Sonia Gandhi, stood always for aam aadmi

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is a leader with clear vision. As chairperson of the National Advisory Committee and the UPA chairperson, she played an important role in making the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Right to Information Act into law. She also actively involved in framing policies like Mid-day meal scheme for the school children, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Anti Communalism Bill and Food security Bill. Sonia Gandhi is also keen to get the Women Reservation Bill implemented.

Prez polls: Pranab accompanied by PM, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi files nomination

Congress-led UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee filed the nomination papers for on Thursday. He was accompanied by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and with other UPA allies and party leaders.

Rahul Gandhi to visit Himachal Pradesh next week

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day visit to Himachal Pradesh starting from June 27 during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with Congress leaders and workers.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Himachal Pradesh for two days from June 27 during which he would hold meetings with Congress leaders and workers at Kullu and Shimla.
The visit of Rahul Gandhi ahead of assembly elections is being seen as a step to boost the Congress workers in the state and also to bridge the divide among top leaders. Factionalism within Congress is posing question mark over party’s sincere attempts to reclaim the power in the coming elections.
Rahul Gandhi will reach Kullu on June 27 and hold discussions with Congress workers and then he will visit Shimla on June 28 to participate in another meeting of the party workers.

Sonia Gandhi acknowledges people’s power

While taking part in the discussion conducted on the occasion of the celebration of the 60^th year of Parliament, Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi underlined that that the greatest triumph of the country in the last sixty years is that the common people became the heart and soul of Indian democracy.

“The poor and illiterate masses have again and again voted with wisdom, they have voted with purpose, sometimes reaffirming their faith in those who govern them, sometimes voting them out”, Sonia Gandhi said.

Noting that India's freedom struggle reinvented the idea of democracy, the Congress President added, "If there is one thread running through these past six decades, it is that people's power is felt constantly at the highest levels of governance."

Sonia Gandhi, the Congress MP from Raebareli, also said that Indian social legislations have emerged as a global benchmark today and the laws enacted in last sixty years have especially protected the excluded and the marginalized. "My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest should have the same opportunity as the strongest," said the Congress leader quoting Mahatma Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi also paid tributes to the security officials who sacrificed their life in 2001 when Parliament had come under a terrorist attack.

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Rahul Gandhi on Pranab: We learn a lot from him always

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday wished Pranab Mukherjee for his Presidential candidature and said he is very happy for the senior leader. "Our ties are very old. We learn from him a lot always," said Rahul Gandhi. "I am very happy that he would be the President of India," said the Congress General Secretary.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), highest decision making body of the party, on Monday convened a special meeting to bid a formal farewell to Pranab Mukherjee.
After the meeting, Mukherjee told reporters: "Today my long association with the Congress Working Committee since 1978 came to an end. I met the Prime Minister. Tomorrow I will be putting in my paper as finance minister."
The meeting took place at 10 Janpath, the residence of Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi.

Sonia Gandhi thanks non-UPA parties for support to Pranab Mukherjee

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday expressed happiness that UPA Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherjee emerged not only the unanimous choice of the United Progressive Alliance as presidential candidate but also got support from other political parties outside the ruling alliance.

Speaking at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the Congress President expressed hope that that Pranab Mukherjee would get elected the next president of the country with overwhelming majority. The CWC meeting was held to bid farewell to the veteran leader in the run-up to the presidential election.

Describing Mukherjee as the senior-most member of the CWC, Sonia Gandhi said that she was happy that Pranab was "not only the Congress candidate but also the unanimous choice of the UPA."

Taking note of political parties outside the UPA supporting Mukherjee, Sonia Gandhi said it was a recognition of his stature and qualities, and thanked them for their support.

Sharing the sentiments of the Congress president, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that Mukherjee enjoyed great respect in the government and his absence would be felt. 'We will feel his absence,' the prime minister told the CWC.

Responding to the warm words of farewell, Mukherjee said, 'I always treated myself as a Congressman and did all that I could have done.'

Mukherjee told the meeting, 'Whatever I did for the party, I got back in greater measure from it.' He also thanked Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh.

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Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi: IT has a role to play to ensure connectivity

Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi while speaking at the occasion of the convocation ceremony at IIIT Amethi and said that it should be our mission to ensure connectivity among the people of our country.
Rahul Gandhi said “So what is your role as IT practitioners? I asked many of your friends and most of them told that they would like to do jobs. What you do not realize is that while you are doing jobs, you are building the bridge that is going to connect these two Indias. Some of you would be more interested in your jobs and may not be much interested about what is happening in the country. But while you are doing your job, while developing software or any other IT products, while working on computers, without knowing it, you are building that bridge. There may be people who are taking special interest in the national affairs. And they may be doing works in that regard apart from their job. Anyhow, you have already started the process of connecting our nation and I want to thank you for that,” commented Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi: Question yourself to gather more knowledge

Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi spoke at the occasion of the convocation ceremony at IIIT Amethi and said that one should question yourself to gather more knowledge.
“I had mentioned that there was a time I was sitting where you are sitting now. When I was sitting there I thought that I have the answers for all the questions. But later I knew that that is not the fact. I am very passionate about my ideas. Even today I am very passionate. Now I realise that the most important thing one should do is to question one’s ideas. I found it in my life that when I am most certain about something, when I am hundred percent sure that this is the way to do it, very soon I find that I was wrong and there is actually another way to do it and a better way”.

Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi: Knowledge is created by the destruction of knowledge

“Knowledge is created by the destruction of knowledge” said Rahul Gandhi while speaking at a convocation ceremony at IIIT Amethi. “In order to question one self, one has to listen to him first because once you do not listen to others, you cannot question yourself”.
“There were a lot of things in my mind which I thought were correct were destroyed now and I no more believe in those. Those were replaced by new ideas and I am absolutely certain that some of the ideas which I had today may get destroyed tomorrow. And that is a good thing because none of us are god. We do not have eternal knowledge or eternal understanding. Life is moving forward and constantly questioning your ideas and thoughts.” added the Congress leader.

Rahul Gandhi: “Question yourself again and again to make sure that you are right”

“When you are absolutely sure about something, you please question yourself because you may be probably wrong” was the advice from Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi to the students at IIIT Amethi. He was addressing the convocation ceremony at the prestigious institute. Rahul Gandhi also underlined that the knowledge resides closest to where the problem is.

“Life is moving forward and constantly questioning your ideas and thoughts. So my humble request to you students is that when you are absolutely sure about something, please question yourself again and again because you may be probably wrong. The other thing I want to tell you about the nature of knowledge. In India this is the big problem” said Rahul Gandhi.

“I could fortunately travel many places across the country and meet a lot of people. So I see multiple perspectives. I could very early found, before talking to poor persons, farmers, other sections, engineers, doctors, that every one’s point of view is important” added the young Congress MP. 

“You may be good at IT but if you go to a farmer he can tell you much about farming. Knowledge resides closest to where the problem is.  So if you are a farmer, you will be having the better knowledge about the farmers. Same is the case with IT.  Generally what could see is that the more you are closer towards the problem, you will have better knowledge about that problem” said Rahul Gandhi.

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Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi: Knowledge resides closest to the problem

Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi spoke at the occasion of the convocation ceremony at IIT Amethi and said that the knowledge resides closest to where the problem is.
“So my humble request to you students is that when you are absolutely sure about something, you please question yourself because you may be probably wrong. The other thing I want to tell you about the nature of knowledge. In India this is the big problem” said Rahul Gandhi.
“I could fortunately travel many places across the country and meet a lot of people. So I see multiple perspectives. I could very early found, before talking to poor persons, farmers, other sections, engineers, doctors, that every one’s point of view is important” added the Congress leader.
“You may be good at IT but if you go to a farmer he can tell you much about farming. Knowledge resides closest to where the problem is. So if you are a farmer, you will be having the better knowledge about the farmers. Same is the case with IT. Generally what could see is that the more you are closer towards the problem, you will have better knowledge about that problem” said Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi talks about two “India”

Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi while speaking at the occasion of the convocation ceremony at IIT Amethi and said that the important achievement that we got was the connectivity.

The young Congress MP from Amethi continued, “What we could achieve in the past sixty years is tremendous. We could connect the people through roads, electricity, healthcare, and in the last twenty years through IT, that is what you could do.  We started as a nation of poor people as everybody of us was poor”.

“And today, what I have been saying for a quite long time, there are now two Indias. There is one India which is connected, the prosperous India.. and most of us come from that India.. from Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Kolkata.. all these cities are connected, rich and are moving forward and fast” said Rahul Gandhi.

The other part of India is the poor India, which is not connected. And today more than 60 to 70 percentage of India are still unconnected. And the job that we have in the next 10, 20 or thirty years is to take the unconnected India and connect it to the prosperous India” asserted the Congress General Secretary.  

 

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Rahul Gandhi at IIIT Amethi: To gather knowledge, go towards the problem

Congress General Secretary and MP from Amethi Rahul Gandhi spoke at the occasion of the convocation ceremony at IIT Amethi and said that to gather more knowledge one should move more close towards the problem.
Rahul Gandhi said “So the first thing I told you was to question yourself. And the second thing is that to gather knowledge, go towards the problem. That is what I did experience. When I go to a poor person’s house and asks about the things he does, I get the knowledge. So I realize that he knows better than me about his nature of job. So it is very important to respect the person’s views who is much closer to the problem”.
“In order to respect the person’s views who is much closer to the problem, you will have to give equal status to that person. There is a feeling among the politicians in India that they are the most knowledgeable persons. Understanding the knowledge is built on the destruction of the knowledge. In our ancient scripts there is a trinity- creator, preserver and destroyer. There is a reason behind it. You cannot have creation without destruction. You cannot have destruction without creation. And you cannot have either of these two without preservation” added the young Congress MP.
“And that is the same with knowledge. To get the current knowledge you will have to destroy the existing knowledge. To destroy the existing knowledge you will have to question yourself. You will have to learn to question yourself and question the persons around you. The more you do that the more knowledgeable you will become” concluded Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi: Congress seeks vote on the basis of works done

Attacking non-Congress parties like BSP, SP and BJP for simply putting out big promises to the people to get their votes, Congress (I) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had said, “we (Congress) seek people’s votes for what we have already done” and not like other parties which seek votes on the basis of what ‘they will do.’ Congress (I) is pro-people reformist party which believes in welfare and development of the people, said Rahul Gandhi while campaigning for the recent assembly polls in UP. Our policies are correct and programs productive, added the Congress leader. Highlighting that Congress (I) brought a number of schemes and programs like MNREGA, NRHM, Janani Suraksha Yojana, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana, Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission for welfare  of the people, Rahul Gandhi said we have fulfilled our promises. While MNREGA has given gainful employment, income and respectable social status to the poor, NRHM delivers health care services to the poor in rural areas. Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojana has made available affordable houses to the poor. JNNURM seeks to provide facilities of drinking water, sewage, roads and electricity to the poor living in urban areas. “Tell me which state has not developed under Congress (I) ruled in the country,” asked Rahul Gandhi. Requesting the people to give this time a chance to Congress (I), Rahul Gandhi assured that his party would continue to work for welfare of the people and development of the state and make it No. 1 state in the country.

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Rahul Gandhi: Mayawati cheats the dalits and the poor by giving false promises

Criticizing Mayawati for cheating the dalits and the poor by giving them false promises, Congress (I) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi accused her of failing to fulfill the aspirations of the dalits and poor.  She promised to work for dalit; Innocent poor believing it voted for her; but once in power Mayawati forgot them and assumed arrogance towards them, had said Rahul Gandhi while campaigning for the recently held UP Assembly polls. Informing that Congress led central government had sent a number of welfare schemes for the poor and developmental schemes for the state, her government swindled those funds and the poor got nothing, added the Congress MP from Amethi.  “Central sponsored MNREGA scheme with Rs 60,000 crores is meant to provide guaranteed employment to the poor, while NRHM scheme with Rs 10,000 crores is meant to provide health care services to the people. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program is meant to provide free study material to poor children while Mid Day Meal program provides them with wholesome nutritious free meal.  But the benefits of these are not reaching the poor and the money is being pocketed by magical elephant (read BSP) in Lucknow”, said Rahul Gandhi.  “Mayawati has also shown no interest in controlling atrocities and rape crime against dalit women.  She has only been handing out cheques to such victims at public meetings thus adding insult to their injuries”, added Rahul Gandhi. Arguing that Mayawati is only interested in the votes of dalit but not in their welfare, Rahul Gandhi promised that a government of the dalits by Congress (I) will work for their welfare and ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach them.

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Rahul Gandhi in Karnataka urges Congress workers to sink differences, remain united and work hard

All-India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday called upon its leaders and workers to sink differences, remain united and work hard. He was on a two day visit to Karnataka.

Rahul Gandhi urged the Congress workers and leaders to keep the interests of the party above personal ambitions and work as a team. The Congress leader asked party leaders to decide whether they want to come to power in the State or remain in the Opposition.

Addressing elected members of zilla panchayats, taluk panchayats, city corporations, municipalities, town municipalities, after an interaction with them here, Rahul Gandhi blamed internal squabbles for the party not winning the last elections and said the Congress would not come to power in Karnataka unless there was accountability and discipline in the Congress.

Criticising ticket aspirants who camp in Delhi for months to influence central leaders, Rahul Gandhi said that such a system should go and the right candidates at district level should be nominated.

The Congress leader also said that “dedicated” youth and those who had worked for the party for years would be given prominence in the next elections and he told party workers not to come to Delhi seeking ticket.

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Rahul Gandhi urges Congress workers in Karnataka to work as a unit

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Sunday urged the Congress workers to work unitedly to come back to power in Karnataka.
Rahul Gandhi who was on a two-day visit to Karnataka, interacted with members of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), DCC and Block Congress Committee presidents.
During his 60-minute interaction with the members, the Congress leader took their questions on various issues including, strengthening the party at the grass root level.
Rahul Gandhi appealed the Congress leaders not to discriminate between senior and juniors for party work. Those present on the occasion included KPCC president G Parameshwara, party Karnataka in charge Madhusudan Mistry, Union Ministers Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge.

Rahul Gandhi: Bad policies by non-Congress govts. increased unemployment in UP

Holding Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav responsible for all along being embroiled in caste identity politics, Congress (I) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had said that these non-Congress leaders did not bother about development of the state.  This situation continuing for the last 22 years needs change and only Congress (I) can shape the future of UP, Rahul Gandhi had said while campaigning recently for the UP Assembly elections. Pointing that the Congress led Centre has sent a number of welfare and development schemes but the benefits have not reached the poor, said Rahul Gandhi and added that the elephant of Mayawati in Lucknow has eaten up all the money. There are no good roads, no proper medical services and no quality educational institutions. Because of these, unemployment increased in the state and the youth migrate to other states for jobs. Underlining that that these non-Congress parties have failed to develop the state, Rahul Gandhi urged the people to give a chance to his party – Congress- to form government this time to change the situation.  “You gave 22 years to these parties; now give Congress five years and we will shape the future of UP,” assured Rahul Gandhi. 

 

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Rahul Gandhi to visit Karnataka to revive Congress

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will be undertaking a two-day visit to Karnataka from June 2 in a bid to revive Congress and to formulate the Congress’s strategy for the 2013 assembly polls in the state.
He will attend the Youth Congress national executive committee meeting in Hubli on June 2. After the meeting, Rahul Gandhi will participate in an interaction session in which he would meet senior citizens, intellectuals, retired officers and Jnanapeeth awardees, and seek their suggestions to make the administration more responsive.
On the second day of his tour, the Congress leader is scheduled to visit Davanagere where he will interact with all elected members of Congress, including members of municipalities and other local bodies. Rahul Gandhi also will address a gathering of about 5,000 elected representatives. The Congress General Secretary will hold discussion with senior leaders and executive committee members of KPCC.
After lunch, Rahul Gandhi will hold an interaction session with students. The state Congress sources say that Rahul Gandhi’s visit will boost the morale of the young in order to build the nation on the lines of secular and progressive line.

Rahul Gandhi slams Mayawati’s anti-farmer actions

Attacking BSP chief Mayawati for hobnobbing with rich builders and other big companies to fulfill her greed for money, Congress (I) General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had said that she ignored plight of farmers while forcibly acquiring their lands. For the farmers, land was their only source of livelihood which she scornfully ignored, Rahul Gandhi had said while addressing public meetings in Ghaziabad and Jewar (Noida) recently as part of his Congress campaign.

Farmers were not informed that their land was being acquired; they came to know of it only when builder’s bulldozer reached the farmers’ fields, further said Rahul Gandhi. When Rahul Gandhi had challenged this unjust policy, Mayawati changed the land acquisition policy overnight. Now she is opposing new Land Acquisition Bill in the Parliament to harm the farmers.

“While Congress (I) led UPA government has made provision of fertiliser subsidy for farmers, Mayawati has not made that available to the farmers. Similarly while highbred seeds have not been provided to the farmers to increase agricultural yield, Mayawati has sold state owned sugar mills thus putting the farmers at the mercy of private sugar mill owners” said Rahul Gandhi.

Reiterating that that the only way to come out of this bad situation was to help the Congress to forma state government, Rahul Gandhi appealed to the people to support Congress (I). The Congress leader also had assured that his party would provide responsible government which would follow pro-farmer policy.

 

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