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Rahul Gandhi

Autor Reviews | 18.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Rahul Gandhi is the latest in the Gandhi-Nehru family to enter electoral politics in India. The few who have met him don’t recall him saying much. The few who have heard him, say he is of a shy disposition.

The entire Gandhi family is known for its unparalleled educational Background. Rahul Gandhi is no different. He completed his schooling from modern school in New Delhi. He was enrolled for History (Hons) at St. Stephen’s college and stayed there for one year in New Delhi. However finally he successfully accomplished a four-year AB course in Economics at Harvard University.

Rahul Gandhi officially stayed away from politics till 2004. In May 2004, he stood for the lower house of parliament from his constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The state helped him to win by a wide margin and offered on opportunity to Rahul Gandhi to become the second member of the fifth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi family to enter into active politics. It was in fact a great achievement for this young politician as he won the seat by a margin of 300,500 votes.

The campaign for this parliamentary Election from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh was managed by his younger sister Priyanka Vadra. His victory was widely commemorated by the media many enthusiasts, specially the younger citizens of India.

This victory offered Shri. Rahul Gandhi an opportunity to make his mark in the political career. Thereafter, he was sought to cultivate support from his admirers. However, this has not been an easy journey as he strived hard to work up his profile through the media and stay away from the scandals of coalition politics. Rahul Gandhi is currently concentrating on the political and other major issues of Uttar Pradesh.

Hillary Clinton

Autor Reviews | 18.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is a strong, charismatic leader, known for her sharp intelligence, political sensibilities and extreme diligence and persistence in pursuing her goals.

Hillary Clinton was the first child of a U.S. Marine drill instructor turned factory worker, and his wife, who was born to neglectful teenage parents. While little has been written of her early childhood, her father has been described as strongly confrontational.

Sen. Hillary Clinton is lifelong, is a devout Methodist, and was especially active in church groups as a teenager. Hillary was a Goldwater supporter, dubbed Goldwater Girls, while in high school, and was President of the Young Republicans at Wellesley College.

Like many baby boomers, her politics became more liberal as the Vietnam War raged. By the time she was selected valedictorian of her Wellesley class, she was a Eugene McCarthy Democrat.

She chose Yale over Harvard Law School after a cocktail party run-in with an chauvinistic Harvard professor, and soon after, met Bill Clinton in a Yale library.

In 1975, Hillary Rodham moved to Arkanas and married Bill Clinton, wearing an off-the-rack cotton wedding dress she bought the day before their wedding. She started her career anew in Little Rock with the Rose Law Firm.

Theirs has been a rocky, tempestuous marriage, in which serious rifts were played out on the public stage. Many speculate that Bill and Hillary would have divorced, had there not been an adored child.

Others close to the Clintons insist, however, that Bill and Hillary are deeply bonded, as shown by the fact that their marriage has endured for over 30 years. (See more at Profile of Bill Clinton, Spouse of 2008 Candidate.)

Sen. Clinton was elected to the Senate in 2000 and reelected in 2006 after serving as First Lady during her husband’s two terms as President and 12 years as Arkansas governor. She’s an ‘08 candidate for the Democratic party nomination for the presidency.

Mrs. Clinton was an activist First Lady, staunchly supporting children’s issues, womens’ rights and universal health care for all Americans. In 1993, she notoriously chaired the failed Task Force on National Health Care Reform.

Sen. Clinton is a strong, outspoken leader with sharp intelligence, political sensibilities, predilection for working hard, and persistence in pursuing her agenda.

Clinton touts herself as an aggressive fighter, and openly savors the tough thrust and parry of political campaigning. In private, she’s reputed to be much warmer and friendlier than her public persona would suggest. She commands the respect and loyalty of many who have known her for decades.

Hillary Clinton is widely known as a practical “policy wonk” who enjoys engagement in the fine details of proposals and plans, rather than as a big-picture visionary.

Sen. Clinton is a passionate advocate of health care reform and universal health care, education, and measures to aid middle-class Americans.

Clinton voted to 2002 to support the Iraq War. In 2007, she admitted to regretting that vote, although she has never apologized for her Iraq War vote, as did John Edwards during the 2008 campaign.

As senator, she’s given new priority to issues affecting the military and national security. Reacting to 2004 voting discrepancies, she has deep interest in voters’ right and election reform.

After law school, Senator Clinton joined the impeachment staff of the House Judiciary Committee in its investigation of President Nixon. She also advised the Children’s Defense Fund. After marriage to Bill Clinton, she worked at the Rose Law firm in Little Rock. She was twice named by Time magazine as a top 100 lawyer nationally. She was also First Lady of Arkansas during her husband’s 12 years as Governor.

Mayawati

Autor Reviews | 18.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Mayawati, currently the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, is the first Dalit woman to hold the post in any Indian state. Hailing from Jatav caste, which is at the upper-end of Dalit caste hierarchy, presently she has been increasingly reaching out to Brahmins and other upper castes people and her 2007 landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections is widely hailed as a result of such caste rainbow policies.

Born to father Prabhu Das, a clerk in Telecommunication department and mother Ram Rathi, Mayawati graduated from the Kalindi College in Delhi and studied law in the University of Delhi before taking up a school teacher job. She was greatly influenced by Dalit leader Kanshiram and joined active politics when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was formed in 1984. She entered Parliament for the first time in 1989 and in 1994, she entered the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh. She became the Chief Minister of U.P. for the first time on June 3, 1995 and remained in office till October 17, 1995. Her second term as the Chief Minister in 1997 lasted only for six months. As the Chief Minister she took up many historic steps for the upliftment of dalits. She formed the State Women’s Commission to ensure economic and social development of women.

Mayawati first won a Lok Sabha seat contesting from Bijnor constituency in 1989. While a Rajya Sabha member, she became chief minister of a short-lived coalition government in Uttar Pradesh in 1995. She again held the post for a short period in 1997. In 2000, Kanshiram announced Mayawati as her successor and she became the chief of the BSP. She again became chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for a somewhat longer time in 2002-2003.

In 2001, Mayawati was accused of forcing her MLAs to hand over money from their MLA fund, given for constituency development, to BSP fund. Shortly thereafter 140 corruption cases were filed against her. In 2002, She was again charged with misappropriating Rupees 175 crore in a Taj Corridor project providing tourist facilities in Taj Mahal in Agra. Many eyebrows were raised when Mayawati declared her personal assets worth Rupees 52 crore in 2007.

Despite the corruption charges, Mayawati stormed back to power in 2007 assembly elections winning absolute majority, first by any party since 1991 in Uttar Pradesh. In the elections, she for the first time came out of her Dalit-only vote banks by including upper caste people including Brahmans in her poll arrangements. After her win, she distributed ministerial berths among upper caste people too. This is seen as a major shift in caste politics in India.

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Autor Reviews | 16.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Dr. Manmohan Singh (India’s 14th PM) is acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar by many. He is well regarded for his diligence and his academic approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming character.

He was born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of India. Dr. Singh completed his Matriculation examinations from the Punjab University in 1948. He then moved from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he completed a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. Dr. Singh continued and completed a D.Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. His book, “India’s Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth” [Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964] was an early critique of India’s inward-oriented trade policy.

Dr. Singh’s academic credentials were further polished by the years he spent on the faculty of Punjab University and the Delhi School of Economics. He had a brief stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat as well. This presaged a subsequent appointment as Secretary General of the South Commission in Geneva between 1987 and 1990.

In 1971, he joined the Government of India as Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry. This was soon followed by his appointment as Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance in 1972. Among the many Governmental positions that Dr. Singh has occupied are Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Advisor of the Prime Minister; and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.

In what was to become the turning point in the economic history of independent India, Dr. Singh spent five years between 1991 and 1996 as India’s Finance Minister. His role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is now recognized worldwide. In the popular view of those years in India, that period is inextricably associated with the persona of Dr. Singh.

Among the many awards and honours conferred upon Dr. Singh in his public career, the most prominent are India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan (1987); the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress (1995); the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993 and 1994); the Euro Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993), the Adam Smith Prize of the University of Cambridge (1956); and the Wright’s Prize for Distinguished Performance at St. John’s College in Cambridge (1955). Dr. Singh has also been honoured by a number of other associations including by the Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun.

Dr. Singh has represented India at many international conferences and in several international organizations. He has led Indian Delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Cyprus (1993) and to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993.

In his political career, Dr. Singh has been a Member of India’s Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991, where he was Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2004.

Dr. Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur have three daughters.

Barack Obama

Autor Reviews | 14.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. is junior U.S. senator from Illinois and a strong contender for the Democratic party nomination for the 2008 U.S. presidential election, along with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004 and gained national recognition for his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and for winning the U.S. Senate race in Illinois by a large margin, during a time of Republican dominance.

Born of a racially mixed union between his black Kenyan born father (Barack Obama Sr.) and white mid-western born mother (Ann Dunham), Obama stands 6′2″, with a handsome face and baritone voice. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved to Djakarta with his mother and step-father for four years. He returned to Hawaii at the age of ten where he lived with his mother until his high school graduation.

He went on to study political science and international relations at Columbia University where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983. After his graduation, he worked for a church-based non-profit organization for three years before going to Harvard Law school in 1986, where he was elected the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. He received his law degree in 1991.

Obama then returned to Chicago and taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1993 until 2004. In 1995, he published a book of memoirs, Dreams from My Father. He served the Illinois State Senate for seven years before being elected to U.S. Senate in 2004. In 2006 he published The Audacity of Hope, a detailed account of his political positions on various issues.

In February 2007, Obama formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 presidential race. He’s the author of two best-selling books.In 2005, Time dubbed him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Barack Obama is said to be a thoughtful, independent-minded leader with an even-keel temperament and charismatic speaking skills.
Unlike most politicos, Obama is known for being unafraid to speak hard truths when necessary. Although armed with shrewd sensibilities, he’s sometimes slow to recognize viable threats to his agenda.

In 2002, Barack Obama publicly opposed the Iraq War, and continues to call for withdrawal of US troops from Iraq. He urges universal health care, and if elected president, promises implementation by the end of his first term.

Laloo Prasad Yadav

Autor Reviews | 13.07.2010 | Category Politicians

There is little doubt that India’s present (2008) Railways Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav casts an unique figure in the hurly-burly of Indian politics.More popularly known as Laloo, comes from the impoverished and backward state of Bihar and is chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal party. He was Born in 1948 in Phulwaria in Gopalganj district of Bihar in a family of humble origins, and displayed an early interest in politics through his involvement in elections to the Patna University students union. He was also involved with the student movement led by Jai Prakash Narayan in the 1970s.

A canny political operator, Laloo’s path to power was catalyzed by the strategic alliance he forged between the poor Yadav caste and the Muslims.He was first elected to the Lok Sabha (Lower house of Indian Parliament) in 1977 and has since been elected three more times. The veteran politician has also been a member of the Bihar state legislature on and off. Laloo’s long terms in politics including many years as Chief Minister of Bihar has not made a significant dent in the lives of the poor in Bihar. Social and economic justice for the poor in Bihar, as in most states of India, is still a mirage. “Swarg nahin diya, lekin swar to diya.” (I did not give them heaven, but I did give them voice.) is an oft-quoted statement of Laloo in a reference to the status of the poorer sections of society in Bihar. Although ridiculed and parodied by the media and the middle class for his rustic manner of speaking, Laloo has demonstrated his wily political skills over the last two decades.Laloo parted with the Janata Dal party and formed the Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997.

According to the News agencies, the police unearthed a Fodder Scam in 1996 worth Rs 950 crore (US$ 267 Million) in Bihar which allegedly involved Lalu and the State’s leading bureaucrats and politicians. To some people it is seen as counter by opposition to stop his unprecedented political growth. As a result he was forced to resign from the office of Chief Minister and he elected his wife, Rabri Devi, as his successor. One of India’s most colourful politicians, Mr Yadav is known for his quirky style and mass appeal. Laloo is married to Rabri Devi and has seven daughters and two sons.

Sonia Gandhi

Autor Reviews | 12.07.2010 | Category Politicians

Sonia Gandhi was born in a place called Ovassanjo, 80 km away from Turin, on Dec. 9, 1946.to a family of modest means. Earlier known as Sonia Maino, now Sonia Gandhi, has weaved a dramatic way to a place in history by becoming the President of India’s century-old Congress party. Being the third woman of foreign origin to hold the prestigious post after Annie Beasant and Nelli Sengupta, she also became the fifth from the Nehru family to take over the Congress reins. She also is the eighth person of a foreign origin to be the Congress president.

On 28th May 2005 Smt. Sonia Gandhi was elected as President of the Indian National Congress by overwhelming support from across the country from all states.In a short span since she took part in active politics before the February mid-term Lok Sabha elections, Sonia in fact, had wrought a political miracle by becoming the dual chief of the 113 year old Indian National Congress and its Parliamentary party.

In the process, Sonia Gandhi also emulated her husband, mother-in-law and grandfather-in-law—Rajiv, Indira and Nehru— who all held the two posts during their career. Sonia, whose Italian origin gave her opponents propaganda grist became a full-fledged Indian citizen in 1984 after the death of Indira Gandhi.

Her son, Rahul Gandhi, was elected to Parliament for the Amethi constituency in 2004. Priyanka Gandhi has not stood for office, though she has worked as a Congress campaign manager. There has been considerable media speculation about their futures in the Congress. Sonia and her children are estranged from Maneka Gandhi, the widow of Rajiv’s younger brother Sanjay Gandhi, and her son Varun Gandhi, who are both members of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She has also published two books about her late husband, Rajiv and Rajiv’s World, and edited two volumes of letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi from 1922 to 1964, Freedom’s Daughter and Two Alone, Two Together.