Despite his influence, Pratik Jain avoids the spotlight. Credit is routinely passed on to colleagues. He maintains no visible faction within the TMC, no personal coterie.
Following the week-long standoff between the Nagas and the Manipur government over Thuingaleng Muivah's visit to his native village, the Congress core committee decided not to allow the separatist leader to enter the state. After prolonged deliberations, the party top-brass on Wednesday felt that the visit of the country's top rebel leader from the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM might worsen the law and order situation in Manipur.
'It would have polarised the Marathi-non Marathi divide further. 'Fadnavis had a very clear strategy: Let all Marathi people campaign for us (the BJP), and whatever results we get will be delivered by Marathi people only.'
Pushed to the corner by the deteriorating health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress on Wednesday night agreed to pass a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the creation of a separate Telangana state, in a bid to defuse the current volatile situation. Addressing a press conference late on Wednesday night, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "The process of creating a separate Telangana state will be initiated."
'...than free Sonam Wangchuk.'
Andhra Pradesh may witness a spell of President's rule in the wake of the resignation of Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The Congress core committee has rejected the demand made by Team Anna to withdraw the Lokpal bill from Parliament and replace it with the Jan Lokpal bill.
The suspension came minutes after the party core committee that met in Hubballi recommended his suspension to its national president and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, who is also Revanna's grandfather.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said that his party's top brass will discuss with Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar his much-debated meeting with politically estranged nephew and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar when the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) holds its conclave in Mumbai later this month.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
In its draft policy released last month, the CBSE had proposed conducting Class 10 board exams twice in an academic year from 2026.
Six Trinamool Congress ministers on Friday submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who expressed sadness over the ally's decision in protest against allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
Opposition parties allege the Modi government is attempting to turn India into a 'dictatorship' with the introduction of three Bills that seek to provide for removal of the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers arrested on serious charges, and vowed to oppose it 'tooth and nail'.
The Centre is likely to constitute a judicial commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine the demand for carving out Telengana as a separate state from Andhra Pradesh.The decision to constitute the committee came after the Core Committee of the Congress gave its nod for the bifurcation of Telangana.The judicial commission is expected to be chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, and it will have three experts as its members.
Pakistan football has been run by a FIFA appointed Normalisation Committee since June 2019 which was tasked with holding elections and cleaning up parallel groupings in the football set-up but it has failed to execute these plans properly.
'Perhaps, he must have thought that it was time to pass on the baton to the younger generation.'
A careful calculation of the BJP's support base seems to have been at work in the cabinet expansion that took place a day after the party's national president chaired a meeting of the "core group" here.
'Mrs Gandhi had nothing to do in the day-to-day working of Dr Singh's government.' 'People say Mrs Gandhi's office used to give orders, which is nonsense.'
The Congress Core Committee met in New Delhi on Friday to deliberate on the delicate Telangana issue on which party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad submitted a report amid indications that a decision on it will take some more time. Amid mounting pressure from pro-Telangana groups whose agitation for a separate state continued for the 18th day on Friday, Congress' top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, met in Delhi.
The UPA II government's next move rests on a 'yes' or 'no' to Telangana by the Congress core committee, which meets in Hyderabad on Friday to take a political decision on the issue that has created a crisis in Andhra Pradesh since the past three weeks.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur oversees the media and real estate arm of Dempo Industries as its executive director.
Under severe push from Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee combine, the Congress core committee decided to show Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor the door on Sunday evening.
Putting pressure on ally Congress over the deadlock regarding seat sharing for the Maharashtra Assembly polls, NCP said a meeting of its core committee in Mumbai on Monday will take a final call on the matter even as it asserted that it is sticking to its "original demand".
Congress general secretary and leader-in-charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh added to the confusion surrounding the Telangana issue on Thursday when he spoke about the possibility of a Constitutional Amendment to create a separate state.
Congress president and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has directed all party-ruled states to subsidise three additional cylinders a year for domestic liquefied petroleum gas, raising the cap on subsidised cylinders from six to nine.
With the Opposition adamant on the cancellation of coal blocks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday deliberated with the party top brass in the midst of the logjam in Parliament. Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal was also called for the Congress Core Committee meeting and so were Law Minister Salman Khurshid and Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal.
The Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Telangana leaders of other parties are ready for "any sacrifices" if the terms of reference (TOR) of the Srikrishna Committee are not in their favour, TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao said today.
While the opposition continues to demand a rollback, the government is not inclined to give a categorical assurance to that effect. Renu Mittal reports.
The Congress on Wednesday removed its former Uttarakhand unit chief Kishore Upadhyay from all positions for anti-party activities, pending further action in the matter.
Sources said Congress chief Sonia Gandhi too felt that staying away from the government would not help in the party's growth in the state. She also felt that many party leaders may be lured away by Mamata, who has grown at the Congress's cost, if it stays away from power.
With the Parliament stalled for the 18th consecutive day on Tuesday over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee into the 2G spectrum scam, the Congress core committee met yet again on Tuesday evening to take stock of the situation both inside and outside Parliament.
The Election Commission has decided to set up a panel to identify the experiences and shortcomings during the recently-held five assembly polls.
'Let's see how this love story shapes up in the run up to the municipal corporation election.'
Sources in the Congress and NCP said the draft CMP and allocation of portfolios between the three parties will be discussed in the meeting.
Janata Darty-Secular leader H D Deve Gowda on Thursday announced his party's support to UPA's Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee.
The meeting was attended by Congress in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Randhawa, CM Gehlot, RPCC president Govind Singh Dotasra and other leaders.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is gearing up to launch a fresh attack on the ruling United Progressive Alliance at a major news conference on Thursday afternoon. Meanwhile, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal defended Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the 2G row, saying irrespective of what the concerned minister says, the PM is not liable for his actions. The Congress Core Committee is scheduled to discuss the spectrum row later in the evening.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, currently facing recommendations for expulsion from the Lok Sabha in a cash-for-query row, was tasked with strengthening the party's organisation in West Bengal's Nadia district ahead of the 2024 general elections, in a clear message of support from the TMC.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president DK Shivakumar faced criticism from within the party for his participation in Mahashivaratri celebrations in Tamil Nadu, which was also attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Shivakumar defended his attendance, asserting his Hindu faith while emphasizing his respect for all religions. He also clarified that he had not met Amit Shah and refuted claims of aligning himself with the BJP.
