Congress and DMDK set to go hand in hand?

Though AICC vice-president Mr. Rahul Gandhi greeting Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) founder Mr. Vijayakant on his birthday [Aug 25, 2013] is seen as an important development, Congress leaders in the State refuse to read more into it, saying the situation is still in a flux to talk about alliance.

An AICC secretary from the State said that, today, in Tamil Nadu, both the Congress and the DMK are almost in the same position. While the DMDK, which has consolidated anti-Dravidian forces to certain extent, has succeeded in establishing itself as a force to reckon with, the Congress could not do it because it never capitalised the anti-Dravidian sentiments in the State.

Besides Mr. Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary Mukul Wasnik, TNCC president B.S. Gnanadesikan, Union Ministers G.K. Vasan and E.M. Sudarsan Natchiappan were among those who wished the DMDK leader on his birthday.

The Congress secretary said Mr. Gandhi and Vijayakant established contacts after the DMDK sought the support of the Congress for its candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls. But, finally, Congress decided to support DMK candidate Ms. Kanimozhi. This goes to prove that our party would rely on either of the Dravidian parties when it comes to Lok Sabha polls.

Another Congress leader dismissed the argument that Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s birthday message to Mr. Vijayakant assumed significance because he never greeted DMK president M. Karunanidhi or called on him during his visit to Tamil Nadu. He pointed out that on the occasion of Mr. Karunanidhi’s birthday, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh greeted him every time.

Despite displaying themselves as friendly towards the DMDK, the Congress leaders say it is “too early” to come to the conclusion on the alliance as it is not clear whether Mr. Vijayakant would agree to be a constituent of the front that includes the DMK.

          Congress sources said that, they want to form a broad alliance. But, also feel enthused by the Congress’ performance in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Karnataka and the changed attitude of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa towards the Food Security Bill. Though there are ifs and buts in her stand, this is for the first time that she is seen to be favourably disposed towards Congress party.

UPA completes 9 years in office

Sonia Gandhi moved to quell talk about a growing distance between the Congress and the prime minister and ruled out early general elections, seeking to draw a firm line under the two of the biggest uncertainties spooking the UPA.

Addressing a meeting to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the UPA, Gandhi said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been “carrying out his responsibilities with great dignity despite hostilities” and that her party “respects him and stands by him”. “There are calculated efforts, innuendos, misinformation and untruths being spread,” she told the Congress leaders assembled on the lawns of the prime minister’s official residence. Speaking to reporters after the function, her son and leader in waiting, Rahul Gandhi, too, rejected suggestions that two-leader system has become dysfunctional.

Here's what Prime Minister said about the various things:-

Amidst allegations of corruption in the allocation of telecom spectrum and coal mines, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to punish wrongdoers and said future allotment of scarce natural resources would be only through auction. The UPA II government has faced a plethora of corruption charges in the allocation of 2G spectrum when A. Raja was Telecom Minister and in the allocation of coal blocks when Dr. Singh himself held the charge of the Coal Ministry.

Dr. Singh said in his address on the occasion of the UPA II government completing 4 years in office that, allegations of impropriety are being investigated and wrongdoers will be punished. He said much had been made out of problems that arose with the way scarce resources such as spectrum and mining blocks were allocated in the past and there had been allegations of deliberate malfeasance.

He added that, UPA have introduced more transparent systems for the future, i.e., auctions, rather than relying on administrative allocations. The problems with past allocations are being dealt with, as they should be, under the law. But we can claim credit that the root causes of the problem, which was the perceived non-transparency in the manner of allocation, has been addressed and these problems will not arise in the future.

Stating that improving the quality of governance was a major challenge, Dr. Singh said, both the Centre and the States have to act to deal with this problem. The UPA government has done more in this area than any other government.

On Cabinet Expansion:- Amid reports of a Cabinet expansion with the exit of Union Ministers P.K. Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, the Prime Minister said there were vacancies in his team but was non-committal about whether he would induct new members.

On Economy:- Indicating that the worst might be over for the Indian economy, the Prime Minister said the economic situation was turning around with inflation coming under control and the GDP growth likely to exceed 6% this fiscal. Dr. Singh said 8% growth rate was possible if the Congress-led coalition was voted to power again next year.

He also said that, the government is confident that growth in 2013-14 will be better than that in 2012-13 and could exceed 6%. Attributing the decline in economic growth to global phenomenon, he said the “slowdown is temporary.” A 6% growth this year would set the stage for returning to 8% growth in the current Five Year-Plan period ending March 31, 2017. Dr. Singh said that, this will be difficult, but it is not impossible.

On Agriculture:- Stating that agricultural growth was critical for rural prosperity, the Prime Minister said the government was targeting 4% growth in the sector and was attempting to increase food grains production as well as diversifying agriculture. He said that, this is the foundation which allowed the government to introduce Food Security legislation in Parliament. The government had also introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill to replace the old and highly unfair colonial legislation. The new Act would be much fairer to those whose land was acquired.

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According to the poll conducted by Ipsos, the support for the Gujarat Chief Minister's candidature was higher among men than women. The support for Modi was strong in Lucknow, Bangalore and Chennai.

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