'Dr Shashi Tharoor by far is a much better choice.'
Top leaders of the two parties are campaigning in Jharkhand and Maharashtra for the ongoing assembly polls in the two states.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the All India Congress Committee president's election.
The Congress on Thursday objected to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar deleting some portions of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge's speech from official records, saying he used no unparliamentary words and some of the expressions he employed were earlier used even by former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Any direction or rule of the House cannot subvert the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech granted to members of Parliament, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, asserting that any criticism of the government and its policies can never be equated with the "dignity" of the Council of States.
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
The Congress party needs a safe pair of hands in the form of Kharge, Tewari said.
The complaint has been filed by Vineet Jindal, a Supreme Court advocate.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Several opposition leaders on Monday wrote to the Rajya Sabha chairman claiming that Leader of Opposition in the House Mallikarjun Kharge was not accorded a seat commensurate with his position during the swearing-in ceremony of President Droupadi Murmu.
Senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge is not averse to running for the AICC president's election if party chief Sonia Gandhi asks him to contest, sources close to the veteran leader said on Wednesday.
Kharge launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the Himachal Pradesh poll schedule was announced but not of Gujarat so that the PM can inaugurate many more bridges like the one that collapsed in Gujarat's Morbi.
Nationalist Congress Party-SP chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday turned 84 and celebrated his birthday with members of his family and well-wishers, including estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.
According to the sources, the meeting will be held at 10 am on Thursday in the chamber of Rajya Sabha LoP.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Congress stalwart and former prime minister Manmohan Singh thanking him for his 'sheer presence' in Rajya Sabha despite his poor health to vote against the Delhi services bill.
Gehlot, one of the proposers of Kharge, said Tharoor is also a good man and has good thoughts but he is from the elite class.
Gehlot said there is no such tradition in the party to offer posts to any leader in order to pacify him.
In its Karnataka assembly poll manifesto, which was released on May 2, the Congress said it is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the PFI "spreading hatred" among communities on the grounds of caste and religion.
After the meeting, Kharge said that there should be discipline in the party and the party has to be kept united.
Soon after Gandhi's press conference, the Election Commission said it will respond with full facts in writing.
The less charitable in the party say he owes his appointment Sonia Gandhi -- the family wanted someone who wouldn't talk back and would not exert himself too much, notes Aditi Phadnis.
With assembly elections due in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram in the next few months, the Congress is working on poll strategies in these states and has convened a meeting of state leaders on May 24.
Rahul Gandhi would be pursued to return as Congress president as there is none in the party other than him who has a pan-India appeal, veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge has said.
To begin with, the consulate in Bengaluru will not offer visa services.
After casting his vote, Thirunavukarasar, also an MP, said the elections are being held in a transparent manner and Kharge is the most favourite of the two -- the other being Shashi Tharoor.
Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Kharge said he believes in collective leadership and if elected president, will consult party leaders Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi on organisational matters.
It is widely believed that Gandhi has put his foot down to blunt the Bharatiya Janata Party's allegation of "dynasty rule" in the Congress.
The BJP asked voters in Gujarat to do "100 per cent voting for the son of the soil" Modi to take "revenge" in a democratic manner for the "insult"
This will be the 49-year-old JMM leader's fourth stint as chief minister. Soren retained the Barhait seat, defeating BJP's Gamliyel Hembrom by a margin of 39,791 votes in the recent assembly polls.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna passed away at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning, his family said.
The interim panel headed by him would take the place of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body, till a new CWC is formed after Kharge's election is ratified at the party plenary.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was given a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including United Democratic Front leaders and workers, at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Wednesday as she prepares to make her electoral debut by filing nomination papers for the coming Lok Sabha bypoll.
Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda are the members of the pro-reform G23 group who wrote a letter to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Chinchansur, a prominent leader of the Koli-Kabbaliga community in the Kalyana Karnataka region, resigned from his post of Member of the Legislative Council on Monday.
Ahead of the Haryana Assembly polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced seven guarantees, including the promises of a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) and a caste survey, if voted to power.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday took charge as the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, citing Rahul Gandhi's slogan 'daro mat' to energise workers and declaring that the party will demolish the government's 'system of lies, treachery and hatred'.
Kharge said that India progressed due to Congress' approach of inclusion and taking everyone along.
In its poll manifesto for May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, the Congress said it is committed to take firm and decisive action against individuals and organisations such as the Bajrang Dal and the Popular Front of India (PFI) "spreading hatred" among communities on grounds of caste and religion.
The deputy chief minister, he told his voters that their desire (to see him as chief minister) will never be false, and asked them to wait with patience.
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