The ‘Prince’ in waiting, Rahul Gandhi, is now taking an active interest in the affairs of the party. He has been touring the country on what is known a ‘Bharat Darshan’ to have a first hand account of the people and the country.
The congress leaders in the state have been toying with the idea of inviting Rahul Gandhi to campaign for the ensuing by polls. But they have realized that it is not possible, so they have now decided on the next best thing. They have sought permission from the party high command to use Rahul Gandhi’s photos in all the campaign posters.
So Rahul Gandhi’s posters will now dot all the places going to polls. Many leaders feel that his photo will lure in the young voters. So it will be Sonia Gandhi, YS Rajashekar Reddy and Rahul Gandhi who will be seen prominently in all the posters. Of course Manmohan Singh will also be there, but a little less prominently.
2007/9/24 23:35:21 The reshuffle of AICC office bearers and the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as the General Secretary has fuelled the speculation of mid-term elections. The congress party is seen as gearing up for mid-term polls early next year.
Initially it was said that if the Communists parties withdrew support to the government at the centre, ten mid-term polls to Parliament would be inevitable. Bur indications in the state also point out to likely mid-term elections to the state assembly too.
2012/2/6 9:27:08 Rahul Gandhi today said he was not "obsessed" with becoming the Prime Minister but remained committed to transform Uttar Pradesh where people have been "fooled" for the last 22 years by successive regimes.
At a rare press conference, a combative Rahul sharply criticised BJP leader L K Advani on corruption in Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab or in the "coffin scam" in the Kargil war in the course of his various yatras across the country.
Answering questions on corruption, the Gandhi scion said when he proposed that the Lokpal be given Constitutional status, the opposition laughed at it. But this would happen.
Asked about his sister Priyanka''s comment yesterday that he was fit to be the Prime Minister, Rahul responded by saying that he was not "obsessed" with the post but was "obsessed with Uttar Pradesh" where he has been campaigning relentlessly during the Assembly polls.
"All the political leaders in India, all the top ones, have an obsession with prime ministership. This is not Rahul Gandhi''s obsession. I have another obsession.
"I want to correct the way we have been working in this state, I believe it is a monumental crisis not to hear to the voice of the people. I don''t have any major strengths.
"All I have is that some people in this country believe in me. Even if one per cent of the people in US believe in US, that will be good for me," he said. .
The just concluded by polls were by far the most interesting and bitterly contested by polls ever in the state. It is none other than the big separate Telangana issue that was the main reason behind the by polls. For KCR, these polls are a do or die battle. The future of KCR as well as that of the TRS hinges on the results of the by polls.
The exit polls have not exactly pleased KCR. Even the pre-poll surveys reported that the TRS was sure to lose some seats.
According to the exit poll results, the TRS may retain about 10 assembly seats from the 16 that it held before the by polls. Out of the four Lok Sabha seats, the TRS is ahead in two and neck and neck in the third seat. So here also, the TRS is set to lose one or two seats.
The ruling congress is expected to bag anywhere between three and four assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat. Even the TDP is expected to romp home with two or three assembly seats and one Lok Sabha seat.
The counting will begin at 8.00 a.m. on Sunday and the results will be out in about two hours time, i.e.by 10.00 a.m. Till then the guessing game continues and the leaders are all tensed up.
2011/8/8 9:47:36 Regardless of the fact that Congress president Sonia Gandhi will not be present to witness the event, Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi will complete the formalities of the long pending merger by taking the membership of the Congress party in New Delhi on August 20.
According to highly placed sources, Mr Chiranjeevi will take the membership of Congress party on August 20 in the presence of All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
Following Mr Chiranjeevi formally joining the Congress fold, the PRP MLAs will join the Congress party on August 22 in the presence of Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana at Gandhi Bhavan.
With Ms Sonia Gandhi away from New Delhi due to her surgery for an undisclosed ailment, the party sources said that Mr Chiranjeevi decided to go ahead with the merger of his party in the presence of Mr Rahul Gandhi to avoid further delay.
Earlier, Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Chiranjeevi inviting him to come to New Delhi between August 7 and 10 to complete the long pending merger process.
The formal merger between the two parties had been getting delayed on one account or the other. Mr Chiranjeevi had announced his desire to merge his party with the Congress on February 6, 2011, less than three years of forming the Praja Rajyam Party. (INN)
2010/12/21 14:22:44 The AICC general secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi, is all set to address several youth rallies in the state to prevent young leaders in the Congress from joining the party to be started by the former Kadapa MP, Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. He will also make efforts to rejuvenate the NSUI and the Youth Congress, the student and youth wings of the party, by fresh enrolment and organisational polls at various levels. The Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was in Delhi to attend the Congress plenary session, interacted with Mr Rahul Gandhi on the sidelines and aired his concerns. Following this, the Nehru family scion agreed to address youth rallies in January and also promised to visit the state at regular intervals to energise the youth.
The Chief Minister has sought Mr Rahul Gandhi’s help to prevent youth leaders from coming under the influence of Mr Jagan. Mr Kiran Kumar Reddy also wants to revamp the schemes for the youth and channelise them properly.
“Unless the party youth wings highlight these programmes and schemes it is not possible to get credit for what the government has been doing,” he reportedly told Mr Rahul Gandhi. The AICC secretary and MLC, Mr P. Sudhakara Reddy, confirmed that Mr Rahul Gandhi would visit to state to attend youth rallies. “He is very particular about AP state party affairs especially on overhauling both NSUI and Youth Congress wings,” he said. “He is much concerned about the happenings here, and has promised to dedicate some of his time in setting things right.”
This is a big joke. Rahul Gandhi the self styled ‘leader’ and PM in waiting is now making all sorts of comments on chief ministers and the functioning of governments both in the states as well as the centre.
The only qualification of Rahul Gandhi is his surname ‘Gandhi’. That is enough for the spineless congress party leaders to pay obeisance to the ‘great leader’.
With full backing of mama Sonia Rahul is now emboldened to even comment on the prime minister. Rahul was seen praising someone at last. Rahul said that Manmohan was doing a good job.
Now Rahul is the last person in the world that Manmohan Singh needs appreciation from. Rahul is only forty and Manmohan has put in more than 50 years in public in various capacities.
But what can the poor Manmohan do but simply ut on an embarrassed smile on his face and carry on – knowing fully well that he is there only as long as Rahul is still not ready.
2011/8/8 4:24:25 This time Chiranjeevi plans to make his birthday a sweet memorable moment of his life by officially merging his party into Congress party. So, first of all he takes Congress membership two days prior to his birthday that is on 20th August in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and let his party members celebrate this grand event exactly on his birthday that is on 22nd of August. Hope this time Rahul Gandhi won’t spoil his birthday bash.
What makes AICC Gen Sec Rahul Gandhi bring close to Kollywood? Did he seeking their support on some reasons or did they approached him with some sort of an appeal? Let us see what is fishing between them. The youth Icon of the Congress party Rahul Gandhi, after putting a bold face in the North, plans to boost the Southern spirits with his presence. Part of it is his visit to Chennai and surrounding places. Wherever he goes he likes to have an interaction with the students or locals, with which he feel superior and turns an answer bag to carefully chosen questions. The same way, he repeats this feat at Chennai on Wednesday amid the presence of hundred guests. Surprisingly, majority of the guests who were hand picked for this interaction with the prince of India are from Kollywood. Out of them, few were given the task of shooting the selected questions at him, while the cameras are eagerly rolling to project him as the genius of India who has an answer for any (selected) questions.
The Kollywood team includes film Producers, film distributors, Theatre owners, actors like Jayam Ravi, Nasser, Revathi, Rohini, some journalists, and few others. Rama Narayanan the president of Film Council and Abhirami Ramanathan the president and Theatre owners association are also in this fortunates list.
Naturally, people from Kollywood talks about reducing the entertainment tax, copy right issues, and video piracy problems and quite naturally Rahul Gave them assurance to resolve all their problems waving some magic stick and asked them to meet him at New Delhi, that very much pleases the invitees.
2008/4/16 8:05:13 The election commission has finally drawn up the schedule for the by polls to the seats vacated by the TRS and for Khairatabad where the vacancy has been caused by the untimely death of PJR. The polls will be held on May 29. The nomination process will commence from March 2. The results will be announced on June 1.
So it is going to be a 'really hot' summer this year. The congress party and the TDP have only something to gain but nothing much to lose. The polls are an acid test for KCR as the onus of getting all the MLAs and MPs who resigned recently elected once again rests on him. There is a strong resistance to some of the candidates from within the party.
Rahul Khanna is back to woo the crowds with his appealing good looks and suave personality in Raqeeb paired opposite Tanushree Dutta.
T-Series has the music rights for this movie where Rahul Khanna looks absolutely stunning while serenading Tanushree to a haunting melody 'Tera Chehra Sanam' composed by Pritam. The ocean and beautifully shot locations form the backdrop of this song where Rahul steals the thunder without a doubt. RAQEEB is directed by Anurag Singh and stars Rahul Khanna, Tanushree Dutta and Jimmy Shergill who provides a twist to the story. Keep watching this space for more updates.
2011/10/5 6:32:08 Anna Hazare has warned the Congress party that if it fails to bring the Janlokpal Bill soon, he and his team will campaign against it and ask the people not to vote to it in the election-bound states and also in by-poll constituencies. Reacting on Anna Hazare's statement, AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has said 'Anna Hazare's statement is unfortunate. We can eradicate corruption only with a strong political system in democracy. But, Anna Hazare's idea to oppose democratic system questions the basic idea of our constitution. He is so eager for Janlokpal Bill that he not even wants the parliament assemble again for its winter sessions. Is he demanding a bill without parliament approval? He has declared of campaigning against our party in poll-bound states. He also declared that he will oppose us in Hissar by-polls. How can he expect us to deliver a bill without parliament consent?"
The crucial by polls in Kadapa and Pulivendula will be held tomorrow. The situation in Kadapa is tense and the election commission has pressed into service a large number of police personnel in all the places in the two constituencies.
DGP Aravinda Rao stated that all arrangements are in place to conduct polls in a free and fair manner. Additional police forces are being brought in from Tamil Nadu and Kerala to be deployed in Kadapa.
TRS chief K Chandra Shekar Rao claims that the state will go to elections early next year. KCR predicted that there world be snap polls to the state assembly in March 2008. Elections are due only in 2009 but even some congressmen do not rule out advancement of polls in the state.
Where is Rahul Gandhi?The young scion of the Gandhi family and the prime minister in waiting was seen everywhere till the other day. However ever since the results of the Bihar assembly elections were announced he is not seen in public.
It is clear that it is a clear loss of face to him. Rahul had campaigned extensively in Bihar and the ‘result’ is there for all to see. The congress party bagged just four assembly seats and this is more than 50 per cent less than the seats it held in the previous assembly.
The aura built around Rahul as a mass campaigner with charisma has been shattered and exposed by the people of Bihar. The moot question is how long can Rahul hide away from public glare and shy away from accepting for the dismal show of his party?
2011/6/16 5:38:52 Information and Public Relation Minister D K Aruna on Thursday said that the government is willing to conduct the elections for Panchayat Raj institutions, contrary to reports stating that the stay on the polls by a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court has given the ruling Congress a lifeline.
Talking to media persons after attending the Cabinet meeting at the Secretariat, Ms Aruna asserted that the government was willing to conduct the polls for the PR Institutions, in response to calls for clarifications on the High Court ruling.
Asked to clarify the government stand on the High Court’s recent ruling striking down GO 128 in respect of the quota for BCs, the Minister said that the government was in favour of PR elections in the light of Apex Court’s Order that the ceiling of 50 percent be observed.
Earlier, she made clear that the state Cabinet did not discuss on GO 128 at all. “The government is for polls at any time,” Ms Aruna said.
Meanwhile, official sources say that the government has another month’s time, till July 21, to arrive at a decision to go ahead with the said polls.(INN)
Rahul Gandhi is not fit to become Prime Minister. This is the assessment of several congress leaders including MPs. However, no one dare say anything on record.
This is the gist of the cables sent by diplomats, who have interacted with several politicians from time to time.
Rahul Gandhi does not seem to have the qualities required for the high office of Prime minister. His only qualification is the ‘Gandhi’ surname and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s determination to anoint him as PM at the first opportunity.
2008/5/12 2:09:34 The ensuing by polls are turning out to be a big source of worry and headache to the TRS chief K Chandrashekar Rao. Many TRS activist themselves are saying of the record that the party will not be able to retain all the 16 assembly seas and the four parliament seats.
The reasons for the setback are being put squarely at the door of KCR. He is being blamed to have forced the MLAs to quit and go in for fresh polls. Many TRS MLAs have a pos rerecord as legislators in the last fours years. The people in their consistencies are none to happy with their track record.
KCR’s highhandedness and internal bickering will cost the party dearly, say some senior TRS men. By current indications, the TRS is facing an uphill task in two Lok Sabha and eight assembly constituencies i.e. in 50 percent of the seats.
The young Rahul Gandhi who is being projected as the Prime Minister in waiting has exposed himself completely.
Rahul Gandhi along with his mother Sonia Gandhi campaigned extensively in Bihar. The results have brought in gloom for the party.
The congress party far from increasing its tally has actually slipped down. The congress had 9 seats in 204 but in 2010 it may have to contend with just 5 seats.
We have to see how the die hard loyalists of 10 Janpath will defend the prince now.
2011/8/20 9:20:54 It now official. Actor-turned-politician K Chiranjeevi is now a member of Congress party and the Praja Rajyam Party that he founded is dead.
Hailing All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi as the `ray of hope’ and future prime minister, Chiranjeevi on Saturday formally joined the Congress party. At AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Chiranjeevi filled up a form seeking primary membership of the Congress in the presence of Gandhi and senior leaders.
"I will remain in the Congress for the rest of my life. I will be a loyal worker...I thank Rahulji, our Prime Minister in the future," the actor said. Chiranjeevi also described Rahul Gandhi as the `future’ and the `ray of hope’ for the country.
Apart from Rahul Gandhi, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum Minister S Jaipal Reddy, AICC general secretary Janardan Dwivedi and political secretary to Congress president Ahmad Patel were present on the occasion.
Praja Rajyam, which was launched in August 2008, has 18 MLAs in the 294-member AP Assembly. Chiranjeevi is believed to have influence in coastal Andhra, especially among Kapus. The Praja Rajyam Party will be merged with the Congress on 22nd August, on the occasion of Chiranjeevi's birthday. (INN)
More than 2 years after the release and debacle of ELAAN [2005], Rahul Khanna would be seen again on the silver screen with the release of RAQEEB.
An action/romance/suspense/thriller, the film is a 'masala' entertainer that comes from the house of Raj Kanwar who has produced the film. Directed by debutant Anurag Singh, the film
stars Jimmy Sheirgill and Sharman Joshi as the other 2 leads while Tanushree Dutta is the only female attraction.
The film is quite important for Rahul since it is after a hiatus that he is coming back to the Bollywood film scene. Prior to his first mainstream commercial films, Rahul was seen in art house
cinema like BAWANDAR and 1947 (EARTH). Apart from that there was an international production HOLLYWOD BOLLYWOOD where he played the main lead.
Promotion of the film has begin and RAQEEB would most likely be arriving on May 4th.
This time Chiranjeevi plans to make his birthday a sweet memorable moment of his life by officially merging his party into Congress party. So, first of all he takes Congress membership two days prior to his birthday that is on 20th August in the presence of Rahul Gandhi and let his party members celebrate this grand event exactly on his birthday that is on 22nd of August. Hope this time Rahul Gandhi won’t spoil his birthday bash.
Anna Hazare has warned the Congress party that if it fails to bring the Janlokpal Bill soon, he and his team will campaign against it and ask the people not to vote to it in the election-bound states and also in by-poll constituencies. 
