Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is reportedly upset and likely to skip a strategy meeting for the upcoming Kerala polls due to perceived slights and attempts to sideline him within the party.
Call it political opportunism or sagacity, his moves, in effect, have not allowed the Bharatiya Janata Party to appoint its own chief minister to date, despite enjoying a near hegemonic status nationally and the best performance in recently held assembly polls where the saffron party bagged 89 seats, followed by the Janata Dal-United with 85.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar clarified that Rahul Gandhi has only asked the state government to continue the good work, dismissing media reports of a specific message. Speculation arose after a brief conversation between Gandhi, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, and Shivakumar.
Whichever combination finally emerges, Malegaon could set a record for being a town run neither by Maharashtra's ruling Mahayuti, nor by the Opposition MVA, but by a combination of two or three Muslim parties.
AICC general secretary K C Venugopal announced the Congress party's goal to win 100 seats in the upcoming Kerala Assembly elections. He highlighted the party's strategy, including early candidate selection, opportunities for youth, and addressing alleged alliances between CPI(M) and BJP.
While the DMK depends on a 'silver sieve' of welfare schemes to stay in power, its support is slowly draining away under the weight of poor governance, corruption, and voters who are no longer satisfied with benefits alone and now want basic administration to work, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Marathi-speaking people of Mumbai have now emerged as a consolidated vote bank standing firmly behind the Thackerays.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically turned up at the residence of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing Enforcement Directorate raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the Trinamool Congress's internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has accused Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi of having a 'deeper connection' with a Pakistani national and violating FCRA rules, prompting calls for a national probe.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor addresses concerns about his recent statements, asserting his alignment with the party's principles and goals.
The Congress will launch a nationwide campaign against the repeal of the United Progressive Alliance-era rural employment legislation Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on January 5, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws which eventually forced the Narendra Modi government to rollback its decision, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
'When a grassroots worker has laboured day and night for the organisation, does the party not have a responsibility to recognise and uplift such workers?'
Tharoor said he was not invited to campaign in the Bihar election, while noting that the Congress would examine the reasons for its defeat.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy secured another term as Secretary (Administration) of the Constitution Club of India, defeating Sanjeev Balyan in a closely watched election that saw participation from prominent political figures.
Rahul Gandhi was 'punished' with ten push-ups for arriving two minutes late to a Congress training camp in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. The 'punishment' was part of a discipline rule set by AICC Training Department head Sachin Rao.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday challenged Home Minister Amit Shah to debate with him on his three press conferences in which the Congress leader alleged 'vote chori' by the Bharatiya Janata Party in collusion with the Election Commission.
The Madurai Bench of the high court will on Friday hear the case related to the Karur stampede incident, which claimed the lives of at least 41 people and over 100 were injured.
The Congress has appointed Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi as the new president of its Assam unit, replacing Bupen Kumar Borah, ahead of the 2026 assembly elections. The party also appointed three new working presidents - Jakir Hussain Sikdar, Roselina Tirkey and Pradip Sarkar - to its Assam unit. Gogoi, the son of former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi, is currently the deputy leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha. The party is going all-out in its bid to wrest power from the BJP after losing two consecutive state polls.
'The question for the TMC is not whether it can hold its bastions, but whether it can expand effectively into regions where the BJP already possesses a good ecosystem.'
The Deepa Thoon controversy, if not allowed to die a natural death, could take the election focus away from the anti-incumbency impacting the DMK and into the secular space. Stalin would love to have it that way, all over again, after the three past elections, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
In a letter to Raosaheb Danve, chairman of the party's state election campaign committee, the former Mumbai MP termed the treatment given to him as 'insulting'.
'Most pollution boards across the country have unused funds. There is practically no reason why pollution should not be a political priority.'
'When the BJP wanted the election to focus on 'ghuspathiya' and promises that look like pies in the sky, we forced them to talk about jobs, giving free 125 units of power, and addressing women's indebtedness.'
A seasoned politician and two-term Member of Parliament, Dr Shakeel Ahmad, who has served as a Union minister and senior Congress leader, resigned from the Congress party, marking the end of his decades-long association with an organisation that his family has been part of for three generations. In an interview with Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff he speaks why he quit the party.
Actor-politician Vijay, founder-chief of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), will be its chief ministerial candidate for the 2026 Assembly election. The party announced this at an executive committee meeting where they also ruled out any alliance with the ruling DMK or the BJP.
Sources said a couple of resolutions are expected to be passed at the crucial meeting, with an eye on the upcoming Bihar polls.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
The party is slated to organise yoga events in 403 madrasas of UP on International Yoga Day (June 21).
210 Maoist cadres, including a Central Committee member, surrendered to authorities in Chhattisgarh's Jagdalpur, marking the "largest mass surrender" in the state's anti-Naxal operations. The surrendered Naxalites carried a collective bounty of Rs 9.18 crore and handed over 153 weapons. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai hailed the development as a historic moment for Chhattisgarh and the nation.
It was significant that the ceremony took place at 24, Akbar Road, the party's former national headquarters, and not at its new office in Kotla Road.
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
"I am going to Raghopur to get feedback from the people of the constituency, which wants an end to the supremacy of one family. Before Tejashwi Yadav, a second-term MLA, his father Lalu Prasad and Rabri Devi had represented that seat. Yet, it is crying for basic amenities," alleged Kishor.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the Centre's decision to include caste enumeration in the next census has exposed the difference between the Modi government's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the Congress.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress's alliance in Uttar Pradesh came under scrutiny as both parties did not hold a single joint campaign for the bypolls to nine assembly seats. While both parties maintained that the alliance is strong, BJP ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) claimed a crack in the alliance. The Congress opted out of the bypolls and announced coordination committees for all nine seats to support the SP. However, the absence of joint rallies raised questions about the alliance's strength. The SP campaign was spearheaded by its chief Akhilesh Yadav, while the Congress cited its leaders' busy schedules in Maharashtra and Jharkhand for the lack of joint campaigns. The bypoll results will be announced on November 23.
'Karur could still impact Jana Nayagan's box-office success if Vijay and the TVK do not get their act together,' points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
On the admissions, he said 26 people were treated in the OPD and were discharged. And of the 67 admitted as in-patients, 2 were critical. All others were stable. One of the patients was shifted to the Madurai GH for further treatment.
Now it's all jibes about his chameleon-like politics and fading grip on the administration. But there was a time Nitish had the BJP trembling in the state, points out Aditi Phadnis.
'If the Mahagathbandhan ignores Mukesh Sahni's demands as it did in 2020, he will be left with no option but to join hands with the BJP.'
The stage is set for a direct contest between NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy for the vice-presidential election. The BJP-led alliance has a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances