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‘Non-Gandhi chief will cause Congress to split within 24 hours’: Natwar Singh

Agencies
July 22, 2019

New Delhi, Jul 22: With the Congress leadership in limbo after the resignation of Rahul Gandhi, party veteran Natwar Singh on Sunday joined the chorus backing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the top post, adding that having a non-Gandhi at the helm will cause the party to split.

Praising Priyanka for her visit to Sonbhadra to meet victims of a firing incident, the former external affairs minister told ANI that she is capable of handling the party. “You must have witnessed what she did in a village in Uttar Pradesh. It was amazing. She stayed there and achieved what she wanted to,” he said.

Singh suggested that Rahul’s decision of a having someone from outside the Gandhi family as the party chief will have to be reversed.

On being asked if Priyanka would be elected as the party president, the Congressman said, “It will depend on Priyanka because her brother (Rahul Gandhi) had said that nobody from the Gandhi family will become the Congress president. Now, the family will have to reverse the decision and only they can do it.”

Earlier, Anil Shastri, son of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, had said that Priyanka Gandhi should be made the Congress president as no one other than her is “100 per cent acceptable”.

Shastri, speaking to ANI, had also warned that if somebody else is made the supremo and a section of the outfit does not accept them, chances are that the party will disintegrate.

Natwar Singh echoed similar sentiments and said that if anyone is elected from outside the Gandhi family, the Congress will split within 24 hours.

“It is unfortunate that the country’s 134-years-old party does not have a party president. I do not think apart from the Gandhi family, anyone should be elected as the president,” Singh added.

Around 50 days after Rahul stepped down as Congress president, taking moral responsibility for the humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, the grand old party is yet to finalize its new chief.

Gandhi, now a lawmaker from Wayanad in Kerala, became the Congress president in 2017. He had, earlier this month, written a lengthy four-page letter making his resignation from the post public. Taking responsibility for the drubbing in Lok Sabha polls, Rahul had said it would not be right for him to suggest a successor.

At present Congress in Goa has completely lost foot, after 10 of its MLAs switched side with the BJP. This has reduced its strength to five in the Assembly.

Similarly, in Karnataka, the situation is equally embarrassing for the party, as its coalition government with JD(S) is facing a tough time. The government had slumped into a crisis following the resignation of 16 dissident MLAs and now its survival seems to be tough.

The Congress won 52 seats in the recent general elections, which is just eight more than its 2014 Lok Sabha tally of 44.

Comments

Mr Frank
 - 
Monday, 22 Jul 2019

Congress is already below split position just fight to bring back Ballot paper on election process is only way left.

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News Network
January 21,2020

Amaravati, Jan 21: Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and at least 17 MLAs of his party were taken in police custody late on Monday as they tried to conduct a foot march from the state assembly to nearby Mandadam village in violation of prohibitory orders.

TDP leaders started off on the march after staging a sit-in near the assembly main entrance following the suspension of 17 MLAs from the House for the day.

They were protesting the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, that was passed by the assembly, enabling the establishment of three capitals for the state.

The TDP leaders were taken to the Mangalagiri police station.

Meanwhile, tensions prevailed at the Jana Sena Party headquarters at Mangalagiri as police prevented its president Pawan Kalyan from proceeding to the Amaravati region to speak to protesters fighting for the retention of only one capital for the state.

DIG Kanti Rana Tata and other senior police officials reached the Sena office and blocked the exit of Kalyan and political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar, resulting in an argument.

Kalyan asked how could police impose restrictions within his own office.

Scores of Sena workers gathered outside the office even as a large posse of police was posted to thwart Kalyan and other leaders' plans.

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News Network
March 24,2020

New Delhi, Mar 24: The total number of active COVID-19 cases reported so far in the country stands at 446 while the number of people who have been cured or discharged stands at 36, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Nine people have died from the disease while one case has migrated, the Ministry further informed.
The Central government has taken several steps to contain the rapid spread of the virus, including stoppage of all incoming passenger traffic on 107 immigration check posts at all airports, seaports, land ports, rail ports, and river ports.
There is a complete lockdown in as many as 548 districts of the country affecting several hundred million people.
The Indian Railways has also cancelled all passenger train operations till March 31.

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News Network
April 1,2020

Amaravati, Apr 1: All the 43 patients who were tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday have returned after attending the event at Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, said Chief Minister's Office, Andhra Pradesh.

With 43 new COVID-19 positive cases, the total number of coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh has reached 87, informed the state Nodal Office earlier today.

The 43 new coronavirus positive cases were reported between March 31, 9 pm and April 1, 9 am. A total of 373 samples were tested during this time period and of these samples, 330 were negative and 43 came out to be positive.

There has been an increase of 240 COVID-19 cases in the last 12 hours across the country.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases have reached 1637 in India, including 1466 active cases, 133 cured/discharged/migrated people and 38 deaths.

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