Tuesday, February 26, 2019

Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography by Margaret Alva

Courage & Commitment: An Autobiography is a book written by Margaret Alva.

She mentioned that, in 1971, after the win in Bangladesh war, her victory was easy. But, Bangladesh war happened after she won in the election.

She says, AP government was dismissed in 1978. In fact, the tenure of AP government was extended by an year due to internal emergency. After 1972 elections, the next elections for AP state assembly were in 1978.

She says Congress denied ticket to P. V. Narasimha rao in 1996. But, it was not correct. He was denied in 1998. It was not a typo. She wrote more than a paragraph on that.

She said she fought with BJP government during the thirteen days rule on minority rights, communal tensions, foreign policy reversals and centre-state relations. All this in 13 days???

In 2000 March, she became the chair person of Parliamentary Committee on the empowerment of women. She mentioned the problems during that time, where Najma heptulla wanted to become the Chair person. While mentioning the problems at that time, she said the chairman of the rajya sabha Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. But, he was not the chairman at that time. Krishan Kanth was the Chairman then.

She said, she was the Chair person for 5 years, and submitted the report in 2005 to Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram and Sonia Gandhi. She also said, "got the idea included in the Congress' manifesto". It is seriously wrong. As a member of Lok Sabha, how could she continue as Chairperson even after the elections? Also, she lost Lok Sabha election in 2004, and she did not even get nominated to Rajya Sabha. If the report is released in 2005, how could she introduce that in the 2004 elections' manifesto? Is it allowed to disclose the report before officially presenting it to the government? If the report is released before 2004 elections, how could she submit it to Manmohan Singh, Chidambaram and Sonia Gandhi? It should be submitted to Vajpayee and his cabinet.

After 2004 elections, she said, she made Susheel Kumar Shinde to lead marathwada region. Susheel kumar shinde became governor of AP after the elections. How could he lead the party?

In the photos, she says, "With first lady of India Janaki Venkataraman, 1986". Janaki Venkataraman was not the first Lady in 1986. She became first lady in 1987.