Don't expect miracle from me; build booth level organisation: Priyanka Gandhi to Cong workers
New Delhi, Feb 18: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told party workers from Uttar Pradesh's Bundelkhand region that they should not expect a "miracle" from her and the party's performance depends on its booth-level organisation.
The AICC General Secretary Uttar Pradesh East warned the party workers that anyone found indulging in anti-party activities will be shown the door, a leader who attended the meeting said.
During the meeting, held at the Congress' war room at 15 Gurudwara Rakabganj Road, Priyanka Gandhi reviewed the booth-level organisation of the party in the region -- under which 19 Assembly and four Lok Sabha seats fall.
The four parliamentary segments in Bundelkhand are -- Jhansi-Lalitpur, Jaluan, Banda and Hamirpur.
She asked the Congress workers to strengthen the booth-level organisation of the party.
"I cannot do a miracle from above, the workers need to strengthen the party at the booth level and I need your support for strengthening the party in the state," the leader quoted Priyanka Gandhi as saying during the meeting.
The leaders told Priyanka Gandhi that she reminded them of former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
They also presented a statue of Rani Laxmi Bai to Priyanka Gandhi, who said she was inspired by the erstwhile ruler of Jhansi, the leader said.
Priyanka Gandhi and Jyotiraditya Scindia were appointed AICC general secretaries for UP east and UP west respectively in January and took charge earlier this month.
The Congress leader has held a series of discussions with party workers last week in Lucknow, with at least one session lasting through the night.
The Congress is trying to revive itself in the state where it faces a challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party as well as an alliance of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
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Trump administration says its war in Iran has been 'terminated' before 60-day deadline
Washington (AP): The Trump administration is arguing that the war in Iran has already ended because of the ceasefire that began in early April, an interpretation that would allow the White House to avoid the need to seek congressional approval.
The statement furthers an argument laid out by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during testimony in the Senate earlier Thursday, when he said the ceasefire effectively paused the war. Under that rationale, the administration has not yet met the requirement mandated by a 1973 law to seek formal approval from Congress for military action that extends beyond 60 days.
A senior administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's position, said for purposes of that law, “the hostilities that began on Saturday, Feb 28 have terminated.” The official said the US military and Iran have not exchanged fire since the two-week ceasefire that began April 7.
While the ceasefire has since been extended, Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, and the US Navy is maintaining a blockade to prevent Iran's oil tankers from getting out to sea.
Under the War Powers Resolution, the law that sought to constrain a president's military powers, President Donald Trump had until Friday to seek congressional authorisation or cease fighting. The law also allows an administration to extend that deadline by 30 days.
Democrats have pushed the administration for formal approval of the Iran war, and the 60-day mark would likely have been a turning point for a swath of Republican lawmakers who backed temporary action against Tehran but insisted on congressional input for something longer.
“That deadline is not a suggestion; it is a requirement,” said Sen Susan Collins, R-Maine, who voted Thursday in favour of a measure that would end military action in Iran since Congress hadn't given its approval. She added that “further military action against Iran must have a clear mission, achievable goals, and a defined strategy for bringing the conflict to a close."
Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the National Security Council during Trump's first term, said he has recommended to administration officials to simply transition to a new operation, which he suggested could be called “Epic Passage,” a sequel to Operation Epic Fury.
That new mission, he said, “would inherently be a mission of self-defence focused on reopening the strait while reserving the right to offensive action in support of restoring freedom of navigation.”
“That to me solves it all,” added Goldberg, who is now a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a hawkish Washington think tank.
During testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, Hegseth said it was the administration's “understanding” that the 60-day clock was on pause while the two countries were in a ceasefire.
Katherine Yon Ebright, counsel at the Brennan Center's Liberty and National Security Program and an expert on war powers, said that interpretation would be a “sizeable extension of previous legal gamesmanship” related to the 1973 law.
“To be very, very clear and unambiguous, nothing in the text or design of the War Powers Resolution suggests that the 60-day clock can be paused or terminated,” she said.
Other presidents have argued that the military action they've taken was not intense enough or was too intermittent to qualify under the War Powers Resolution. But Trump's war in Iran would certainly not be such a case, Ebright said, adding that lawmakers need to push back against the administration on that kind of argument.
