Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad during his retirement speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in few Urdu couplets and a brief speech.
Azad said it was a good meeting with the Congress president with the discussion centred on how to prepare and fight unitedly the forthcoming assembly polls to take on rival parties.
Hooda and Azad were reported to have discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision making as demanded by the grouping which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement.
Rahul feels collective decisions taken with his mother and sister helped the party in the December assembly elections. Hence, he wants to follow the same strategy for the Lok Sabha election, too.
It's just not a date. It's just not about selecting a candidate. It's not about helping some candidate win. It's about expressing emotion, after ten years, that could reach out in India and beyond it, notes Sheela Bhatt.
The long-awaited Rahul Gandhi touch to the All India Congress Committee was imparted today with the induction of a few general secretaries and the dropping of some
'We demand immediate release of all public representatives of mainstream political parties and innocent citizens,' the resolution said.
The opposition Congress is peeved at the Modi government's move to not allow its top leaders a meeting with the visiting US President, as has been the tradition.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's battles. Ghulam Nabi Azad's DLF connection. Team Rahul avoiding Vadra spotlight. The Kejriwal angle in Cabinet rejig. All this, and more, in this week's Dilli Gupshup
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also decided to convene a 'Chintan Shivir', a brainstorming session from May 13-15 in Udaipur.
Amid threat to pull out Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ministers and quit the United Progressive Alliance coalition on the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, party chief M Karunanidhi made a fresh demand insisting that Parliament adopt a resolution incorporating the two amendments he had suggested to the government to be moved on the US-backed resolution at the UNHRC.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad says that the government has sought cooperation from the private hospitals to deal with swine flu.
A high-level committee to explore the feasibility of conducting simultaneous elections, headed by former president Ram Nath Kovind, held its first meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and decided to invite political parties and the Law Commission to seek their views on holding synchronised polls in the country, a statement said.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was at Palghar in Maharashtra on Wednesday to launch the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram as part of the National Rural Health Mission scheme, got a flowery surprise.
Amid reports that decision on the contentious Telangana issue will be taken this month, Congress on Monday said it was not against creation of smaller states including Telangana, but admitted it was a difficult matter to resolve and time consuming too.
If the prime minister does not repeal these laws, the country will suffer, he said.
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.
Ruling out any differences between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said Sharad Pawar is the biggest "supporter and well-wisher" of the United Progressive Alliance government. "There are no differences with Sharad Pawar. He is the biggest supporter and well-wisher of the UPA," Azad told reporters.
The issue of Telangana assumes importance as Andhra Pradesh is the only major state where the party is in power on its own. A spectacular victory in Andhra Pradesh in 2004 and 2009 has helped Congress to come to power at the Centre in 2004 and 2009.
As part of efforts to improve falling sex ratio, 436 cases have been registered for violation of anti-sex selection laws in the last two years against 789 cases in past over 14 years, indicating better monitoring and effective enforcement by authorities.
Leaders from different parties on Friday paid tributes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mother Hiraben.
Union Ministers Dr Farooq Abdullah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Jairam Ramesh and G K Vasan have complained to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth about the rude behaviour of the Special Protection Group personnel at 7 Race Course Road.
The decision on Telangana will be taken only after more consultations with senior leaders, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said in New Delhi on Sunday evening. He said leaders from both Rayalseema-Andhra and Telangana will be invited to Delhi for talks before a final decision is taken.
Hyderabad remained tense on Sunday in anticipation of an announcement by the Centre on the creation of a separate state of Telangana by Sunday evening. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders before making a final announcement on Telangana by Sunday evening.
In a telephonic message to reporters late Wednesday night, Rao, popularly known as KCR, recalled that they had termed the all-party meeting convened by the union home minister on December 28 as a "futile exercise".
Chaos is expected to return to Parliament on Wednesday with the Opposition prepped to target Education Minister Smriti Irani in both Houses.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said the elevation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has "strengthened" the Congress while dealing a set back to the Bharatiya Janata Party as its allies were running away.
Several Congress ministers have reportedly said that they want to be relieved of their ministerial berths. These include Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
The decision of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to withdraw support from the Andhra Pradesh government has spurred hectic behind the scene activity in the ruling Congress party.
Asia's largest tulip garden overlooking the Dal Lake in Srinagar has been thrown open to the public, marking the beginning of the new tourism season in the valley. Formerly known as Siraj Bagh, the Tulip Garden was opened in 2008 by then chief minister of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state Ghulam Nabi Azad. The idea of the garden, spread over 30 hectares in the foothills of snow-clad Zabarwan range, was conceived to advance the tourism season in the valley by two months.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi meeting their party's stalwart of many decades -- President Pranab Mukherjee -- is not unusual, but the timing of their visits is, notes Sheela Bhatt
Debunking the claim of Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrasekhar Rao that decision on the creation of Telangana state would be announced by the Centre by Dussehra, Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said a decision will be taken only after arriving at a 'consensus'.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday met the family of the five-year-old rape victim at All India Institute of Medical Sciences and enquired about her health.
The Telangana Joint Action Committee which was to complete their protest march at 7 pm on Sunday decided to stay put on Necklace Road in Hyderabad until there was a decision on separate statehood.
Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council will be taken only after a discussion with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi.
Congress General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday met several party leaders in Hyderabad, including some ministers of N Kiran Kumar Reddy government who were understood to have voiced their displeasure about the style of function of the chief minister.
For more than a decade, Indian bureaucracy has continued to inhibit efforts by Indian American physicians to help the ailing health care there. This was the message conveyed by Dr Navin Shah, former president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, to Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad during an hour-long meeting on the sidelines of the United States-India Strategic Dialogue held in Washington, DC in June.
The nation on Saturday remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 94th birth anniversary with President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari among prominent personalities who paid rich tributes to the leader.
Prominent G-23 members including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari have not been included in the Congress list of star campaigners for West Bengal assembly elections.