Opposition to the controversial Local Body Tax in Congress and NCP-ruled Maharashtra reached in New Delhi on Thursday, with several party MPs making a strong plea to All India Congress Committee Chief Sonia Gandhi to intervene and prevail upon Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan to find an "acceptable" solution.
The BJP believes that the only party still capable of leading a credible challenge against it is the Congress. Please note how BJP campaigners in states where the Congress may count for a cipher or thereabouts, mostly attack the Congress, observes Shekhar Gupta.
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
Visiting Uttar Pradesh for the first time after Congress' debacle in the recent Assembly polls, Rahul Gandhi was on Monday flooded with complaints that groupism, poor candidate selection and neglect of grassroot level workers were mainly responsible.
A senior party leader on the condition of anonymity said the CWC meeting will be called next week although the agenda is to be worked out and finalised.
Both the BJP and the Congress said they will seek support of the MGP in case they fall short of the majority mark of 21.
The decision of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to withdraw support from the Andhra Pradesh government has spurred hectic behind the scene activity in the ruling Congress party.
At a time when the party and the government are facing tough challenges at political and economic fronts, the Congress' day-long 'dialogue session' on Friday is likely to brainstorm on the strategy ahead and take a view on the issue of alliances in different states.
The war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party over 'who is corrupt and who is not' is all set to increase by leaps and bounds in the days ahead, says Renu Mittal
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Tuesday owned "full responsibility" for the party's flop show in Uttar Pradesh assembly elections but skirted questions about resigning from the post over the issue.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Friday held closed-door meetings with party leaders in Uttarakhand as part of his stock-taking exercise in states following his elevation.
The President's Office and the All India Congress Committee sources confirmed that the one-hour meeting did take place, but were reluctant to speculate on the nature of the discussions.
The central election committee of the party met on Monday to finalize the list of candidates, but the exercise is being done in a vacuum since the party is still unclear of whether it is going ahead with any allies or not. The party is still negotiating with Babulal Marandi for seat sharing, with Ahmed Patel Sonia's political secretary, admitting that discussions are still on with him but so far there is not much headway.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra released the Congress' manifesto for Uttarakhand on Wednesday promising to reserve 40 per cent jobs for women in the police department, jobs to four lakh people, and creation of a 'tourism police' force.
The two-day media workshop of the Congress began on Monday with Rahul Gandhi emphasising on the need to tone up the party's communication strategy and to institutionalise a framework for it in all states ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress and the government on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party for its 'unnecessary and unwarranted' agitation over Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's remarks on Hindu terror, saying it was a 'diversionary tactics' to keep away media attention from its internal affairs.
In the last Lok Sabha elections, Congress won all 10 of the seats it contested.
Rahul Gandhi's name does not figure for any organisational post.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
Targeting All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said the Congress leader has no prospects of becoming prime minister of the country.
The Congress Working Committee and the All India Congress Committee secretariat were on Friday reconstituted by Sonia Gandhi, who dropped veterans like Arjun Singh and Mohsina Kidwai and G Venkatswami, who attacked her recently, and inducted new faces in the hierarchy.
The Congress on Monday announced its alliance with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam would continue for Lok Sabha polls, setting at rest speculation about the future of the tie-up in the wake of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's overture to the lead United Progressive Alliance party.
Dikshit was elected at a meeting of 42 party legislators in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was attended among others by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai, Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal and Delhi Pradesh Congres Committee chief Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
In a veiled attack on 'Team Rahul' over Congress' poll debacle, a section of party leaders on Thursday said only those having experience of field work should be given "leadership posts" and wanted a "ruthless introspection" to help it bounce back.
The letter from the Uttar Pradesh veterans comes days after 23 senior Congress leaders wrote to Gandhi, saying uncertainty over the party leadership has 'demoralised Congress workers'.
The MLAs who have been expelled for six years are Sanjay Pratap Jayaswal (Basti district), Madhuri Verma (Bahraich), Vijay Dube (Kushinagar), Mohammed Muslim (Tiloi-Amethi), Dil Nawaz Khan (Bulandshahar) and Nawab Kasim Ali Khan (Rampur).
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has tested positive for Covid-19.
The Congress on Friday said its top leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Sonia Gandhi and General Secretary Rahul Gandhi will campaign in poll-bound Gujarat.
Virbhadra Singh, who steered the Congress to power in Himachal Pradesh, will be sworn in as chief minister for the sixth time in a function at historic Ridge Ground in Shimla on December 25.
Seeking to take the sting out of the Samajwadi Party's counter to SC/ST quota in promotion bill, the Congress on Monday said it was also for a fair deal to Muslims but the issue was 'not contrary or contradictory' to the proposed measure.
All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi on Monday offered a chadar at the dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti on the occasion of the 801st Urs.
Sources said the issue was discussed at the core committee meeting held last week where it was decided that Rahul would hoist the flag if he is back in New Delhi before the August 15. Sonia is expected to return after another 2 weeks at a conservative estimate.
With ally Nationalist Congress Party surging ahead of Congress in the recent local body elections in Maharashtra, All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi's one-day visit to Mumbai on Friday is being viewed in party circles as a move to put the state unit into a pro-active mode and retrieve lost ground.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and All India Congress Committee Vice President Rahul Gandhi have been named among top 5 in the world's 100 most influential list of Asians topped by China's new President Xi Jinping.
The Congress' fortune in Odisha has been on the slide ever since it lost power to the Biju Janata Dal in the 2000 elections. Party loyalist Giridhar Gamang's resignation has only added to its problems, says Dillip Satapathy
Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot separately.
