'Since the two successive drubbings of the Congress have rung the alarm bells about the party's future, the need to chart a new course cannot be delayed any further,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The opposition caused repeated disruptions in Parliament Friday over the NEET paper leak issue, with both Houses being adjourned for the day without transacting much business apart from the Rajya Sabha taking up the Motion of Thanks for the President's address amid protests including by the Biju Janata Dal, which almost always supported the BJP in the previous Lok Sabha.
Karnataka Congress working president Satish Jarkiholi, who is in the eye of a political storm for his statement on the origins of the word 'Hindu' and its "dirty meaning", on Wednesday withdrew the remark and expressed "regret" if it has hurt anyone's sentiments.
The current battle within the party is seen as setting the stage for August 10 when Sonia completes one year of interim presidentship, and questions are being raised about a leadership vacuum. For the first time, responsible quarters are suggesting that as Sonia cannot function as interim president indefinitely and Rahul seems to want power but not the responsibility, one way out is collective leadership, reports Aditi Phadnis.
'That would be very bad for them and suicidal for both the Gandhis and the Congress party.'
Ramesh, however, said it was too early to talk about all this right now as the Congress' first priority was the upcoming elections in Karnataka and the string of state polls this year.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien Thursday held West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury responsible for an alliance not working out between the two parties in West Bengal.
The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing 'hijab' in educational institutions, which had hit national headlines last year with a government pre-university college in Udupi banning it inside classrooms, does not appear to be a serious campaign issue for the May 10 elections to the Karnataka assembly.
The meeting will be held in Shiv Sena Bhavan in which the chief minister will join virtually.
In his Marathi autobiography Lok Maze Saangati published in 2015, Pawar has lavished praise on Adani describing him as 'hard-working, simple, down to earth' and with ambition to make big in the infrastructure sector.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate Friday on an Ethics Committee report recommending Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra's expulsion in the cash-for-query issue, with the Opposition demanding she be allowed to speak in the House, and the government contending her views were heard by the panel.
Sidhu, who had been attacking the AAP-led government in the state over various issues including the law and order situation, said Punjab's resurrection was possible only with a collective effort.
Tharoor, among the group of 23 leaders who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking large-scale reforms, said 'reformists' at the end of the day wanted a more consultative process where a wide variety of voices would be heard and taken into account before decisions were made.
Sources said Sonia Gandhi referred to Azad and others twice during her brief address and the issues raised by them.
A Green Card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is a document issued to immigrants as evidence that the bearer has been granted the privilege of residing permanently in the US.
The Bill to amend the Wakf Act, 1995, will make it mandatory for Waqf boards to register their properties with district collectors to ensure their actual valuation.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the shock resignation of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday and his letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in which he lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for 'demolishing the party's entire consultative mechanism'.
Y S Sharmila's message to voters in Kadapa is brief: 'I am YSR's daughter, my brother Jagan has ruined Andhra, vote for me, vote for Congress.' A Ganesh Nadar listens in.
'In spirit, and more importantly in its DNA, this is the Congress Inc, or Incorporated, a family-run entity,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday chaired his first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee two days after the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha which the Opposition lost.
In his letter to the Congress National President, Mallikarjun Kharge, Lovely said that all unanimous decisions taken by the senior Delhi Congress leaders have been unilaterally vetoed by the AICC general secretary (Delhi in-charge).
BJP MLA Vishal Nehria had claimed that Dravid will be participating in the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha's National Working Committee session in Dharamshala.
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Congress leader Jitin Prasada, one of the 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational changes, said the letter was written with the sole purpose of suggesting how to reinvigorate and revitalise the party.
After its resounding defeat in the assembly polls in five states, the Congress on Thursday said the results are contrary to its expectations, but it accepts the people's mandate.
The Congress president had left on August 23 to visit her ailing mother, who was in her 90s.
While the historic success of Chandrayaan-3 is celebrated by Indians across the world, two untrumpeted engineering colleges in Kerala are basking in the glory of the key role played by some of their alumni in the crucial Moon mission.
By the looks of it, the Congress cannot hope to return to power even in election 2024. What it can do is to start from the bottom, hold organisational elections, which are honest, and co-opt those elected to form teams of office-bearers at all levels, right up to the working committee. By the very nature of the elections that they are going to lose, the party should use the interim to shore up youth power, or whatever remains, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Verma said Kamal Nath and his son Nakul Nath are both not crossing over to the BJP and asserted that the latter will contest the Lok Sabha polls, likely to be held in April-May, from Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh as the Congress candidate.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday stressed that the party would fight the Rajasthan assembly polls "unitedly" and said that a decision on who would lead the next government would be taken by the high command after consultations with the newly-elected MLAs.
While Tharoor declined to comment on whether he would throw his hat into the ring, he has written an article for Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi calling for a "free and fair" election.
A day after he cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha polls, Bishnoi also said that he listened to his soul and acted on his conscience.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
Nitish Kumar wants to assure the BJP leadership that he will continue to be a part of the NDA. But he also wants to secure a larger number of seats for his party in the 2025 assembly elections in Bihar.
Patole, the MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district, had resigned as speaker of Maharashtra assembly on Thursday.
'What you need is a credible Opposition, a credible platform to persuade people to believe that it can replace this government.'
'Every Congressperson is disillusioned in different degrees.'
According to the National Democratic Alliance sources, the new government may allot five to six ministerial berths to the allies Janasena and Bharatiya Janata Party.
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