Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who set off a national debate when he walked the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a T-shirt in north India's cold winter, donned a pheran to ward off Kashmir's bone-freezing chill on Monday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday embarked on the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Thoubal in Manipur with a promise to bring peace and harmony in the ethnic violence-hit state.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday took a swipe at the Congress and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam over dynasty politics and alleged corruption, calling them "2G, 3G, 4G" parties and said the time has come in Tamil Nadu to throw away these and give the power to a "son of the soil".
Seventeen former leaders of the Democratic Azad Party (DAP), including ex-deputy chief minister Tara Chand and ex-Pradesh Congress Committee chief Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed, on Friday returned to the Congress fold and were welcomed back by the party which said they were on a 'leave of two months'.
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
'The question is not only about abrogating Article 370. It was done in inhuman manner'
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a fresh padayatra (foot march) from Gujarat to Meghalaya and during that period leaders and workers of the party's Maharashtra unit would criss-cross the state, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
Its workers are on their toes to win over the voters once again, with idea of 'Amrit Kaal'.
Ghulam Nabi Azad, who recently parted ways with the Congress, on Monday launched his new party -- the Democratic Azad party (DAP).
Azad said it will affect all religions.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"Vishwaguru has created a new model of democracy where there are symbols and buildings of democracy but the soil of democracy is now missing," he said.
'I was never interested to work as Leader of Opposition but accepted the role on demand of the party MLAs'
Omar Abdullah also urged upon the governor to take some confidence building measures and also ensure that there was zero-tolerance towards the human rights violations.
Opposition parties will hold the next meeting of their 26-member INDIA coalition in Mumbai on August 25 and 26, sources said on Thursday.
"This is Narendra Modi government, nobody can dilute the AFSPA as we are standing like a rock behind the security forces, protecting (our) border," Shah asserted.
'Mr Prime Minister, you have violated the time honoured principle of Indian foreign policy of not interfering in the domestic elections of another country'
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, the Centre's key counsel in defending the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, said on Monday the Supreme Court verdict upholding the government's August 5, 2019, decision will go down in history as the one that corrected a "Himalayan constitutional blunder" of gigantic proportions.
Azad, who had served as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Union minister under various prime ministers and the chief minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir, refused to divulge any further details on the formation of his new party.
A police complaint has been lodged at Barakhamba police station in Delhi, against 26 Opposition parties "for improper use of the name of INDIA and use of the said name for the undue influence and personation at elections."
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
Shah made the announcement while addressing the passing out parade of the first batch of the five newly constituted Assam Police Commando battalions in Guwahati.
it's just a matter of time, the former army chief said in response to a question.
Gandhi, who met a cross section of people from Jammu and Kashmir during his yatra, said J-K has the highest level of unemployment in the country.
"He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," the Congress vice president said.
Some constituents of the alliance have raised concern that the panels, particularly the 14-member coordination committee, are at risk of becoming ineffective, as their decisions have so far not been acted upon.
It will expedite disposal of cases as they won't get inordinately delayed, Shah said.
The Congress will launch a two-month door-to-door campaign across India from next week to spread Rahul Gandhi's message among the masses, senior leader Jairam Ramesh said on Friday.
Rediff.com does a quick checklist on what the two manifestos have to say on hot-button issues of the day.
Gandhi, who is currently on a tour of the Union Territory of Ladakh, covered a distance of about 130 km to reach Lamayuru where he will stay overnight before moving to Zanskar, a tehsil of Kargil district, on Wednesday. He will be in Kargil town on Thursday.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Ahead of the all-party delegation's visit to Kashmir Valley next week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi held deliberations with senior party leaders on the strategy for the troubled state.
In his hunger for power, the prime minister has forgotten raj dharma, the Congress alleged.
He said a detailed schedule of the Yatra for J&K is being worked out in consultation with the agencies concerned, especially the security establishment.
The visit of the MEPs to Kashmir was not ceding of ground on Kashmir, the MEA said.
The Opposition INDIA bloc on Friday finalised a 14-member coordination-cum-election strategy committee comprising members of various parties, and it will function as the alliance's highest decision-making body and start work on seat-sharing immediately, sources said.
The padyatra concluded at the Lal Chowk area on Sunday with Rahul Gandhi unfurling the national flag but the official closing would take place on Monday in Srinagar, amid snowfall.
However, it was not clear on what basis most of the people were being held.
He said the people are looking for an alternative and the Congress' victories in Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka elections are clear proof of this.
A Jammu and Kashmir minister belonging to Congress has stoked a controversy by suggesting that Kashmir be granted "azadi", remarks that embarassed his party that termed them as his personal view.
