Siddaramaiah will be the next CM of Karnataka and D K Shivakumar his deputy, Congress sources in Delhi said on Thursday after the party arrived at a consensus on government formation in the state following hectic parleys.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were among the top leaders who paid homage to former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his home in New Delhi on Friday.
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.
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.
The Congress virtually gagged its Maharashtra leaders on the issue of the housing society scam, in which Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is under scanner.
The Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament, will debate the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday. The bill has been met with strong opposition from several parties who claim it is unconstitutional. The government, however, insists the bill aims to improve the management of Waqf properties in India by bringing transparency and efficiency.
Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party over the induction of tainted former Bahujan Samaj Party minister Babu Singh Kushwaha, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday claimed that he wanted to join the Congress after being sacked by Chief Minister Mayawati, but the party closed the doors on him. Addressing election meetings in Gorapkhpur, the All India Congress Committee general secretary also said the BJP has inducted a person who is part of the "corruption race" in the state.
The war of words between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party intensified on Tuesday, with SP General Secretary Amar Singh saying All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh should be held responsible, if the alliance between the two parties breaks.Singh stated that his party helped the Congress at 'times of difficulty' and instead of being thankful, their party leaders were giving irresponsible statements.
All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh on Thursday said Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar should consider merging his party with the Congress as Sonia Gandhi's foreign-origin issue was no longer relevant."Even the NCP admits this fact. Then why doesn't Pawar consider merging NCP with the parent party," he asked, adding that it was just his opinion and not an advice.
'Once the Hon'ble Supreme Court has declared the law, we are obliged to accept it. However, it is necessary to point out that the majority has not upheld the wisdom of the decision; nor has the majority concluded that the stated objectives were achieved,' the senior Congress leader said in a tweet.
Congress Member of Parliament Vijay Darda is not yet off the hook for his remarks purportedly in praise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
The Congress and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha on Thursday inched closer to government formation in Jharkhand, with Hemant Soren holding a long meeting with All India Congress Committee general secretary B K Hariprasad, who is in-charge of Jharkhand affairs.
Against the backdrop of the proposed Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan, Congress said on Monday that the dialogue process should be allowed to unfold.
Ambika Soni and Oscar Fernandes have also been nominated to contest the June 28 biennial elections.
Singh stressed on discipline and unity in the party.
The Congress is apprehending that the Bharatiya Janata Party and the sangh parivar would move to create trouble to make itself once again relevant politically, and for that they would fall back on the tried-and-tested Ram Janmabhoomi issue.
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.
. Congress, on a high after clinching a deal with breakaway leader K Karunakaran's outfit, is contesting in 77 assembly segments, 17 less from last elections.
Rahul Gandhi is set to assume a "larger" role in the Congress very soon with the reshuffle of the All India Congress Committee secretariat on the cards this week.
Congress's Lok Sabha members Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque said this list must be made available in order to verify who is entitled to nominate a candidate and who is entitled to vote.
Jayanthi Natrajan, the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, contradicted the statement of Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Karunanidhi that the time has come to make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister. "I would like to put it on record that Dr Manmohan Singh and his team have done excellent work. There is no vacancy for the post of prime minister," she said at her first press conference as AICC spokesperson.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a fresh padayatra (foot march) from Gujarat to Meghalaya and during that period leaders and workers of the party's Maharashtra unit would criss-cross the state, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
The talks between the ruling Congress party and the Praja Rajyam Party for a tie-up for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Monday suffered a major setback.
"I have been saying it for the last 10 years that if there is anybody who is the biggest agent of the BJP, it is Mulayam Singh Yadav. If anybody dances to the tunes of the BJP, it is Mulayam Singh Yadav," Rashid Alvi, the Congress spokesperson, said while addressing a public meeting in Moradabad on Wednesday night
Congress general secretary Bhanwar Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said there is no truth in the speculation of senior party leader Kamal Nath joining the Bharatiya Janata Party and claimed such talks were a creation of the media and the saffron party.
The Congress on Wednesday said that the process of declaring its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election would start soon."Party leaders sent to various constituencies for selection of nominees have already submitted their reports. The party will soon announce its candidates in certain seats, where there is a unanimous opinion on nominees," All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh said.
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.
Despite Natwar Singh's outbursts against Sonia Gandhi, the Congress on Monday said it did not want to make him a martyr by summary expulsion as the former external affairs minister's aggression showed his "sense of guilt".
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
The team, comprising Vayalar Ravi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, is right now meeting party legislators at Sahyadri Guesthouse at Malabar Hills.
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.
The Haryana victory will be a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party and increase its bargaining power in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, according to political analysts.
As the All India Congress Committee Plenary session started in New Delhi, the party rank and file hoped that the Congress high command would be able to clear up the mess surrounding the party in the wake of the various scams surrounding it.
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
After over a week of diffidence, the Congress on Monday came out openly backing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the controversial Indo-Pak joint statement in Egypt that has come under a lot of criticism.
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.
"No such alliance has been formed, but the possibilities are always there," All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot told PTI.
Stepping up its attack on Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare-led civil society, Congress on Wednseday dubbed the yoga guru as a 'king of black money' and Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde as a 'Bharatiya Janata Party man'.
Alva, who has been sulking since her son Nivedith was not given nomination in Karnataka elections, was critical of adoption of 'different yardsticks' in deciding party nominations for coming elections in six states.
