Going the Obama way to reach out to millions of people, Bharatiya Janata Party is launching 'Advani TV' via IPTV technique to build the popularity of L K Advani, the party's prime ministerial candidate, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.
Along with the development plank, the Bharatiya Janata Party is counting on the 'Gujarat formula' of dropping 'unpopular legislators' as a strategy to minimise the anti-incumbency factor and return to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the term 'Yuvraj' was insulting for him. The scion of the Nehru Gandhi family also stated that he considered Manmohan Singh, who was the 'most able Prime Minister', as his leader. Several leaders of the Congress and its allies have recently declared that they would support Rahul as the United Progressive Alliance's prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha polls in 2009.
Interacting with farmers in Gadak district of Karnataka, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi said he is opposed to blanket waiver on farm loans, as it could prove 'destructive for the system'. He called for strengthening micro-finance and credit lending systems as a remedy to farmers' problems. Gandhi stressed on rural excellence and indigenous knowledge to guide the country to a better agrarian situation. He stressed on micro-finance systems & grass-root political units.
Efforts like the United National Progressive Alliance are a 'result of some honest efforts but the real third force will come into being only in the post-poll scenario', he said while disagreeing that a third force was already in place. The 75-year old veteran socialist claimed his relationship with Congress leadership was 'never strained' though he was pained by the fact that none in the Congress camp tried to 'acknowledge' his efforts to keep away BJP.
Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi is not happy about his countrywide sojourn being termed as a 'Discover India' tour, saying it was not a 'Bharat Darshan' for him. The 37-year-old All India Congress Committee general secretary also clarified that the tour, which has been seen as a launch of the party's election campaign, had nothing to do with any poll.
Change was possible only if young people joined the political process, Rahul, who is on his 'Discover India' tour, said addressing a rally in Gunpur, Orissa, in the memory of his father and late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. "In every party, including Congress, I see that there is no space for the younger lot," he said adding, to change a country, "you have to work together with a new force and involve the youth in the initiative".
"I remember my father had once said that only 17 paise out of a rupee reach people. Now the situation is even worse," Gandhi said while addressing a rally on the second day of his tour in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh. "The Centre could send money and develop schemes. But in the absence of a delivery system here (Bundelkhand), it has no meaning. I have seen that not even five paise out of a rupee reach here," he claimed.
Soon, the party will launch a network linking more than 1,000 party offices across the country, which will include facilities like computer-based faxing and instant messaging. More than 30 lakh partymen are to be given official e-mail addresses and each cadre would be able to approach party president Rajnath Singh via video-conferencing.
Talking to media persons on board an aircraft to Bangalore to attend the installation of the first-ever saffron government in southern India, he said: "The government will have to pay for its opportunism. Now, they have reached out to talk when they are at the verge of falling."
"It's a historic day for the party. The national executive today endorsed 33 per cent reservation for women in all bodies of the party. It will now be ratified by the national council," senior party leader Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
In the absence of an unwell Atal Bihari Vajpayee, there was talk of the leadership issue, but there were no clear cut answers.
Cyber communities have been formed that declare their hatred for political parties, including the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Just because I have criticised someone on the issue does not mean that I do not appreciate him," Gandhi told reporters.
He also dubbed the Congress' alliance with BSP in Uttar Pradesh in 1996 as a "sell out".
Siwah, 6 km from Panipat and situated alongside the Delhi-Amritsar railway line, has been notorious for having a large number of people with criminal background.
They said their visit was delayed due to visa problems.
The ropeway and helicopter services are threats to their traditional jobs.
However, the documents attached with the report prepared by the then sub-inspector in-charge of the Nithari police post allegedly had glaring flaws, raising doubts about the police handling of the matter.
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