In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday stormed into the state assembly with a huge margin as his party, Congress, made a clean sweep of all the three byelections in Haryana held on June 2.
With Haryana going to polls on October 13, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday came out with a list of 'broken promises' in the Congress' 2005 manifesto, alleging that the state government had failed on all fronts. BJP General Secretary and party's in-charge for Haryana affairs, Vijay Goel, told reporters that the Congress had 'befooled' the people of the state and failed to keep the promises it had made during the previous assembly poll campaign.
Under fire for spiralling rape cases, the Haryana Congress has found itself in the middle of another row, with a local party leader stating that 90 per cent rapes were "consensual", only to retract the comments later. Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee member and Congress Hisar district spokesman Dharambir Goyat told reporters in Hisar on Thursday night that "90 per cent of rape cases are (a case of) consensual sex between the girl and boy."
The leaders of the two parties discussed the possibilities of seat sharing but did not divulge any details.
With several Congress leaders pushing for Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda's removal, the Congress is finding it difficult to keep its flock together in the poll-bound state. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Monday hit out at his detractors in the party for below expectation result of Congress in the state assembly elections saying, "Some of our own leaders did not back the party."
Ramesh also listed several previous occasions when special sessions or special sittings were held and the list of business was known in advance.
'As Bharat Jodo Yatra entered Delhi, on 24th December 2022, the security of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was compromised on multiple occasions'
Congress has approached the Election Commission seeking "exemplary punishment" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on a land deal involving Robert Vadra and DLF in Haryana.
Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad's statements regarding ministerial and chief ministerial posts, along with his veiled dig at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seems to have created a sense of unease within the ruling party in Karnataka.
Singh also defended Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath over the latter's comments on 'Hindu Rashtra.'
At a press conference in Pakhal village in Faridabad, Ramesh said, "This whole Covid drama over the last two days has been orchestrated to defame and derail the Bharat Jodo Yatra from coming to Delhi. That's the only objective."
Bishnoi said the Congress has deviated from its ideology and is no longer what it was during Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi's time.
The assertion by the Congress came after Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, citing concerns raised by three BJP MPs over the spread of coronavirus, urged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to consider suspending the Bharat Jodo Yatra if adherence to Covid protocols cannot be followed.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
'Ex-Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor joined Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra. Kapoor was indicted in the Adarsh scam along with other senior Army officers'
While Azad, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, has been made in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Nath will look after Punjab and Haryana, party General Secretary Janaradan Dwivedi said.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and several of his ministers and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Phool Chand Mullana figure in the list of 68 Congress candidates for the October 13 assembly polls, which was released by the party on Wednesday. While Hooda will contest from Garhi Sampla-Kiloi seat, Mullana has been re-nominated from Mulana. Randeep Singh Surjewala, a minister, has been shifted to Kaithal from Narwana that has become a reserved seat.
As the lower house took up the motion moved by Gogoi, there were heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi wondered why Rahul Gandhi's name as lead speaker was withdrawn at the last minute.
With his party set to return to power for the second consecutive term, creating a record of sorts in the state, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Thursday said that the Congress high command will take a final decision on the final candidate for the coveted post. "I am a disciplined soldier of the party. The high command will decide on the name of candidate for the chief minister's post," an elated Hooda said.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a white t-shirt in the biting cold has been a hot topic of discussion -- and not just in top political circles.
From the morning itself, Congress MLAs made a beeline to Cecil Hotel in Shimla where the party's central observers -- Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda -- were staying.
The group is also reported to be seeking the ouster of some Rahul Gandhi loyalists from key AICC positions and top on their target are AICC general secretary Organisation K C Venugopal, chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and general secretary Ajay Maken.
"Dear Naddaji, Stop losing cool and all sense of propriety. Please remember -- 10,000 security personnel were deployed for PM's rally. All arrangements were made in tandem with SPG and other agencies," Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
Questioning the "silence" of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over allegations involving Robert Vadra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday wondered if the internal politics of the Congress does not allow them to speak about them or "defend" Vadra.
Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal's bullet-proof car was damaged and four people were injured in a clash between Congress and Akali workers during the filing of nomination papers for the Jalalabad municipal polls in Fazilka on Tuesday, officials said.
Slogans of 'Make Rahul Gandhi INC president' rent the air on Sunday as thousands of Congress supporters reached the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi to raise their voice against price rise and unemployment.
The leaders attacked the BJP, accusing it of trying to create "Hindu-Muslim disturbances" to benefit politically and making false claims and promises.
Both the BJP and the Congress have banked on new and young faces, some of whom have been nominated by the parties for the first time.
The meeting at Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence was seen as very crucial in forging an Opposition unity with efforts on to reconcile differences between the Congress and some regional parties that have been at loggerheads traditionally.
The JD-U has five members in the Rajya Sabha, including deputy chairman Harivansh whose fate now hangs in the balance as he may have to resign since his party has moved out of the ruling alliance.
'Judge Muralidhar was under transfer to Chandigarh for entirely opaque reasons but to abruptly ask him to leave day after a midnight hearing at his residence in Delhi that must have saved many lives manifests the arrogance of a Govt punch drunk on Power'
Kumar leaves in the midst of assembly polls in five states and ahead of the February 20 election in Punjab.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the price of domestic cooking gas cylinder has been raised by Rs 50 and that of commercial gas cylinder by Rs 350 at a time when every person in the country is facing the brunt of high inflation.
Weeks ahead of the assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra on October 21, Khurshid said Congress may not be able to win the elections or ensure its own future, as per a report by the Associated Press.
Shergill said the primary reason was that "the ideology and the vision of the current decision makers of the Congress is no longer in sync with the aspirations of the youth and modern India".
