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Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to attend the Salaana Jalsa (annual congregation) of the Ahmadiyya Muslim community at its international headquarters at Qadian town in Punjab’s border district of Gurdaspur, around 250 km from here.

“Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will come here to attend Salaana Jalsa on December 27. He will spend several hours here and also visit various holy places associated with the founder of the Ahmadiyya sect,” a sect spokesperson said Wednesday.

That Mukherjee is attending the sect congregation is being seen with a lot of political and diplomatic significance especially in the wake of recent reports about harassment of Ahmadiyyas in Pakistan.

Considered a renegade sect by Shia and Sunni Muslims, the Ahmadiyyas, who advocate peaceful co-existence and have often expressed anguish against rising Islamic fundamentalism, live in several countries.

Qadian, a small town in Punjab, is the birthplace of the sect which was founded in the late 19th century (1889) by Muslim spiritual leader Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Over 20,000 Ahmadiyya Muslims are expected to participate in the three-day event, from Dec 26-28, which will include a sermon by the present khalifatul (spiritual head), Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, which will be telecast live at the venue from his London home.

The Ahmadiyya congregation last year (December) was cancelled by the sect following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.

The sect’s London-based spiritual head, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, who was touring Tamil Nadu and Kerala when the Mumbai carnage took place, was advised by security agencies to return to London. India has issued nearly 5,000 visas to Pakistan-based Ahmadiyya devotees who are coming here to attend the congregation.

In Pakistan Ahmadiyyas are considered non-Muslims under law and subjected to religious and social persecution.

Though Ahmadiyyas reside in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia – all countries having substantial Muslim population, hundreds of them are settled in Britain and other western countries.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Wednesday that India’s economy would grow at 9-10 percent in the coming two to three years.

“The target of growth of 9-10 percent has been there for a very long period. It is now within our reach and we shall achieve it,” Mukherjee told the 104th annual session of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry here.

“In the next two to three years, we are targeting economic growth of 9 percent and the growth rate will be more inclusive and widespread. Our country remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world,” he added.

“Our agricultural growth should be at 4 percent so that there is a balanced growth.”

Referring to the mid-year fiscal review where the government has suggested growth of 7.75 percent in 2009-10, the finance minister said: “It would be better to say that it would be between 7.5-8 percent.”

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday said he will present the full Budget for 2009-10 in the first week of July, assuring economic revival not at the cost of fiscal prudence.

In his first formal press conference after taking over as full-time Finance Minister, Mukherjee said the UPA had in its manifesto committed to presenting the Budget within 45 days of formation of the Government.

Keeping that deadline in mind, the Budget for 2009-10 will be presented in the first week of July, he said, adding the Government would endeavour for the Budget to be passed before 31st July.

Reviving growth momentum of the economy will be the top priority for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led Government but revival would not be at the cost of fiscal prudence, he said.

Mukherjee said the industry and business hit hard by cost of finance and its easy availability and he would meet bankers soon to get them committed to more benign plan of action to boost credit and its flow.

Mukherjee said the prime focus of the Budget will be “Aam Aadmi” (common man) but will also lay stress on infrastructure spending.

The government has eased liquidity situation considerably through series of measures taken by RBI, he said, adding that he will be meeting bankers soon to take stock of the situation.

“I expects that they (banks) will take advantage of the monetary policy … I will have to see that the credit is being made available,” he said.

On the GDP expansion, the Finance Minister said that 6.5-7 per cent growth rate is a respectable growth for the current fiscal.

Asked about the inflation target for 2009-10, he said that the rate of price rise at 0.61 per cent (for the week ended 9th May) is reasonably down and provides enough leverage.

Mukherjee said that the government is equally committed to fiscal consolidation over 2-3 years and it will also make anti-money laundering regime stronger.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday shared with top officials his concerns over matters afflicting the nation’s finances immediately after taking charge of the Ministry and said his top-most priority is to bring the economy back to high growth path.

Sharing his thoughts about how he would like the economic process to be shaped, Mukherjee gave the officials directions, presumably on how he would want the Union Budget for 2009-10 to be prepared.

“Immediately after assuming charge, Mukherjee had a series of meetings with all the senior officials of the ministry and reviewed the status of various programmes and issues relating to all departments of the ministry. Issues relating to the forthcoming Budget were also discussed at the meetings,” an official present during the meeting said.

Mukherjee, however, did not take any question on the economy or the issues relating to the Finance Ministry after his meeting with the officials.

Soon after he was given the charge of the ministry, which he was looking after even before the elections, Mukherjee had told reporters, “Indian economy is resilient, strong and we shall have to build up and come back to the growth track as early as possible. We will be able to, I hope, present the Budget in due time so that uncertainties can be avoided and time of spending can be renewed.”

As cyclone ‘Aila’ brought life in West Bengal to a halt, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday spoke to Defence Minister A K Antony and sought assistance of the armed forces to help the civil administration in rescue operations.

Soon after assuming charge of the Finance Ministry, Mukherjee called up Antony seeking help from the armed forces for rescue operations, officials said in New Delhi today.

Mukherjee told Antony that the Sundarbans, the habitat of Royal Bengal Tiger, have been badly affected by the cyclone and early assistance is required there.

The Finance Minister also called up Home Minister P Chidambaram and West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to asses the situation.

Three persons were killed in the metropolis and seven others injured with hundreds of mud houses collapsing in neighbouring districts as cyclone ‘Aila’ hit the state today.

The army has been alerted by the state authorities.

All flights, including international ones, at the N S C Bose International Airport were suspended from 1400 hrs due to the storm.

Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee Sunday indicated that his party’s doors were open to alliances with parties other than its partners in the United Progressive Alliance but said all would depend upon election results.

“The ground rule is ‘number’. (The) Magic number, whether individual party or combination of parties, must reach. Therefore, who gets which number is the most relevant, all others are irrelevant,” Mukherjee told the NDTV news channel in an interview.

He was replying to a question if his party would be open to an alliance with Janata Dal-United (JD-U) of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is a partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Mukherjee added: “Nitish Kumar, I have never worked with him. I all along found him as a non-Congress man, but as an individual he is fine.”

On a similar question about a truck with AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha, whose feelers for an alliance were cold-shouldered by the Congress, he gave broad indications that there were all possibilities after the elections.

“You know, all these years it has taken place, after 1967 onwards, in every election we had some alliance with the Tamil parties,” he said.

“When DMK was undivided, we had an alliance with the DMK, after establishment of Anna DMK (AIADMK), we had sometimes with MGR (M.G. Ramachandran) who is the founder, sometimes with Jayalalitha, sometimes with (M.) Karunanidhi,” he added.

Mukherjee went on: “This has happened, therefore it’s not that. The question is, what you are talking of, that strategy, if somebody has it, that strategy has to be worked out, not aired in public prematurely.”

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday clarified that the Congress’ poll tie-up with the Trinamool Congress did not preclude his party joining hands with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) after the elections.

“I don’t know of any such pre-condition. I have formed the alliance,” Mukherjee told reporters here, days after Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee claimed her party entered into the poll adjustment with the Congress after it gave a commitment not to tie up with CPI-M after the polls.

Asked if the Congress would seek the Left Front’s support to reach the majority mark, Mukherjee said: “I am not ruling out any possibility. But from my experience in the campaign, so far it seems we may not need it”.

Mukherjee, however, continued his attack on the Third Front, saying it has even failed to name its prime ministerial candidate.

“This is not how major political parties operate. The Congress has always named its leader, except once in 1991, when Rajiv Gandhi died while the poll process was on.”

He said the Congress did not dissociate from the Left. “They withdrew support to us and voted along with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.”

Mukherjee exuded confidence that his party will increase its strength in West Bengal following the tie-up with Trinamool Congress.

He also said formation of a separate Gorkhaland state demanded by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) out of parts of northern West Bengal, including Darjeeling, did not seem possible right now.

“At the moment we do not think it is possible to form new states. The Congress Working Committee discussed the statehood demands for Vidarbha and Telengana. We found it creates a series of problems, however valid the demand for statehood be.”

Mukherjee said the Darjeeling problem could be addressed by giving a greater amount of autonomy to the hills.

“The solution can come through dialogue, not at the point of threat,” he said.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband paid handsome tributes to his opposite number Pranab Mukherjee Monday three months after raising eyebrows in New Delhi with a statement about Kashmir.

Miliband made opportunistic use of a London Book Fair event to praise Mukherjee’s “breadth of vision” following the Indian external affairs minister’s call for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sri Lanka.

During a much-publicised visit to India in January Miliband was reported to have addressed Mukherjee – the senior of the two – by his first name.

His statement calling for efforts to resolve the Kashmir dispute – made in the context of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Mumbai – also upset India before Mukherjee stepped in to declare the incident a “closed chapter”.

Appearing alongside the economist Amartya Sen on the opening day of the book fair Monday, Miliband said Mukherjee’s was a “loud and clear voice” on the need for Sri Lankan authorities to declare a ceasefire in order to help civilians escape the current civil war with Tamil Tiger rebels.

Billed as a conversation, the half-hour event saw Miliband interviewing Sen on a variety of subjects about India, including what kind of role it would play if made a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Miliband praised India as a “remarkable success story in a very challenging part of the world” – for its democracy, economic growth, traditions of tolerance and mutual respect, internationalism and traditions of thought.

India was the third largest contributor to international peacekeeping, he said.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee Sunday teamed up to woo the electorate in West Bengal for the Lok Saha polls.

The two leaders hopped from one venue to another in a helicopter, urging the people to install a stable Congress-led government at the centre. They lambasted the state’s ruling Left Front for its alleged misrule over the last 32 years.

The rallies kickstarted the joint campaign after the recent Congress-Trinamool tie-up for the polls. Mukherjee and Banerjee are scheduled to address joint rallies in several other parts of the state till the completion of the three-phase elections in the state May 13.

However, Sunday’s largely attended meetings covered constituencies going to the polls April 30.

The political heavyweights held their maiden rally at Balurghat, and then proceeded to Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling.

“This huge gathering indicates that people of our state want a political change. There could have been lot of developmental work in north Bengal. But the ruling Left Front has done nothing for the region. Tea garden workers are starving,” Banerjee told a rally at Birpara in Alipurduar of Jalpaiguri district.

“There’s no employment opportunity in the district so people are more and more moving out to other stats in search of jobs.”

“We have formed an alliance with the target to oust the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) led LF government from the state,” she added.

Coming down heavily on the Leftists, Banerjee said: “CPI-M has failed to develop the state and now they are dreaming to come to power at the centre. People should reject them.”

Mukherjee, India’s external affairs minister, also criticised the CPI-M-led front for its “allround failure”.

Detailing the successes of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, Mukherjee said: “The central government has successfully implemented schemes for the betterment of common people in India.”

He also ridiculed the newly formed Third Front in which the Left parties are playing a crucial role.

Rejecting the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) proposal of presidential system of governance in India, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here that the Congress is keen on strengthening the parliamentary system of democracy.

“We strongly oppose the BJP’s proposal of presidential form of governance. The Congress has always in favour of parliamentary system of democracy and we are working to further strengthen the system,” Mukherjee told IANS Thursday night.

“Democracy could be more prosper through the existing parliamentary system of egalitarianism,” he added.

Mukherjee was here Thursday to address a series of public meetings in support of the Congress candidates for the April 23 Lok Sabha elections to the two constituencies in Tripura.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has also strongly opposed the idea of a presidential system of governance.

Speaking in Kolkata earlier this week, CPI-M general secretary Prakash Karat said his party was opposed to the presidential system of governance, which would be “authoritarian”.

Although Mukherjee echoed Karat’s views, the minister ridiculed the Left parties’ claim of forming the government at the centre.

“After the elections, a telescope would be required to find out the strength of the Left parties’ MPs in the Lok Sabha,” Mukherjee said.

“Though the BJP is younger than the CPI-M, the former has formed government at the centre and in many states. The Left movement started in India in 1920 and in 90 years the Left Front has not been able to cross the borders of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura,” the Congress leader said at the public meetings.

Criticising the CPI-M’s advocacy for an independent foreign policy, Mukherjee said: “All the Congress governments headed by Indira Gandhi to Manmohan Singh have been following a sovereign foreign policy.”

The minister was all praise for Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

“While a politician crawled from door to door to become a deputy minister, Sonia Gandhi, with her enormous kindness, sacrificed the post of prime minister and supported Manmohan Singh as he is a great economist,” said Mukherjee.