Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi today launched an all-out attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that his pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensuring inclusive development were only dramebazi and a trick to grab power. Gandhi in her address at the 84th Congress Plenary Session gave a clarion call to the partymen to be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the party and to make the county free from discrimination vendetta politics and arrogance. She called upon them to forcefully fight against the challenges posed by the present dispensation and asked them to mount a struggle to free the country from the fear of power. The slogans of sab ka saath sab ka vikas and na khaoonga na khaane doonga are only and only dramebazi (drama) and a trick to grab power she said referring to Modi s promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance. She said that the Congress was fighting the tyrannical Modi government and the people have begun to realise that the promises made by the BJP in 2014 were hollow. Under the leadership of former PM Manmohan Singh the economy of this country flourished. Our government formed policies which lifted millions of people from poverty. And today the Modi government is weakening these policies she said. Gandhi said the present dispensation was using all means to be in power. But the Congress has and will never bow before the power of arrogance of this government which has launched vendetta against its opponents she said. The Congress parliamentary party chief said the party was exposing the frauds of the Modi government with proof. The party she said was making efforts to win back the trust of the people and would work with like-minded parties to oust the BJP. Those who want to throw the very identity of the Congress party out of the country do not know how much people love them. There is only one priority today and that is how to make Congress party stronger. Congress is not just a party but an idea several years ahead of its time Gandhi said. She also urged the partymen to extend all support to the new party chief and her son Rahul Gandhi who had taken over the reigns in such difficult times .
New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his government was power-drunk and the pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensuring inclusive development were mere dramebaazi . In her address at the 84th Congress Plenary Session she accused the Modi government of using all tricks in the trade to wipe out the Congress and asserted that the party would never bow down. She exhorted Congress workers to support new party chief Rahul Gandhi and be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the organisation. Sonia Gandhi also asked the workers to free the country of discrimination vendetta politics and arrogance . We are exposing Modi and his colleagues false claims frauds and corruption with proof. People have now understood that the 2014 promises of sab ka saath sab ka vikas and na khaoonga na khaane doonga and his Mann ki Baat on radio are only dramebaazi (theatrics) and a trick to grab votes and electoral power she said referring to Modi s promises of inclusive development and corruption-free governance. File image of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi. PTI She claimed that the Congress was fighting a tyrannical government and the people have begun to realise that the promises made by the BJP in 2014 were hollow. In the last four years this arrogant and power-drunk government has left no stone unturned to destroy the Congress. They have used every trick in the trade but Congress has neither succumbed before this arrogance of power nor will it succumb in future she said. The UPA chairperson said the party is waging a struggle against the Modi government s dictatorial ways disregard for the Constitution denigration of Parliament and their divisive ideology besides political vendatta and conspiracies like intimidating the media . She recalled how the Congress had changed its plan of going alone as per the Panchmarhi Declaration in 1998 to aligning with like-minded parties at the Shimla Declaration in 2003 and then successfully formed governments in various states and at the Centre in 2004 and 2009. Sonia Gandhi said the governments under Manmohan Singh formulated many schemes for the welfare of the people and the economy grew fastest during that time. Under the leadership of former prime minister Manmohan Singh the economy of this country flourished. Our government formed policies which lifted millions of people from poverty. And today the Modi government is weakening these policies she said. The Congress leader claimed that the party was exposing the frauds of the Modi government . The party she said was making efforts to win back the trust of the people and would work with like-minded parties to oust the BJP. Reflecting on the party s recent impressive show in Assembly polls in Gujarat and bypolls in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan she said that those who want to throw the very identity of the Congress out of the political arena of the country do not know how much love and affection the people have towards it. There is only one priority today and that is how to make Congress party stronger. Congress is not just a political party but an ideology she said adding that there is a need to bring the Congress back on centre-stage of the political and public discourse. She called upon party workers to put aside egos and aspirations and work for strengthening the Congress. The time has come when each of us should see what we can do for the party she said. Sonia Gandhi said the aim would be to strengthen the party with which all have an age-old attachment. The party s win will be nation s win and the party s victory will be our victory she said adding that the most important thing was to see how the Congress sets the new agenda of the country under the new leadership. She also recalled the Chikmanglur bypoll victory of Indira Gandhi 40 years ago and asked party workers to emerge victorious like the former prime minister. Under the leadership of new party chief the Congress should once again become the party that frames the basic agenda and should represent the diversity in society and should come up to the expectations and aspirations of the people she said. She also urged the party workers to extend all support her son Rahul Gandhi who took over the reigns of the Congress in such difficult times . Sonia Gandhi s fiery speech in Hindi drew loud applause from the party workers. The Congress is seeking to ally with like-minded parties to stop the BJP from coming back to power in 2019 general elections.
NEW DELHI: Leaders of 20 opposition parties tonight got together at a dinner hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi where possibilities of putting up a united front to defeat the BJP in the next general elections were discussed. The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led NDA. According to sources leaders of NCP RJD Samajwadi Party Bahujan Samaj Party Trinamool Congress DMK and Left parties attended the dinner among others. The prominent leaders in attendance were NCP s Sharad Pawar SP s Ram Gopal Yadav BSP s Satish Chandra Misra and former chief ministers Omar Abdullah Babulal Marandi Hemant Soren and Jiten Ram Manjhi besides JD(U) s Sharad Yadav and RLD s Ajit Singh. The RJD was represented by both children of party chief Lalu Prasad -- former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti. The others present included TMC s Sudip Bandyopadhyay CPI-M s D Raja and Mohammad Salim DMK s Kanimozhi AIUDF s Baddrauddin Ajmal and leaders of Kerala Congress besides Kupender Reddy of the JD-S. Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi former prime minister Manmohan Singh Ghulam Nabi Azad Mallikarjun Kharge Ahmed Patel AK Antony and Randeep Surjewala were among the Congress leaders present. According to sources leaders of Andhra Pradesh s ruling Telugu Desam Party which recently pulled out its ministers in the Modi government but continues to be a constituent of the NDA the BJD and the TRS were not invited. The BJD and the TRS rule Odisha and Telangana respectively. The dinner was hosted at the 10 Janpath residence where the leaders discussed the possibilities of all opposition parties getting together on one platform to defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections sources said. Sonia Gandhi had earlier called for opposition unity saying parties should set aside their minor differences to get together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power. Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the dinner was not organised for politics but for amity and friendship among opposition parties. He claimed at a time when the government was not allowing Parliament to function it was obvious that leaders of various parties who wanted to raise issues in national interest would get together to discuss the current political situation. This dinner was not hosted for politics but for amity and friendship. The intention is not political but to hold discussions in family-like setting at a time when the nation is confronted with a number of issues and thousands of crores being taken out of the country Surjewala told reporters after the dinner. He said opposition leaders got together to discuss issues in national interest create bonhomie in the opposition and exchange views. He also accused the government of running away from a debate on key issues such as banking frauds.
.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Uncertainty over next UPA chief: Claims for post from Pawar Mamata camps Oppn unity: Smooth start but UPA-III on Cong s terms is far from reality Former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi to attend dinner hosted by Sonia Gandhi Oppn must unite as threat looms over India s secularism democracy: D Raja Reminiscent of her lunch in Feb 2004 Sonia hosts dinner for Oppn leaders span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 Leaders of 20 opposition political parties attended a dinner that United Progress Alliance head Sonia Gandhi hosted for them at her official residence on Tuesday evening. Last week Gandhi longtime and former head of the Congress party had said she was hosting the dinner for like-minded parties which needed to forget their rivalries to come together for the country s sake. This dinner diplomacy came days before the Congress party s national plenary session its first under new chief Rahul Gandhi her son. The dinner diplomacy was reminiscent of the lunch she had hosted for opposition leaders on February 5 2004 after the Atal Behari Vajpayee government had cut short the duration of that Lok Sabha and announced early elections. Gandhi ndicated by hosting Tuesday s dinner that she not Rahul Gandhi would lead the effort to build a broad unity of like-minded parties for the 2019 Lok Sabha poll. The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar and Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee have not been amenable to play lieutenant to Rahul Gandhi in efforts to forge opposition unity. Leaders of nearly all opposition parties attended including the Janata Dal (S) the Congress rival in the coming Karnataka assembly poll. However JD (S) chief Deve Gowda gave it a miss. The Aam Aadmi Party the YSR Congress Party and Telangana Rashtra Samiti weren t invited. Neither was the Biju Janata Dal represented. The TRS was an ally of the Congress in 2004 and is now its rival and the ruling party in Telangana. The dinner also had leaders of archrivals Trinamool Congress and Communist Party of India (Marxist) breaking bread together. Lok Sabha member Sudip Bandyopadhyay represented the Trinamool while his colleagues in Parliament Mohammed Salim and T K Rangarajan represented the CPI (M). The Revolutionary Socialist Party was represented by N K Premachandran and Communist Party of India by D Raja. All India United Democratic Front leader Badruddin Ajmal attended as did the National Conference s Omar Abdullah. Uttar Pradesh arch-rivals Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party recently come together for two Lok Sabha by-elections were represented by Ram Gopal Yadav and Satish Chandra Mishra respectively. Rashtriya Lok Dal s Ajit Singh was also present. Pawar and Tariq Anwar represented the NCP. The Rashtriya Janata Dal was represented by Misa Bharti and Tejashwi Yadav. Sharad Yadav preparing to launch a new party after having walked out of Janata Dal (U) was also there. Hindustan Awam Morcha s Jitan Ram Manjhi who recently quit the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA to join the RJD-Congress alliance in Bihar was present. From Jharkhand rivals Babulal Marandi of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and Hemant Soren of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha represented their respective parties. M K Kanimozhi represented the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League and Kerala Congress also attended. Congress leaders at the dinner apart from Sonia Gandhi were Rahul Gandhi former prime minister Manmohan Singh Ghulam Nabi Azad Mallikarjun Kharge Ahmed Patel A K Antony and Randeep Singh Surjewala. Surjewala said the dinner shouldn t be seen as an effort to build an electoral alliance but to discuss issues that face the nation and to build unity of purpose. It is natural that the leaders will discuss the government s disinterest in ensuring Parliament functions the agrarian crisis and joblessness of youth he said. The Congress he added has ideological differences with several of the political parties invited for the dinner. However the need of the hour was to demand accountability from the government on issues facing the country including on corruption and bank fraud.
NEW DELHI: Leaders of 20 opposition parties tonight got together at a dinner hosted by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi to explore the possibility of forging a broader unity among secular parties ahead of the 2019 general elections an event the Congress said was meant to promote amity and friendship . According to sources leaders of NCP RJD Samajwadi Party Bahujan Samaj Party Trinamool Congress DMK and Left parties attended the dinner among others. Prominent leaders in attendance were NCP s Sharad Pawar SP s Ram Gopal Yadav BSP s Satish Chandra Mishra and former chief ministers Omar Abdullah Babulal Marandi Hemant Soren and Jitan Ram Manjhi besides JD(U) s Sharad Yadav and RLD s Ajit Singh. Sonia Pawar jockey for opposition leadershipCongress functionary Sonia Gandhi will host a dinner for opposition parties on Tuesday in what is seen as a step towards trying to forge an anti-BJP alliance ahead of the 2019 elections. However Nationalist Congress Party of Sharad Pawar too plans to call the opposition camp for talks this month. The RJD was represented by two children of party chief Lalu Prasad former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav and Misa Bharti a Rajya Sabha MP. The others present included TMC s Sudip Bandyopadhyay CPI-M s D Raja and Mohammad Salim DMK s Kanimozhi AIUDF s Baddrauddin Ajmal and leaders of Kerala Congress besides Kupender Reddy of the JD(S). Sonia Gandhi Congress president Rahul Gandhi former prime minister Manmohan Singh Ghulam Nabi Azad Mallikarjun Kharge Ahmed Patel AK Antony and Randeep Surjewala were among the Congress leaders present. Fabulous dinner tonight hosted by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi Ji. An opportunity for leaders from different political parties to meet and bond informally Rahul Gandhi tweeted after the dinner. Much political talk but much more important tremendous positive energy warmth and genuine affection he wrote and tagged a group photo of the attendees. Fabulous dinner tonight hosted by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi Ji. An opportunity for leaders from different poli https://t.co/6YGBP5d9Rk Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) 1520959826000 Leaders from a cross section of parties registered their presence at the dinner. https://t.co/u3McC9TUer Congress (@INCIndia) 1520955632000 According to sources leaders of Andhra Pradesh s ruling Telugu Desam Party which recently pulled out its ministers in the Modi government but continues to be a constituent of the NDA the BJD and the TRS were not invited. The BJD and the TRS rule Odisha and Telangana respectively. Tejashwi Yadav and Sharad Yadav later told reporters it was the first step towards a comprehensive alliance of the 2019 elections. Asked if there was a consensus on Rahul Gandhi s leadership of the probable opposition alliance Tejashwi said The time has not yet come to decide on the prime ministerial candidate. While the NDA was breaking apart opposition parties were getting together he said apparently hinting at TDP pulling out of the Modi government. The dinner was hosted at Sonia Gandhi s 10 Janpath residence where the leaders discussed the possibility of opposition parties getting together on one platform to defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections sources said. Sonia Gandhi had earlier called for opposition unity saying parties should set aside their minor differences to come together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power. UPA Chairperson Smt Sonia Gandhi hosted a dinner for opposition leaders today. Former PM Dr Manmohan Singh and Cong https://t.co/zch931ci66 Congress (@INCIndia) 1520954655000 Congress communications incharge Randeep Surjewala said the dinner was not organised for politics but for amity and friendship among opposition parties. He claimed at a time when the government was not allowing Parliament to function it was obvious that leaders of various parties who wanted to raise issues in national interest would get together to discuss the current political situation. This dinner was not hosted for politics but for amity and friendship. The intention is not political but to hold discussions in family-like setting at a time when the nation is confronted with a number of issues and thousands of crores being taken out of the country Surjewala later told reporters. He said opposition leaders got together to discuss issues in the national interest create bonhomie in the opposition and exchange views. He also accused the government of running away from debate on key issues such as banking frauds. Though the Congress termed the dinner as a non-political event it was loaded with political significance as it may set the tone for unity among secular parties to take on the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 general elections. Left and TMC leaders who were present said it was certainly a political dinner without political talks . It was a political dinner. But there were no political talks. It was a show of strength by the non-BJP parties a Left leader told PTI. It was a political dinner but there were no political talks. Sonia Gandhi asked me why Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal Chief Minister) didn t come. I told her it was because of her prior commitments said TMC leader in the Lok Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay.
UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will host a dinner today which is likely to be attended by leaders of 17 opposition parties amid talk of forging a broader front against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2019 general elections. According to Congress sources leaders of Andhra Pradesh s ruling Telugu Desam Party which recently pulled out its ministers in the Modi government but continues to be a constituent of the NDA BJD and the TRS have not been invited. The BJD and TRS rule Odisha and Telangana respectively. They said former chief ministers of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and Hemant Soren (JMM) will attend the dinner along with former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi who recently quit the NDA and joined forces with Lalu Prasad s RJD which is an ally of the Congress. Lalu s son and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav is also likely to attend but there was no immediate confirmation. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay DMK s Kanimozhi and Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party are likely to be present and so would be leaders of left parties - CPI-M s Sitaram Yechury and CPI s D Raja. Leaders of other parties like JD-S and Kerala Congress Indian Union Muslim League Revolutionary Socialist Party and RLD are also likely to attend. Sources said while BSP has been invited its leader Mayawati may not send a representative as her party has aligned with JD-S for the Karnataka polls likely in April/March this year. The dinner being hosted at the 10 Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi is expected to set the tone for opposition unity in the run up to the next general elections. Sonia Gandhi has called for opposition unity and said parties should set aside their minor differences to get together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
NEW DELHI: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will host a dinner on Tuesday which is likely to be attended by leaders of 17 opposition parties amid talk of forging a broader front against the BJP-led NDA ahead of the 2019 general elections. According to Congress sources leaders of Andhra Pradesh s ruling Telugu Desam Party which recently pulled out its ministers in the Modi government but continues to be a constituent of the NDA BJD and the TRS have not been invited. The BJD and TRS rule Odisha and Telangana respectively. They said former chief ministers of Jharkhand Babulal Marandi of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha and Hemant Soren (JMM) will attend the dinner along with former Bihar chief minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi who recently quit the NDA and joined forces with Lalu Prasad s RJD which is an ally of the Congress. Lalu s son and Leader of Opposition in the Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Yadav http://www.smackjeeves.com/profile.php?id=311179 is also likely to attend but there was no immediate confirmation. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay DMK s Kanimozhi and Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party are likely to be present and so would be leaders of left parties - CPI-M s Sitaram Yechury and CPI s D Raja. Leaders of other parties like JD-S and Kerala Congress Indian Union Muslim League Revolutionary Socialist Party and RLD are also likely to attend. Sources said while BSP has been invited its leader Mayawati may not send a representative as her party has aligned with JD-S for the Karnataka polls likely in April/March this year. The dinner being hosted at the 10 Janpath residence of Sonia Gandhi is expected to set the tone for opposition unity in the run up to the next general elections. Sonia Gandhi has called for opposition unity and said parties should set aside their minor differences to get together in the larger interest of keeping the BJP out of power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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