The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is reviving its 'brotherhood committees', a strategy used successfully in the 2007 elections, to bolster its support among Other Backward Castes (OBCs) ahead of the 2027 state assembly elections. These committees, to be formed in all 403 constituencies, aim to connect with 100 people from OBC communities in each village, acting as ambassadors of the party at the booth level. The BSP sees these committees as a counter to the Samajwadi Party's PDA pitch and a means to consolidate its scattered rural vote bank. The party is also highlighting the 'anti-Dalit' and 'anti-OBC' tactics of the Congress, BJP and SP, hoping to capitalize on perceived grievances and reposition itself as a champion of marginalized communities.
Convert the Haryana result into a blessing in disguise; make the calamity into an opportunity. Maharashtra was always the big ticket game in town; MVA must win it. The Congress should shift headquarters to Mumbai for the entire month. Show urgency and a hunger to win, asserts Sanjay Jha.
'The sudden arrests and detentions of all Working Committee members led to mass satyagraha.' 'I found myself helpless as the source of my income, from which I sent a portion to my parents in the village, had suddenly stopped.'
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
"I've lost everything... I had only two children, a boy and a girl, and both are gone. My home is empty... There's no one left to play in the courtyard. I wish God had taken me instead and spared my children," she said.
As Mallikarjun Kharge won the Congress president poll, his electoral rival Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the 'democratic contest' has galvanised vibrancy at all levels and has prompted a healthy and constructive discussion on change, which will serve the party in good stead in the future.
Gehlot said Sonia Gandhi should continue to lead the party and if she has made up her mind, then Rahul Gandhi should come ahead and be the Congress president as the country faces the biggest challenge to save its democracy.
Jagdeep Dhankhar's sudden resignation as Vice President has led to speculation about underlying political tensions and disagreements with the ruling alliance.
Ever since, he has remained Thiruvananthapuram preferred MP, winning four elections on the trot, including the closely fought battle with Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajeev Chandrasekhar in 2024. This could well be his swansong from the capital segment.
This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt analysis what Rahul Gandhi's elevation to number 2 position means to a struggling Congress party and a government facing a credibility crisis.
The Congress president will have to set up a new CWC in place of the steering committee which was formed after the working committee was dissolved by him.
'I told Rahul: "You have to become president. Taalne se nahin hoga (you can't avoid the responsibility any longer)".' 'Rahul said: "I will think about it".'
The BJP had no option but to get Jagdeep Dhankhar out of its way for the sake of the Modi government's stability, reveals Sheela Bhatt, the legendary political journalist.
When asked about Prahar Janshakti Party leader Bachhu Kadu's hunger strike, Fadnavis said district guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule will speak to him.
Gandhi said around 400 Congress members will be attending the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur from May 13 to 15 and stressed on the message of every leader holding one party post.
'I would like to see Kharge include Shashi in the Congress Working Committee.' 'The other alternative is that the Congress will marginalise him.'
The Maharashtra legislative assembly passed the 'Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill' aimed at preventing unlawful activities of Left Wing Extremist organizations, focusing on urban Naxalism and passive militancy.
Indicating his keenness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Robert Vadra, businessman and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament.
In a letter to Kharge, Khan said he will not campaign for party candidates for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha polls and is also resigning from the state Congress campaign committee.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the new president of the party's Punjab unit, notwithstanding the opposition from Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away on Thursday night at the age of 92. He was brought to the emergency department of AIIMS Delhi in critical condition after "sudden loss of consciousness."
Implementation of sports bill in 6 months, regulation of participation standard safeguard: Mandaviya
Phogat and Punia joined the party in the presence of Congress general secretary KC Venugopal, spokesperson Pawan Khera and Haryana Congress chief Uday Bhan.
The Congress has so far announced 82 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls beginning April 19.
While the BJP went back to the drawing board to recraft its political and governance outreach and regained momentum by notching up surprisingly big wins in a string of assembly polls, the burst of fresh optimism in the main opposition Congress and other INDIA bloc parties fizzled out.
Singh's suspension came days after he questioned the manner in which a vigilance bureau team raided the residence of Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia in Amritsar in a disproportionate assets case.
Rahul Gandhi, who Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said will be 'back soon' from his sabbatical, could replace his mother in the top party post as early as May.
The second round of talks between junior doctors and officials of the West Bengal government failed to break the medics' strike over the RG Kar issue, following the state's refusal to give written minutes of the meeting, the doctors alleged.
Congress legislators continued their sit-in protest inside the assembly while the party held protests at all district headquarters on Saturday against the suspension of six party MLAs.
Sources said besides giving approval to the polls schedule, the members of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, could also express confidence in the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
A special meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the party's top decision making body, has been convened on Monday when it is expected to pass a resolution acknowledging Mukherjee's four decades of service to the party.
One hundred years ago, a group of 10 revolutionaries carried out an operation that shook the British Empire. Utkarsh Mishra revisits the 'Kakori Conspiracy Case', a turning point in the armed struggle for independence.
Freedom At Midnight is a bold attempt to revisit the whole discourse about Partition, its causes, and the predicament under which the Congress leaders accepted it. It perfectly captures the extremely confused and complicated situation to which it seemed the only viable solution, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
When Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee came to the All India Congress Committee headquarters on Tuesday evening to meet the Congress Working Committee members and party office bearers and hear their suggestions on what should be incorporated in the coming budget for the aam admi, he was bombarded with suggestions.
'Rahul Gandhi is showing an 'I-don't-care-attitude'.' 'He is showing the same attitude towards what is happening in Maharashtra or in various parts of the country.'
Recalling his long association with the CWC, the highest decision making body of the party, Mukherjee thanked the party for all the cooperation and for nominating him for the president's post, sources said.
