He has also convened the first meeting of the extended CWC on July 22 to chalk out the party's future strategy.
The whole drama of the Congress Working Committee meeting was enacted precisely to underline the First Family's supremacy and, more particularly, to insulate Rahul Gandhi from any harsh criticism for the party's humiliating poll drubbing, reports Anita Katyal.
The Congress vice-president was supposed to make his return to active politics on Monday. According to sources, he will now do so on Wednesday.
Farmer outfits on Friday started mobilising more batches of peasants from Haryana and Punjab to head towards Delhi's borders to join the ongoing agitation against agri laws, even as political parties such as the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Indian National Lok Dal threw their weight behind them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Punjab visit was cut short on Wednesday after a "major security lapse" as he was stranded on a flyover for 20 minutes due to a blockade by protesters, prompting the Union Home Ministry to seek an immediate report from the state government and strict action against those responsible.
A host of top Congress leaders wished him on his birthday, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh among the first to send his best wishes through a letter in the morning.
A party source said most of the leaders, however, are hoping that Gandhi will continue to lead the party as the Nehru-Gandhi family acts as a "glue" that binds the party together.
Party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it will introspect on the reasons for the loss in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and will re-dedicate itself to strengthening the party and being the watchdog of people.
'Yeh dil maange more' seems to be mantra for over two dozen former chief ministers of various states who are contesting upcoming Lok Sabha elections on different party tickets.
Sirsa has been a prominent face of the Akali Dal in the national capital and was a strong supporter of the farmers' protests against the three contentious farm laws. He said he will continue to work for Sikh causes.
Priyanka has been told that if she stays beyond August 1, she will have to pay penalty.
Some of the reaction to India's bombing on Pak terror camps.
Was the recent Nabha jailbreak a comment on lax security in Punjab jails? Or a sign that the separatist movement of the 1980s is dormant but alive?
Even as Sidhu parries queries on whether he would join the AAP, dissent is brewing in Arvind Kejriwal's party.
Several Oppn parties linked the mandate to CAA and NRC, saying people have demolished 'arrogance' of the BJP, which attributed its defeat to local issues and 'internal strife' in the state.
'What criteria is GoI (government of India) using to judge how long the lockdown is to continue...'
Kejriwal's centralised way of governance might work in Delhi, but Punjab will call for delegation, observes Sanjeev Nayyar.
As the results pour in from the five states which have gone to polls, scenes of celebrations can be seen across the nation.
Nobody of consequence from the BJP condemned the lynchings. Nor have the Akalis. Nor has the Aam Aadmi Party. And nor, for that matter, have Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi who are now deeply immersed in Punjab politics, observes Vir Sanghvi.
He further also flayed the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the farm laws, demonetisation, GST, COVID-19 management and the issue of Chinese incursion in Eastern Ladakh.
Punjab faces many mortal threats. For most of these the people of Punjab are themselves responsible. And unless they take a brutal hard look within, their future generations have to be resigned to continue living with this constant slide, warns Shekhar Gupta.
Critics who cannot stop gloating, pronouncing Modi to be a lame-duck prime minister, may be making a huge mistake, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
Western UP contributes nearly 70 seats to the 402-member UP assembly. In 2017, the BJP had swept the region. Every pre-2022 poll survey had suggested the party would face its biggest attrition from this region because of the farmers' groups.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar wants the Modi government and BJP to reap the profit of the surgical strikes. But electoral history suggests a political party's ability to exploit military successes for poll gains has a mixed record.
The SAD also castigated the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party for allegedly betraying farmers by not opposing the passage of the bills in Lok Sabha.
The new Congress president is building a core team of youngsters while waiting for his mother's coterie to retire, reports R Rajagopalan.
This, the Congress said in its political resolution, was necessary as there were misgivings on the 'misuse' of EVMs to 'manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.' The resolution called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.
Nothing exemplifies this Sikh khundak (revenge) better than the fact that all the tallest names in the state lost their election to novices fielded by AAP.
'...because the party is based on the Constitution.'
'Anyone can come and anyone can go.' 'There is no ideology or vision that differentiates one party from another.'
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
Senior Congress leader and former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh feels that Sonia Gandhi should retain the leadership of the party for now, as Rahul Gandhi still has things to learn.
Patel, 71, the quintessential backroom strategist for the Congress, died at a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Wednesday due to multiple organ failure more than a month after he tested positive for COVID-19.
With less than a month left for campaigning to end in Amritsar, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Arun Jaitley is still facing one question in almost all his interactions with media -- Will sitting MP Navjot Singh Sidhu canvass for him?
During the meeting, which came in the backdrop of Gandhi's fierce attack on the Prime Minister over demonetisation, top Congress leaders presented a memorandum to Modi on demands of farmers including loan waiver, reducing power bills to half and remunerative MSP for farm produce.
Congress sources also said speculation that Motilal Vora would be appointed as interim party president are incorrect.
Two lecturers -- one from Nabha and another from Patiala -- wanted to be posted to a government polytechnic institute at Patiala.
Here's a look at some of the other darbars in the hard-to-please city of Amritsar, known for its appetite for food and drink and its insolent humour:
'They are completely corrupt and have introduced a mafia culture which has seen one family control the entire resources of the state.'
"Rahul Gandhi is de facto Congress chief but he should become de jure" and make the party battle ready without waiting for anti-incumbency to build up against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said.
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