The city of Bombay originally consisted of seven islands, namely Colaba, Mazagaon, Old Woman's Island, Wadala, Mahim,

Parel, and Matunga-Sion. This group of islands, which have since been joined together by a series of reclamations, formed part of the kingdom of Ashoka, the famous Emperor of India. After his death, these islands passed into the hands of various Hindu rulers until 1343. In that year, the Mohammedans of Gujerat took possession and the Kings of that province of India ruled for the next two centuries. The only vestige (mark) of their dominion over these islands that remains today is the mosque at Mahim. In 1534 the Portuguese, who already possessed many important trading centers on the western coast, such as Panjim, Daman, and Diu, took Bombay by force of arms from the Mohammedans. This led to the establishment of numerous churches which were constructed in areas where the majority of people were Roman Catholics. There used to be two areas in Bombay called "Portuguese Church". However, only one church with Portuguese-style facade still remains; it is the St. Andrew's church at Bandra. The Portuguese also fortified their possession by building forts at Sion, Mahim, Bandra, and Bassien which, although in disrepair, can still be seen. They named their new possession as "Bom Baia" which in Portuguese means "Good Bay". A hundred and twenty-eight years later the islands were given to the English King Charles II in dowry on his marriage to Portuguese Princess Catherine of Braganza in 1662. In the year 1668 the islands were acquired by the English East India Company on lease from the crown for an annual sum of 10 pounds in gold; so little did the British value these islands at that time. The Company, which was operating from Surat, was in search for another deeper water port so that larger vessels could dock, and found the islands of Bombay suitable for development. The shifting of the East India Company's headquarters to Bombay in 1687 led to the eclipse of Surat as a principal trading center. The British corrupted the Portuguese name "Bom Baia" to "Bombay". The Kolis used to call the islands "Mumba" after Mumbadevi, the Hindu deity to whom a temple is dedicated at Babulnath near Chowpatty's sandy beaches. The first Parsi to arrive in Bombay was Dorabji Nanabhoy Patel in 1640. The Parsis, originally from Iran, migrated to India about 900 years ago. This they did to save their religion, Zoroastrianism, from invading Arabs who proselytized Islam. However, in 1689-90, when a severe plague had struck down most of the Europeans, the Siddi Chief of Janjira made several attempts to re-possess the islands by force, but the son of the former, a trader named Rustomji Dorabji Patel (1667-1763), successfully warded off the attacks on behalf of the British with the help of the 'Kolis', the original fisher-folk inhabitants of these islands. The remnants of the Koli settlements can still be seen at Backbay reclamation, Mahim, Bandra, Khar, Bassien and Madh island. Sir George Oxenden became the first British Governor of the islands, and was succeeded later by Mr. Gerald Aungier who made Bombay more populous by attracting Gujerati traders, Parsi ship-builders, and Muslim and Hindu manufacturers from the mainland. He fortified defenses by constructing the Bombay Castle (the Fort, since then vanished except for a small portion of the wall) and provided stability by constituting courts of law.

Between 1822 and 1838, cattle from the congested fort area used to graze freely at the Camp Maidan (now called Azad Maidan), an open ground opposite the Victoria Terminus. In 1838, the British rulers introduced a 'grazing fee' which several cattleowners could not afford. Therefore, Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy spent Rs. 20,000 from his own purse for purchasing some grasslands near the seafront at Thakurdwar and saw that the starving cattle grazed without a fee in that area. In time the area became to be known as "Charni" meaning grazing. When a railway station on the BB&CI railway was constructed there it was called Charni Road. The Zoroastrian Towers of Silence on Malabar hill were built by Seth Modi Hirji Vachha in 1672. The Zoroastrians believe in venerating the earth, fire, and water and hence they prefer to expose their dead to the elements and flesh-eating birds within the confines of the Towers of Silence. The first firetemple was also built in the same year by Seth Vachha opposite his residence at Modikhana within the British fort. Both of the these structures can still be seen today although they have been expanded and strengthened. The inroads of the sea at Worli, Mahim, and Mahalaxmi turned the ground between the islands into swamps making Bombay an extremely unhealthy place at that time. Many commuters going to the Fort by boat between islands lost their lives when there was a storm during the monsoons (July to September). During the next 40 years much was done to improve matters. Reclamation work to stop the breeches at Mahalaxmi and Worli were undertaken. The Hornby Vellard was completed in 1784, during the Governorship of Mr. Hornby. In 1803 Bombay was connected with Salsette by a causeway at Sion. The island of Colaba was joined to Bombay in 1838 by a causeway now called Colaba Causeway and the Causeway connecting Mahim and Bandra was completed in 1845 at the total cost of Rs.1,57,000 donated entirely by Lady Avabai Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy, wife of the first baronet Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy with a stipulation that no toll would be charged to citizens for its use by the government. Initially the cost was estimated at Rs.100,000 but as the work commenced in 1842 the cost escalated. When the initial sum was exhausted and work about to stop Lady Jeejeebhoy once again dipped in to her personal purse with a second donation to the treasury of Rs.57,000. Sir Robert Grant (1779-1838) governed Bombay from 1835 to 1838 and was responsible for the construction of a number of roads between Bombay and the hinterland. The Thana and Colaba Causeways were built during his tenure as well as the Grant Medical College attached to the Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy (J.J.) Group of hospitals.

On Saturday 16th of April, 1853 a 21-mile long railway line, the first in India, between Bombay's Victoria Terminus and Thana was opened. The Great Indian Peninsular (GIP) and the Bombay Baroda and Central India (BB&CI) Railway were started in 1860 and a regular service of steamers on the west coast was commenced in 1869. Also during this period Bombay enjoyed great economic wealth. Raw cotton from Gujerat was shipped to Lancashire in England through Bombay port, and after being spun and woven into cloth, returned to be sold in the Indian market. The outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 increased the demand for cotton in the West and several personal fortunes were made during this period from the resulting trade. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 brought the West closer to Bombay, and as the city became more prosperous, many schemes were launched for reclaiming additional land and building more roads and wharves. Bombay began to attract fortune hunters by the hundreds and the population had swelled from 13,726 in 1780 to 644,405 in 1872, in a little less than a hundred years. By 1906 the population of Bombay was to become 977,822. In 1858, following the First War of Independence (the British called it the "Sepoy Mutiny") of 1857 in which the Rani of Jhansi and her infant son strapped on her back were killed, the East India Company was accused of mismanagement and the islands reverted to the British Crown. In 1862 Sir Baartle Frere was appointed Governor, an office which he held until 1867. By 1862 the town had spread over the lands reclaimed through constructions of causeways and it is from this date we have the rise of the modern city of Bombay. In 1864 a fountain was to be erected in his honour at the Victoria Gardens by the Agri-Horticultural Society of Western India. Somehow, the plans were changed at the last moment and the fountain, named after the Greek goddess Flora, was placed in the centre of the city on what used be known as Hornby Road. Unfortunately, no plaque was placed on the fountain to commemorate the name of Governor in whose memory it was supposed to have been erected. Around 1860 the piped water supply from Tulsi and Vehar lakes (and later Tansa) was inaugurated. One reform which met with much superstitious opposition, before it was implemented, was the sealing and banning the use of water from open wells and tanks that bred mosquitoes. A good drainage system was also constructed at the same time. However, several decades later, the same wells were to serve Bombay by providing non-potable water to supplement the same from the lakes. This was true especially during those years when the monsoons failed to provide sufficient water in the catchment areas of the lakes. However, well water is now used all over the city to supplement the water received from the lakes. The later half of the 19th century was also to see a feverish construction of buildings in Bombay, many of which such as, the Victoria Terminus, the General Post Office, Municipal Corporation, the Prince of Wales Museum, Rajabai Tower and Bombay University, Elphinstone College and the Cawasji Jehangir Hall, the Crawford Market, the Old Secretariat (Old Customs House) and the Public Works Department (PWD) Building, still stand today as major landmarks. The Gateway of India was built to commemorate the visit of king George V and Queen Mary for the Darbar at Delhi in 1911. The docks at Bombay are a monument of the industry, enterprise and integrity of the Wadia family which moved in from Surat at the instigation of the British. In 1870 the Bombay Port Trust was formed. In 1872, Jamshedji Wadia, a master ship-builder constructed the "Cornwalis", a frigate of 50

guns, for the East India Company, a success which led to several orders from the British Navy. In all the Wadias, between 1735-1863 built 170 war vessels for the Company, 34 manof-war for the British Navy, 87 merchant vessels for private firms, and three vessels for the Queen of Muscat at Bombay docks. The Princess Dock was built in the year 1885 and the Victoria Dock and the Mereweather Dry Docks in 1891. Alexandra Dock was completed in 1914. The closing years of the 19th Century were tragic for Bombay as the bubonic plague caused great destruction of human life once more. One significant result of the plague was the creation of the City Improvement Trust which in later years encouraged the development of the suburbs for residential purposes to remove the congestion in the city. As Bombay's superintendent of police in 1885, Charles Forjett was a favourite of the Indian people. Many wept openly when he returned to England. He sacked British constables who unduly harassed the locals and cracked down on the Parsi mafia which was involved in the liquor business in the Falkland Road area, which included the famous "Play House" which the locals corrupted to "pillhouse". The "Pillhouse" area would acquire notoriety in later years as the infamous "cages" area housing Bombay's infamous red-light district. Lord Sandhurst governed Bombay between 1895 and 1900 and it was during his tenure that the Act was passed which constituted the City Improvement Trust which, among other things, built the Sandhurst Road in 1910 and handed it over to the municipality. The Sandhurst Road railway station (upper

level) was built in 1921.

As a result of a mysterious fire which started in one of its holds, on a very hot summer's day on Friday April 14, 1944, the ship "Fort Stikine" (7420 tons) blew up in the Bombay docks. At the time the ship was about to unload a lethal combination of cargo of dried fish and cotton bales (loaded from Karachi), timber, gun powder, ammunition, and gold bars from London (the latter to stabilize the Indian Rupee, which was sagging due to the Second World War and fear of invasion from Japan). The gold bullion was valued at approx. two million Pounds Sterling at that time. Nobody is certain as to how the fire started but the two explosions which followed were so loud that windows rattled and/or shattered as far away as Dadar, a distance of 8 miles. The destruction in the docks and surrounding area was immense and several hundred dock workers were killed instantly. A majority of brave men of the Bombay Fire Brigade, who answered the call to duty immediately after the first blast, lost their lives in the second explosion (a monument has been erected in the docks in their honour). The population of the city was panic stricken as rumours spread rapidly that the explosions signaled the commencement of hostilities by the Japanese on the same style as the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour in the Hawaiian islands in December 1941. The Japanese were in fact nowhere near Bombay since they were engaged in fighting a losing battle with the British army in Burma at that time. Nevertheless, the Bombay Central (BB&CI) and Victoria Terminus (GIP) stations were packed to capacity with terrorized people fleeing the city in whichever train they could board for their villages with all belongings they could carry. At the time of the explosion, one of the gold bars crashed through the roof of the third floor apartment of a Parsi named D.C. Motivala more than a mile from the docks. He promptly returned the gold bar to the authorities. Almost all of the other gold bars were subsequently recovered from different parts of the city; the last ones to be found were hauled up from the bottom of the sea in the docks. However, during normal dredging operations carried out

periodically to maintain the depth of the docking bays one or two gold bars were found intact sporadically as late as the 1970s and returned to the British government. The government took full responsibility for the disaster and monetary compensation was paid to citizens who made a claim for loss or damage to property. The Port Trust Railway from Ballard Pier to Wadala was opened in 1915. Along this railway were built grain and fuel oil depots. The kerosene oil installations were developed at Sewri and for petrol at Wadala. In the same year the first overhead transmission lines of the Tata Power Company were erected, and in 1927 the first electric locomotives manufactured by Metropolitan Vickers of England were put into service for passenger trains up to Poona and Igatpuri on the GIP railway and later electric multiple unit (EMUs) commuter trains ran up to Virar on the BB&CI railway and up to Karjat and Kasara of the GIP railway. During the Second World War these EMUs were joined together to form long trains which carried troops and small arms and ammunition to and from Bombay to the hinterland. The Fort (downtown) area in Bombay derives its name from the fact that the area fell within the former walled city, of which only a small fragment survives as part of the eastern boundary wall of the St. George's Hospital. In 1813 there were 10,801 persons living in the fort, 5,464, or nearly 50%, of them Parsis. With the growth of the city more people came from the Fort to such suburbs as Byculla, Parel, Malabar Hill, and Mazagaon. European sports clubs for cricket and other games came in to existence early in the 19th Century. The Bombay Gymkhana was formed in 1875 exclusively for Europeans. Other communities followed this example, and various Parsi, Muslim, and Hindu gymkhanas were started nearby with fierce sports competitions among them being organized on a communal basis. This was opposed by several secular minded persons, such as the late A.F.S. Talyarkhan, and sports teams based on community, especially cricket teams, came to an end gradually after independence from British rule in 1947. The historic session of the All India Congress Committee began on the 7th of August 1942. Its venue was the Gowalia Tank Maidan, where the congress was born in 1885. It was at this session that the "Quit India" call was given by Mahatma Gandhi and other Indian National Congress leaders. The Indian leaders were arrested by the British soon afterwards but the momentum of the Quit India movement could not be stopped and led to the final withdrawal of the British on 15 August 1947. The last British troops on Indian soil left for England through the archway of the Gateway of India on that day. They bade farewell from where they had entered 282 years before. The people of Bombay, in a gesture of generosity wished them bon voyage, forgetting the bitter memories of the fight for independence. Today the maidan from where the call to "Quit India" was given is called the "August Kranti Maidan". After independence the Congress party led by Jawaharlal Nehru at the Center was swept to power in most of the Indian States, which were constituted on the basis of language spoken by the majority of its people. The Bombay State included the city as its seat of government. In 1960 the state of Bombay was split into Maharashtra and Gujarat states again on linguistic basis, the former retaining Bombay city as its capital. The Congress party continued to administer Maharashtra until 1994 when it was replaced by the Shiv SenaBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition. With the success of the back-bay reclamation scheme in the late 1960s and early 1970s Nariman Point became the hub of the business activity. Several offices shifted from the Ballard Estate to Nariman Point which ultimately became one of the most expensive real estate in the world as high demand pushed prices to astronomical limits. Nariman Point is named after K.F. Nariman, president of the Bombay Provincial Congress Committee and former mayor of Bombay. Churchgate Street was also renamed as Veer Nariman Road after independence. The Stock Exchange at Bombay was established in 1875 as "The Native Share and Stockbrokers Association" which has evolved over the decades in to its present status as the premier Stock Exchange in India. It is one of the oldest in Asia having preceded even the Tokyo Stock Exchange which was founded in 1878. In the early days the business was

conducted under the shade of a banyan tree in front of the town hall. The tree can still be seen in the Horniman Circle Park. In 1850 the Companies Act was passed and that heralded the commencement of the joint stock companies in India. The American Civil War of 1860 helped Indians to establish brokerage houses in Bombay. The leading broker at the time, Premchand Roychand, assisted in framing conventions, ground rules and procedures for trading which are respected even now. He was the first Indian broker who could speak and write in fluent English. The exchange was established with 318 members with a fee of Re. 1/-. This fee has gradually increased over the years and today it is a over a crore. In January 1899, the Brokers' Hall was inaugurated by James M. MaClean, M.P. After the First World War the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) was housed in an old building near the Town Hall. In 1928, the present plot of land was acquired surrounded by Dalal Street, Bombay Samachar Marg, and Hammam Street. A building was constructed in 1930 and occupied in December of that year. In 1995 the operations and dealings of the BSE were fully computerized and thus the famous out-cry system of share trading was replaced by screen based trading as in other modern stock exchanges around the world. Today Bombay is the financial and business capital of India. The BSE is housed in the 28-storied Phiroze Jeejeebhoy Towers in the same place where the old building once stood. Sir Phiroze Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy was the Chairman of the Exchange from 1966 till his death in 1980. The building has been named after him since its construction commenced during his Chairmanship and was completed just as he passed away.

Akhil Bharatiya Sena

November 8, 2006 Alphonso
Akhil Bharatiya Sena

Akhil Bharatiya Sena ( , All India Army) is a political party in India. Founded in 1997 and led by the Mumbai mafia don and contract killer Arun Gawli (alias Daddy). Gawli had earlier been close to the Shiv Sena supremo, Bal Thackeray, but in 1996 a bloody feud surged between them when Arunbhai mercilessly slew several Sena party legislators and party workers. Gawli organized ABS as a counterwight to SS. In the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections 2002 the ABS candidate Sunil Ghate defeated the Sena candidate in Gawlis home turf. Ghate is today the sole ABS corporator in BMC. In the Lok Sabha elections 2004 Gawli got 92 210 votes (26,5%) in the constituency Mumbai South Central. In the Maharashtra state assembly elections later the same year ABS launched 20 candidates. One (Gawli) got elected. ABS is based in Maharashtra, but does also have a branch in Goa.

The trade union wing of ABS is called Akhil Bharatiya Kamgar Sena. Posted in Political Parties & Ideologies. Leave a Comment

Indian National Congress

November 8, 2006 Alphonso Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party or Congress (I), abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. Created in 1885, the Indian National Congress became the nations leader in the Independence Movement, with over 15 million Indians involved in its organizations and over 70 million participants in its struggle against the British Empire. After independence in 1947, it became the nations dominant political party. In the 14th Lok Sabha (2004-2009), 145 INC members, the largest contingent amongst all parties, serve in the house. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition government supported by the Left Front.

History
The history of the Indian National Congress falls into two distinct eras: The pre-independence era, when the party was at the forefront of the struggle for independence; The post-independence era, when the party has enjoyed a prominent place in Indian politics, ruling the country for 47 of the 59 years since independence in 1947.

The pre-independence era

Founded in 1885 with the object of obtaining a greater share in government for educated Indians, the Indian National Congress was initially not opposed to British rule. The Congress met once a year during December. Indeed, it was a Scotsman, Allan Octavian Hume, who brought about its first meeting in Bombay, with the approval of Lord Dufferin, the then-Viceroy. Womesh Chandra Banerjee was the first President of the INC. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Pune but due to a plague breakout there, the meeting was later shifted to Mumbai. So the first Session of INC was held from 28-31st December 1885, and was attended by 72 delegates. A few years down the line, the demands of INC became more radical in the face of constant opposition from the government, and the party became very active in the independence movement. By 1907 the party was split into two halves: the Garam Dal of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, or Extremists (literally hot faction), and the Naram Dal of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, or Moderates (literally soft faction), distinguished by their attitude towards the British. After the First World War the party became associated with Mahatma Gandhi, who remained its unofficial, spiritual leader and mass icon even as younger men and women became party president. The party was in many ways an umbrella organisation, sheltering within itself radical socialists, traditionalists and even Hindu and Muslim conservatives.

The official flag of the Congress during the Independence struggle. In its time as the nations leader in the freedom struggle, it produced the nations greatest leaders. Before the Gandhi Era came leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Mohammed Ali Jinnah (later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan), all starting with the first legendary icon of Indians: Dadabhai Naoroji, the president of the sister Indian National Association and later Member of Parliament in the British House of Commons, the first Indian to win a seat there. The 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawahar Lal Nehru holds special significance as in this session Poorna Swaraj was declared as the goal of INC. 26th January 1930 was declared as the Poorna Swaraj Diwas. It was to commemorate this date particularly that The Indian Constitution was formerly adopted on 26th January 1950(even though it was passed on 26th November 1949.) With the rise of Mahatma Gandhis popularity and his Satyagraha art of revolution came Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (the nations first Prime Minister), Dr. Rajendra Prasad (the nations first President), Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Chakravarti Rajgopalachari, Jivatram Kripalani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. The Congress under Gandhis influence became the first integrated mass organization in the country, bringing together millions of people by specifically working against caste differences, untouchability, poverty, and religious and ethnic boundaries. Although predominantly Hindu, it had members from virtually every religion, ethnic group, economic class and linguistic group. The Indian National Congress could claim to be the true representative of the Indian people.

The post-independence era

The party remained in power for thirty continuous years between independence in 1947 and its first taste of electoral defeat (at the national level) in 1977.

Jawaharlal Nehru
Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel are said to have held the view that the INC was formed only for achieving independence and should have been disbanded in 1947. However, at the time of independence, the INC (led by Jawaharlal Nehru) was a major political organization in the country, and was established as the major political party. The Congress thus, considering the perceived need for a stable leadership and guiding vision after the terrible chaos and confusion following the Partition of India and Independence, was re-established as an electoral

party in independent India. Across several general elections, the party ruled uninterrupted until 1977, and has remained a major political force. After the murder of Gandhi in 1948 and the death of Sardar Patel in 1950, Jawaharlal Nehru was the sole remaining iconic national leader, and soon the situation became so that Nehru was key to the political potency and future of the Congress. Nehru embraced secularism, socialist economic policies and a non-aligned foreign policy, which became the hallmark of the modern Congress Party. Nehrus policies challenged the landed class, the business class and improved the position of religious minorities and lower caste Hindus. A generation of freedom fighting leaders were soon replaced by a generation of people who had grown up in the shadow of Nehru. Nehru led the Congress Party to consecutively awesome majorities in the elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962. After Nehrus death in 1964, the partys future first came into question. No leader was competitive enough to touch Nehrus iconic status, so the second-stage leadership mustered around the compromise candidate, the gentle, softspoken and Nehruvian Lal Bahadur Shastri. Shastri remained Prime Minister till his own death in 1966, and a broad Congress Party election opted for Indira Gandhi, Nehrus daughter, over the right-wing, conservative Morarji Desai. In 1955 in Awadi session the party adopted a socialistic pattern of society for India.

Indira Gandhi

Congress mural in Kolkata The first serious challenge to Congress hegemony came in 1967 when a united opposition, under the banner of Samyukt Vidhanayak Dal, won control over several states in the Hindi belt. Indira Gandhi, the daughter of Nehru, and Congress president, was then challenged by the majority of the party leadership. The conflict led to a split, and Indira launched a separate INC. Initially this party was known as Congress (R), but it soon came to be generally known as the New Congress. The official party became known as Indian National Congress (Organisation) led by Kamaraj. It was informally called the Old Congress. As Indira Priyadarshini had control over the state machinery, her faction was recognized as the real INC by the Election Commission of India, although her organization was the break-away group. The split can in some ways be seen as a left-wing/right-wing division. Indira Gandhi wanted to use a populist agenda in order to mobilise popular support for the party. She raised slogans such as Garibi Hatao (Remove Poverty), and wanted to develop closer ties with the Soviet Union. The regional party elites, who formed the INC(O), stood for a more conservative agenda, and distrusted Soviet help. INC(O) later merged into the Janata Party. Gradually, Indira Gandhi grew more and more authoritarian. Following allegations of widespread rigging in the general elections, a court overturned Indira Gandhis victory in the Parliamentary constituency. Facing growing

opposition she proclaimed a state of National emergency in 1975, curtailed the powers of the courts, and unleashed a police state with herself as the supreme leader (acting Prime Minister). After she lifted the emergency in 1977, more Congress factions were formed, the one remaining loyal to Indira Gandhi being popularly known as Congress(I) with an I for Indira. The Congress (I) was routed in the general elections by the Janata Party. The party was able to return to power in the 1980 elections. In 1984 Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards, as a revenge for Operation Blue Star. In the following days thousands of Sikhs were killed in riots, especially in Delhi. Many human rights organisations consider that Congress activists played a role in carrying out the 1984 riots[1].

The post-Indira era

Election symbol of the Congress After Indira, her son Rajiv Gandhi, took over as Congress leader and led the party to victory with a large majority in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections. It governed from 1984-9 and then was defeated in the 1989 general election. Rajiv Gandhi was also assassinated by the LTTE during the course of the election campaign in 1991. Following Rajiv Gandhis assassination, P.V. Narasimha Rao succeeded him as Congress leader and became prime minister. The 1990s was a period of prolonged crisis for the Congress. After gradually losing political influence the party asked the widow of Rajiv Gandhi, the Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, to accept the position as Congress President. Refusing in 1991, the Congress stuck with Narasimha Rao and after him, Sitaram Kesri. Although Rao was Prime Minister of a coalition Congress administration from 1991-1996, Kesri led the Congress to a historic low in the 1998 elections. It appeared that the Congress was politically impotent, with no real future. In 1998, Sonia Gandhi is considered by some to have finally saved the Congress from extinction by accepting the presidency of the party. After the election of Sonia Gandhi as party leader, a section broke away and formed Nationalist Congress Party. Where breakaway factions are active, the use of Congress (I) to denote the party run by Indira Gandhis successors continues. There have been repeated attempts by the Indian nationalist groups (such as the BJP) to discredit Sonia Gandhis leadership on the basis of her foreign origin. Nonetheless she has emerged as one of the most popular political leaders of India, suggesting that the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is still considered to be a mark of legitimacy for broad sections of the Indian population.

Indian Prime Ministers from the Congress Party

Jawaharlal Nehru (1947 1964) Lal Bahadur Shastri (1964 1966) Indira Gandhi (1966 1977, 1980 1984)

Rajiv Gandhi (1984 1989) P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991 1996) Manmohan Singh (2004 -)

Political accusations
Since the party has dominated the political landscape of India for over a century, there are many charges of corruption and similar charges against it. Some examples are: Anti-Sikh riots After the assassination of Indira Gandhi by Sikh militants following Operation Bluestar, many Congress workers prominently including Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar were accused of inciting and participating in anti-Sikh riots that killed thousands. The Congress apologised many years later for its silence on these events, an apology that was considered inadequate by some of those concerned. Volcker report The Independent Inquiry Committee (IIC) appointed by the United Nations in its final report released on October 27, 2005 confirms that documents state: Beneficiary: India: Congress Party with an entitlement of 4 million barrels of crude and `Beneficiary: India: Singh Mr K. Natwar with an entitlement of 4 million barrels. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has repeatedly accused the Congress of showing favouritism to the Indian Muslim community and the toleration, or even promotion of, Islamic fanaticism and obscurantism. Congress policy is also accused of causing fifty years of economic stagnation, following Independence, and of excessive veneration of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.

Formation of present Government of India

In the 2004 general elections, the Congress alliance won the largest number of seats and got an assurance of support from the Left Front upsetting the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance, which according to all forecasts was going to coast to victory. Shortly thereafter, Sonia Gandhi was nominated by the Congress-led 19-party alliance to be the next Prime Minister. But in what was described as the dropping of a political bombshell, Sonia Gandhi refused to take the position based on her inner voice. She backed eminent economist, former Union Finance Minister and senior Congress leader Dr. Manmohan Singh for the post of Prime Minister, and he was sworn-in as Prime Minister on 22 May 2004.

Internal Organization
The organization developed by Gandhis reorganization of the Congress in the years of 1918 to 1920 has largely been retained till today. In every Indian state and union territory or pradesh, there is a Pradesh Congress Committee, which is the provincial unit of the party, responsible for directing political campaigns at local and state levels and assisting the campaigns for Parliamentary constituencies. Each PCC has a Working Committee of 10-15 key members, and the state president is the leader of the state unit. The Congressmen elected as members of the states legislative assemblies form the Congress Legislature Parties in the various state assemblies, and their chairperson is usually the partys nominee for Chief Ministership. The All India Congress Committee is formed of delegates sent from the PCCs around the country. The delegates elect various Congress committees, including the Congress Working Committee, which consists of senior party leaders and office bearers, and takes all important executive and political decisions.

The President of the Indian National Congress is in effect the partys national leader, head of the organization, head of the Working Committee and all chief Congress committees, chief spokesman and the Congress choice to become the Prime Minister of India. Constitutionally, the president is to be elected by the vote of the PCCs and members of the AICC. However, this procedure has often been by-passed by the Working Committee, choosing to elect its own candidate as an emergency measure. The Congress Parliamentary Party is the group of elected MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Their elected chairperson is the leader of the majority, and supposed to be the Prime Minister. However, there have been notable exceptions.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena

November 8, 2006 Alphonso

The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (Marathi: , English:Maharashtra New Beginning Army) is a regional political party operative in Maharashtra, India. It was founded on the 9th of March 2006 in Mumbai.Founder The party was founded by Raj Thackeray, nephew of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray. Raj broke away from his uncles party in January 2006 and announced his intention to start a new political party. The reason given by him for breaking away from the Shiv Sena was that the latter was run by petty clerks because of which it had fallen from its former glory.

Foundation Ceremony
Raj paid a visit to the famed Siddhivinayak Temple on the morning of 9th March. That evening he held a meeting at the Y. B Chavan Centre, where he announced the name of his party and unfurled its blue, saffron and green coloured flag. The meeting was attended by a large number of Rajs supporters, other breakaway Shiv Sainiks and mediapersons.

Relations with the Sena

Raj has stated that he does not want to have hostilities with his uncle who was, is and always will be {his} mentor. However with Sena insiders claiming that more Sainiks wanted to break away from Balasahebs ailing party, tensions between Raj and his uncle seem inevitable.

Policies
Raj has said he will reveal more about his parties policies in the coming weeks. He has already said that his partys motto will be I am of Maharashtra, Maharashtra is mine. Critics say this reflects the Thackeray familys regionalistic attitude and their communal Hindutva ideology. Many differ as Raj has from start declared his party MNS to be a secular political party which accepts anyone and everyone who says Maharashtra belongs to them and they belong to Maharashtra. The secular reference is ironic in largely since Raj Thackeray has always been viewed as a long time hardliner in the Shiv Sena, relative to his cousin and current working president Udhav Thackeray. Symbol:

The State Election Commission has allotted three different election symbols for the 222 MONS candidates who are contesting in the BMC polls to be held from February 1.
While 215 candidates in the city have been given the railway engine as their election symbol, the seven remaining candidates have been allotted other symbols. Candidates from Mulund will have to contest with the cup and saucer as their symbol, while candidates contesting from the Eastern suburbs of Ramabainagar, Kamrajnagar and Subhashnagar have received the slate as their election symbol. Spokeperson Shrish Parkar 982189775 Nitin Sardesai 9820063941 Rajendra Lad Leader of House in BMC 9821632347

Office of MNS 011 2433699/ 3799/3599

Posted in Political Parties & Ideologies. 745 Comments

Shiv-Sena
November 8, 2006 Alphonso Shiv Sena (Devangar: v Sen, meaning Army of Shiva, referring to Shivaji) is a right-wing political party in India founded on June 19, 1966 by Bal Thackeray, who is currently the president of the party. The Senas ideology is based on the concepts of Bhumiputra (Marathi for Sons of Soil) and Hindutva or Hindu nationalism. The Bhumiputra ideology refers to the Shiv Senas belief that Maharashtrians deserve more rights in Maharashtra than those who are not from Maharashtra.[1] However, in recent times, the Sena has laid more emphasis on Hindutva. In the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004), it had 15 (out of 545) members. During that period, the party was part of the government coalition at the national level. Manohar Joshi, a Shiv Sainik, was the Speaker of Lok Sabha 2002-2004. Shiv Sena has its employment cell Shiv Udyog Sena. Bharatiya Kamgar Sena (Indian Workers Army), a labour union, is affiliated to the Shiv Sena. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (All India Students Army) is the student wing of Shiv Sena.
Shiv Sena

Origins of the Shiv Sena

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Bal Thackeray

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Shiv Sena poster in Kolkata After the incorporation of the Bombay presidency in the Marathi-speaking state of Maharashtra, Mumbai gained the status of economic capital of India and attracted a large number of migrants from other states. Within a short period of time, non-Maharashtrians, especially people belonging to the Gujarati and Marwari communities, owned the majority of the industry and trade in the city.[2]. Moreover, a large number people from South Indian migrated to Mumbai during this period and soon filled a number of white-collar jobs. The Shiv Sena was thus born out of a feeling of resentment about the marginilization of the native Marathi people in their own state by people who had migrated from other states.[3] The Shiv Sena especially attracted a large number of disgruntled and often unemployed Maharashtrian youth, who were pulled towards Thackerays charged anti-migrant oratory[1].

Shift to Hindutva and Alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party

The Sena started placing more weight on the Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark sons of the soil cause was weakening.[1] With the shift to Hindutva, Thackeray increasingly made some controversial moves against Muslims and neighboring Pakistan. The party has ruled the state in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The SS-BJP did however lose the 2004 state assembly election. The Sena is now the main opposition party in the state. The BJP-SS combine governs the

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Traditionally the main strongholds of SS have been Mumbai and the Konkan coastal areas. However, in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections the result was reversed. The Shiv Sena made inroads in the interior parts of the state, while suffering losses in Mumbai.

Party Structure
As the Pramukh (Chief) of the party Bal Thackeray takes all major decisions, and has claimed that he ran the SenaBharatiya Janata Party government of 1995 to 1999 with what he called a remote control. Activists and members of the Shiv Sena call themselves Shiv Sainiks, and carry out most of the partys grassroot work. In recent times, Thackeray does not concern himself with day-to-day activities of the party, which is run by his youngest son Uddhav Thackeray. The recently refurbished Sena Bhavan located in the Dadar locality in Mumbai has served as the headquarters of the Sena since 1976.[4] The Senasshakhas (local offices) spread throughout the state of Maharashtra as well as in selected locations in other states decide upon most of the local issues in their particular cities or towns.[5]

Achievements of the Shiv Sena

Claims of benefits to Maharashtrians
Supporters of the Sena have claimed that the party has benefited the Marathi Manus (Marathi man) in Mumbai[6], especially in the public sector.[2] However, the Sena has allegedly done little to solve the problem of unemployment facing a large proportion of Maharashtrian youth during its tenure, in contradiction to its ideological foundation of sons of the soil.[7]

Dharavi emancipation
The Sena claims to have played a central role in the emancipation of 500,000 slum dwellers in the Dharavi area of Mumbai, the largest slum in Asia.
[8]

However, the states policy of giving free houses to slum dwellers has been
[9]

mired in controversy ever since it was introduced by the Shiv Sena-BJP government a decade ago [2]

Improvements in infrastructure
In addition, the Sena has been active in trying to improve infrastructure in Maharashtra, particularly in the financial capital of Mumbai. Nearly 40 flyovers in Mumbai and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway were constructed under the Shiv Sena administration, which led to a significant infrastructural boom in Mumbai. While successive State governments have been guilty of neglecting Mumbais transport problems, the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government drastically altered the course. Moreover, by initiating a range of road schemes, the Sena unequivocally opted for private, motorised transport in preference to public transport.[10] These moves have been a crucial factor in its increasing popularity within India and the promises of further improvement have boosted the Shiv Senas campaigns.

Controversial activities of the Shiv Sena

The neutrality of this article is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.

Bhumiputra campaign
During its early years, the Sena occassionally resorted to violence and threats against people belonging to other Indian communities as part of its sons of the soil ideology. In the early years of the Sena, the partys widely circulated Marathi language-weekly Marmik was instrumental in inflamming the anti-migrant sentiment in Mumbais Maharashtrians.[11] Thackeray, then a cartoonist for the Free Press journal, initially targeted the growing number of South Indians by inflammatory slogans like lungi hatao pungi bajao (referring to the lungi, a Marathi word for the traditional mens dress in South India)[1], and yendu gundu (a derogatory description of the Dravidian languages spoken by the people from South India).[12] During this period, Shiv Sainiks launched a string of attacks on the South-Indian owned Udupi restaurants that were becoming popular in Mumbai.[13] In a similar manner, Thackeray later targeted Gujaratis, Marwaris, Biharis, and people from North Indian states like Uttar Pradesh (UPites) through his speeches.[14] Moreover, Thackeray threatened a number of local industrialists and businessmen with action unless they offered preferential employment to Maharashtrian people.The Sena thus succeeded in fulfilling a critical economic need of the Maharashtrians and in return was supported by a solid socio-political votebank.Industrialists rarely objected to the Senas cloutsince Sena leader Thackerays draconian control over the employees would ensure a peaceful work environment
[2]

Shiv Sainiks burn Valentines Day cards in Kolkata to protest vulgar western influences on Hindu culture

Party violence
The Sena is has been accused of being involved in coordinated political violence in order to propagate its ideologies and attack opposing ideologies. For this reason, it has sometimes been described as a militant right-wing group. In the 1970s, Shiv Sena members were accused as responsible for killing Krishna Desai, CPI MLA from the Parel neighbourhood in Central Mumbai. However, the attackers were not indicted for murder.[15] On February 8, 2006, Sena workers, led allegedly by Senas student wing, attacked the office of the Zee TV channel, ransacking and damaging the office. The attack came in response to a satirical skit titled Kaka mala Vachva ( Marathi for Uncle, protect me), staged during the awards function hosted by the channel at the Bandra-Kurla complex. The skit was reportedly a comment on the power tussle within the Thackeray family, which ultimately resulted in the exit of Thackerays nephew Raj from the party some time ago.[16]

In addition to its campaign against non-Maharashtrians in Mumbai, the Shiv Sena protests have been known to break down into violence and force in public in the name of protecting Hindutva from what it deems as corrupting western influences. The party has been involved in organized protests, pickets, market shutdowns and strikes that have been known to degenerate into violent clashes and in some instances riots. For instance, Shiv Sena activists have attacked shops in Mumbai selling gifts for Valentines Day as part of the partys campaign against vulgar western influences on youth.[17]Likewise, in 1998, Shiv Sainiks attacked movie theatres in Mumbai screening director Deepa Mehtas Fire, a highly controversial film based on a lesbian theme on the grounds that such films violated Hindu ethos and were immoral for Hindus to watch. As a result, the screening of the movie was withdrawn. Later, members of the Senas Varanasi branch launched aggressive protests against the filming of Mehtas Water, on the grounds that such films were made with the designs of intentionally defaming Hinduism by portraying Varanasi and other holy cities in an innacurate and negative light.[18] As a result of the protests, the location for shooting the film was shifted to the neighbouring Sri Lanka.[19]

Allegations of violence against Muslims

The Shiv Sena has also been accused of orchestrating violence against Muslims. The Sena is widely alleged to have played an active role in the riots in Mumbai following the demolition of the Babri Mosque in 1992 in the northIndian holy city of Ayodhya. On 23 January 1993, the then Congress-led Government of Maharashtra appointed Justice B.N. Srikrishna (then a sitting Judge of the Bombay High Court) to head a one-man commission with the task of investigating the riots. The Commission indicted the Sena for its direct involvement in coordinating the antiMuslim riots, and accused Thackeray of commanding his loyal Shiv Sainiks to retaliate by organised attacks against Muslims.[20] However, Thackeray was absolved of all criminal charges in July 2000 after seven years of judicial proceedings.[21] Additionally, as part of their efforts to hamper any collaboration between India and the Muslim dominated Pakistan, Shiv Sainiks have resorted to damaging cricket pitchs in stadiums where the Indian and Pakistani cricket team were scheduled to play. The two most prominent instances of the Senas targeting pitches are the destruction of the pitch at Mumbais Wankhede Stadium in 1991 and the vandalizing of the Feroz Shah Kotla Grounds pitch in national capital Delhi in 1999.[22] The Sena orchestrated these activities in an atmosphere of growing tensions between the two nations.

Claims of tempered stance

In an interview in 1998, Thackeray claims to have tempered his stance on many issues that the Shiv Sena had with Muslims, particularly regarding the Babri Mosque or Ramjanmabhoomi issue discriminate on the basis of religion and is based on pure nationalism.[24]
[23]

, saying: We must look after the

Muslims and treat them as part of us. In addition, some members of the Sena claim that the party does not

Meenatai desecration protests

On July 9, 2006, after some unidentified miscreants desecrated the statue of Meenatai (the late wife of Bal Thackeray), Shiv Sainiks blocked roads at Dadar in central Mumbai and damaged a police outpost[25], and later launched statewide protests mired with isolated incidences of violence in Nagpur, Pune, Nashik and other cities in Maharashtra.[26]

Shiv Sena & MNS Clashes

On October 10, 2006 clashes erupted between supporters of Shiv Sena and Maharastra Navnirman Sena headed by Raj Thackery. It was alleged that workers of MNS had tore the posters bearing the photographs of Shiv Sena

Supremo Bal Thackrey near the SIES college in Mumbai. Later as retaliation it was alleged that Shiv Sena workers brought down the hoardings with Raj Thackreys photo near the Sena Bhavan at Dadar. As the news spread about the incident groups gathered near the Sena Bhavan and started pelting stones at each other. In this incident a policeman was injured and many supporters of both parties were injured. To restore normalcy in the situation the police fired tear gas shells at the mob. Normalcy was eventually restored following police action and the appearance of Uddhav Thackeray and his cousin Raj Thackeray on the spot. Uddhav appealed to Sena workers to go back home
[27]

.He said:

The police will take necessary action. This is happening because many people are joining us from MNS. The defections have started and that is why they are resorting to such actions[28]. The division chief of the Shiv Sena Milind Vaidya said that they had lodged a complaint with the local police against an MNS worker who was involved in the oncident. MNS general secretary Pravin Darekar, however, pinned the cause down to local elections in the SIES college. He alleges that the Sena is concerned about losing their hold over the colleges and that is why they are trying to color the issue, adding that the Senas allegations had no merit. Raj Thackeray asserts that MNS could not have vandalized the pictures, seeing as how he and his members revere Bal Thackeray[29].

Shiv Sena in literature

The novelist V. S. Naipaul mentioned the Shiv Sena in his book India: A Wounded Civilization: There was one portrait. And interestingly, it was not of the leader of the Shiv Sena or of Shivaji, the Senas warrior god, but of the long-dead Dr. Ambedkar () Popular-and near-ecstatic-movements like the Shiv Sena ritualize many different needs. The Sena here, honouring an angry and (for all his eminence) defeated man, seemed quite different from the Sena the newspapers wrote about.[30] Posted in Political Parties & Ideologies. 14 Comments