The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
The move comes days after Akhilesh's party said he would join Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra only if its seat-sharing proposal for the Lok Sabha polls is accepted.
The decision taken about Kharge at the INDIA bloc meeting earlier this month had shocked the JD-U, which believed that its president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would be named as the convenor without being saddled with any chairperson, its leaders had then said.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said earlier that the Yatra would not be allowed to enter Guwahati in order to avoid traffic jams.
The former Haryana chief minister also reiterated his demand for an impartial inquiry into the allegations levelled against the head of the Wrestling Federation of India.
If they wish to have any chance next year, the Congress and the alliance must quickly settle all issues, draw up an alternative agenda, and create a cohesive campaign.
"This river-like journey will persist and in this river you will not find any trace of hate or violence. There will only be love and brotherhood as this is India's history and DNA," Gandhi told the gathering.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
Speculation is rife in political circles over the past few days that he is likely to join the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena.
Kumar said that Rahul Gandhi's claim that the caste survey in the state was held under the Congress' pressure was 'nonsensical'.
The assertion by the Congress came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus, urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if adherence to Covid protocols cannot be followed.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the BJP is consistently losing ground, which is why "the PM's love for Muslim League has resurfaced".
Gandhi posted pictures of his interaction with the mechanics on Facebook and wrote: "Learning from the hands that turn the wrenches, and keep the wheels of Bharat moving."
Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Friday claimed that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had 'begged for forgiveness for past betrayals' before his parents, party supremo Lalu Prasad and ex-CM Rabri Devi, before they allied with the Janata Dal-United president in 2022.
Rahul claimed that the Assam CM has taken land in Kaziranga National Park.
'I give a lot of credit to Rahul Gandhi for standing up and fighting it for a long time and surviving, nobody else would have been able to survive'
Amid a war of words triggered by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's comments regarding seat-sharing in West Bengal, sources from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday said they will give more time to ally Congress to sort out issues, adding the party is committed to the opposition bloc.
There they were, showing the world that there are still people motivated not by religious structures, not by past glories, not by hatreds deliberately stoked. These were ordinary folks doing something extraordinary purely because they think that effort might shake a nation out of a spiralling miasma of division, mistrust, cynicism, sophistry and violence.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a 'decisive mandate' in the Lok Sabha polls and may take even less than 48 hours to decide on its prime ministerial pick, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday, asserting that it stands to reason that the party which gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a 'natural claimant' for its leadership.
Tharoor said the message is also that the Congress is the party that can unite India and if the public is sufficiently inspired by this message, it will indeed inaugurate the revival of the party.
'The Congress is not pragmatic about politics or about people.' 'Rahul's intention is good, but good intention does not win you elections.'
He said a detailed schedule of the Yatra for J&K is being worked out in consultation with the agencies concerned, especially the security establishment.
'I believe the Bharat Jodo Yatra has the power to unite a divided India.'
Gandhi claimed that Dalits, tribals, and Other Backward Classes were made bonded labourers and their participation was lacking in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges and courts.
Banerjee expressed doubt whether the Congress will secure even 40 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Gandhi-led yatra will pass through Amethi on Monday. It will then enter Raebareli, where the Samajwadi Party chief had earlier said he would join.
Prasanna D Zore discovered an electrifying atmosphere as the Yatra passed through Balapur in Maharashtra's Akola district.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a white t-shirt in the biting cold has been a hot topic of discussion -- and not just in top political circles.
Gandhi said that the approach that the government was following 'by completely denying' that the Chinese have 'taken our land' is extremely dangerous as it would give them the confidence to do even 'more aggressive things'.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
PoK will become a part of India and this will be done under PM Modi only, Haryana Cabinet Minister Kamal Gupta said.
'An important dimension that shone through was the enormous pride in India, a general belief that as Indians we are starting to count globally and we are at the forefront of the world.'
On the 32nd day of the yatra that started on September 7, Gandhi said some political parties were trying to spread hatred in the country by misleading youngsters.
'The 4th meeting of the leaders of INDIA parties will be held on Tuesday December 19th, 2023 in New Delhi at 3 pm,' Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X on Sunday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he does not get 'intimidated' and fights for truth even if the world stands against it, remarks that come amid repeated confrontations between his party and the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Assam during the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'.
Former Reserve Bank of India governor Dr Raghuram Rajan -- the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at the University of Chicago -- walked with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
