MP: 25 MLAs, Scindia resign to express solidarity with Sonia
The BJP calling the Congress a "torn old party" moving towards a stage where its relevance and necessity will be completely lost.
The development is a major boost for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party's footprint beyond her native state.
Amethi's former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has sent five trucks each of rice and wheat besides one truck of pulses, cooking oil, spices and other material for distribution among people, said party's district unit president Anil Singh.
Election will be held in 60 out of the total 294 seats in the first two phases of the eight-phased polls which is slated to stretch from March 27 to April 29. The date for the second phase of election is April 1.
The TMC, which is keen to leave a mark in its outing in Goa, had suggested a broad alliance but not much has moved on the proposal due to competing interests and apparent lack of faith between the opposition parties.
This is the first reaction by senior BJP leader Raje who has been the chief minister of the state for two terms.
Chowdhury is a five-time MP from West Bengal and has not lost the Lok Sabha election since 1999.
Congress on Thursday dubbed as 'crocodile tears' rolling down the eyes of a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Legislative Assembly Lalita Yadav and Madhya Pradesh Assembly Speaker Ishwardas Rohani in the House on Wednesday evening, over an alleged 'indecent' remark by a Congress member against her.Lalita, who is a MLA from Chhattarpur, had complained against the Congress member in the assembly and also in Rohani's chamber on Wednesday.
Navjot Singh Sidhu quit as the Punjab PCC chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
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.
Congress MP Shantaram Naik on Monday gave notice of breach of privilege against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikkar to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on a day Congress created a ruckus in Parliament against Modi's comments in an election rally against Sonia Gandhi on the VVIP chopper deal.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
The four ministers -- Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and Charanjit Singh Channi -- and around two dozen legislators met in Chandigarh at the residence of Bajwa on Tuesday.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
Some senior Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, met at their senior colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad's house in New Delhi on Monday evening after the Congress Working Committee debated their letter to the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking urgent organisational reforms.
The letter was not a challenge to leadership but a parchment of action to strengthen the party, Congress MP Vivek Tankha asserted, while former union minister Mukul Wasnik said those who saw the letter as an "offence" will also soon realise that the issues raised are worth consideration.
'Congress will try to use Malerkotla to woo Muslim votes in UP. Muslims across the country have definitely taken note of this move in Punjab. But they vote only for a party that can defeat the BJP. The Congress doesn't seem to be capable of doing that'
'Modi ji, now why are you hesitating to show red-eye to China in Ladakh?'
Over four dozen representatives from various mass organisations were called for the two-day process in Kanpur, reports Siddharth Kalhans
He will take on Bharatiya Janata Party's sitting MP Ramesh Bidhuri and Aam Aadmi Party's Raghav Chadha.
Twitter was abuzz with speculation over her political future as none of her controversial tweets were available on the microblogging website.
The two women MPs -- Jothimani and Ramya Haridas -- have filed a complaint with the Speaker Om Birla.
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
The Congress party on Monday expelled former Member of Parliament Mani Kumar Subba from the party for six years with immediate effect for contesting election as an independent candidate from Tezpur Lok Sabha seat after he was denied ticket by the party.
Kumaraswamy's remarks assumed significance in the backdrop of former home minister Prakash rushing to Delhi on Friday to continue talks with Congress leaders in a bid to concretise efforts for government formation proposal.
Anwar, an AICC general secretary, came out with a flurry of tweets calling for 'urgent and deep introspection' over the debacle of the party, the second largest constituent of the opposition coalition, which contested as many as 70 seats but returned with a tally of just 19.
17 MLAs, including at least six ministers, known to be Scindia loyalists, are currently in Bengaluru. Chief Minister Kamal Nath promised to reconstitute the state Cabinet after an emergency meeting late on Monday night.
"We urge the government that the issue of security of our leaders has to be beyond partisan political considerations," said Anand Sharma in Rajya Sabha.
The Bhzaratiya Janata Party on Monday filed a complaint with the Election Commission against opposition Congress, accusing it of levelling "baseless allegations" against it without evidence.
Congress on Monday announced a slew of populist measures including sops to farmers, students, unemployed youths, minorities, raising subsidised LPG cylinders from 9 to 12 and constitution of Vidhan Parishad in its manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.
"If they (some leaders) persist (with G-23) that means there is a vested interest for a few of them to work against the Congress party which we don't subscribe to and rather oppose it," the former Union minister said.
On joining the party, Kumar said, "I am joining Congress because it's not just a party, it's an idea. It's a country's oldest and most democratic party, and I am emphasising on 'democratic'...Not just me many think that country can't survive without the Congress..."
Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands.
The move comes days after Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asked states under party's rule to enact legislations to bypass Centre's three farm-related laws that have triggered protests by farmers.
Dinesh Pratap Singh, who was elected to the state legislative council for the second time in 2016 and left the Congress last year, is pitted against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on a seat held by her since 2004.
' These youngsters don't have patience, which is a key trait in politics'
'Why don't you resign from the Lok Sabha? Why does the Akali Dal party not withdraw support from the Modi government?'
Senior Congress leaders Anand Sharma, former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kapil Sibbal, Raj Babbar, Vivek Tankha, Ghulam Nabi Azad will address an event in Jammu on Saturday which Manish Tiwari is also expected to join.
Nath has been reprimanded for repeated violations of the model code while campaigning for the bypolls in 28 assembly constituencies in the state.
