Rahul Gandhi takes the local Train to reach “Sabki Mumbai,”

MUMBAI: February 05, 2010. Interaction with Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi for the younger generation present in the packed Bhaidas Hall at Vile Parle in Mumbai on Friday morning, proved to be a mesmerizing occasion. Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was on a day-long visit to commercial capital of the country on Friday....

‘Amchi Mumbai’ got a defining metaphor with transition to ‘Sabki Mumbai’, as Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi effortlessly mingled with all, sharing concerns and dreams for a very strong India, without any distinction of whatsoever, to drive home the fact to one and all that we are Indians first.
The students, gathered at Bhaidas Hall, listened to the young leader with rapt attention and even got their queries - varying from politics to nationalism – unraveled. They all left the venue with an ever lasting impression that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi was just like them, with no ‘attitude’ or ‘hang-ups’.
Little wonder, soon after the interaction one student described Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandh, as ‘down to earth’ person, while another fellow student was yet to believe that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had politely asked him not to address him as ‘Rahul Sirji’, rather simply as Rahul.
“Bilkul hi attitude nahin hai” (He does not have even slightest attitude), was what a young college student remarked soon after he stepped out of Bhaidas Hall. Then, for his fellow companion, “Rahul Gandhi’s interaction was amazing”.
Majority were college students, pursuing law, business management and other disciplines in colleges and other institutions of the commercial capital of the country.
To a query from a student in the gathering that “in politics, big fish eats small fishes” , Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi replied, “If all small fishes gather together, no big fish can do any harm to them”.
As anticipated many youngsters had question as who all could join politics and were wary about criminals being in politics. To this, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi remarked that anyone with any but clean background can enter politics. “If a glass contains dirty water what we have to do is that we should remove the water and pour into clean water,” remarked Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.
A girl student Shaina was frank in admitting that earlier she had never ever dreamed to enter politics but after interacting with Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, she felt that even she could join politics, she told the media persons outside the venue.
To a question from a student as how one was an Indian, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said about his ancestors hailing from different parts of the country and stressed that in the country, India is for everyone and all are Indians and free to move and settle anywhere.
However, for some present on the occasion, the interaction proved to be short, as a girl student poignantly remarked, “I did not get a chance to put forward a question”, adding that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is charming and youthful. She was little upset as more issues of national importance could not be deliberated upon in the interactive session with Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Paucity of time left many craving for more and extended interaction. “Anokha Vyaktitava hai unka” (Charismatic personality he has), remarked a college student about Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Soon after interacting with the students, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi left for another venue. But, to feel the pulse of Mumbaikars on a working day, he wanted to have first hand experience of the Mumbai’s ‘lifeline’, that is, the local train..
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi stopped at an ATM of Bank of India, while on way to Andheri railway station. With the money drawn from ATM, he bought train tickets, by standing in a local queue near a ticket window counter. He boarded the local train and interacted with all those abroad in his compartment.
A fellow traveller , Ashok, age 62, told him, “Hum to Mumbai mein rahte hain aur Shiv Sena ke political-stunt ko jante hain” (We live in Mumbai and are aware of political stunts of Shiv Sena).
Later, Ashok told that Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is a progressive person and looks forward for the progress of the nation. “Rahulji ne mera visiting card liya aur kaha ki mujhse e-mail par likhenge,” (Rahulji took my visiting card and assured to write to me on my e-mail), Ashok said jubilantly.

A system being put in place to ensure free and fair organizational elections in NSUI, YC : Rahul Gandhi

Bhopal/ January 19: Congress General secretary Rahul Gandhi on the concluding day of his two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday, while interacting with media persons, said conducting organizational elections for the frontal set-ups National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Youth Congress (YC), is complex but then a system has been evolved to overcome it.

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If keen to join politics, commitment to fulfill others’ expectations first and foremost:Rahul Gandhi

January 18, 2010, Madhya Pradesh : Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi begins two-day tour of Madhya Pradesh and launches membership drive for NSUI.
While interacting with student in Gwalior he said....

“Do not join politics simply for fulfilling your ownexpectations and any related benefits, but for meeting others’expectations by way of raising their issues and doing the needful,”
He was interacting with students of LN University of PhysicalEducation in Gwalior on Monday morning, on the occasion of launchingmembership drive for party’s frontal organization, National StudentsUnion of India (NSUI) in the state.
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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Calendar 2010

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Firozabad votes for Congress 'Raj'

The Congress has won the Firozabad Loksabha seat in the by-poll defeating its nearest rival Samajwadi Party with a margin of over 85,000 votes. This was the lone seat in these by-polls where Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi had campaigned for the party.
With the result of the by-polls pouring in from across the country, the Congress along with its allies has shown a good performance, which went on voting on November 7 this month.These elections were held for 31 assembly seats and a single Lok Sabha seat Firozabad.
The Congress candidate Raj Babbar defeated his nearest rival of Samajwadi party’s Dimple Yadav in Firozabad.Raj Babbar won this seat with a margin of over 85,000 votes.Dimple Yadav is daughter in law of SP President Maulayam Singh Yadav and Firozabad is considered to be a SP stronghold.
The Congress has won all three seats in Kerala and it has also won Vaishali Nagar seat in Chhattisgarh, the lonely seat in the state where by-election was held. The party also won one seat each from Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Congress along with its ally Trinmool Congress won 5 out of 10 seats in the state while it was ahead on 3 seats. The party also won all 2 seats in Assaam. In UP, the party won Lucknow(West) seat wresting it from BJP.
Overall, the Congress along with its ally had won or about to win around 17 assembly seats out of 31 and the single Loksabha seat of Firozabad.

Remembering Indira

The nation mourned 25th death anniversary of Indira Gandhi on 31st of October and it is high time we should look back what she gave to the nation while she was in office during for a considerable long period after independence.

She nationalized banks, mines, and oil companies; abolished the titles and privileges of the former maharajas; and comprehensively won the general elections of 1971 on the stirring slogan of "Garibi Hatao" (Remove Poverty).
The elections were held in January; in the last month of the same year, Mrs Gandhi played a key role in India's military victory over Pakistan, which led to the dismemberment of that country and the formation of an independent Bangladesh.

But perhaps the most admired aspect of her legacy, one that even her bitterest critics from the BJP envy, is her foreign policy. The nuclear tests signalled India’s decisive independence.

The nostalgia for Indira Gandhi is based on a kernel of truth. She was the last leader who could truly belong to the whole of India. And the profound question Indian democracy has faced since is this. Are we safer with a fragmentation of interests, however narrow they appear, checking and balancing each other? Or do we need a leadership that is an embodiment of the people as a whole, with all the risks that such personification of popular power entails? Perhaps not, in Indira India had got such type of leadership.

Some veteran political analysts say that her primary achievement lay in holding India together in the 1966-84 period when the neighborhood was collapsing. Pakistan borke up. Afghanistan was taken over the Soviets, Sri Lanka was rocked by the civil war and Burma shut itself from the world.

It is possible now to underestimate this achievement but till the 1980s, Western political scientists would routinely predict the break-up of India, its Balkanisation or a military take-over. It is to Mrs Gandhi’s credit that none of these predictions came true and that elections during her time were vigorous, issue-based exercises that yielded national mandate.

Her area of greater success was foreign policy. Can you imagine the mess India would be in today if East Pakistan still existed and if terrorists flooded across both our borders? By bisecting Pakistan, she ensured that it would never be more than a nuisance.

A united Pakistan, on the other hand, would have been a serious threat. Moreover, since 1971 when Pakistan lost the war, we had no trouble with Islamabad till Mrs Gandhi’s death. Kashmir today’s flashpoint was entirely peaceful.

It’s easy now to say that she put too much faith in the Soviet Union. But, in reality, India had no choice. In the Sixties, Pakistan was a client state of the US. In 1971, it facilitated the rapprochement between America and China and by 1980, it had become the base for the American operation against Soviet-held Afghanistan.

The consequences of Islamabad’s engagement with Washington are visible in the debris of Pakistan today. So not only could India not have offered the US the strategic assistance that Pakistan did, we are probably better off for not having done so.

The green revolution for which many give credit to Lal Bahadur Shashtri was a major achievement of Indira Gandhi. She faced two severe droughts. The Green Revolution came about due to those experiences. It is her contribution to India.
On political front she showed great dare and astuteness. Morarji Desai, Atulya Ghosh, S Nijalingappa, K Kamaraj were veterans and were pitted against her. In the 17 years of Nehru's rule, he never experienced the kind of opposition that she faced. Nehru faced one no-confidence motion after the 1962 China war.
But she had to fight for every inch of power in New Delhi. Still, she became stronger with each passing month. She became really strong after 1969 with the abolition of privy purses and the nationalisation of banks. She led India in the Bangladesh war and Pokhran-I. Her stature grew within and outside the country.
Her appeal was pan-Indian. She was above caste and religious appeal. The family has got that thing in them.

Motilal Nehru was older than Gandhiji. He gave up his prosperous law practice to join Gandhiji. Pandit Nehru joined public life at an early age and spent many years in jail. He could have avoided it, but he took that route. Nehru became the most famous man in India after Gandhiji. She inherited this.

None of the Nehru-Gandhi family members have been imposed. All of them have been elected. In 1920, Motilal got elected to the legislative assembly. Nehru, Indira, Rajiv, Sonia and Rahul -- all of them have got elected. That too with large margins, so nobody could say that this dynasty is imposed on the people.

This is the unique dynasty. They are all elected. It is an elected dynasty.
No country has leaders elected for five generations. Each Nehru-Gandhi has been elected. This family has support all over India, they have overcome the limitations of caste, region, language or religion.
The 'Garibi Hatao' slogan came from her heart. Her legacy is great because millions of people call her India's best prime minister. She was born with charisma. One can't have a recipe for charisma.

The foundation of India’s Software boom in 90s was laid during Indira era when she made several policy announcements for clearing the obstacle in the path of the Computer proliferation. Later, after her assassination, Rajiv Gandhi implemented this on a broader basis, the fruit of which India is eating today.
So, finally, how does one assess Indira Gandhi? Many people have reservation over emergency and her bypassing the cabinet government but she had great role in keeping India together, in making the electoral process vibrant and energetic and in forging foreign policy that put a great democratic experiment on track to become a superpower of 21st century.