Rahul Gandhi to address Congress rally in Delhi on Sep 10

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will hand over ownership rights of houses to people in resettlement colonies in Delhi on September 10.  This was informed by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday.

"We have so many resettlement colonies and people have been living in them since the time of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. But they have not been given ownership rights. Rahul Gandhi will give out certificates of ownership to lakhs of people on September 10," Dikshit said.

There are 45 resettlement colonies in the city, which are home to lakhs of people. Congress feels that the move could be a game-changer in the Assembly polls. Dikshit made the announcement at a function where the party released a brochure listing the Congress government's achievements in the last 15 years.

Last year, Dikshit had Congress president Sonia Gandhi issue provisional certificates of regularisation to unauthorised colonies. The CM also promised to regularise another 600 unauthorised colonies and said residents in Lal Dora areas would be allowed to expand their properties. "People have been living there for years and their families must have grown, so they need more space.
That is why we are allowing the extension... We are the first one to implement the Food Security Bill and it is Delhi that is governed by Aadhaar cards," she said.

Jharkhand: Sonia Gandhi holds discussions with senior Congress leaders on govt formation

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday held discussions with senior party leaders regarding an alliance with JMM for the next Lok Sabha polls and formation of a coalition government in Jharkhand.

Defence Minister Antony, who chairs the sub-group on alliances for the next general elections, All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary in-charge of Jharkhand B K Hariprasad, AICC General Secretary Shakeel Ahmed, Jharkhand Congress chief Sukhdeo Bhagat and CLP leader Rajendra Singh met Sonia Gandhi to apprise her of the progress of the talks with JMM so far.

Earlier, Bhagat, Singh and senior state Congress leader Sarfaraz Ahmed met RJD chief Lalu Prasad. Singh said he was 100 per cent sure that the RJD would back the new government in Jharkhand.

The Congress party has agreed to have a JMM Chief Minister in the state which in lieu has consented to give a lion's share of the 14 Lok Sabha seats to the Congress. Shibu Soren's son Hemant Soren, who is tipped to be the next chief minister, held a meeting with RJD chief Lalu Prasad last night to seek his support for the coalition government.

Hours before his meeting with Prasad, Soren had a long discussion with Antony, the Congress President's political secretary Ahmed Patel where further steps in connection with government formation were learnt to have been discussed.

President's Rule was imposed in Jharkhand on January 18 following the resignation of Chief Minister Arjun Munda. In the 82-member Assembly, BJP and JMM have 18 MLAs each. The Congress has a total of 13 members, Jharkhand Vikas Morcha(P) 11 and RJD 5. CPI-ML(L), Marxist Coordination Party, Jharkhand Party (Ekka), Jharkhand Janadhikar Manch and Jai Bharat Samta Party have one member each besides an independent.

Rahul Gandhi urges Congress leaders to shun groupism, make earnest efforts to connect with people

New Delhi: Congress Vice President  Rahul  Gandhi on Friday suggested a performance-based "reward and punishment system" in Congress to tone up functioning of the organisation ahead of the Lok  Sabha  polls.

At an interaction with PCC chiefs and CLP leaders here, Rahul Gandhi said that there is a need for "fixing some definite criteria for ticket distribution". Rahul Gandhi said that four to five criteria should be fixed to decide eligibility of a candidate for giving them tickets during elections. The Congress leader urged  the  leaders to shun groupism and make earnest efforts to connect with the people.

"Rahul Gandhi said that both reward and punishment will follow. Those working seriously should be rewarded. Tasks will also be given. He said you set three four commitments for yourselves and I will see after some time whether you have fulfilled them or not," a state leader, who attended the meeting, said.

Rahul Gandhi also told the state leaders that they should not work only from election point of view but also aim to strengthen the organisation. He said this while intervening during an interaction with the PCC chiefs and CLP leaders, which saw a total of 32 leaders expressing their views on the first day of the two-day exercise. "Everybody must realise his weaknesses and accept that. We can progress only then," he said during the interaction, which also involved issues like that of alliances in states, early resolution of  Telangana row, how to cope with regional parties and strategy to counter Narendra  Modi's  media campaign.

Rahul Gandhi said that if the party workers are vocal, then there will be not much need to counter such campaign on television or media.