Virbhadra Singh, who steered the Congress to power in Himachal Pradesh, will be sworn in as chief minister for the sixth time in a function at historic Ridge Ground in Shimla on December 25.
The work on seat sharing with other allies will begin from Thursday, he told reporters.
Seeking to take the sting out of the Samajwadi Party's counter to SC/ST quota in promotion bill, the Congress on Monday said it was also for a fair deal to Muslims but the issue was 'not contrary or contradictory' to the proposed measure.
It is understood that the agency wanted to put a fresh set of questions to him regarding the deal and hence had asked him to appear.
In a veiled attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Saturday accused him of practising "politics of anger" and said it was time people switch to the power of "love", preached by the Mahatma, to ensure progress of Gujarat.
SP has already fielded its sitting MLA from Gauriganj seat.
He will hold a meeting with Congress leaders on Monday to take stock of the developments in his absence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again led the BJP's campaign holding several rallies and stepping up his attack on Opposition parties, particularly the Congress.
While accounts/pages linked to the Congress party appeared to be large in number, the following or reach of pro-BJP accounts was several times more.
The President's Office and the All India Congress Committee sources confirmed that the one-hour meeting did take place, but were reluctant to speculate on the nature of the discussions.
The brainstorming session (chintan shivir) of the Congress will be held in Jaipur from January 18 to 20 to discuss political and economic situations and seek new ideas ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.
There is a likelihood of some delay regarding an announcement on Telangana with the Congress seeking to buy more time to resolve the vexed issue despite the January 28 deadline set by the Centre to decide the matter.
Rahul Gandhi arrives in Kashmir Valley on Thursday on a two-day visit, bringing along a strong business delegation that will include Ratan Tata and Kumar Manglam Birla, to a state seeking more investments.
In his first address after being appointed the vice president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday spoke of the anger of the youth saying they feel alienated from the political class and demanded a complete transformation of the system to give them a role in the political space.
Talking tough, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said that India has made it clear to Pakistan that the beheading of an Indian soldier by its army can have a "negative impact" on ties and asked it to reciprocate efforts for friendship.
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.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was taken ill during a roadshow in Varanasi and forced to return to the national capital, was "stable".
The 13 month-old Karnataka coalition government of JD-S and Congress slumped into crisis following the resignation of their 11 MLAs from the membership of the state assembly on Saturday.
Strains in the Congress-Trinamool ties seem to be disappearing with Mamata Banerjee announcing her party's support to United Progressive Alliance Presidential nominee Pranab Mukherje and the All India Congress Committee now hopes that the TMC would also back Hamid Ansari in the vice presidential race.
The Congress on Monday disapproved of the arrest of cartoonist Aseem Trivedi on the charge of sedition, saying the action was a bit "over-stretched" and "not called for". At the same time, the All India Congress Committee advocated for "reasonable restrictions" on freedom of speech and called for respecting the national emblems.
Telangana will be discussed at a 'secret' conclave of the All India Congress Committee in Surajkund on November 9, according to a top source in the AICC.
Striking a different note from the government on last week's anti-Naxal operation in Chhattisgarh that left 19 tribals killed, Congress on Tuesday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state for the "botch-up", saying it has resulted in the loss of lives of innocent tribals and minors.
Though a first time Member of Parliament, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Manish Tewari has a long association of nearly 31 years with the Congress, since joining its youth wing in 1981. The 47-year-old leader was seen as a strong defence line of the Congress in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party's onslaught.
The war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over 'who is corrupt and who is not' is all set to increase by leaps and bounds in the days ahead, says Renu Mittal
'As of today, I don't see how the Congress can continue its struggle against the BJP without Rahul. There has to be a fulcrum. There has to be a center for any movement to take place.'
Rahul Gandhi on Thursdat claimed seven out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem, triggering a controversy with ruling the Akali Dal asking how the Congress leader came to this "mathematical conclusion" on drug addiction in the state.
The BJP emerged as the single largest party but fell nine short of a majority, while the Congress, JD-S stitch alliance to keep saffron party out.
No one else filed papers till Sunday, according to Mullapally Ramachandran, the chairman of the party's Central Election Authority.
Trouble is brewing in the Congress in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh with senior leader Virbhadra Singh offering to resign from party committees constituted for the state assembly elections later this year.
For Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who continues the Gandhi family legacy of active politics that began several generations ago, the formal entry into politics was two decades in the making.
With the crisis continuing over the issue of chief ministership in Uttarakhand, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today held deliberations with newly sworn-in chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and senior party leaders to resolve the matter.
Abhijit Mukherjee, son of President Pranab Mukherjee, was on Friday chosen by the Congress as its candidate for the by-election for Jangipur Lok Sabha seat vacated by his father.
Amidst demands for his arrest for giving a provocative speech at a Congress rally on September 6, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday along with Union minister V Narayansami.
A year after the Congress party president first travelled abroad for medical treatment, sources familiar with the medical team treating her at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital said Mrs Gandhi is fully cured of cancer.
The Congress on Friday said it was sorry for the assault on a woman constable during its rally in Bhubaneswar as the name of All India Congress Committee in-charge of Odisha Jagadish Tytler came up.
A day before United Progressive Alliance Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee's Jharkhand visit, the Congress on Wednesday said chances of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha President Shibu Soren supporting him are positive, though he has chosen to defer the date of announcement of his choice for the July 19 election.
Ruling out change of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of the electoral debacle, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday ascribed wrong selection of candidates, too many leaders and organisational weaknesses as among key factors that contributed to the party's dismal performance.
The Congress vice president took to twitter to lash out at Modi after the All India Congress Committee demanded rollback of the restriction under which an amount over Rs 5000 in scrapped currency can be deposited only once per account till December 30.
Rahul Gandhi is set to assume a "larger" role in the Congress very soon with the reshuffle of the All India Congress Committee secretariat on the cards this week.
Retaliating against the Bharatiya Janata Party, after more than a week of Parliament being stalled and the government put on the mat, the Congress said, "Jis soch ne Mahatma Gandhi ki hatya ki thi, Wahi soch loktantra ki hatya kar rahi hai (democracy is being killed by the same mentality which killed mahatma Gandhi)."
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