NEW DELHI, June 30:
Congress today went into damage control mode over party general secretary Digvijay Singh’s purported comment that Rahul Gandhi does not have the temperament of a ruler even as BJP attacked the Congress Vice President saying he was “not Prime Minister material”.
“Digvijay Singh has said a correct thing (sic) that he (Rahul) is not Prime Minister material. He is talking about leader material. The country should know that he (Rahul) is not PM material,” said BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain.
Hussain said that although Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had ruled the country, “now there is a new thinking in this (Nehru-Gandhi) family that they should discharge the role of a ruler without taking responsibility”.
He claimed that although Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had gone to the President in 2004 to stake claim to form the government, “later on she, however, delegated the responsibility to Manmohan Singh. Be a ruler without taking responsibility and the same role has now come to the mind of Rahul Gandhi”.
Keeping up his attack, Hussain further said, “They (Gandhis) were in power for last 10 years but had no responsibility. A Raja went to jail (in 2G case) but the needle was pointed towards then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Digvijay Singh was indicating this new thinking that has emerged now (in Congress).”
An apparently embarrassed Congress, meanwhile, sought to explain Digvijay Singh’s remarks as being due to the “churning” within the party following its Lok Sabha poll debacle. On the other hand, one senior leader totally rejected Digvijay Singh’s contention that Rahul Gandhi does not have the temperament of a ruler.
“Digvijay Singh has already clarified his statement. The fact is that Congress has not performed very well in the election. There are different voices which are emanating from different parts of the country. Senior leaders are speaking. There is a process of churning which is going on.
“I think all this will be factored into the churning and wherever correctives have to be applied either collectively or individually, those correctives will be applied. So I do not think that there is really reason to read very much into a particular statement or statements, whichever have emanated from the leaders,” said former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari.
Tewari said that in a democracy, everybody has a point of
view “but that does not necessarily mean that that point of view is finger-pointing at somebody or the other”.
Another party leader Anil Shastri, a Special Invitee to the Congress Working Committee, said tweeted that, “No party can ever win an election if its leader doesn’t want to rule. RG is intelligent & fully understands this. Congress will rule again.”
He added in another tweet, “I firmly believe RG’s entire campaign was directed towards winning elections. Why then will he not want to rule being in electoral politics?”
The controversy erupted on Saturday following the airing of a television interview of Digvijay Singh by a channel in Goa during which he said that Rahul Gandhi did not have the temperament of a ruler, adding that he felt he should have taken up the post of Leader of the Party in Lok Sabha.
“By temperament, woh sattadhaari vyakti nahin hain. By temperament, woh aisa vyakti hai jo anyay ke khilaf ladna chaahta hai (He is not a ruler by temperament. By temperament he is a person who wants to fight injustice),” Digvijay Singh had said.
Asked about his comments, he told that what he meant was that “He (Rahul) is someone who doesn’t run after power. He is not power hungry but wants to fight injustice.”
Clarifying in Bangalore, he had said, “I said he is always fighting against injustice and therefore he is not for power. He fights injustice. That is the difference between us and him.
“He is aggressive when it comes to fighting injustice.” (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 30:
A K Antony’s remarks on minorities continued to create ripples with a senior party leader rejecting contentions that the party was appeasing minority communities.
“In 2009, 12 out of 28 Muslims got elected from Congress but only one found place in UPA II Ministry & that too as MOS. Is this appeasement ?,” Anil Shastri wondered.
In another tweet he said, “All 4 Muslim CMs i.E. Antulay, Barkatullah, Gaffoor & Taimur (Assam) were appointed by Indiraji. After that it’s been a full stop for 30 yrs.”
He maintained there has been no appeasement of Muslims by the Congress.
“Incidentally, Congress has not given even one Muslim CM after Indira Gandhi,” Shastri said.
Antony had said that some sections of society have an impression that the party is inclined towards minority communities.
Latching on to Antony’s remarks, BJP patriarch L K Advani had said yesterday that his party stands vindicated regarding its position on the issue.
Addressing first-time BJP MPs on the concluding day of an orientation workshop here, Advani had said, “We should welcome this honest soul-searching by AK Antony for he is now saying what we in BJP have been saying all along.
“We have always said that secularism should mean justice for all, appeasement of none and discrimination against none”.
Antony’s confidant and KPCC president V M Sudheeran yesterday clarified his senior colleague’s remarks were “Kerala-centric and well-intentioned”.
Antony had said there had been a slight erosion in people’s confidence in the party’s secular commitment sparking a debate.
“Antony has made this comment with the Congress and the UDF it leads in Kerala in mind. These were well-intentioned and meant to guide the party and coalition in proper direction,” Sudheeran had said.
While the party has tried to play down Antony’s remarks as Kerala centric, sources said that a party general secretary had more than six months back communicated in writing to Antony himself in this regard.
He had expressed the apprehension that BJP will try to paint Congress as a pro-Muslim party and try to derive political mileage by deepening such an impression.
In another tweet, Shastri, said, “It’s sad that Mistry was heckled in Gujarat & so was Jairam in another state. They must realise that workers are angry with senior leaders.” (PTI)

LEH, June 30:
‘Kaafiron ki Namaaz’, a movie by debutant director Ram Ramesh Sharma and producer Bhargav Saikai won four awards, including one for the best feature film at the third Ladakh International Film Festival.
The film, shot in Kashmir, also bagged awards for the best screenplay, best direction, best actors (shared by late Chandrahas Tiwari and Alok Chaturvedi) and best debutant director for Sharma yesterday at the closing ceremony of the festival.
The awards were announced by members of the jury and presented by National award-winning filmmaker Shaji N Karun. The jury praised the movie for its interesting story-telling.
“Honestly we did not expect the awards. We just wanted our film to be showcased at the festival. This is a very special and emotional moment for us,” said Bhargav Saikai.
The closing ceremony was hosted by actress Shilpa Shukla and saw the presence of actress Deepti Naval and actor Rajit Kapoor among others.
Festival director Melwyn Williams was conspicuous by his absence.
The night also saw the screening of Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra’s wife P S Bharti’s documentary ‘Ru Ba Ru’ and Hollywood action flick, ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’. (PTI)