The Congress is all set to kickstart its campaign for the next year's Lok Sabha elections with its mega rally 'Hain Tayyar Hum' to be held in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Thursday, the party's 139th foundation day.
"More voters were added in Maharashtra in five months between the Lok Sabha and assembly polls than in five years," the former Congress president said.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh, who appears to have stirred a hornet's nest with his remarks on Naxalism, will have to do some explaining to the party leadership on his newspaper article critical of Home Minister P Chidambaram when he returns from the US next week.
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh is back in the Congress's high-profile Group on Future Challenges, which also has Rahul Gandhi as its prominent member. Ramesh, who was earlier the convener of the Group, was dropped after its first meeting late last year, without any official explanation. Confirming his return, senior party leader M Veerappa Moily, who heads the panel said, "Ramesh is now a member of the group".
The Congress has said the assembly polls results were "unexpected" and have alleged discrepancies in the EVMs in some seats.
The Congress needs to reorganise itself at the grassroots, infuse younger blood, and have more boots on the ground. Just offering freebies is not the answer anymore. Leadership matters, asserts Ramesh Menon.
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 Congress on Thursday demanded the resignation of Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on moral grounds after two out of three ministers in his government were found watching a porn clip on a cell-phone in the state legislative assembly. "The BJP, which talks of high morals and ethics, has no face left. What will its president Nitin Gadkari say now on this episode," said All India Congress Committee Secretary Sudhakar Reddy.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Saturday said the Lok Sabha poll mandate is a "decisive rejection" of the politics of divisiveness and hate, and stressed that the INDIA bloc must continue functioning cohesively both inside and outside Parliament.
'It is high time that the 'war on terror' is removed from our diplomatic toolbox.' 'Certainly, our parliamentarians have no role in it,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In his first address after being appointed the vice president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Sunday spoke of the anger of the youth saying they feel alienated from the political class and demanded a complete transformation of the system to give them a role in the political space.
Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda are the members of the pro-reform G23 group who wrote a letter to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
A leading Catholic Church daily in Kerala has described the Waqf amendment bill as a crucial test of secularism in Parliament, urging MPs to support it. The editorial in Deepika daily comes as the union government prepares to table the bill for parliamentary consideration. The editorial calls the bill a test of secularism and warns MPs that failing to support it would mark them in history as endorsing religious fundamentalism. The paper added that the bill will also put an end to the injustices faced by thousands of Hindu, Christian, and Muslim citizens who have suffered due to the Waqf law. The editorial also recalled the recent statement addressed to Kerala MPs by Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) where the KCBC President Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos urged amending provisions in the Waqf law that validate claims over land which people of Munambam have lawfully possessed. Opposition parties have slammed the bill as "unconstitutional" and against the interest of the Muslim community.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
The NCP has already put its claim on Deputy CM's post while the Congress Legislature Party will meet later in the evening to elect their leader.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was given a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including United Democratic Front leaders and workers, at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Wednesday as she prepares to make her electoral debut by filing nomination papers for the coming Lok Sabha bypoll.
Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has criticized the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it a 'brazen assault' on the Constitution and part of the BJP's strategy to keep society in a 'permanent state of polarization.' She also spoke out against the One Nation, One Election Bill, calling it a 'subversion of the Constitution.' Gandhi further accused the Modi government of ignoring the women's reservation bill and other demands for reservation, and of 'dragging the country into an abyss' where the Constitution will only exist on paper. She also criticized the government for limiting the speaking time of the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament and for not allowing discussions on important issues like the working of the defense and external affairs ministries and the challenges posed by China on the border.
Like the last time, Ghulam Nabi Azad is believed to have taken the lead in preparing and despatching the letter this time too.
There was speculation that he might meet the party's All India Congress Committee in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and other senior leaders, but sources close to Pilot said no meetings were fixed.
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.
Surjewala said that the legislators should first hold a dialogue with the party on the condition that they give up the security of Haryana police in Manesar, and the hospitality and friendship of the BJP.
When asked whether Sonia will be present at the day-long convention, Congress spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters that Rahul had led the agitation against demonetisation and he would preside over it.
The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi's account under pressure from the government.
'They want to snatch the land and give it to their friends'
The Congress presidential polls will be held by a secret ballot and no one will get to know who voted for whom, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Wednesday, asserting that a level-playing field has been ensured for both candidates.
The Indian National Congress was founded by Scotsman Allan Octavian Hume on this day in 1885.
'It is not as if Hindus are not being touched at all, and only Muslims are.'
The next Census' findings will help identify the extent of India's ageing population and vulnerability levels.
The government has moved to increase the strength of the joint committee of Parliament that will scrutinise the two bills proposing simultaneous elections from 31 MPs to 39, giving representation to more parties.
The decision is being seen as a balancing act in the faction-ridden party in the state.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Minster Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union Minister Saiffudin Soz, along with Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony are likely to take part in the deliberations. Congress sources said the election results clearly indicate that National Conference will be in a position to form the government with support of Congress and from some independents.
Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
To highlight alleged misgovernance by the present regime, its first nationwide campaign ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
Sharmistha Mukherjee, daughter of former President Pranab Mukherjee, has alleged a "rot" within the Congress party and called for serious introspection. She criticized the party's lack of ideology and its treatment of non-dynastic leaders, citing the case of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao. She also questioned the party's failure to convene a Congress Working Committee meeting after her father's death, highlighting a perceived loss of institutional memory. Mukherjee, who has since left politics, also advocated for a memorial to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a posthumous Bharat Ratna award for him.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) brass, including its Governor Sanjay Malhotra, on Tuesday told a Parliamentary panel that it was "optimistic" about the impact of the US tariffs on the Indian economy and, in long-run, it could benefit the country due to dipping trade relations between the US and China.
Sonia Gandhi, Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief, mourned the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, calling him a "friend, philosopher and guide." She described him as the epitome of wisdom, nobility and humility, whose contributions to India's progress and development are immeasurable. She also said that Singh's passing is a deeply personal loss and he was loved by the people of India for his pure heart and fine mind.
