Shinde was speaking in the presence of Union Home Minister Ami Shah at the inauguration ceremony of the 'Jairaj Sports and Convention Centre' built by the Shree Poona Gujarati Bandhu Samaj in Pune's Kondhwa.
The party has not applied the "one-family, one-ticket" formula for the Karnataka polls which it followed in the Punjab polls held last year.
Political parties have fielded sons, wives and daughters-in-law of legislators who quit after being elected to the Lok Sabha.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
The principal opposition party though appeared content securing 99 of the 543 seats in the 2024 national elections as against its all-time low of 44 in 2014 and then 52 in 2019.
'They know the people of Karnataka will not accept it.'
The Kannada and Culture Minister also said the BJP should be ashamed to ask for votes in the coming Lok Sabha elections as, he alleged, it has failed on the development front as well.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the violence during protests against the Waqf law, accusing her of remaining silent while "Bengal is burning." He also said that the only treatment for rioters is stick, as "Those who respond only to thrashing don't understand words."
All the issues around which the grand old party wanted to fight the May 10 assembly elections have been put on the backburner as party state president DK Shivakumar in damage control mode took up a temple run.
'There is huge anger among our workers and leaders, so many of us have decided to contest the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka as Independents to fight against this injustice.'
With the Bihar government releasing the findings of its caste survey, pressure seems to be mounting on the Karnataka government, especially within the ruling Congress, to make the state's Socio-economic and Educational Census, popularly known as the 'caste census', public.
The government also termed the alleged insult to the farmer as an infringement on "dignity and self-respect", and said it cannot be tolerated.
The controversial issue of Muslim girls wearing 'hijab' in educational institutions, which had hit national headlines last year with a government pre-university college in Udupi banning it inside classrooms, does not appear to be a serious campaign issue for the May 10 elections to the Karnataka assembly.
'Karnataka's finances are much healthier than the Union government's, which is indebted to nearly twice the extent of the state.'
He also announced unemployment allowance for the youth, as the party's fourth poll guarantee, on coming to power.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
Shivakumar said, "Mahayuti leaders should visit my state to see how Congress' welfare guarantees are benefiting people."
Barring a few, such as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (74), Union Minister C R Patil (69) and Uttar Pradesh Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (71), most other ministers attending the WEF represent the next generation of India's politicians.
According to Congress, the five schemes are 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), 10 kg of rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya), Rs 3,000 every month for unemployed graduate youth and Rs 1,500 for unemployed diploma holders (both in the age group of 18-25) for two years (YuvaNidhi), and free travel for women in public transport buses (Shakti).
Announcing the fifth poll 'guarantee' of the Congress ahead of the May 10 assembly polls in Karnataka, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday promised free travel for women in public transport buses, if it's voted to power in the state.
KPCC president and MP, Sudhakaran said that unofficially discussions have begun on who should be the candidate and officially it would start a couple of days later.
Rahul Gandhi may also contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli, a seat which was previously held by Sonia Gandhi.
It is in power on its own only in three states -- Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana -- with a big question mark on whether it can even stake claim to be head of the INDIA bloc.
'Rahul Gandhi never gets firsthand information. He does not know what is good or bad going on in the party.'
With its age-old fascination for education, southern states have done better than the North. Start-ups, IT hubs, and industry majors setting up shop have changed the face of the South. Nearly 79% of global offices set up by international conglomerates in India are in the South. Almost 46% of tech unicorns are from the South. The GDP per person in the South is 4.2 times higher than the North. None of these indicators can be ignored by any central government, whatever the political compulsions, notes Ramesh Menon.
The first Karnataka legislative assembly session, after the formation of the new government will be held on starting Monday next week in Bengaluru.
On a two-day visit to Karnataka to galvanise the party, Gandhi lashed out at the BJP government, charging that they had one record with them and that was corruption. "There is no other state more corrupt than BJP-ruled Karnataka."
Along with the 'CryPM' QR code, the party also put out a 'PayCM' QR code poster too, with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's image in the middle.
In key organisational changes, the Congress on Wednesday appointed young face Anil Chaudhary as its Delhi unit chief and named D K Shivakumar, known to be the party's chief troubleshooter in crisis situations, as the head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
The opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi on Sunday released its manifesto for the Maharashtra assembly polls, promising free cervical cancer vaccines for girls aged 9 to 16 and and two optional leave days for women employees during menstruation.
On the 32nd day of the yatra that started on September 7, Gandhi said some political parties were trying to spread hatred in the country by misleading youngsters.
In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis.
The Congress in Karnataka got a shot in the arm with former state minister and JD-S leader Iqbal Ansari joining the party on Tuesday.
The Congress victory in Karnataka, its first big state since 2018, puts the party back in the game for general elections as it re-establishes primacy in the opposition space that is currently vastly fragmented despite efforts to cobble up a united front against the BJP.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that offenders should be punished to the full extent of law regardless of who they are.
With most exit polls predicting a tight contest between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Karnataka, leaders of the two parties seem 'jittery' over the outcome, while the Janata Dal-Secular appears to be expecting a hung verdict, which would enable it to play a role in government formation.
Opposition leaders on Saturday lauded the Congress for its victory in Karnataka and thanked the people of the state, saying that this win has showed that 'Modi is not invincible'.
Glimpses of homage to Naveen Shekharappa, the final year medical student who died in Russian shelling in Ukraine's Kharkiv.
If the DMK is able to sustain the momentum until the assembly polls, the AIADMK especially and the PMK and possibly the infant TVK too would find it hard to sign up with the BJP, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Demonstrations and attempts to block roads by burning tires were reported from Ramanagara, Chennapattana and few neighbouring towns, where a bandh has been called by Shivakumar's supporters.
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