Narendra Modi is a challenger for Congress, we can't ignore him: Chidambaram

November 10, 2013

ChidambaramPanaji, Nov 10: Union finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday acknowledged that the Congress party considers BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as a "challenger."

"As a political party, we acknowledge that he (Modi) is a challenger. We cannot ignore him. He is a candidate fielded by the principal opposition party. We have to take note of him," he said during an interaction at 'ThinkFest' event currently on in Goa.

The minister, however, said that as an individual he is concerned about his (Modi's) ideology, philosophy and the kind of language he has been using in public rallies.

"So far he (Modi) is extremely opaque. So far he has not spoken on any of the major issues. He has just made election promises," Chidambaram said.

He said the rank and file of Congress party feel that Rahul Gandhi should be leader of the party and leader of government, if it is voted to power in the forthcoming general polls.

"Rank and file seems to think that if party is voted to power, Rahul Gandhi should be the leader of the party and leader of the government," he stated.

"As far as my personal opinion is concerned, I feel that the time has come to hand over the torch to the younger generation," Chidambaram stressed.

"There are enough young men and women in the country who can take part in the government and provide good governance," he said.

The minister noted that Rahul Gandhi has been addressing various public rallies. "But if I was advising him (Rahul), I would have advised him to spell out his views on various major issues (in the rallies)," he said.

When questioned why Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have not been commenting on major issues, the finance minister said, "PM does address audience and addresses press conferences, although it is not as much as I expect him to do."

"You can agree or disagree with what he speaks but certainly he speaks," Chidambaram said.

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Agencies
February 11,2020

New Delhi, Feb 11: Senior Delhi Congress leader and national spokesperson of the party Sharmishtha Mukherjee alleged delay in decision making and lack of strategy and unity at the state level for the party's humiliating performance reflected in the Assembly poll results on Tuesday.

Mukherjee, president of Delhi Mahila Congress, stated that it was high time that the party takes some action. She added that she too was responsible for the Congress' poor show.

The Congress is on the verge of drawing blank again in the Assembly polls as all its candidates were way far behind their AAP and BJP opponents on all the 70 seats. In the 2015 Assembly elections too, Congress failed to win any seat.

"We r again decimated in Delhi. Enuf of introspection, time 4 action now. Inordinate delay in decision making at the top, lack of strategy & unity at state level, demotivated workers, no grassroots connect-all r factors. Being part of d system, I too take my share of responsibility (sic)," Mukherjee tweeted as the results came out.

She also accused the BJP of playing divisive politics while crediting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for playing "smart politics" as the results showed a clean sweep by the AAP to return to power.

"BJP playing divisive politics, Kejriwal playing ‘smart politics’ & what r we doing? Can we honestly say that we’ve done all 2 put our house in order? We r busy capturing Congress whereas other parties are capturing India. If we r 2 survive, time 2 come out of exalted echo chambers! (sic)," she said in another tweet.

The Congress contested the Delhi polls in alliance with the Rashtriya Janta Dal (RJD), fielding candidates on 66 seats and leaving four to its partner.

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News Network
May 22,2020

New Delhi, May 22: Air India on Friday started booking for domestic flights amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

"We have started bookings for domestic flights," said Air India in a statement.

The airlines will operate a total of 8,428 flights each week for the next three months from May 25 to August 25 as the Central government has announced the resumption of domestic flights.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said that a minimum and maximum fare for three months has been set for the domestic flight services, which resume from May 25.

In the case of Delhi, Mumbai the minimum fare would be Rs 3,500 for a journey between 90-120 minutes. The maximum fare would be Rs 10,000.

"This is operative for three months -- till one minute to midnight on August 24," said Puri at a press conference here.

Puri said that guidelines have been issued for the passengers and airports, which are to be followed during flight operations.

He also said that self-declaration or Aarogya Setu App status on a compatible device would be obtained to ensure that a person does not have COVID-19 symptoms.

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News Network
April 11,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 11: The effective handling of Covid-19 pandemic by the Kerala Government has received a big endorsement in the International media with the latest being a report in Washington Post which suggests that the State’s success could prove instructive to the entire country.

The Washington Post quoted Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher as saying “We hoped for the best but planned for the worst. Now, the curve has flattened, but we cannot predict what will happen next week.”

"The Minister said six states had reached out to Kerala for advice. She, however, noted that it might not be easy to replicate Kerala’s lessons elsewhere," according to the Minister's office quoting the report here on Saturday.

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