Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has placed the OBC, SC and ST question as the top priority of the national discourse by maintaining a sharp emphasis on the matter in his election campaign speeches and demanding nationwide caste census to better evaluate the situation of India’s Dalits, OBCs and the poor. Gandhi even said that “an X-ray of society” – a national headcount to determine the socio-economic status of marginalised sections – is “now [his] life’s mission”. He added that the Congress party manifesto promised the return of a small amount of money to the 90% people of the country from the ₹16 lakh crore that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave to the select 22 crony capitalists he hobnobs with. “We did not say we will return the entire 16 lakh crore. We have calculated and said only a small amount of money would be returned,” Rahul Gandhi said speaking at Samajik Nyay Sammelan in Delhi’s Jawahar Bhawan.
PRIYANKA MAY CONTEST FROM RAE BARELI; VARUN SAYS NO TO FIGHTING COUSIN
With the possibility of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi contesting from the Gandhi bastion, Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, saffron corridors are abuzz with speculations that Varun Gandhi, who was denied a ticket by the BJP from his Pilibhit Lok Sabha constituency and is currently in the political sulk mode, may have got a feeler to test the waters in Rae Bareli. Sources close to Varun Gandhi revealed that the top BJP leadership was now contemplating making it a “Gandhi vs Gandhi” battle in Rae Bareli. However, Varun Gandhi has opted out of a possible poll contest against his cousin Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. Recently, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee and Rae Bareli Congress passed resolutions stating that the party should field “Priyanka or any other member of the Gandhi family” from Rae Bareli. Priyanka has been campaigning extensively in the Lok Sabha polls and now ready to fight from Rae Bareli seat if the party grants her the permission. She would be the third generation from the Nehru-Gandhi family to contest from Rae Bareli, if that’s the case.
UDDHAV THACKERAY: INDIA BLOC WILL CROSS 300 LOK SABHA SEATS OUT OF 543
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray has claimed that INDIA bloc will win over 300 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha. Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Buldhana for Shiv Sena (UBT) nominee Narendra Khedekar, Thackeray said the BJP would soon be made to learn a harsh lesson by the people for calling his party “nakli [fake] Shiv Sena.” “You call my party ‘nakli’ Shiv Sena, but this same Sena will show you its real strength. Is my Shiv Sena like your degree that you call it nakli? The people will show you your place,” Thackeray added. Modi had earlier called the Thackeray-led party a “nakli” Shiv Sena.
DOORDARSHAN’S SAFFRON STUNT DRAWS FLAK FROM OPPOSITION
Doordarshan, the autonomous national public service broadcaster, has drawn flak from the former Prasar Bharati CEO and Trinamool Congress MP, Jawahar Sircar for amending the colour of its iconic logo from ruby to saffron amidst the ongoing general elections. Defending its move, DD highlighted the fact that its initial logo which was launched in 1959, was also of saffron shade. While West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee led accusation towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of changing the colours of national properties and icons into saffron to influence and win the sentiment of people, when the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls are underway. “How could the Election Commission of India allow this crude, pro-saffron violation of the Model Code of Conduct when the people are in the electoral mode?” Banerjee asked. In addition, Congress’s Manish Tewari, who was the Information and Broadcasting Minister from 2012 to 2014, also alleged that the logo colour change was the government’s attempt to capture public institutions.
AAP INTENSIFIES CAMPAIGN CASHING IN ON ARVIND KEJRIWAL’S ARREST
Capitalising on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the Enforcement Directorate, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched its Lok Sabha campaign song titled ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se’ on 25 April. The campaign song, written and sung by AAP MLA Dilip Pandey, was launched in Delhi by party leaders during an event held at the AAP headquarters. Delhi AAP convener Gopal Rai said that as part of the ‘Jail Ka Jawab Vote Se’ campaign, involving approximately 200 teams of volunteers conducting door-to-door campaigns, over 7 lakh households across the four Lok Sabha constituencies contested by the party have been reached out to. Meanwhile, Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of jailed Delhi CM, is likely to go ahead with numerous roadshows in the national capital in the days to come. Mrs. Kejriwal is scheduled to attend her first roadshow in Kondli reserved assembly constituency, represented by Kuldeep Kumar who is AAP’s East Delhi Lok Sabha seat candidate. From addressing briefings to attending INDIA bloc rallies on behalf of her husband, Sunita Kejriwal is gradually emerging out of her jailed husband’s shadows to assume a bigger role in the party.
PAWAN KHERA’S DEFT MEDIA HANDLING OF CONGRESS MANIFESTO DRAWS PRAISE
Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera is now a rising star in the party, as to his credit has been his feisty defence of the party line in TV debates and media interactions. Khera, who has been known to have been working behind the scene for some time, has brought major changes in the media strategy of the party, providing instant and prompt information to the media at appropriate time. Describing Modi’s comment on manifesto as yet another effort by the Prime Minister to polarise the electorate in the middle of the general election, Khera said the Congress manifesto never ever talked about or have any mention of words such as Hindu or Muslim. “We spoke about justice — justice for youth, tribals, workers, women … Thanks to the prime minister that people today are reading our manifesto to find out whether we have used any such divisive word…They are realising that Congress used no such words. Neither our manifesto nor our mind, Constitution, society has a place for such words,” Khera said. (IPA Service)