Those against Rahul Gandhi within Congress will have to go: Salman Khurshid

By

-

January 16, 2014

Amid reports that a section of its top leaders are against naming Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate of the party, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Thursday warned that those who have a problem with the party vice president will have to go.

The External Affairs Minister said, “If anyone has a problem with Rahul, they will have to leave.”

Khurshid, who endorsed Rahul’s nomination as PM candidate, was also quoted as saying, “Time has come for generational change. There shouldn’t be adjustment problems with Rahul. Those who have a problem with him will have to go.”

The reaction from Khurshid came shortly after many top leaders, including Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rashid Alvi and Oscar Fernandes, backed Rahul’s name for the top job.
While many have voiced support to Rahul Gandhi, a section of its leaders have also expressed reservations over the party projecting him as the face for the 2014 polls.

Few Congress leaders does not want Rahul to be exposed to the tirade of Narendra Modi, the main opposition BJP’s PM candidate.

If sources are to be believed. then instead of being named as the PM candidate, Rahul could be elevated as the Congress working president at the AICC session.

At the moment, the party central leadership is said to weighing all options regarding Rahul Gandhi.

Before making any major announcement on Rahul Gandhi, the party leaders want to deliberate on three main options – conferring him as its prime ministerial candidate, promoting him to Working President, or declaring that he will lead the campaign for the national election that must be held by May.

Rahul, in an interview published recently, had indicated that he is ready for the top job.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already ruled himself out of a third term if the ruling UPA comes back to power. Manmohan has already praised Rahul’s “outstanding credentials”.

If officially nominated, Rahul would take on BJP’s Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

Tharoors ‘happily married’ amid Twitter controversy over Pakistani journalist

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

In an indecorous controversy surrounding Shashi Tharoor, the Union Minister’s wife Sunanda Tharoor on Wednesday alleged that her husband was having an “extra-marital affair” with a Pakistan-based journalist.

Talking to a daily, Sunanda also said she would now “seek divorce” from Tharoor. The journalist has threatened to sue Sunanda and Tharoor’s wife has welcomed the scribe’s move.

The furious wife’s statement came shortly after the suave thrice-married human resources minister claimed that his Twitter account had been hacked. Notably, some controversial tweets were posted from his account last evening, leaving the followers utterly astonished. The tweets referred to one Mehr Tarar, a Pakistani journalist.

The minister then claimed that his account had been hacked and and will be not functioning for a few days before the issues are sorted out. The controversial tweets, which have now been deleted, showed private exchanges apparently between 57-year-old Tharoor and Mehr Tarar, 45, in which she professed her love for him and he explained that his wife had discovered his adultery.

The controversy was about to die down when Sunanda declared that neither her or her husband’s account has been hacked. As a matter of fact, it was she, who had logged into Tharoor’s account and posted messages that the Lahore-based journalist had sent to her husband. She did it to show the world how Mehr “is stalking my husband”.

Sunanda also dragged up a corruption scandal that nearly wrecked her husband’s career: “Our accounts have not been hacked and I have been sending out these tweets. I cannot tolerate this. This is a Pakistani woman who is an ISI (Inter Services Intelligence) agent, and she is stalking my husband. And you know how men are. He is flattered by the attention. I took upon myself the crimes of this man during IPL (Indian Premier League). I will not allow this to be done to me. I just can’t tolerate this. I have nothing more to say.”

On Thursday, Sunanda, however, denied logged into Tharoor’s account, saying her’s and her husband’s accounts are still not working and Twitter is working on that. Sunanda confirmed that the Pakistani journalist wants to have a life-long relationship with Tharoor, not knowing that he is a happily married man. I am sick and was away for three months for treatment. She followed Shashi to an event and fell in obsession, said the livid wife.

I did send out two-three tweets to the Pakistani journalist’s account, added Sunanda. “The tweets that I sent today were that a woman should stay away from a woman’s husband, it’s not morally right.”

“Shashi is a happily married man with no intention of leaving his wife and his wife has no intention of leaving him,” declared Sunanda.

No Gandhi can save a dead Congress: Maneka Gandhi

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

In probably the sharpest attack so far on the country’s first family – the Gandhi family – one of its prominent member and senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Thursday said that neither Sonia Gandhi’s son Rahul nor his sister Priyanka can save Congress.

Coming down heavily on the ruling party, Maneka said, “Congress has party has looted the country in the past ten years. People are so fed with the Congress rule that they are not going to vote for the party in the next elections. No Gandhi can save a dead Congress.”

The senior BJP leader called Congress a sinking ship and said, “Nobody can now save Congress. Corruption and scams have badly tarnished the party’s image and its leaders have constantly looted and cheated the nation in all these years. Congress is in such a situation that no one, not even Rahul Gandhi neither his sister Priyanka can save the party.”

When asked how would she react to media reports that Congress apex leadership is mulling to give a bigger role to Rahul Gandhi, Maneka said, “It will make no difference as who leads the pack of forty thieves.”

When she was reminded that even the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has recently praised Rahul’s “outstanding potential”, the BJP leader said, “I want to ask if the person who said all this has really served as the Prime Minister of the country. The whole country knows that both Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul has kept the reins of power in their own hands. So what difference it will make as who gets what responsibility.”

Calling Congress a party of bad people, Maneka said, “The party urgently needs to change its image and people’s perception about it.”

When asked to comment on reports that Congress is planning to give a major election-related role to Priyanka Gandhi to revive its fortunes in the upcoming polls, “I don’t want to comment on her role. Congress has been projecting Rahul Gandhi for the past ten years but what happened? The situation is so worse for the party that even Priyanka Gandhi’s glamour can’t save the Congress now.”’

Finally, when asked to react on the comparisons being made between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, she said, “Rahul is no match for Modi ji. It is like a battle between a lion and a bird. Modi Ji is an elected leader with huge experience, while Rahul has failed on all fronts. Obviously, he is no match for Modi ji.”

Virbhadra Singh files defamation case against Arun Jaitley, PK Dhumal

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has filed a defamation case against Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Arun Jaitley and PK Dhumal. The three opposition leaders have alleged that the Congress leader accepted Rs. 1.5 crore and Rs. 2.4 crore through cheques in his and his parliamentarian wife Pratibha Singh’s name from Venture Energy and Technology Pvt Ltd, which was executing a power project in the state.

Thakur last week had asked Virbhadra to quit and sought a CBI probe in corruption charges against him.

“Virbhadra Singh claims he is innocent. Why is he shying off from a CBI probe,” Thakur said.

The Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Jaitley said: “Virbhadra Singh has dared anyone to either lodge an FIR against him or prove the allegations of corruption”.

“The Congress party and Virbhadra Singh have decided to brazen out the allegations of corruption. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will hide behind silence,” Jaitley wrote on a blog post.

Former Himachal CM Dhumal has claimed that despite most ministers opposed to re-allocating the project to Venture Energy and Technology Pvt Ltd, Virbhadra went ahead with the decision in 2005.

Danish woman’s alleged rapist swapped clothes with her, left evidence: cops

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

Police investigating the alleged gang-rape of a Danish woman in Delhi on Tuesday night say they have crucial evidence after learning that one of the alleged rapists allegedly pulled on the woman’s track pants and left her his pair of jeans.

The attacker’s jeans and the woman’s clothes will provide DNA evidence, said police sources.

Two men have been arrested and two others detained for the alleged assault on the 51-year-old tourist near Delhi’s Connaught Place area.

The woman was allegedly attacked by a gang of eight men after she lost her way to her hotel in Paharganj, a popular backpacker area. All eight have been identified. The woman had approached them for directions after visiting a museum, but they took her to a secluded spot before raping her.

The woman, who had arrived in Delhi that day after visiting the Taj Mahal in Agra, returned to Denmark yesterday.

She told the police she was held by the men between 4 and 7 pm after which they abandoned her. She then took an auto-rickshaw to her hotel where she confided in a fellow tourist, who asked the owner to phone the police. She says she was robbed and beaten too.

The Danish foreign ministry has said that it is in contact with the Delhi Police to ensure the “prosecution of the guilty.”

“We have in our travel advice referred to the particular risk there is in India for sexual crimes. Obviously we will look at whether we need to sharpen it further,” Denmark foreign ministry spokesman Ole Eberg Mikkelsen said.

The incident has left Delhi’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the backfoot weeks after it won massive popular support in state polls with its promise to make the city safer for women.

Will build a house in Amethi to stay unlike Rahul: Vishwas

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, AAP leader Kumar Vishwas on Thursday said he would build a house in Amethi and live with the people, unlike “Yuvraj” who stays in ‘Rajmahal (palace)’.

Stating that he would not leave Amethi, Vishwas, who is likely to contest the Lok Sabha polls in an Aam Aadmi Party ticket from here, said, “I am a servant and not Yuvraj. I will build a house here to stay.”
“He (Rahul) claims that the people of Amethi are his family… But he stays in ‘Rajmahal’ and travel by air while the people here do not have roof over their head… Which type of family relation is this?” he asked.

Mounting attack on the Congress vice president, Vishwas said, “Rahul used to tell tales of development in Amethi but it is not seen anywhere here… He used to lure people by only assurances but now people have started understanding the reality. Now he is resorting to a lot of gimmicks.”

Trying to corner Rahul over the issue of corruption, the AAP leader said he used to talk about corruption but forgot that maximum number of corruption cases came to the fore in the government “patronised” by him.

1,400 kg butter idol of goddess in Himachal Pradesh

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

Large numbers of devotees are thronging the Brajeshwari Devi temple here every day to pay obeisance and have glimpse of a 1,400 kg butter idol, temple official said on Thursday.

The 14 quintal butter idol, made by 18 priests, will remain on the ‘pindi’ or iconography of the goddess till January 20, temple official Pawan Patial told a news agency.

He said the butter idol was made by using ‘ghee’ donated by the devotees. The priests, with a unique technique, purified it with water 108 times.

According to legend, when the goddess was injured during a fight with demons, her wounds were treated with butter on Makar Sankranti by gods.

The butter, when removed from the ‘pindi’ on January 20, will be distributed among the devotees. It’s a belief that the butter treats chronic skin ailments and joint pains.

One of the busiest shrines in north India, the Brajeshwari Devi temple sees a majority of pilgrims from Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Lalu Prasad Yadav’s book to ‘expose big names in politics’

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad plans to write a book to expose his rivals.

“I have decided to write a book to expose those who conspired to frame me in fodder scam and sent me to jail,” Lalu Prasad said.

“My book will also reveal a few interesting aspects of Indian politics, including the 1974 student movemement against Emergency as I was part of it under the leadership of socialist veteran Jai Prakash Narain,” he said.
Lalu Prasad said he was made a political victim of propaganda by powerful people, who were threatened by his commitment for social justice.

“My book will be full of real stories and different political ups and downs of over four decades in Bihar and the country. It will also expose big names in politics on how they rose to the peak of power politics,” Lalu said.

He hinted that he will start writing the book after the General Elections as he is currently busy forming a strong secular alliance with the Congress and the Lok Janshakti Party to take on communal forces.

Lalu Prasad was forced to resign as chief minister in 1997 after he was framed in a fodder scam and his wife Rabri Devi succeeded him as the Bihar chief minister.

AAP MLA Binny revolts against party, calls Kejriwal ‘dictator’

By

Afternoon Voice

-

January 16, 2014

In what has brought the internal rift within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the fore, one of its prominent faces and its MLA from Lakshmi Nagar Vinod Kumar Binny on Thursday launched a major assault on the party led by Arvind Kejriwal and called him a “dictator.”

Binny, who was reported to be upset with the AAP apex leadership ever since he was denied the cabinet berth, accused the party of “cheating” the people of Delhi by backtracking on its election promises.

The Laxmi Nagar MLA slammed the leadership on a range of issues and said taking support of Congress to form the government was a “compromise of the party’s principles”.

“You (Kejriwal) have become a dictator. Stop fooling the people of Delhi. All decisions in the party are taken in closed rooms by four-five people. Arvind gets angry if people express any differences with him. If anyone speaks against him, he starts shouting,” Binny said in his highly packed press conference.

The 39-year-old-MLA said the party has “forgotten” its ideologies and become “an opportunist outfit” after coming to power.

Posing tough questions on a wide range of issues before the AAP leadership, Binny also threatened to go on a hunger strike from January 27 if Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not fulfil promises made in the election manifesto.

Binny, who made serious allegations against Kejriwal and his party, said that the outfit has a secret deal with Congress and it is acting on its dictates.

Binny even attacked the Arvind Kejriwal-led government for backtracking on the promises made on issues, including free water supply and cheap power.

Binny, while asking the media to conduct a comprehensive survey to find out what people of Delhi want, also assured that if he is found to be lying, he would resign as MLA.

“I will start an agitation 10 days later on Jan 27, at Jantar Mantar, if the government does not fulfil the promises made to the people of Delhi,” said the AAP legislator at a press conference here.

Listing his demands, he said he wants the party government to pass Anna Hazare’s version of the Jan Lokpal Bill by Jan 25 or 26, and also start building a women commando force for women’s security.

“You (Kejriwal) have done a lot of agitation against the Congress and the BJP. Now you have to explain and show the people how your thought is different from theirs.”

Though the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party in the Delhi assembly polls with 31 seats, the AAP – which bagged 28 seats – formed a minority government with the outside support of Congress’s eight legislators.

Binny, who defeated Congress heavyweight AK Walia in the December assembly elections, said that according to his sources, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal is very close to Congress MP Sandeep Dikshit.

“This is the reason all the decisions being taken in AAP are at the directive of the Congress party. The Congress is ordering, and AAP is following orders,” Binny claimed.

“We had announced publicly that we would not give or take support of any political party. Then what prompted the party to change that decision? Discussions were held behind closed doors,” Binny said.

On the electricity front, Binny said that the government “defrauded” the people of Delhi as the party had promised to halve the bills after coming to power.

“The party has misled the people of Delhi on a number of issues. There is a big mismatch between what the party promised and what the government is doing. People’s issues have gone to the background,” he said.

Travel safely in local trains

By

Lopamudra Ghosh

-

January 16, 2014

In a tragic case, Monica More, a sixteen year old girl, lost both her hands at Ghatkopar railway station while catching a train by falling into the gap which lies between the train and the platform. In the process, she lost both her arms. Of course, a compensation of four lakhs was offered to her. However, this incident again brings to the forefront the issue of local train accidents while trying to catch a train in haste. While one can demand a compensation or file a petition against the railway authorities, one cannot ignore the fact that even commuters need to be careful while crossing the tracks.

According to a survey in India, as many as ten people lose their lives in accidents while commuting in local trains in Mumbai. So Monica’s case is nothing new, though very tragic. Just imagine, she was just a sixteen year old. The victim must have had several dreams about her future, many dreams about her career which now will be difficult to materialise. Besides, according to reports published, she herself has to go through the entire process to seek compensation, the process can be weary and traumatic. The process can also elongate causing her to lose hope.

However, let’s not digress from the topic of the issue of local train accidents. I commute in local train from Jogeshwari to Kandivali. While boarding the train at Jogeshwari, I find that commuters often do not use the overbridge and prefer crossing the railway tracks. I often see that when a train is in sight, still commuters continue crossing through the railway tracks until the train is absolutely close to them. This raises the chances of accidents. Besides, often youngsters are found hanging out of the doors of local trains and sometimes indulging in stunts which put their lives at risk. Thirdly, commuters are often in a hurry and catch the train even when it starts moving. This also increases the risk of accidents. So while railway authorities should take adequate steps to curb these accidents, commuters themselves should be careful while commuting.

In a good gesture, many people poured in to the KEM hospital to pay her a visit. Many people donated money to contribute to the victim’s hospital fees. However, inspite of such ‘assistance,’ she is left alone to fight a lifelong battle. Hope Monica gets the maximum support of her near and dear ones throughout her life and hope others learn a lesson from this incident and are more careful while commuting in local trains.