After Bihar elections, Rahul Gandhi's go-it-alone strategy seems to have taken a back seat.
An inchoate anger is brewing within the party against the central leadership after the poor show in the assembly polls.
Virtually launching the party's campaign for 2014 elections, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday talked about the need to "heal the wounds" of Kashmiris and connect its aspiring youths with the national mainstream for the development of the state.
If New Delhi finds itself out in the cold in Afghanistan, both the Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA have only themselves to blame. Each has been in power for a full decade from 2001, without reaching out to the Taliban, points out Ajai Shukla.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
The outgoing Lok Sabha had 23 Muslim MPs, the most being from Congress and TMC. The highest number of Muslim MPs were in 1980 when as many as 49 MPs from the community which constitute nearly fifth of Indian population present in the Lok Sabha.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday slammed Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for levelling "unfounded corruption charges" against her party and questioned as to why Lokayukta was not appointed in Gujarat for ten years.
The Centre set up a political tug of war with opposition parties which have planned to observe it as a 'black day'
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
Chandrasekhar was reacting to the arrest of Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party leader S G Suryah under the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology (IT) Act allegedly over a social media post.
"Our party was defeated in unambiguous terms," she says about the defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013.
'It is not his doing, but Rahul Gandhi is forced by circumstances.' 'In taking political decisions, everything has to get his clearance.'
The Congress on Tuesday sought to make more trouble for the government on Lalitgate issue, putting forth six demands including making public minutes of a meeting it claimed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had with United Kingdom High Commissioner James Bevan in which she had favoured grant of travel documents to Lalit Modi.
Consensus emerged on the appointment of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge as the chairperson of the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), while Janata Dal-United chief Nitish Kumar's name was proposed for the convener's post, pending approval of parties absent at the alliance meeting on Saturday, according to sources.
The opposition is likely to put up a joint candidate for the July 18 presidential election despite not having numbers on its side, and consultations in this regard have already begun.
Biggest contribution came from Bharti group-led Satya Electoral Trust.
Alleging that the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government's mindset has led to "decay" of key institutions including Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday said it poses a serious issue before the next Lok Sabha as it is threatening the survival of democracy in the country.
Amid questions over his future, many political observers believe he has enhanced his political stature.
"They probably ran the Defence Ministry with a lot of brokers and 'dalals' in between," she said.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said that the Opposition is suffering from "selective amnesia" as during the Congress-led UPA rule, the winter session was held in December in 2008 and 2013.
While admitting that it is early to predict how the leadership issue will pan out in the coming months, Congress insiders maintained that in the present situation, it appears highly unlikely that Sonia will be able to retire by the given deadline says Anita Katyal
There are also views within a section of the party that a turnaround in Uttar Pradesh is possible only if either of the Gandhis -- Priyanka or Rahul -- takes the lead in the state polls.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
While all poll surveys point to an overwhelming anti-Congress mood in the country, there is a growing consensus in the grand old party that it has no reasons to be defensive and should instead run an aggressive campaign against Bharatiya Janata Party' prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi by questioning his administrative acumen and underlining the corporate support he enjoys, says Anita Katyal
Ahead of the Lok Sabha poll verdict on May 16, former Nationalist Congress Party leader P A Sangma on Monday met Narendra Modi and declared support of the North East Regional Political Front led by him to the Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial nominee.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan came under a scathing attack at a meeting of the All India Congress Committee headed by senior leader A K Antony, with some state leaders telling the high command that the party's fate would be no better in the assembly polls due by October.
The dates of the forthcoming assembly polls in Rajasthan are yet to be announced by the Election Commission, but on the ground, the battle has already begun between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
For the BJP, Telangana is a sunrise state in the South, while Karnataka is a southern success despite the ups and downs.
In a veiled reference to the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Sunday said those who have been in power for the last 60 years have followed the "divide and rule policy in the country and conspired to snatch the rights of Dalit and backward communities".
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M K Stalin on Sunday hit back at Union Home Minister Amit Shah for attacking his party with the 2G spectrum scam allegation and dynasty politics barb, saying it was an amusing and conjuring trick ahead of the 2021 assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party on Monday promised reservations to Muslims as well as Marathas, implementation of Rajinder Sachar committee report, and support for `statehood to Andaman and Nicobar' in its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, released in Mumbai.
They met at Modi's residence in New Delhi a day after the NDA won a majority of seats in the Lok Sabha election, paving the way for him to take the oath for a third consecutive term, a first for any ruling alliance since 1962.
What stood out in his 15-year journey as a member of the political executive at the Centre was his glowing record as India's most successful and effective finance minister. Both as prime minister and finance minister, he understood the importance of gradualism, except when the economy or the polity was in a crisis.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who were present at the meeting, asked party leaders to remain united and connected with the people, sources said.
Sonia Gandhi was on Saturday re-elected chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party and asked party men not to bicker in public amid a fierce blame game in the party over its worst electoral defeat which has seen Team Rahul Gandhi coming under attack from a number of leaders.
The AAP chief also said that Congress president Rahul Gandhi would be to blame if Narendra Modi came back to power.
Rao said his party Bharat Rashtra Samithi has always maintained that parties should unite based on people-centric issue.
Sadhvi, 44, was granted bail by the Bombay high court on Tuesday.
'Modi is trying avenues to convince people why they should vote for the BJP.'
Kumar remarked that the Congress could have done the needful while the United Progressive Alliance, led by it, ruled the country for two consecutive terms.
