Cong admits it should have tamed Modi sooner

April 19, 2014

Modi_soonerNew Delhi, Apr 18: Pushed on to the backfoot by a belligerent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) campaign, a section of Congress leaders claims that the party goofed up on its communications strategy, particularly on dealing with Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

It was only as the country went to polls on April 7 that the top Congress leadership started sharp attacks on Modi, the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. Unlike the Congress, Modi launched a high-pitched campaign since September last year.

“We should have started challenging Modi at least six months earlier,” said a senior Congress leader, nearly admitting that the party had failed to effectively strategise against Modi and the BJP.

The Congress leadership was always in two minds when it came to countering Modi.

Initially, the grand old party took the position that the BJP leader was just another chief minister and found it sufficient to target Modi using Congress leaders from Gujarat – Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia – whenever he launched an attack on the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance.

There have been times when Congress leaders made sharp attacks on Modi only to be cautioned by party elders. A powerful section of the Congress opinied that it was best to ignore Modi because taking him on directly would give him more publicity.

However, as the Modi juggernaut assumed enormous proportions, a significant section of the Congress is now of the opinion that the party should have launched early and sustained attacks on the Gujarat chief minister. “Modi is a commodity and not a human being. He is being marketed like a product and you see him staring down from every billboard, television station and hear him on radio,” said an exasperated Congress leader.

The Congress seems to have recognised that they can’t continue to ignore Narendra Modi and, lately, the Gandhi triumvirate of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka has stepped up their attack on the BJP for trying to concentrate all power in just one man.

Rahul, the Congress vice president, acknowledged that Modi was good at marketing, an area where the grand old party has been found wanting.

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News Network
April 2,2020

New Delhi, Apr 2: With 437 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, the tally of COVID-19 positive cases in India shot up to 1,834 on Wednesday night.

The number of deaths in the country due to COVID-19 has risen to 41.

The total number of active cases in the country is 1,649. 143 persons have been cured and discharged from the hospitals. One person has migrated, according to the data provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Earlier on Wednesday, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla urged all state governments and Union Territory administrations to ensure the lockdown measures issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs are strictly implemented.

"All the state governments/UT administrations are requested to strictly implement the lockdown measures issued by MHA in the exercise of the powers under Disaster Management Act, 2005 in letter and spirit," Bhalla said.

Prime Minister Modi had earlier announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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News Network
June 2,2020

New Delhi, Jun 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said India will definitely get its economic growth back as the government continues to pursue various reforms.

Speaking at industry association CII's annual session, he said the government has taken tough steps to fight the coronavirus pandemic and has also taken care of the economy.

"On the one hand we have to safe lives of our people and on the other hand we have to stabilise the economy and speed up the economy," he said.

He said he gets the confidence from farmers, small businesses and entrepreneurs for getting the economic growth back.

"Corona may have slowed our speed (of growth) but India has now moved ahead from lockdown with the phase one of unlock. Unlock Phase-1 has reopened a large part of the economy," he said.

He said intent, inclusion, investment, infrastructure and innovation are crucial for India to revert back to a high-growth trajectory.

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News Network
March 25,2020

Mumbai, Mar 25: Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday confirmed that five people from a family in Sangli and four others from Mumbai tested positive for coronavirus, taking the total count to 116, which is the highest in any state of the country.
"The current count of COVID19 patients in the state of Maharashtra is 116. In Sangli, 5 people from one family are identified as positive due to contacts and 4 people from Mumbai are identified as positive due to travel history or contacts," Tope tweeted.
The state Health Minister informed that out of 116 people, 14 people have recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals.
"14 people from these have been recovered and are in the process of being discharged from the hospitals," he said in another tweet.
Meanwhile, the Sangli district administration in Maharashtra has released contact numbers for citizens to get home delivery of essential items during the 21-day lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
The police personnel and district administration will be in charge of facilitating delivery for the essential commodities during the lockdown.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday confirmed 539 positive cases of coronavirus in the country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country effective from midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

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