Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday came under sharp attack for his government's controversial circular threatening action against the media for any defamatory news.
The Congress claims the Ashok Gehlot government has the numbers to prove majority in case there is a floor test.
There are 1,349 candidates in the fray and over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), the results of which may have ramifications beyond the national capital.
Delhi picked up the pace and a 67 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 6 pm.
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Congress on Sunday took potshots at Narendra Modi's ministry expansion saying the inclusion of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Giriraj Singh was a "crisp slap" by the prime minister to secularism.
Under attack over his remarks that official auditor should not "sensationalise" its audit findings, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday said media did not accurately reflect the spirit of his speech at the CAG conference.
Notwithstanding the party denial of the possibility of national campaign by her, the Congress on Tuesday saw demands that Priyanka Gandhi contest Lok Sabha elections.
A senior party leader on the condition of anonymity said the CWC meeting will be called next week although the agenda is to be worked out and finalised.
"It is very unfortunate that a party which was formed on a promise of alternative politics, on the promise of practising transparency, accountability, internal democracy and not resorting to power politics broke all promises. It became like an ordinary conventional political party," said Bhushan.
In the wake of several Congress leaders quitting the party and its Punjab unit in turmoil, Sibal demanded that an immediate meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) be convened and wondered who in the party was taking decisions in the absence of a full-time president.
Is the demoralised party trying to open its account as an Opposition party?
The poll panel also referred to the instances of "inappropriate vocabulary and language" used during the ongoing campaign by persons, "in particular, by those invested with the statutory status of star campaigner".
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.
Serum Institute of India announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
Several ministers, including Parsadi Lal Meena, B D Kalla, Mamta Bhupesh and some independents like Suresh Tak, are present at the hotel in the lake city.
Speaking to the media, Gehlot, who is in Kerala to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, "I said earlier that I will request him (Rahul Gandhi) to accept this post when all the Congress Committees are passing resolutions in this regard. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will become the next chief. He said he has decided this due to some reasons, a non-Gandhi family member will become the party chief."
A video purportedly of a meeting of the Congress MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has surfaced.
On the eve of Congress President Sonia Gandhi's birthday on December 9, the party handed over a 4-0 defeat to her in the assembly elections in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Around 1,200 protesters demanding scrapping of the amended citizenship act were detained on Thursday when they defied prohibitory orders imposed by the Delhi Police in Red Fort area. Internet, voice and messaging services by Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and Reliance Jio were suspended in parts of Delhi-NCR, in perhaps for the first time that the national capital experienced such restrictions.
The Congress on Monday categorically denied media reports that party chief Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Vadra will campaign for the party in the 2014 general elections, and said this news has been floated to divert attention from the Madhya Pradesh temple tragedy.
A health minister in the Sheila Dikshit government in the state, said he was quitting as he was upset over the ticket distribution ahead of the municipal corporation of Delhi polls.
According to party sources, the Congress Legislature Party meeting lasted for about an hour and a half.
"If India is computer, its default program is Congress. Congress comes natural to India's ethos. Here anger and aggression are not appreciated," a party source quoted Rahul as saying.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is projected to win 36 seats, the minimum number required to get an absolute majority in 70-member Delhi Assembly, and Aam Aadmi Party is likely to bag 29 seats, according to The Week-IMRB opinion poll.
The current crisis began Friday night when the Rajasthan Police sent a notice to Pilot, asking him to record his statement over an alleged attempt to bring down the government.
Over 920 candidates are in the fray for the February 7 big-ticket Delhi Assembly elections which include BJP's chief ministerial nominee Kiran Bedi, Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Ajay Maken, who filed their nominations on Wednesday.
Days after joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kiran Bedi today said that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi the party has with it the "world's most beautiful face" as she rebutted AAP's claim that she was brought in by the saffron outfit because it does not have a face of its own in Delhi.
'But unlike Punjab, the rebels have an alternative -- the BJP'
The highlight of the five-hour meeting, which ended with a plan to hold a 'chintan shivir' at the earliest opportunity to chalk the Congress' future strategy, was a demand by Sonia Gandhi's loyalists that Rahul Gandhi should assume the party leadership again.
'My vote has gone for better education, health, and jobs for the youth, as I am one'
Haryana's Adampur MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi, who was expelled from all party positions by the Congress after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls in June, is all set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party on August 4, sources close to him said.
The names of Meenakshi Natarajan, considered close to party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, and Oscar Fernandes are being mentioned in Congress circles for a possible berth in the Union council of ministers.
With an aim of expanding the party's base, Congress on Monday launched an online and application-based membership drive.
How did Smriti Irani go from being a graduate in 2004 to an undergraduate in 2014?
In its third list of candidates for the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Tuesday fielded 58 candidates, mostly tried and tested ones. While most sitting ministers, including Kapil Sibal (Chandni Chowk), Krishna Tirath (Northwest Delhi), Sachin Pilot (Ajmer) and Srikant Jena (Balasore) were retained, the surprise elements were state Youth Congress President Vishwajeet Kadam replacing tainted Suresh Kalmadi from Pune and cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin from Tonk-Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan).
The 53-year-old legislator from Adampur met with the BJP leaders in New Delhi and later, heaped praises on them. He was expelled by the Congress from all party positions last month.
Lalit Modi posted on Twitter a couple of his pictures with Rahul Gandhi and Robert Vadra, the son-in-law of Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Twitter.
Delhi Congress Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely will not contest the upcoming assembly elections in the national capital, where the party has been pushed to the third place behind Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party, and instead look after its organisation of the polls.
Attacking the Modi government, Sonia said it has sought to erode our institutions.
