Rahul Gandhi’s rise in ranks will come 'automatically': Kharge

Agencies
September 9, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 9: Amid efforts to unite non-BJP forces in the run-up to the 2019 parliamentary election, Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said Sunday that party president Rahul Gandhi would find "automatic" acceptance in the opposition ranks sooner than later.

In an exclusive interview to PTI, the Congress veteran said the people of India were looking up to Gandhi to dislodge the BJP and his acceptance among the opposition leaders would ultimately materialise, today or tomorrow.

To drive his point home, Kharge, a former union minister, asked which opposition leader, save Gandhi, had pan-India acceptance -- from Puducherry to Jammu and Kashmir?

"When Rahul Gandhi is working, everyone is praising his work. Acceptability is there. Because of this, there will be automatic acceptance (of Rahul Gandhi's leadership) today or tomorrow," Kharge said, when asked if the Gandhi family scion will find acceptability among the larger opposition camp.

Asked who will lead the opposition in the 2019 parliamentary election, he said it would be decided after the election but the primary purpose now was to unite everyone to oust the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from power.

Referring to Gandhi's assertion that the 2019 Lok Sabha election would be an ideological fight to dislodge the BJP first, Kharge said, "We want to take the lead in dislodging the BJP. Our leader Rahul Gandhi is naturally leading this fight. We want everyone's support in this. We want everyone's cooperation. Everyone is coming together. Everything will get sorted before the election."

The veteran Congressman also said people's support for Gandhi would translate into his larger political support among opposition ranks as well.

"In this fight we want to dislodge the BJP from power for which we are all uniting. The truth also is that the people of India are looking at Rahul Gandhi, so this (his acceptability) will ultimately materialise," Kharge said to another specific question on whether senior opposition leaders such as Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati and Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar will accept a relatively young Gandhi the way they accepted former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi, 48, took over the mantle of the Congress party from his mother Sonia Gandhi in December last year.

"Our leader has acceptability and wherever he goes today people assemble and listen to him. Which other leader has such acceptability from Puducherry to Jammu and Kashmir? You tell me. Which leader has such acceptability from West Bengal to Gujarat? Tell me one name," Kharge asked.

He said he did not want to "blame them (the opposition)".

"We don't want to blame them. We want to fight together first to dislodge the BJP from power as it is implementing wrong policies, destroying the Constitution, damaging institutions, autonomous institutions. We want to take the lead in dislodging the BJP. Our leader Rahul Gandhi is naturally leading this fight," he said.

He said Gandhi was seeking everyone's support for the task.

The Congress leader noted that all opposition parties were working together and are united in the fight against the BJP.

"They have all understood and have united. The Congress also has alliances in place with some parties such as RJD, NCP, Left parties, and more parties will come together once the election nears," he said.

He also said despite emerging as the single-largest party, the Congress gave away the post of chief minister in Karnataka in "national interest".

The comments come only two days after Trinamool Congress leader Chandan Mitra said the prime ministerial candidate after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will "surely be a regional leader because regional leaders are established in their domains" and that the "game has changed now".

Mitra was speaking at a panel discussion at the launch of a book by Congress leader Kapil Sibal.

Kharge also lashed out at the BJP and Prime Minister Modi, saying he is an "autocrat" and wants to bring in his own ideology and constitution, replacing the country's secular, democratic fabric.

He said Modi is "finishing democracy" in the country as he leaves no scope for consultation or consensus and does not listen to others' views, which Rahul Gandhi does and is thus emerging forward.

Kharge said under Modi rule, democracy and its values have no place and instead of uniting the society and the country, he is out to divide it on religious and class factors.

"We want all parties to join hands, people are also getting together and Rahul Gandhi is going to all states, as he speaks the truth, unlike Modiji, who gave false promises and never spoke the truth to people," he said.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 6,2020

Mumbai, Mar 6: Harried Yes Bank depositors rushed to ATMs to withdraw cash but faced multitude of problems including closed down machines and long queues, after the RBI placed the bank under a moratorium, capping maximum withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per account for a month.

Aggravating the problems of depositors were difficulties accessing the internet banking channel, which ensured that they can't transfer the funds online as well. At an ATM in south Mumbai's Horniman Circle, with the RBI headquarters overlooking it, the shutters were pulled down.

The guard on duty said the machine was non-operational before he reported to work late in the evening and he was ordered to shut it after 2200 hrs. In the residential area of suburban Chembur, one ATM was dispensing cash but had a long queue of anxious depositors.

One man said it was still possible to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in multiple transactions from the machine.

However, another machine nearby had run dry within minutes of the RBI announcement, a woman said.

The regulatory actions, undertaken by the RBI and the government, came hours after finance ministry sources confirmed that SBI was directed to bail out the troubled lender.

For the next month, Yes Bank will be led by the RBI-appointed administrator Prashant Kumar, an ex-chief financial officer of SBI.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
January 13,2020

New Delhi, Jan 13: The Delhi High Court on Monday sought response of the city police, Delhi government, WhatsApp Inc, Google Inc and Apple Inc on a plea of three JNU professors to preserve data, CCTV footage and other evidence relating to the January 5 violence on the varsity campus.

The Delhi Police informed the court that it has asked the JNU administration to preserve and hand over CCTV footage of the violence.

Justice Brijesh Sethi listed the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.

The court was told by Delhi government Standing Counsel (criminal) Rahul Mehra that the police has not yet received any response from the university administration.

The counsel said police has also written to WhatsApp to preserve data of two groups "Unity Against Left" and "Friends of RSS" including messages, pictures and videos and phone numbers of members, related to JNU violence incident.

The petition was filed by JNU professors Ameet Parameswaran, Atul Sood and Shukla Vinayak Sawant seeking necessary directions to the Delhi Police Commissioner and Delhi government.

The petition also sought direction to the Delhi Police to retrieve all CCTV footage of JNU campus.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 16,2020

New Delhi, Jul 16: India's pharmaceutical industry will be able to produce Covid-19 vaccines not just for the country but also for the entire world, according to Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

A lot of "very important things have been done" in India and its pharma industry is doing work "to help make the coronavirus vaccine building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases", said the Co-Chair and Trustee of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Speaking in a documentary -- Covid-19: India's War Against The Virus -- to be premiered on Discovery Plus this (Thursday) evening, Gates said India also faces a huge challenge due to the health crisis because of its gigantic size and urban centres with a lot of population density.

Commenting on the strength of India's pharma industry, he said, "India has a lot of capacity there -- with the drug and vaccine companies that are huge suppliers to the entire world. You know, more vaccines are made in India than anywhere-- starting with Serum Institute, that's the largest."

He further said, "But (there are) also Bio E, Bharat (Biotech), many others. They are doing work to help make the coronavirus vaccine, building on other great capacities that they have used for other diseases."

Stating that India joined Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which is a group working on a global basis to build vaccines platforms, Gates said, "I am excited that the pharmaceutical industry there will be able to produce not just for India but also for the entire world. (This is) What we need to reduce the deaths and make sure we are immune, which is how we end the epidemic."

Gates said Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is also a "partner with the government, particularly with the department of biotechnology, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the office of the principal scientific advisor provide advice and help about getting these tools going".

Commenting on the deadly virus breaching India's borders in the documentary which was shot extensively during the period of lockdown, he said, "India is still at the beginning of this, but there's a lot of very important things have been done.

“It's a huge challenge with India because you've got a gigantic country. You've got your urban centers with a lot of density-- and so that-- drives the spread. You have people moving around."

He, however, added: "Yet people are stepping up... Looking at how we reduce the spread while trying not to reduce food availability, equipment that people need."

Highlighting Gates foundation's role, he said it has "worked for the Indian government on health issues like introducing new vaccines over the last decade; and so when Covid-19 came along, we stepped in and said you know where are the gaps, we have been funding work on detection and isolation.

“We have been particularly active in UP and Bihar where we have done health delivery in the past."

The foundation is also working with the department of personnel and training to take their online training platforms and "are now using that guidance to help their frontline health workers", Gates said. 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.