News Analysis India

Tag: Vivek Tankha

  • Congress will come out with new energy after ‘Chintan Shivir’: G-23 leader 

    By PTI

    INDORE: A day ahead of the Congress ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur, the party’s ‘G-23’ dissident group member, Vivek Tankha, on Thursday said he wants the organization to get a new and strong look after the brainstorming session.

    The Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh expressed confidence that his party would come out with new vigour after the three-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ which begins on Friday.

    Tankha was among the 23 Congress leaders, considered dissidents, who wrote a letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in August 2020 seeking an organisational revamp.

    “I am heading to Udaipur to take part in the Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir. We are hopeful that the party will come out with new energy after the event,” he told reporters here.

    The 65-year-old lawyer-politician said he will everything possible to infuse a new life in the Congress.

    “I want to see the Congress in a new and powerful avatar because the Congress is the natural party of governance in India. If we want to keep the country intact, the Congress has to be powerful again,” the former advocate general of Madhya Pradesh said.

    Asked whether the Congress needs a non-Gandhi president to come out of the crisis after losing a string of elections, he said, “I won’t comment on this as this matter is decided by the Gandhi family and the party. However, I joined the Congress after being influenced by the Gandhi family.” The ‘Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir’ is being held in the backdrop of a string of electoral defeats and dissent in the party for the past many years.

    The Shivir will focus on time-bound party restructuring, finding ways to combat politics of polarisation and getting battle-ready for upcoming electoral challenges.

    To a question about the sedition law, Tankha, a senior Supreme Court lawyer, alleged governments headed by the BJP were misusing the British-era legislation.

    On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ordered a stay on filing cases under the sedition law (IPC section 124A).

    “Sedition means conspiring against the country. To say something against the government does not amount to sedition. But people are being charged with sedition over trifle issues,” Tankha said.

    On the loudspeaker row, he said, “I do not comment on religious issues. But on this issue, people’s wish should be followed within legal framework. It is the responsibility of all of us to maintain peace and harmony in the country.”

    About the demolition of “illegal” constructions of Khargone communal riots accused last month, the Congress MP said it was not right to raze somebody’s house without giving him an opportunity to put forth his views.

  • ‘Adopt model of collective, inclusive leadership’: G-23 to Congress top brass as Sonia suggests changes

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Amid fast-paced developments in the beleaguered  Congress on Wednesday, its G-23 rebels advised the party leadership that the only way forward is to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.

    The statement was issued after a dinner meeting at veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s residence. 

    The G-23 meeting was earlier scheduled to be held at Kapil Sibal’s house but was shifted at the last minute as leaders like ex-Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda were not comfortable with his attack on the Gandhis.

    Sibal is currently in the eye of a storm as he said upfront that the Gandhis should let someone else head the Congress. 

    The G-23 statement also demanded that the party leadership initiate talks with like-minded forces to build a credible alternative ahead of the next Lok Sabha polls in 2024.

    “The next steps in this regard will be announced soon,” the statement jointly issued by 18 leaders said. 

    What was interesting about the gathering was the presence of Rajiv Gandhi loyalist Mani Shankar Aiyar. Other additions were Patiala MP Preneet Kaur and ex-Gujarat CM S S Vaghela. Old faces like Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor,  Prithviraj Chavan, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Sandeep Dikshit were also present. 

    The dissidents had thrown the door open to those who were not part of G-23 but shared concerns about the party’s future. In Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi aggressively attacked social media giants for allegedly siding with the ruling BJP during the recent state elections.

    Later in the day, she appointed senior leaders to assess the situation and suggest organisational changes in all the five states where Congress was routed.

    A day earlier, she had sought the resignations of five PCC chiefs.

    The newly appointed leaders are Jairam Ramesh (for Manipur), Ajay Maken (Punjab), Rajani Patil (Goa), Jitendra Singh (UP) and Avinash Pandey (Uttarakhand). 

    The G-23 saw some more leaders joining the dinner meeting at Azad’s residence, which was convened to work out the grouping’s future strategy and discuss the Congress’s debacle in the just-concluded Assembly polls in five states.

    The meeting lasted for over four hours and all the leaders spoke about the strategy to be adopted.

    Sources said Azad also spoke to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and conveyed to her the feelings of the grouping while assuring her of their support in strengthening the organisation.

    Azad and Anand Sharma reposed faith in Gandhi’s leadership at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Sunday.

    Incidentally, the grouping sidestepped the issue of leadership, after Kapil Sibal said Gandhi should step aside and pave the way for another leader.

    The leaders said they met to deliberate on the demoralising outcome of the recent poll results and the constant exodus of party leaders and workers.

    “We believe that the only way forward for the Congress is to adopt a model of collective and inclusive leadership and decision making at all levels.”

    “In order to oppose the BJP, it is necessary to strengthen the Congress party. We demand the Congress party to initiate dialogue with other like-minded forces to create a platform to pave the way for a credible alternative for 2024,” the joint statement of the G-23 said.

    The next steps in this regard will be announced soon, it added.

    Sources said the grouping had earlier planned a dinner at Sibal’s residence, but it was changed at the last minute.

    Among the leaders who attended the meeting were Sibal, Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Vivek Tankha, Raj Babbar, Akhilesh Prasad Singh and Sandeep Dikshit.

    The ambit of the G-23 grouping widened this time as some more leaders — Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Rajya Sabha deputy chairman PJ Kurian and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma joined the dinner meeting, besides MA Khan.

    The grouping had given an open invite to other Congressmen to join them at the dinner meeting.

    The sources said the meeting was convened to apprise all the G-23 members of the decisions taken at the crucial CWC meet.

    Two prominent G-23 members — Azad and Sharma — were to appraise the other members of the developments at the CWC meeting and what they said on strengthening the party in the wake of its drubbing in the Assembly polls, they said.

    The performance of the Congress in these states was poor as it failed to win any of the four BJP-ruled states — Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur — while it lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

    The G-23 grouping has been critical of Congress’ leadership.

    It has been demanding an organisational overhaul after its members wrote a joint letter to Gandhi in 2020.

    The sources said invitations were also extended to the Congressmen who do not constitute the bloc but feel that changes are required, including at the leadership level, to revive the party’s electoral fortunes.

    The decision to convene a meeting of the G-23 came a day after Gandhi sought the resignation of the Congress presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa.

    Sibal, in his latest salvo targeting the Congress leadership, had said the Gandhis should step aside and give some other leader a chance to helm the party, provoking a backlash from the Gandhi family loyalists, who accused him of speaking the language of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

    The G-23 has, however, got weakened over time with senior leader M Veerappa Moily distancing himself from the group, Jitin Prasada joining the BJP and Mukul Wasnik not attending its meetings in recent times.

    Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday engaged five senior leaders to assess the post-poll situation in five states and suggest organisational changes following its electoral debacle, a day after the state unit chiefs were asked to resign.

    Rajya Sabha MP Rajani Patil has been asked to assess the situation in Goa, Jairam Ramesh in Manipur and Ajay Maken in Punjab, where the Congress lost power to the Aam Aadmi Party.

    Congress leader Jitendra Singh will to asses the post-poll situation in Uttar Pradesh and suggest changes, while Avinash Pandey has been asked to do so in Uttarakhand.

    “Congress president has appointed leaders to assess the post-poll situation and suggest organisational changes in the states (with inputs) from MLA candidates and important leaders with immediate effect,” an official communication said.

    The Congress fared poorly in the just-concluded assembly elections by failing to win back any of the BJP-ruled states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur and losing Punjab to the AAP.

    The Congress Working Committee had discussed the reasons for the poll debacle and authorised Sonia Gandhi to initiate necessary changes in these states after the drubbing.

    Gandhi Tuesday had asked the chiefs of its Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur units to submit their resignations.

    (With PTI Inputs)

  • Sanjay Gandhi’s family planning program led to anger, electoral defeat: Congress MP

    By PTI
    INDORE: Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha on Saturday said the family planning program promoted by Sanjay Gandhi during Emergency led to anger among people, and cost his party an election.

    He himself was in favor of population control but it should not be politicized, Tankha said, referring to a proposed population control law in the BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.

    “You may remember that Sanjay Gandhi had come up with a population control program during Emergency. This was a good program. But the timing and the way it was implemented was not right, because the common people were forced (to undergo sterilization), which made them angry.”

    “Subsequently, this was also one of the reasons for the defeat of the Congress in the elections,” Tankha told reporters during an interaction at the Indore Press Club.

    The Indira Gandhi-led Congress was defeated comprehensively in the 1977 general elections which followed the Emergency.

    Talking about the proposed UP law, Tankha said an important issue was being associated with vote-bank politics.

    “This should not be linked with politics because this issue is related to the entire country,” he said.

    As a patriotic citizen he favours adoption of population control measures as no political party is bigger than the country, the Congress leader said.

    “If we don’t control (population growth), then we continue to add population the size of Australia every year. Then the country will remain poor, no matter how much tax is collected and development takes place,” he said.

    On sedition law, Tankha, who is a Supreme Court lawyer, said it was enacted in British era and its continuous misuse turned it into a travesty.

    On speculation that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath could be made Congress president, Tankha said the decision is to be taken by the party’s leadership.

    “If there is any senior-most and experienced leader in the Congress who has abundance of resources, it is Kamal Nath,” he added.

    Terming the election commission a “puppet” of the Centre, Tankha said undue interference in the functioning of government institutions has increased to such an extent that it seems that agencies such as the Central Vigilance Commission, CBI and Enforcement Directorate are extended wings of the BJP.

    Describing himself as the “only MP” belonging to the Kashmiri Pandit community, Tankha said, “A lasting solution to the Kashmir problem can be found only when displaced Kashmiri Pandits are resettled in the Valley with assurance of safety.”

  • Oxygen demand: Congress leader unhappy with Shivraj Singh govt for ignoring Jabalpur

    By PTI
    JABALPUR: Congress MP from Madhya Pradesh Vivek Tankha on Sunday accused the BJP-led state government of ignoring Jabalpur in the supply of medical oxygen amid the COVID-19 surge.

    Tankha, who hails from Jabalpur, in a Twitter post tagged a media report that mentioned about the state government’s decision on Saturday to airlift empty oxygen tankers from Bhopal and Gwalior along with Indore and send them to Ranchi for re-filling.

    Referring to the report, the Rajya Sabha member in his tweet said, “Is Jabalpur not in Madhya Pradesh”.

    Notably, five COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment in the ICU of a private hospital in Jabalpur died on Friday allegedly after the stock of medical oxygen at the facility got over, police earlier said.

    According to a government release issued on Saturday, there was sufficient medical oxygen available in Jabalpur.

    The medical oxygen is procured from local plants as well from outside.

    In the last two days, 20 KL (kilolitre) of medical oxygen was received from Rourkela (Odisha) and 15 KL from Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) by two tanker trucks.

    One more tanker truck carrying 20 KL of medical oxygen is expected to reach Jabalpur from Rourkela (Odisha) on Sunday, it added.

  • Every effort is being made to start air service from Bilaspur, CM Baghel discussed with MP Vivek Tankha

    Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha paid courtesy call to Bhupesh Baghel at his residence office here today. He discussed with Chief Minister on various topics related to starting direct air service from Bilaspur to New Delhi.

    The Chief Minister said that the State Government is making every effort to start air service from Bilaspur. Sanjay Mandavia, CMD of Fly Big Airlines, Sudip Asli and Sandeep Dubey of Air Facility Jana Sangh Samiti were also present on the occasion.

    During the discussion, Mandavia of Fly Big Airlines said that his company is keen to operate ATR 600 airline on Bilaspur to New Delhi route. His company also wants to start air services from Bilaspur to Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Jabalpur in future.