Can the Congress vice-president listen to the voices of dissension in the party and change his outlook and style of functioning? In other words, can the party depend on Rahul to bring them back to power, muses Anita Katyal
If you looked back at 2018 and had to give it a name, the Year of Limitations might be the most accurate.
Biju Janata Dal members had staged a walk-out while NDA ally Shiv Sena did not participate in the voting.
Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh on Saturday appeared before a court in Bhopal in connection with an alleged recruitment scam at the assembly secretariat which took place when he was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh.
"Kharge dissents regularly," the minister said.
While party leaders have welcomed Sonia Gandhi's decision to ask A K Antony to get feedback from the cadres, they are sceptical the exercise might end up like the committees set up in the past. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports
Report by Greenpeace also presented a grim picture of India's pollution level.
The minimum punishment in cases of rape of women has been increased from rigorous imprisonment of seven years to 10 years.
The court noted that Gupta made 'dishonest misrepresentation' before the then prime minister.
Vinai Kumar Saxena's current job as lieutenant governor of an Opposition-ruled state will raise the bar -- not just for him, but also for the Aam Aadmi Party government, which never says no to a fight with the representative of the central government in India's capital.
'India's reputation is not and cannot be dependent on the whimsical opinions of some obscure foreign advisory committee packed with Hindu-phobic acolytes,' declares Vivek Gumaste.
Prime minister Manmohan Singh and several Congress leaders are against the formation of a separate state but are supporting the decision in the hope that it would win the party seats in the region. Renu Mittal reports
'Play safe and persist with an ailing Sonia Gandhi as interim chief and wait for an opportune moment to foist the crown prince yet again,' predicts Virendra Kapoor.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who is meeting state finance ministers on Thursday to garner support for the Constitution Amendment Bill for a goods & services tax (GST), is likely to immediately dole out about Rs 13,000 crore (Rs 130 billion) in Central Sales Tax (CST) compensation to states.
The Congress is seeking to oust the BJP government in Haryana in the October 21 polls.
Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.
'If the BJP thinks they can suppress the farmers' movement by opening fire, they are wrong.' 'It will create a boomerang effect which will be very difficult to manage.'
"Party disciplinary committee will submit the report within 10 days," Shah said.
He, however, was quick to add that though "it is an internal matter of the BJP, but so far as country or ideology is concerned, there is no question of tolerating such things."
The move would help the PM Modi shape a women-centric narrative.
BJP national president Amit Shah asserted that the last 15 years rule of the BJP is a model of an ideal state. "Raman Singh government has successfully tried to contain the Naxal and made the state an education hub. This manifesto is for Naya Chhattisgarh.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday gave seven more days to the Andhra Pradesh assembly till January 30 to discuss and debate the draft Telangana Bill in the House before returning it to the Centre.
'If the platform is public, then every Indian regardless of his ideology and commitment has got the right to convey his view'
'Political parties are following the Divide and Rule policy to break the unity of farmers.'
"There is no doubt we are fighting with our backs to the wall but these political bonfires in the BJP will help to consolidate our position to some extent," a senior Congress leader tells Rediff.com's Anita Katyal.
'The Modi government is not listening to us. So now we are coming to Delhi to talk with the central government.'
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging the "distressing rise" in incidents of Dalit atrocities.
'Probably only Sonia-ji knows the extent of what he is doing.'
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
On the directions of Chief Minister Raman Singh, the government has constituted a team of specialist doctors to probe the deaths that occurred on Sunday at Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Hospital.
Alleging that there had been politicisation and criminalisation of government officers in the state, the BJP leader, who was on a two-day visit, said the TMC government had stopped sending crime statistics to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) after 2018.
If the BJP is waiting for a better assessment about the assembly polls, the Congress is doing the same to see if it should club the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with the assembly polls. says Anita Katyal
Thousands of farmers have reached the national capital on their tractor-trolleys and other vehicles, responding to the 'Delhi Chalo' call against the agri-marketing laws enacted at the Centre in September. On Saturday morning, it wasn't clear if they will agree to move to the Burari ground on the outskirts of the city, where police said they can continue with their protest. Many protesters were demanding a better venue in the centre of Delhi. Originally, the protest was meant to be on November 26 and 27.
The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha; while in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition accused the government of not being sensitive towards farmers' issues.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
The BSP is planning to bring the second line of leadership from among the cadres.
The reshuffle had politics at its heart, so the biggest complement of new ministers, both Cabinet rank and below, came from UP, which will see assembly elections in a few months.
'At this moment, the Trinamool has an edge.'
Patole accused the saffron party of failing to keep the promises it made to the people.
The Question hour in the Lok Sabha was also washed out for the second consecutive day as an aggressive opposition stalled the proceedings over the same controversy.
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