There's a quiet before the storm within the ruling party. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com.
Hours after the Union Cabinet decided to impose President's rule in Jharkhand, the Sibu Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Monday said all options are still open, indicating that the exercise to form a government is still on. "None of the United Progressive Alliance constituents -- the JMM, the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal -- want President's rule in the state," JMM general secretary and minister for parliamentary affairs Suman Mahato said.
Chidambaram said he was honoured that the two leaders visited him.
Pranab Mukherjee Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel will liaise on behalf of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, while Gujarat Chief Miniser Narendra Modi, Jaswant Singh, S Gurumurthy and Cho Ramaswamy are the pointsmen for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani.
This is the first meeting chaired by Gandhi after relinquishing the post of Congress president last year.
According to top sources in the government, Maran's return cannot be ruled out.
Kapoor told the ED that he was told by the then petroleum minister Murli Deora that the refusal to buy the MF Husain painting will not only prevent him from building a relationship with the Gandhi family but also prevent him from getting the Padma Bhushan award.
Worried by the growing dissent within the party over Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's joint statement after meeting his Pakistani counterpart Gilani in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Congress president Mrs Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday directed the party spokespersons not to say even a single word on the subject.
In Gujarat, Amit Shah's tactic of spiriting away Congress leaders and MLAs is jocularly called 'shop-and-buy votes'. Although haemorrhaging the Congress is a vital aspect of his election blueprint, an aide said, "Amitbhai wants to win on our strengths and not by weakening the Congress."
"We (Congress and NCP leaders) discussed the nitty gritty of a (possible) common minimum programme to ensure the government functions smoothly," Pawar said.
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar in the National Herald money laundering case, officials said.
The crisis in the Delhi unit of the Congress was solved after party president Sonia Gandhi met CM Sheila Dixit and DPCC chief Rambabu Sharma.
Communist Party of India General Secretary A B Bardhan warned that if government officials held talks with visiting International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed El-Baradei about the nuclear agreement, the Left Front would withdraw its support to the government. "Let the IAEA chief meet Dr Manmohan Singh and other political dignitaries. But if the govt officials hold talks with El-Baradei about the safeguards of the 123 agreement, we will pull the rug," he threatened.
JD-S leader Siddharamaiah will be the deputy CM.
Senior party leader Ahmed Patel, general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and general secretary organisation KC Venugopal have been made members of the panel.
While the 16 Congress legislators in the state favoured joining the Mulayam Singh government, a section of the central leadership strongly opposed any such move.
Congress young guns take offence over old guard's utterances.
"We will keep an eye on the situation in Maharashtra. Congress and NCP leaders will hold further talks on the future course of action," he added.
This is the first meeting between the two leaders after the Shiv Sena formed the coalition government in Maharashtra with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party.
This is to enable Congress president to revamp the party in view of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, one of the constituents of the Kerala government has said it is not averse to a leadership change.
This was the second time D K Shivakumar foiled Amit A Shah's plans.
The CWC passed two resolutions on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement and re-dedicated itself to uphold and defend the idea of India as envisioned by the leaders of the freedom movement.
Teary-eyed Congress leader D K Shivakumar on Saturday briefly belied the combative force he is for the Congress party, not just in the just concluded 2023 assembly polls, but on several crucial occasions in the past when his party needed him.
Gandhi noted that lakhs of migrants continue to walk hundreds of kilometres to reach back their homes without food, water, medicines and cash. She also accused the central government and the Railways of completely ignoring the demands made by the Congress for ensuring the safe and free travel of migrant workers and labourers to their homes.
Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi for a fresh round of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.
Senior Congress leaders paid tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 75 birth anniversary on Tuesday
The former party donated Rs 54,000 between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020.
'For a meaningful alliance, every party has to do some sacrifice.' 'That sacrifice will come only when you persuade people.' 'And that task can be done by only a leader like Sharad Pawar.'
The NCP skipped the meeting to express its displeasure over allegations by some Congress leaders that its two MLAs did not vote for Ahmed Patel in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections.
The Congress leader had said he was not aware of the case for which he has been asked to appear before the agency.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Could Jairam Ramesh's frank comments work to the BJP's advantage?
The black bands were worn as a mark of protest against the alleged attack on the Constitution of India with the passage of the amended citizenship act by the government, leaders said.
The Congress on Tuesday announced its second list of 43 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls, fielding Kamal Nath's son Nakul Nath once again from Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara and Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav Gehlot from Rajasthan's Jalore.
The Congress requested the President to remind the central government of its 'raj dharma', Singh said.
Addressing AAP's first rally in the state, Kejriwal said BJP and Congress were like "husband and wife" and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Ahmed Patel work "in unison".
