It said the Congress will infuse new blood in leadership roles without creating new fault lines and cementing its ideological moorings.
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Common Minimum Programme will also be made public on Wednesday.
With the remarks of the Thackerays against North Indians and stray attacks on them in Mumbai raising a huge controversy, Congress president Sonia Gandhi disapproved "bigoted provincialism", maintaining that internal migration only strengthens national integration.
The party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, a Gandhi family bastion which was won by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi five consecutive times.
The Congress is planning to call a meeting of Opposition parties in May. It is possible to keep all possibilities open in case Karnataka yields a hung House, leading to a recalibrated Opposition.
The party's prime mover in West Bengal and the state Pradesh Congress president was stunned by Trinamool Congress's star candidate and cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan who comprehensively defeated Chowdhury by a margin of over 85,000 votes.
Although the Supreme Court has mandated the Centre to conduct the polls by the end of September, a spate of terrorist attacks in J&K could cause delays.
Among all Joshi's other portfolios -- he is also minister for coal and mines -- it is parliamentary affairs that is politically the most crucial. But to make a success of his job, he may have to hone his people skills a bit more, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Referring to next month's elections in Goa, she said there too Congress was confronting the BJP whose single point programme was communal polarisation.
At the meeting, Gandhi described bills on Food Security and Women's Reservation as 'most important' legislative agenda of the government.
Party sources said Sonia, addressing the CPP, the first in the Budget session, faulted the main opposition for its stalling tactics in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
The coming weeks are sure to have a lot of drama unfolding in Maharashtra, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ray, however, claimed on Friday that his remarks were "misinterpreted".
The event is set to witness a lot of fireworks as it provides yet another opportunity to a section of ruling party critical of the UPA regime's economic policies.
Shah also challenged the Congress to implement its Lok Sabha election promise of providing Rs 8500 monthly to women in states ruled by the party.
The People's Democratic Party and the National Conference -- the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners in Jammu and Kashmir -- will be taking on each other on the three Lok Sabha seats in the valley.
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.
Congressmen can expect and tolerate anything in the world, but not impropriety against any member of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi, Gandhi referred to the Group of Ministers set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to look into the preparations for the Games, and termed the CWG as a matter of national pride
Unrest in Kashmir and Commonwealth Games preparations are expected to find a mention when Congress President Sonia Gandhi addresses a meeting of Congress Parliamentary Party in New Delhi on Thursday.
Every trick in the trade is being tried unabashedly.
In simple arithmetical terms every possible 'arrangement' is being made to deny a majority to its rivals. A split verdict would hand a vital advantage to the BJP which is adept at extracting the best out of such a situation, notes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
'Someone who cannot even take his cabinet into confidence, how will he take the NDA alliance into confidence?'
With many of his close associates leaving his side, it is virtually a lone battle for Congress stalwart Kamal Nath to help his parliamentarian son Nakul Nath win from Chhindwara for a second time amid the Bharatiya Janata Party's aggressive push to wrest the seat.
If Meena resigns, it is likely to put pressure on other ministers whose areas also saw poor performance in the general elections.
The Aam Aadmi Party has fielded Karamjit Anmol, while the BJP has named North West Delhi MP Hans Raj Hans from Faridkot, a reserved parliamentary constituency.
Jaitley's concerns are unlikely to cut much ice with the Congress.
When several opposition MPs expressed their desire to ask questions about the Centre's vaccination policy such as increasing the gap between two doses, the BJP MPs strongly opposed it and few of them even demanded postponement of the meeting and walked out, the sources said.
Akhilesh's fielding candidates from a broad spectrum of castes, not just Yadavs, and with the BJP losing in several seats in Purvanchal, suggests that smaller OBC communities shifted from the BJP to the SP in the region.
Modi was seen holding back his tears, according to those present at the meeting, at least three times as he named Jana Sangh and BJP leaders.
A land-owning class, the Jats are a powerful community and account for 28 per cent of Haryana's population. The time, they believe, has now come for them to take revenge.
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.
Sonia called for scrupulous adherence to the norms to avoid conflict of interest and to the stipulated disclosure requirements.
'If things don't work on the ground and they continue moving at this pace, it will vanish.'
He told PTI in an interview that parties that are still thinking of 'being the leader' of a possible united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls have not understood the gravity of the situation at all.
Even if the BJP gets 60, 70, or even 100 per cent of the votes in the seats where it scored more than 50 per cent in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, these will still add up to only 224 seats, argues Shekhar Gupta.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
'Politics is a game of public perception and my father felt that by his long disappearances, Rahul Gandhi was losing the battle of perception.'
The TDP and JD-U will have a lot to answer inside Parliament, day after day, session after session, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Recalling an incident, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari revealed that his friend once suggested him to join the Congress but he declined the offer saying that he would prefer to jump into a well rather than joining the party.
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