The opposition party was reacting after BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked Ansari and the Congress to come clean on the claims of Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza that he had visited India five times during the Congress-led UPA rule and passed on sensitive information collected here to his country's spy agency ISI.
Gandhi also called upon the government to immediately put money into the hands of the poor and provide a financial package to the industry to help revive the economy.
Congress party in Maharashtra has its hopes pinned on a 'newly recharged' vice-president Rahul Gandhi for its revival.
Skirting any comments on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (demonstration on the streets of Delhi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi chose to train his guns at the Uttar Pradesh government for neglecting Amethi, the Gandhi family's political bastion.
Congress leaders told Rediff.com that if Sonia or Rahul Gandhi do not take up the leader of opposition's post in Lok Sabha, it would lead to factionalism and internal dissension, something that the party can ill-afford at this juncture. "Kamal Nath is undoubtedly a senior MP but his candidature is bound to be opposed by the MPs from southern states as they have won more seats," remarked a senior Congress functionary, adding that senior ministers like Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge can be expected to push their candidature for this post. Anita Katyal reports.
Forget India, UP won't accept Rahul's leadership, says Rita Bahuguna Joshi while joining the BJP
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed 14 rallies in Madhya Pradesh during campaigning for polls and reached out to young voters by reminding them of the failures of previous Congress governments on various fronts as he doubled down on development of all sections.
Accusing him of trying to steal a motorcycle, a mob beat up Ansari on June 17 of that year.
In a direct attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he was "playing drums" in Japan while people suffered from power crisis and soaring vegetable prices.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
'Having long portrayed Rahul as being out of touch, the BJP was suddenly confronted with a spectacle of humbleness and concern for the downtrodden,' observes Amulya Ganguli.
Modi said the House did not witness any earthquake, an apparent reference to claims of Rahul Gandhi that his revelation on Rafale would create tremors.
Opposition parties on Tuesday asked the government to call an all-party meeting to resolve the current impasse in Parliament, while sticking to their demands for a discussion on Pegasus snooping issue and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
The political war of words over Manipur intensified on Saturday with the BJP raising the incidents of atrocities against women in West Bengal and Rajasthan and questioning the 'silence' of the opposition, which termed it as a diversionary tactic to avoid debate on the situation in the north-eastern state.
Several newly elected MLAs including Navjot Singh Sidhu, Manpreet Singh Badal, Brahm Mohindra, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Rana Gurjit Singh, Pargat Singh, Razia Sultana, O P Soni are in the race for becoming ministers, party sources said.
Shahs also said that his party will strive to rid the state of its 'Bimaru' tag as development is the way forward in Indian politics now.
The INDIA bloc has 95 MPs in Rajya Sabha of which 45 were suspended on Monday.
Attacking Rahul Gandhi over his recent crusade on anti-corruption bills, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said he was a "late entrant" in the anti-graft bandwagon and his effort was "not genuine" as he had never spoken earlier on the issue.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said he was sad that 7 people convicted of killing his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, were being released by the Tamil Nadu government.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress leaders and workers continued their protests in several states on Thursday against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money-laundering case with many of them taken into preventive custody including former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury in Hyderabad after she allegedly grabbed the collar of a police official.
Gandhi on Friday chaired his first CWC meeting after being elected as the party chief.
'Religion has divided our country like it never had done.' 'I can't remember a time of such focused hatred.'
Party sources said Gandhi will be accompanied by Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and several other party leaders and MPs.
Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asked voters in the city to give a fourth term to Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, saying the national capital has seen unprecedented development under her rule and she has changed its face.
The Congress will reach out to civil society members and like-minded political groups for the 'Bharat Jodo' yatra from October 2 for rallying support to combat polarisation and protect Constitution, democracy and various institutions, senior party leaders said on Thursday.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
Congress leader and All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala said on Sunday that the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) has unanimously passed the resolution and the observers will seek the opinions of all MLAs and convey it to the party high command.
Mukesh Agnihotri, the leader of opposition in the outgoing assembly, was administered the oath as the deputy chief minister.
The Delhi high court on issued notice to BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on a batch of petitions filed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi and others in the case of alleged cheating and misappropriation of funds in acquiring ownership of the now-defunct daily National Herald.
Modi did not have the guts to face the students of the country and so he crushed them using the police, he alleged. "I challenge the prime minister to go to any of the universities, stand over there without his police, without his infrastructure and tell the people what is he going to do with this country," the Congress leader said.
Despite consumer inflation, joblessness, etc, ordinary voters still think Modi is the best to rule the country.< Going into the poll with a tried and tested prime ministerial candidate is a huge plus for the BJP --- and a huge handicap for the Opposition, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday said his party would pull off a spectacular victory in the state assembly elections, but evaded a direct reply to a question whether he would be the chief minister for the fifth time, as he just said 'Bharatiya Janata Party Zindabad'.
Gandhi accused Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik of being remote-controlled by Modi
Congress governments at the Centre and in Bihar were responsible for the anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and Bhagalpur riots in 1989 while BJP government in Gujarat was accountable for the 2002 riots in that state, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in Patna on Tuesday.
'Since there is no photo-op, or quick fix solutions, politicians do not want to address climate change. It is very unfashionable.'
Bharatiya Janata Party's Varun Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party candidate in Amethi Kumar Vishwas and Lok Janshakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan were among the prominent candidates who filed nominations on the fourth day for the penultimate phase of Lok Sabha election covering 64 seats in seven states.
The Opposition on Wednesday hardened its stand on the Pegasus spyware issue with 14 parties unitedly demanding a debate in Parliament in the presence of the prime minister or the home minister and a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter.
The feisty sadhvi also targeted Gandhi for attacking Modi over his "son of the Ganga from Gujarat" comment, saying the Congress leader should know that his mother Sonia Gandhi "reveres the river" despite her Italian origin.
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