Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said the 'wholesale attack on the democratic system' currently underway in India is the single biggest risk the country is facing, and asserted that allowing different traditions to thrive is very important as 'we cannot do what China does, which is to run an authoritarian system'. IMAGE: Kindly note that this image has been posted for representational purposes only. Photograph: / Rediff.com Speaking at a seminar titled 'The Future is Today' at the EIA University in Medellin, Colombia, Gandhi also alleged that there are 'huge amounts of corruption at a centralised level' in India now. "In India, we have huge amounts of corruption now at a very centralised level. So, three or four businesses taking over the whole economy, having a direct relationship with the prime minister, is rampant in India," the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha said. "But I believe decentralising power, making things more transparent, bringing people into conversations, and bringing people into processes is the best way forward," Gandhi said while addressing the seminar on Wednesday. Hitting back at the Congress leader for his remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused Gandhi of insulting and degrading India on foreign soil. Posting a video clip of Gandhi's speech on X, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, 'Rahul Gandhi does it again, degrades India on foreign soil. From defaming our democracy in London, to mocking our institutions in the US, now in Colombia he spares no chance to insult Bharat globally.' 'This isn't dissent. It's disgrace to the fake Gandhi. Criticising BJP may be your right but dare you malign Mother India for your cheap and petty politics,' Bhatia said. Speaking at the seminar, Gandhi said India has a much more complex system as compared to China and its strengths are very different from that of the neighbouring country. India also has a very old spiritual tradition and a thought system with profound ideas that are useful in today's world, he said, adding that there is a lot that the country can offer in terms of tradition and way of thinking. "I am very optimistic about India, but at the same time, there are fault lines within the Indian structure. There are risks that India has to overcome. The single-biggest risk is the attack on democracy that is taking place in India," the Leader of Opposition said. "India has multiple religions, traditions and languages. India is actually a conversation between all its people. Different ideas, religions and traditions require space. The best method for creating that space is the democratic system," he said. "Currently, there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India, so that is a risk. The other big risk is different conceptions -- some 16-17 different languages, different religions... So, allowing these different traditions to thrive, and giving them space to express themselves is very important for a country like India.
We did not disappoint India in the summer of 1991. We will grasp the nettle once again, in the summer of 2011, the prime minister said.
'Our prime minister is highly educated, humble and has a great track record.'
Seventy six-year-old Dr Singh drove to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday morning from his 7, Race Course Road residence to greet Patil on the occasion, a PMO spokesperson said.
Political conflicts with deep social roots are not resolved through ill-conceived surreptitious deals. They require a bold political vision to resolve them. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's speech at the recent annual conference on internal security showed a vision that is cynical, sterile and bureaucratic, writes RN Ravi, former special diretor of the Intelligence Bureau
'Personalities are temporary, policies provide for stability.' 'With the former, when personalities change so does the nature of the relationship.' 'Policies and structures, on the other hand, are idiot-proof, as well as maverick-resistant,' explains Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
While Narendra Modi spent fewer days abroad than his predecessor -- 275 days versus Dr Singh's 306 - he has travelled more widely than any other Indian PM.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants to encourage what he hopes is beginning of change of the Pakistani mindset towards India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will probably want to forget the year 2011 as soon as possible. The recent hold back of the Cabinet decision to allow 51 per cent foreign direct investment in retail trade was just another humiliation that plagued his government, which still finds itself cornered by a plethora of allegations of scams, administrative excesses and outstanding misgovernance.
Dr Ramakant Panda performed bypass heart surgery on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2009, shortly before the general election. As the Asian Heart Institute, which Dr Panda built from scratch in Mumbai, completes 200,000 heart treatments, Dr Panda tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about the prime minister's current state of health.
In an open letter to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi senior analyst B Raman says that the credibility of the Manmohan Singh government is withering and what the nation needs is a psychological turnaround.
While the Indian delegation comprised National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar, the US team included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns
As a 1000-strong Indian community applauded, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on a rain-filled Sunday evening unveiled a bust of and marker on India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in Singapore's Asian Civilisation Museum.
A change in recommendation in favour of Birla did certainly happen but the question is whether it was a bona fide decision. Jyoti Mukul reports
'...as then it brings them closer to the complaints and grievances that the public faces.'
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh [ Images ] on Sunday night Indian time met United States President Barack Obama and is understood to have discussed nuclear security, India's concerns over American military aid to Pakistan and the volatile situation in Afghanistan.
School students in Rajasthan will no longer study two-part supplementary textbooks with state Education Minister Madan Dilawar arguing that these reading materials are not required because they glorify the Nehru-Gandhi family and carry no marks for students.
The Congress is nervous about the PM penning his memoirs.
The much-awaited hotline between the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao finally became operational on Thursday, thereby setting up a direct communication between the leaders.
While China is bigger and feels mightier at the moment, Beijing's rulers would be well advised not to be tempted to provoke India, for that would only trigger a chain reaction around the world that would not serve anyone's interests, says Sanjaya Baru.
In 2021, the Centre renamed the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna as Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. But many wonder, why despite the public sentiment the country's highest civilian honour continues to elude the man who put Indian hockey on the world map.
Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, who had several meetings with Indian leaders during his nine-years at the helm, feels Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is a "nice man" for his country. Musharraf, who met Dr Singh a number of times, including during his visit to New Delhi in 2005, said he liked the Indian prime minister.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday met a Sikh delegation in Teheran on the sidelines of his visit to Iran to attend the 16th Non-Aligned Movement summit. Dr Singh's wife, Gursharan Kaur, who has accompanied him, visited the Bhai Ganga Singh Sabha gurdwara, a Sikh shrine and an Indian school on Wednesday
'If the period between 1991 and 2014 was about laying the foundations and building the runway, the period from 2014 to 2024 has been about the aircraft taking off.'
Leaders of only a few Asian countries have visited Myanmar in the new era. Notably, China is not among them. Dr Manmohan Singh's visit, the first by a prime minister since 1987, is imbued with larger regional significance, says Rajiv Bhatia.
Dismissing talk that he is a "lameduck" Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday he has been entrusted with the job by the Congress party from which he has not heard "any contrary view".
First Look of Dr Manmohan Singh with British Prime Minsiter Tony Blair
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
Readers share their impressions of the man who will soon be India's prime minister.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will go on a daylong visit on Tuesday to Leh, which has been hit by cloudburst and flash floods that claimed around 200 lives and left over 400 injured
Disappointed over the last minute holding up of the Teesta River Agreement, the Bangladesh government on Tuesday said that Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, must reassure the people of Bangladesh that the hold-up is temporary and that the agreement will be signed soon.
In a rebuff to the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress, the Congress on Thursday ruled out sparing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the Presidential race as it rejected the three names proposed by the two allies, sending signals that it was not in a mood to bow before them.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur will personally receive United States President Barack Obama when he arrives at the Delhi airport on November 7.
The revelation may have come late in the century but the Congress disclosed on Thursday, May 29, 2025, that the Indian Army conducted six surgical strikes against Pakistan during UPA-2, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's second term in power.
United States Senator Mark Warner, the democratic co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, said Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and India's restraint in the face of continuing terrorist attacks is nothing short of remarkable and keeping with the best traditions of India.
The simple lesson that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh should learn from his occasional interactions with the media is that he should do this more often. Of course, at a time and place of his choosing, focusing attention on issues he considers important (so that he can guide public thinking and political discourse) and addressing doubts uppermost in the public mind.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, V Narayanasamy on Tuesday rubbished Time magazine's description of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh as an "underachiever".
Many will hope this is the beginning of a new phase in Dr Singh's tenure, when he lets his office, the government, his council of ministers, his party and coalition and the country know that he means business, that the buck stops with him, that his colleagues and officers must shape up or ship out, says Sanjaya Baru
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