AAP leader Kumar Vishwas says he will take on Rahul Gandhi in Amethi

New Delhi: In an open challenge, senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas on Monday said he will take on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the 2014 general elections.

Addressing presspersons, he said he has formally applied for a ticket for the Amethi seat. When asked what if Rahul Gandhi contests from another seat, Vishwas said he would follow the Congress Vice president there too.

He said he was keen to contest against Rahul Gandhi in order to end dynastic rule in the Congress.    

When quizzed on Modi, the AAP leader said, "Country will get a good message if Narenda Modi stands from Raebareli." Raebareli is

An elated Arvind Kejriwal addresses the party and media. He said "This is the victory of the people of this country. And the people of this country want to give a message that if BJP and Congress don't reform, they will be discarded. They've put the BJP and Congress on notice." "It's the wave of the common man, not of AAP. I would call upon them to gather and show their unity," Kejriwal said that he was not interested in becoming the Chief Minister or the Prime Minister. Kejriwal attacked Rahul Gandhi and Congress saying 'we don't need a character certificate from Rahul Gandhi'.Supporters of Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man's Party with brooms, the party symbol, celebrate the party’s performance in Delhi state Assembly elections in New Delhi, India.Supporters of India’s Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Man's Party celebrate the party’s performance in Delhi state Assembly elections in New Delhi.India's ruling Congress party President Sonia Gandhi and her many expressions post Assembly poll debacle while addressing the media in New Delhi, India. Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Sunday that the party was 'very, very disappointed' with its drubbing in four states, and vowed it would do 'deep introspection' to 'transform' the party and 'rectify its mistakes' ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.Reacting to the major victory of AAP and BJP Sonia said, “We accept the verdict of the people with all humility. We congratulate our opponents for winning the elections”.Rahul Gandhi put up a brave front while facing the media along with his mother, and decided to take a lesson from the AAP: “We will learn from them (AAP) and we will involve people in a way that no one has ever done before."Sonia also said that Sunday’s poll results would have little bearing in 2014 as 'general elections are quite different'. Gandhi added: “We have to look into the way we took or did not take our message to the people.”Reacting to the humiliating defeat, Outgoing Chief minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit said, “We accept our defeat and we will analyse what went wrong,”. When asked if she had failed to feel the pulse of the voters in Delhi, Sheila slammed the media, saying, “Hum bewakoof hai na (we are fools, right?),” and stormed out.BJP party members carrying their CM candidate Harsh Vardhan after the poll results declared. Harsh Vardhan said, "We won't approach anyone for support. We are content to play the role of opposition."Party workers celebrating at the New Delhi BJP office after the poll results declared. BJP emerged as the single largest party in the 2013 Assembly poll.BJP's PM candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi flashes a victory sign during the party's parliamentary board meeting in New Delhi on Sunday. It is assumed that the NaMo factor weaved magic for the party's up rise in the Assembly poll.BJP's PM candidate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi with senior leader L K Advani during the party's parliamentary board meeting in New Delhi. The Modi magic seems failed to enchant Delhiites as BJP could not get a landslide victory unlike other three states. The party is 4 seats less to the magic number to form government in Delhi.

View the original article here

Rahul Gandhi holds strategy session with top leaders, CMs

New Delhi: In the first major poll exercise after the party's drubbing in recent Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi on Friday held a strategy session with top leaders and Chief Ministers of 12 Congress-ruled states to make the party fighting fit for the Lok Sabha polls.

The day-long exercise that commenced in the morning saw full attendance of Congress Chief Ministers along with senior leaders A K Antony, Sushilkumar Shinde, P Chidambaram, Ahmed Patel, Jairam Ramesh, Digvijay Singh, Janardan Dwivedi, Kapil Sibal and K B Thomas.

Having lost the polls in Delhi and Rajasthan, Congress is currently in power in 12 states--- Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala and Meghalaya. With the election defeats rankling in memory, the party is keen to work out the strategy to retain the states where it is in power at present as there seems little possibility of it doing very well in the states already ruled by BJP as the Assembly elections showed.

While BJP bettered its performance in Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh, it managed to retain Chhattisgarh despite Congress doing well in Bastar riding over a sympathy wave after the Maoist massacre of its leadership.

The margin with which BJP wrested power from Congress in Rajasthan has also come a surprise for Congress. In Delhi while BJP managed to somewhat weather the AAP storm, Congress was virtually wiped out. So "home is where we gather grace" seems to be mantra of the meeting as the party is keen to retain Congress-ruled states.

The role of Chief Ministers like Virbhadra Singh in Himachal Pradesh and Bhupinder Singh Hooda in Haryana could be important as such. The meeting being held at 15, Rakabganj Road, also known as Congress War Room, to work out poll strategies will discuss the future course for the party in the wake of the passage of Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill.

The issue of price rise and steps to arrest it will be taken up in detail at the conclave which will also discuss the food security issue. Party-ruled Haryana and Uttarakhand were among the first to launch the scheme, which UPA believes is a gamechanger for 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a degree from Cambridge University, but when it comes to politics, he has his backroom boys as advisors. From what he wears to what he talks, everything is scrutinised. This is the team, comprising Oxford scholars to former bureaucrats, that stands by Rahul as he takes on BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi in the forthcoming general elections. An Oxford graduate, Kaushal Vidyarthee is currently the programme manager at Rajiv Gandhi Mahila Vikas Pariyojana. As a student, he was vice-president at Oxford University Student Union. What caught Rahul's attention was avid blogger's interest in research, especially the one on incorporation of Dalits in the economy. (photo courtesy: vidyarthee.com) As part of the committee in-charge of electoral strategy, Dr. Mohan Gopal provides academic insight into party's decisions. The second ever all India president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) Gopal plans training programmes for Congress Youth members.Koppula Raju, a 1981 batch IAS officer from Hyderabad who quit his job two months ago to join Rahul, is the chairman of the Congress cell on schedule castes. He travels extensively with Rahul, holding parleys with state unit leaders. He was one among the bureaucrats, who were kidnapped by the erstwhile People's War Group Naxalites, in Gurtedu, in East Godavari district, in 1987. Kanishka Singh, an investment banker, gave up his job at the World Bank to join politics in 2003, the year he was part of the team that helped Delhi CM Sheila Dixit's sweep in the assembly polls. Ever since Congress won Amethi seat in 2004, he has been a companion of Rahul. Singh, a computer engineer and MBA from Wharton, was in charge of door-to-door campaigning in the Saraini Assembly segment.K B Byju, former SPG sharp shooter who provided protection to the Gandhi family, quit forces three years ago to take a plunge into politics. He is the point person for Rahul's (in pic) outstation tours as he coordinates with security personnel and at times, he acts as media coordinator too. (Byju's pic was not available)Sachin Rao, a graduate of the Michigan Business School, manages matters concerning internal surveys and also Youth Congress. Alankar Sawai, a former banker, is now in-charge of documents and social media in the Rahul's team. Like Sachin Rao, Sawai also looks after Youth Congress affairs. (Alankar's pic wasn't available)Apart from this core team, Rahul has others providing him advice on many fronts. Congress leader Digvijay Singh is commonly known as Rahul's mentor or personal loud speaker. Lok Sabha MP from Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, Meenakshi Natarajan, is often referred by Rahul as a politician who has made success despite not having pedigree. She lives by her rules as taking public transport.

View the original article here