Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.
Ahead of his September visit, as many as 83 United States lawmakers have signed a letter asking House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the Congress.
There are clear signs that the party is re-starting its journey to relevance by going back to its core Panthic agenda, on the basis of which it was founded over a century ago, reports Sai Manish.
The Congress Legislature Party, which met at a private hotel in Bengaluru on Sunday evening, passed a unanimous resolution authorising the party chief to pick its leader.
Expressing resentment at party MP Shashi Tharoor praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress' Kerala unit on Wednesday decided to submit a report to the party high command seeking suitable action in the matter.
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
'We all know that when the Babri Masjid was demolished, P V Narasimha Rao was prime minister.' 'He did not do anything to stop the demolition.'
'What the Congress needs now is an ideological and social contrast to the BJP.' 'The Congress stable of princelings cannot do it,' argues Mohan Guruswamy.
Malik told reporters in Mumbai that there is a need to reach a consensus on 'certain big issues' while working out a common minimum programme.
The 25-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena alliance split on Thursday amid continued deadlock over seat-sharing for the October 15 Maharashtra assembly polls.
'NCP wants the Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress to come together and provide a stable government.'
'...by directing these draconian provisions against political and ideological opponents of the ruling group, minorities, and those who dare to dissent through and selective prosecution and prolonged incarceration as undertrials.'
In the wake of stiff opposition, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is unlikely to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka.
Since two weeks now, A K Antony has been meeting Congress leaders across India to pinpoint reasons behind the party's abysmal performance in Lok Sabha elections.
Fuel cess, TDS on large cash payouts bid to destroy truckers and get foreign players in, says an industry body.
The Aam Aadmi Party, which entered the fray with much fanfare, failed to make any impact at the hustings.
The move comes amid speculation over possibility of an alliance between the Congress and the AAP for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.
In his 'last appeal' to the over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who constitute the electoral college to pick the next All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief, Tharoor noted that from his conversations over the last few days he gathered that many of them may have concerns or hesitation about change.
China's deteriorating economy is a serious concern. Xi Jinping and China's new premier will have a difficult task ahead of them after the 20th party congress, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Even though MLAs are required to show their ballot to respective party whips before casting their vote, all parties have ensured their MLAs are housed in five star hotels closer to the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha where voting will take place on June 10.
He also said that the party "cannot be selective in fighting the communists" and it must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour.
'Even though as Xi will seemingly continue to stay in power beyond his third term, competitions for the post-Xi leadership would be inevitably unfolded beneath the surface of water, and that will be a big headache for Xi the dictator.'
Three top US lawmakers have asked the Congressional leadership to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a joint session of the US Congress when he visits Washington at the invitation of President Barack Obama.
Maharashtra BJP chief spokesperson Keshav Upadhye said there was no political angle to the meeting. "Raut wanted to interview Fadnavis for (the Sena mouthpiece) Saamana and this meeting was to discuss how to go about it," he tweeted.
One of the G-23 leaders also pointed out that "we are not political tourists" and said the party leadership has to be conscious of "rumour-mongers and naradmunis".
Xi's ascent to power and the quick consolidation of his leadership of the party with a shock anti-graft campaign securing the title of the "core leader" of the party bequeathed only to Mao has indeed forced his rivals in the party to submission and caught the attention of the world.
Ever since Nitish embarked on the slippery path of trying to unite the Opposition against the BJP, he has repeatedly rebutted suggestions that the exercise was aimed at bringing himself centre stage. The problem is: It is not enough if he says so. Others have to say so as well, especially Congress, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The AIMTC supports the farmers as 65 per cent of the trucks are engaged in carrying farm produce.
"Such are his core supporters that they will vote for him even if cooking oil sells for Rs 5,000 per litre under his leadership.' 'They don't think about inflation but Modi when they go out to vote.'
US Congressman Ro Khanna's message is that instead of depending on the 'hidden hand' of capitalism -- that is to say, the power of markets -- it is time for policymakers to play a more active role in making sure that a wide range of towns become locations for digital economy enterprises and jobs, points out Ajit Balakrishnan.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has told the Congress leadership that he would not be a party to a division of the state.
When Mr Rangaswamy began making threatening noises (he could have swapped the BJP's six MLAs with the DMK's six and formed the government with the outside help of the Congress and Independents), the BJP immediately named nominated MLAs.
Inching towards withdrawal of the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers, Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday grappled to work out a face saver in the wake of a huge political storm over Rahul Gandhi's public outburst against the measure.
The AGP, which has ruled the state on its own twice, will play the junior partner and contest 24 seats while the rest 126 will be divided among BJP and three smaller outfits, with the saffron party leading the alliance.
Ajmal in an interview to a media house on Friday had commented on women and Hindu men as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, purportedly as a rejoinder to his remarks on 'love jihad'.
Chandrakant Patil dismissed reports in a section of media which claimed that she may quit the BJP.
Sustained persuasion by his family members and senior Nationalist Congress Party leaders made the NCP leader quit as deputy chief minister.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday urged top opposition leaders to rise above political compulsions to take on the BJP in the interest of the nation and start planning "systematically" to realise the "ultimate goal" of winning the 2024 Lok Sabha polls
