Budget 2018-19

  BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, who has consistently alleged corruption in the purchase of the fighter aircraft by the Modi government A fresh political war of words erupted on Tuesday over the Rafale issue as the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and the Congress went at it over a French media report with the former accusing the latter of taking commission and the latter responding with the allegation of a cover up. BJP spokesperson  Sambit Patra  launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, who has consistently alleged corruption in the purchase of the fighter aircraft by the Modi government, accusing him of spreading ‘canard, disinformation and lies’ and asked for his response on the French media report that claimed that commissions were paid between 2007 and 2012 for securing the Rafale deal with India. He said the Congress should change its name from Indian National Congress to ‘I need commission party.’ The Congress highlighted t...

  Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked the government why “large-scale testing is not being done” to check and prevent the spread of the Delta plus variant of coronavirus Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked the government why “large-scale testing is not being done” to check and prevent the spread of the Delta plus variant of coronavirus and how effective are the vaccines against it. Many experts feel that the Delta plus variant, which has been declared as a ‘variant of concern’ by the Union health ministry, may trigger a third wave of COVID-19 infections in the country. “Questions to the Modi government on  Delta plus variant : Why is testing not being done on a large scale to check and prevent it? How effective are the vaccines against it and when will complete information be available? What is the plan to control it in the third wave of the virus,” he posed in a tweet in Hindi. India was hit severely by a brutal second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April ...

  Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the BJP-led government over the new farm laws, saying they had been “imposed” and the farmers will break the “arrogance” of the government. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday attacked the BJP-led government over the new farm laws, saying they had been “imposed” and the farmers will break the “arrogance” of the government. Addressing a ‘Kisan mahapanchayat’ in Mathura here, she said it is the duty of the government and the Prime Minister to listen to farmers and make an effort to resolve their issues. She said Mathura breaks arrogance of people. “Today BJP government is imposing such laws on  farmers   Protest  in its arrogance which will not benefit them. The message from Kisan mahapanchayat in Mathura is clear that the farmers will rest after breaking the arrogance of this government,” she said “It is duty of government and Prime Minister to listen to them and make an effort to resolve their i...

  Rahul Gandhi says new acts will destroy country’s agriculture; V-P Naidu calls for keeping farmers’ welfare in mind while framing farm policies The members of a panel set up by the Supreme Court to resolve the crisis of farmer protests said on Tuesday they would keep aside their ideology and views while consulting stakeholders, even as they indicated a complete repeal won’t augur well for much-needed agriculture reforms. The panel met for the first time on Tuesday. The biggest challenge, the members said, is to convince the agitating farmers to come and speak with them. “We will try our best. We also want to request those farmers who don’t want to come before us that we are neither from any party nor from the government’s side. We are from the Supreme Court’s side,” said Anil Ghanwat, a member of the panel. Agriculture economist Ashok Gulati and former director of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Pramod Kumar Joshi, are the remaining members of the panel....

  Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the farmers do not trust the prime minister due to his “long history of asatyagraha” Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the farmers do not trust the prime minister due to his “long history of asatyagraha”. “15 lakh in every bank account & 2 crore jobs every year, Give me 50 days time, else… We will win the war against Corona in 21 days. Neither has anyone intruded into our territory nor took over any post; Farmers don’t trust Modi ji due to his long history of ‘asatyagraha’,” Gandhi tweeted. Previously, Gandhi had slammed the government by saying that “India is now an imaginary democracy”. Earlier he had also met with President Ram Nath Kovind along with other party members to discuss the demands made by  farmers  Protest . It has been more than a month that farmers are protesting against the new farm laws brought by ...

  Rahul Gandhi to lead Congress MPs’ protest march against farm laws “Rahul Gandhi along with Opposition leaders met President and submitted the memorandum to resolve farmers’ issue. But there was no action from the President and the government. Rahul Gandhi will lead a demonstration tomorrow at 10:45 am from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan with Congress MPs,” Congress MP K Suresh told ANI on Wednesday. After that, he and other senior leaders will meet the President of India and submit a memorandum containing 2 crore signatures for his intervention to resolve the farmers’ agitation, he added. Farmers are protesting at the borders of Delhi since November 26 against the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Central government on Sunday invited farmer leaders for a fresh round of talks amid a...

BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani said Rahul Gandhi was taking out his yatras not for farmers but in support of “middlemen who looted the country” Attacking Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his protest marches against the three recently passed farm laws, BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani Tuesday said he was taking out his yatras not for farmers but in support of “middlemen who looted the country”. Hitting out at the Gandhi scion for his remarks that if his party is voted to power it would abolish the farm laws, Irani said, “I think Rahul Gandhi lives in a dream world where he thinks he is a king.” When Gandhi opposes the farm laws, Irani asked, does he also oppose the proposition that farmer will be paid within three days of selling their produce, that they are free to sell them anywhere in the country and that their land cannot be used in the recovery process in any case. “The fact is  Rahul Gandhi  is on Congress yatra in support of middlemen not farmers a...

From Rahul Gandhi calling Congress-BJP contest as Pandava-Kaurava battle to Urjit Patel offering to make RBI Neelkantha of Indian banking's Samudra Manthan, leaders are resorting to myths too often While Congress President Rahul Gandhi recently referred to his party's contest with the Bharatiya Janata Party as being like the Kurukshetra battle between the Pandavas and Kauravas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier termed his critics as Shalya. Similarly, while Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel recently said the Samudra Manthan required to cleanse the Indian banking system would also need a Neelakantha to swallow the poison so that the larger economy could avail of the benefits of the nectar that would follow, his deputy Viral acharya had earlier said the Indian banking system needed a Sudarshan Chakra more than an Indradhanush. A K Bhattacharya reads into these allusions and their implied meanings and assesses what else these might mean in the light o...

Rahul Gandhi, at Congress plenary session, accused Narendra Modi of symbolising crony capitalism, and said India's poor continued to live in 'Modi maya' Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ‘corrupt ways’ and said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections would be no less than the epic battle of Mahabharata between the “power-hungry” Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the “humble”  Congress. In his 50-minute speech at the Congress’ 84th plenary session, Rahul Gandhi pledged to break the twin walls between party leaders and workers to revitalise the 133-year-old Congress, and said the 2019 general elections would be a fight between “truth and lies.” He compared BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to ‘Kauravas’ who were “designated for power” and Congress to the “Pandavas” who “lost everything but fought for truth.” In his concluding address at the party's 84th plenary session, Rahul Ga...

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said over-confidence and inability to understand the understanding between SP and BSP were the prime reasons for the BJP's shocking loss The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a severe setback in the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Lok Sabha and Assembly by-elections, losing four of the five seats in the bypolls, including the all-important Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats in Uttar Pradesh. Especially worrisome for the BJP was the fact that it was trounced by the BSP-backed Samajwadi Party in the high-stakes Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls which could boost the chances of a 'mahagathbandhan' of anti-BJP parties before the 2019 general elections. After sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the BJP faced a last-minute alliance stitched by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the bypolls. BSP supremo Mayawati had announced her party's backing for...