formally the reins of the party once again or not, he will continue to be the pivot.

With Sonia Gandhi’s frailing health and inability to extensively travel across the country, the responsibility is likely to come to Rahul Gandhi to come to the helms. It is in this background that a view has emerged that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should continue to lay stress on the organizational responsibilities.

It may be mentioned here that a clamour has been growing in the Congress that  Priyanka be brought to the Rajya Sabha.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was the first to fire the salvo and write a foral letter to the Congress Interim president that she be sent to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan where the party is set to win two seats.

Later, Kamal Nath and Bhupesh Baghel and even Adhirranjan Chowdhury have jumped into the woo Priyanka campaign. They too want Priyanka in RS. Interestingly, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is reported to have dumped her earlier plans to shift to Lucknow and hire a house on rent to focus completely in UP. She has started campaigning outside the state including Delhi and elsewhere.

The buzz is that Gehlot wants Priyanka be brought to the Rajya Sabha arguing her popularity and charisma be utilized in states other than in UP where she is general secretary incharge of Eastern part. Now

Gehlot even had  reported to have met Priyanka recently and sounded her out in this regard. He wants Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to play more active role by entering Rajya Sabha. Rahul Gandhi is already holding the fort in Lok Sabha.

But the Gandhis have decided that she strengthen the oragniation as parliamentary duties are equally demanding. 

Congress in a dilemma over Azad & Punia RS nomination

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

special report

Congress in a dilemma over Azad & Punia RS nomination

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Feb 26

A tricky situation has arisen in the Congress with two sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and P L Punia are seeking re-nomination despite much ahead of their time of retirement.

Ghulam Nabi Azad represents Jammu & Kashmir in the Rajya Sabha and his tenure is ending in February 2021 while Punia's term is coming to an end nine months from now in November 2020. Punia was elected to the Rajya Sabha from UP in November 2014. Both of them cannot be re-elected from their respective states as J &K House stands dissolved and Congress doesn't have the numbers to get Punia re-elected in UP in November 2020. Hence, both of them want to be re-elected in April biennial polls.

It is in this background that suggestions have been made to bring Azad to the Rajya Sabha either from Maharashtra or any other states where party can win good number of seats. Since Azad is a face of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the high command can ill-afford to lose him. Of course, there are biennial polls due in Karnataka in June where Congress can win two Rajya Sabha seats. But Mallikarjune Kharge, B K Hariprasad and Prof. M V Rajeev Gowda are already in the reckoning for two seats. Therefore, the high command may have to take a call on Azad during this round itself.

Similarly, P L Punia wants a Rajya Sabha seat from Chhattisgarh where the party will win two Rajya Sabha seats. He hails from Chhattisgarh too. But the Congress has a battery of claimants for Rajya Sabha seats.

These senior leaders are eyeing for Rajya Sabha seats for the 13 seats that the party is likely to win in this round of biennial polls. Interestingly, 13 members of the Rajya Sabha are retiring and party's strength in the Upper House may remain the same at 46.

Several Congress veterans like Digvijay Singh, Jytoraditya Scindia, Ku. Selja, T Subiram Reddy, Madhusudam Mistry, Rajiv Shukla, a close confidante of the Gandhi family are in the race. The names of party General Secretary K C Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik and RPN Singh are also being mentioned for possible contenders for Rajya Sabha seats.

Motilal Vora, due to his age, unlikely to make the cut this time.

Ends