'What matters is policies, not personalities like Priyanka, Rahul or Modi.'
The Congress MP is in London to attend the Ideas for India conclave; on Monday, he will speak at Cambridge, a university his father attended in the early 1960s and where Rajiv met and fell in love with Sonia.
They may not see eye to eye on a number of issues, but some sworn political rivals have converged in the same constituency in Uttar Pradesh on Valentine's Day. While Congress president Sonia Gandhi joined her daughter Priyanka to campaign in Rae Bareli, her parliamentary constituency, son Rahul will be criss-crossing neighbouring Hardoi before moving on to Agra to address more rallies there.
Unfazed by the attacks on him by the Congress leadership for his book which was sharply critical of Sonia Gandhi, Natwar Singh has decided to write a sequel "which will have many more disclosures".
'If Rahul Gandhi's authority was absolute, he could have picked his man.' 'Compare this with the ease with which outsiders like Adityanath, Khattar and Fadnavis were picked.'
Sandeep Mawa is a Kashmiri Pandit married to a Kashmiri Muslim, intent upon spreading the message of love and Kashmiriyat through his campaign. He wants to hug Assaduddin Owaisi, Arvind Kejriwal, Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi and do a pau lago to Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi.
In the coming days, the Congress may be run by a trimurti of Sonia, Rahul and Priyanka, with Rahul holding the primary position both in Parliament and in the party and Sonia and Priyanka helping him out as and when required.
'The Red Sari' is not a historical account of Sonia Gandhi and puts her in good light but it could not be published in India around four years ago because of 'poor PR people' of the Congress, says its author Javier Moro.
The Congress president inaugurated a photo exhibition commemorating the birth centenary of Indira Gandhi, with more than 200 pictures depicting various events from her life at the historic Swaraj Bhavan where the former prime minister was born.
Confidence Uwazuruike came to Mumbai a few weeks ago to cover the Great Indian Election Tamasha. On this wishlist was to see Priyanka in flesh and blood. His wish came true this week, but not quite in the way he wanted it to be.
Some analysts believe that it suits Prime Minister Narendra Modi at this stage to debunk the image of Sonia Gandhi as a woman who declined the prime ministership of the country with great personal sacrifice, just as it would suit him to portray Rahul as a coward who was afraid his mother would be killed -- claims made by former Union minister Natwar Singh in his yet-to-be-released book. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mital reports.
Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister in 2004 because of strong opposition from her son Rahul Gandhi who was afraid she would be killed like his father and grandmother if she accepted the post, former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh claimed.
'She is tough. She can be stern. She can be unpleasant. Rajiv was none of these things.' 'The Congress cannot survive without the Gandhi family. If Sonia were to quit, their Lok Sabha seats would drop from 44 to four.' K Natwar Singh shares his bitterness about the Nehru family with Rashme Sehgal.
'Sonia is trying to become a politician again. Will she succeed?'
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