Due to hectic engagements with Telangana issue, Gandhi was unable to have an interaction with party MPs as there was no valedictory dinner meeting of the parliamentary party during the just-concluded winter session of Parliament, the last of the 15th Lok Sabha.
'If I don't fulfil promises made in it, I can be sent to jail,' he said.
Delhi has emerged as the youngest assembly in terms of age of elected legislators from the four states, with an estimated average age of about 43 years for members of Legislative Assembly elected in the national capital.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav, DMK chief MK Stalin, Bihar's former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among other opposition leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17," said well-placed sources.
The party, however, chose to play down the incidents calling them 'minor protests', and claimed that there was no discontent among the workers.
'Vajpayeeji's BJP was democratic.' 'It was a BJP that belonged to its party workers. Every worker, every member was an Atal Bihari.' Today's BJP belongs to businessmen.' 'Modi and Amit Shah have reduced the BJP to a two-man party.'
Congress leaders say the party is willing to accommodate Ajit Jogi to some extent but will not be bullied or blackmailed by him, reports Anita Katyal
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday scored a hat-trick of victories in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, winning 49 of 90 seats, thwarting the Congress' bid to wrest power after a decade.
AICC general secretary incharge of Chhattisgarh B K Hariprasad says he does not think rebel Congress leader Ajit Jogi will raise the banner of revolt now. Anita Katyal reports
Counting of votes is underway in assembly byelection to 58 seats in 11 states including Madhya Pradesh where the results will decide the fate of the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government.
According to the notice, "The conduct (wearing sunglasses) is in violation of the India Services (Conduct) Rules, Section (3), 1968."
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.
Congress hopes to field upper caste candidates to eat into BJP voter base while SP-BSP focuses on consolidating Dalit-OBC votes in their favour.
Ayurvedic doctor-turned-politician Raman Singh was on Thursday sworn in as chief minister of Chhattisgarh for the third consecutive term.
Political pundits said this trend indicates that the regional satraps might play key roles in 2019 general elections for which attempts are already underway by non-BJP parties to put a united front against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid for a second term.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday slammed the Congress for opposing opinion polls, saying the fear of losing elections was the reason behind its "nonsensical" demand and "desperate" tactics.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party is projected to retain power in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and dislodge Congress in Rajasthan in the assembly polls to be held this year, according to opinion polls aired by two news channels.
Shatrughan Sinha won't attend, citing 'important personal engagements.' Will L K Advani be present? M I Khan reports on a swearing-in ceremony the likes of which Patna may not have seen before.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in June dedicated the modernised and expanded Bhilai Steel Plant to the nation.
The reverses for the BJP in the Hindi heartland threw wide open the 2019 Lok Sabha elections which until a few months ago appeared to be in the grip of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party.
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
Dantewada recorded lowest turnout with 49 per cent voting.
If the Congress manages to upset its dominant rival, the BJP, in these assembly polls, then it will be a big boost to the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls, while a good show by the BJP will energise its cadres and give a fillip to its hopes of retaining the power at the Centre in 2019.
Setting aside a popular political dictum that Bastar holds the key to power in the state, the 24 assembly constituencies in Bilaspur division would now decide who will form the next government in Chhattisgarh. So far the BJP's Amit Shah has held two public meetings and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed one in the division in the last one month, reports R Krishna Das.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
The results, while bringing the Congress back to power in this state, also end the rule of the 66-year-old BJP stalwart, who has earned several monikers during his 15-year-long tenure -- Doctor saheb being a trained Ayurvedic medical practitioner, chaur wale baba for his popular rice scheme and the 'Mobile Wale Baba' for giving free smartphones to 50 lakh women and students.
Rahul Gandhi attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh for its failure to act against Maoists responsible for killing many Congress leaders in May.
In Mizoram, opposition MNF likely to end 10-year Congress rule.
Labelled as the semi-final before the big Lok Sabha poll, assembly elections in five states will set the tone for summer of 2019.
'All the hoardings showed only Rahulji. No pictures of Indiraji and Rajivji. What is the Congress's worth without its history? It is unthinkable that none of our hoardings shows Indira and Rajiv. It was a total fiasco to see that many advertisements were in black and white. In such competitive politics, how can you experiment?' fumes a Congress leader.
Chhattisgarh, popularly known as the rice bowl of central India, is witnessing politics over the foodgrain with ruling the Bharatiya Janata Party and main opposition the Congress trying to attract voters through it.
BSP chief's hard blows meet with timid retort from India's Grand Old Party.
State leaders have emerged as the biggest road block for Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi who is trying to give young leaders bigger responsibilities, says Renu Mittal
Around 30 per cent polling was recorded till noon on Tuesday in 72 constituencies spread over 19 districts of Chhattisgarh where voting for the second and last phase of Assembly polls is underway.
'From 10 am on Tuesday to 3 am this morning, we must have made not less than a thousand phone calls.' 'We kept fighting till the end and we did not leave the room till we got 113 certificates.' 'Two-three losses would have changed the game and the BJP wanted to become the largest party which they did not become.'
Eight women died and 52 others have been hospitalised due to botched surgeries at a government-organised sterilisation camp in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district.
Elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will see the BJP and Congress in direct contest.
Shattered by the party's worst debacle in the elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday offered to resign accepting responsibility but the party unanimously rejected it.
'Yeh dil maange more' seems to be mantra for over two dozen former chief ministers of various states who are contesting upcoming Lok Sabha elections on different party tickets.
