Former president Pranab Mukherjee to be the Prime ministerial candidate for 2019 ?
NEW DELHI: As former president Pranab Mukherjee is set to be the chief guest at an RSS event next month, a new theory has started doing rounds . This sudden move is seen by many as a clear indication that Citizen Mukherjee -- as he calls himself on Twitter -- is asserting an identity independent of the Congress, his party for over five decades.
NDTV's Sunetra Choudhury has reported that she has spoken to a wide range of politicians across party lines who confirmed that the 82-year-old is playing a significant role in bringing non-Congress, non-BJP leaders together to form an alternative front ahead of 2019. Some of those leaders went as far as to pitch the former president as a potential prime ministerial candidate in 2019. They point to talks that Mr Mukherjee has been having with political leaders who have met him at his official bungalow in Delhi.
It all began with a low-key meeting held in Bhubaneswar in January at the home of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the chief of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). Mr Patnaik had invited the leaders for the launch of a biography of his father Biju Patnaik. Unlike other high-profile dinners hosted recently by Sonia Gandhi or NCP leader Sharad Pawar, this one was revealed in a tweet showing Pranab Mukherjee, Janata Dal Secular's Deve Gowda, Left leader Sitaram Yechury and BJP veteran LK Advani having lunch with Mr Patnaik.
But sources have told NDTV it was one of the first meetings that set the ball rolling on a potential Third Front.
Many others say the starting point was a much earlier meeting at Rashtrapati Bhawan last year when Chief Minister Patnaik had lunch with Pranab Mukherjee and then they dialled another "Third Front" player, Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee.
Since it involves a former president, none of the leaders NDTV spoke to wanted to speak on record. But key leaders in the Congress, BJP, Trinamool and the BJD have confirmed the developments.
"He is very political and he may be the only one with the stature to match Prime Minister Narendra Modi," said a BJD MP. "And he is open to playing a key role as a non-NDA pole position," he added.
Often described as the "prime minister India never had", Mr Mukherjee has documented how he was passed over for the job in 2004 in his book The Coalition Years. He shares that he thought then Congress president Sonia Gandhi would choose him and make Manmohan Singh, the president.
"I returned with a vague impression that she might wish to consider Manmohan Singh as the UPA presidential nominee. I thought that if she selected Singh for the presidential office, she may choose me as the prime minister. I had heard a rumour that she had given this formulation serious thought while on a holiday in the Kaushambi Hills." That didn't happen. But this was not the first let-down in his years in the Congress.
The veteran Congressman had to spend some years away from the party after a falling out with Rajiv Gandhi in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's death in 1984.
In 2012, when his name was first proposed for President, it was Mamata Banerjee who supported him wholeheartedly , backed also by the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
A senior BJP minister tracking the developments with interest believes Ms Banerjee's recent overtures to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of K Chandrasekhara Rao are also backed by Mr Mukherjee. "Whatever Mamata is doing is on behalf of Pranab Mukherjee," he said. "They are trying to create a front that will determine India's future in the next five years. The idea is that one of them will be prime minister."
NDTV tried to get an official comment from his office but they were unavailable.
Courtesy : NDTV
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700 kg drugs seized, 8 Iranians caught in anti-narcotics operation along Gujarat coast
New Delhi, Nov 15: A joint operation by anti-narcotics agencies led to the seizure of about 700 kg of drugs and the arrest of eight Iranian nationals from Indian territorial waters off the Gujarat coast around Porbandar on Friday.
The street value of the seized Methamphetamine, a synthetic recreational variety of narcotics, could be anywhere between Rs 2,500-3,500 crore in the international market, according to Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officials.
An operation codenamed 'Sagar Manthan- 4' was launched based on intelligence inputs to intercept an un-registered vessel, without an AIS (automatic identification system) or an electronic boat or ship-tracking indicator, that will be entering the Indian waters with drugs, the NCB said in a statement.
The suspect vessel was identified and "interdicted" by the Navy by mobilising its maritime patrol assets (ships) and the seizure of the drugs and apprehensions took place on Friday, it said.
"A huge consignment of about 700 kg of Methamphetamine was interdicted in Indian Territorial waters. During this operation, eight foreign nationals were arrested who claim to be Iranians," the NCB said.
The eight men do not have any identity documents, it said.
The operation was carried out jointly by the NCB, Navy and Gujarat Police Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).
The Indian Navy in a "coordinated operation" with the NCB and Gujarat Police intercepted a suspicious boat leading to the seizure of the drugs, a Navy spokesperson said in New Delhi.
"This is the second major successful coordinated anti-narcotics operations at sea by the Navy this year," he said.
The navy said it is committed to ensuring a safe and secure maritime environment while preventing illegal use of the seas.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the operation stands out as a stellar example of the government's commitment to the vision and the seamless coordination among our agencies in achieving the same.
"Pursuing PM Shri @narendramodi Ji's vision for a drug-free Bharat, our agencies today busted an international drug trafficking cartel and seized over approx. 700 kg of contraband meth in Gujarat," Shah wrote on 'X'.
As much as 3,500 kgs of drugs being trafficked through the maritime route has been seized by these agencies this year with the arrest of 11 Iranians and 14 Pakistani nationals in three cases.
All these foreigners are currently lodged in jail awaiting court trial, as per the NCB.
"These significant operational achievements in the Indian territorial waters are a testament to our resolve to eradicate the scourge of drugs from India to realize our vision of a 'Nasha Mukt Bharat' (drugs-free India) by 2047," it said.
The NCB said the Union government has recently created 111 posts, including 5 superintendent of police-level posts, in the agency in addition to 425 posts created over the last 2 years.
Pursuing PM Shri @narendramodi Ji's vision for a drug-free Bharat, our agencies today busted an international drug trafficking cartel and seized over approx. 700 kg of contraband meth in Gujarat. The joint operation carried out by the NCB, Indian Navy, and Gujarat Police stands…
— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 15, 2024
#IndianNavy in a coordinated operation with @narcoticsbureau & Gujarat Police intercepted a suspicious boat leading to seizure of approx 700 kg of meth in Gujarat.
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) November 15, 2024
This is the second major successful coordinated Anti Narcotics Operations at sea by the Navy this year.
Committed… pic.twitter.com/LcBEOkpJy7
