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Ready for whatever Congress wants me to do: Rahul

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the AICC meeting on Friday when he is expected to be named the Congress Prime Ministerial candidate, Rahul Gandhi today appeared ready to take up the responsibility.

"I am a sepoy of Congress.I will obey whatever order is given to me. I will do whatever Congress wants me to do...

Decisions are taken in our party by senior leaders," he told Hindi daily 'Dainik Bhaskar' in an interview.

"Earlier also some decisions were taken...Power is poison ....does not mean that I am not keen to take responsibility.

There is no word of reluctance in my life...Congress has never been specific. Whatever task the Congress wanted me to accomplish, I have done that," Gandhi said when asked whether he was ready to take up the post of Prime Minister and about perceptions of him being reluctant.

Gandhi's remarks at the party's Chintan Shivir in Jaipur in January last year that his mother Sonia Gandhi had told him that power is poison had led to speculation as well Opposition attack that the Congress Vice President was not willing to take up responsibility.

Explaining his remarks, he said, "Power is poison is an observation that when power comes, one should know how to deal with the associated dangers that come with it. This is it.

Power is poison means use power for the welfare of people and do not use it to make oneself bigger or more powerful".

To a direct question on whether he will accept any such responsibility, Gandhi said, "None of my family members ever worked for the sake of power. Neither my father nor my grandmother." Gandhi's father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi were both Prime Ministers of the country.

"We are a democratic organisation. We have faith in democracy. The people of India will decide through their elected representatives, who will be the Prime Minister of the country. It is necessary for Congress to come to power in the interests of the nation and for that whatever responsibility the organisation has given me or will give me, I will carry out that with full dedication," he said.

Slamming the BJP for its "Congress-free India" pitch, he said, "BJP today wants a personality-oriented rule, which is not in the interests of the country. The country should not be governed according to thinking of a particular person and his ways. The future of 120 crore people can be shaped up and improved only by taking everybody along." 
Maintaining that "Congress is in the DNA of this country," Gandhi said, "BJP is talking of a Congress-free India. It does not understand that Congress alone is the political power, which has kept people of this country united." His response was also in reply to a question about Narendra Modi's popularity.

Gandhi also sought to make it clear that his sister and friend Priyanka Gandhi will not have any electoral role and that she, as an active member of Congress, is helping him.

"Priyanka is my sister and friend. Besides she is an active member of Congress and that is why she is lending a helping hand to strengthen me and the organisation.I do not think she will have any electoral role," he said scotching speculation of a larger, direct political role for Priyanka.

Maintaining that the Congress is always assessed poorly like it was done in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Gandhi said, "Yes, the upcoming elections are exciting and I have full confidence that we will do good in the polls." While answering questions regarding the future role for him in the party, Gandhi also expressed dismay at too much focus on one personality.

"My question is that why all arguments come to halt on one post? Why this is debated at the national level? Why a particular person or post is discussed.Why nobody talks about reform in politics? Why nobody is ready to change the system? The talk should centre around how we change the political system," he said.

Gandhi, who had earlier said that his party would "learn" from the Aam Admi Party, also flagged his "differences" with Arvind Kerjiwal's party on some issues.

"Congress is a strong and active party.Congress has changed the shape of politics in the country earlier also and will do so in future as well.We have been raising these issues since I came in politics. Some of these things have been implemented by AAP. But our ways are different.I am not in agreement with many of their ways.

"Our decisions should be keeping in mind the secure future of people rather than their short term gains," the Congress Vice President said.

AAP's decision on FDI in retail irresponsible: Sharma 

NEW DELHI: Terming the Delhi government's decision to disallow FDI in multi-brand retailing as "abrupt, irresponsible and ill-considered," Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma today said India is not a banana republic where policy decisions can be reversed.

The ministry, he said, will examine the communication of the newly installed Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi government on reversing the earlier decision of the state to allow foreign direct investment policy in multi-brand retail trading.

"There is a gazette notification after the (Congress-led) Delhi government approved the policy. It is notified. We are not a banana republic. India has never seen such policy reversals," he said.

The minister said the decision of the new government, which is in a minority, is "irresponsible, ill-considered, abrupt and arbitrary. It is a regressive decision. Responsible governments can ill-afford to take arbitrary decisions and knee-jerk reactions." In a major policy reversal, the AAP government wrote to the Centre to withdraw the approval given by the previous Sheila Dikshit government for FDI in multi-brand retailing in Delhi, saying the entry of global chains such as Walmart and Tesco in India would result in large-scale job losses.

Sharma, however, said the Centre had formulated the policy after wide consultations with all stakeholders, including farmer unions, MSMEs and state governments.

"The question is whether the farmers, consumers and small entrepreneurs are part of the lexicon of Aam Aadmi or are excluded. The view that it may lead to job losses has neither any merit nor any logic," he added.

Sharma said the communication received by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry does not give any reasons for the withdrawal of the policy. 

Sharma said the policy allowing FDI in multi-brand retailing was aimed at reducing post-harvest losses and create infrastructure such as cold chains, "which will lead to job creation and remunerative prices for the farmers." "Now the question is...Can a minority government with outside support reverse such decisions?...We will have it examined," he said.

The central government permitted 51 per cent FDI in multi-brand retailing in September 2012 and left its implementation to the states.

As many as 12 states, mostly Congress-led, including Delhi and Rajasthan, agreed to allow global retailers to open supermarket chains. The other states include Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Rajasthan, too, saw a change of government with the BJP coming to power after the November-December state assembly elections. It is still not clear what stand the BJP government in Rajasthan will take on the FDI policy.

FDI in multi-brand retail had not evoked the expected response from global retailers. So far, only one proposal from UK-based Tesco has been approved by the central government.

Deputy Collector arrested in Canacona building mishap 

PANAJI: A Deputy Collector has been arrested in connection with the Canacona building collapse in Goa which left 27 people dead, police said today.

Prashant Shirodkar, Deputy Collector of the area, who was also holding charge of Chief officer of Canacona Municipal Council, was arrested yesterday.

Police inspector Harish Madkaikar said that Shirodkar had signed the Occupancy Certificate for the under-construction five-storey building which collapsed on January 4. The OC was issued on December 26, days before it came down crashing.

Shirodkar has been booked under the Anti-Corruption Act. 27 bodies were extricated during the ten-day long rescue operation which continued even till yesterday.

The state government is yet to officially announce the overall death toll in the collapse.

This is a second arrest in the collapse case. Earlier Deputy Town Planner Prakash Bandodkar was arrested for allegedly not following the procedures while giving licence to the building.

Police said that Shirodkar's arrest was delayed because he was the part of disaster management team and was posted on the site of the collapse where bodies were retrieved.

However, Municipal Engineer Ajay Desai and three directors of a property firm (Bharat Realtors and Developers), constructing the structure, are still untraceable. 

Cold conditions abate at some places in Punjab & Haryana 

CHANDIGARH: Biting cold conditions sweeping Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh for the past several days today abated at some places even as foggy conditions prevailed in the region.

Chandigarh today recorded a minimum of 8.6 deg C as compared to yesterday 6.9 deg C, the MeT said here.

In Haryana, Ambala registered a low 8.2 deg C, while Bhiwani recorded a minimum of 5.4 deg C.

However, Hisar and Narnaul recorded below normal lows of 3.5 deg C and 4.3 deg C.

In Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala registered above normal minimum temperatures at 9.3 deg C and 7.6 deg C, respectively.

Foggy conditions prevailed at some places in the region while it was mist in Chandigarh this morning, which reduced visibility slightly.