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.
More than 19 per cent of 13.70 lakh registered companies in the country closed operations till the end of last year, with largest shutdowns happening in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi.
The Congress's new treasurer Ahmed Patel has been meeting industrialists and businessmen. He met one of the biggest industrialists of the country last week, but the assurance of any significant donation was half-hearted from the other end. Business houses aren't exactly queuing up to offer donations, reports Archis Mohan.
'He has got all the criteria that are good for running an NGO.' 'He is always doing charitable things.' 'To be a political leader you must have cunning to go for the seal.'
He said action was akin to holding highway builders responsible for lane violations
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's statements embarrassed the party, and within hours she alleged she had been 'misquoted'
He said that the voices of the weak, did not reach the BJP and the RSS.
The Congress VP attacked the PM and said that the party would not let the BJP proceed on the land bill.
Students of class VIII in Rajasthan schools will no longer study the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru in their social science textbook as references to the first prime minister have been dropped.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jaipur Rural on Monday, attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said they are not seeing the achievements of the UPA government. She also sought to point out, in a barb at Modi, that running a state and a country are two different things. Shanawaz Akhtar reports.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
Ahead of completion of three years of the National Democratic Alliance, the Congress young brigade alleged that the government has failed on various counts including on issues like dealing with Pakistan, Kashmir policy, internal security, women safety and rising cases of rapes, atrocities on Dalits, high petrol and diesel prices, besides generation of jobs.
With Thursday's win, the Congress's strength in the Lok Sabha has gone up to 48.
'What the Congress needs now is an ideological and social contrast to the BJP.' 'The Congress stable of princelings cannot do it,' argues Mohan Guruswamy.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday chaired his first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee two days after the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha which the Opposition lost.
In Mizoram, opposition MNF likely to end 10-year Congress rule.
'His prowess in Aikido -- a Japanese martial art that focuses on harmony with the opponent to peacefully resolve conflicts -- gives Rahul Gandhi an advantage that fanatical adversaries lack,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday appeared to share industry's concerns over naming Kumar Mangalam Birla in an FIR in coal scam case saying it was unfortunate and could raise questions over investor confidence in the country.
Narendra Modi's new team includes a former cabinet colleague from his days as Gujarat CM, an academic and a sadhvi.
'Change is the rule of politics.'
Senior Indian Administrative Services officer Ashok Singhvi, who is the Principal Secretary (Mines) in Rajasthan, was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday by the state Anti Corruption Bureau in the eighth arrest in a bribery case involving clearance for reopening of six closed mines of a miner.
Singh's strong comments are the first public criticism by a ruling party MP against the help extended to Lalit Modi by Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje
Opposition parties on Sunday slammed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and demanded her resignation for "helping" scam-tainted former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.
Why are states important to win for national parties? What is the significance of local power? That was what we should have a look at because the Congress has been squeezed out of power in more states today than it has ever been in history.
Congress rivals have put factionalism aside for now. The party is betting on a series of well-received welfare schemes to return to power
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
Noting that oil prices had gone down after the BJP-led government came to power in May 2014, before they went up, Prasad said it is a problem whose solution is not in its hands.
Nath, 72, reached Bhopal late in night to be greeted with chants of 'Jai Jai Kamal Nath' by his supporters.
In one of his longest speeches, All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday tore into the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll manifesto. The BJP's manifesto was released on April 7 when the first phase polling of Lok Sabha 2014 had already begun. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has launched an ambitious plan to reach out to at least 10,000 key opinion makers -- jurists, bureaucrats, etc -- in the next two years to dispel "misinformation" related to Article 370 of the Constitution.
Congress on Tuesday said that PM Modi was losing political capital by trying to protect Swaraj through his continued silence on the Lalit Modi issue.
Congress leaders claim the land Bill stir is an opportunity to shake off despair and serve as return vehicle for Rahul Gandhi.
The new Congress president is building a core team of youngsters while waiting for his mother's coterie to retire, reports R Rajagopalan.
The numbers, however, look very good for Modi. We could say it is his election to lose, rather than the Opposition's to win, says Aakar Patel.
The Association of Democratic Reforms in its lartest report has noted serious discrepancies between lump sum amount that political parties declared to have given to their candidates for election expenditure, and the actual amount received by the candidates. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
A total of 89 seats -- out of 182 -- spanning the Saurashtra and south Gujarat regions, are up for grabs in the first phase with 977 candidates in the fray, including Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
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The Congress works more but is not good at marketing itself, unlike opposition parties, believes party vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
The government had constituted a one-man probe panel to look into Walmart's lobbying activities, after a political furore over the issue late last year.
It makes it mandatory for companies to spend on social welfare and seeks to bring in greater transparency.
Elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will see the BJP and Congress in direct contest.
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