The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi asserted that the Congress will protect the Constitution and the reservation system at all costs and foil "conspiracies" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Leaders of various opposition parties on Sunday demanded that issues of price rise, 'Agnipath' scheme as well as the alleged misuse of investigative agencies be taken up in Parliament and also raised objections to the list of 'unparliamentary words' at an all-party meeting convened by the government ahead of the Monsoon Session.
Under the alliance arrangement for the mayoral elections, the AAP will fight for the mayor's seat while the Congress will contest the posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor.
Addressing the newly elected MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament, she said far from taking responsibility for the failure, the prime minister intends to get himself sworn in again on Sunday.
"We are going to have a meeting with our partners tomorrow. These questions will be raised and answered there," Gandhi told a press conference in New Delhi when asked if the Congress and its allies will approach parties that are part of the National Democratic Alliance to try and form a government.
According to the sources, during their floor coordination meeting this morning, leaders of the INDIA parties decided to continue their aggressive stance in Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha.
Mallikarjun Kharge may be a respected politician and a loyal Congressman, but he is not a great orator nor does he have exceptional debating skills. Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com reports
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was given a rousing welcome by thousands of people, including United Democratic Front leaders and workers, at Kalpetta in Wayanad on Wednesday as she prepares to make her electoral debut by filing nomination papers for the coming Lok Sabha bypoll.
In a significant political development, National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced on Thursday that an alliance with the Congress was finalised for all 90 assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, which is going for its maiden assembly polls after being reorganised into a Union Territory.
Ruling NDA and opposition INDIA bloc MPs clashed in Parliament on Thursday over Home Minister Amit Shah's remarks on B.R. Ambedkar, leading to jostling and an injury to BJP MP Pratap Sarangi. The opposition demanded Shah's resignation, while the BJP defended him.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the BJP in her maiden Lok Sabha speech, accusing the government of trying to weaken the Constitution and prioritizing the interests of one individual over the people. She criticized the BJP's alleged attempts to change the Constitution, the growing monopoly of the Adani Group, atrocities on women, and the demand for a nationwide caste census. She also challenged the BJP to hold elections using ballot paper, saying it would expose the reality.
Kharge also urged voters to take pride in the fact that he as a bhoomi putra of Karnataka had been made All India Congress Committee president, and sought a win for the Congress in that name.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Saturday she looks forward to being the voice of the people of Wayanad in Parliament and thanked Rahul Gandhi for 'showing her the way and having her back always'.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal has once again ruled out an alliance with the Congress for the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls, dismissing recent reports suggesting a tie-up between the two parties. Kejriwal, in a post on X, stated that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will contest the election on its own strength, reiterating his earlier stance. The recent buzz over an alliance between the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partners was fueled by the cancellation of the Congress's "Nyay Chaupal" event, which was scheduled for Wednesday. Despite recent meetings between Kejriwal and other INDIA leaders, the AAP has maintained that it will fight the Delhi elections independently. The AAP has already released two lists containing the names of 31 candidates for the polls, with the remaining candidates expected to be announced soon. Meanwhile, the BJP is making all-out efforts to dethrone the AAP from the capital.
Sharma's letter comes at a time the Congress has intensified its demand for a nationwide caste census and promised to carry out the exercise if elected to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
Kharge accused PM Modi of inciting people over the issues "that the Congress will never do".
The constituency is being represented by senior BJP leader and Union minister Raosaheb Danve, who has won this seat five times on the trot.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is expected to attend the next meeting of opposition parties in Bengaluru on July 17 and 18, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday.
The BJP's nationwide vote share saw its steepest decline in Rajasthan, falling by 9.23% from 2019, resulting in the loss of 11 seats.
Rahul Gandhi has spoken to Nitish Kumar and Lalu Yadav about the Begusarai seat, but the CPI is unwilling to give up the seat.
Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was shot dead in Mumbai, was a popular figure in Bollywood circles and had earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the Covid pandemic.
Gandhi answers several such light-hearted questions in a more than two-minute video released by the Congress on its social media channels.
Kumar, whose NDA-allied Janata Dal-United has won 12 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in Bihar, has emerged as a key player in government formation
Kharge said that the BJP is trying to misuse his 'Ravan' remarks for electoral gains in Gujarat.
Results of the Delhi assembly election are not a vindication of Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's policies but a referendum on Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party, the Congress said on Saturday as it vowed to bounce back from another whitewash.
A voter turnout of 10.82 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Saturday in 58 constituencies in six states and two Union territories where polling is underway in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress.
'There is some deep rot that has set in the Congress party. This requires an organisational surgery.'
Former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday appeared all set to become Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha after his appointment as Leader of Congress in the Upper House.
Another meeting convened by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday with the floor leaders of the INDIA constituents in Parliament will, however, go ahead according to its schedule to formulate the opposition strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
Goel's tenure was till December 5, 2027, and he would have become Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after incumbent Rajiv Kumar retired in February next year.
Expressing 'pain' over opposition parties boycotting the Constitution Day event organised by the Lok Sabha secretariat on Friday, speaker Om Birla said staying away from such non-partisan events held by Parliament is not good for the health of democracy.
A senior Congressman from South India told Rediff.com, "This is a big setback for Rahul Gandhi's strategy of stalling Parliament. Sushma has not resigned and Khargeji is speaking and debating. What does it say about our stand in this session?"
The leaders of the two parties discussed the possibilities of seat sharing but did not divulge any details.
KC Venugopal mentioned that the Congress's goal is to diminish the BJP's representation in Uttar Pradesh by securing half of the seats in the state.
His remarks came a day after Kharge said he told Tharoor that it would be better to have a consensus candidate but the Lok Sabha MP insisted on a contest for the "sake of democracy".
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is unlikely to attend a meeting of the INDIA bloc on June 1, sources said, as it coincides with the last phase of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.
Embroiled in a controversy over his 'slip of the tongue' on Lord Jagannath, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and party's Puri Lok Sabha candidate Sambit Patra apologised and announced he will undertake penance by observing fast for three days from Tuesday after being criticised from different quarters.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances