All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday took potshots at the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party government in Uttar Pradesh, saying there is place for statues and elephants but not development, and spoke of the need for Congress to come to power in the state. On a thanksgiving visit to his constituency Amethi, the first after his victory in the Lok Sabha polls, he avoided any comments on the raging row.
'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.'
June 19 is All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's birthday. It would be his first after the party's almost decisive victory in the Lok Sabha elections. And the party wants to say 'thank you' to the young leader in style and substance.
The MLAs who have been expelled for six years are Sanjay Pratap Jayaswal (Basti district), Madhuri Verma (Bahraich), Vijay Dube (Kushinagar), Mohammed Muslim (Tiloi-Amethi), Dil Nawaz Khan (Bulandshahar) and Nawab Kasim Ali Khan (Rampur).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is serving 'dhokla' to Chinese President Xi Jinping when incursions from that country continue, Congress leaders said on Thursday taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party and Modi.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
A day after the Congress ruled out forming a coalition government with it in Karnataka, the Janata Dal-Secular on Thursday said that it will go to the people to seek a fresh mandate. "The BJP has already announced that it will face elections. The Congress has pulled the curtain down on government formation. We are the only third party left in the state. We should keep these developments in mind and go ahead to strengthen and prepare the party for elections," Gowda said.
Former National Students Union of India President Alka Lamba has quit the Congress and could be joining the Aam Aadmi Party, a development that the ruling party sought to downplay saying it was long that she held any post in the party or was fielded in any election.
Congress on Wednesday said it was not averse to a tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party in the forthcoming assembly elections in Gujarat.
The Supreme Court judgment cancelling the licences of telecom companies in the 2G spectrum allocation case is likely to be challenged by way of a review petition, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh said in Hyderabad on Friday.
Maharashtra Chief Minster Ashok Chavan on Thursday condemned Uddhav and Raj Thackeray for 'touching a new low' in politics with their comments on All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi. "Nowhere in Indian politics has such a low level of personal allegations been witnessed. I condemn their (Uddhav and Raj Thackeray) utterances," said Chavan.
'Priyanka Gandhi play is not only about winning allies and lifting spirits; it's also about cash'
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Gurudas Kamat on Saturday demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the alleged money deals worth crores of rupees between Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, her MP son Dushyant Singh and the tainted former Indian Premier League chief Lalit Modi.
In a last-ditch bid to save the coalition government in Karnataka, Congress Friday offered Janata Dal-Secular the "Maharashtra model" power-sharing formula, just before Chief Minister Dharam Singh was to seek a vote of confidence.
While Tharoor declined to comment on whether he would throw his hat into the ring, he has written an article for Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi calling for a "free and fair" election.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi faced some uncomfortable questions when he went for an interactive session at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the bastion of Left-leaning students, on Tuesday.
The Congress Working Committee finally accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
The All India Congress Committee headquarters on Monday witnessed high drama when a person posing as a journalist tried to attack party General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi with a shoe. The attacker was apparently miffed over the treatment meted out to Baba Ramdev.
Even if the Congress is unable to defeat the political appeal of Narendra Modi, the resources and talent of the BJP and its managers, it is relying on issues like the Citizenship Amendment Act and the perceived threat to Assamese identity, along with the future threat of the National People's Register to ensure it continues to be a force in the state. Aditi Phadnis reports.
"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.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday came out in support of the government on the Indo-Pak joint statement stating that the "government and party are absolutely one."
Joining the debate on austerity, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said politicians should be austere all the time -- a stark reminder to two the Union ministers who had to check out of five-star hotels in Chennai a couple of days ago following an embarrassing media exposure.
A day after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, Bishnoi also said that he listened to his soul and acted on his conscience.
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'.
Apparently Mahatma Gandhi's goodwill with 'untouchables' of those days and All India Congress Committee General Secreatary Rahul Gandhi's attempts to reach out to dalits continues to bug Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, to whom both seem absolutely unpalatable.
He wrote a letter to Congress President Sonia Gandhi who immediately accepted his resignation and relieved him of his charge as party General Secretary.
Haryana Power Minister Venod Sharma, in the eye of a storm following recent revelations in the Jessica Lal murder case in which his son Manu Sharma is the main accused, has resigned.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot separately.
Congress leaders and workers took to the streets on Monday in Delhi and various state capitals as Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi for questioning in the National Herald case, with the opposition party accusing the Modi government of 'trampling on democracy'.
Interestingly, this is not being done surreptitiously or secretly but is a decision taken by senior AICC general secretaries who feel there is nothing wrong with the practice. This though is a first of its kind move by the AICC leaders.
The withdrawal of the candidature by DPAP leaders on the last day on August 30 is seen as a boost to the NC-Congress alliance.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday met Sonia Gandhi and expressed his intention to contest the upcoming AICC chief polls, while the Congress president conveyed that she would stay "neutral" in the elections, sources said.
The alarm is understandable as neither the Congress party nor the United Progressive Alliance has said a word so far on advancing the Lok Sabha elections which are due in 2014. AICC leaders who have a closer rapport with the DMK do not buy the theory of the Dravida party trying to position itself, and suggest that the party is attempting to gear up its cadres's morale following the rout in the assembly and civil polls in the state.
Congress has adopted a wait-and-watch mode in Karnataka in spite of reports suggesting that it might extend outside support to the JDS if the latter severed links with the BJP. The final decision will be taken by Sonia Gandhi when she comes back.
Yadav also asked the IG, Lucknow, to ensure expedient action, which was followed by the arrest of K D Singh under charges of harbouring the assailants.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi appears to be really needling the opposition.
The Congress released a list of 193 candidates in New Delhi on Monday.
Although Delhi Assembly Speaker Ajay Maken had unofficially been tipped as a nominee for New Delhi, his name did not figure in the list.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
