Pranab's son in fray, bolstered by dad's goodwill

October 8, 2012

pranab-son

Jangipur (West Bengal), October 8: The welfare projects undertaken by his father President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure as Lok Sabha MP have stood son Abhijit, contesting the Oct 10 Jangipur Lok Sabha by-poll in West Bengal's border district of Murshidabad, in good stead.

Abhijit, a first-time Congress legislator from Nalhati assembly constituency of Birbhum district of the state, is being fielded by the Congress from Jangipur. The Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after his father Pranab Mukherjee was elected president.

Though Abhijit battles the heat and dust and campaigns on the muddy roads of Jangipur, it is the record of development works undertaken during his father's tenure as MP that are spoken of most.

Pranab Mukherjee - two-time Lok Sabha MP from Jangipur since 2004 - used his clout as the 'number two' of the Indian government to bring in prosperity and welfare projects in the area.

Pranab Mukherjee - who since his 2004 victory made Jangipur his second home - had always been 'indebted' to the people of Jangipur for electing him as Lok Sabha MP, which in turn had helped him to remove the tag of "rootless wanderer," a tag that stuck long since he had been unable to enter the Lok Sabha despite being in politics since the late 1960s.

Now, with Abhijit in the poll fray, ready to step into his father's shoes, the son seems to tread an easier path, since both Jangipur and Murshidabad district as a whole have been considered a bastion of the Congress since the mid-nineties.

"Pranab babu has done a lot of development for the area. Now, we wish that if Abhijit babu wins, he will carry forward his father's developmental projects," said Samsul Alam, a resident of Jangipur.

Congress supporters claim Abhijit has the upper hand over his nearest rival of the Left Front, given the work his father has done for the area in the last eight years and considering the victory margin of two lakh that Pranab registered in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

With a total electorate of 10,86,052, the constituency is considered to be a Muslim majority constituency.

Clad in kurta and pyjama, Abhijit greets people lining the roads and peeping from their windows and rooftops in villages and small towns with a smile and folded hands.

Two of the most important concerns that the people of Jangipur face are land erosion - vast acres of land have been swept by the Brahmaputra - and arsenic contamination in ground water.

Congress supporters claim that under Pranab Mukherjee's initiative, work has started on a plant to purify water of arsenic. Several steps have been taken to prevent erosion.

Although a total of 11 candidates are in the poll fray, Abhijit's main rival seems to be Left Front's Muzzafar Hossain. The Trinamool Congress has decided not to contest the by-election.

CPI-M politburo member Biman Bose Sunday accused the Congress of inciting violence and creating an atmosphere of terror in Jangipur.

"Two CPI-M supporters have been killed in the area. The Congress is perplexed with the questions that are being asked over the fake promises that they have made in last eight years. So, to terrorise the people, two people have been killed," said Bose in a statement.

Bose appealed to voters of the area to be calm and defeat the alleged terror tactics initiated by the Congress.


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Agencies
January 24,2020

New Delhi, Jan 24: The government's plan to sell national carrier Air India may face political and legal headwinds with senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy raising the red flag against the decision.

Days before the launch of bidding process by inviting Expressions of Interest (EoI) from potential suitors, Swamy has warned against such move, saying the issue was currently being discussed by a Parliamentary panel.

"Right now, it (Air India disinvestment) is before the consultative committee and I am a member of that. I have been asked to give a note which will be discussed in the next meeting. They can't go ahead without that," Swamy told media.

"If they do, I will go to court. They know that too," he cautioned.

A vocal opponent of Air India privatisation, Swamy had earlier suggested to list 49 per cent of Air India shares on stock exchanges while government holds 51 per cent in the carrier, as an alternative to selling its entire stake to private companies.

It has been reliably learnt that the Rajya Sabha member had expressed reservations over privatisation of Air India at the meeting of a Parliamentary consultative committee earlier this month.

After its failed first attempt, the Modi government has shown great zeal this time to sell Air India. It is set to offer a sweetened deal to potential buyers this time around by removing a large chunk of the debt and liabilities from the airline’s books.

Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier said that Air India will be shut down, in case the disinvestment exercise is not successful.

Sources told media that the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) inviting EoI has been tentatively scheduled to be unveiled on January 27.

Air India is proposed to be sold along with its subsidiary Air India Express and ground-handling joint venture company Air India Singapore Airport Terminal Services Ltd (AISATS) in which it has 50 per cent stake.

Air India on January 10 came out with a tender for engaging aircraft asset management companies for carrying out technical audit of its entire fleet.

A Ministerial panel on Air India chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah on January 7 approved the draft EoI and a share purchase agreement (SPA) for the airline's disinvestment.

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Agencies
July 24,2020

Lucknow, Jul 24: The Congress in Uttar Pradesh on Friday protested against what it dubbed as deliberate and systematic deletions of chapters dealing in freedom struggle and the party's role in it from the syllabi of Classes 10 and 12 of the Secondary Education Board.

Congress leader Anugrah Narain Singh said: "The deletions effected in Class 12 syllabus clearly has political overtones. Chapters dealing with the freedom movement and the Congress role in it have been cut out. The BJP has no role of its own in the country's history and, therefore, wants that the new generations should not learn about the Congress contribution as well."

A Congress delegation submitted a memorandum to UP Eduction Board Secretary Divya Kant Shukla to demand restoration of the deleted chapters and topics.

BJP MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi accused the opposition Congress of "turning every occasion into a political opportunity during the pandemic".

"The Congress is unnecessarily making an issue out of this. Only some portions have been deleted from the syllabi due to shortening of the academic session due to the nationwide lockdown. People already know about the Congress and the cut in the syllabi is only temporary. The Congress is unnecessarily trying to create a political controversy," she said.

Prof Yogeshwar Tiwari of the History Department in the Allahabad University dubbed the changes made in the syllabi as "unfortunate". "The history is not of the Congress alone -- it is the history of the nation and every student must know about it," he said.

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Agencies
May 17,2020

Mumbai, May 17: Much on expected lines, Maharashtra, on Sunday, extended the coronavirus lockdown till May 31, in order to control the spread of the virus, under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the state government said in a statement.

On Sunday afternoon, Chief Secretary Ajoy Mehta, in a notification said: "It is further directed that all earlier orders shall be aligned with this order and remain in force up to and inclusive of May 31, 2020. The calibrated phase-wise relaxation or lifting of lockdown orders will be notified in due course."

"Lockdown 3.0 ends today. Lockdown 4.0 will come into effect tomorrow and will be valid till May 31. There will be some relaxations in the fourth phase," he said.

"The green and orange zones will get more relaxations, in terms of starting more services. As of now only essential services are operational, he said.

Maharashtra has recorded 30,706 COVID-19 cases of which 22,479 are active. The death toll is 1135, while 7,088 patients have been discharged after recovery.

In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1898 and the powers, conferred under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Chairperson, State Executive Committee, issued direction to extend the lockdown till 31 May 2020 for containment of COVID-19 epidemic in the State and all Departments of Government of Maharashtra shall strictly implement the guidelines issued earlier form time to time, according to the statement.

Over the last two days,  Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray held a series of meetings with his ministerial colleagues, senior leaders including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and top officials. 

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