Congress Party Archives - Lokmarg

BJP Calls For Kharge’s Apology On Alleged Pro-Pak Slogan Incident

By LokMarg 28th February 2024

Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia hit out at the Congress party on Wednesday over alleged ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans outside the Karnataka assembly.

Bhatia alleged that the grand old party’s ‘DNA’ has become anti-national while calling the incident an ‘insult to India’s democracy’.

“After the results of the Rajya Sabha elections came out, Congress workers outside the Karnataka assembly raised ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans while celebrating Congress MP-elect Syed Naseer Hussain’s win. This is a very worrying incident, this is an insult to India’s democracy,” Bhatia said while addressing a press conference in Delhi on Wednesday.

“Today, every citizen is asking, whenever India’s democracy marks a win, why is that the Congress always remembers Pakistan? There is also nothing wrong in saying that there is Pakistan’s DNA in Congress,” the BJP leader said.

He further called for an apology from Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge for the incident.

“Congress’ DNA has become anti-national. Earlier, slogans like Bharat will break into pieces, Insha Allah, Insha Allah, were raised at a public event attended by Rahul Gandhi. Don’t you think Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge should apologise?” he said.

The matter has caused a political storm in the state, leading to a FIR and protest by BJP cadre outside Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru.

However, Congress earlier rejected these claims, saying its workers were only raising slogans for Hussain and not what the BJP was claiming.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that voice samples have been sent to FSL and culprits will be punished.

“We have sent the voice report to the FSL, if it is true that somebody has raised the slogan ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, that person will be punished seriously.”

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “We are very serious about it. If it is an anti-national slogan, we will not tolerate it. We will take strict actions, once it is confirmed by the FSL team. FIR has already registered yesterday. We have to identify the person from the FSL report and if it is true, we will take action against him.”

Karnataka Assembly Speaker UT Khader said that if the claims were proven by forensic analysis, the person behind them would be punished. The speaker said he would call for a complete probe.

As per the complaint filed by the Karnataka BJP, it was alleged that after the returning officer declared that Hussain was elected to the Rajya Sabha, at around 7 pm on Tuesday, his supporters, who had gathered at the premises of the Vidhana Soudha “at the instance of Hussain, suddenly shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in a loud manner while cheering for Hussain.” (ANI)

For more details visit us: https://lokmarg.com/

Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute

SC Issues Notice On Rahul’s Plea, Next Hearing On August 4

By LokMarg 21st July 2023

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Gujarat government and complainant on an appeal of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi challenging the Gujarat High Court order which declined to stay his conviction in the criminal defamation case in which he was sentenced to two years in jail by Surat court over ‘Modi surname’ remark.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and PK Mishra, issuing notice to the government and complainant Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, granted ten days time to them to file their responses through affidavit. It has posted the matter on the stay of his conviction for hearing on August 4.
At the outset of the hearing, the lead judge of the bench Justice BR Gavai said his father was a politician and had been an MLA and MP with the support of the Congress party and had a close association for more than 40 years.

Justice Gavai offered to recuse from the case saying his father and brother have association with the Congress party.

“It is my duty to disclose. everyone should know. My father had been a politician and had been closely associated with Congress for more than four decades. Though he was not a Congress member, he was elected with the help of Congress. My brother is in active politics. If any party had an objection, then I would recuse,” Justice Gavai said.

However, both parties said they don’t have any objection to Justice Gavai hearing the matter.

During the brief hearing, Singhvi argued that Gandhi has already lost 111 days as an MP from the Wayanad constituency and apprehended that Election Commission may announce a bypoll soon in the constituency.

“He could not attend the last Parliament session and now stands to be out of ongoing session. Please consider granting an interim stay on conviction,” Singhvi told the bench.

After his conviction in the case, Rahul Gandhi was declared disqualified as MP from Kerala’s Wayanad on March 24 following notification of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Gandhi was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment which disqualified him as an MP under the rigours of the Representation of People Act.

Approaching the top court, Gandhi also sought a stay of the Gujarat High Court verdict which upheld his conviction. He said the High Court verdict “has no parallel or precedent in the jurisprudence of the law of defamation”.

He contended that it was “not only curious but extremely significant, indeed sinister, that all earlier cases, including the one regarding the present speech, were filed by members and office bearers of the ruling party”.

It was submitted that the surname ‘Modi’, in different parts of the country, encompassed different communities and sub-communities, which usually have no commonality or uniformity at all. The Modi surname belonged to various castes.

The complainant, Gujarat BJP MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi who simply has a ‘Modi’ surname, did not prove that he was prejudiced or damaged in any specific or personal sense, the plea filed in the apex court added.

Gandhi’s plea said, “Unprecedentedly, in a case of criminal defamation, a maximum sentence of two years has been imposed. This itself is a rarest of rare occurrence.”

The High Court on July 7 affirmed the decision of a Gujarat Sessions court, which had refused to put on hold a magisterial court order on March 23 convicting Gandhi and handing out the maximum punishment provided for criminal defamation under the Indian Penal Code.

Rejecting Gandhi’s plea, the High Court said he has been seeking a stay on his conviction on “absolutely non-existent grounds” and a stay on conviction is not a rule but an exception.

In March, the magisterial court convicted Gandhi for his remarks ahead of the 2019 national polls about the ‘Modi’ surname.

After the magisterial court convicted Gandhi, he approached the Sessions court, which rejected his plea for a stay on his conviction on April 20. Thereafter, he approached the High Court.

Congress leader was sentenced to two years in jail on March 23 under sections 499 and 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in a case filed by Purnesh Modi.

At a rally in Karnataka’s Kolar in April 2019, Rahul Gandhi, in a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said, “How come all the thieves have Modi as the common surname?”. (ANI)

Modi Regime Will Pay Dearly For Its Brazen Act To Silence Rahul

By LokMarg 25th March 2023

Nivedita Jha, a Patna-based writer and social activist, says a similar attempt to debar Indira Gandhi from Parliament had boomeranged on the then Janata Dal government. Her views:

The Surat court verdict against Rahul Gandhi and the latest decision to debar him from Parliament is a well thought-out attempt to silence him and the Opposition. This is extremely dangerous for democracy and will damage it with terrible consequences. We are living in very difficult times. Anyone who writes or speaks against this regime is hounded and punished, or silenced.

However, I am certain that this attack on Rahul Gandhi would very seriously damage Narendra Modi and the BJP in the short and long run. Undoubtedly, this is bound to boomerang.

I am reminded of the arrest of Indira Gandhi by then Union Home Minister, Charan Singh, and the move to debar her from Parliament. The people of India did not like this at all. Consequently, she returned to power with a popular mandate and a majority in 1980.

Rahul Gandhi has made no hate speech. The BJP and its leaders are routinely making violent and hate speeches, and nothing happens to them ever. Take, for instance, Giriraj Singh in Bihar. The kind of communal statements he has uttered publicly in the past is outside all norms of legality or civilized society. Nothing has ever happened to him.

It is also becoming crystal clear that they are threatened by Rahul Gandhi, especially after the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Earlier they pumped in huge amount of money and used their power in the social media and among certain journalists to destroy his image, while derogatorily branding him Pappu. They have used fake news and crass propaganda to sully his image, and to sully the image of Jawaharlal Nehru, among other things. If you do a Google search, they see to it that their fake news pops up as lead stories. If you do a Google search on Nehru, you would be surprised by the obscene trolling done against him!

They tried their best to destroy the image of Rahul Gandhi, but they have failed. After the success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, his image has effectively changed and he has become a more popular leader across the country. Modi and the BJP are clearly threatened by Rahul Gandhi’s growing popularity. This move to debar him would certainly boost his image.

ALSO READ: Democracy Is Under Strain In BJP Regime

Many governments have been repressive in the past, including the Congress dispensation. However, we are living in perhaps the most difficult and dangerous time in our post-independence history. Our democracy is severely threatened and seriously damaged in the current circumstances. Most institutions, the CBI, Enforcement Directorate, large sections of the media, seem to have been totally taken over. Young scholars from the universities are rotting in prison for so long for no fault of theirs.

Opposition leaders are being hounded, arrested and raided. The BJP-RSS and this regime seems to be hell-bent on ravaging our secular democracy whereby all forms of dissent are eliminated, all Opposition parties are blocked, and only they can rule supreme. Then, certainly, India will no longer remain a democracy. It will be suffocated under a dictatorship.

This is a situation which reminds me of the ideology of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, which the BJP shares. They don’t want to hear even a squeak of dissent. Certainly, this is a black era in our history. What is happening is indeed shameful!

However, I am certain that this move to hound and debar Rahul Gandhi from Parliament will have serious consequences and will badly damage the BJP. If they try to ban him from contesting elections, it will further damage them politically. The politics of revenge almost always leads to a counter-narrative.

Recently, they arrested some printers and workers carrying posters for AAP which said: Modi hatao, desh bachao! This is like banning all opposition to him effectively. However, it is not working. The CPI has given a call: Modi hatao, desh bachao! AAP did a rally in Jantar Mantar, Delhi, with a huge banner on the stage which said: Modi hatao, desh bachao! All opposition parties have come out to protest on the streets with placards which carried the same slogan.

That is why I say, this move against Rahul Gandhi is bound to boomerang badly on the BJP and Modi. This will damage them, that is for certain.

The narrator has been associated with Bihar Mahila Samaj and the National Federation of Indian Women

As told to Amit Sengupta

Read More Article: http://13.232.95.176/

Bharat Jodo Yatra Likely To Conclude On Republic Day

By LokMarg 2nd December 2022

In view of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections and state assembly elections, the Congress party has taken a big decision for the selection of a special day for the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

According to sources, in this context, the Congress has decided that the Bharat Jodo Padyatra, which started from Kanyakumari on September 7, will conclude on January 26 in Kashmir covering a distance of about 3500 km.

“In fact, the Congress was going to end this yatra by hoisting the tricolour in Srinagar on February 20, but now under the new strategy, Rahul Gandhi will conclude his yatra by hoisting the tricolour in Srinagar on Republic Day,” said sources.

According to Congress sources, after January 26, a plenary session of the Congress will also be held before February 7, in which the name of Congress Party President Mallikarjun Kharge will be approved, after which the new Congress Working Committee will be formed.

Immediately after that major changes will also be made in the Congress organisation which have been postponed for a long time. A Meeting of the Steering Committee is also scheduled to be convened on December 4 at Party Headquarters in Delhi and three issues from Bharat Jodo Yatra, Plenary Session and Organizational Matters are on the Agenda, said the Congress sources.

In fact, Congress felt that it was impractical to undertake major organisational programs and changes in the midst of Rahul’s Padayatra while delaying them could harm the party in future elections. That’s why a way has been found by cutting down the time by choosing a favourable day of 26th January for the yatra.

If sources are to be believed, in that case, the target of January 26 will be achieved by increasing the daily distance of the journey a little, reducing the number of days in the coming states like UP, and Delhi and this will not make any difference in the journey. (ANI)

Cong Delegation Meets EC, Seeks Ban On Opinion Polls

By LokMarg 30th November 2022

A Congress party delegation on Wednesday met the Election Commission seeking a ban on the opinion polls before the elections.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla, who was a part of the delegation, said that the opinion polls try to predict the results of the elections in a biased way.
He said that the party has also asked for proper security of ballot papers, especially in Gujarat.

Congress also alleged that when Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any other big BJP leader comes for election campaigning in a state, the opposition leaders aren’t allowed to enter with their helicopters.

Polling for 68 assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh was held on November 12, with the state recording a 75.6 percent turnout, breaking the 2017 record, whose results are scheduled to be declared on December 8

Meanwhile, the Assembly elections in Gujarat are scheduled to be held in two phases on December 1 and December 5, whose results will be declared on December 8, coinciding with that of the Himachal Assembly polls. (ANI)

DNA of Gandhi Family And Congress Party Is Same: Tharoor

By LokMarg 1st October 2022

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday drew an analogy between the Gandhi family and the DNA of the party and said that no party chief can distance himself from the Gandhi family, asserting that he is contesting the party’s presidential elections to bring a ” change” in the grand old party.

He called the family an asset to the party and said that no matter who becomes the Congress president after the party’s internal polls on October 17, he cannot be “such a fool” to tell “goodbye” to the Gandhi family.

Speaking to ANI before embarking on his visit to various parts of the country to campaign for the party polls, Tharoor said, “Gandhi family and Congress’ DNA is the same.” No (party) president is such a fool to tell “Goodbye” to the Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to us. “

Reiterating that he represents a “change” in the party twice within 24 hours of filing his nomination at the AICC office in the national capital on Friday, the Congress leader said that if the party leaders and workers are “satisfied” with the “working of the party”, they should vote for Mallikarjun Kharge, who is his opponent in the race to the top post in the party.

Tharoor stressed that the contest between him and Kharge is “not a battle” and it should be left upon the Congress workers to choose between the duo.

“This isn’t a battle… Let party workers choose, that’s our message. I’m saying that if you’re satisfied with the party’s work, vote for Kharge Sahab. If you want a change, I’m there. But there’s no ideological problem. “There will not be any change in the message of the Congress party,” he said.

Noting that all the decisions are being taken by the Central leadership in the party, Tharoor emphasized on giving rights to the lower levels of the organization to take decisions.

“All the decisions are being taken in New Delhi these days. It would be good for the party if the rights to take decisions are given to the grassroots at the levels of the blocks, Zilla, and states,” he said.

Notably, in the manifesto released by Tharoor soon after filing his nomination, he mentioned the need for “decentralization” in the party.

Talking about his decision to run for the party’s top post, he said that he intended to contest when the election was announced, which was backed by the party workers.

“The internal democracy that we are showing is not present in any other party. When the election was announced, I had the intention (to contest). I wrote an article, stating that the election is good for the party and mentioning its reasons, “he said.

“After that several people, ordinary workers told me to contest the poll. I started thinking and talking to people…I just want the party to strengthen and that I become a voice of the changes within the party and show its different face to people,” Tharoor added.

Tharoor and Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress president.

Digvijaya Singh pulled out from the race yesterday and extended his support to Kharge, who he said is a senior and respected leader of the party, and against whom he “cannot think of contesting”.

Singh is the second Congress leader to pull out of the race after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced he would not contest the elections following the political turmoil in his state.

With the Gandhis not running for the top post, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years.

The results of the party polls will be declared on October 19. (ANI)

Congress Is Finished In Gujarat: Kejriwal

By LokMarg 13th September 2022

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday claimed that the Congress party is “finished” in Gujarat, where assembly polls will be held later this year.

Kejriwal’s claim came in response to a reporter’s question regarding a Congress leader’s allegation during his visit to the poll-bound state, where AAP is presenting itself as a strong contender and alternative to the ruling BJP.
Congress had alleged that the AAP government in Punjab is spending crores on ads for the Gujarat polls whereas Punjab is “on the brink of bankruptcy”.

Responding to the allegation, Kejriwal said, “Congress is finished. You should stop taking their questions. People no more care about their questions.”

Notably, the AAP supremo has urged the people on multiple occasions not to “waste their votes” on Congress.

Kejriwal has pitched AAP as the “only alternative” to the BJP in the state.

After its landslide victory in the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, AAP is seeking to expand its footprints in other states.

AAP had made its debut in Gujarat in the 2017 Assembly polls, but could not open its account.

AAP’s hopes in Gujarat have been fuelled by its performance in the February 2021 Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) polls in which BJP won 93 seats, while Aam Aadmi Party bagged 27 seats and the Congress drew a blank.

Meanwhile, in the 2017 Assembly elections, Congress had given a scare to the ruling BJP by restricting its MLAs to 99 and winning 77 seats on its own. There are 182 assembly seats in Gujarat. (ANI)

To Survive, Congress Needs A Major Split

By Sanjoy Narayan 3rd February 2022

Here’s a quick question. How many times do you think India’s so-called Grand Old Party, the Indian National Congress, has split since its inception in 1885? The answer is: at least 70 times. The splits have often been small regional ones such as when Chittaranjan Das and Motilal Nehru broke away in 1923 to form the Swaraj Party in what was then the Bengal Presidency (the Swaraj Party was later merged back into the Indian National Congress) but also a few major, national level breakups such as when leaders Morarji Desai and K. Kamaraj broke away in 1969 from Indira Gandhi to form what would later be part of the Janata Party. In later years there have been other major breakaway groups from the INC, notably the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, which is still active.

In recent years, particularly after the Congress’ near-decimation in parliamentary elections in 2014 and the fact that it is in power in very few of India’s 28 states, speculation in political circles about a major split in the party has been rife. The Congress is in power in the states of Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan where the party has majority support. In Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Maharashtra it shares power with alliance partners Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Shiv Sena, respectively.

The party’s diminishing fortunes have led to disillusionment among many of its prominent leaders who have lost confidence in the leadership of the party, which remains a fiefdom of the Gandhi family. Sonia Gandhi continues to be its president; her son, Rahul, is a reluctant heir who many believe is ineffective in either leading the party or winning elections.

As a result of this and the ensuing crisis in the party, several senior leaders–either at the national level or at the state level–have left the Congress, some of them choosing to join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party whose fortunes have been directionally quite the opposite of that of the Congress. Besides being in power at the Centre, the BJP or its alliances rule 18 Indian states and despite some recent setbacks, the popularity of the party or its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been ahead of any other political party or leader.

ALSO READ: Will The Congress Please Buckle Up?

The exodus from the Congress actually began nearly eight years ago when the BJP came to power. According to one estimate, more than 30 leaders, many of them former central ministers or state-level leaders, left the Congress to join the BJP. Many high-profile exits happened more recently. These include Jyotiraditya Scindia who is now a minister at the Centre; Jitin Prasada, now a minister in the Uttar Pradesh BJP-led government; and R.P.N. Singh, a former Congress minister who recently jumped ship to join the BJP. The Congress has been losing people from its second rung leadership and that is a blow for the party.

The informal G-23 or a grouping of 23 Congress leaders is a pointer to what could happen in the foreseeable future. The group comprises several heavyweights from the party. There are, for instance, five former chief ministers and several former Union ministers.

One of the most notable factors is that this group has mustered the courage to challenge the party’s leadership and call for reforms. Foremost among their demands is a call for elections to the Congress Working Committee, the powerful executive committee of the party, headed by Sonia Gandhi. The Congress has not held elections to the CWC since 1998 and this has meant that it has become an undemocratic, closed-club, which is in charge of running the party.

Recently, when the Indian government decided to honour the Congress leader, Ghulam Nabi Azad, with a national award, it set off rumblings in the party and speculation that Azad would quit the Congress and join the BJP. While that hasn’t happened yet, a split in the Congress could possibly be good for the party. For one, it would bring together some of its leaders with the potential to revive the party. Second, a strong enough breakaway faction would rid the party of the regressive leadership of the Gandhi family, which has failed at elections and at holding together its flock.

The Congress is the only party, besides the BJP, that still has a national presence, although its influence has waned. Today, however, the BJP is almost unchallenged: in 2019, the Congress won 52 seats in the Lok Sabha, failing to get 10% of the seats needed to claim the post of Leader of Opposition. With its decimation in Parliament, in the absence of a strong national party’s presence, the opposition is toothless. That is not exactly a good recipe for a democratic system.

What the party sorely needs is fresh leadership that could revive it by infusing new ideas, raising the confidence of its leaders and workers, and forging strategic alliances with regional parties so that the ruling party and its allies do not get a free run. Creating a strong opposition could be the first step towards getting back its status as the Grand Old Party.