RAHUL GANDHI

Lucknow, Dec 28: In the wake of ongoing debate over Lokpal issue, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi blamed the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) for the defeat of Constitution Amendment Bill on Lokpal on Wednesday. Rahul was addressing an election meeting at Dharauhra in Lakhimpur on Wednesday. Reacting strongly over the defeat of constitutional amendment bill on Lokpal, Rahul remarked: "We (Congress) wanted to have a strong Lokpal which has constitutional status like Election Commission. But BJP did not want it so they defeated it on the floor." Rahul even claimed that BJP had earlier assured that they will besupporting the government on this issue. Rahul expressed surprise over the issue stating that senior BJP leaders were present in the parliament when voting took place and thus it was established that the action took place at their instance. Training his gun on CM Mayawati, Rahul alleged that she had earlier termed the Food Security Bill as a drama and was int...

SITAPUR: "Has Mayawati ever drunk water from a well in the past five years," asks Rahul Gandhi, rolling up his sleeves, the trademark style he has acquired before addressing a gathering. "No," roars the crowd in Sitapur, a town in central Uttar Pradesh, about 95 km north of Lucknow. "Is it not your right to get jobs in your own state," he asks and pauses for the crowd to answer. "Why do you need to migrate to other states for a livelihood," he asks again, sounding very much like a seasoned politician. Rahul, the tireless campaigner, has been a familiar sight these past four years. The Congress general secretary has hopped onto general compartments of trains, spent nights in huts and eaten with villagers, especially Dalits. But Rahul, the public speaker, has largely been in hiding. The Congress leader has been at best a hesitant speaker. That is changing. Rahul's new style of speech is as measured as it is aggressive. The crowds respond...

LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Saturday asked people to reject 'caste and communal' parties in the upcoming UP assembly elections and vote for the development. He promised if voted to power, Congress will develop the state in five years.  Addressing a rally in Kasganj, Kanshiramnagar, Rahul said: "Other parties make tall claims and promises. We made just one promise. We will bring a government that would be representative of all classes of society. For last 22 years, UP is being ruled by the parties which talk on caste and communal lines. The people of the state should give the Congress just five years, after giving other parties a chance for the past 22 years," he said.  Rahul said that UP chief minister Mayawati had on October 9, 2007 said that no one would benefit from MNREGA. "Go to Rajasthan, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. Even the poorest of the poor people would tell you what they have got from MNREGA. They ...

New Delhi, Dec 22 (IANS) Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will be holding his first public rally in poll-bound Uttarakhand Friday, sources said. Gandhi, who has been aggresively campaigning in Uttar Pradesh, will address the rally at Parade Ground in Dehradun, the hill state's capital. Gandhi launched his party's election campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the largest state in the country, from his grandfather and India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's Phulpur constituency Nov 14. Elections to assemblies in seven states in India, including Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, are scheduled for early next year.

When Digvijaya Singh was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the 6am queue of citizens at his home could often be seen handing their memorandums to or chatting with a young boy. Now 24, the boy is set to become the latest political son to enter the family profession. Jaivardhan Singh, son of Congress general secretary and “Raja of Raghogarh” Digvijaya, can expect some sort of rivalry with a fellow royal and Dosco, 16-year-old Scindia scion Mahaaryaman, who cut his political teeth a year ago. On December 21, Jaivardhan will start a 150km padayatra in Raghogarh, taking a short break from the MBA programme in rural development he is doing at America’s Columbia University. The former Doon School student plans to spend eight days and nights with villagers. “He will be spending nights at Dalit and tribal homes. The idea is to familiarise himself with the issues of the real India. Jaivardhan hopes to become a true follower of Rahul Gandhi,” said a Digvijaya confidant who did not want t...

BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) is trying to bring the Varun Gandhi against congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. According to them Rahul Gandhi created hurricane in UP, especially in Young generation leaders. Those who are close to Varun Gandhi says “The other Gandhi is slowly and cautiously getting ready for a bigger position in the state as the political parties think it can be profitable on his young generation, his domestic conditions and rhetoric to control a BJP restoration in a state where the party might obtain merely 10 out of 80 places in the previous Lok Sabha voting. "There is a huge and powerful part inside the BJP that needs a better position for him in the state. They need a youthful energetic candidate to be its face in Uttar Pradesh. Few people still require him to be the candidate of the party's youth division as the party lacking of young politicians," said a party resource. "The party is in mess in the state in spite of having elder leaders from ...