Party leaders, sources said, maintained that Congress cannot afford to have a new leader at the helm for rebuilding the organisation at this juncture and that the responsibility for the defeat is collective and not individual.
'In some quarters it has been suggested that there will be an 'official candidate' backed by the leadership but on the contrary, it has been repeatedly stressed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in my conversations with them over the last two weeks that the Nehru-Gandhi family welcomes these elections'
Cricket climate change to medical practice, dropped candidates have their non-political life sorted.
A majority of Congress leaders said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader.
In fresh trouble for Ashok Khemka, the Haryana government has decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe against the whistleblower IAS officer for alleged irregularities in awarding a Rs 8crore deal to a Gujarat-based firm when he was managing director of the state warehousing corporation in 2009.
From corruption to communalism, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Rs 70 lakh Hublot watch to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will consider the pleas of Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that their appeals against the Delhi high court verdict, refusing to quash summons issued to them in the National Herald case, be heard on Friday.
As Germany took note of Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday accused the Congress of 'inviting foreign powers' for interference in India's internal matters and the Opposition party hit back, alleging that its rival was attempting to divert attention from the Adani issue.
Some members held placards of news reports about unemployment figures.
The 54-year-old leader had taken over as the Congress's Delhi unit chief four years ago, after the party lost the 2015 assembly elections.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
Coming out in support of suspended Uttar Pradesh IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure that the officer is not unfairly treated.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appeared to rule out early Lok Sabha polls, saying "our aim is to go till the very end".
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday said he does not see a 'middle path' to end the logjam in Parliament as the Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Adani issue was 'non-negotiable' and the question of an apology over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the United Kingdom does not arise.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday took on Narendra Modi on his home turf of Gujarat, saying the state was nowhere near "swarg" (heaven) as claimed by him, and accused the BJP's prime ministerial hopeful of being concerned only about his chair.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
'The biggest change that the BJP can initiate in the run-up to 2024 is appointing new faces as chief ministers.' 'In doing so, it will send a message well beyond 2024.'
A meeting of the Congress will be held on May 24 at 5pm in Parliament to elect the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. After the party managed to bag just 44 seats in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, all indications point to the fact that supremo Sonia Gandhi would be made the chairperson of the party.
An open war broke out in the Congress over its whitewash in the Delhi elections with senior leader Sheila Dikshit attacking chief ministerial candidate Ajay Maken and the party virtually asking her to shut up.
In an apparent attempt at assuaging his feelings in the wake of Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's denunciation of the government, Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying schemes launched under his leadership have helped millions of people from the marginalised sections.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
The UPA chairperson has resorted to the last refuge of the desperate, by accusing the BJP of indulging in divisive politics by "sowing seeds of poison", says Arun Jaitley
The prime minister was often seen vigorously thumping the desk, prompting his Cabinet colleagues and NDA MPs to follow suit.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's 'rashtrapatni' remark snowballed into a major political row on Thursday with the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the opposition party of insulting President Droupadi Murmu and demanding that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi should apologise to the nation.
This is for the first time in a Lok Sabha election that results of voting machines will be matched with slips generated by paper trail machines.
The Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday termed as misleading the announcement of implementation of food security scheme by the city government and said it will meet the same fate as other schemes like Rajiv Ratna Awas yojna, Annashri yojna and Antyodaya yojna.
Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999.
From all indications, Sunil Kanugolu is here to stay, though whether his magic will help the Congress in the northern states in the Lok Sabha elections remains to be seen, wonders Aditi Phadnis.
The old Parliament building will now be known as 'Samvidhan Sadan', Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Tuesday as the functioning of Parliament shifted to its new building in New Delhi.
Former National Security Advisor M K Narayanan on Wednesday said that he played no role in the controversial Rs 3,600 crore VVIP AgustaWestland chopper deal.
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP from Hyderabad, chanted "Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Takbeer Allahu Akbar, Jai Hind", after members from the ruling side shouted slogans of 'Jai Shri Ram', 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram'.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday cautioned people against political parties making 'tall pre-election promises' and asked voters not to get misled and carried away.
Rahul Gandhi said the meeting was very productive and everyone decided to stop the BJP from further assault of institutions and the Constitution.
Nath, a nine-time MP from Chhindwara seat and currently president of state Congress unit, will take oath at a grand function to be held at Jamboree Maidan in BHEL area instead of Lal Parade Ground as announced earlier.
In a veiled reference to Narendra Modi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party's only goal is to grab the Prime Minister's chair for which it was "misleading people" and shedding crocodile tears.
As a book offering "dramatised biography" of Congress President Sonia Gandhi hit stands in India, the party on Friday asserted it could take legal action if the contents of the book were "objectionable".
Even if the BJP gets 60, 70, or even 100 per cent of the votes in the seats where it scored more than 50 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, these will still add up to only 224 seats, argues Shekhar Gupta.
On a day Narendra Modi attacked the United Progressive Alliance government for its "mis-governance", Congress chief Sonia Gandhi hit back accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of hatching conspiracies before elections and misleading people in its hunger for power.
In her statement, Dutt has hailed and thanked her "mentor" United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
