In the midst of the ongoing controversy over Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's remarks on 'Hindu terror' and the offensive launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu organisations asking that the home minister be sacked, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will visit Allahabad for the ongoing Kumbh Mela which is currently on and has attracted crores of devotees. Renu Mittal reports.
The Congress party seems to have already deviated from the stance it took at recent Chintan Shivir in Jaipur and gone back to old ways of functioning. Renu Mittal reports
While there was enthusiastic welcome for his speech on Sunday, the party's senior leadership appears jittery with Rahul focusing on the need for responsibility and accountability and the need for leaders to deliver or be eased out.
Sunday's build-up for Rahul Gandhi as the Congress leader empowered to take decisions is a clear signal to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that the next election belongs to the younger man.
In keeping with the new Congress mantra: youth lao party bachao, delegates to the Chintan Shivir in Jaipur have demanded that 30 per cent of the seats in the organisation and tickets in the coming elections should be reserved for the youth. The need for a quota for the youth has been echoed at various levels and has the endorsement of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, who has been pushing to give more tickets to the youth.
The Congress Working Committee anointed Rahul Gandhi as party vice-president at the party's Chintan Shivir in Jaipur on Saturday. He is now the official number two in the Congress, paving the way for his projection as the party's prime ministerial candidate in the run up to the 2014 general elections.
Breaking away from tradition, several young Congress leaders are expected to speak at the AICC Chintan Shivir being held in Jaipur, reports Renu Mittal
On the eve of the much-hyped Chintan Shivir in the pink city, economic issues are back with a bang on the agenda with Union Oil Minister Veerapa Moily choosing to deregulate the price of diesel and allowing oil companies to affect increase in the price of diesel, in the same manner as had happened with petrol. Renu Mittal reports.
In the latest changes made by the Congress before the Chintan Shivir, former Karnataka Chief Minister and former Foreign Minister S M Krishna has been dropped as the chairman of the sub-group on foreign policy titled India and the world and instead Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has been put in his place.
After the Chintan Shivir and the All India Congress Committee meeting is over in Jaipur on January 20, it is expected that there would be a reshuffle of the AICC, state Pradesh Congress Committees. Some chief ministerial heads may also roll as the party prepares for the assembly elections later this year and the general elections in 2014. Renu Mittal reports.
The main focus during the two-day Chintan Shivir to be held in Jaipur over the weekend would be on the political discussion and how the party plans to strategise to win back the mandate it received in 2004 and 2009, reports Renu Mittal.
Senior Congress leaders will be in Jaipur on Tuesday for a day's visit to finalise the arrangements for the three-day weekend extravaganza which will see over 5,000 party workers assemble in the pink city to chalk out party's road map for future challenges, reports Renu Mittal.
Preparations for the Congress's Chintan Shivir -- which will be held in Jaipur on January 18-19 followed by the meeting of the All India Congress Committee on January 20 -- have entered a decisive stage with senior party leaders burning the midnight oil to iron out the creases and finalise last-minute details.
The police have failed to instill confidence, the judiciary has failed to deliver timely justice, the politician has failed to lead the way, feels Renu Mittal
There is a shift in the Congress regarding Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, says Renu Mittal.
Although UPA government has somehow managed to scuttle Opposition's stiff antagonism to FDI in multi-brand retail in both the Houses of the Parliament, it has certainly opened itself to the charge of being a minority government, analyses Renu Mittal.
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati has decided to support the government on FDI as she does not want to destabilise the government, reports Renu Mittal
Aap ka paisa, aap ke haath (direct cash transfer). This is the new slogan with which the Congress hopes to woo back the aam admi, the poor, the marginalised and the weaker sections as the government has launched an ambitious direct cash transfer scheme with Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram calling it a 'game changer'.
The government engineered a victory of sorts when it succeeded in neutralising the Samajwadi party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Trinamool Congress in stacking up the numbers on the FDI issue, says Renu Mittal.
It seems Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde has annoyed both his bosses in the Congress and the government by his over-the top statement that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi were not aware of the secret operation of Ajmal Kasab's hanging and came to know about it only through television.
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