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Interestingly, Satav has a political lineage. His mother Rajni Satav is a former Minister and Maharashtra Women's Commission chairman. He got into politics because of his mother's influence, which even reportedly worked to get him a ticket. Last year, Satav fought Assembly election from Kalamnuri constituency in Hingoli district of Maharashtra.

The decision was taken by Rahul, who is AICC general secretary in-charge of the Indian Youth Congress and the NSUI, after meeting the office-bearers of the Youth Congress. Satav, an MLA from Kalamnuri in Maharashtra, replaces Ashok Tanwar, the MP from Sirsa.

Party sources said that Rahul Gandhi held discussions with a large number of office-bearers of the IYC from different States before arriving at the decision to make Satav the new president of the organisation.

Sources said that the decision is clearly weighed by the party's desire to promote an OBC from a State other than Haryana, UP, Bihar or rest of north India. Satav is the third Youth Congress chief from Maharashtra. He has been preceded by Mukul Wasnik and Gurudas Kamat. A senior leader said, "There was also a view in Youth Congress that Rahul's coterie of confidantes is dominated by Thakurs or Rajputs - like Kanishk Singh, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and even Digvijay Singh." Satav's selection is seen as an attempt to allay such complaints.

The 35-year old Satav beat other youth leaders, including two-time MLA from Khilchipur in MP Priyavrat Singh and Raja Amrendra Singh from Muktesar in Punjab.

Speaking in Guwahati yesterday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat came out in support of north Indians facing attacks in Mumbai. "Mumbai is for all Indians," Bhagwat said. "Whole of India is for all Indians and all Indians can earn livelihood anywhere in India."

"Language, caste, sub-castes, groups, tribes can be different, but all are sons of India," the RSS chief said, adding that "this is a misconception that employment has decreased at our place (Maharashtra) because of migrants... A solution to this grievance should be found, but the solution is not that you refuse people of your country to migrate to your area."

Today, RSS leader Ram Madhav went a step further.

"The Sangh Parivar has asked its volunteers in Maharashtra to try and prevent the spread of anti-north Indian and anti-Hindi feelings," Madhav told reporters in Jabalpur.

The RSS, Madhav said, was opposed to discrimination on the basis of language, and demanded steps to check disturbances on the issue. "There should be no discrimination on the basis of language," he said in reply to a question. "The Sangh is of the strong view that India is one from Kashmir to Kanyakumari."

In Mumbai, former Maharashtra chief minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi reacted sharply.

"The time has come to remind RSS that Mumbai belongs to Marathi people only and they should get priority here," Joshi said. "Mumbai's glory is due to hard work of Marathi people and they have full right over the city."

Source: The Indian Express Now RSS says Mumbai for all Indians, Sena disagrees

The absence of manpower threatens the execution of the well- thought out proposal of ` one- man- one- post', which was given the vote of confidence by general secretary Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress central team includes nine general secretaries, eight state in- charges and 39 secretaries. Of them, eight ministers are doubling up as office- bearers.

Last week, All- India Congress Committee ( AICC) general secretary Oscar Fernandes said the party would appoint new senior office- bearers as many of the posts were now held by central ministers. Fernandes said a reshuffle of the AICC " was due".

Party sources said apart from manpower scarcity, the much-awaited AICC revamp was being held up by the delay in the shuffling of the Union council of ministers by the Prime Minister. Both have to be synchronised for effective use of available leaders, a party insider said.

Shortage of dynamic leaders is telling in key states such as Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. Compounding the problem, the party is facing acute factionalism in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh (especially after the death of chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy), Goa, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

Source: Mail Today By Kay Benedict Manpower shortage hits revamp plan of Congress

Leaders of both parties separately met newly-appointed West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan and alleged that a reign of terror had been unleashed in most districts by the CPM while the police looked the other way. They said after the CPM's defeats in the Lok Sabha and other elections, it had launched a massive "area capturing drive" by driving out TC and Congress workers and supporters from the localities.

The CPM, which began a three-day special meeting of the state committee at its Alimuddin Street office yesterday, rejected the demand for advancing the Assembly polls. Party secretary Biman Bose said the election would be held as schedule, some time in May-June 2011. He counter-alleged that the TC and the Congress were trying to create law and order problems in order to advance the poll. He said TC activists and Maoists were now jointly operating in several areas in south Bengal districts and attacking and killing CPM cadres and supporters.

Railway minister and TC supremo Mamata Banerjee said the party was not demanding application of Article 356, but a fresh elections in the state since the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government had lost the people's support. She alleged that during the past 32 years of Left rule, cadres had kept busy amassing enormous wealth and assets by misusing official machinery.

Tenure of 65 Rajya Sabha MPs is ending this year between April and August. Of these, 24 (including Shivraj Patil who is now a governor) belong to the Congress. But the ruling party is in a position to win only 17 seats on the basis of its legislative strength in the states.

This means that the Congress tally, which stands at 72, will come down to 65.

The party is expected to decide after a couple of weeks who it will renominate and from where. This could require some reshuffling. For instance, the Congress will draw a blank in BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand from where it had got Anand Sharma and Capt Satish Sharma elected.
In Bihar, R.K Dhawan was elected with the RJD's support.

Representing 14 states, the 24 MPs also include seven who complete their tenure in April.
The remaining will complete their term in June and July.

The Congress members whose tenures are ending are from Andhra Pradesh (5), Punjab (4), Assam, Karnataka, Maharashtra (2 each), Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Jharkhand (1 each).

The party hopes to win three seats from Andhra Pradesh and Punjab, two from Rajasthan and Maharashtra and one from Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

It's learnt that the decision was taken at the highest level in the state because flag hoisting was seen as a ``needless provocation'' to separatist and extremist elements, who have for years been throwing stones at paramilitary forces positioned there. Signifying a shift in security strategy, it was felt by the Omar Abdullah government that there was no traction to be obtained from such symbolic gestures.

Flag hoisting at Lal Chowk began at the height of militancy in the state in 1991 when BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi took out the `Ekta Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Srinagar, ostensibly to symbolize India's assertion in an area where Pakistani flags were seen in a grim reminder of separatists' defiance. Security forces used to have their own Republic Day celebration at Lal Chowk and distribute sweets, which would be followed by the hoisting of the Tricolour on the Clock Tower at the centre of the market. The ceremony now seems to have passed into history.

He is struggling with the burden of five inept Union ministers belonging to the Congress's alliance partners.

And there is precious little he can do because severing ties with them would be akin to snapping the coalition government's lifeline.

Nationalist Congress Party ( NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, DMK leaders A. Raja and M. K. Alagiri and NCP leader Praful Patel form the ` infamous five'. Key ministries such as food, agriculture, civil supplies and consumer affairs ( Pawar), railways ( Mamata), telecom ( Raja), chemicals and fertilisers ( Alagiri) and civil aviation ( Patel) have lost sheen because of their abysmal performance.
And the biggest " non- performing asset" in the UPA could be Pawar.

He made the government see red not only with his inability to control rising prices of essential commodities but also with his penchant for periodic forecasts. He has often ` predicted' rise in the prices of rice, sugar and milk products in the recent past, allegedly helping hoarders to stock up on food products.

A Mumbai- based Pawar watcher and financial consultant alleged that the profit of big sugar companies have increased up to 1,000 times in the past six months. Share prices of these firms have registered a 300- per cent increase.

But the consumers and farmers remain the worst hit.

The analyst said: " Despite the bumper production of wheat, he ( Pawar) created artificial shortage." During portfolio allocation, Pawar had bargained hard and retained the agriculture ministry in UPA II. He also forced the Congress brass to club food, civil supplies and consumer affairs with the agriculture ministry to derive " maximum benefit". Another analyst said Pawar was able to influence a number of cooperatives, including those of sugar and milk, to his advantage and " profit" by clubbing all the four departments.

Mamata, too, has been labelled a " non- performer" eight months into the railway ministry. The Congress is reportedly deeply concerned about Mamata's lack of interest and initiative in the ministry which she took over from Lalu Prasad. A case in point: of the 15 cabinet meet ings held recently, Mamata skipped nine. She is a ghost figure in Rail Bhawan and often remains holed up in Kolkata.

Source: Mail Today Inept Allies Bog Down UPA Govt, Non- Performers Leave Cong Red- Faced But PM Can't Do Much About It

The Congress brass on Monday dusted a report, submitted last year by an in- house ` Future Challenges Group ( FCG)', and discussed whether its suggestions were implementable.

The report proposes radical reforms in the party to make it vibrant and in tune with the changing times.

Sources said if the far- reaching recommendations, which are yet to be made public, are to be implemented, the party constitution needs to be amended.

Therefore, the party may set up a subcommittee to study the recommendations and suggest whether they can be implemented.

The group's report will subsequently be placed before the Congress Working Committee ( CWC) for approval.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi discussed the FCG report with her political secretary Ahmed Patel, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, defence minister A.K. Antony, party general secretary Digvijay Singh and law minister Veerappa Moily.

Source: Mail Today By  Kay Benedict Sonia takes a cue from son
and plans Congress makeover

The AICC general secretary has decided to launch a month- long Youth Congress membership drive to revive the party's fortunes in the state before the assembly polls, slated for October- November.

Rahul himself will tour the state towards the end of the month to rejuvenate the cadre and mobilise support of the youth.

Registration for the Indian Youth Congress will start on January 12. Forms are available online and anyone aged between 18 and 35 are eligible to register by producing their birth certificate and proof of residence.

However, all is not well within the party in the state. The Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee ( BPCC) has been plagued by factionalism with a section of leaders lobbying for the removal of party president Anil Sharma.

With a litany of complaints against Sharma, the high command recently expanded the BPCC to trim his wings.

The new committee has as many as 397 members, including 125 executive members. The panel has a mix of the old guard and newcomers including 14 vicepresidents, one treasurer, 20 general secretaries, 69 secretaries and 60 organising secretaries.

But critics within the party fear the jumbo committee may create more problems than solving them.

source: India Today Clean-up job for Congress scions before Bihar polls

His success with restructuring of the Indian Youth Congress has inspired the party to initiate changes for democratising and broadbasing the organisation.

On Monday, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi discussed with leaders Pranab Mukherjee, A.K. Antony, Ahmed Patel, Veerappa Moily and Digvijay Singh the issue of party reforms.

The changes will begin once the ongoing organisational elections leading to the re-election of Sonia as party chief are over by the middle of the year.

"The party reforms will be taken up after the present organisational elections and will involve restructuring the party organization, elections and membership,'' said general secretary Digvijay Singh.
"The objective is to make the organization more homogenous...'' he said The meeting discussed the summary of a report that the Group on Future Challenges and Opportunities had submitted to Sonia almost a year ago on party reforms. The Group, headed by Moily, also included Rahul, who has been trying to initiate changes in the Youth Congress.

These changes involve an open and democratic election of officebearers, a transparent membership drive and an organisational restructuring that synchronises the party unit with the parliamentary or assembly constituency or a panchayat units.

The Youth Congress also earmarks a social quota for minorities, women and other disadvantaged groups in its office bearers.

The Congress's worries are linked to signals emanating from Patna about chief minister Nitish Kumar's plans to advance the scheduled October-November elections to April-May, which wouldn't leave his rivals in the NDA-ruled state much time to recoup.

Sources said Nitish was planning to advance the elections primarily because of floods, which wreak havoc in north Bihar every year around August.

The magnitude of the problem is so big that no government can satisfy the affected people by its relief programmes and the Janata Dal(United) leader does not want to run the risk of going into the election under a deluge of discontent, the sources said.

But the plan to advance the polls, the sources added, is also driven by political considerations.

Source: The Telegraph Bihar early poll worry for Congress

AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi hopes to have more than 1 crore members by the time organsational polls are conducted in December.

" Rahul is investing a lot of time and energy on the IYC and that is giving a lot of confidence to youngsters. By the time the polls are over, the IYC will be the largest organisation in the world," IYC president and Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar said.

Rahul has engaged the Foundation for Advanced Management of Elections ( FAME), headed by former election commissioner K. J. Rao, to conduct transparent polls in the IYC. Rao will be assisted by former chief election commissioners J. M. Lyngdoh and N. Gopalaswami.

As many as 12.5 lakh members will be appointed officebearers at the panchayat level from various castes and communities, with special emphasis on SC/ ST and minorities.

Plans are afoot to make the youth body a vibrant, professional outfit which would nurture competent leaders for the parent party in the changing global scenario.

For this, experts from various fields, including politics and management, are being drafted to impart training to the youth from the panchayat to the national level.

Source: Mail Today Rahul plans to make IYC largest youth body

Talking to mediapersons, he said the target would be achieved and 6-7 lakh more members would join the party by New Year.

He said AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi has given a new direction to the Youth Congress by putting in place elected bodies at all levels.

Favouring elected students unions in colleges and universities, Chokhar said legal provision should be made to debar students with criminal and anti-social background from contesting the elections to students' bodies.

Expressing confidence that the Congress will win the Ellenabad byelection, Chokhar said the party lost due to the internal bickering in the last elections. The party was fully geared up and united this time and there was no scope for any other party to defeat the Congress, he claimed.

When asked about his plans to contest the elections in future, he said: "If given a chance by the party high command, I will definitely like to contest the elections in future."

The Congress has already nominated Bharat Singh Beniwal, who will file his nomination papers tomorrow. The INLD is likely to field Abhey Singh Chautala, younger son of party supremo Om Prakash Chautala. He will file his papers on January 2.

However, the bypoll will be a battle between Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.

Other parties of the state, whether they contest or not, are unlikely to affect the outcome of the byelection. Hooda needs to win the Ellenabad byelection to ensure that the Congress can manage to win a majority in the state assembly.

The Congress won 40 seats in the House of 90 and after "defection" of five MLAs belonging to the Haryana Janhit Congress to the ruling party, its strength reached up to 45.

Though Hooda has the support of the lone BSP MLA and seven Independents, all of whom have been accommodated in the government, the Congress needs to win the Ellenabad seat to reach the magical figure of 46.

On the other hand, Chautala's prestige is at stake as his party has lost the Ellenabad seat only once since 1977.

Source: The Tribune Ellenabad bypoll: It's Cong vs INLD

"Congress being a national party, we have to discuss the size of the JAC. Hence, we are meeting on December 29 to discuss how to participate in it," senior MLA R Damodar Reddy told mediapersons here on Sunday.

While expressing confidence that party president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will grant statehood to Telangana, Reddy said Congress legislators from the Telangana region were trying to convince the high command on the need to announce the formation of a separate state.

Meanwhile, all the three regions in the state - Andhra, Telangana and Rayalaseema - saw destruction of public and private properties worth over Rs 250 crore due to the ongoing agitations.

source: Business-standards Congress to meet on Dec 29 over JAC participation