All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh's son Jaivardhan formally joined Congress on Wednesday amid indications that he might contest upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections from Raghogarh constituency, which has been nurtured by his father over a period of time.
'We will do whatever is necessary when the day and moment arrives.' 'As a party which has ruled Maharashtra for most of its existence, we also have our base and turf to protect.'
Dikshit was elected at a meeting of 42 party legislators in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was attended among others by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai, Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal and Delhi Pradesh Congres Committee chief Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
The CPI-M's allegations were termed a political conspiracy by the opposition Congress which accused the Left party of stooping low to target its political opponents.
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.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Sunday.
Amid signs of factionalism within the state unit, Kharge is likely to instruct the party leaders to work in a united manner for ensuring victory.
A few former MLAs, considered to be his loyalists and a few supporters, turned up at Sidhu's residence in Patiala Friday morning to extend moral support to him.
'It is not as if Hindus are not being touched at all, and only Muslims are.'
Coming down heavily on the Mayawati government, the Congress on Monday termed as "ridiculous" the controversial resolution passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly for splitting the state into four parts.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
Visiting Uttar Pradesh for the first time after Congress' debacle in the recent Assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi was on Monday flooded with complaints that groupism, poor candidate selection and neglect of grassroot level workers were mainly responsible.
'...spent 1/10th of his time at 24, Akbar Road...' 'He would have met thousands of party workers and ordinary Congress supporters who have love for the party.' 'Left of Centre intellectuals have shaped Rahul's values, but he lacks earthiness.'
'The BJP always said Rahul Gandhi is an 'air-conditioned leader', but after this yatra he has proved them wrong.'
No answer for the time being, will see later, Vadra said.
'I would like to see Kharge include Shashi in the Congress Working Committee.' 'The other alternative is that the Congress will marginalise him.'
While Dr Manmohan Singh's government went over board and claimed credit for opening the trade route between India and China through Nathu La Pass, former Sikkim chief minister Nar Bahadhur Bhandari feels otherwise.
Making a veiled attack on the Mayawati government, Congress General Rahul Gandhi said an "elephant" in Lucknow was eating away all the money sent by the Centre for the poor in Uttar Pradesh.
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Ramesh, however, said it was too early to talk about all this right now as the Congress' first priority was the upcoming elections in Karnataka and the string of state polls this year.
Rajnath came down heavily on the National Conference-Congress alliance over its poll promise of restoring Article 370 and said it is impossible as long as the BJP is there.
Party sources in Delhi said Rahul Gandhi is keen to visit there on Wednesday, days after his sister and All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died and several injured Sunday in the bloodiest clash since the farmers' protest over the Centre's agri laws began last year.
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
Virbhadra Singh, who steered the Congress to power in Himachal Pradesh, will be sworn in as chief minister for the sixth time in a function at historic Ridge Ground in Shimla on December 25.
The argument that a Bharatiya Janata Party government has no business marking the 125th birth anniversary of Panditji makes little sense, says Virendra Kapoor
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised to restore the old pension scheme for government employees in Himachal Pradesh if the Congress was voted to power in the assembly elections.
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh talks to Kavita Chowdhury about his role as AICC in-charge of Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the 2012 assembly polls.
Four people, including two staff of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's Wayanad office, were arrested on Friday for allegedly causing damage to Mahatma Gandhi's photo nearly two months ago when an Students' Federation of India protest march led to violence on the premises.
'It is this fear that is behind all that has happened to Rahul Gandhi.'
Ahead of the crucial Congress meeting on Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy on Friday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and briefed her about the political situation in the state.
Continuing with his praise of Arvind Kejriwal, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Thursday said that Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi should learn austerity and humility from the Aam Aadmi Party leader.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party has strongly refuted All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh's sweeping allegations about massacre of farmers by the Uttar Pradesh police in Greater Noida's BhattaParsaul village, where a violent clash had ensued between cops and protesting local farmers earlier this month.
As Mallikarjun Kharge won the Congress president poll, his electoral rival Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the 'democratic contest' has galvanised vibrancy at all levels and has prompted a healthy and constructive discussion on change, which will serve the party in good stead in the future.
The leadership styles of the two Gandhis being different, the party appears to be pulling in different ways. While Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving Congress president, seems more predisposed to holding the government accountable on issues of probity, the younger Gandhi is more keen on taking up battles that ensure immediate victories.
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.