Party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it will introspect on the reasons for the loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will re-dedicate itself to strengthening the party and being the watchdog of people.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese embassy in Delhi first posted and later removed a statement on its website saying that the two met after the Congress denied it as "fake news".
Sources said that despite senior leaders making serious attempts to convince him to rethink on his decision, Gandhi is said to be unfazed.
Agrasain Gehlot has been asked to depose before the investigating officer on Wednesday in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.
Congress leaders have hit out at the BJP governments at the Centre and in Karnataka, questioning its timing.
The campaign's main theme song 'Main hi toh Hindustan hoon' has been penned by Javed Akhtar.
The party will mark four years of the completion of the Modi government with protests in every district of the country
Simultaneous protests were held in several other cities, and are also slated to be held elsewhere in the world, the organisers said.
A party leader, who is known to be close to Rahul, said he would be elevated "sooner than you think".
The BJP had replaced Raj from the North West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency with Punjabi Sufi singer Hans Raj Hans.
The bitter war between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Rafale deal on Tuesday saw more name-calling with the opposition party dubbing Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as a "babble blogger" and dismissing his "clown prince out-clowning himself" barb at Rahul Gandhi as "hollow rants of a court jester".
Senior Congress leader and coalition coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah on Saturday meanwhile, asserted that the government in Karnataka would continue.
The Opposition on Thursday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying his note ban decision was "reckless".
Rahul Gandhi has gone on a two-week leave, Congress said on Tuesday frowning upon attempts to give various meanings to the action and virtually snubbed party General Secretary Digvijaya Singh who had found fault with the "timing".
"Rai is a grass root worker, who is a sitting Congress MLA and has fought a number of elections successfully and he will be the best candidate in Varanasi", party spokesman Randeep Surjewala told reporters announcing the candidature.
Gandhi asked who in the Bharatiya Janata Party government had been held accountable for the security lapses that allowed the attack.
The Congress, Left parties, Trinamool Congress and some others were in the forefront of this attack on the government, which is set to garner around Rs 7,900 crore through the decision.
The move is being seen as an attempt to forge opposition unity to defeat the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
While the Congress alleged that the Modi government was indulging in political vendetta, the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that it is a legal matter.
The BJP offers Saifuddin Soz 'one-way ticket' to Pakistan
Tewari said BJP's Hindu-Muslim and India-Pakistan rhetoric is the only way for the ruling party to cover up for its failure in improving the economy of the country which is in a shambles right now due to its policies.
In his dare, the Congress president asked the PM to reduce the spiralling fuel prices in the country or face a nationwide stir by his party.
Among the 17 new AICC secretaries named so far, 10 are below 50 years of age, indicating the generational change in the 132-year-old Congress being brought in by 47-year-old Rahul, reports Amit Agnihotri.
Under attack over Janardan Dwivedi's pitch against reservation on caste lines, the Congress and the government on Wednesday distanced themselves from the senior leader's remarks, saying it was his "personal" view and they support, adhere and subscribe to the existing policy.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government's "cheap politics" was at display on Friday when it broke tradition and denied Gandhi a front-row seat.
BJP spokesperson G V L Narasimhra Rao noted that Priyanka's husband Robert Vadra is accused of using "shady methods to make windfall profits from dubious real estate transactions" and said the report of her receiving Rs 2 crore from Kapoor for a painting which was not her own shows that the powerful couple have leveraged their political power to make "private gains".
The assembly session comes days after the top leadership of the Congress announced the return of Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs to the party-fold. Referring to Pilot's open rebellion while addressing the legislators, the CM asked them to 'forget what has happened'.
The video clips showed some terrorists being killed, besides destruction of bunkers and other military constructions.
The government on Monday faced flak for the Uri terror attack with both the Opposition and the Bharatiya Janata Party's ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Action should be taken against those arrested for alleged Naxal links if there was evidence, he said.
At a press conference, the Congress posed 11 questions to the PM over the Lalit Modi controversy, asking if the Modi sarkar would also extend such help to Dawood Ibrahim if he too sought such help.
He further also flayed the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the farm laws, demonetisation, GST, COVID-19 management and the issue of Chinese incursion in Eastern Ladakh.
The Congress has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take up the issue of former IPL chairman Lalit Modi's deportation during his ongoing visit to UK and to ensure that the "fugitive" and "black money exporter" is brought back.
Farmers were carrying black flags and shouting slogans against the BJP-led government as they attempted to march towards Kaimla village.
With the talks between the Centre and the agitating farmer unions stalled since January, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday expressed readiness to resume the dialogue to resolve their objections to the three new agri laws, but the unions remained adamant on their demands for a repeal of the legislations and a legal guarantee on the minimum support price.
The comments on Twitter came hours after the first political rally on Tuesday of the newly appointed Congress general secretary in which Priyanka told electorates that their votes are a "weapon" which should be used wisely, disregarding useless issues and tall claims made by others.
He will highlight the pain suffered by public due to demonetisation.
The Congress will not get scared of such tactics and stop fighting for Dalits and tribals, he said.
The party will launch its 'Sevagram Se Sangram' likening its fight against Modi-led government to the freedom struggle against the British.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala released a list of 55 persons who lost their lives while standing in queues at banks and ATMs in the wake of demonetisation and demanded compensation to their families besides probe into their death.
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