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Modi is good at marketing himself, but won't win the election'

[email protected] (RATNADIP CHOUDHURY, TEHELKA.COM)
March 30, 2014
One of the states that the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is eyeing keenly is Assam, where the Congress has been in power since 2001. The ruling party is leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the Modi factor proves to be irrelevant in the General Election. In an interview with Ratnadip Choudhury, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that Modi is good at marketing himself, but that won't prove enough for him to win the election.

Chief_Minister_Tarun_Gogoi

There seems to be a national trend against the Congress and a wave in favour of Modi, who has aggressively attacked the UPA government on all fronts. Where has the Congress gone wrong?

Yes, I agree that there is resentment, but I think the Congress' fortunes will revive. In fact, it's picking up. At the national level, the Congress started the campaign late. Had we started six months earlier, the result would have been better then what we will achieve. Regardless, I believe the trends would be proved wrong. There is no question of being soft on Modi. In fact, I am one of the seniormost Congress leaders in the country who is attacking Modi left and right, exposing him to the people. The Modi wave will not touch Assam, at least.

The BJP is looking to make inroads in Assam and the party says there is a Modi wave blowing across the country. How do you plan to insulate Assam from it?

Unlike in other parts of the country, the Modi wave will not touch Assam. The people of Assam have a different culture.

Modi talks about his Gujarat development model. In fact, my development model is much better than his. Modi could take up development work only when the UPA government was in power at the Centre. The UPA has helped every state, irrespective of the party in power.

The Modi wave is a media creation. If there is indeed a wave, why does he need to tour so much, burn so much money for promoting himself as the face of the BJP? It is all propaganda. Modi is good at marketing, but you cannot win elections with just that.

Because of our performance, my government has been better than any other in Assam. The UPA has helped me take up many development projects. I don't bother how many rallies Modi addresses in Assam. I know for sure that the people will reject his brand of self-centered politics.

There are complaints that despite being a Rajya Sabha member from Assam, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has not done enough for the state. Several important projects of national importance remain unfinished…

Who is saying that the prime minister did nothing for Assam? I have facts that will make it clear that when Manmohan Singh was in power, Assam received plenty of Central attention. He has done whatever is possible for the state. The growth rate is good. I have facts to prove that the UPA has done more for Assam and the Northeast than the NDA regime. I will publish a white paper on this so that the people know who is working for them.

The Opposition blames you for not being able to handle ethnic conflicts, flood and erosion, rhino killings, illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the loss of agricultural land. Even in its poll campaign, the Congress is non-committal on these issues…

I won't disagree that all these contentious issues remain and there have been shortcomings on our part to tackle them. But, by and large, peace has returned to Assam. Now, you can travel safely to any place. The growth rate is one of the best in the country. Without peace, can there be development? I am not saying that insurgency has been done away with. We have been able to check it to a large extent. If you talk about the Kokrajhar riots, I brought it under control within 60 hours. Lakhs of people had to flee, but within a year, we rehabilitated them. Only a few hundred remain in camps. We pressed the army into action immediately. Look at how Modi handled the Gujarat riots. Why didn't he use the army? Why did he never refer the riot cases to the CBI on his own? He has been exposed. I am not trying to escape.

So, you mean to say that whatever your government has done to tackle the illegal influx of migrants from Bangladesh has been good enough?

It's a major issue but it is not the main issue. Unemployment is a far bigger issue. The Opposition parties always raise this issue during election time because they cannot challenge my government on other issues. It is not to say that we are on a backfoot. The population growth in Assam is now lower than the national average. What does that indicate? It means the issue of illegal migrants has been taken care of. The BJP has been raising this issue for years. What did the party do when the NDA was in power? They forgot the issue.

With the growth of the BJP and Muslim-dominated AIUDF, it is all but certain that votes in Assam will get polarised on religious lines. Modi has already played the Hindutva card by saying that Hindus who fled other countries should be given asylum in India. Even you had tried the same by supporting asylum for those who fled Bangladesh due to religious persecution. Isn't your stand communal?

The media has tried to draw some parallels, which are incorrect. In spite of the attempts made by the BJP and the AIUDF, Assam is not a communally divided society. No one can divide Assam. Modi is only talking about one group — the Hindus. But what I said was different. Our stand is that irrespective of religion, if it's proved that anybody had to flee due to political or religious persecution after Partition, their case should been seen with sympathy on humanitarian grounds. That person can be of any religion — Hindu, Buddhist or even Muslim. It's true that such cases are higher among the Hindus, but I am not talking only about Hindus like Modi is doing.

Critics often say that the Congress is its own enemy. After the 2011 Assembly polls, the media had reported about a rebellion against your leadership. Why are such things happening in Assam, where the party is on a strong footing?

There is no dissidence. The election results will show that the Congress is united. In the Guwahati municipal polls, everyone predicted that we would lose, but we won. The Congress is a big family. Some grievances are bound to arise. Till date, nobody — MLA or minister — has officially demanded my removal. There are differences on the issue of allotting tickets for the polls, but we know how to handle them. After me, there will be new leaders. Who knew that Rajiv Gandhi will be such a good leader or that Sonia Gandhi would lead the party some day. The party is bigger than any individual.

Is the Congress extending dynasty politics in Assam by giving tickets to the sons and daughters of politicians, including your son Gaurav. Will the new faces deliver?

Manas Bora, the son of Social Welfare Minister Akon Bora, won the party's internal primaries; Sushmita, the daughter of former Union minister Santoshmohan Dev, is an MLA and a very educated lady. My son Gaurav was working for an NGO. He is an engineer and was educated in the West… they are all good candidates in their own capacity and ideally don't need their parents' identity to prove themselves. Even if they come from a political dynasty, they have to get elected. Gaurav will not be able to win an election only because he is my son. The identity will definitely help him, but he has to create a niche for himself. I am hopeful that all the new faces will win. Out of 14 seats in Assam, we will win no less than 10. Modi will be proved wrong in Assam.

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Agencies
March 10,2020

New Delhi, Mar 10: Crisis-hit Yes Bank on Tuesday said that it has enabled inward IMPS and NEFT services.

The move allows people to send money from other bank accounts to their Yes Bank account through IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) mode.

In a tweet, the bank also said that Yes Bank customers can pay their credit card dues and loan obligations from other bank accounts.

"Inward IMPS/NEFT services have now been enabled. You can make payments towards YES BANK Credit Card dues and loan obligations from other bank accounts. Thank you for your co-operation. @RBIA @FinMinIndia," said tweet.

Last week Yes Bank was placed under moratorium and a withdrawal cap of Rs 50,000 was imposed till April 3.

The administrator of Yes Bank, Prashant Kumar and Rajnish Kumar, the Chairman of the State Bank of India are hopeful that moratorium would be lifted within a week.

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) draft reconstruction scheme for the crisis-hit private lender, the SBI will take up 49 per cent in the bank by investing Rs 2,450 crore.

The new board of directors will stand constituted from the appointed date. It will comprise a CEO and MD, non-executive chairman and non-executive directors. The SBI will have nominee directors appointed on the board of the reconstructed bank.

The RBI may appoint additional directors to the board, who shall continue in office for one year, or until an alternate board is constituted by Yes Bank.

The SBI will not reduce its holding below 26 per cent before completion of three years from the date of infusion of the capital.

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Agencies
February 17,2020

Google on Monday announced it is gradually winding down its free public Wi-Fi Station programme currently available at over 400 railway stations in India, and will work with the Indian Railways and Railtel Corporation to help them with existing sites so they can remain useful resources for people.

Google launched its Station initiative in India in 2015 to bring fast, free public Wi-Fi to over 400 of the busiest railway stations in the country by mid-2020.

"We crossed that number by June 2018 and implemented Station in thousands of other locations around the country in partnership with telecommunications companies, ISPs and local authorities," Caesar Sengupta, Vice President, Payments and Next Billion Users, Google, said in a statement.

"Over time, partners in other countries asked for Station too and we responded accordingly. We're grateful for these partnerships, especially with the Indian Railways and the Government of India, that helped us serve millions of users over the last few years," he added.

According to Google, the decision to shut Station has been taken keeping the affordable mobile data plans and mobile connectivity in mind that is improving globally including in India.

"India, specifically now has among the cheapest mobile data per GB in the world, with mobile data prices having reduced by 95 per cent in the last 5 years, as per TRAI in 2019," said Sengupta.

The Indian users consume close to 10GB of data, each month, on average, according to reports.

"Our commitment to supporting the next billion users remains stronger than ever, from continuing our efforts to make the internet work for more people and building more relevant and helpful apps and services," Sengupta noted.

Global networking giant Cisco last year teamed up with Google to roll out free, high-speed public Wi-Fi access globally, starting with India.

The first pilot under the partnership was rolled out at 35 locations in Bengaluru.

Sengupta said that in addition to the changed context, the challenge of varying technical requirements and infrastructure among our partners across countries has also made it difficult for Station to scale and be sustainable, especially for our partners.

"And when we evaluate where we can truly make an impact in the future, we see greater need and bigger opportunities in building products and features tailored to work better for the next billion user markets," he said.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

In the wake of the gas leak at a factory in Visakhapatnam, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has issued detailed guidelines for restarting industries after the lockdown and the precautions to be taken for the safety of the plants as well as the workers.

In a communication to all states and union territories, the NDMA said due to several weeks of lockdown and the closure of industrial units, it is possible that some of the operators might not have followed the established standard operating procedures.

As a result, some of the manufacturing facilities, pipelines, valves may have residual chemicals, which may pose risk. The same is true for the storage facilities with hazardous chemicals and flammable materials, it said.

The NDMA guidelines said while restarting a unit, the first week should be considered as the trial or test run period after ensuring all safety protocols.

Companies should not try to achieve high production targets. There should be 24-hour sanitisation of the factory premises, it said.

The factories need to maintain a sanitisation routine every two-three hours especially in the common areas that include lunch rooms and common tables which will have to be wiped clean with disinfectants after every single use, it added.

For accommodation, the NDMA said, sanitisation needs to be performed regularly to ensure worker safety and reduce the spread of contamination.

To minimise the risk, it is important that employees who work on specific equipment are sensitised and made aware of the need to identify abnormalities like strange sounds or smell, exposed wires, vibrations, leaks, smoke, abnormal wobbling, irregular grinding or other potentially hazardous signs which indicate the need for immediate maintenance or if required shutdown, it said.

At least 11 people lost their lives and about 1,000 others were exposed to a gas leak at a factory in Andhra Pradesh''s Visakhapatnam on May 7.

The incident took place after it restarted operations when the government allowed industrial activities in certain sectors following several weeks of lockdown.

The lockdown was first announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24 for 21 days in a bid to combat the coronavirus threat. The lockdown was then extended till May 3 and again till May 17.

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