Rahul Gandhi was, is and will remain Congress president: Surjewala

Agencies
June 13, 2019

New Delhi, Jun 13: Rahul Gandhi had offered to quit as the party chief during a May 25 CWC meeting Rahul Gandhi was, is and will remain the Congress president, chief spokesperson of the party Randeep Surjewala said on Wednesday, ending the speculation triggered by Gandhi’s insistence to quit the post for the time being.

Surjewala’s assertion came after an informal meeting presided by former Union minister A K Antony, in which senior Congress leaders discussed the party’s strategy and preparations for the Assembly elections in Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand and Maharashtra later this year.

Gandhi had offered to quit as the party chief during a May 25 meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which was called to analyse the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls, in which it managed to win just 52 seats. The CWC had unanimously rejected his offer to quit but Gandhi was apparently firm on his stand. “Rahulji was, is and will remain the Congress president. We have no doubt about it,” Surjewala told reporters, when asked about the situation arising out of Gandhi’s offer to resign.

Senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad, P Chidambaram, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Anand Sharma and Surjewala were present at the meeting held at Congress’s war room at 15 GRG here. All the leaders present at the meeting were members of the party’s core group, which was formed for the Lok Sabha polls.

However, Surjewala clarified that contrary to the speculation in the media, there was no core group in the party now as all election-related committees had ceased to exist. Surjewala said Venugopal, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary, organisation, had said a meeting of the party’s general secretaries would be called to take stock of the situation arising out of the Lok Sabha polls and on the upcoming state elections.

Asked about who would be the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, he said according to the party constitution, Congress Parliamentary Party leader Sonia Gandhi was authorised to take a decision in this regard, adding that it would be conveyed once the decision was taken by her.

Following Gandhi’s insistence on quitting, there is a speculation on the need to put in place an interim arrangement in the Congress for decision making, especially in the run-up to the Assembly elections. However, most leaders have been hoping that Gandhi will continue to lead the party as the Nehru-Gandhi family acts as a “glue” that binds the Congress together.

Meanwhile, rumblings within the state units of the party have also been growing louder over its massive defeat in the Lok Sabha election.

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News Network
April 9,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 9: The Kerala government has set up five COVID-19 helpdesks for non-resident Keralites in countries which have a substantial number of Pravasi Malayalis.

Addressing a press conference here Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said: "In order to address the concerns and issues faced by the non-resident Keralites, we have set up five dedicated COVID helpdesks in countries where we have a substantial number of Pravasi Malayalis."

The helpdesks started by Norka Roots will be managed locally by persons and voluntary organisations active among non-resident Keralites. The Kerala government has requested the Indian Ambassadors in various places to cooperate with these helpdesks.

The Chief Minister also informed that online medical services would be made available to the non-resident Keralites through the Norka Roots website.

"Pravasi Malayalis can consult prominent doctors in Kerala by audio or video calls through the website, with prior registration. The services of various speciality doctors will be available from 2 pm to 6 pm IST," he said.

Currently, registration for the Norka Pravasi ID card is only available for the Malayali expatriates residing or working abroad for a period of not less than six months. "Now students from Kerala studying abroad can also avail this facility. The overseas student registration service would enable them to get Insurance benefits and discounts on flight tickets. This registration will be mandatory for all students presently studying abroad as well as for those going abroad, from now on," Vijayan said.

The Pravasi ID card is a multi-purpose photo identity card that entitles every non-resident Keralite to avail all services and facilities offered by Norka Root. The card comes with an add-on Personal Accident Insurance (PAI) coverage. Two prominent airlines are offering a discount on the base fare for air tickets booked by Norka Id card holders. 

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News Network
April 12,2020

New Delhi, Apr 12: With 34 deaths and 909 new positive COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the total number of coronavirus cases in India on Sunday climbed to 8356, including 716 cured and discharged and 273 deaths, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

At present, there are 7367 active COVID-19 cases in the country.

"A total number of COVID-19 positive cases rises to 8356 in India, including 716 cured/discharged, 273 deaths and 1 migrated," said the Health Department.

The highest number of positive cases of coronavirus was reported from Maharashtra at 1761, including 127 deaths, followed by Delhi (1069 and 19 deaths), Tamil Nadu (969 and 10 deaths) and Rajasthan (700 and 3 deaths).

There are 452 coronavirus positive cases in Uttar Pradesh, including 45 cured and discharged and 5 deaths.

The states which have crossed 200-mark for COVID-19 positive cases also include Madhya Pradesh (532), Telangana (504), Gujarat (432), Andhra Pradesh (381) and Kerala (364).

While 19 people were detected positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh, 207 cases were confirmed from Jammu and Kashmir and 15 from Ladakh.

In North-East, Assam has confirmed the highest number of corona positive cases at 29, followed by Manipur and Tripur at two each and Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh at one each.

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Agencies
February 5,2020

New Delhi, Feb 5: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday expressed his suspicion over the government using force to clear the Shaheen Bagh stretch where an agitation has been ongoing for over 50 days against Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

While speaking to ANI over the phone, Owaisi was asked that there are indications from the government that after February 8, Shaheen Bagh will be cleared.

In reply, he said, "Might be they will shoot them, they might turn Shaheen Bagh into Jallianwala Bagh. This might happen. BJP minister gave a statement to 'shoot a bullet'. The government must give an answer as (to) who is radicalising."

Further speaking about NPR and NRC, Owaisi said, "Government must give a clear cut answer that till 2024 NRC will not be implemented. Why are they spending Rs 3900 crore for NPR? I feel this way because I was a History student. Hitler during his reign conducted census twice and after that, he pushed the jews in a gas chamber. I don't want our country (to) go in that way."

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