Apart from opening up the possibility of a tie-up for the 2014 general election, the crucial Congress support to Nitish Kumar's trust vote also has other advantages, notes Anita Katyal.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday expressed strong resentment to the proposal of giving underprivileged Muslims reservation under the Other Backward Classes category.
The BJP has 17 out of 53 candidates (32 per cent) with criminal cases. The Congress has 11 out of 39 (28 per cent) candidates with criminal cases.
With the "secular alliance" successfully halting a Bharatiya Janata Party victory in Bihar bypolls, an elated Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar today expressed satisfaction over the "experiment" and said the results would have been better had the parties discussed seat sharing in better way.
Is Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in need of a public relations image makeover? To remind the country that she is a strong leader who thinks of her party first and everything else later?
Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were on Saturday engaged in a bitter war of words over government's announcement of 'One Rank One Pension' with the opposition party calling its provisions "betrayal" of ex-servicemen while the ruling outfit accused Congress of playing a "joke" on veterans when in power.
Taking a jibe over the reported row in Bharatiya Janata Party over a move to field Narendra Modi from Varanasi and Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Congress on Monday wondered as to why Opposition party leaders were looking for a safe seat if there was a Modi wave across the country.
The Congress has revoked Buta Singh's expulsion and assigned him to hold back-channel talks with Jayalalithaa and Mayawati.
Congress on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "break his silence" over the alleged "provocative" statements by the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders in connection with the Dadri lynching, saying that not doing so would suggest that they had his "approval".
BSP chief says Ambedkar talked of separate electorates for Dalits; didn't believe in Hindutva.
Former Union minister Beni Prasad Verma on Friday quit the Congress and rejoined the Samajwadi Party, a move which is likely to shore up the SP's prospects in the 2017 assembly polls.
The Janata Dal-United on Friday announced its support to Congress for the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha even as the treasury side has kept suspense over the issue.
Identifying Gujarat as perhaps the best example of effective governance and impressive development in India, a Congressional report showered praise on the Chief Minister Narendra Modi and said that the state under him has become a key driver of national economic growth.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party-Janata Dal-United rift widening in Bihar, the Congress on Monday virtually ruled out a tie-up with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar if the alliance breaks, saying his "communal face" had been exposed.
While, the Congress is seemingly the biggest loser in the by-elections, they were other big losers, points out T V R Shenoy.
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.
He also alleged that the Congress toyed with national security and actively and covertly supported Naxalism in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand for political gains.
'All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP'
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.
Rahul Gandhi is more inclined towards Akhilesh, who has said their combination could win more than 300 of the 403 assembly seats.
With its back against the wall, the Congress party has channelised its resources to a strategically picked 32 constituencies in the national capital, though it is contesting on all 70 seats. The party, which was almost decimated in the 2013 Assembly election, thinks the worst is over. The Congress hopes to bag at least 12 seats, where it believes it is in a strong position.
The ruling Congress party in Maharashtra is seeking party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's help to take on Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray in order to consolidate its position by luring youths in the party organisation.
Top Opposition leaders, including Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday lashed out at the Narendra Modi government for "doing nothing other than 'show-baazi'" by slashing allocations to all major social security schemes like MGNREGA.
The Congress expects Rahul Gandhi to take over as its chief this year, Jairam Ramesh said on Monday.
Elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will see the BJP and Congress in direct contest.
In a not-so-veiled remarks targeted at Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, senior leader A R Antulay has squarely blamed the Congress high command for the situation the party finds itself at present
Reflecting the unease in party over praise of Aam Aadmi Party by its leaders, a Congress leader on Friday likened it to early days of Lalu Prasad's rule in Bihar in the nineties while another slammed Union minister Jairam Ramesh for praising Arvind Kejriwal's party.
Cracks were visible in the Opposition unity ahead of Tuesday's meeting convened by Congress to ramp up attack on demonetisation and alleged "personal corruption" of the prime minister, with Left parties and the Janata Dal-United unlikely to attend it.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari, who is not contesting Lok Sabha polls as he is ailing, has been made acting in-charge of the AICC Communication department along with party spokesman Randeep Surjewala.
Amidst reports of Congress' confabulations with the Rashtriya Janata Dal for a secular alliance in Bihar in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday took a dig at Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for the Congress preferring Lalu Prasad over him and said such an 'opportunistic' alliance was not a cause of worry for it.
Thousands of ticket seekers from the state have been camping in Delhi and making rounds to the AICC headquarters for the last one week and of the leaders who are involved in the process of ticket selection.
Amid a political uproar over bomb blasts at Narendra Modi's rally venue in Patna, Congress on Monday appeared to suggest that his brand of politics was allegedly providing an opportunity to disruptive elements to engage in such activities.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's statements embarrassed the party, and within hours she alleged she had been 'misquoted'
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.
The government is banking on help from regional parties and rejigged numbers in the Rajya Sabha.
Hundreds of Congress workers on Tuesday demonstrated outside the party president Sonia Gandhi's residence as news came of her reluctance to accept the prime minister's office.
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.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances