Rahul Gandhi is not to be blamed if the Congress does not perform well in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, whose results will be out on Tuesday, party leaders said on Saturday. "A leader creates an atmosphere. To convert that atmosphere into votes and seats is the responsibility of candidates and the organisation," All India Congress Committee general secretary in-charge for Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh said.
Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal held a crucial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday night to finalise seat sharing arrangements for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held early next year.
The Congress on Thursday dubbed as an instance of "Mayawati's jungleraj" the criminal case filed by Uttar Pradesh police against Union Ministers Jitin Prasad and RPN Singh for allegedly assaulting Samajwadi Party workers during Rahul Gandhi's rally in Phulpur recently.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's dramatic act of tearing up a paper with a list of election promises of political opponents at a poll rally drew a sarcastic reaction with the Samajwadi Party saying he may now jump from the stage to vent his anger.
The Election Commission is examining whether Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma's remarks on the minorities sub-quota daring the poll body during a rally in Farrukhabad last night were a violation of the model code of conduct.
The Congress party on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues, latching on to the controversy surrounding newly-inducted minister of state for HRD Ram Shankar Katheria over his graduation marksheet.
Close on the heels of Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh hinting at the possibility of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh, Bhartiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Yogi Adityanath on Saturday also ruled out the possibility of the formation of any popular government in the state. "Let me tell you that no political party will be in a position to form the government," the sadhu-turned-politician told reporters.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Amid the controversy over Salman Rushdie's India visit, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Uma Bharti on Saturday said that the Congress will be looking to exploit the issue to the hilt to win over Muslims voters in Uttar Pradesh.
Sparking yet another controversy, Congress general secretary called Meenakshi Natarajan, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi and Mandsaur MP, "sau taka tunch maal".
Dismissing Congress leader Digvijay Singh's claim that the Batla House encounter was "fake", Home Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said the 2008 gun fight between security forces and terrorists in Delhi was indeed genuine and there was no scope for reopening the case.
It has taken Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi a month to recover from the poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh, inflicted on his party by his own partymen. A month later, he has decided that he should get to the bottom of the UP mystery.
Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh has said that the recent porngate scandals in Karnataka and Gujarat assemblies have exposed the real face of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the clean chit given to the accused MLAs in the Narendra Modi-led government was a foregone conclusion.
The magic that was Priyanka... The Mamata-Mulayam clash... Is Digvijay Singh in trouble? Catch up on the latest gossip in this week's Dilli Gupshup.
The Congress would prefer to sit in the opposition in case it fell short of numbers in the election to the Uttar Pradesh assembly than supporting any other party, senior leader Digvijay Singh has said. He also raised questions over the possibility of Congress ally Rashtriya Lok Dal heading the government in case the combine gets majority.
A combative Congress on Tuesday asserted that it will move the high court to seek quashing of the FIR lodged against Rahul Gandhi for alleged violation of the poll code, saying the action was taken at the behest of Chief Minister Mayawati. "Because of the successful election campaign of the Congress, this action has been taken on the direction of Mayawatiji," Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters.
Rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party's demand to call off the prime ministerial level talks with Pakistan in New York, the Congress on Thursday said the terror strike in Jammu is an attempt to derail the peace process and wondered whether the saffron party also wanted the same.
Factionalism in Congress came to the fore on Wednesday with Union Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma terming party MP from Barabanki P L Punia as an "outsider" though the party downplayed it and termed it as media creation.
Her lawyer told the court that she is suffering from high blood pressure and is unable to travel from Bhopal to Mumbai.
Former union parliamentary affairs minister Matang Singh has been re-inducted into the Congress with immediate effect, said All India Congress Committee General Secretary Singh on Saturday. However, Janardan Dwivedi, AICC media in-charge, has denied this claim.
Social activist and member of Team Anna, Arvind Kejriwal, on Wednesday said that the attacks on Gandhian Anna and members of his team were aimed at diverting their attention from the core issue of Jan Lokpal Bill.
Local favourite Digvijay Singh closed with a flawless six-under-par 66 to end an agonizing 12-year wait for his maiden Asian Tour title at the Panasonic Open India in New Delhi on Sunday.
Putting up a brave front after it failed to muster the numbers in the Rajya Sabha, the United Progressive Alliance government on Friday said the Lokpal Bill will "definitely" be brought before the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session even as Congress leader Digvijay Singh defended the move saying extension of the House on Thursday night was not possible.
This is the first full-scale review of VIP protectees by the Union home ministry after the Modi 2.0 government took charge.
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Security has been strengthened at the official residence of Congress General Secretary, Digvijay Singh in Bhopal, in view of the reaction to his statements following the police crackdown on Baba Ramdev's agitation in New Delhi.
The Rashtriya Lok Dal, with five members in the Lok Sabha, on Monday formally joined the United Progressive Alliance amid speculations that its chief Ajit Singh would be included in the Cabinet as the civil aviation minister. With the RLD joining the ruling coalition, its strength has gone up from 272 to 277 MPs. In the backdrop of speculations that Ajit Singh will be inducted into the Cabinet, Digvijay Singh was asked who will be the next civil aviation minister.
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
'Political convenience' and 'personal ambition' played a major part in Scindia's decision to the Congress, said a party leader.
The third day of Lakme Fashion Week saw designer Digvijay Singh go green with organic fabrics and a unisex line for both men and women. Showcasing for label Bhu:sattva, here is the Unimitable Unisex Collection.
Ramakant Pandey, who was questioned four months ago, over alleged fraudulent recruitments was found hanging from a ceiling fan.
"In a country of 800 million voters how can few lakh sample size surveys predict the result? Let's wait for May 16 (when votes will be counted)," Congress leader Digvijay Singh tweeted in the morning.
It was a battle of wits between IBN-18 network editor-in-chief, Rajdeep Sardesai, and Congress leaders Digvijay Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar.
"The two parties always had a tacit understanding in Uttar Pradesh," Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told media persons when asked his views on the BJP and BSP describing party general secretary Rahul Gandhi's 'padayatra' in UP as a political drama.
Even as Congress General Secretary and the party's in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijay Singh on Tuesday sought to describe Rahul Gandhi's 'kisan sandesh yatra', which he launched from Bhatta Parsaul early on Tuesday morning as "completely apolitical", both the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party and the Bhartiya Janata Party sought to term it as a "political gimmick."
Union Minister and National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday ruled out any problems with ally Congress in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rahul Gandhi and Congress have to decide when he should take over as Prime Minister, the party said Monday.
A local court in Muzaffarpur on Monday accepted a complaint seeking to register a case of sedition against Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh for allegedly describing yoga guru Ramdev as a 'fraud'.
Advocate Nandita Rao speaks to rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about why she wants Baba Ramdev to come clean on how he built a Rs 1,100 crore empire, how he got huge plots of land in some Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states and why he is claiming to be apolitical when he is openly seeking support from the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader Indresh Kumar, whose name figures in the ATS charge sheet, claimed the case against him was "totally fabricated and a political conspiracy", but the Rajasthan chief minister rejected the charge.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances