Rahul may take over as Congress chief after Diwali: Sachin Pilot

Agencies
October 1, 2017

New Delhi, Oct 1: Rahul Gandhi may take over as the Congress president shortly after Diwali, Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Sunday, stressing that the time had come for the party vice-president to lead from the front.

The Gandhi confidant also said the last names of leaders should not be treated as a disqualification in politics. It was the performance of a leader that ultimately decided his worth, as a surname could only take him “so far,” he said.

Mr. Pilot added that Mr. Gandhi’s elevation had been in the pipeline for long.

“Organisational elections of the Congress are underway and the new president could take over shortly after Diwali. It is something that has been in the pipeline for a long time,” Mr. Pilot said in an interview.

The Congress leader said the general sentiment in the party was that the time had come for Mr. Gandhi to take charge and lead from the front, while favouring a “balanced approach” of a mix of the young and the old in the party.

“To my mind, there is a general sentiment in the party that he should take over as the party president,” Mr. Pilot said.

He pointed out that Mr. Gandhi had been handling “a lot of work” as the vice-president, but the party believed “this [Mr. Gandhi’s elevation] should happen in due course and the time has come for it to happen.”

Asked if Mr. Gandhi’s sister Priyanka Vadra should also enter active politics, the former Minister said, “Though she belongs to the Congress party, whether she should join active politics or not is her personal decision.”

On the issue of dynastic politics and accusations that the Congress promoted dynasties, Mr. Pilot said belonging to a political family might help someone initially, but it could not guarantee progress unless backed by performance.

“Belonging to a family that has been in politics should not be treated as a disqualification,” he said.

Ultimately, he said, success depended on performance.

“If you perform and win the hearts of people through work, delivery and performance, then it will decide. The mere last name will only take you so far,” said Mr. Pilot, the son of late Union Minister and Congress heavyweight Rajesh Pilot.

He brushed aside BJP’s criticism that the Congress was promoting dynasties, pointing out that several people in that party too were from political families.

“The BJP should introspect. Many of their leaders are also from political families,” he said.

Mr. Pilot added he neither promoted nor denounced dynastic politics, but sought to stress that individual calibre would decide one’s success.

”It [family] should not be the only reason to bring someone into public life. No one can be thrust upon the public and there is no short cut to hard work,” he said.

Asked if the time had come for a generational change in the Congress and for the old to make way for the young, the Rajasthan Congress chief said, “It is not a question of making way; it is a question of working together.”

The “cut-off date” system did not work in politics, he added.

Unlike the BJP, which he claimed “humiliates” its elders, the Congress uses their wisdom and moves together, he said.

“The BJP’s margdarshak mandal has become the biggest travesty of time. We don’t humiliate elders like [they do] in the BJP. I believe we should have a good mix between the old and the new while one must keep changing,” he said.

In the Congress, he held, the new generation comes in, with the old lending their support to it.

He favoured a “balanced approach” and claimed the Congress had maintained this as part of its history and tradition.

Mr. Pilot also hit out at the BJP, saying that a particular ideology should not be thrust upon others and there should not be any hatred in politics.

“One should have competitors and not enemies in politics and we must respect that basic tenet of democracy,” he said.

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Agencies
April 14,2020

Mumbai, Apr 14: Activist and scholar Anand Teltumbde was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday after he surrendered before it in connection with the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

Teltumbde surrendered at the NIA office at Cumbala Hill in south Mumbai following the Supreme Court's directives.

He was subsequently arrested by the NIA and shall be produced before a court here shortly, an official said.

Earlier, the scholar reached the NIA office in the afternoon along with his wife Rama Teltumbde and brother-in- law and Dalit leader Prakash Ambedkar.

Anand Teltumbde is the grandson-in-law of Dalit icon Dr B R Ambedkar, whose 129th birth anniversary is being observed on Tuesday.

Civil rights activist Gautam Navlakha, a co-accused in the case, also surrendered before the NIA in Delhi. His anticipatory bail plea was also rejected by the apex court.

According to the official, Navlakha will be produced before the court in Mumbai through video conference.

The Supreme Court on March 17 this year rejected the pre-arrest bail pleas of Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, and directed them to surrender before the investigating agency.

Teltumbde, Navlakha and nine other civil liberties activists have been booked under the stringent provisions of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for having alleged Maoist links and conspiring the overthrow the government.

The apex court while rejecting Teltumbde and Navlakha's bail pleas on March 17, directed them to surrender before the prosecuting agency withing a period of three weeks.

The duo later sought extension of the time.

On April 9, the Supreme Court extended the time by one week by way of last chance.

The activists were booked initially by Pune Police following violence that erupted at Koregaon-Bhima there.

According to police, the activists made inflammatory speeches and provocative statements at the Elgar Parishad meet held in Pune on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence the next day.

The police also said these activists were active members of banned Maoist groups.

The case was later transferred to NIA. Teltumbde and Navlakha were given interim protection by the Bombay High Court while their pre-arrest bail pleas were being heard.

After the high court rejected their applications, the duo approached the Supreme Court.

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News Network
March 9,2020

New Delhi, Mar 9: A war of words broke out between the BJP and the Congress on Sunday over the Yes Bank crisis with the ruling party seeking to link it with the Gandhi family, while the opposition wondered if the prime minister and finance minister were "complicit" as the bank's loan book grew manifold.

Posting on Twitter a clip of a news channel report that Rana Kapoor, the arrested Yes Bank founder, had bought a painting from Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, BJP's information and technology wing in-charge Amit Malviya alleged that every financial crime in India has "deep links" with the Gandhis.

The Congress dismissed the charge "fake" and called it a "diversionary" tactic.

It said Priyanka Gandhi had sold an M F Hussain painting of her father Rajiv Gandhi to Kapoor for Rs 2 crore, and the entire amount was disclosed in her income tax return of 2010.

Malviya tweeted, "Every financial crime in India has deep link with the Gandhis. Mallya used to send flight upgrade tickets to Sonia Gandhi. Had access to MMS (Manmohan Singh) and PC (P Chidambaram). Is absconding. Rahul inaugurated Nirav Modi’s bridal jewellery collection, he defaulted. Rana bought Priyanka Vadra’s paintings."

Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala asked how does an M F Hussain painting of Rajiv Gandhi sold 10 years ago by Priyanka Gandhi to Yes Bank owner Rana Kapoor and disclosed in her tax returns connect with unprecedented giving of loans of Rs 2,00,000 crore in five years of the Modi government.

"More so, when (Kapoor's) proximity to BJP leaders is well known," he said.

Rubbishing the BJP's allegation, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi at a press conference said it was a "diversionary" tactic by the government.

He noted that the bank's loan book rose from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014, the year Narendra Modi became prime minister, to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019.

"Why did the loan book rise by 100 per cent in two years after demonetisation i.e from Rs 98,210 cr in March 2016 to Rs 2,03,534 ar in March 2018? Were PM and FM sleeping, ignorant or complicit?" he asked.

The entire amount Priyanka Gandhi had received was in cheque and was fully disclosed in the income tax return, Singhvi said.

Surjewala, taking to Twitter, said instead of diverting from the real issue of people's money sinking into a bad bank, should not the government answer questions like how did loans given by Yes Bank rise from Rs 55,633 crore in March 2014 to Rs 2,41,499 crore in March 2019, an increase of almost Rs 2,00,000 crore in fiver years of the Modi government.

Why did the loans given by Yes Bank rise by a whopping 100 per cent in just two years after demonetisation, he asked.

Surjewala also questioned why did the prime minister address a conference sponsored by Yes Bank on March 6 despite the RBI moratorium.

"Why did the Haryana BJP government deposit over Rs 1,000 crore in Yes Bank a month ago, knowing that it was sinking? Is this figure Rs 3,000 cr? Did Fadnavis government in Maharashtra make similar deposits?" Surjewala asked.

"Of course, the government's media proxies won't dare to ask these questions. But the nation wants to know!" he said in a series of tweets.

Kapoor, 62, was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in Mumbai after charges of alleged financial irregularities and mismanagement in the bank's operations surfaced and the RBI and Union government initiated action to control its affairs.

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News Network
January 15,2020

New Delhi, Jan 15: The Delhi government Wednesday told the high court that execution of the death row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case will not take place on January 22 as a mercy plea has been filed by one of them.

The four convicts -- Vinay Sharma (26), Mukesh Kumar (32), Akshay Kumar Singh (31) and Pawan Gupta (25) -- are to be hanged on January 22 at 7 am in Tihar jail. A Delhi court had issued their death warrants on January 7.

Justices Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal were told by the Delhi government and the Centre that the petition filed by convict Mukesh, challenging his death warrant, was premature.

The Delhi government and the prison authorities informed the court that under the rules, it will have to wait for the mercy plea to be decided before executing the death warrant.

They also said that none of the four convicts can be executed on January 22 unless the present mercy plea is decided.

The Supreme Court had on Tuesday dismissed the curative pleas of Mukesh and Vinay.

The mercy plea hearing began Wednesday morning and will continue in the afternoon.

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