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.
The Congress has proposed AAP should contest five seats while the Samajwadi Party and Left parties could contest one seat each.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
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".
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
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.
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.
Digvijay Singh's indictment of Home Minister P Chidambaram's strategy seems to be a preamble to the party's stance on Maoists which will differ from the government's plan, says Sheela Bhatt.
The ruling Bahujan Samaj Party, which has already crossed swords with the Congress, is all set to launch its campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections from the bastion of Gandhi family -- Amethi and Rae Bareli -- on February 9. The party, while announcing its plan to organise Brahmin Sammelans across the state, has decided to organise its first convention in Amethi, parliamentary constituency of All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi.
To highlight alleged misgovernance by the present regime, its first nationwide campaign ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra attended the marriage of the son of Sonia Gandhi's trusted personal assistant Madhavan.
Having put up a dismal show in the Bihar polls, Congress on Wednesday said it was a "tough time" for party politics in the state and that it will analyse why huge crowds in rallies of its top leaders could not translate into votes.
With an eye on the assembly elections due this year end, All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi set out on a tour of Bihar on Monday and said the Congress will go it alone like the party did for Lok Sabha polls in the National Democratic Alliance-ruled state.
Rahul Gandhi arrives in Kashmir Valley on Thursday on a two-day visit, bringing along a strong business delegation that will include Ratan Tata and Kumar Manglam Birla, to a state seeking more investments.
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.