Amid blame game continuing over the Naxal attack killing 27 people, the Chhattisgarh Congress on questioned the shifting of a Central Reserve Police Force camp from Darbha region just seven days prior to the attack.
A case has been registered against a youth Congress leader and two others for allegedly kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old dalit girl in Raigarh district of Chhattisgarh, the police said on Monday.
A divided house until recently, Congress is putting up a spirited campaign to checkmate BJP in its erstwhile stronghold of Naxal-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the ruling party hopes to cash on its developmental agenda coupled with Chief Minister Raman Singh's clean image in the Assembly elections.
We strongly condemn the massacre of our patriotic security personnel by the Naxalites. Chhattisgarh is a state that has geared up to fight the menace of Naxalism more than any other state and yet this is a great setback to us to demoralise our operations. I stand here not to apportion the blame but to increase the resolve in the fight against Naxalism.
Gandhi said the BJP, in power in Madhya Pradesh since 2003, is only working for a few rich people.
Representatives from Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Bihar voiced their concern at the high-level meeting chaired by Home Secretary R K Singh in which state chief secretaries, home secretaries and police chiefs were present.
Maoists on Thursday attacked a police station and the house of a Congress leader in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, killing two of his relatives and leaving two others injured, including his son. Armed Naxalites struck at the Kuakonda police station in the district in the wee hours of Thursday. The policemen retaliated by opening fire. According to the police, six Naxals were killed in the attack, but their bodies are yet to be recovered.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Chhattisgarh government's move to offer class three and four jobs on compassionate grounds to the family members of senior Congress leaders killed in the May 25 Maoist attack in Bastar has landed in controversy with opposition terming it an insult and demanded an apology from the government.
A majority of Congress leaders said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader.
Akhilesh Yadav confirmed in a television interview that the press conference is on the alliance in Uttar Pradesh, while parrying questions on the Congress.
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi read out the Preamble to the Constitution of India as part of the 'Satyagraha of Unity' protest.
Chouhan's son Kartikey accused the Congress leader of intentionally making a false allegation about his name being in Panama Papers of alleged tax evaders.
The Congress on Thursday dismissed an opinion poll predicting party vide-president Rahul Gandhi as the third choice for prime ministerial prospect, terming it inaccurate.
Cong disappointed with trends of assembly polls The Congress on Sunday voiced disappointment over the trends in the assembly elections with the party doing poorly in Rajasthan, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.
"We would like to challenge this government for a debate at any time and any place of their choosing on the 2 years of NDA-BJP Government", party spokesman Manish Tewari told media persons targetting the government over its record in governance.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, IT expert Nandan Nilekani and cricketer Mohd Kaif are among 194 candidates as Congress tonight released the first list of its nominees for Lok Sabha polls that contains several new and young faces.
In a major exercise ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Thursday night constituted screening committees for all states and union territories for early selection of candidates.
In Kolkata, senior Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala accused the prime minister of "putting pressure" on the EC to delay its press conference. He also said the CEC's explanation is "preposterous" and wondered whether Bharatiya Janata Party is the "super EC".
Rahul Gandhi attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Chhattisgarh for its failure to act against Maoists responsible for killing many Congress leaders in May.
The exit polls that predicted a strong showing for BJP in four states in Wednesday's crucial Assembly polls were on Friday rubbished by Congress as one which has "no meaning" while the saffron party said it appears to be "completely demoralised".
Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday alleged that Congress has exposed its "hidden malicious inclination" to check the stormy march of the party by contemplating to join hands with Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party, in the wake of BJP's lead in the Delhi Assembly poll results.
Free 35 kg rice a month, free power supply to farmers, crop loans to peasants at zero per cent interest rate are among the sops promised by Congress in its manifesto for Chhattisgarh assembly elections scheduled this month.
The Congress is close to finalising candidates for 100 Lok Sabha seats after the first meeting of its Central Election Committee tonight, but a decision on the fate of sitting members of the Lower House will be taken only after Parliament session concludes on February 21.
Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha appear to be inching closer towards forming an alternative government in Jharkhand which has been under President's Rule imposed after fall of the Arjun Munda government on January 8.
The Congress has already been deserted by the urban middle classes and the youth, but by outsourcing its battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party, the grand old party could end up inflicting more damage on itself.
Narendra Modi on Sunday hit back at Sonia Gandhi over her 'zeher ki kheti' barb saying it is the Congress which spews poison and reaps the harvest out of it with its divisive politics.
The Congress will only be able to gain from the bill if its benefits percolate down to the people within the next eight months, says Anita Katyal
Rahul Gandhi on Saturday did some plain speaking as he slammed infighting among Congress leaders and asked them to maintain unity during his first meeting with state leaders after being formally assigned to lead the party's campaign for Lok Sabha polls.
She noted that the democracy was at peril under the Modi government and alleged that it was misusing and abusing its mandate in the "most dangerous" fashion, the sources said.
The Congress on Friday moved the Election Commission to restrain the Bhyaratiya Janata Party from using a Red Fort replica in Narendra Modi's election rallies in Delhi.
Accusing Congress of pursuing vote-bank politics, Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the turmoil over the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh was a perfect example of how the ruling party sowed "seeds of poison".
Worried about the adverse impact that price rise could cause to Congress' prospects in Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi unveiled quick fix policy prescriptions for 12 party-ruled states including reform in PDS and giving farmers a wider choice to sell vegetables and fruits.
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi warned his party's ministers in Jammu and Kashmir that they could be denied tickets in the next elections if they did not reach out to the people and address their grievances.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has said the party cannot afford the spectacle of its ministers and state presidents running away from a tough contest. Anita Katyal reports
Could the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP become the rallying point of new energies that are getting unleashed all over urban India, in quest for a different kind of politics, to such an extent that he can rein in Narendra Modi? It all depends on how it pans out its politics in the coming weeks, says Neerja Chowdhury.
In a television interview, Union minister Jairam Ramesh claimed that a state of UP's size was ungovernable
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
'Vietnam has become an adjective as well as a verb -- the Americans, for instance, were driven by the passion to do a 'Vietnam' on the Soviet Union when that country invaded Afghanistan in 1979.'
