Captain or Major? After bypoll win, Congress leaders fight over credit
T'puram/Kozhikode: UDF's win in Nilambur has sparked serious differences within the Congress, with senior leader Ramesh Chennithala voicing his displeasure over opposition leader VD Satheesan being praised as the 'captain' of the bypoll victory.
"When I was opposition leader, we won several bypolls. But no one called me a captain," he said. To ease tensions, Satheesan responded, "If I'm called the captain now, then Chennithala is the major of the party."
Chennithala said the party learned a key lesson from Nilambur — unity leads to victory. "In Nilambur, the anti-govt sentiment was strong and people clearly demanded change," he said.
Chennithala also distanced himself from Satheesan's 'Mission 63' plan for the upcoming assembly election.
Satheesan had proposed the strategy to secure 63 winnable seats, but the party hasn't revealed which seats are part of the plan. "Will it be a problem if we win more?" Chennithala asked.
On the debate over former LDF-backed MLA PV Anvar's entry into UDF, Chennithala said, "We tried to bring Anvar to our side, but his criticism of our candidate became a problem. We tried to correct him, but he didn't listen. So UDF decided to ignore him."
by Taboola
by Taboola
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Promoted Links
Promoted Links
You May Like
Direct Shopping From Adidas Franchise Store With 60% Discount
Original Adidas
Shop Now
Undo
Asked if the opposition leader would become the chief minister if Congress won the next election, Chennithala said the party high command would take a final call.
While Congress leaders have largely aligned with Satheesan's stand opposing Anvar's entry into UDF, IUML leaders have signalled that the door is not totally shut on the former MLA with senior leaders saying that Anvar was a factor in Nilambur bypoll and the votes he secured would come up for discussion.
IUML MP ET Mohammed Basheer said Anvar was a factor in Nilambur bypoll as he secured significant votes and it was natural in politics to consider broadening UDF's support base ahead of future elections. "The matter of how to accommodate likeminded people for that is something which has to be discussed," he added.
Basheer said there would be more favourable changes in the relations between parties during elections and said that it is something that can be discussed then.
"The issue of Anvar's entry will automatically come up for discussions," he added.
Senior leader MK Muneer said though he felt that this is not the time to discuss Anvar's entry into the front, the votes he received would come up for discussion. "We are not viewing the over 18,000 votes he secured lightly. Most votes he secured came from the Left. That is not a small number," said Muneer.
He added that Anvar's remarks against UDF candidate Aryadan Shoukath and Satheesan had created difficulties in reaching a collective decision.
"IUML had taken initiatives in this regard at the outset. But we won't do anything that would cause damage to the front," he said.
IUML's leadership meeting in Malappuram on Friday will discuss Nilambur election results. After UDF won in Nilambur, Satheesan had said that the front had closed its door to Anvar based on a collective decision and there were no discussions about reopening it at the moment.
Anvar, who resigned as the MLA after a fallout with CPM and necessitated the bypoll, made inroads into the vote banks of both fronts. He secured 19,760 votes (11.23%) in the constituency.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
22 minutes ago
- Time of India
Review if 'socialist' & 'secular' should be in statute: RSS national general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale
NEW DELHI: RSS national general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale on Thursday demanded that the current generation of Congress , which claims to vouch for the Constitution, must apologise for imposition of Emergency by Indira Gandhi govt 50 years ago. Hosabale made a strong pitch for considering whether two words - socialist and secular - which were added to the Preamble of the Constitution by the Congress govt during Emergency by the 42nd amendment, should remain. Recalling the days of Emergency, Hosabale said while thousands of people were put in jail and tortured during that period, freedom of the judiciary and media was also curtailed. He said the words - socialist and secular - were inserted later and there has been no discussion on whether they should be retained. "The original Constitution had no mention of them. They should reviewe it," he added. tnn
Hindustan Times
36 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Colombia's dire president gets desperate
IT has been a frustrating few years for Gustavo Petro, Colombia's first avowedly left-wing president. He was elected in 2022 on a promise to overhaul pensions, the health-care system and labour laws, and to dramatically reduce inequality. He also vowed to establish 'Total Peace' by negotiating with all armed groups in the conflict-riven country. Yet Mr Petro's pugilistic governing style has made it hard to get support in Congress, while the courts have held up some of his reforms. Exasperated, Mr Petro is now flirting with changing the constitution. PREMIUM Colombian President Gustavo Petro attends the Climate Ambition Summit at the United Nations Headquarters on September 20, 2023.(AFP) Colombia needs reform. It is among the world's most unequal countries. It is painfully hard for a poor child to ascend into the middle class. In a study by the World Bank from 2018, Colombia had the lowest intergenerational income mobility among a group of 75 countries. Yet Mr Petro's plans have been flawed. Take health-care reform. Colombia's system is administered by 27 private insurers. Only seven of these have enough financial liquidity to meet demands by regulators. Yet rather than tweak the system, which provides cheaper health care than in most countries in Latin America, Mr Petro threatened to tear it up. Last year he proposed a bill that would nationalise all private insurers. When Congress shelved this proposal, regulators took over the two largest insurers. In March the lower house passed a watered-down version of the bill. The Senate will probably reject it. A pension-reform bill is also in limbo. Under it, workers who earn up to 2.3 times the minimum wage—or around $750 per month—would have been obliged to pay their contributions into the state system. Higher earners would have been able to put the balance in a private fund. The bill was meant to come into force on July 1st. But on June 18th the constitutional court sent it back to Congress after opposition lawmakers said that the government had rammed it through Congress without adequate time for debate. Mr Petro's biggest success came on June 20th, when lawmakers approved a modified version of his labour reform. Senators had previously rejected it twice, but were cowed after Mr Petro decreed—and then withdrew—a referendum on it. The reform will increase the overtime premium on Sundays and holidays to 100% of a worker's salary, up from 75% today. It forces firms to contribute more to gig workers' pensions and health care, and to fully cover their insurance. This 'restores rights to Colombian workers,' says Juan Pablo Lopez, a left-wing activist who describes current labour laws as 'feudal'. Fedesarrollo, a think-tank in Bogotá, the capital, reckons that the reform will raise the cost of hiring by up to 15%. Small businesses and firms in security and retail that rely heavily on night shifts will be hardest hit. They could fire employees, pushing even more Colombians into the black market, where about 60% of workers already toil. 'You can't talk about improving conditions for workers if at the same time you discourage entrepreneurs,' says Gabriel Jaime Vallejo of the Democratic Centre, a right-wing party. Making matters worse, the government is running out of fiscal space to implement its agenda. On June 13th Germán Ávila, the finance minister, froze a legal limit on state spending and borrowing for three years. That will tip the deficit over 7% of GDP this year, up from 6.7% last year. 'Total Peace' looks battered. On June 7th Miguel Uribe, a right-wing senator who had announced that he would run in next year's presidential election, was shot in the head in Bogotá and remains in critical condition. Days later armed groups killed at least seven people in and around Cali, the third-largest city. 'We made a lot of sacrifices so that Petro could become president,' says a local leader from Catatumbo, a violent region. Now he fears his efforts were in vain. In January he was forced to leave his home due to conflict. All this would be enough trouble for any administration. But Mr Petro's unstable character compounds problems. He often rants on X, formerly Twitter, and has compared his critics to slave owners and Nazis. Since coming to power he has shaken up his cabinet four times, nominating over 50 ministers. In April his former foreign minister accused him of taking drugs (Mr Petro denies the allegations and says he is being slandered). These setbacks have led Mr Petro to embrace a dangerous idea. On June 20th he announced that he would include a vote on whether to call a constituent assembly in next year's general elections. Past presidents have amended the constitution from 1991, which enshrines many social rights. Yet Mr Petro's proposal to call an assembly to rewrite the charter is radical, and his intentions are worryingly vague. Critics fear that the president is trying to enshrine in the constitution what he has been unable to pass in Congress. Mr Petro's approval ratings, at around a third, are low, though not unusual by Colombian standards. He is ineligible for re-election and has no clear heir. Instead, he believes that the pueblo will save his legacy. Sign up to El Boletín, our subscriber-only newsletter on Latin America, to understand the forces shaping a fascinating and complex region.
Time of India
38 minutes ago
- Time of India
'They want only BJP-backed goons to vote': CM Mamata Banerjee hits out at Election Commission over new voter list rules; calls move alarming for democracy
KOLKATA/DIGHA: Asking for someone's parents' birth certificates to give them the right to vote was 'alarming for democracy, even more dangerous than NRC and an excuse to target Bengal', CM Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday while commenting on the rec-ent Election Commission directives on voter-list revision in Bihar. 'We know that Bihar will not react; only two-three months are left (for the Bihar assembly poll) and Bihar will (anyway) do whatever BJP says. They are (actually) targeting Bengal and the large number of migrant workers because they are scared,' she said. 'The EC cannot do this unilaterally without consulting recognised state and national parties. Parties and elected state administrations are not bonded labour. We live in a democratic and federal country. They cannot say the entire voter list will be restructured,' Banerjee said in Digha, wondering how the EC determined the cut-off dates: 'What about those born before 1987? Are they not Indian citizens? The country became independent in 1947. So why focus on the 1987-2004 period?' You Can Also Check: Kolkata AQI | Weather in Kolkata | Bank Holidays in Kolkata | Public Holidays in Kolkata The poor would be hit worst, the CM said. 'They do not want common people to vote. They want only BJP pracharaks and BJP-backed goons to vote. How will poor people get documents? Are they doing this to establish the NRC? What is their intention? Please clarify. What is happening in this country? You are targeting people born between 1987 and 2004, those in the 21–38 age group. Does everyone have their parents' birth certificates? People may now have birth certificates but that was not the case earlier,' she said. 'Rural people will be left out because of your decision and then you will include names of 'borrowed' voters to artificially maintain numbers, you will add names from other states,' she added. The ECI's special voter list revision needs new voters and those who have registered after 2003-'04 to prove that they are Indian citizens; the voter list published in January 2003 will be used as the base. So people already on the 2003 list do not need to submit documents anew but others will have to give a self-declaration saying they are Indian citizens either by birth or through registration/naturalisation. They must also submit proof of their date and place of birth (like birth certificates or citizenship papers). Banerjee asked voters to be vigilant about protecting their right to vote. 'Do not assume your name will be there just because it is there now. Check till the last day as they may remove your name and send you to detention camps and include hired voters to maintain the numbers on the the list,' Banerjee warned. She also slammed the ECI for asking booth-level polling agents' data. 'Why should I share their data? I will not. The chief election commissioner may not like my saying all this but I have to fight for all parties and for democracy. This is dangerous. They are asking for election agents' names so that they can buy or threaten them using central agencies,' Banerjee alleged, adding: 'People should try to read the entire ECI letter. It is so long that you will not be able to identify the hidden loopholes,' The incumbent CEC (Gyanesh Kumar) was a 'political appointment', the CM said. 'He was secretary to Amit Shah in one of the departments. Please cross-check. Modiji is the PM and I respect the chair. But the ECI is linked to Shah, who runs the country,' she added.
