Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts
Showing posts with label congress. Show all posts

NRC Issue - Congress MP writes to Home Minister Rajnath Singh

7:12 PM
‘1 lakh Gorkhas of Assam not in list’

Expressing concern over the “non-inclusion of genuine Indian citizens of the Hindi- and Bengali-speaking community” in the final draft of NRC of Assam, Congress Lok Sabha MP and the party’s observer in West Bengal Gaurav Gogoi has written to Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

Mr. Gogoi has urged the Home Minister to include documents like ‘grazing permits’ and ‘Khuti permits’ in the prescribed lists of documents for the NRC that will help indigenous Gorkha Community.

“These documents, though not listed in the prescribed documents’ list, will help genuine Indian citizens of the indigenous Gorkha community to prove their permanent resident status before 1971,” Mr. Gogoi said, adding that around 1 lakh indigenous Gorkhas of Assam found their names excluded in the final draft of the NRC. Representatives of the Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, a non-political organisation, had met Mr. Gogoi earlier this month and informed him about a “sizeable number of Gorkha population” being left out.

Recently, leaders of both rival factions of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ( GJM) — Bimal Gurung and Binay Tamang — had warned of mass protests if the interests of Gorkhas were ‘undermined’ due to the NRC update.

Via The Hindu

Congress Leader Pawan Khera Apologises to Gorkhas

4:40 PM
Congress Leader Pawan Khera Apologises for his Comments on Gorkhas

Recently during a TV debate, Congress Leader Pawan Khera had gone on to make a shocking comment on the Gorkhas calling them separatists and anti nationals.

The comment didn't go very well with the Gorkhas and thus Pawan Khera had received a huge backlash on twitter over the issue. Following the incident, he had issued a tweet where he had apologised over his comment.

Mr. Khera has today issued a formal written apology in over the issue where he writes,
"Respected Gorkha Sisters and Brothers,

In the loud cacophony of the studio debate, there was a misunderstanding caused due to some words, definitely not caused for valiant Gorkhas, I regret that.

I apologize for any inadvertent misunderstanding caused to my Gorkha sisters and brothers.

I salute the sacrifice of Veer Shaheed Major Durga Malla, as the bravest example of what Gorkha Community has done for the motherland. They are patriotic and as Indians as the rest of us.

I salute your courage and patriotism."

 Where we believe that as humans we do make mistakes, we also believe that owning up our mistake is the first thing we can do to make things right. We appreciate Mr. Khera for admitting his mistake and coming up to apologize for the same. We believe that our Gorkha Brothers and sisters will forgive him, as we have always had hearts bigger anything else.

Via TheDC

Rashtriya Gorkha Morcha merges with Congress

5:07 PM
Dehradun, May 2 The Rashtriya Gorkha Morcha party merged with the state Congress in a programme held at the Congress head office here on Sunday.

State president of the Congress Kishore Upadhyay warmly welcomed JB Karki, national president of the Morcha, and his party workers with garlands and bouquets. Workers of the Gorkha party showed their devotion towards the principles of the Congress and assured to strengthen it in the state.

Upadhyay said “The collaboration with Rashtriya Gorkha Morcha Party will strengthen the Congress in the state. Congress is a democratic and secular party which believes in the development of each and every section of the society.”
Rashtriya Gorkha Morcha merges with Congress
Capt JB Karki (retd), president of the Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Gorkha Morcha Party (second from right),
praises the previous Congress governmentTribune photo

He alleged that the BJP had created an atmosphere of political crisis in the state but Congress would fight back to form a democratic government. The members of the Gorkha party would support Congress in this time of struggle, he added.

Former Chief Minister Harish Rawat was the chief guest at the programme and welcomed the members of the Gorkha party. He asked them to support the party during this crisis and slammed the BJP-led Central Government for defaming democracy in the state. The real character of the BJP had got exposed in front of the public and they would not excuse the saffron party in the upcoming Assembly elections.

Jot Singh Bisht, PS Karki, Balram Thapa, Parveen Rana, Kamlesh Chandra and Rakesh Negi also attended the event.


Via Tribune News Service


Hill parties should learn from this - CPI(M), AVP, Congress Join Hands against TMC

10:42 AM
TMC
CPI(M), AVP, Congress Join Hands to Keep TMC at Bay in Two Siliguri Panchayat Samities

The CPM today entered into an alliance with the Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikas Parishad and the Congress to keep Trinamul away from power at two panchayat samities under the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad.

The Left Front had majority in two panchayat samities - Kharibari and Matigara. Today, the Front tied up with non-Trinamul parties to form boards at Naxalbari and Phansidewa panchayat samities, which were hung.

In Naxalbari, of the total 18 seats, the CPM had won eight. The party got the magic figure with the support of two winners of the Parishad and one of the Congress. Trinamul's seven candidates did not participate in the electoral process today and walked out from the block office before the board was formed.

Saroj Kiran Toppo of the Parishad became the sabhapati and Md Islam of the CPM became the deputy.

"Our aim was to keep Trinamul out of power and we appealed to all political parties (to join). We are overwhelmed that they reciprocated. After keeping away Trinamul in the panchayats, we have sent a message that Trinamul no longer enjoys indomitable status in the state," said Siliguri mayor Asok Bhattacharya, who is also a CPM state secretariat member.
Hill parties should learn from this - CPI(M), AVP, Congress Join Hands against TMC
CPI(M), AVP, Congress Join
Hands against TMC
At Phansidewa, of the total 21 seats, Trinamul had eight. Later, the party got support from two members, one each from the BJP and the Congress. The Left, which had seven seats, formed the board with support of four Congress members.

Biswajit Nandi and Nistar Lakra of the CPM became the sabhapati and the deputy, respectively.

Today, the Left formed the board at Matigara and Kharibari as well.

A local Trinamul leader said they were kept in dark about the formation of the rural boards by the district leadership. "The district leaders did not bother to consult us before selecting candidates and we were ignored after the results. No strategy was followed to form the boards," a senior party leader said.

Ranjan Sarkar, the newly-appointed president of Darjeeling district Trinamul, however, said the way the boards were formed proved the CPM-Congress nexus once again. "We have accepted defeat against the tacit understanding between the two parties. We will analyse the results and work for better outcome in the coming Assembly polls."

[Via: Telegraph]


Newly Elected Congress Panchayat Members Demand Right to Take Oath in ‪‎Nepali

9:47 AM

While Nepali as a state language of Bengal was incorporated in 1961, and Nepali as the national language of India was incorporated in 1992, till date Nepali is not much used for official purposes.

Bucking the trend, are newly elected Congress Panchayat Members from Atharakhai Gram Panchayat, Matigara block.

Yesterday Anchal Congress of Atharakhai GP submitted a memorandum to Matigara B.D.O. of Matigara under leadership of newly elected panchayat members of Indian National Congress Abhiraj Subba, Sunny Lama & Santana Roy, demanding their right to take oath (spath graham) in Nepali language.

The rally attended by Congress members from Durga Mandir, Kadamtala and Chiriyamore along with four Panchayat members demonstrated in front of the Matigara BDO’s office and raised slogans in support of Nepali language.

Corresponding with TheDC, Panchayat member Mr. Abhiraj Subba said, “Nepali Language was recognized on 21st August1992 under Article 8 of the Constitution of India... but B.D.O. of Matigara react reluctantly to our request for allowing us to take the oath in Nepali. We gave her clear message that if our demand will not be fulfilled, then we shall go for a bigger agitation.”

The oath taking ceremony for new panchayat members is slated for 7th of November, 2015.

TheDC is most thankful to Congress Panchayat Members and wholeheartedly supports their stand, and we request our readers to extend the same by SHARING this report so that it reaches the ears of Bengal administration.

Source - TheDC
[Pics and inputs: Sumyth Ma'gar Thapa]

Development but no Gorkhaland - Congress Sujoy Ghatak

10:47 AM
Siliguri  : The Congress candidate for Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency, Sujoy Ghatak, today said his rivals were campaigning solely on the emotive issue of Gorkhaland but he his plank would be development.

Ghatak today spoke to lawyers at the Siliguri court premises.

Ghatak seeks votes from lawyers in Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo
Ghatak seeks votes from lawyers in Siliguri on Wednesday. Picture by Kundan Yolmo
“Everybody, be it the BJP, Trinamul or the CPM, is seeking votes on Gorkhaland and speaking for or against it. It seems that other than the issue of the separate state, there is no other topic in the Darjeeling constituency for these candidates to speak about. We are against a campaign that panders to the sentiments of the people, whether in the hills or the plains. Instead, the Congress is asking for votes on the development plank in Darjeeling as well as across the country,” he told journalists after the interaction with the lawyers.

Ghatak was the third candidate after S.S. Ahluwalia of the BJP and Bhaichung Bhutia of Trinamul to call on the lawyers in Siliguri and seek their votes.

“The Congress is speaking about development, the schemes implemented in the hills and efforts of the Centre to execute the Balasun drinking water scheme, 100 days’ work and other schemes. Our leaders and I tell voters about the Congress’ plans for development. They are also being told how the central government has acted responsibly, intervened on time and assisted the state in granting autonomy to the hills by forming the GTA Sabha.”

He added: “The Centre’s assurance of funds to the hill body is also being highlighted in the campaign. We are confident that people, whose primary requirement is development, will stand by us and ignore the claptrap of other parties over the statehood.”

In the 2004 general elections, Congress candidate Dawa Narbula had defeated his nearest rival, Moni Thapa of the CPM, in Darjeeling by securing 44.70 per cent votes with the support of the GNLF.

In 2009, Narbula was fielded again in the seat and he lost to Jaswant Singh of the BJP and finished third. The percentage of Narbula’s vote share came down to 19.43 per cent. Singh was backed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

Observers say the real battle this time is between Ahluwalia, who is supported by the Morcha, and footballer Bhaichung.

Ghatak today took a dig at the credentials of Bhaichung and Ahluwalia without taking names.

“I do not play football. Also, I would like to say that Darjeeling always welcomes visitors as tourism is an important sector that contributes to the development of the district. But I find it odd that a person is coming here as a tourist on the eve of the polls and contesting as a candidate. I am a local person who understands the aspirations and problems of the people in the Darjeeling Parliament constituency,” said Ghatak.

Source: Telegraph

Sujay Ghatak Darjeeling Congress candidate faces ire of the Hill Congress

12:37 PM
Darjeeling: Sujay Ghatak, the Congress candidate for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat, had to face the ire of party leaders in the hills for not turning up at the party office in Darjeeling on the day he filed his nomination.

Sujay Ghatak Darjeeling Lok Sabha 2014 Congress candidate
Sujay Ghatak Darjeeling Lok Sabha 2014 Congress candidate


Ghatak apologised for his oversight and later, he said all differences in the party had been sorted out.

He had filed his nomination before the district magistrate here on March 24. The Congress candidate was accorded a rousing reception on that day by Trinamul supporters who mistook his rally for that of Bhaichung Bhutia.

However, Ghatak was at the receiving end today when he stepped into the Congress (hill) office here. Ghatak immediately went into a huddle with leaders like Nakul Chandra Chhetri, Lawrence P.T. Lama, Chabbi Rai, Hem Rai and K.B. Chhetri.

Waiting journalists could hear the hill leaders tearing apart Ghatak for breaking what they called a Congress tradition. “It has been a tradition of the Congress that candidates first come to the Darjeeling office and the supporters accompany them to file the nominations. Why did you fail to come to the party office? If this is the attitude, then no Congress worker from the hills will vote for you,” a leader was heard shouting at Ghatak.

Ghatak admitted that the hill Congress leaders had shouted at him during the meeting. “I admit that my senior leaders shouted at me today and I also understand their anger. The problem arose because of some miscommunication and I apologised for not coming to the Congress office on that day I filed the nomination. But I am happy that there are no more differences in the party after the meeting. We are part of a big family and at times, such issues do crop up and they get solved also.”

The Congress candidate said he would sit with the hill leaders and finalise the date for a public meeting in Darjeeling. “We are trying to get senior Congress leaders and even Rahul Gandhi to address our meeting in Darjeeling. We want to work towards removing the mental divide between the hills and the plains,” said Ghatak.

Source: Telegraph

Lok Nath Upadhyaya AAGSU Advisor felicitated by RAHUL GANDHI Congress

10:58 AM
Gorkha Development Council (GDC), Govt. of Assam Chief Shri. Lok Nath Upadhyaya and former AAGSU Advisor and Gen Secretary and Spokesperson of Assam Gorkha Sammelan now a INC Member Bhaskar Dahal is seen felicitating RAHUL GANDHI Vice President of Indian National Congress with a Gorkhali Khada and Dhaka Topi at BishwanathChari Ali yesterday alongside is Bhupen Bora Bihupuria MLA and Congress candidate for Tezpur Constituency said to capital of Gorkhas of Assam while President of Assam Gorkha Sammelan and former veteran Congress leader 3 times MLA and 2 times MP from Tezpur Shri. Moni Kumar Subba is an INDEPENDENT Candidate from Tezpur Constituency. The All Assam Gorkha Students' Union (AAGSU) have declared moral support to M K Subba. 

RAHUL GANDHI Vice President of Indian National Congress with a Gorkhali Khada and Dhaka Topi
RAHUL GANDHI Vice President of Indian National Congress with a Gorkhali Khada and Dhaka Topi 


Source: Pitamber Newar

 
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