Will Modi have courage to fight from Kerala, asks Shashi Tharoor

Agencies
April 7, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 7: Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad shows he has the confidence to win from both north and south India, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said Sunday and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have the courage to fight from a seat in Kerala or Tamil Nadu.

With Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Kerala's Wayanad constituency, there is “palpable excitement” across the southern states that the next prime minister could be elected from the the region, Tharoor told PTI in an interview.

Tharoor also slammed Modi and the BJP for suggesting that Gandhi chose Wayanad to "run away" from majority dominated areas, saying the ruling party has repeatedly resorted to peddling bigotry. It was dismaying that this was coming from the prime minister, he added.

"By reinforcing his role as a torchbearer for the BJP's bigotry, Mr Modi has disregarded the principled position that a prime minister of India must be a prime minister for all Indians," he told PTI from Thiruvananthapuram.

Addressing a rally in Wardha in Maharashtra, the prime minister had said the opposition party was "scared" to field its leaders from constituencies where the majority dominates.

Tharoor claimed Gandhi's decision to contest from Wayanad comes at a time of "unprecedented strain" on the spirit of cooperative federalism that has held the country together since its Independence in 1947.

Under the BJP-led Centre, he alleged, relations between the southern states and the federal government have "steadily deteriorated" over a number of issues such as threats to the economic security of the south as well as the future of its political representation.

In that context, Gandhi has made a “bold statement” of intent to suggest he can be the bridge that repairs the growing north-south divide within the country, Tharoor said, adding that it also signals that the Congress chief has the confidence to win elections in both the north and the south.

"Can Narendra Modi make such a claim? Would he have the courage to fight for a seat in Kerala or Tamil Nadu?" the former diplomat turned politician asked.

His remarks come after Gandhi, who is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from his traditional bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday also entered the poll fray in Wayanad by filing his nomination papers from the constituency in Kerala.

Tharoor, who himself is seeking a third straight Lok Sabha term from Thiruvanathapuram, cited the "incredibly warm and rousing reception" Gandhi received in Wayanad and said it was reflective of the genuine spirit of celebration that has seized the south.

Asked if the message of support for the people of south India that Gandhi wanted to convey by contesting from Wayanad was well received, Tharoor said, "I think it certainly has and today as a result of his decision there is a palpable excitement across the southern states that the next prime minister of the country could be elected from the south."

Quoting Gandhi's statement that "south India feels hostility from Narendra Modi" and he wanted to send a message of support to the people there, Tharoor said a sense of confidence and reassurance is spreading across the region, including in Kerala and neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Asked if the move could create a 'Rahul wave' in the south, Tharoor said, "In Kerala, it has had an invigorating effect among our workers particularly those working on the ground and we are already seeing a ripple effect of this 'wave' spreading across neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.”

"… arguably, the implications of his decision have not just been prompted by a strategic choice to energise the Congress workers, but by a larger sense of duty and commitment," the former Union minister added.

Discussing the BJP's criticism of the move and the PM remarks at the Wardha rally, Tharoor said for the country to have a prime minister with such "well documented and blatant disregard for minorities" is one of the "greatest tragedies" of the five years of the present ruling dispensation.

It is also a “severe blemish" on the record of the illustrious men and women who have held the post before him,” he said.

"But for all this bigotry, the BJP has still not managed to open their account in Kerala and their chauvinistic ideals have been repeatedly rejected by the people of the state," the 63-year-old leader said.

According to him, Kerala's educated and inclusive electorate is once again going to offer "the same boot" to the BJP's hopes in the state.

Tharoor asserted the Congress chief will be one of the rare leaders in the country who enjoys a clear and demonstrated popularity in both the south and the north if he wins from both Amethi and Wayanad.

“And, most important, the south will be galvanised by the fact that its concerns are unlikely to be ignored by such a leader, one who will walk into Parliament on the back of their support," he said.

Asked if Gandhi's fighting from south also boost his credentials as a prospective prime minister, Tharoor answered in the affirmative.

Gandhi's decision to contest from the south is part of a larger outreach to the southern states and to demonstrate his electability among the voters of the south, he said. At the same time, the Congress president is also reiterating the party's historic commitment towards an inclusive India, the author-politician said.

Comments

Shiju
 - 
Monday, 8 Apr 2019

If bjp has guts let them ask Modi to contest agaisnt Rahul in Wynad, KIerala.   Modi is not willing to contest from his own state also.  

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
May 7,2020

New Delhi, May 7: Food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy on Thursday said its co-founder and CTO Rahul Jaimini will move away from active role in the company during the month to pursue another entrepreneurial venture.

Jaimini will be joining Pesto Tech, a career accelerator start-up, as their co-founder, Swiggy said in a statement.

He will continue to be a shareholder and board member of Swiggy, it added.

Functions currently led by Rahul, including platform engineering, analytics, IT and labs, will be realigned to Dale Vaz, Head of Engineering and Data Science, who has been with the company for close to two years, the statement said.

"Technology was crucial to what we set out to build when we started Swiggy. Nandan (Reddy) and I could not have asked for a better partner to handle this aspect of the company," Swiggy co-founder and CEO Sriharsha Majety said.

It was Rahul's immense passion to 'build for the billions' that drove technological innovations that set Swiggy apart as we grew phenomenally over the years, he added.

"Working with technology that has large scale impact is what excites me, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do just this at Swiggy and grow tremendously over the years," Jaimini 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 3,2020

New Delhi, Mar 3: A day after two new cases of novel coronavirus that included one from Delhi were reported, the Health Ministry on Tuesday said six cases with "high-viral load" were detected during sample testing in Agra and these people have been kept in isolation. The six people had come in contact with a 45-year-old patient from Delhi, whose case came to light on Monday, and they include his family members.

According to government sources, the man, who is a resident of Mayur Vihar, had visited them in Agra.

The six have been kept in isolation at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and their samples are being sent to NIV, Pune for confirmation.

Contact tracing of the people who came in contact with the six is simultaneously being done through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) network, the ministry said in a statement.

Sources said the patient from Mayur Vihar was shifted to a quarantine ward at Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday night.

His other family members have been asked to stay alert and look out for symptoms. One accountant, who came in contact with the man and some of his family members, was also quarantined, they said.

India on Monday reported two new cases of the novel coronavirus, one from Delhi and another one from Hyderabad. The government has stepped up its efforts to detect and check the infection which has killed 2,912 people in China.

On Monday, Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma had said that an Italian tourist tested positive for coronavirus in Jaipur.

The first sample collected from him on February 29 tested negative but his condition deteriorated, so a second sample was collected which tested positive on Monday, the minister said, adding, "Since there is a variation in the reports, the samples have been sent to the NIV, Pune for testing".

India had earlier reported three cases from Kerala, including two medical students from Wuhan in China, the epicentre of the deadly novel coronavirus. They had self-reported on their return to the country and tested positive for the infection. They were discharged from hospitals last month following recovery.

The infected person from Delhi had travelled to Italy, while the other patient who tested positive for the COVID-19 infection is from Telangana and had recently travelled to Dubai.

Both the patients had self-reported after they developed symptoms.

"They tested positive. They are stable and being closely monitored," ministry said on Monday.

The government has asked people to avoid non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore and said India was in discussions with authorities in Iran and Italy, two countries badly affected by the infection, to evacuate Indians there.

The novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which originated in China, has spread to over 60 countries.

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
February 9,2020

Panaji, Feb 9: Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, in a statement on Saturday said, "The Archbishop and the Catholic community of Goa would like to appeal to the government to listen to the voice of millions in India, to stop quashing the right to dissent and, above all, to immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the NPR."

The CAA, NRC and NPR are "divisive and discriminatory" and will certainly have a "negative and damaging effect" on a multi-cultural democracy like ours, the church said.

There is serious concern that NRC and NPR will result in "direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly Dalits, adivasis, migrant labourers, nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people who, after having been recognised as worthy citizens and voters for more than 70 years, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps," it said.

There has been widespread discontent and open protests throughout the country and even abroad against the CAA, NRC and NPR, which are "forecasting a systematic erosion of values, principles and rights" that have been guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution, the release said.

Eminent citizens, including top intellectuals and legal luminaries, have taken a studied and unequivocal stand against the CAA, NRC and NPR, it noted.

Goa also witnessed several protests, which transcended the confines of religious and caste affiliation and brought people from all walks of life together on one united platform, said the statement.

It said Christians in India have always been a peace-loving community and deeply committed to the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, enshrined in the Constitution.

"We have always taken great pride that our beloved country is a secular, sovereign, socialist, pluralistic and democratic republic," the church said.

The very fact that CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country, it said. "It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to

all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family," the church said.

"We pray for our beloved country, that good sense, justice and peace prevail in the hearts and minds of all," it added.

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.