After the party's drubbing in the just-concluded assembly polls in five states, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers.
Congress leader and former union minister Captain Satish Sharma died in Goa on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 73.
Nath's comment came amid the exodus from Congress and four days after eight MLAs of the Grand Old Party from Goa switched allegiance to BJP.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi cited a viral video on social media platforms, claiming that in it Modi's voice is heard in a call with BJP rebel Kripal Parmar.
Talking to reporters in Bhopal, Kharge said he believes in collective leadership and if elected president, will consult party leaders Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi on organisational matters.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
With the Congress presidential polls round the corner, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said decisions, including that of one-man, one-post, taken at the Chintan Shivir at Udaipur in Rajasthan earlier this year are expected to be followed.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu said Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has unfurled a 'new anti-mafia era in Punjab' and hoped he would rise to the expectations of the people.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma -- joined them.
Satish Sharma was a Gandhi family loyalist and was among those who mentored Rahul Gandhi in his early days in politics. He died in Goa at 73.
'The Congress don't have the zeal to fight the BJP. The party is so bogged down by infighting that it hardly has time or energy to build an opposition. The UPA does not exist'
The meeting of the Congress Parliamentary strategy group was held at the residence of party President Sonia Gandhi.
Political analysts say the road to the 2024 polls for the Congress is going to get tougher as it is a party that is 'in the ICU' and cannot be revived with quick-fix solutions.
If the party is unable to do well in Gujarat and Karnataka polls, it could lose this status in the subsequent binneial elections to the upper House.
A dominant force in the country's politics for decades, the grand old party's free fall continued as it lost Punjab to AAP and finished with just two seats out of 403 in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
They reached Jaipur in the evening and staying at a resort located on the Delhi highway, source said.
Congress leaders and workers continued their protests in several states on Thursday against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money-laundering case with many of them taken into preventive custody including former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury in Hyderabad after she allegedly grabbed the collar of a police official.
Only 18 Bharatiya Janata Party legislators switched parties to contest the polls in this period
The Congress Working Committee, the party's top-decision making body, would soon meet to deliberate further on the Chintan Shivir plans, the sources said.
The desertion by more than two-thirds of the Congress legislative party makes TMC, a newbie in Meghalaya, the principal opposition in the Northeastern state.
Attacking the Modi government, Sonia said it has sought to erode our institutions.
Punjab's 117 assembly seats are going to be a keenly-watched contest with the Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance, and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battling to form the government in the state, with a probable entry of farmers' front in the form of Sanyukt Samaj Morcha.
The development is a major boost for West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, who has been trying to expand her party's footprint beyond her native state.
Amid signs of increasing bonhomie between her and her Telangana and Tamil Nadu counterparts Rao and Stalin, Banerjee had approached the two on Sunday to set up meetings of opposition chief ministers.
It seems the grand old party is trying to stage a comeback in the state which it ruled at one time, but also to its progeny the Trinamool Congress which has vowed to come to power in Tripura in the 2023 state assembly elections.
The senior leader, however, said that if the action of any MLA leads to harm to Congress government then it is simply not acceptable. "I consider Sachin Pilot as one of the most talented, competent and impressive Congressmen we have. He is a friend also. We all value him in the party. He should come and air his grievances, the floor is open. All people are prepared to listen to him," Singhvi said.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
The exit poll results for the recently concluded assembly elections have projected that that BJP arty could emerge as the single-largest party in four of five states except Punjab.
With the controversy over 'love and narcotic jihad' remark by Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt refusing to die down, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday engaged in a fresh round of verbal sparring.
Beset by troubles on multiple fronts within, the Congress faces the danger of imploding with party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal on Wednesday sharply questioning the decision-making process, saying there are 'no monopolies', and demanded convening an urgent meeting of the Congress Working Committee for a 'dialogue'.
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
Patole wrote that he was resigning as the chairman of the Kisan Congress and 'dismissing' the unit.
In the video clip that has gone viral on the social media, Rane and Kankavli Municipal Council president Samir Nalawade are purportedly seen tying Deputy Engineer Prakash Khedekar of the National Highways Authority of India to the railing of a bridge and pouring buckets of mud on him.
Sadhvi also said "there is no such thing as saffron terrorism," adding that "saffron means dedicated life for the nation and dharma."
The Congress quickly hit back accusing TMC of being a 'stooge of BJP' and challenged it to prove its credentials on a 'pan India' platform.
While the Congress has consistently accused Speaker Vishwas Satarkar of being partisan, the BJP has maintained that the assembly is the speaker's domain.
Jairam Ramesh said the Congress has to be the "fulcrum" of any Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections as it is the only political force with a pan-India presence.
Fearing the closure of offshore casinos in the coastal state, ahead of the general elections, Goa Congress has swore by employment opportunities created by these vessels for many of the locals.
The AAP said the tie-up can only be done on 33 Lok Sabha seats across four states and one Union Territory.
