Prime asset for India: Shashi Tharoor's big praise for PM on Op Sindoor outreach
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who recently returned from a five-nation outreach mission for India's Operation Sindoor on Pakistan, has heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in yet another public showcase of admiration. In a column in The Hindu, Tharoor called PM Modi a "prime asset for India" due to his "energy, dynamism and willingness"."Prime Minister Narendra Modi's energy, dynamism and willingness to engage remains a prime asset for India on the global stage, but deserves greater backing," Congress's Kerala MP wrote in the column as he stressed that the outreach showed India's unity on a global stage.advertisementTharoor further wrote that, as part of the outreach, he learnt that the "power of unity, the efficacy of clear communication, the strategic value of soft power, and the imperative of sustained public diplomacy" would guide India in manoeuvring an "increasingly complex international landscape".
He also pointed out that the three T's - tech, trade and tradition - should drive India's future global strategy as the nation continues to strive for a "more just, secure and prosperous world".Must Watch
IN THIS STORY#Shashi Tharoor#Operation Sindoor#Narendra Modi
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Time of India
41 minutes ago
- Time of India
Was Sanjay proving too wild even for Indira Gandhi, asks former PM's principal secretary in book
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel As principal secretary to Indira Gandhi in the run up to the Emergency and during her authoritarian regime of 21 months, P N Dhar had a rare insight into the goings-on of the period, and one central character who gets the most unflattering portrayal in his otherwise sober account of the era is the former prime minister 's younger son Sanjay Gandhi In his book 'Indira Gandhi, the Emergency, and Indian Democracy ', Dhar says the PMH (Prime Minister's Home) became a hive of "extra-constitutional" activities as leaders junior in the Congress hierarchy but having the ears of an increasingly distrustful prime minister and another set of functionaries loyal to her son undermined the PMS (Prime Minister's Secretariat).Critical of the power centralised in the PMS, Morarji Desai reduced its strength and rechristened it as Prime Minister's Office, a moniker which has continued, after replacing Indira Gandhi and his loyalists like Haryana leader Bansi Lal gained ascendency in the Congress during the era. Even the prime minister was left alarmed by their move to have state assemblies pass resolutions in support of forming a constituent assembly for sweeping changes in the of her obsessive love for Sanjay Gandhi, Dhar said in the book published in 2000 that he would normally have attributed all this to temporary annoyance."But it was more than a passing mood this time. I knew how carefully she had kept Sanjay out of all discussions on constitutional reforms. I also knew how much she had resented the passage of the constituent assembly resolutions by the three assemblies without her knowledge, but with Sanjay's approval. Was Sanjay proving too wild even for her?" he said the main purpose of the constituent assembly appeared to be continuing the Emergency regime and postponing elections. Bansi Lal told Dhar that it would be to make "behan ji" (Indira Gandhi) president for the Congress suffered a stunning loss in the March 1977 elections after the Emergency was lifted, Delhi turned into a "vast whispering gallery" echoing with stories of Indira Gandhi's alleged crimes and the plans of the Janata Party, which had won a majority, to destroy her and Sanjay was more worried about Sanjay Gandhi and found herself isolated in her own family."Rajiv had no sympathy for his brother. He came to see me, very concerned about his mother and full of anger against his brother. He said he had been a helpless observer of his brother's doings," Dhar said the Congress' defeat in the Gujarat assembly elections, which were held after the assembly was dissolved following student protests over a host of issues including corruption, and the Allahabad High Court 's decision to disqualify Indira Gandhi from the Lok Sabha on the same day in June 1975 paved the way for the declaration of Emergency as the Jayaprakash Narayan-led opposition "cast off all restraint" to oust said, "Indira Gandhi withdrew into her lonely self. At the moment of her supreme political crisis, she distrusted everybody except her younger son Sanjay."Sanjay Gandhi disliked his mother's colleagues and aides who had opposed his Maruti car project, or had otherwise not taken him seriously, Dhar said."He knew he would get into serious trouble if his mother were not around to protect him. For all her childhood insecurities, Indira Gandhi had compensated, one should say over-compensated, her sons, particularly Sanjay, with love and care. She was blind to his shortcomings. Her concern for Sanjay's future well-being was not an inconsiderable factor in her fateful decision," Dhar Gandhi, he added, accepted the self-serving opinion of her party colleagues that the JP-led opposition's attacks on them were really attacks on Communist Party of India, her ally during the Emergency, had dubbed JP's agitation as a fascist movement supported by the US, a theory she embraced as she decided to suspend democracy, jail opposition leaders and censor the press to continue her the book written with a distance afforded to bureaucrats, no leading figure associated with the Emergency who comes in contact with Dhar comes out an unblemished hero, not even the venerable JP, whose call for 'Sampoorna Kranti' (total revolution) and mass agitation for removing duly elected Congress governments in states and the Centre are questioned for their defiance of the rule of law and constitutional the leadership of JP, as Jayaprakash Narayan was often called, was instrumental in galvanising popular sentiments against Indira Gandhi as his role in the Quit India Movement had cast him in a heroic mould and his rejection of Jawaharlal Nehru's offer of a Cabinet post gave him high moral stature in a country where renunciation of power is held in high esteem, Dhar after extending the tenure of the fifth Lok Sabha for another year till February 1978 on November 1976, Indira Gandhi was shown by Dhar a report of "extreme coercion" inflicted on a group of school teachers for not fulfilling their sterilisation quota, one of the five-point programmes of Sanjay Gandhi beyond the 20-point programme of her government."She fell silent after reading it. This was the first time she did not dismiss such allegations as false as had become her habit. After a long pause, she asked me in a tired voice how long I thought the Emergency should continue," he said."Odd as it might seem, some Congressmen who believed that their party would lose in the elections also supported the idea of holding them."They were so disgusted with Sanjay and his associates that they did not hesitate to tell his mother the opposite of what they believed would be the outcome of the elections," he wrote that he invited the then chief election commissioner on January 1, 1977, for tea at home and took him into confidence for holding delighted CEC sent him a bottle of whiskey in the evening. On January 18, 1977, Gandhi announced that the Lok Sabha had been dissolved and fresh elections would be held two months later, leaving the opposition, people and the press stunned.
India Today
43 minutes ago
- India Today
AAP wins Gujarat's Visavadar assembly bypoll, BJP big winner in Kadi
Aam Aadmi Party's Gopal Italia won the Visavadar Assembly seat in Gujarat bypolls. (Photo: Facebook/@Aam Aadmi Party) The BJP and the Aam Aadmir Party (AAP) on Monday shared accolades in the Gujarat Assembly byelections with the former winning the Kadi seat, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led party emerged victorious in the Visavadar seat as the Election Commission of India declared the results. AAP's Gopal Italia won the Visavadar Assembly seat with flying colours, having polled 75,942 votes and defeating the BJP's Kirit Patel in a see-saw battle by 17,554 votes after all 21 rounds of counting were completed. Italia and Patel fought an interesting battle for over 15 rounds, before the AAP candidate took a decisive lead in the later stages and came out on top. Congress's Nitin Ranpariya was a distant third with just 5,501 votes. However, it was smooth sailing for BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda in Kadi, who maintained a clear lead throughout and won the seat as he bagged 99,742 votes and defeated his nearest rival Ramesh Chavda by 39,452 votes, who polled 60,290 votes. The voting for the Visavadar and the Kadi Assembly seats of Gujarat was held on June 19. While Visavadar reported a turnout of 56.89%, Kadi saw a relatively lower figure at 57.90%. In Kadi, the seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki, following which the party fielded Rajendra Chavda, against Congress's Ramesh Chavda, and AAP's Jagdish Chavda. The contest was seen as an opportunity to guage the Dalit community's voting patterns in the region. The BJP and the Aam Aadmir Party (AAP) on Monday shared accolades in the Gujarat Assembly byelections with the former winning the Kadi seat, while the Arvind Kejriwal-led party emerged victorious in the Visavadar seat as the Election Commission of India declared the results. AAP's Gopal Italia won the Visavadar Assembly seat with flying colours, having polled 75,942 votes and defeating the BJP's Kirit Patel in a see-saw battle by 17,554 votes after all 21 rounds of counting were completed. Italia and Patel fought an interesting battle for over 15 rounds, before the AAP candidate took a decisive lead in the later stages and came out on top. Congress's Nitin Ranpariya was a distant third with just 5,501 votes. However, it was smooth sailing for BJP candidate Rajendra Chavda in Kadi, who maintained a clear lead throughout and won the seat as he bagged 99,742 votes and defeated his nearest rival Ramesh Chavda by 39,452 votes, who polled 60,290 votes. The voting for the Visavadar and the Kadi Assembly seats of Gujarat was held on June 19. While Visavadar reported a turnout of 56.89%, Kadi saw a relatively lower figure at 57.90%. In Kadi, the seat fell vacant after the death of BJP MLA Karsanbhai Solanki, following which the party fielded Rajendra Chavda, against Congress's Ramesh Chavda, and AAP's Jagdish Chavda. The contest was seen as an opportunity to guage the Dalit community's voting patterns in the region. Join our WhatsApp Channel
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Business Standard
an hour ago
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Don't politicise anti-Naxal ops, ensure transparency: Sachin Pilot
Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday said the anti-Naxal operations should be carried out effectively in a transparent manner and the exercise should not be politicised. The Congress in-charge for Chhattisgarh was talking to reporters at the Swami Vivekananda Airport in Raipur, after arriving here for a two-day visit during which he will chair a series of meetings with the party leaders. Asked about Union Home Minister Amit Shah's recent statement that anti-Naxal operations will be continued during the rainy season, Pilot, said, "The Congress has always been against violence and extremists. Our leaders have sacrificed their lives to keep this country and state safe." "Whatever effective action is to be taken, it should be taken. Action should be done in a transparent manner and it should not be politicised," he said. This is a matter of internal security. No one should do politics over this, the former Union minister said. Whatever action is taken, it should be done by taking everyone into confidence. "It should be effective, transparent and should not have any political colour," he added. Pilot said everyone should come together to end Naxalism not only in Chhattisgarh but also in other states which have been struggling with the menace. "Strict steps should be taken after a lot of should be transparent and accountable. Whatever conclusion comes out of this, the public should get its benefit. Action should be done on the ground and not by giving speeches again and again," he said. Briefing about his visit, the Congress leader said meetings will be held for two days to seek reports of works done by different wings and cells of the party's Chhattisgarh unit and chalk out a roadmap for future course of action. "(Senior Congress leaders) Mallikarjun Kharge ji and Rahul Gandhi ji have dedicated the year 2025 for the organisation. Therefore, we want to strengthen the organisation from booth to state level," Pilot said. "The changes that need to be made and the roadmap to be followed will be discussed in detail during Monday meetings. We will work to give a new direction to the party by holding continuous meetings for two days," he said. Pilot said he will also hold a meeting with Congress MLAs on Monday night to chalk out a strategy to corner the ruling BJP during the monsoon session of the state assembly next month.
