Modi’s tea-seller claim is just for getting votes: Brinda Karat

Bhubaneswar: Dubbing Narendra Modi as a promoter of Capitalists, CPI(M) Politburo member Brinda Karat today said the claim of BJP's prime ministerial candidate being a tea seller was aimed at capturing the votes of poor people.

"Modi has been the Chief Minister of Gujarat for at least 10 years. We never heard of him being a tea seller. After being projected as the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, he has been claiming to be a tea seller," Karat said addressing a rally of tribals here.

Narendra Modi. AFP image

While Modi claims to be one among the poor people, he has been instrumental in bulldozing tea stalls in Gujarat to create space for corporate houses. The Gujarat government doesn't have a single policy to promote the socio-economic development of tea sellers even as the state's Chief Minister claims to be one of them, Karat said.

"Modi has been doing this only to mislead people," the CPI(M) leader alleged. Asking the tribals not to believe in either the Congress or the BJP, she said "people were fed up with the two national parties as they adopt the same policy. People now want an alternative policy for development."

Karat accused the two parties of evicting the poor from slums and hand over the land to real estate companies. "The Gujarat government razed jhuggis (shanties) to make way for the corporate sector and didn't rehabilitate the displaced," she said adding, the Gujarat Chief Minister was trying hard to get a "makeover" from communalism by talking about his "poor background and backward class."

Asked about the proposed Third Front, Karat said "We are only talking about alternative policies and no Third Front."

PTI

SC begins final hearing on re-interpretation of term juvenile

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today commenced the final hearing on the pleas seeking fresh interpretation of the term 'juvenile' in the statute and leaving it to the criminal court, instead of the Juvenile Justice Board, to determine the juvenility of an offender in heinous crimes.

Two petitions were filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and parents of the victim of 16 December gangrape, who have challenged the constitutional validity of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000.

Representational image. AFP

Swamy, who commenced the arguments before a bench headed by chief justice P Sathasivan, contended that the Act provides for a "straitjacket" interpretation of the term 'juvenile' that a person below the age of 18 years is a minor and it was in violation of the United Nations Convention for the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Beijing Rules on the issue.

The UNCRC and Beijing Rules say the presumption of "the age of criminal responsibility" be fixed while "bearing in mind the mental and intellectual maturity" of the offender, he said.

Swamy said he was neither seeking lowering the 18 years limit set in JJA nor his plea is indvidual-centric and the reference of the juvenile, one of the accused in the 16 December gangrape case, in his plea was merely an illustration.

He said with the age of consent in sexual intercourse being lowered to 16 years, in rape offences, 18 years has to be realistically and purposely construed by considering the "mental and intellectual maturity" of minor offenders while fixing their culpability.

The Centre opposed the plea of Swamy saying that the spirit of the special Act like JJA cannot be challenged and the BJP leader was making an attempt to reinterpret the definition of juvenile.

It said the JJA did not talk about the offences in the penal code and has been enacted for minor offenders.

The BJP leader claimed that JJ Bill was hurriedly passed and enacted, without discussion, in Parliament on 30 December, 2000 though in the Preamble to the Act, it was affirmed to implement the ratified UNCRC while adhering to the Beijing Rules.

"The impugned current straitjacketed interpretation of juvenile as anyone under the age of 18 years under the JJ Act thus could lead to anamolies, and absurdities," he said and elaborated by saying that it has the effect of encouraging terrorists to choose a 17 year 11 months person to become a suicide bomber.

"Thus the poor and careless drafting of the Act has obvious left gaps in the wording of the relevant clauses of the Act and hence it does not faithfully implement the ratified Convention as required under Article 253 of the Constitution or adhere to the Beijing Rules as required in the Preamble to the Act nor reflects the intention of Parliament judged by the Objects and Reasons for the Act.

"To prevent serious miscarriage of justice and anomalies in the application of the statute, such as in dealing with terrorist crimes, the gaps in drafting the statute have to be rectified by judicial intervention," he submitted.

The apex court will also examine the plea by the father of the gangrape victim that the juvenility of an accused needs to be ascertained by a criminal court and not by the Juvenile Justice Board.

The victim's father had said the August 31, 2013 verdict of the Board was not acceptable to the family so they are challenging the constitutional validity of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act 2000, as there is no other authority concerned to which they can approach for such relief.

He has sought a direction to declare as unconstitutional and void the JJA to the extent it puts a blanket ban on the power of the criminal courts to try a juvenile offender for offences committed under the IPC".

The petition filed through advocate Aman Hingorani said the juvenile "is liable to be tried and punished by the criminal courts for the aforesaid offences, complete with the judicial discretion on established principles of law regarding the award of sentence keeping in view, amongst other factors, the nature and gravity of the offence".

The petition referred to the trial court verdict by which four adult accused were convicted and sentenced to death and sought similar trial for the then juvenile offender, who has now turned major.

"One of the accused (Respondent No 2--juvenile), however, has not been tried at all for the offences committed under the Indian Penal Code by the criminal court on the premise that he is a juvenile in conflict with law aged 17 years," the petition, in which the Centre and the accused have been named as respondents, said.

It also stated that "the blanket protection to juvenile offenders from being tried by the criminal courts for offences under the IPC, is an instance of legislative adjudication, and hence unconstitutional".

A provision of the JJA says "'juvenile' or 'child' means a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age."

The juvenile, who was six months short of 18 years at the time of incident, was convicted for gangrape and murder of the 23-year-old girl but he got away with a maximum of three years imprisonment mandated under the juvenile law by the Juvenile Justice Board here.

PTI

Rahul’s claims of ending corruption ‘hollow’: AAP leader

Amethi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas today said Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's claims of rooting out corruption was "hollow".

Vishwas, who is likely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls from the Amethi segment, also alleged that if Gandhi
became Prime Minister of the country scams bigger than the one involving 2G spectrum allocation would happen.

Talking to reporters, the poet-turned-politician said, "I am not here to do politics, but to change the way politics is being done..." On Sultanpur MP Sanjay Singh's nomination to the Rajya Sabha from Assam, Vishwas said that "whatever Rahul does he could not avert his defeat" from Amethi. Earlier there was speculation that Singh, who holds considerable influence in Amethi, could join the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi. PTI image

Taking a swipe at Gandhi for contrasting the Gujarat with the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi during a television interview, Vishwas said, "A riot is a riot... How a person who does not know what riot is, will run the country."

Regarding revolt within the AAP, he said the media was concentrating more on his party-led government in Delhi formed a month ago. There are other governments and organisations in the country, but no one was looking towards them.

The AAP leader today met people at Raghipur in Gauriganj, Ghatampur in Jamo block, and with the leader of employees' union of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

PTI

Rahul Gandhi and the strangeness quotient

"You might think I am strange," says Rahul Gandhi at one point in his interview with Arnab Goswami of Times Now. He appeared strange indeed, in a positive way though. Take all the malice and hate that usually goes into analyzing him out of the way while judging him from the interview, there are chances that you might discover a person with strong beliefs and sense of commitment, someone who is deep into politics but not a politician at all and someone who could be a good philosopher-mentor to a party but never a general leading it to victory.

For most part, the interviewer and the interviewee were at different tangents —  the latter impatient to fly off to familiar territory and the former trying break the flight by pulling him back to specific questions of controversial nature. As usual, Rahul was found at a loss when confronting the difficult questions.

It is intriguing that despite understanding clearly that the same set of questions would be flung at him – the media have been doing so relentlessly for years —  he would be so completely disinclined to keep himself ready with answers. This, coming from someone in constant public focus, would qualify as strange.

AFP

He does not appear to be a normal political leader —  interpret it whichever way you want. That he does not enjoy being drawn into contentious political topics has been evident for sometime. He likes to be seen playing the outsider and the agent of change in Indian politics, not only in the Congress. He is more comfortable talking concepts like democracy, empowerment and rights than touching mundane matters such as governance.

In an age so full of noise, aggression and showmanship, he is surprisingly non-combative and low-key – forget his periodical public outbursts now and then. He has to be strange. Which other political leader of his stature would entertain questions on his educational qualification?

To be frank, most of the questions put to him by the media are asinine and don't deserve to be dignified with answers. Why, for example, Rahul needs to answer the 'dynasty' question repeatedly when hardly any party – yes, this includes the BJP too — in India follows perfect democratic practices in conducting itself? Why must he be expected to commit himself on the prime minister question?

The media have reduced the general elections to a glorified version of cock fights in tribal regions. They are disappointed that he is not joining a presidential style hand-to-hand combat with Modi. But it is not Rahul's responsibility to keep the media entertained. Again, what response do you expect when you ask whether he is scared of Modi. How many times does he need to tell in public that the party is in a bad shape and in need of organizational revival? The questions are pointless because they invite subjective answers tied to perspective and context; more so when those putting them have decided the answers and are determined to reject or challenge them if they go the wrong way.

But isn't it odd that he would be completely unprepared for questions? He was hardly convincing when handling questions on his party's electoral losses, comparing the riots of 2002 and 1984, on his stand on corruption and the Congress support to the Aam Aadmi Party. Surely the interviewer was throwing him in uncomfortable territory more often that he would have liked. But how long can he evade these? It is true he brings certain freshness and sincerity to politics with his approach, but it would indeed be strange if he refuses to acknowledge the need to engage the media better.

From the Congress' perspective, Rahul's approach could only be bad news. They need a commander to lead them in the coming war, however the chosen one does not even feel there's a war ahead. He is engrossed in long-term vision. Of course, he talks of the party's victory in 2014, but there's nothing in his demeanour to suggest that he is ready for the tough task ahead. With few other options left, they have to bear with the strangeness quotient.

Lok Sabha polls: 1.2 lakh paramilitary personnel to be deployed

New Delhi: More than 1.20 lakh Central paramilitary personnel, in addition to state police forces, are expected to be deployed for the multi-phased Lok Sabha polls which are likely to be held in April-May, 2014.

The home ministry has told Election Commission that the required number of paramilitary personnel would be provided to ensure peaceful polling in the general elections, which is expected to be held over five or six phases.

Securing the polls. PTI

Official sources said that home ministry has started preparing for the massive exercise of mobilising 1.2 lakh personnel from different paramilitary forces.

As per the plan, the forces will have to be shifted from one state to another upon completion of polling in a particular phase.

The home ministry takes the help of Railways in transporting the forces and around 70 trains were hired by it for the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The Central paramilitary personnel will assist state police forces in ensuring order in the run up to voting, on the polling day and for keeping the Electronic Voting Machines in safe custody till the counting of ballots.

Sources said that those paramilitary personnel who are deployed in anti-Naxal operations and in Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states would not be disturbed, although some "thinning out" of the forces in the three areas may occur.

Along with Lok Sabha polls, Assembly elections are to be held in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim.

There are around 800 million voters in the country and the total number of polling stations would be around 8 lakh.

There were 714 million voters in the country at the time of the 2009 polls while the number for the 2004 parliamentary elections was 671 million.

The term of the current Lok Sabha expires on 1 June and the new House has to be constituted by 31 May.

The chief electoral officers of the various states are holding separate meetings with the DGPs for availability of state police for the polls.

PTI

Modi govt was abetting 2002 Gujarat riots: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government was responsible for "abetting and pushing" the 2002 Gujarat riots while the Congress government tried to stop the 1984 riots, Rahul Gandhi said today but offered no apology for the anti-Sikh violence of the past.

Pitted against Modi in a virtual Presidential-style contest in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi said he was not scared of him and claimed that Congress will defeat BJP.

Rahul Gandhi. AFP

Making a direct attack on Modi, he said, "the fact of the matter is that innocent people died in 1984 and innocent people dying is a horrible thing and should not happen. The difference between Gujarat and 1984 was that the government of Gujarat was involved in the riots."

Asked in an interview to Times Now as to how he could say that when Modi has been given a clean chit by the courts, Gandhi said, "... he was the Chief Minister when the Gujarat riots happened... The government in Gujarat was actually abetting and pushing the riots further."

Seeking to differentiate the role of governments during the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi and 2002 in Gujarat, he said, "the simple difference is that in 1984, the government was not involved in the massacre of people. In Gujarat it was."

He insisted that the Congress government in 1984 "was not aiding and abetting the riots" but had tried to stop the violence.

When pressed further on how he could attack Modi on the Gujarat riots, Gandhi said, "it is not me. It is a large number of people who saw actively the government of Gujarat being involved in the riots.

"I mean, people saw it. I am not the person who saw it. Your colleagues saw it. Your colleagues told me. They saw the administration actively attacking the minorities," he said.

To questions whether he would apologise for the 1984 riots and whether he felt that there was no need for it, Gandhi said, "First of all, I wasn't involved in the riots at all. It wasn't that I was a part of it."

At the same time, he admitted that "some Congress men were probably involved in 1984 anti-Sikh riots and they have been punished for it".

When asked if he would apologise on behalf of Congress party Rahul Gandhi said, "I think that riots, as all riots, were a horrible event. Frankly, I was not in operation in Congress party then."

When asked if he agreed with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's view that Modi presided over the "mass massacre" of innocents on the streets of Ahmedabad, Gandhi said, "what the Prime Minister is saying is the fact. Gujarat happened and people died."

Asked if he was avoiding a direct face-off with Modi by not becoming the Prime Ministerial candidate of the Congress, the Congress Vice President said, "to understand that question, you have to understand a little bit, who Rahul Gandhi is and you get an answer to the question to what Rahul Gandhi is scared of and not scared of."

To a question as to what was his view of BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate, he said, "I think, we will defeat the BJP in the next elections....I will win the election. I am reasonably confident."

He added that Congress was "battle ready" and "going to win".

Asked if he would take responsibility if Congress doesn't win the election, he said, "if we don't win, I am the Vice President of the party. I will take responsibility."

On naming Modi as PM candidate, he said, "BJP believes in concentration of power in one person. I fundamentally disagree with that. I believe in democracy. I believe in opening of the system... We have fundamentally different philosophies."

When told that Rahul Gandhi had avoided the whole question about whether he was open to PM's post and avoiding a difficult contest, Gandhi referred to his speech at the AICC meet and said announcing a PM candidate before an election is "announcing your PM without asking your MPs. It is not actually written in the Constitution."

When told that the Congress did announce a PM candidate in 2009, Gandhi denied this.

He avoided giving a direct reply to questions on whether political parties should be brought under the purview of RTI, saying the Parliament should decide on it if political parties are unanimous on this. "My position is that the more openness, the better."

Asked why Congress protected former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan despite a judicial commission's indictment, Gandhi said the party had taken action wherever corruption was involved.

He said he made his position clear on Chavan after the Maharashtra Cabinet had rejected the judicial commission's findings.

On corruption charges against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, he said, "there is a legal process. Follow it and conclude it."

With regard to performance of the Aam Aadmi Party, he said, "there are things how they have reached out to people. Don't take that away from them."

To questions about dynasty politics, Gandhi said " I did not choose to be born in this family. I am absolutely against the concept of dynasty. But it happens in BJP, SP, DMK and Congress everywhere."

He said he was being personally attacked because he is doing things that are dangerous to the system.

Rahul Gandhi was also asked about Subramanian Swamy's jibes at him, where Swamy had claimed that Gandhi's claim to an M Phil from Oxford University was a lie. "You want me to show you my degree, I can show you my degree. He has probably seen my degree, I have given a sworn affidavit saying that I have got these degrees, If I am lying on these affidavits let him take the legal process and solve it, what more do you want me to do."

When asked if he would like to challenge Swamy, Gandhi said, "Why should I challenge him? He's been attacking my family for 40 years. Why should I challenge him?"

Gandhi carefully avoided the question when he was asked if he would participate in a debate with the contenders for prime minister he said, "There is a national debate taking place right now. The national debate taking place right now is the following. There is the Congress Party that believes in openness, that believes in RTI, that believes in Panchayati Raj, that believes in giving people power. And there is our Opposition that believes in concentrated power. That's the debate that's taking place. That's what the election is all about."

Meanwhile to Modi's remark that he would do in 60 months what the Congress couldn't in 6o years, Gandhi said, "My response to that is that in the last 10 years, we gave the country the fastest economic growth it has ever had. My response is that, we did more for opening up the system than any government before us," he said.

"My response is that we have completely changed the paradigm with our rights based development model. We have given MGNREGA which has transformed the rural economy. We are talking about Aadhar which is going to give money directly to the people. To just brush aside the idea that Congress party has been in power for 60 years, we are growing at the rate at which we are growing because of the Congress party," Gandhi added.

Finally, when asked if he was battle ready, Gandhi confidently said that he was. "Battle ready, of course. We're going to win," Gandhi said.

With inputs from PTI

Live: We will win Lok Sabha polls, says Rahul Gandhi

 10.30 pm: Rahul Gandhi's solution all problems: 'opening up the system'

So Rahul Gandhi was questioned on price rise, Narendra Modi, dynasty, RTI, his political ambitions, his degrees and Arvind Kejriwal. Each of his answers boiled to just one declaration - cleansing of the system. While Rahul is not exactly the quintessential outsider, a part of his image building exercise leaned heavily on this stance - that of an insider who is almost an outsider in the way he is critical of the established traditions of politics and governance. While we have always wondered how he can legitimately defend the stance, it is just today that he revealed how - by choosing to not to defend it, instead avoid talking about it.

Asked if he was going to apologise for the 1984 riots, Gandhi said, "I was not even a functional part of the Congress party then." After much grilling, he did manage to admit that 'some Congressmen' might have been involved in the 1984 riots'. However, he completely avoided clearing the air about the Congress' present stance about the 1984 Sikh riots by offering compliments for the Sikh community. "They are the most industrious community ever."

Though this was a question that did not merit to be asked in place, given Subhramanian Swamy is famous for his indiscretions, Goswami asked Gandhi to respond to Swamy's allegations about his education. After grilling Goswami about his education Rahul suggested Swamy should take a legal route to prove that his degrees are false.

Asked if the UPA has disappointed him as it failed to control price rise, Gandhi said, " I am working with the PM on the price rise issue. Women form the backbone of the country and they seem troubled by this price rise."

Asked if he wants to be the PM candidate, Rahul said he doesn't want to disrespect the decision of MPs so he will take whatever role the party gives him till the elections. Did he say he is ready to be Congress PM candidate? No prizes for guessing, he didn't.

Yes, there was probably one true moment of self reflection amid all this. "You might think I am an anomaly in this environment. I am anomaly in this environment". Just when you thought he would elaborate on this and at least sweep up a sympathy thumbs up, he moves on to something equally obscure to finally comment on the Chinese manufacturing industry. "People from abroad always keep coming to me all the time." Okay, Vipassana resort owners can take heart, Gandhi is not eating into their business. "People come from abroad asking for an alternative for Chinese manufacturing business."

Like Firstpost editor Lakshmi Chaudhry notes, though Rahul might have assured voters of his sincerity, he also laid bare that he neither has a concrete plan, nor a clear agenda about governance. In fact, from his repeated references to 'system' and how it needs to be cleansed, without specifying how, he seemed uncannily like Arvind Kejriwal -  only less aggressive.

In fact, he concluded his interview saying, "Of course we will win". Only, one can bet, he himself didn't find his tone reassuring.

9.45 pm: Rahul Gandhi explains Rahul Gandhi to Arnab Goswami

"What does Rahul Gandhi want? Who is Rahul Gandhi?" were the deeply existential question that the Congress Vice President sought to answer in his first TV interview in many years. And in the course of it he has revealed to the world that 'system' and 'youngster' is to his political discourse, what chiffon sarees and the Swiss Alps is to a Yash Raj film. Be it questions about dynasty, be it questions about the RTI: all of Rahul's answers boiled down to just one idea - opening up the system to youngsters.

Asked if the Congress is going to reprimand Ashok Chavan and Virbhadra Singh, Gandhi said, "My goal is to open the system up for the youngsters." "I am going to take on the system, I have to open up the system," he said when he was asked about Subhramanian Swamy's accusations against him. Asked how he deals with accusations of nepotism, he again added, "I didn't choose to to be born into this family. I can run away from this, or I can make a difference. And I want to get youngsters involved in the system."

9.00 pm: 'You have to understand who Rahul Gandhi is to conclude what he is scared of'

"I have lost my loved ones, I am not scared of losing anything else," says Gandhi. Ten minutes into Rahul Gandhi's interview, these were the only lines that the Congress Vice-President said without looking like a high school kid faced with a particularly difficult trigonometry problem. Like we already pointed out, Gandhi is at his evasive best. Though Goswami has goaded him to answer his questions 'specifically' and 'categorically', Gandhi even refused to call Modi by his name - he only chose to refer to him as 'opposition'.

Rahul seems to have little concern for what either the nation, or what Goswami wants to know. He seems to have decided to treat the viewers and the host with rehashed versions of his older speeches, meeting all questions with a deeply worried look. Asked is Congress is right on pinning the blame for the 2002 rights on Narendra Modi, when the SC has exonerated him, Gandhi says, "There is a difference between 1984 riots and 2002 riots. In 2002, the Gujarat government was involved in the riots, they were not trying to stop it. In 1984, the government was trying to stop the riots," says Rahul Gandhi.

8.55 pm: Will Brand Rahul be resuscitated? 

Apart from being the party's vice president, Rahul Gandhi also happens to be Congress' worst kept secret. From his alleged 'to be, or not to be PM candidate' dilemma to the several self goals he has scored on behalf of the party, Rahul has been a bigger enigma for Congress than the party's opponents or voters. While everyone from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Finance Minister P Chidambaram has gone on record to express their confidence in Rahul as a Prime Ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections, the Congress VC has remained tight-lipped about his role in the party.

The prolonged confusion and criticism about his role in the Congress partially stems from the fact that his public relations has been patchy at its best. Though the mainstream media is sort of familiar with his ever-smiling yet ever-evasive persona, in this Twitter-age, Rahul's public relations misses a necessary social media edge, unlike is adversary Narendra Modi. Apart from that, he rarely meets the media individually in the way of interviews.

Rahul Gandhi. Reuters.

The idea of Rahul Gandhi, therefore, is strictly built on his televised public addresses, many of which the general middle class voters have neither time or patience for. Even if carefully screened and orchestrated, Narendra Modi still has some direct public interactions to his credit, including a Google Hangout session. Modi is active on Twitter and has addressed everything from college functions to foundation stone-laying ceremonies where he finds a legitimate opportunity to pillory the Congress and promote his politics of development.

Though Sonia Gandhi has declared that Rahul will not be declared the party's PM candidate, there seems to be a visible movement in that direction. From the posters branding Rahul as the anti-corruption ninja to the TV commercials on Congress' success concluding with the face of Rahul playing the perfect political poster-boy right to the starched white kurta pajama and I'm-going-to-fix-the-world smile, it's impossible to deny that the Modi's Congress counterpart, at least for this election, is Rahul Gandhi.

Also, there has been a slow but steady progress on the public relations front. From print interview in several years given to Dainik Bhaskar to his widely televised 'interactions' with panchayat members and women activists in several districts, Rahul's public relations vehicle has slowly taken off. The latest in the itinerary, therefore, is a television interview. To be conducted on Times Now by Arnab Goswami, Gandhi has worked up quite a Twitter storm by turning up to be interviewed by Goswami.

If his print interview is anything to go by, Gandhi might possibly maintain a elusive aura, only half answering questions lobbed at him. However, if he has important announcements to make and ideas to promote, without a melee of reporters mobbing him, this is probably his best chance at it. Will Brand Rahul take a step forward with this Times Now interview? We'll know in a bit.