RAHUL GANDHI

NEW DELHI: Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh Thursday described Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi as "marathon man" of politics as he sought to pin down BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the 2002 riots and his government's social development record.  Charges and retorts came thick and fast as Ramesh and Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary Amit Shah, debating at "Panchayat Aaj Tak", accused each others' parties of trying to polarise the coming Lok Sabha polls. The duo also exchanged barbs on the "clean chit" given to Modi by an Ahmedabad court with Ramesh suggesting that verdict had to be seen in the light of the court's location.  Shah accused Congress of trying for polarisation, and charged it with seeking to make the Gujarat riots an issue though Modi had been given a clean chit.  Attacking Shah's stand, Ramesh contended that the special investigation team that probed some cases of...

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...

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...

RAMABAI NAGAR (UP): Rahul Gandhi said the country's telecom revolution ushered in by his father Rajiv Gandhi was authored by a "vishwakarma" , Sam Pitroda , introducing the technocrat as a poster boy of "most backward castes" (MBCs) and giving a final thrust to Congress's social engineering plank for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. In a short speech at a packed MBC rally, Rahul played the 'pride card' for sections struggling to find a place in the OBC monolithic that Congress thinks can help it slay backward champions Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav. Rahul said the cellphones in their hands were powered by a policy promoted by Rajiv Gandhi , but authored by a man (Satyanarayan Gangaram Pitroda), who is a "vishwakarma" by caste. "B a d a i h a i n w o h.... You can change the world but have been ignored and so you are backward," he said, stunning observers by his use of mascot and idiom in backward politics. The bu...

BADAUN, UP: Accusing Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav of playing caste politics, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday sought a change in power saying a "government of the poor" by Congress in Uttar Pradesh will change the future of the state. Gandhi, who is on the second day of his five-day trip in the Samajwadi Party stronghold, alleged Mayawati government was corrupt and the money meant for poor does not reach them. "Elephants normally eat leaves. But you have magic elephant in Lucknow which eats currency notes," he told a party rally here ahead of the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Seeking a five-year stint in power, he said corruption in UP government was affecting the future of the state as no employment opportunity is generated in the state. "UPiites have built roads in Maharashtra, they work in Kerala, they help the farmers in Punjab...but they do not have roads, electricity or water in their villages. Who built the Delhi Metro? Who is working in ...

Notwithstanding the telecom minister Kapil Sibal threatening to block Google for permitting objectionable material against Congress leaders, party general secretary and tech-savvy Rahul Gandhi is taking help of Google Apps to keep his ears to the ground. Indian Youth Congress has tied up with Google to lend its apps services to help Gandhi and other party leaders remain constantly in touch with the foot soldiers. Managing director of Google APAC Doug Farber here on Tuesday said working with the Youth Congress was a fantastic experience. Google Apps is independently customisable version of several Google products under a custom domain name, web applications with several functions to remain in touch via Gmail, Google Groups, Google Calender, Talk, Docs and Sites. Explaining how the technology was helping the party cadres, head of Google Enterprise Pradeep Agarwal said it was a low cost solutions to replace communication gadgets like fax, telephone and other parapherenalia. The...

Rahul Gandhi will visit earthquake -affected areas in Sikkim on Tuesday and meet victims and their families. Gandhi was scheduled to visit Meghalaya on September 21 for a public meeting of Youth Congress membership. But as the tragedy occurred on Sunday evening leading to casualties in Sikkim, the plan was modified. Gandhi will now visit Gangtok on Tuesday morning before attending the scheduled Youth Congress meeting in Meghalaya. Sources said the AICC general secretary will visit the state capital at 9:00am in the morning and meet the earthquake victims lodged in hospitals and homes. His Youth Congress membership meeting is scheduled at 11:30am at Mini Stadium, Ampathi in West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya. The death toll in Sunday's powerful temblor has shot up to 92, including 53 in the Himalayan state while more than 3,000 people have been rescued in quake-hit areas of Sikkim by defence forces so far.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi today faced an angry crowd which raised angry slogans against him when he went to meet the victims of the high court bomb blast at the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. He reached the hospital in the afternoon and spent nearly half an hour with the victims and their family members. Gandhi sought to know from the hospital administration the nature of the injuries suffered by the victims in the blast. While leaving the hospital, the hostile crowd of relatives of the victims raised slogans 'Rahul Gandhi Sharam karo, Rahul Gandhi vapas jao'. 

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who had gone to the US to bring back his mother Sonia, has returned to the national capital. Rahul had gone to the US some days ago amid clear indications from the party that the Congress president was recovering well post surgery and expected to be back in the national capital by the first week of September. Highly placed party sources confirmed the return of the AICC general secretary. They said Sonia Gandhi has not yet returned, but indicated that she could be back here shortly. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was staying with her mother, was also back here some 10 days ago in an indication that the Congress president was recovering well. The 64-year-old Congress president had undergone a surgery for an undisclosed ailment in a US hospital on August 4. Sonia Gandhi had constituted a four-member team of Rahul Gandhi, AK Antony, Ahmed Patel and Janardhan Dwivedi to look after party affairs in her absence.

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 ...