'The Congress can exist without (someone from) the Nehru-Gandhi family being its president.'
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samiti has pinned hopes on the development work his government undertook during the past ten years, while opposition Congress and BJP bank on anti-incumbency and the alleged failures of the incumbent.
Rahul Gandhi said both Rae Bareli and Wayanad "will get two MPs".
Waltz after being elected as the Co-Chair of India Caucus in January last year had said that India is the world's largest democracy and an important strategic partner for the United States.
"Our target was the decimation of the Samajwadi Party and we have succeeded in it," Salman Khursheed said, congratulating Mayawati on her party's performance.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
Besides Hooda, Bhan and Phogat, the Congress has fielded Mewa Singh from Ladwa to take on Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
'There will be no compromise with someone who has betrayed the party at this stage even if she is my sister,' Congress MP K Muraleedharan told reporters.
'The political situation in the country will depend on the electoral outcome in Maharashtra.'
The meeting of the Congress' top decision-making body has been convened after demands from some quarters within the party to discuss important issues, including some defections in the recent past.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday formally elevated to the number two position in the Congress party after being appointed its Vice President, but his role in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls would be decided later.
They are Congress President Sonia Gandhi's field marshals -- the 100 men and women who will drive the party's campaign in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. The "war team" announced on Thursday night included state-wise screening committees constituted under the leadership of a dozen leaders for selection of candidates.
"The film has been made to insult the entire Sikh community. We will not let the movie release in Mohali or anywhere in Punjab. The SGPC is united in this matter," said Rajinder Singh Tohra, a member of the SGPC.
While the responses of the candidates were predictable, depending on which side they belonged to, an interesting point slipped through when Rahul Shewale cited the Dharavi Redevelopment Project as a scheme that would add to Mumbai's importance. No big infrastructural project in Mumbai, he said, could be successful without the Centre's nod.
'The touchstone is reciprocity which will be applied to friends and foes alike.' 'It will be a bitter pill to swallow.'
Ahead of a crucial Congress Working Committee meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said no one was taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gandhi does and was fighting resolutely.
'Indira Gandhi was a very weak person,' Kangana claimed. 'She had many crutches around and was constantly seeking validation.'
Sources said the Congress Parliamentary Party authorised Gandhi to pick the party's leader in Lok Sabha.
Gehlot's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led to the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.
"Everything may look normal in Kashmir. Everything may look normal here. We may be celebrating the victory, although of course some people believe that that victory or that success of 2024 was perhaps only marginal, perhaps a lot more needs to be done," he said.
On a day a sexual abuse case was registered against actor Siddique based on a complaint by a woman actor, the Left government appears to have adopted a cautious approach in the case of MLA Mukesh, with two ministers indicating that further action hinges on the findings of the probe by the special police team.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
A day after the Congress's second straight defeat in the national election, resignations were flying.
The group has campaigned over the years for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has links to an organisation financed by the George Soros Foundation, which has reportedly supported the idea of an independent Kashmir. The party claims this connection demonstrates foreign influence in Indian internal affairs. This comes after BJP's claims of US involvement in destabilizing India, which the US has denied. The BJP also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of collaborating with the Soros-funded OCCRP to damage India's economy and reputation. The allegations have drawn criticism from the US embassy and the opposition Congress.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
24 hours before campaigning ends in Thiruvanathapuram, Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers Shashi Tharoor and his BJP rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar are busy getting their message across to voters.
The meeting of the Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill took an ugly turn as the Trinamool Congress MP smashed a glass water bottle and threw it towards panel chairman Jagdambika Pal of the Bharatiya Janata Party during a heated exchange of words with BJP's Abhijit Gangopadhyay, a former Calcutta high court judge.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
Senior Congress leaders Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Ashok Gehlot had on Wednesday took stock of the preparations for the Chintan Shivir.
Two days after the Congress Working Committee (CWC) witnessed Pawar-bashing at the hands of senior Congress leaders, the party once again attacked the Union Agriculture Minister, saying that prices were responsibility of the Agriculture and Food Ministry and "it is natural for the party to articulate the concerns of millions of people".
The Haryana victory will be a morale booster for the Bharatiya Janata Party and increase its bargaining power in the Mahayuti's seat-sharing talks for the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections, according to political analysts.
Concerned over the drought conditions likely to affect its electoral prospects in the forthcoming assembly polls in four states, the Congress Working Committee on Wednesday met in New Delhi to explore ways and means to deal with the situation.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
The Congress had 31 MLA and needed as many votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana, but one of its legislators cross-voted and another's vote was cancelled.
He said the multi-party committee formed by the Speaker in Himachal Pradesh would discuss all issues about street vending on October 3. Singh's remarks came a day after the Congress top brass chided him over his remarks on mandatory display of names by the street vendors and told him that no one was allowed to go against the party's policies and ideologies.
Addressing media persons following the CWC meeting, party leader Janardhan Dwivedi said that the party meeting concluded that the role of the main Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had been negative on reforms.
Just before the Congress Working Committee meeting is scheduled to be held on Monday, an internal dispute had emerged regarding "leadership" issues in the party.
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