Delhi is implementing heightened security and traffic restrictions for the five-day AI Impact Summit, deploying over 10,000 police personnel and issuing traffic advisories to minimize disruption to commuters and students.
A signboard on Akbar Road in Lutyens' Delhi was defaced on Thursday by unidentified individuals protesting against the alleged vandalism of Maharana Pratap's statue at Kashmiri Gate ISBT. The signboard, under NDMC jurisdiction, was cleaned by civic authorities. An FIR will be filed after a probe, and police are reviewing CCTV footage to identify the culprits. Authorities have urged citizens to maintain peace.
It was significant that the ceremony took place at 24, Akbar Road, the party's former national headquarters, and not at its new office in Kotla Road.
After spending nearly 50 years in a colonial bungalow at 24, Akbar Road, the Congress moved into a new office on January 15. Rasheed Kidwai, who knows the history of the Congress better than the Congress, looks back at the people who breathed life into this address.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Members of a Buddhist outfit allegedly vandalised road signboards named after Mughal and Delhi Sultanate rulers in Lutyens' Delhi on Friday. The Bharatiya Baudh Sangh members covered the signboards that come under the jurisdiction of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) with black spray paint. Veer Savarkar Marg was pasted over the signboard of Shahjahan Road, Ahilya Bai Marg was pasted over Tughlaq Lane, Maharishi Valmiki Marg was pasted over Akbar Road and Balasaheb Thackeray Marg over Humayun Road. The incident follows the March 20 defacement of Akbar Road's signboard by unidentified individuals protesting the alleged vandalism of Maharana Pratap's statue at Kashmiri Gate ISBT.
The Indian National Congress, India's oldest political party, is moving from its longtime headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to a new building called Indira Gandhi Bhawan. The move marks the end of an era for the Congress, which has been headquartered at 24 Akbar Road for nearly 50 years.
The sources said, without naming anyone, the party leadership sent a "clear message" during the meeting that this is not a time of airing individual views but for amplifying the party's stand.
'...spent 1/10th of his time at 24, Akbar Road...' 'He would have met thousands of party workers and ordinary Congress supporters who have love for the party.' 'Left of Centre intellectuals have shaped Rahul's values, but he lacks earthiness.'
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it had filed a chargesheet on April 9 in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. Apart from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the chargesheet also names senior Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as co-accused.
A thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rain battered Delhi overnight, disrupting flight operations, uprooting trees and electricity poles, and causing waterlogging in several areas while bringing relief from stifling heat. The sudden change in weather led to a sharp drop in mercury with the city recording a minimum temperature of 19.8 degrees Celsius, 6.9 notches below the normal. The India Meteorological Department said the city's primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded winds gusting up to 82 kmph and 81.2 mm of rain in six hours -- between 11.30 pm and 5.30 am.
The Congress on Wednesday expelled former Madhya Pradesh MLA Laxman Singh, who is brother of ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh, from the primary membership of the party for six years for 'anti-party activities'.
The Congress party has inaugurated its new headquarters, Indira Gandhi Bhawan, located at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi. The new building, which was constructed during Sonia Gandhi's tenure as Congress chief, features modern facilities and reflects the party's forward-looking vision. The party will not vacate its current headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, which has been its home since 1978, and will continue to house some of its cells.
Newly appointed Assam Congress chief Gaurav Gogoi has denied allegations of having links to the Pakistani establishment, calling the claims made by the BJP a "C-grade Bollywood movie" that will "flop miserably." Gogoi said he had only visited Pakistan once 12 years ago with his wife, who was working on an international project focused on climate change. He questioned why the BJP government had not acted on the allegations in the past 11 years if there was any wrongdoing. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who made the initial allegations, said he would release further evidence on September 10 after a Special Investigation Team (SIT) completes its inquiry.
The Congress' new headquarters located at 9A, Kotla Road in New Delhi was inaugurated on Wednesday, as the grand old party turned a page in its history after operating from its iconic 24, Akbar Road premises for the last 47 years.
'We have been allowed to stay till October 2018,' said the party about the notice asking them to vacate their premises, Amit Agnihotri reports.
Can Congress keep Akbar Road HQ two yrs since notice?
After 47 years, the Congress party moved to a new HQ, Indira Bhawan, on January 15, 2025.
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, calling it a direct assault on the values of the republic. The party accused the BJP of exploiting the tragedy to promote discord and polarization, while urging for unity and solidarity in the face of adversity. The CWC also demanded a comprehensive analysis of the intelligence failures and security lapses that led to the attack.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said he is "more than happy" to take responsibility for everything wrong the party did in its history, including the 1984 Sikh riots. He acknowledged that the party made "a lot of mistakes" when he was not there, but said he has publicly stated that what happened in the 80s was "wrong." The remarks were made during an interaction at Brown University in the US. The video of the interaction was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday. The BJP has criticized Gandhi for his remarks, accusing him of "ridiculing" the beliefs of Hindus and Sikhs.
24, Akbar Road has been the Congress party headquarters since 1978.
Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retired) VK Singh on Tuesday wrote to Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs M Venkaiah Naidu seeking the renaming of New Delhi's Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
In the run-up to the Haryana polls, Gandhi while addressing an election rally in Gohana on October 3, showed a box of the famous jalebi-maker Matu Ram 'halwai' and emphasised that his jalebi should be sold across the country.
Congress leaders were seen giving media bytes at various places at the headquarters, arguing that the trends would change by 1 PM but it did not happen.
The Delhi Police has stepped up security outside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's residence following an intelligence input of disturbance by right wing groups, sources said on Wednesday.
'I have only this to say to those who talk about Mewar rulers and Akbar's brutality -- do you expect a king to not expand his kingdom?' 'You have entire cities named after Muslim rulers. It's time our heroes got their due.'
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
Bikaner BJP minority morcha district president Usman Ghani, who expressed displeasure with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent remarks in Rajasthan, was on Wednesday expelled from the party for 'tarnishing' its image.
If Priyanka wins the Lok Sabha bypolls, it would be for the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament. Her mother Sonia Gandhi is a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.
Priyanka Gandhi in large part was at the centre of the Congress's action, giving a number of enduring images from this election campaign.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
Senior Congress leader Motilal Vora on Monday hoisted the national flag at the party headquarters in New Delhi in the absence of Sonia Gandhi, who is recuperating in a hospital in the United States. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, many senior Congress leaders and ministers were present on the occasion. Rahul Gandhi, who had accompanied his mother to the US, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday.
The Delhi Police said that it has imposed section 144 CrPC preventing the assembly of more than four people in the area asking them not to violate the law.
Senior Congress leaders, MPs among 459 protesters detained
Ahead of the G20 summit, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Thursday went on a final round of inspection of Rajghat, Pragati Maidan and other places to take stock of preparations for the mega event.
'The consecration of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya has demoralised them.' 'And, now it is reflecting in their individual reactions as they are losing hope to take on the BJP in 2024.'
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of party general secretaries and state in-charges on March 26 to discuss organisational elections, the party's membership drive and the current political situation besides planning agitational programmes.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has asked former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik to answer certain queries in connection with an alleged insurance scam in the Union Territory, officials said on Friday.
Singh met the party MP from Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday after collecting nomination papers for the polls.
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