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In January 2013, <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> had hogged the limelight during ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Jaipur, as many <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> leaders had then demanded that he should be named as the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 <keyword id="6355187" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> Elections. Rahul is once again at the centre-stage. The news is rife that he may be crowned as the Congress party chief at AICC meet in April and this in reveals an ET report. 
 
As per the business daily, Congress is prepping up to organise an AICC session, on lines of ‘Chintan Shivir’, in between March 28 and April 15 for Rahul Gandhi’s immediate elevation. The party leaders feel that there should be no more delay in this decision. 
 If we believe the report, <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword> is likely to be announced as the chairperson of the Congress parliamentary party. This hints at that the party leadership is preparing for generation shift. 
 The much-anticipated rejig in the party took place on Monday, when Ashok Chavan became the new <keyword id="2540" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="President">president</keyword> of Maharashtra, <keyword id="56431" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sanjay-Nirupam">Sanjay Nirupam</keyword> took over as the president of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee, Ghulam Ahmed Mir replaced <keyword id="346988" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saifuddin-Soz">Saifuddin Soz</keyword> to take over as <keyword id="145409" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="PCC-chief">PCC chief</keyword> in J&amp;K. Bharatsinh Solanki is now the new PCC chief of Gujarat, <keyword id="50339" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ajay-Maken">Ajay Maken</keyword> has taken over over the reins of Congress party in Delhi, and for Telangana region, Uttam Kumar Reddy is the new PCC chief. According to the Economic Times report, these appointments have Rahul Gandhi’s stamp. 
 
Some of the Congress leaders feel that two power centres is resulting in more confusion in the party. And they believe that an immediate solution may help party draft its future strategy. 
(Image: TOI)

​Rahul Gandhi may take over the reins of Congress in April

NEW DELHI: Dr Manmohan Singh’s legacy came under yet another round of intense attack with former <keyword id="6356851" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="CAG">CAG</keyword> Vinod Rai alleging that the former <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">prime minister</keyword> was aware of major scandals as they unfolded, refuting claims Singh was not fully aware of the machinations that resulted in humungous loss to the public exchequer and mauled the <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> party’s electoral fortunes. 
 The former CAG’s revelations challenge the defence of Singh that the <keyword id="6446767" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="2G-scam">2G scam</keyword> was perpetuated by A Raja using the political necessity of Congress to humour DMK, thus fastening the mega swindle to the reformist PM. 
 
Rai, whose book “Not Just An Accountant” is set for release in the next few days, claimed that Dr Singh was alerted by his senior cabinet minister Kamal Nath about the brewing 2G scam. 
 
Adding credibility to Rai’s claim, Kamal Nath admitted that he had cautioned Dr Singh against 2G allocations. “I wrote to the Prime Minister that I am hearing all sorts of things are going on in 2G allocation. The PM chose to do nothing,” Nath told Times Now. The former commerce minister said he feels that had Dr Singh intervened “things would have been different for the Congress”. However, there was no point flogging a dead horse, said Nath even as he emphasized that “A Raja was prosecuted for what he did”, and that Rai should not resort to sensationalism to boost the sales of his book. 
 
 
 
The former CAG also claimed that he was under pressure to drop the name of the former civil aviation minister from the federal auditor’s report on the controversial purchase of aircraft for public carriers. He said the then minister, Praful Patel, had “nudged” the public carriers to go in for the large-scale purchase. 
 
“All hell broke loose when the draft report reached the ministry and bureaucrats of all hues tried to prompt the CAG to drop the word “nudge”. 
 
Patel denied the charge saying that he never met Rai. 
 Rai’s is only the latest book from those who have had a ringside view of Dr Singh’s prime ministership, and who later chose to record the unpleasant realities of the PMO under him and the <keyword id="26374" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="UPA-government">UPA government</keyword>. Dr Singh’s former media advisor Sanjaya Baru, former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh and former coal secretary PC Parakh have all recorded the makings of many scandals that have marked the UPA decade, portraying the former PM as the leader who was not in control or unwilling to intervene. 
 Elaborating on what he had told TOI exclusively on August 24, Rai on Thursday told Time Now that he was approached by three Congress MPs – former <keyword id="6356398" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Law-Minister">Law minister</keyword> Ashwani Kumar who had to resign for allegedly pressuring the CBI to dilute PMO’s role in the Coalgate scam, <keyword id="56431" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sanjay-Nirupam">Sanjay Nirupam</keyword> and Sandeep Dikshit – to drop the name of the Prime Minister from the CAG report on 2G spectrum allocation. 
 
 
Manmohan Singh’s legacy as PM came under yet another round of intense attack with former CAG Vinod Rai alleging that the former prime minister was aware of major scandals as they unfolded. 
 
“I mentioned in the book that after the PAC meeting on the 2G, Congress MPs did tell me that keep the PM out of this,” Rai said. 
 
Reacting to Rai’s claim, Sanjay Nirupam said the former CAG was lying. “I have never spoken to him,” Nirupam said. 
 
Rai said the irregularities in allocation of 2G licences date back to the tenure of Raja’s predecessor and his DMK colleague Dayanidhi Maran in the telecom ministry. “And we had evidence of the licence being given out at particular prices not only from Raja's time but before also from the previous minister who was also from the DMK. We found that there was a track record that the previous minister had started in a particular way and Raja followed that way. But Raja kept informing the PM what he was planning to do,” he said. 
 
Rai said then PM Manmohan Singh’s own cabinet colleagues were advising him against the licence allocation in arbitrary manner. “Like his own cabinet colleagues were saying that lets discuss this in a GoM. The finance ministry was also saying that lets bring it to a group of ministers. The law ministry had also advised him to do that. But somehow it did not take place,” he said. 
 
 
 
<keyword id="204796" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Former-Union">Former Union</keyword> minister Kamal Nath (L) has claimed that he had cautioned Manmohan Singh against 2G allocations and slammed the former PM's inaction over the issue. 
 
The former CAG said former PM had enough time to stop the allocations. “It could have been stopped because between this letter of 26th December and 10th of January when the LOIs were actually issued, there was a fortnight’s time,” he said. 
 
“The buck stops at the PM's desk in any parliamentary democracy. He is the CEO of the country. He can stop, or he can initiate, both. I have written in the book that he probably chose not to stop,” Rai said.

Manmohan Singh Knew Of 2G Scam As It Unfolded, Ex-CAG Vinod Rai Says

DELHI/ BANGALORE: Within 23 days of its stunning debut in the Delhi assembly election, the appeal of <keyword id="6354944" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Aam-Aadmi-Party">Aam Aadmi Party</keyword> appears to have spread across the country, from north to south, west to east. Donations are pouring in and volunteers are lining up to join the party, including some senior corporate leaders who are chucking up prized jobs to work with <keyword id="6356115" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="AAP">AAP</keyword>. 
 In Bangalore, V Balakrishnan, the <keyword id="6354512" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Infosys">Infosys</keyword> board member once seen as a future CEO, who quit the company last month, said on Wednesday he had joined AAP. In Mumbai, <keyword id="48669" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="banker">banker</keyword> Meera Sanyal, the Harvard Business School-educated head of <keyword id="65497" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Royal-Bank-of-Scotland">Royal Bank of Scotland</keyword>, has quit to join AAP. Adarsh Shastri, grandson of former Indian <keyword id="71" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Prime-Minister">Prime Minister</keyword> Lal Bahadur Shastri, resigned as head of sales for Apple in western India to join Kejriwal. 
 
And donations to AAP have spiraled. On Wednesday, the party had collected almost Rs 38 lakh from online donations till 10pm. This has been the highest collection in a day so far, barring two days – one when Shanti Bhushan donated it Rs 1 crore and another day when a Singapore-based sympathizer had sent in Rs 50 lakh. 
 Until the Delhi elections, AAP was receiving on an average Rs 6-7 lakh a day. It stopped collections once it reached its target of Rs 20 crore. Fund collection resumed on December 13, when the party formally announced its intention to contest the 2014 <keyword id="6355187" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Lok-Sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> elections. Since then, the average collection has been around Rs 17.5 lakh a day. 
 
The number of people flocking to the party has seen a dramatic rise. Since December 8, 2013, when the Delhi election results were announced, 3.03 lakh volunteers have joined AAP across the country and over 1 lakh have become members. "These figures are of those joining online and don't include volunteers and members who have registered manually at party offices. The party's membership fee is Rs 10 but people below 18 years of age cannot become members. Similarly government officials cannot become members. Such people instead register as volunteers," said Ankit Lal, who handles AAP's online campaign. 
 One of those joining online is Balakrishnan, who was on the CEO track at Infosys before he quit. He told media on Wednesday that he had paid the Rs 10 AAP membership fee but said it was too early to talk about his role in the party. Balakrishnan's entry into AAP pits him against his long-time Infosys colleague Nandan Nilekani, who is tipped to be the <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> candidate from the South Bangalore in the LS elections. Balakrishnan described AAP as the most successful startup ever by an IIT-ian and said he wanted to be part of the revolution that AAP was bringing about in the country. 
 
AAP's online campaign, managed by a young and tech-savvy team, is rarely short of ideas. The most recent — one of the reasons for the spike in collections on Wednesday – was a simple message: ‘Donate Rs 2014 in the year 2014'. Till 10pm, 1,273 people had donated Rs 2014 or more. "It started with one volunteer wanting to donate Rs 2014 to mark the New Year. We decided to put it up on the party page and it seemed to have caught the fancy of a lot of people," said Lal. 
 AAP suddenly grabbing national attention hasn't gone unnoticed by political parties, with leaders either racheting up their criticism of the newbie or acknowledging the potency of AAP's politics. On Wednesday, Congress's <keyword id="227742" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Mumbai-MP">Mumbai MP</keyword> <keyword id="56431" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Sanjay-Nirupam">Sanjay Nirupam</keyword> took a cue from the <keyword id="6354952" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Delhi-Government">Delhi government</keyword>'s decision to slash power tariff by threatening to launch an agitation if the <keyword id="6356172" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Maharashtra-government">Maharashtra government</keyword> too didn't cut electricity charges. 
 In neighbouring Goa, <keyword id="5269" type="POSITION" weightage="40" keywordseo="Chief-Minister">chief minister</keyword> <keyword id="6363133" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Manohar-Parrikar">Manohar Parrikar</keyword> – an IIT alumnus like Kejriwal – appeared to be praising the AAP leader at a time when some of his colleagues in Delhi have sharpened their criticism of AAP, possibly because they feel more threatened by it. Parrikar said, "He (Kejriwal) has shown the right intent. Let us see if he can deliver." 
 
CPM general secretary Prakash Karat on Wednesday said his party considers AAP to belong to non-Congress, non-BJP political forces — a space that CPM seeks to create and promote. He said any alliance with AAP would depend on how it evolved on the political and policy platforms, on whether it would be anti communalism and against "neo-liberal economic policies". 
 
In Ahmedabad, former BJP MLA Kanu Kalsariya, a gynaecologist who had led the agitation against Nirma's cement plant in his Gariadhar constituency, joined AAP on Wednesday. He admitted that he was about to join Congress, but now saw AAP as "a symbol of people's power." 
 There have been reports about BJP and Congress being worried by the new kid on the block. For starters, they joined hands to quickly pass the Lokpal Bill. Since then, Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh have claimed that AAP's programme was similar to that of <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword>'s, while the BJP brass has reportedly met to assess the impact of AAP in the coming LS polls.

AAP grabs national attention; volunteers, funds pour in

Election 2019: Congress Candidate List for Maharashtra

Yet again, Milind Deora of Congress had lost his precious Mumbai South seat to his Shiv Sena rival Arvind Ganpat Sawant. This time around, this former union minister in the 2009 Congress government, was defeated by a wide margin of 1 lakh votes. This is in spite of high ticket endorsements that Deora had to get this time around. Mukesh Ambani, the country’s richest man and top businessman, who is also a South Mumbai resident had batted for him this time by appealing to Mumbai South's elite voters. “I believe Milind has in-depth knowledge of social, economic and cultural ecosystem of their South Mumbai constituency,” Ambani said in a video. The chairman of the third largest bank, Uday Kotak too batted for Deora. But this fell short of the Sena-BJP alliance which swept the state. Saffron Mumbai All of Mumbai's constituencies went the Saffron way as Poonam Mahajan of BJP won over Priya Dutt yet again in Mumbai North Central. The sitting MP of Mumbai North, Gopal Shetty also defeated Congress' Urmila Matondar by a margin of over 4.6 lakh votes. Sena's Gajanan Kirtikar and Rahul Ramesh Shewale won Mumbai North West and Mumbai South Central respectively. BJP's Manoj Kotak won the Mumbai North East seat. Lost Hopes This election brought a new hope for Milind Deora, a union minister in the last UPA government, who was a victim of Modi wave. This Congress candidate had hoped to reclaim his Mumbai South seat back from Arvind Sawant, the Shiv Sena candidate, who fought off the upper crest voters who have been bringing in their own to the fold, for decades now. Mumbai North Central also had interesting candidates. Poonam Mahajan, the daughter of late Telecom Minister Pramod Mahajan, contested against Congress’ Priya Dutt, the daughter of the legendary Sunil Dutt. Like Deora, Dutt too had to concede her sitting seat to Mahajan, after Modi wave washed away her seat prospects to this first-timer, by a massive 1.86 lakh vote margin. Dutt’s loss in Mumbai North Central was one of Congress’ major disappointments for the election. Star power Priya’s brother Sanjay Dutt whose image is now wiped squeaky clean, thanks to his biopic Sanju, had stepped in to campaign for his sister. This election, Congress employed enough star power to battle the larger-than-life Modi image. Actress turned politician Urmila Matondkar has braved many controversies to get Congress elected from Mumbai North, and take down BJP’s sitting MP Gopal Shetty. However, BJP had its share of troubles as well. They had to drop the sitting MP Kirit Somaiya from their candidate list after a controversial statement made on Sena leader Uddhav Thackeray. They fielded Manoj Kotak for the Mumbai North East seat after hotheaded Sena party members threatened to campaign against them if Somaiya came to power. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has fielded only a single candidate from Mumbai North East, Sanjay Patil, who had lost to Somaiya last time. Congress’ Sanjay Nirupam from Mumbai North West had contested against the sitting MP, Gajanan Kirtikar of Shiv Sena, to whom he conceded defeat to, last time. Eknath Gaikwad of Congress battled out Shiv Sena’a Rahul Shewale for the Mumbai South Central seat, in the city which has six Lok Sabha seats to offer.

Mukesh Ambani endorsed Milind Deora loses in Mumbai South

The Indian Government has all the ammunition to silence those who think the <keyword id="639058" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Surgical-strikes">surgical strikes</keyword> on <keyword id="3719841" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="terror-hubs-in-Pakistan">terror hubs in Pakistan</keyword> Occupied Kashmir (POK) and may release the video footages soon. 
 The <keyword id="6354416" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Army">Indian Army</keyword> has given its nod to the government to release the footage and the final nod is awaited from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) side. 
 
Since the surgical strikes, leaders in the Opposition parties such as P Chidambaram, Arvind Kejriwal and Congress' Sanjay Nirupam have asked for 'proof ' of the strikes. 
 
Top government officials told ET that the decision on whether or not to release the strike footage will depend on the larger call on likely Pakistani response. One possibility being considered is whether making the video evidence public may escalate Indo-Pak tensions by forcing the Pakistani establishment into a corner. 
 
As per reports, there is evidence to show the cross-border strikes were highly effective and there are photographs, shot by both ground troops and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). 
 
"There is no doubt at all that the strikes inflicted heavy damage. Proof is available with the government that clearly shows our troops engaging the targets effectively,” a senior government official told ET.

India has ample proof of surgical strikes to silence critics, may release it soon

Check out winning candidate list from Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP + Shiv Sena easily beat Congress + NCP

<keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> has led the <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> to its biggest <keyword id="6359191" type="EVENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="election">election</keyword> victory. In fact, it is the biggest election victory in the country since Rajiv Gandhi swept to power in 1984, following India Gandhi’s assassination. The outcome for the BJP has been even better than what the exit polls had predicted like Chanakya News. 
 
The BJP has swept away parties like Mayawati’s Bahujan Samajwadi Party and Mulayam’s Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh. BSP was completely decimated and even failed to open its account. 
 <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword>’ national tally has been less than that of the BJP in UP alone. The BJP had won 251 seats and was leading in 31 constituencies, making its total tally to 282 as per the latest update. The Congress had won only 41 and was leading in five, managing just a total of 46, as per the latest update. 
 <keyword id="41281" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="NDA">NDA</keyword>’s tally stood at 337 (lead+win), while <keyword id="6355364" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="UPA">UPA</keyword>’s tally stood at modest 59 (lead+win). 
 
Several Congress heavyweights – Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, PK Bansal, Kapil Sibbal, Sandeep Dikshit, Ajay Makan, Madhsudan Mistry, Sanjay Nirupam and Priya Dutt had to bite the dust. 
 
All the BJP-ruled states - Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh headed the BJP way. 
It remains to be seen what Modi does with this degree of political authority.

You Searched For "Sanjay Nirupam" and got 10 results

Rahul Gandhi may take over the reins of Congress in April

BI India Bureau

Manmohan Singh Knew Of 2G Scam As It Unfolded, Ex-CAG Vinod Rai Says

Times Of India

AAP grabs national attention; volunteers, funds pour in

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Election 2019: Congress Candidate List for Maharashtra

BI India Bureau

Mukesh Ambani endorsed Milind Deora loses in Mumbai South

BI India Bureau

India has ample proof of surgical strikes to silence critics, may release it soon

BI India Bureau

Check out winning candidate list from Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections

BI India Bureau

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP + Shiv Sena easily beat Congress + NCP

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It Is Actually Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar, BJP Is Going To Make The Government In India

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Lok Sabha Election 2019 Candidate List for Maharashtra

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You Searched For "Sanjay Nirupam" and got 10 results

​Rahul Gandhi may take over the reins of Congress in April

BI India Bureau

Manmohan Singh Knew Of 2G Scam As It Unfolded, Ex-CAG Vinod Rai Says

Times Of India

AAP grabs national attention; volunteers, funds pour in

Times Of India

Election 2019: Congress Candidate List for Maharashtra

BI India Bureau

Mukesh Ambani endorsed Milind Deora loses in Mumbai South

BI India Bureau

India has ample proof of surgical strikes to silence critics, may release it soon

BI India Bureau

Check out winning candidate list from Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections

BI India Bureau

Maharashtra Lok Sabha Election Result 2019: BJP + Shiv Sena easily beat Congress + NCP

BI India Bureau

It Is Actually Ab Ki Baar Modi Sarkaar, BJP Is Going To Make The Government In India

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Rahul Gandhi may take over the reins of Congress in April