Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
Party president Sonia Gandhi nominated Mukut Mithi (Arunachal Pradesh), Peerzada Sayeed (Jammu and Kashmir), Prabha Rau (Maharashtra), B D Kalla (Rajasthan) and Salman Khurshid (Uttar Pradesh).\n\n
The Congress welcomed the resignation of Andhra Pradesh Governor N D Tiwari in the wake of a sting operation that purportedly showed him in a compromising position with three women.
All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi is studying AICC observer Ghulam Nabi Azad's note on Telangana and a decision is likely to be out by this weekend.
The Congress is now gearing up to take on the BJP over alleged corruption, jobs and issues tied to tribals, farmers and women.
Chowdhury is considered a strong critic of Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee. His appointment also triggered speculation on whether he would continue to hold the post of the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, going by the party's principle of giving one post to one person.
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 AAP has been batting for tie up with Congress citing the need to defeat the BJP and replace the Modi government in the national interest.
When it comes to the Congress and Wayanad, the only way the scepticism in the minds of some in Kerala may be addressed is by the Gandhi family proving that they are more than a passing caravan in town, reports Shyam G Menon.
Congress on Wednesday downplayed the defiance by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy who resumed his 'yatra', saying it was not worried by the issue related to "one MP" who could be indulging in "childish behaviour".
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.
'While some women allow themselves to be exploited so that they can climb up the ladder, there are many voiceless and silent people who get exploited by men in powerful positions.'
Congress' good show was a "Janata Janardhana Victory", he said, crediting the people for the party's apparent return to power as it established a clear lead ahead of its rival BJP.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and some of his cabinet colleagues, including Shanti Dhariwal, figure in the list of 63 Congress candidates for the forthcoming assembly polls, announced by the All India Congress Committee.
Taking a 30-minute break from the Kanyakumari to Kashmir foot march at Sonawar, Gandhi drove to the Pradesh Congress Committee headquarters on Maulana Azad Road before heading to the clock tower, locally known as 'Ghanta Ghar', to unfurl the tricolour.
Counting of votes began on Wednesday in the Congress presidential polls in which senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor faced-off for the post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief.
A cyber war has broken out between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress after the former claimed that a website by the name bjp.com was redirecting to the website of the All India Congress Committee.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
"We have a commitment before the people of Karnataka. Parliament elections are ahead. So, I have to bow to the AICC president and the Gandhi family. In the larger interest of the party (I have agreed to the formula) and why not, because sometimes the ice should break. Ultimately, there is a responsibility towards what we have a commitment to the people of Karnataka and we have to deliver," he said.
The enrollment of 32 lakh new members of Congress in Andhra Pradesh recently has given the party's top brass and state unit a reason to smile. The Congress' Andhra unit has been struggling with the open revolt declared by Member of Parliament Jaganmohan Reddy and is facing the possibility of a split in the party.All India Congress Committee general secretary Oscar Fernandes has also expressed his satisfaction with the party's membership drive in the last 10 months.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Congress under a 'no surrender' policy evolved by Rahul Gandhi has decided to play tough in all the states where the party is negotiating with prospective and even existing alliance partners. The aim is to bag the largest number of seats possible.
The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi's account under pressure from the government.
The Praja Rajyam Party will officially merge with the Congress on August 20, according to PRP president Chiranjeevi. "We decided to officially merge Praja Rajyam with Congress on August 20, the birth anniversary of Rajeev Gandhi. On August 20 and 21, senior party leaders will take Congress party membership at Gandhi Bhavan," Chiranjeevi said. Chiranjeevi was earlier scheduled to meet All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi between August 7 and August 10.
The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 40 leaders who would be the party's star campaigners for the May 10 assembly elections.
The merger was sealed on Friday during a meeting between Badal and Rahul at the latter's residence here where Singh and All India Congress Committee General Secretary Shakeel Ahmad were also present, they said.
'Ashok Gehlot is a senior and experienced political leader. Whatever differences he has expressed with his younger colleague Sachin Pilot will be resolved in a manner that strengthens the Congress party,' All India Congress Committee general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
This is the first time that the National Security Council has held a meeting with these Sikh activists and Sikh separatists.
In an hour-long meeting held on Tuesday evening, All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardan Dwivedi reportedly warned Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor that his various controversial statements were proving to be an embarrassment for both the party and the government. Sources in the party say that Tharoor defended himself on the use of the word 'interlocutor' in the context of India seeking Saudi Arabia's help.
Union Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday termed as "most unfortunate and misguided" Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's decision to resign from Congress and the Lok Sabha but said it would have no effect on the party in Andhra Pradesh.
As a group of Bharatiya Janata Party workers chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' and raised 'Modi, Modi' slogans in front of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra bus in Nagaon, the Congress leader waved, gave flying kisses and stepped down to meet them.
Carter was in politics, but not a politician, certainly not a transactional politician, points out Shreekant Sambrani.
The Congress virtually gagged its Maharashtra leaders on the issue of the housing society scam, in which Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is under scanner.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
'I don't believe there is an international conspiracy to swamp tribals in India or in Jharkhand.'
Shashi Tharoor has been removed as Congress spokesperson after the party high command received complaints that he had embarrassed the party with his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Even though it was stated that no action would be taken against the senior leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi, they say that the retaliation had already begun, reports Aditi Phadnis
The committee, of which Mukul Wasnik is the convener and has former chief ministers Ashok Gehlot and Bhupesh Baghel as well as Mohan Prakash and Salman Khurshid in it, held final talks and suggested the way forward to the party leadership.
Sources said senior leaders of the party have been told to reach out to other leaders of the alliance and talks with some parties have begun.
The Assam assembly will discontinue with the two-hour break provided on Fridays to facilitate Muslim legislators to offer 'namaaz', Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. The rule will be implemented from the next session, an assembly official said.
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