Rahul Gandhi will take over as Congress President soon, confirms Sonia

Agencies
October 14, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 14: Congress President Sonia Gandhi has confirmed that her son Rahul Gandhi will take over as the next party chief soon.

"You (the media) have been asking me about Rahul (taking over the party) for a long time. It will be done soon," said Sonia, speaking on the sidelines of former president Pranab Mukherjee's book launch in New Delhi.

On Friday, the Uttarakhand Congress has passed a resolution urging Rahul Gandhi to take over as party president. The Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and four other state units have also passed similar resolutions.

Recently, the ball was set rolling for long-pending organisational polls which would also entail elections to the post of the President of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The state Congress chiefs met in Delhi to finalise the election schedule.

The chances of Rahul finally taking over the reins of the party are high this time around. The build-up to his elevation has been slow and has been dragged for a while. That Sonia Gandhi doesn’t want to continue at the helm and wants Rahul to take over completely is a known fact. Over the past one year, it has been Rahul who has been calling the shots and taking major decisions.

As a part of the takeover strategy, Rahul has been the main face which Congress has been pitting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last three years.

So, when Rahul was in the US recently, he attacked Modi for what he called his divisive politics and failed economics. And when senior ministers rushed in to defend the PM and attack Rahul, the Congress smiled as it saw in the retaliation an acknowledgement of the fact that Rahul was being seen as the main adversary to Modi.

The target-Modi strategy is also fraught with a huge risk as Congress is left with limited options for the next general elections.

“Rahul vs Modi is an unequal fight, for it’s a fight between ‘democracy & tyranny’, between ‘devolution & usurpation of authority’, between ‘inclusive growth & crony capitalism’. And yes, Rahulji’s and Congress’s vision will win, for India must win for our values to be protected and preserved for posterity,” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

On the other hand, many Congress leaders like Kamal Nath have been of the view that dual power arrangement between Sonia and Rahul confuses party workers. The leadership issues, this section feels need to be sorted out to have clarity on power and command structure.

Rahul as party president will make one thing clear — that 2019 will be a Modi versus Rahul election.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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Udupi, Nov 11: The Karkala town police in Udupi have arrested Krishna Naik, the sculptor responsible for installing a 33-foot Parashurama statue at Umikkal Hill in Bailur, Karkala taluk. 

Naik, the owner of Krish Art World and a resident of Bengaluru's Visvesvaraya Layout, was apprehended in Mahe, part of the Union Territory of Puducherry, for allegedly substituting a look-alike statue in place of a genuine bronze figure at the Parashurama Theme Park in Karkala.

Udupi Superintendent of Police Dr. Arun K confirmed the arrest, stating that Naik faces charges under Sections 420 (cheating) and 409 (criminal breach of trust) of the Indian Penal Code. 

This legal action followed a complaint lodged in June by Krishna Shetty, a resident of Nallur village, Karkala. Shetty claimed that Naik had received a payment of ₹1,25,50,000 from Udupi Nirmithi Kendra for the installation of a bronze Parashurama statue. However, Naik allegedly deceived the government by installing a replica instead.

The statue was unveiled on January 27, 2023, by then Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. Current Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has since ordered a CID investigation to probe deeper into the alleged fraud surrounding the statue's installation at the theme park.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has killed or captured 69 terrorists linked to the Israeli spy agency Mossad during a major counterterrorism drill in the country's southeast, its spokesman says.  

General Ahmad Shafaei, the spokesman for the “Martyrs of Security” drill, said Friday that a total of 23 terrorists have been killed and another 46 arrested in various clean-up operations ever since the IRGC Ground Force launched it in the Sistan and Baluchestan province on November 1.

Seven terrorists have also turned themselves in during the period.

“The undeniable fact about terrorists is that they rely on arrogant powers, particularly the intelligence service of the wicked and vicious Zionist regime," Shafaei said.

“Unfortunately, weapons and munitions at terrorists’ disposal are among the most sophisticated ones in the world. This accounts for their heavy dependence.” 

The official stated that several members of the disbanded terror teams were non-Iranian nationals, who had been hired by foreign intelligence agencies to carry out acts of sabotage and terror inside Iran.

In a most recent operation, six terrorists were arrested and four others were eliminated, three of whom were non-Iranians, he added. 

On October 26, ten members of Iran's law enforcement forces were killed in a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan in the Sistan and Baluchestan province.

The so-called Jaish al-Adl terrorist group claimed responsibility for the assault, which was one of the deadliest in the province in recent months.

The group has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iran, primarily in Sistan and Baluchestan.

Its tactics include the abduction of border guards as well as targeting civilians and police stations within the province to incite chaos and disorder.

In January, Iran launched a military operation during which the headquarters of the Pakistan-based terrorist group was targeted in missile strikes, destroying its infrastructure.

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