'It is almost certain that in the absence of note-bandi, the party would have lost in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
"It is about time that India and its institutions are protected from these 'institution wreckers'," said Jaitley.
Congress members don't want Rahul Gandhi back as party chief. But the problem is that Sonia Gandhi won't have anyone other than her son to take over the Family Firm, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Making a strong emotional pitch over the Maoist ambush on Congress leaders in May, Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that former Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nand Kumar Patel was killed to stop him from becoming the chief minister and to silence the voice of the poor and the tribals.
iyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Pralhad Joshi, Ashwini Vaishnaw and Biseswar Tudu are the 5 Union minsters.
Kharge or somebody else, whoever becomes the chief, he will only be a face to show, Sushil Modi said.
As the debate over the issue of leadership raged, another group of leaders put their weight behind the Gandhi family on Sunday, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay or Rahul Gandhi to take charge again.
MP Congress Committee's media department chairperson KK Mishra in a statement claimed it was a doctored video.
The Congress said the alliance between the BSP and Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has the support of the BJP, which is ruling the state since 2003.
Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said she will visit the tribal dominated Bastar and Sarguja districts on the first day and address two party rallies in their district headquarters Jagdalpur and Ambikapur.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Senior Congress leaders say Sharad Pawar's 'clean chit' to Modi in the Rafale deal is the most recent example of regional parties succumbing to pressure. The Congress is also convinced that Mayawati is being arm-twisted.
Going by Himachal Pradesh's "riwaj", or tradition, it should be the Congress' turn to form the next government.
In one state, the BJP sweeps in Modi's name -- and only because of Modi's name. In the other state, Modi's name did not work. Himachal underlines the limitations of Modi's magic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress president had left on August 23 to visit her ailing mother, who was in her 90s.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi has said that 31 bills will be taken up in the monsoon session. Among these include the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023.
The SP chief said they will now "consult" the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Gondwana Gantantra Party for the Madhya Pradesh polls.
The conference was seen by many as a show of strength by the Opposition with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav joining in to raise their voice against oppression of backward classes.
'It will be better if the 'family' desists from giving 'advice and guidance' lest it should be seen as a backseat driver which had placed a puppet at the top,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Though the Congress, AAP and other Opposition parties may have high hopes and some positive takeaways to seize on from the results, it is the BJP which has a big headstart and is firmly in the lead.
The prime minister made the charge at a rally in Ajmer just ahead of the announcement of assembly election dates for Rajasthan and four other states in November and December.
She said she had told the party leadership last year that it was difficult to travel in the three hill states due to her health.
P Chidambaram and Rajeev Shukla of the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's Sumitra Valmiki and Kavita Patidar, former Congress leader Kapil Sibal, Rashtriya Janata Dal's Misa Bharti and Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the 41 winners declared elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha.
Sources said that despite senior leaders making serious attempts to convince him to rethink on his decision, Gandhi is said to be unfazed.
Sources said the Congress Parliamentary Party authorised Gandhi to pick the party's leader in Lok Sabha.
On May 5, the Gauhati high court had rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Srinivas in a case lodged by expelled chief of Assam Youth Congress Angkita Dutta, accusing him of causing mental agony to her.
The Bharatiya Janata Party charged the Congress with attempting to politicise the Maoist attack at Baster in Chhattisgarh that claimed 27 lives, saying it is 'very unfortunate'.
The Congress's revival plan says it needs to bring back into its fold Hindus repelled by the Sangh Parivar, take its message to youth and women and sections upset at curbs on their personal freedoms.
In a brazen daytime attack, Naxals on Tuesday ambushed a security team killing 15 personnel including 11 of the Central Reserve Police Force and also a civilian in a chilling reminder of the 2010 massacre of 76 securitymen in the same area in the worst-hit Sukma district of Chhattisgarh.
Ahead of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies in Chhattisgarh on Wednesday, security forces averted a possible landmine explosion, as they diffused two Improvised Explosive Devices weighing 50 kg in the Dantewada area of the state.
Sukhu, the 58-year-old MLA from Nadaun in Hamirpur district, was elected the the CLP leader and will take oath as chief minister Sunday, the party said.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Friday said his government will not make public the report of the judicial commission, headed by former judge of Chhattisgarh high court Justice Prashant Mishra, on the May 2013 Jhiram valley Maoist attack, because it is 'incomplete.'
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised to restore the old pension scheme for government employees in Himachal Pradesh if the Congress was voted to power in the assembly elections.
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