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.
Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor will face-off in an electoral contest on Monday for the post of All India Congress Committee chief, as the party gets set to have a non-Gandhi president in over 24 years.
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 Congress on Thursday accused the central government of evading a debate on India-China border face-off and asked why the Modi government has been running away from the issue.
As the triangular political contest in Telangana intensifies, many believe that for the regional major BRS, it is a battle for survival after being routed in the assembly polls held late last year. What is haunting the party this time is the scams, the 10-year anti-incumbency factor, and family dominance in the party.
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.
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.
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
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.
Apparently aimed at keeping the flock together ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls, all ruling Congress MLAs in Karnataka will stay put together at a hotel in Bengaluru on Monday after the budget session of the state legislature concludes and will later also travel together for voting the next day.
The 24th CPI(M) Party Congress commenced in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, with interim coordinator Prakash Karat emphasizing the need for Left unity to combat "Hindutva neo-fascism." He criticized the BJP-RSS government, accusing it of representing a "Hindutva-corporate nexus" and displaying "neo-fascist characteristics." Other Left leaders, including CPI general secretary D Raja and CPI(ML) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, echoed calls for unity and condemned the current political climate in India.
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.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Wednesday announced five guarantees for women, including annual direct cash transfers of Rs 1 lakh to one woman from each of the country's poorest families and 50 per cent quota in all new recruitments in central government jobs.
Congress Member of Parliament Vijay Darda is not yet off the hook for his remarks purportedly in praise of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
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.
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.
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.
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.
'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.
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.
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.
"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
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".
The team, comprising Vayalar Ravi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, is right now meeting party legislators at Sahyadri Guesthouse at Malabar Hills.
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 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.
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.
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.
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
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.
Rattled with the twin problem of defection and resignation after the selection of candidates for the ensuing assembly election in Nagaland, the Congress has called upon all the deserters to come back and work for the party.
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.
