Don't need kings, spirit of 'chowkidar' growing, says Narendra Modi

At the close to two-hour 'Main bhi Chowkidar' interaction, the PM tried to convey that the people of India had already made up their mind to return the chowkidar to power on May 23.

At one of his biggest electoral outreaches of the 2019 Lok Sabha poll campaign on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi kept the focus on the issue of national security, his efforts at rooting out corruption and his agenda for the next five years. He said the nation did not need ‘rajas and maharajas’ and it made him happy that the spirit behind chowkidar (watchman) is expanding.

At the close to two-hour ‘Main bhi Chowkidar’ interaction with a packed audience at Delhi’s Talkatora stadium, streamed live on television channels, including state broadcaster Doordarshan, the PM tried to convey that the people of India had already made up their mind to return the chowkidar to power on May 23.

(Business Standard)

Modi asked the party workers to consult the facts put out on NaMo app to dispel Opposition’s “lies” and reach out particularly to first-time voters.

Modi said he brought India close to entering the $5-trillion economy club in the world, and in the next term he would want India to enter that club.

While the PM reiterated his promise of doubling farmers’ incomes and house for all by 2022, there was no mention of his government’s scheme of Rs 6,000 to small and marginal farmers.

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Modi said he had delivered on the promises made in 2014 of protecting the taxpayers’ hard-earned money by being an honest chowkidar. The PM said in five years, he brought those who looted people’s money to the threshold of jails and now needs people’s blessings to put them behind bars. The PM said his objective would be to strengthen the education sector.

According to the BJP, the event was seen at 500 spots across the country through video conferencing, and the PM took questions from audience gathered to watch the speech in cities across the country.

Amid frequent chants of “Modi, Modi”, the PM said he devoted his first term to fill the ditches and potholes in the system, and would build “grand buildings” on these in the forthcoming term.

He said his government tried to deliver the “needs” of the people in the first five years, like electricity, toilets, roads, airports, etc, and would focus on fulfilling aspirations of people in the next five years.

Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Opposition leaders gather in unity to target BJP

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee raised slogans such as "Modi Hatao, Loktantra Bachao. Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao.

Opposition leaders gathered on Wednesday — for the third time in less than a month — in a show of unity, and mounted an attack against Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From a common stage in the national capital, they said the current government should be “ousted” in the coming Lok Sabha elections as it was a threat to democracy and constitutional values.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the situation in the country was “more dangerous” than during the Emergency, while her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal said people should not repeat the mistake of making a “Class XII pass out” as the PM and they should back an “educated” leader.

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Besides Banerjee and Kejriwal, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, Sharad Yadav of the Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD), Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s Kanimozhi, former Arunachal CM Gegong Apang, Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI leader D Raja, and Samajawadi Party (SP) leader Ram Gopal Yadav spoke at the rally at Jantar Mantar. Banerjee called on Opposition parties to fight together. Congress leader Anand Sharma was also present.

“At the national level, we will fight together. For the greater interest of the country, I am ready to sacrifice my life, my party. I am ready to sacrifice everything,” she said. “It is the prime minister’s last day as elected leader in Parliament today (Wednesday),” she said after the Lok Sabha adjourned sine die.

Banerjee also raised slogans such as “Modi Hatao, Loktantra Bachao. Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao (Remove Modi, Save Democracy… Save the Country).” The mega rally was convened by Kejriwal. “Modi has to go,” he said.

Disgruntled BJP lawmaker Shatrughan Sinha, too, later joined the rally and attacked his own party’s government. He said Modi should speak the truth on the agreement between India and France on the Rafale jets because, as PM he was accountable to the nation.

Business Standard

Priyanka takes up Congress role in UP after over a decade behind the scenes

The 47-yr-old to take over as gen secy for eastern UP; may contest from Rae Bareli.

With the general elections less than 90 days away, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday appointed his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, which constitutes roughly 40 Lok Sabha seats, including their family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi constituency.

Priyanka, who turned 47 earlier this month, has been an important, behind-the-scenes figure in the party’s decision-making processes for over a decade, but Wednesday’s announcement marks her official political debut. With UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi having already indicated her desire to retire from electoral politics, the move could pave the way for Priyanka’s entry into the electoral arena and she could contest from Rae Bareli, the seat currently represented by her mother, party sources said.

Her appointment, however, opened the Congress to renewed attacks from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over “dynastic politics” and "lack of inner-democracy".

BJP Spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress had admitted to Rahul Gandhi having “failed” in providing leadership.

(Business Standard)

The Congress's allies, including Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav, welcomed the news, though. Congress strategists believe Priyanka's charisma would help the party perform better in key states of UP and Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls. The appointment has ramifications, at least in UP, not just for the principal rival BJP, but also the frenemies Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP).

Speaking to reporters in Amethi, the Congress president indicated his party would be willing to renegotiate its electoral understanding in UP with the SP and the BSP. Earlier this month, the two parties had announced their alliance in UP for the Lok Sabha polls, keeping the Congress out of it but also promising that they would not field any candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli. The three parties are looking at what within the Congress is called the 'Jangipur model', where the Congress might put up strong fights in 15-20 seats in the state and help the SP and the BSP by eating into the BJP's upper caste votes in the rest. In bargain, the SP and the BSP would field weak candidates in the Congress strongholds.

For the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, nearly all hands are now on deck for the Lok Sabha polls. While their first cousin Varun Gandhi is currently a BJP Lok Sabha member from Sultanpur in UP, it is little secret that he is out of favour in the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah dispensation and there is speculation of his joining the Congress.

Many within the Congress view Priyanka's appointment as the dynasty sounding the war bugle against Modi and the Shah-led BJP. Some said the move was also the party's last throw of the dice to win over the electorate in not just UP, but also northern Bihar.

The loss of party's influence in UP and Bihar post-1989 has meant the Congress never winning a majority in the Lok Sabha in the last 30 years.

Cong must support alliance between regional parties to unseat Modi in 2019

Despite the CWC projecting Rahul as the PM candidate for the 2019 general elections, leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Naveen Patnaik and Mayawati might have to be accommodated to defeat the NDA.

Although the recently-constituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) anointed Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate in its very first meeting, senior party leaders, including Gandhi himself, have subsequently indicated that forging alliances with like-minded parties to stop the Bharatiya Janata Party from coming back to power would be the Congress’s top priority. In case of a hung Lok Sabha in 2019, the Congress has said that it is open to supporting any non-BJP/RSS backed leader for the top position.

2019’s general elections are still a few months away. More immediately knocking on the Congress party’s doors are the crucial assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, scheduled later this year. Only when it is able to wrest at least two of these states from the BJP, can it think of emerging as the pivot around a larger coalition to take on the formidable Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Despite giving consistent signals that the party may be on an upward swing, it cannot be debated that the grand old party is currently facing one of its worst crises and is short of both funds and a determined workforce. Naturally, the Congress is hedging bets on its performance in the upcoming assembly elections to pull its weight as a national party with other anti-BJP political players. At the same time, it will have to work around the priorities of regional parties, which may be unwilling to let the Congress play big brother, irrespective of its showing in the assembly elections.

Given the current political landscape, the Congress is deeply aware of its strengths and limitations. In any scenario, forging alliances with non-BJP parties will be crucial for the depleted Congress to make a mark in the general elections.

That is why the ‘P. Chidambaram formula’, or what the former Union finance minister proposed in the CWC meeting, is being discussed in political circles. In his presentation at the CWC meeting, Chidambaram proposed that the Congress should work to secure anywhere between 140 and 150 seats in the 12 states where it is directly up against the BJP. In the remaining states, it should form pre- or post-poll alliances with regional parties to garner another 150 seats, which should be enough to form the government in 2019.

However, the problem with such a formula is that it is easier said than done. The former minister’s calculations can be contrasted with the fact that the Congress’s average seat tally was only a little more than 130 from 1996 to 2004, when the party was in a much better shape. While in 2009 it increased its tally largely due to its improved performance in Andhra Pradesh, it has since then been reduced to only 48 in the Lok Sabha.

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