Senior Congress leaders have dismissed the exit polls conducted by various news channels that indicate that the BJP is likely to sweep the assembly elections in all four states. They remain confident of winning in at least four states. Renu Mittal reports
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.
A row erupted when women bodybuilders posed in front of the image of Lord Hanuman at the venue of the 13th Mister Junior Bodybuilding Competition held in Ratlam on March 4 and 5, after which local Congress leaders sprinkled 'ganga jal' as part of the "purification" of the venue on Monday. They had also recited 'Hanuman Chalisa'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday attacked the Congress, saying it skipped the meeting convened to select the new Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) as he is a Dalit and this reflected the anti-Scheduled Castes mindset of the main opposition party.
To highlight alleged misgovernance by the present regime, its first nationwide campaign ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections.
'There is ample evidence to suggest that attacks on the PM's probity and his connections with business houses do not resonate with voters.'
Opposition Congress claimed that the accused was linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party. The ruling party, however, denied the allegation.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.
Opposition Congress on Wednesday claimed a total of 14 children died at the Madhya Pradesh government-run Kamla Nehru children's hospital in Bhopal in the last 48 hours, contrary to the state government's claim that only four infants lost their lives in the November 8 blaze, and demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the high court.
'Who has given how much money to which party, the people of India must know this fact.'
Rattled by the poll debacle, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on Monday got into a huddle with senior leaders to carry out a post-mortem of results in the four states amid talk that some heads could roll.
The party claimed it has the support of the independent candidates also.
Leaders from all political parties welcomed the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Jaivardhan Singh, the United States-educated son of Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh, and Bhuwaneshwar Singh, son-in-law of late leader Arjun Singh, figure in the second list of 82 party candidates for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls announced by the All India Congress Committee on Tuesday night.
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
Addressing a press conference in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress Rajya Sabha member termed Bajrang Dal -- the youth wing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad -- a goondon ki jamat (group of goons).
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram is Congress nominee from Maharashtra for the biennial elections to Rajya Sabha while senior leaders Kapil Sibal and Jairam Ramesh have been named from Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka respectively.
Gandhi, on the other hand, has also reached out directly to the party workers in the three states to know their top choice for the chief minister post through an internal mobile messaging app, party leaders said.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
'The Congress in the past backed the demand, but will not support it now since the SP opposes any division of UP.'
Kamal Nath will need to watch his back because given the slender majority, there is no doubt that the BJP will try to topple his government.
Chourasia, a former Congressman who had joined the Hindu Mahasabha, returned to the party fold on February 25, ahead of local body elections.
Samandar Patel, 52, an Other Backward Classes leader from Jawad area of Neemuch, had joined the BJP when Scindia and MLAs loyal to him rebelled against the Congress in March 2020, leading to the collapse of the Kamal Nath government.
The counsel appearing for the poll panel told a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde that Nath's petition has become infructuous as the campaigning has ended and the voting is on Tuesday.
According to party insiders, the revamp will be aimed at serving the dual purposes of fixing accountability for the loss and bringing in a new leadership in the run-up to 2014 polls. The demoralised Congress unit desperately needs a new lease of life, if it has to give any competition to the reenergised Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi.
The leaders of the Opposition INDIA bloc are meeting on Monday morning ostensibly to redraw their strategies to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP both inside the Parliament and in the electoral arena.
To mollify the protesters, Jyotiraditya Scindia drove to the palace gate and asserted that he stood by them and Goyal.
The Congress' central election authority on Thursday issued a notification for the All India Congress Committee president polls, setting the ball rolling for electing the successor to the longest-serving party chief Sonia Gandhi.
There are lessons for the Congress to learn from the Karnataka elections of how burying the hatchet among top leaders and not washing dirty linen in public can help, says Ramesh Menon.
The poll panel on Friday took note of alleged breach of 'ethical and dignified behaviour' and revoked the 'star campaigner' status of the Congress leader. While the political party pays for the expenditure of a star campaigner, the candidate pays for the expenditure of other campaigners.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
The Congress, by and large, focused on local issues in this election and its campaign also was run by state leaders initially.
The party managed only 52 seats on its own and many of its top leadership, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Jyotiraditya Scindia were defeated in the polls.
'The Election Commission cannot be regulated by the government.'
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijay Singh's son Jaivardhan formally joined Congress on Wednesday amid indications that he might contest upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections from Raghogarh constituency, which has been nurtured by his father over a period of time.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
This comes after Gandhi on Tuesday replied to the Lok Sabha Secretariat's notice to vacate his official bungalow, and said he will abide by the notice.
'I have issued an order for the formation of an inquiry committee to probe into the land allotted to the National Herald in Press Complex Bhopal, where commercial buildings have come up by violating the rules,' Madhya Pradesh Urban Administration Minister Bhupendra Singh tweeted on Friday.
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