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Congress President Sonia Gandhi has buzzed the poll buzzer on Saturday asking the party to prepare for general elections during a meeting convened by her of top party functionaries.

The announcement clearly indicates that the party is willing to risk elections amid soaring inflation rate and dilemma of N-deal.  Sonia Gandhi directed senior leaders to draw up time-bound programs and strategies to re-energize the party in all states to get prepare for the polls.

“This meeting was about poll preparations. The Lok Sabha elections were also discussed, the party has to get ready for polls and everybody has been asked to draw up programs and submit the same at the next meeting,” AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters here.

The Congress president has given party men a time-table for building the party at all levels, Veerappa Moily, chairman of the AICC Media Cell said.

Sonia during the meet also directed Congress leaders to tell people about party’s achievements like the Rs 60,000-crore farm loan waiver scheme announced by Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram in the 2008 Union Budget.

However, much talked N-deal is not subjected to discussion during the meet. “The issue has already been discussed at two working committee meetings,” a senior leader said.

Though the UPA constituents strongly favor the nuclear deal, they hold almost equally strident views against holding of early elections.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had on Thursday released its first list of candidates for the next Lok Sabha elections.  The list has names of five other candidates - Navjot Singh Sidhu (Amritsar), Vinod Khanna (Gurdaspur), Shripad Y Naik (Panaji), Anurag Thakur (Hamirpur) and TPS Rawat (Pauri).

BJP’s prime ministerial candidate LK Advani will contest from Gandhinagar constituency in Gujarat. Lok Sabha elections are due around April next year.

Tags: BJP, Congress, Elections India, Gandhi, Poll, Sonia Gandhi

Indian nation pays homage to the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his 44th death anniversary today on 27th May. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi along with Vice President Hamid Ansari on Tuesday led the nation in paying homage to the former leader of the country.

Ansari and Gandhi paid floral tributes at Shanti Van, the memorial of Nehru. Besides them, Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken were also present on the occasion as priests recited hymns from sacred texts.

Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Caste Buta Singh and senior Congress leaders Motilal Vohra and J P Aggarwal were also present to pay their homage to the leader.

An all religion prayer meeting was organised in the premises of the memorial followed by a speech given by the late Nehru played at the end of prayer meet.

Nehru, born on November 14, 1889, breathed his last in the early hours of May 27, 1964. He provided his immense contributions in the making of a strong, secular and modern India.

Tags: Congress, Gandhi, India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Nehru, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, UPA

Congress president Sonia Gandhi who was allegedly outraging religious feelings of Hindus for her depiction as Goddess Durga in a poster at the party’s Muradabad office in Uttar Pradesh is issued a notice by Muzaffarpur court on Wednesday to appear in the court on June 26. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna and Muradabad District Congress Committee president Ajay Taleshwar Soni are also summoned along with Sonia.

A fast-track court judge Vijay Kumar Mandal ordered issue of summons to her after hearing the complainant, an advocate Sudhir Ojha. District Judge H K Srivastava had on March 25 admitted the complaint filed by Ojha against Gandhi and the others.

Mandal directed that Sonia Gandhi, Bahuguna and Soni should appear in person or their counsels on the next date of hearing on June 26. If failed to do so, the court would be compelled to take an unilateral decision.

Earlier, the court had on April 14 issued notices to them asking them to explain their position on Wednesday.

The charges were made under three sections of IPC: Sections 295 (injuring or defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of any class), 295 (a) (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief) and 120(b) (criminal conspiracy).

Tags: Congress, Court, Durga, Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Summons, Uttar Pradesh

Today, on the 17th death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, India’s top political leaders gathered to pay homage to the late Prime Minister amid uninterrupted drizzle in the capital city, Delhi. President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi pays their tribute to Rajiv Gandhi.

The departed leader’s widow and Congress President Sonia Gandhi, along with her son Rahul and daughter Priyanka Vadra, reached his memorial ‘Vir Bhumi’ to pay their tributes.

A prayer meeting was organized in the premises of the memorial ended with the play of a speech, given in 1985 by the late Rajiv Gandhi who was assassinated on May 21, 1991, during a public meeting at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu. Seventeen other people were also killed in that explosion and 44 injured.

The day is also being observed as anti-terrorism day with seminars and discussions organised. A pledge would be later administered to people to fight against the scourge of terrorism and for maintaining peace.

Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Home Minister Shivraj Patil, Defence Minister A K Antony and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit also paid floral tributes to the former prime minister.

Youth Congress workers present on the occasion raised slogans in memory of the former Prime Minister.

Minster for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, Minister of State for Home Sriprakash Jaiswal and senior Congress leader Motilal Vora were among others who paid tributes to their beloved leader.

Tags: Delhi, Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Pratibha Patil, Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Congress senior leader Akhilesh Das blamed the “coterie” around Rahul Gandhi making a dramatic move in the house on Tuesday and quit from the party as well as the Rajya Sabha handing over his resignation letter to the chairman Hamid Ansari.

Das, who was recently dropped from the Union Council of Ministers, represented Uttar Pradesh in the Rajya Sabha and was the minister of state for steel before last month’s Cabinet reshuffle.

“I have no faith in the Congress party,” he said in the House, taking everybody by surprise. Later, he told reporters outside Parliament that he had also sent his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi and was feeling “relaxed and relieved now.”

Das alleged that “all the decisions in the party are being taken by the coterie and it is the coterie that is deciding the fate of Congress party and nation.”

Attacking Rahul Gandhi, he said, “There was a coterie surrounding the yuvraj (prince) and if the coterie was not happy with somebody, then that person had to suffer.”

Clarifying his action, Das said, “I believe there is a caucus which is doing all this. There is a power coterie. It has surrounded Rahulji and it is unfortunate that only the coterie has access to him.”

“There is a power coterie within and there is an unconstitutional power coterie. They don’t have any knowledge and they are not Congressmen and they are all surrounding the yuvraj (Rahul Gandhi) of the Congress party,” added Das.

Pointing to Rahul, he said, “He is in charge of the country… He is only the general secretary of the Youth Congress and National Students Union of India, but he is controlling the entire Congress party and he is controlling the entire nation. If he is not happy with you and his coterie is not happy with you, you cannot be in the party; you cannot be welcomed in the party.”

“They don’t have courage, but I can say that…. I am a democratic man, I am not a member of a coterie.” said Das.

On his future course of action, he said he would decide it after consulting his supporters in Lucknow.

Das said Uttar Pradesh has always been at the centre of Congress politics, but now the state too is being viewed through the “vision of this coterie”. Das also questioned the appointment of Rita Bahuguna Joshi as the president of the party’s state unit, describing her as a “daughter” of Uttaranchal.

Inflation issue was also raised by Das attacking the government for its “inability” to control rising prices.

Tags: Congress, Gandhi, India, Politics, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

World’s 100 most influential people of 2008, listed by Time news magazine, includes three Indian names and those are of the UPA Chairperson Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, PepsiCo’s Indian American chief executive Indra Nooyi and MD of TATA group Ratan Tata.

The other name which is included in this list from India is of the spiritual leader Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama and Sonia Gandhi are listed in the leaders category.

Ratan Tata and Indra Nooyi are categorized under the list of Builders and Titans.

Sonia Gandhi is present in the list after her turning down the opportunity to become prime minister four years ago.

For Indra Nooyi, sharp strategic mind, tremendous market insight and humanitarian contributions made her to reach in the list.

Dalai Lama is there in the list for remaining ‘calm in the face of cruelty’ against his people by the Chinese.

Ratan Tata is praised for the manufacturing of the people’s car of Rs. 1,00,000 only.

The world’s most influential person in 2008, according to 1.8 million Time.com voters, is Shigeru Miyamoto, who designed Nintendo video game.

Tags: Dalai Lama, Indra Nooyi, Ratan Tata, Sonia Gandhi, Tata, Time news magazine, UPA

Congress president Sonia Gandhi summoned Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh. According to the sources Sonia is upset with Arjun Singh for projecting Rahul as PM candidate for upcoming Loksabha polls in 2009.

Senior Congress leader Arjun Singh has stated on Monday that that Rahul Gandhi, the general secretary of Congress has all the qualities of his father and is the right choice for the Prime Ministerial candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in 2009. Later Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee has also supported the statement which gives rise to a hot debate. DMK minister Karunannidhi and NCP also joined the squad to support Rahul for Prime Ministerial candidate.

However, on Tuesday Congress spokesman Jayanti Natraj denied all these declarations saying that these statements were mere speculations and Congress is not serious about the issue. Later Sonia Gandhi summoned Arjun Singh to discuss the issue.

On the other side, Arjun Singh said that he is affirmed on his statement and he had not said anything wrong.

Tags: Arjun Singh, Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Senior Congress leader Arjun Singh said on Monday that Rahul Gandhi, the general secretary of Congress, is the right choice for the Prime Ministerial candidate in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in 2009.

He said that he has all the qualities of his father, late Sh. Rajiv Gandhi and there seems nothing wrong to name him for the post.

“Why not,” he shot back in an interview to agencies when asked whether a young leader should be projected for the top job as like it happened in 1984 when Rajiv Gandhi took over as the youngest Prime Minister after the assassination of Indira Gandhi.

“He (Rahul) has all the qualities of his father. He is making sincere efforts in acquiring the information and knowledge that is required”, the HRD minister said when specifically asked about the MP from Amethi, who is being depicted as the youth icon by the party.

On whether Congress should fight the next elections in a coalition or should fight it on its own to regain its lost ground, he avoided a direct answer. “This question you should put to others. I am not competent enough to answer that,” he said.

Singh, who had played a proactive role on the OBC reservation issue, said that UPA coordination committee would meet soon after the reconvening of parliament session on April 15 to sort out differences among allies on the creamy layer issue.

The HRD minister said a communication would be sent to the institutions, including IIMs, this week on the admission process.

On the burning subject of inflation, he said that government is making efforts to check the price hike but it will take some time to bring the effect of the efforts. He admitted that the issue will definitely impact on upcoming elections.

The price rise would be a thing of the past by the time the country goes to polls, Singh said.

Tags: Arjun Singh, Gandhi, India, PM, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi

Sharad Pawar-led NCP, the biggest party in the ruling Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is ready to support Congress president Sonia Gandhi or her son Rahul for the post of Prime Minister in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

“Congress is the biggest party in the UPA. There is no question of NCP, DMK or RJD or any other party coming close to their numbers and if tomorrow Congress decides to nominate Mrs Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi, it’s not a question for NCP to decide,” NCP general secretary Praful Patel said.

Patel, the Civil Aviation Minister told that Gandhi is given a letter of support from prime minister ship four years back. There is no issue to discuss the choice for the post as Gandhi’s name is already consulted by the party.

Pawar, Union Food and Agriculture Minister, had suggested that the next Lok Sabha polls be fought under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Asked whether his party would support Rahul Gandhi if he is in a position to be nominated as the leader of the next government, Patel said, “If the UPA comes with a majority and if the Congress party so chooses, what the question is? Why is this being debated?”

Against the unfavorable remarks of party colleague D P Tripathi’s against Sonia Gandhi, Patel said that she has been very generous and she has not shown any meanness to the party.

Tags: Congress, DMK, Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, NCP, Rahul Gandhi, RJD, Sharad Pawar, Sonia Gandhi, UPA

Congress president Sonia Gandhi put her opinion on Monday regarding the issue of inflation. She said the government must control the increasing rates of essential commodities to make them affordable by common man.

In the latest issue of the party mouthpiece she said the state government to control the price rise and limit black marketing and hoarding. She said that higher growth is essential but it must be ensured by the government to remain the essential commodities within the range of common man.

“In recent weeks, because of international developments, we have had an increase in the rate of inflation in our country,” Gandhi said in Congress Sandesh.

Being the primary issue in coming elections, Gandhi said that the party confronts many challenges, most importantly, sustaining unity and discipline at all levels of the organization.

“It has gone out of its way to transfer huge amounts of money for development in Non-congress States without playing politics, which the Bharatiya Janata Party did when it was in power. It falls upon each and every Congressman and woman to become fully aware of these achievements and propagate them amongst the people,” Gandhi said.

Meanwhile, on the UNPA (United National Progressive Alliance) and the Left deciding to hold agitations against the government on the issue of price rise, AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, “Nobody is agitating against price rise more than the government itself. Concern has been expressed by the government, by the Congress president.”

He said that Congress is highly concerned on this issue and taking serious actions to control.

“No government has taken the kind of decisions that this government has taken. You will see the effects in some days,” he said.

“UNPA is yet to be born, it is struggling to be born” he said while commenting on the UNPA.

Tags: BJP, Commodities, Congress, India, Price hike, Sonia, Sonia Gandhi