In an exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Anita Katyal, Singh speaks about his candidature from Varanasi, the party's prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and how the Congress is likely to fare in Andhra Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi, the All-India Congress Committee general-secretary and the man leading the revival of the party's youth wing, may have suffered a setback in the Bihar assembly elections. But his supporters are putting a distance between the Congress defeat and the 'Rahul effect'.
Rahul Gandhi's yatra was marked with high drama on Monday as he was denied permission to visit the Sri Sri Sankardeva Satra in Nagaon district and also from holding a meeting in the Morigaon district, triggering a strong reaction from the Congress leader who protested and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will now 'decide who will visit a temple and when'.
Rahul Gandhi on Thursdat claimed seven out of 10 youths in Punjab have a drug problem, triggering a controversy with ruling the Akali Dal asking how the Congress leader came to this "mathematical conclusion" on drug addiction in the state.
The Congress on Wednesday suggested that Jaswant Singh has been handed out poetic justice by the Bharatiya Janata Party, which expelled him today in the wake of his controversial book, projecting Mohammad Ali Jinnah as greater than Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. "We had rejected the contents of the book. The BJP has rejected the author himself," All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
The brainstorming session (chintan shivir) of the Congress will be held in Jaipur from January 18 to 20 to discuss political and economic situations and seek new ideas ahead of the next Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress leadership on Friday held separate meetings to review its performances in the assembly polls in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, and said its defeat in the two states at the hands of the BJP was unexpected.
Rahul Gandhi is learnt to have taken All India Congress Committee general secretaries and state in-charges to task for failing to implement the Sonia Gandhi-driven Burari agenda on corruption. He was also unhappy about their failure to spread awareness about the Centre's flagship programmes in states ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party and to implement the Congress president's five-point action programme, outlined in her speech at the party plenary in Burari.
After Union Home Minister P Chidambaram it now appears to be the turn of Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal, who is under attack by Congressmen both within and outside the government.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today said that he was concerned over the logjam in the wake of Anna Hazare's agitation against corruption.
Asserting that the government had promptly responded to the Mumbai serial blasts, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said though 99 per cent terror strikes in the country had been prevented due to vigilance and intelligence, the aim was to achieve a 100 per cent result.
Minority education institutions may soon be exempt from the Right to Education in the country.
The Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj after visuals showing the top BJP leader dancing at Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi Rajghat sparked a controversy.
There is a likelihood of some delay regarding an announcement on Telangana with the Congress seeking to buy more time to resolve the vexed issue despite the January 28 deadline set by the Centre to decide the matter.
Unfazed by attack from various quarters, the Congress on Sunday justified the midnight crackdown on Baba Ramdev's fast against corruption and accused him of "inciting people" despite striking a deal with the government for ending his protest.
"I sometimes think of leaving it, but the chief minister's post doesn't leave me," Ashok Gehlot famously said earlier this year, in part as a signal to the Congress top brass not to pick someone else for the job if the party wins the assembly polls.
Political sources say Modi is 'keen' on getting the NCP (SP) over to the Mahayuti to counter Eknath Shinde's 'demands' and to act as a cushion against his present allies, Nitish Kumar and N Chandrababu Naidu, 'in case their relationship became untenable'.
'If you want to have fair elections you should have an officer, who is appointed as per the rules laid down for such appointments, which is based on seniority.'
The Congress on Tuesday said that Bharatiya Janata Party veteran L K Advani's remarks that Anna Hazare's fast achieved more in four days than what the opposition had in two months was a "sad reflection on the opposition party".
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is learnt to be unhappy that All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh has raised a fresh controversy over the killing of Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare, even as the party is already embroiled in a number of issues.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrived in Beijing on Thursday to meet and exchange views with the newly-elected Chinese Communist Party leadership on a range of bilateral issues. She is accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi on the five-day visit which is expected to boost bilateral relations that are already on the upswing. Gandhi is scheduled to meet Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao on Friday.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
Legislative Assembly election-bound Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand will be exempted from this exercise
With the Congress top brass in New Delhi likely to take a final call on Friday on the vexed Telangana issue, the development has sparked a flurry of activities in the Andhra Pradesh capital.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Monday advised newly-elected young Members of Legislative Assembly from Maharashtra and Haryana, who were given tickets from the Youth Congress quota, to work towards strengthening the organisation, keeping the Aam Aadmi as the focus in their work.Gandhi also discussed the recent assembly election results in these states with the young MLAs. He also promised to visit Maharashtra soon.
"Before the BJP came into existence, its forerunners Jan Sangh and RSS had opposed Babasaheb while the Constitution was being adopted," Prakash Ambedkar, who heads Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, told reporters in Pune.
"This river-like journey will persist and in this river you will not find any trace of hate or violence. There will only be love and brotherhood as this is India's history and DNA," Gandhi told the gathering.
Also, with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years following the polling on Monday and counting on Wednesday.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardhan Dwivedi has created a flutter by saying that the "party leadership should not only speak, but also have the courage to listen".
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday visited the family members of the three farmers who were killed in police firing in Mawal taluk of Pune district on August 9. "Rahul Gandhi is on a visit to Mawal region today where he will assess the situation post the firing incident," a state Youth Congress leader said. Three farmers were killed and many others injured when Pune Rural Police opened fire on a gathering of farmers.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
As Rahul Gandhi continued his kisan padyatra for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bahujan Samaj Party claimed that his "love" for farmers is mere a political drama in view of the forthcoming assembly elections in the state.
All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi began his two-day tour to Bundelkhand from Wednesday to assess the drought by directly interacting with people.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday visited the house of a Central Reserve Police Force jawan who was among the 76 security personnel killed in the Maoist attack in Dantewada in April and assured the family of full support from the Central government.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Thursday expressed regret over causing 'embarrassment' to the party and the government with his newspaper article on Naxal menace in which he had criticised Home Minister P Chidambaram's handling of the issue."He (Chidambaram) has been my friend for a long time and still remains so. The timing of the write-up was such that the government and the party both faced embarrassment for which I express regret," he said.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Friday met All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi and invited him for two functions in Uttar Pradesh. The meeting comes in the backdrop of the senior leader's article in a newspaper criticising Home Minister P Chidambaram's approach to tackle the Naxal issue. It is, however, understood that Singh, who was the chief minister of united Madhya Pradesh (of which Chhattisgarh was a part) also explained the Naxal situation.
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