Page 10 - Jairam Ramesh

Mahayuti govt favoured firms in return for campaign finance donations: Cong

The Congress on Friday alleged that the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra privileged certain companies in infra tenders in return for campaign finance donations, costing the taxpayer at least Rs 10,903 crore. The opposition party asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari will be made answerable on this. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Mahayuti Sarkar in Maharashtra privileged certain companies in infra tenders in return for campaign finance donations, costing the taxpayer at least Rs 10,903 crore. He said this was akin to "pre-paid chanda, post-paid dhandha". Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "The entire nation is aware that BJP brought the Electoral Bonds Scheme to tunnel funds. We have time and again highlighted how certain firms who donated to the BJP through the illegal and unconstitutional Electoral Bonds Scheme were given hug

Crucial to act together to defend nation's image: Cong on India-Canada row

Canadian PM Trudeau also admitted that his government had not provided India with hard evidence but just intelligence regarding the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar

Hope PM will take Oppn into confidence: Jairam Ramesh on India-Canada row

Ramesh said, The Indian National Congress certainly hopes and expects that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will take into confidence the Leaders of the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament

Make in India has simply become 'Fake in India': Congress' Jairam Ramesh

The Congress on Monday alleged that the objectives spelt out by the Modi government at the time of launch of 'Make in India' have turned out to be "jumlas", and that 'Make in India' has simply become "Fake in India". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also said that in the last decade economic policy making has been far from being stable, predictable and sensible. "When he announced 'Make in India' in 2014 with his usual hype and hoopla, the non-biological PM set out four objectives. Ten years later, a quick status check: Jumla One: Increase the growth rate of Indian industry to 12-14% per year. Reality: Since 2014, annual growth rate for manufacturing has averaged around 5.2%," Ramesh said in a post on X. "Jumla Two: Create 100 million industrial jobs by 2022. Reality: The number of manufacturing workers fell from 51.3 million in 2017 to 35.65 million in 2022-23. Jumla Three: Increase the share of the manufacturing sector to 25% of GDP by 2022, and ..

Haryana elections: Congress alleges 'EVM tampering' in 13 more seats

During vote counting, Jairam Ramesh noted that BJP-led EVMs had 99% battery levels, while those with 60-70% battery showed Congress winning

Ratan Tata was gentle colossus of India's corporate world: Jairam Ramesh

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Thursday paid rich tributes to Ratan Tata, saying that for four decades, he was the gentle colossus of India's corporate world. Ramesh said Tata made the Tata conglomerate ready for a post-1991 India. Ratan Naval Tata, the former Tata Group chairman breathed his last at south Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. A Padma Vibhushan recipient, Tata, had been in intensive care at the hospital since Monday. "For four decades, Ratan Tata was the gentle colossus of India's corporate world who made the Tata conglomerate ready for a post-1991 India," Ramesh, the Congress general secretary in-charge communications, said. "It was not easy because he was surrounded by legends themselves when he succeeded JRD Tata, but he prevailed by his vision, resolve, and grit," Ramesh said in a post on X. Ratan Tata had a stellar global reputation and was actually more than a business leader, the Congress leader said. "He was a philanthropist i

'Ill-founded': ECI refutes Congress's claim of delay in Haryana results

Haryana Assembly elections: The Congress had alleged that the Election Commission is delaying the uploading of current vote counting trends for the Haryana Assembly elections on its website

Congress alleges delay in vote count updates as BJP surges in Haryana polls

Congress leaders highlighted the discrepancies between the rounds of votes counted and the data broadcast by news channels, which was based on Election Commission figures

Why is PM Modi delaying Census that must include caste count: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the "delay" in the Census and asserted that it is only through a caste count that full and meaningful social, economic, and political justice can be ensured in education and employment. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that in the midst of its political transition and economic turmoil, Sri Lanka has just announced that its latest Population and Housing Census - last done in 2012 - will begin Monday. "What about India? The decennial Census was due in 2021. There is still no sign of it happening," Ramesh said in a post on X. Over 10 crore Indians are being denied benefits under the National Food Security Act, 2013 or the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana because still the 2011 Census enumeration is being used, he said. And what about integrating questions on caste in the census, as is being demanded by Congress and all other political parties, he asked. "Detailed enumeration of Schedu

Claims on economy conceal choke points that will strangulate growth: Cong

Asserting that the last 10 years have seen "highly detrimental economic trends", the Congress on Sunday said the monsoon has receded but at least "three dark clouds" of languishing private sector investment, stagnating manufacturing and decline in real wages and productivity for labourers, still loom over the Indian economy. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said bombastic claims on the economy are being made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his drumbeaters but what these claims conceal are the choke points that will strangulate growth in the years to come if not taken seriously now, in a spirit of humility. "The monsoon has receded. But new evidence has shown that at least three dark clouds still loom over the Indian economy," Ramesh said in a statement. "First, after a brief surge in private sector investment during 2022-23 on the back of the COVID-19 recovery, investment has returned to an unsteady path," he said. New project announcements by t

No 'spin-doctoring' can change fact that 2014-24 saw jobloss growth: Cong

The Congress on Monday dismissed as "half-truths" the government's assertions of creating eight crore employment opportunities between 2021 and 2024 and 6.2 crore net subscribers joining the EPFO database, and said no "spin-doctoring" can take away from the fact that 2014-24 has seen "jobloss growth". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that amidst the "U-turns and scandals" that have marked the last few months of this "tottering" government, "the non-biological PM and his drum beaters have tried to find some solace in their economic record, claiming to have created eight crore employment opportunities between 2021 and 2024". "This claim initially emerged from the RBI KLEMS data, which we had earlier countered on July 15th, 2024. The Government's spin doctors have now mustered another statistic - that of 6.2 crore net subscribers joining the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) database between September 2017 and March 2024. Both claims are

Great Nicobar project recipe for ecological, humanitarian disaster: Ramesh

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday said the present design of the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project "endangers ecology" in a "needlessly unacceptable manner". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh on X cited the views of former Chief of Navy Admiral Arun Prakash, who has stated that it is both desirable and possible to bolster security without harming ecology. Sharing a report on Prakash's remarks, Ramesh said on X, "These views on the very controversial Greater Nicobar Integrated Development Project expressed by a very distinguished former Chief of the Indian Navy, Admiral Arun Prakash, who has served in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands merits serious attention. His basic point is this: It is both desirable and possible to bolster security without harming ecology." "The present design of the project being pushed through by the non-biological PM endangers ecology in a needlessly unacceptable manner," Ramesh said. The Congress general .

Govt hell-bent on inflicting ecological disaster: Ramesh on Nicobar project

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has written to Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav over the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project, alleging the high-powered panel tasked to revisit environmental clearances to the project was "biased" in its very composition and did not carry out any meaningful reassessment. Ramesh also expressed "grave concern" over expressions of interest being invited even as the National Green Tribunal deliberates on petitions before it. In his letter to Yadav, Ramesh also questioned the credibility, composition, and conclusions of a high-powered committee (HPC) tasked to revisit the environmental clearances granted to the Great Nicobar Island infrastructure project. "It is also a matter of grave concern that while the NGT deliberates on petitions before it, ANIIDCO has already invited expressions of interest that is a precursor for the clearing of around 65 square km of biodiversity-rich forests. I believe the Government of India is hell-bent on ...

Cong asks BJP about vision to ensure Haryana's farmers make decent living

The Congress claimed on Wednesday that Haryana's farmers have completely lost trust in the BJP and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out his party's vision for ensuring that the state's tillers can make a decent living. As Modi heads to Haryana to campaign for the Assembly polls, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posed three questions to the prime minister. Does the prime minister have any updates on the commitments he had made to the farmers after their protests against three agriculture laws that have since been repealed, Ramesh asked. "Haryana's farmers have completely lost trust in the BJP. When the farm protests were called off in 2021, farmers left after being reassured by the non-biological PM and his government that they would meet their demands," he said. However, over time, the Modi government's dialogue with farmers' organisations slowed down and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appointed a "biased committee" to deliberate

JP Nadda's response to Kharge's letter on Gandhi threats draw Congress' ire

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh described JP Nadda's reply to Mallikarjun Kharge's letter to PM Modi over 'threats' made against Rahul Gandhi as 'intemperate' and 'senseless'

If Manipur situation normal like Shah's claims, why hasn't PM visited: Cong

Hitting out at Home Minister Amit Shah over his remarks on Manipur, the Congress on Tuesday asked if the situation there was as normal as he made it out to be why hasn't Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state yet or met its political leaders. Addressing a press conference here, Shah said the government is talking to both the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur to ensure lasting peace and has begun fencing the country's border with Myanmar to check infiltration. Barring three days of violence last week, the overall situation in Manipur has been calm and the government has been working to restore peace in the restive Northeastern state, Shah said at the press conference on the achievements of 100 days of the Modi government 3.0. Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh said, "If the situation in Manipur is as normal as the self-styled Chanakya has made it out to be today (and) if the chief minister of Manipur is doing as good a job as the self-styled Chanak

100 days of Modi 3.0: Cong says govt again 'failed to act' on unemployment

The Congress on Tuesday claimed that the first 100 days of Modi 3.0 was marked by a litany of U-turns and a series of scandals with the government yet again having "failed to act" on India's "mass unemployment crisis". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said "the non-biological PM and his drumbeating economists" have consistently attacked the idea of jobless growth but the reality of what has been seen since 2014 is perhaps even more stark -- "job-loss growth". "Yesterday marked a hundred days of this unstable, crisis-ridden Government. Amidst a litany of u-turns and a series of scandals, the government has yet again failed to act on India's mass unemployment crisis an issue which the Congress has been consistently sounding the alarm on for the past five years at least," he said in a statement. The crisis has been of the government's own making, caused by the decimation of job creating MSMEs through the "Tughlakian demonetisation", a hastily rushed ..

J&K became a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by BJP-RSS cabal: Cong

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress on Saturday asked when will full statehood return to the union territory and alleged that the region has "become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal". Prime Minister Modi addressed an election rally in the Doda district of Jammu region in support of BJP candidates. Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh noted that since the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018, Jammu and Kashmir has been administered by Modi government. Posing questions to the PM, Ramesh asked when will full statehood return to Jammu and Kashmir. He alleged that since 2018, the people of J&K have been denied any avenue to express their grievances. "The region has become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal. While claiming to have ended special status for J&K, the government has in fact created an extra-special situation of a new and unique political system: one where ...

Adani's foreign forays can threaten national security vis-a-vis China: Cong

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also alleged that 'the non biological PM's clean chit to China'

Congress criticises Adani's China venture, warns of national security risks

The Congress' criticism comes amid reports that the Adani Group has formed a subsidiary in China to carry out the business of providing supply chain solutions and project management services