A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said both Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot were "assets to the party", the CM on Tuesday suggested that the matter rests there.
Faced with poll debacle in four states, the Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir'.
The Congress, who has presently become a "leaderless" party, has also been facing multiple shocks at the state levels.
The cross-country foot march stayed in the news almost right through, mostly for the barbs between the BJP and the Congress and occasionally for other reasons, including infighting in the opposition party.
The party's research department team, which Rajya Sabha member M V Rajeev Gowda heads, has sifted through the suggestions received in the last five months, and the manifesto is slated to be released later this month, reports Archis Mohan.
Just like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's 'chai pe charcha' where he connects with various sections while sipping tea over the internet, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will take part in a 'Google Hangout' on March 15, where he will interact with block, district and Pradesh Congress Committee presidents to give them pep talk on the coming elections and to get their feedback on their states and their districts. Renu Mittal reports
Amid reports that her appointment as secretary in-charge of Punjab has left the Congress embarrassed, Kumari met Sonia and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Shiromani Akali Dal of unnecessarily making an issue out of a 'non-issue'.
The Gujarat elections will be held on December 9 and 14.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
Digvijaya Singh is no longer in Rahul's close circle of advisers. His move to the Upper House was to ensure that the senior leader does not meddle in Madhya Pradesh politics in the run up to the crucial Lok Sabha polls. Anita Katyal reports
Priyanka said the Modi government did not fulfil its promises of providing jobs to crores of people in the country.
State leaders have emerged as the biggest road block for Congress Vice president Rahul Gandhi who is trying to give young leaders bigger responsibilities, says Renu Mittal
The BJP's challenge is whether it can again deflate a Congress, which now looks reinvigorated and has adopted sharper messaging around its 'guarantees', and several regional parties, especially in Bihar, Maharashtra and West Bengal.
While Congress-ruled states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Assam expressed fears about the sudden demise of the planning process and wondered what it would be replaced with, also worrying about the immediate implications on annual Plan outlays, Andhra Pradesh said it was considering setting up its own NITI Aayog.
'They are happy for the Hindu community as Ram Lalla is consecrated in Ayodhya.'
The results of the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are likely to play out during the winter session of Parliament beginning Wednesday.
Senior Congress leaders Venugopal, Ajay Maken and Ashok Gehlot had on Wednesday took stock of the preparations for the Chintan Shivir.
Top Congress leaders are learnt to be discussing the current political situation.
Senior IPS officers Javeed Ahmed, Rajni Kant Misra, S S Deswal and Shivanand Jha are said to be among the front-runners for the coveted post.
'I hope the anger that Gujarat farmers have demonstrated is also reflected in other parts of the country in ensuing elections.' 'Only then will the ruling parties accept that something is terribly going wrong in the hinterland.'
The Congress vice president took to twitter to lash out at Modi after the All India Congress Committee demanded rollback of the restriction under which an amount over Rs 5000 in scrapped currency can be deposited only once per account till December 30.
Will a caste census make tens of millions desert Mr Modi?, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
Patel's elevation and his subsequent projection as chief ministerial face -- he is the first from the Kadva Patidar sub-group to be the chief minister -- is key to BJP's plans to woo the Kadva Patidar community, which some political observers feel, has drifted away from the party.
The Congress, out of power in UP for 27 years is making a big pitch to bounce back, on a cocktail of caste politics and promises of agriculture debt waiver worth Rs 49,000 crore and power rate reduction for farmers hit by high input costs and diminishing returns., reports Amit Agnihotri.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I have filed my nomination for AIFF president's post and I feel I am the right person for the job'
As fuel prices continue its northward march with petrol and diesel being sold at Rs 80.73 and Rs 72.83 per litre in the national capital, at least 21 opposition parties, led by the Congress have staged a Bharat Bandh protesting the rise in fuel prices and depreciation of the rupee.
The resurgence that Congressmen feel is in fact more sentimental than substantive. The substantive reality is that the Congress is a party in terminal decline since 1989, says Shekhar Gupta.
The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of their meeting but shared no details about their talks.
Disappointed and angry Congress members are likely to train their guns on Rahul Gandhi's team of advisors for inept handling of the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
Marking a generational shift in state politics, Union Minister Sachin Pilot was on Monday appointed the Congress chief in Rajasthan where the party faced a rout in Assembly polls.
More and more Congressmen are breaking their silence and coming out in the open blaming party vice president Rahul Gandhi for the poll drubbing. Renu Mittal reports.
Kerala is one state where the Congress may do well in the general election and it where Rahul Gandhi has demonstrated why he is serious about rebuilding his party, says T V R Shenoy.
'Gehlot is right now doing things, which are not appreciated by the Gandhis.' 'The Gandhis have realised that their writ does not run in Rajasthan, therefore they have deflected the issue to Kharge.'
Governors must be impartial, fair, and above narrow politics to uphold the values and spirit of the Constitution. But in a rapidly changing political culture where the unstated rule is to crush the Opposition, such values have no meaning. At stake are Constitutional values, federalism and governance, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Ever since Nitish embarked on the slippery path of trying to unite the Opposition against the BJP, he has repeatedly rebutted suggestions that the exercise was aimed at bringing himself centre stage. The problem is: It is not enough if he says so. Others have to say so as well, especially Congress, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Tuesday alleged that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had got 10,000 burqas stitched for its 'Karyakarta Mahakumbh' to be held in Bhopal on Wednesday, for which a real estate company had paid Rs 42 lakh to the tailor, a charge denied by the BJP.
Mother and son refuse to go away despite indications blowing in the wind that their leadership is ringing the death knell of the party, observes Ramesh Menon.
A new Congress leader may make an electoral impact by his very presence. Congress voters who had moved away from the party, after being influenced by the BJP's 'family rule' campaign, can now return with a certain moral satisfaction, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
