Congress' Dalit Outreach Strategy for 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

To counter BJP's Mission 2019, the Congress has charted out a strategy to reach out to Dalits and other marginal classes.

The Congress' SC/ST department head K Raju spoke exclusively to India Today on party's "Mission Dalit".

HERE'S WHAT HE SAID:

1. Keeping 2019 in mind, the Congress is closely looking at our 84 reserved constituencies. The Congress is paying special attention to these constituencies.

2. We are trying to identify who are the candidates who have confidence of Dalits as well as non-Dalits and what are the issues in those constituencies that needs to be addressed.

3. Congress' counter to BJP's mission 2019 is the "Constitution of India" given by Baba Sahib Dr BR Ambedkar. He has given the rights to all. Need of the hour is that the Dalits across the country protect the constitution so that rights guaranteed to them are safeguarded.

4. Reservation will be one of the main issue. Will tell Dalits that BJP has its own plan to do away with constitution and they have already started undoing the reservation.

5. During Congress' rule in Centre and states, party got many plans, schemes, program and legislations that provided access to education, health services, employment and land to Dalits. Will make Dalits realise that too. 6. Dr Ambedkar's legacy belongs to Congress. Congress has lived Baba Sahib's ideology. Baba Sahib's vision is Congress' mission. We will deliver this message to Dalits across the country.

7. Issue on which Congress will corner BJP will include fund allocation too. In the current three and and half years of BJP rule, Centre's fund allocation has come down. Present government has dropped the important SC policies. We will fight against that.

8. In previous UPA government, we had introduced constitutional safeguard for Dalit employee promotions. But that too didn't happen despite the BJP trying to be Messiah of Dalits.

9. The Congress' campaign would adopt various methods like seminars, conferences, nukkar sabhas and has planned household visits by party workers to convey the messages.

10. The strategy would include spreading the message that all issues concerning Dalits are not being given due importance by the BJP. "The issues will be raised during Congress' Dalit campaign which include reaching out to every household to make them realise the truth."
Source: IndiaToday

BJP on Mission Mode for 2019, Sets New Targets for Next General Elections

On the concluding day of the two-day National Executive meet, the BJP political resolution indicated that it would focus on adding new socio-groups into its fold even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to attract some in the Muslim community, especially women and the poor.

Keeping its thrust on development agenda, the BJP has embarked on a mission to retain power in 2019, fine-tuning its strategy to woo the poor and a section of Muslims to expand its base.

On the concluding day of the two-day National Executive meet, the BJP political resolution indicated that it would focus on adding new socio-groups into its fold even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to attract some in the Muslim community, especially women and the poor.

Dubbing Triple Talaq a "bad social practice", Modi said such things can be ended by social awakening but stressed that the Bharatiya Janata Party didn't want a conflict on this issue.

Modi's observation came at his concluding remarks.

"As far as social justice is concerned, our Muslim sisters should also get justice. There should not be injustice to them. No one should be exploited," Union Minister Nitin Gadkari quoted Modi as saying.

Modi added: "We should not allow conflict in the society. We don't want any conflict in Muslim society over the issue. We need to end such bad practices by awakening the society."

Earlier, making an intervention during the discussion over the resolution passed on a new OBC Commission, Modi said even Muslims have backwards and marginalised and the government must address their concerns.

BJP sources said Modi asked the party leaders and workers to hold district-level meetings over the issues of backward Muslims and women.

Modi also expressed his desire to rid India of social and economic inequities.

Accusing the opposition of concocting issues, Modi said: "It seems the opposition manufactures these issues in some factories. During the Delhi election, Church attacks was highlighted and during the Bihar polls 'Award Wapsi' was the issue. And right now it is EVM."

The Prime Minister told party workers to stick to "positive approach".

Earlier, two resolutions were passed by the National Executive focusing on the poor and backward communities in the society.

Coming down heavily on the Congress and other opposition parties for blocking in the Rajya Sabha a bill to grant constitutional status to the OBC Commission, the BJP accused them of depriving the poor of their benefits.

Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "These parties have always suppressed the interests of the backward classes and only given them false hopes."

He said the manner in which the bill was opposed exposed their attitude towards backward classes.

The resolution was moved by BJP's OBC MP Hukumdev Narayan Yadav and seconded by Chief Ministers like Raghubar Das of Jharkhand, Shivraj Singh Chouhan of Madhya Pradesh and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The BJP's focus on OBCs and Modi's remarks on the backwardness of Muslim society and Triple Talaq is seen as the party's effort to woo these social groups ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP also has to face assembly elections in Gujarat, Himachal, Karnataka and Odisha. BJP President Amit Shah has begun micro management for these contests.

Where the BJP is not a major player, it is targeting new social groups.

Shah has asked party workers to go the extra mile to strengthen the party in 120 Lok Sabha constituencies where it is weak. Noting that Modi had worked hard and translated his words into action, the political resolution said: "The BJP calls upon the people of our country to take a pledge to form a government under the leadership of Narendra Modi in 2019 in order to have the continuity of development and welfare policies for all."
Source: MoneyControl.com

NDA & Opposition Begin to Gear Up for 2019 General Elections

The stakes are high and this is showing up in the recent moves of our principal political parties on both sides of the divide. The ruling NDA, led by the BJP and dominated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who appears to be impregnable after his famous victory in Uttar Pradesh, has already begun taking the first steps toward consolidating the incumbent alliance, not taking anything for granted and leaving nothing to last-minute firefighting.

Its scattered opponents too appear at last to have understood that unity moves do not fructify easily, and have set the process in motion long before the next Lok Sabha election in 2019.

The first formal step in this direction was taken on Wednesday, as the Budget Session of Parliament drew to a close, when a delegation of 13 parties, with the Congress being the largest in Parliament and led by party president Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, walked to Rashtrapati Bhavan to give a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee to highlight the alleged authoritarian conduct of the government, including the passing of measures as “money bills” in Parliament to bypass scrutiny by the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority.

The meeting of the NDA the previous day, attended by the PM, would have been a shot in the arm for the ruling alliance. Uddhav Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief, not only attended the meeting but called Mr Modi “elder brother”. In the past three years, the BJP’s oldest ally has been harrying the saffron party at every turn, but this was forgotten at the meeting. For the BJP and the NDA, which will be reduced to nothing without the former, this cannot but be a sign of hope.

The fact that the BJP is on a marked winning streak under Mr Modi’s leadership has doubtless been a factor in helping slippery parts unify within the NDA. Its opponents have had no luck on that count and are still trying to forget mutual rivalries and present a common face to the BJP, although this may take some doing.

Thus, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamul Congress was represented at Rashtrapati Bhavan along with its bête noire, the CPI(M) and the other Left parties. From Uttar Pradesh, there was the SP and BSP, parties with a long history of mutual hostility.

The victory of the “mahagathbandhan” in Bihar last year had led some to believe that the Congress, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal and CM Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) would strive together to act in parliamentary politics, but this expectation turned out to be exaggerated.

It may, therefore, be too early to think that the Opposition parties that met the President will sort out their ambitions and mutual rivalries right away. Politics is a complicated process.
Source: AsianAge.com

NDA to Fight 2019 Lok Sabha Polls under PM Modi’s Leadership

"Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan made the proposal for fighting Lok Sabha election under Modi and it was accepted unanimously," the BJP leader added.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Monday passed a resolution to fight 2019 Lok Sabha elections under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sources said.

“To continue with the development and poor welfare programs, NDA urges the citizens of the country to be determined to give huge majority to NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019,” the resolution said.

Earlier, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who attended the meeting at the Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra at Chanakyapuri in New Delhi’s diplomatic enclave said, “The NDA leaders decided to work together to succeed in 2019 Lok Sabha elections under Modi’s leadership.”

“Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan made the proposal for fighting Lok Sabha election under Modi and it was accepted unanimously,” the BJP leader added.

The NDA meeting was attended by 33 parties including Shiv Sena and Akali Dal but there was no discussion on the upcoming presidential or vice presidential elections.

Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thakrey and Akali Dal’s Prakash Singh Badal represented their parties.

Addressing the media, Financial Minister Arun Jaitley said the NDA meeting endorsed the policies of the government specially its “pro-poor policy”.

“Despite the bad shape of economy, the government did a good job and headed towards development. There was not a single corruption charge against the government in its last three years’ reign,” he said.

The minister also said that new allies have joined NDA and this is the symbol of this government’s popularity.

Asked if there was any discussion about the presidential elections, the minister categorically denied it, saying “No”.

Speaking on relationship with Shiv Sena, Jaitley said, “Shiv Sena is the oldest BJP ally. At times some issues come when they don’t agree but Uddhavji today attended the meeting and he was positive.

” The NDA also hailed Modi for BJP’s stunning victory in recent assembly polls.

“The BJP’s victory in recent assembly polls is a mandate on pro poor policies and public welfare schemes of NDA government. The results established Modi as most popular Prime Minister of the country after independence,” the statement said.

TDP Chief and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that India needs a stable government for sustainable development.

“India is only economy which can achieve double digit growth. Even China can’t. This is possible only under Modi’s leadership. Sustainability will come with stable government,” he said.
Source: IndianExpress

ET-TNS Survey on Modi Government Among the Indian Middle Class

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi still holds sway over members of his core constituency - the urban salaried, especially those living in India's seven biggest cities. The government's overall approval ratings are still running high almost two years after the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power at the head of a robust majority, according to the findings of an ET-TNS survey. That's despite getting caught up in various controversies and the failure to make progress on key elements of its reform agenda. The government has an overall approval rating of 86% on economic performance, while 62% say that it has delivered on job creation and 58% expect the future to be better. In other words, they still believe that 'achhe din aaney wala hain'. The government has an overall approval rating of 86% on economic performance, while 62% say that it has delivered on job creation and 58% expect the future to be better. In other words, they still believe that 'achhe din aaney wala hain'. Perhaps the finding that reveals the most about those surveyed is their response to questions about the controversy over nationalism and sedition as exemplified by the Jawaharlal Nehru University protests. Half of them (46%) believe that the controversy is the Congress' fault and more of them (52%) hold the view that the government has taken the right action in the matter.

It's important to note that the findings don't reflect sentiment across the country or among different population segments, particularly during the current election season. It should be read for what it is — a sense of the government's popularity across a segment that's seen as being strong supporters of Modi and the BJP.

To that end, our surveyors fanned out across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, covering a sample size of more than 2,000 people between the ages of 24 and 50 with an annual family income between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 20 lakh. About a fifth of those surveyed were women.

One key finding: Modi is vastly more popular than Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. On a scale of one to 10, Modi gets a score of 7.68 against a lowly 3.61 for Gandhi. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley does better than him at 5.86. As much as 41% of those surveyed gave the PM a rating of 9 or 10.
Source: Economic Times

India Today Mood-of-the-Nation Opinion-Poll on Modi Government

बिहार के विधानसभा चुनाव में बीजेपी पटखनी खा चुकी है. राज्य में केंद्र में सत्तासीन पार्टी की करारी हार हुई तो सवाल सियासत से लेकर सियासी नेतृत्व पर भी उठने लगे. विपक्ष के साथ अपनों ने भी नरेंद्र मोदी की नेतृत्व क्षमता को लेकर सवाल खड़े किए. लेकिन भूली बात बिसारिए तो आगे यूपी का चुनाव है और ऐसे में यह सवाल महत्वपूर्ण हो जाता है कि 'देश का सियासी मिजाज' क्या है?

गिरा मोदी सरकार का ग्राफ
इंडिया टुडे ग्रुप और कार्वी ने देश के 19 राज्यों में 13576 मतदाताओं से यह जानना चाहा कि देश में इस वक्त प्रधानमंत्री मोदी की लहर पर कितना असर पड़ा है? इस सर्वे के जो नतीजे आए वो बताते हैं कि अगर अभी चुनाव हुए तो प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी की कुर्सी बच जाएगी, लेकिन यूपीए की सीटों में इजाफा हुआ है. सर्वे के मुताबिक, मौजूदा समय में चुनाव होने पर एनडीए को 286 सीटें मिलेंगे, जबकि यूपीए 110 सीटों पर कब्जा जमा सकती है.

गौर करने वाली बात यह है कि 2014 के लोकसभा चुनाव में एनडीए के खाते में 336 सीटें आई थीं, ज‍बकि कांग्रेस 59 सीटों के साथ दहाई अंक पर ही सिमट गई थी. ताजा सर्वे में जहां, एनडीए की सीटों और वोट परसेंट में गिरावट आई है, वहीं यूपीए की सीटें दोगुनी हो गई हैं और उसके वोट प्रतिशतता में भी वृद्धि‍ हुई है.

दूसरी ओर, वोट परसेंटेज की बात करें तो अगर अभी चुनाव होते हैं तो एनडीए के खाते में 37 फीसदी वोट, यूपीए के खाते में 27 फीसदी और अन्य के हिस्से में 36 फीसदी वोट आने वाले हैं. क्षेत्रवार वोट के बंटवारे की बात करें तो देश के पूर्वी हिस्से से सबसे अधि‍क वोट एनडीए को मिलने वाले हैं. बीजेपी नीत एनडीए के खाते में 30 फीसदी वोट, यूपीए को 27 फीसदी जबकि अन्य धड़े को 43 फीसदी वोट मिलने की संभावना है.

महंगाई और भ्रष्टाचार सबसे बड़ा मुद्दा
देश के सामने मौजूदा वक्त में सबसे बड़े मुद्दों की बात करें तो सर्वे में शामिल मतदाताओं का मानना है कि महंगाई और भ्रष्टाचार सबसे बड़ा मुद्दा है. दिलचस्प है कि दोनों ही मुद्दों को सर्वे में शामिल 34-34 फीसदी लोगों ने सबसे बड़ा माना है. जबकि सांप्रदायिक तनाव, जिसको लेकर कि बीते दिनों में सबसे ज्यादा हंगामा बरपा उसे सबसे कम तवज्जो दी गई. सर्वे में सिर्फ 1 फीसदी लोगों ने इसे महत्ता दी है.

अच्छे दिन लाने में विफल रही सरकार
साल 2014 में 'अच्छे दिनों' का नारा लेकर सियासत के शि‍खर पर पहुंची मोदी सरकार इसे देश के जन तक पहुंचाने में नाकाम रही है. सर्वे के आंकड़ों के मुताबिक, 53 फीसदी लोगों ने या तो यह कहा कि अच्छे दिन नहीं आए हैं या फिर यह कि तब और अब में कोई फर्क आया नहीं. जबकि सिर्फ 40 फीसदी लोगों ने ही यह कहा कि मोदी सरकार 'अच्छे दिन' लेकर आई है.

कैसा रहा सरकार का कामकाज
मोदी सरकार के अब तक के कार्यकाल के प्रदर्शन पर भी लोगों ने मिलीजुली प्रतिक्रिया दी है. 47 फीसदी ने इसे यूपीए के मुकाबले बेहतर बताया है, जबकि 42 फीसदी ने इसे यूपीए से खराब (15%) या यूपीए के समान (27%) माना है.

कब आएगा कालाधन?
सर्वे में शामिल 53 फीसदी लोगों ने यह भी कहा कि मोदी सरकार विदेशी बैंकों से कालाधन वापस लाने में अफसल रही है. जबकि 33 फीसदी ने कहा कि उन्हें अभी भी सरकार के वादे और इस ओर प्रयासों में विश्वास है.

महंगाई ने छुड़ाए पसीने
इसी तरह महंगाई के मुद्दे पर भी नरेंद्र मोदी की सरकार जन आकांक्षाओं के आगे घुटने टेकती नजर आ रही है. सर्वे में शामिल 38 फीसदी लोगों का कहना है मौजूदा हालात में सरकार का महंगाई पर कोई नियंत्रण नहीं है, जबकि 20 फीसदी महंगाई के मोर्चे पर एनडीए सरकार का हाल भी यूपीए सरकार जैसा मानकर चल रहे हैं. हालांकि 34 फीसदी का कहना है कि महंगाई पर सरकार काबू पाने में सफल रही है.

दूसरी ओर, जब लोगों से पूछा गया कि क्या मोदी सरकार के आने के बाद उनके आर्थिक हालात में बदलाव आए हैं? इसके जवाब में 43 फीसदी ने कहा कि 'हां' उनके हालात पहले से बेहतर हुए हैं.

भ्रष्टाचार पर मिलीजुली प्रतिक्रिया
भ्रष्टाचार को देश के सबसे मुद्दों में शुमार करने वाली जनता का कहना है कि मोदी सरकार आंशिक रूप से ही सही, लेकिन भ्रष्टाचार पर काबू पाने में सफल रही है. सर्वे में शामिल लोगों में से 32 फीसदी ने कहा कि सरकार भ्रष्टाचार पर रोक लगा पाई है, जबकि 28 फीसदी ने इससे असहमति जताई, वहीं 31 फीसदी ने कहा कि करप्शन के मुद्दे पर मोदी सरकार का हाल भी मनमोहन सिंह की सरकार की तरह ही है.

कैसे किया गया सर्वे
इंडिया टुडे ग्रुप और कार्वी का यह सर्वे 24 जनवरी से 5 फरवरी के बीच किया गया. इसके लिए 13576 लोगों से बात की गई. ये लो देश के 97 संसदीय क्षेत्र से ताल्लुक रखते हैं, जो 19 राज्यों के 194 विधानसभा क्षेत्र भी हैं.
Source: http://aajtak.intoday.in

PM Modi's 'Make In India' Racks Up $222 Billion in Pledges

Mumbai: The "Make in India" summit in Mumbai that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the weekend has closed with $222 billion or Rs 15.2 lakh crore in investment pledges.

Amitabh Kant, Secretary of India's Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), said he expected 80-85 per cent of the pledges to convert into serious business, much of it from foreign investors. It can take 18 months to three years for a memorandum of understanding to yield a final investment, he added.

Research commissioned by the free-market Friedrich Naumann and Cato institutes has found the rate of conversion of such pledges into real investments in India has typically been far lower - with no state exceeding 20 per cent.

Among investments signed in the last seven days were a commitment by Oracle Corp for $400 million to set up nine business incubation centres.

The week-long event is the boldest since PM Modi launched the initiative to emulate China's export miracle back in 2014.

On buzz alone, the effort got off to a great start, with the prime ministers of Sweden and Finland attending Saturday's gala opening hosted by PM Modi. Nearly 50,000 delegates from 102 different countries attended the summit.

But 20 months after PM Modi swept to power with a promise of growth and jobs for India's 1.3 billion people, executives say more needs to be done, including improving infrastructure.

More pressingly, key legislation such as a goods and services tax and land acquisition bill are stuck in parliament.

"Make in India is a great initiative and has created a lot of positive sentiments," Vikas Agarwal, general manager of mobile phone maker OnePlus in India, told news agency Reuters. "Now the government needs to follow up with policies. That includes providing custom duty and export incentives, tax rationalisation and removal of ambiguous land acquisition policies."

Make In India has scored major wins, including a pledge by Taiwan's Foxconn to invest $5 billion in a new electronics manufacturing facility.

That has helped foreign direct investment to nearly double to $59 billion last year, the seventh highest level in the world, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Yet in critical aspects, India remains far behind its goals.

The proportion of manufacturing to gross domestic product has been stuck at around 17 per cent for five years, below the government's goal to ramp it up to 25 per cent, according to the Boston Consulting Group.

India has only created 4 million manufacturing jobs since 2010, according to Boston Consulting. At the current rate, India may only create 8 million jobs by 2022, well below the government's goal of 100 million. ($1 = 68.4550 rupees)
Source: NDTV.com