Social activist Aruna Roy has decided not to continue in the United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council after her term expires on Friday.
It is unusual for Congress chief ministers to say no to Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi, but some of them have gathered the courage to oppose Gandhi's dream project.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi was on Monday appointed the chairperson of the National Advisory Council, four years after she quit the post in the wake of the office of profit controversy.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate between BJP and Congress members regarding the handling of Naxalism, with the BJP accusing the previous UPA government of failing to contain left-wing extremism and the Congress defending its efforts to curb the threat.
The 71-year-old MP may have time to pursue her other interests, but many believe that she will continue to play the role of a mentor.
Once considered the unlikely heir to the political legacy of the Gandhi family, Sonia has earned the distinction of being the longest serving president of India's grand old party.
She has also resigned as chairperson of the NAC.
"Politics of revenge has recoiled back and Sonia Gandhi has become a victim of her own conspiracy. This grand standing will not help," party General Secretary Arun Jaitley told reporters.
Congress workers turned up in large numbers at 10 Janpath residence of party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi Friday and extended full support to her, a day after she resigned from Lok Sabha and as chairperson of the National Advisory Council.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday claimed that India Against Corruption activist Arvind Kejriwal had approached him in the past to push his name for a position in the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council.
Civil society activist Aruna Roy, who has quit the Sonia Gandhi-led National Advisory Council over the issue of minimum wages, on Thursday said that she would go back to activism now in a total sense.Roy claimed she has no differences with the National Advisory Council.
Sheela Bhatt reveals how Sonia Gandhi has decided to take an active role in governance with the resurrection of the powerful National Advisory Council. A rediff exclusive!
Official said a CBI inquiry has been recommended against Aman Biradari for violation of various provisions of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi stumped party members by taking the last row in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
NAC Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggesting that the proposed national policy for domestic workers should ensure a daily minimum wage without sex discrimination, weekly offs and paid annual leave.
Advani has said that the BJP's response led to Sonia's resignation.
With Congress president Sonia Gandhi appointed the chairperson of the National Advisory Council, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday night claimed she has become part of the Union government and sought to bring her in the firing line for the acts of 'omission and commission' of the Centre.
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday filed an FIR in New Delhi against United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and members of the National Advisory Council' (which is headed by Gandhi) 'for committing offences of propagating hate against the Hindu community by circulating for enacting as law a draft bill described as Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill, 2011.'
Congress supporters refused to disperse saying they will not go back until Sonia took back her resignation.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has not sought any reimbursement for medical bills from the government, the Central Information Commission has said.
This is her second intervention, seeking that work done under NREGA be treated as scheduled employment under the Minimum Wages Act.
Against the backdrop of thousands of suggestions being made to the Justice Verma committee on crime against women, activist Aruna Roy on Monday pitched for the involvement of citizens in framing laws.
Responding to Anna Hazare's complaint against her "colleagues", Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday assured him that she does not support "politics of smear campaign" and that she was strongly committed to the institution of Lokpal.
On a day when a full-page email interview with the prime minister appeared in the Hindustan Times, the National Advisory Council, chaired by Sonia Gandhi, on Friday slammed the United Progressive Alliance government for not implementing a score of its recommendations, including food security to all, made in the past two years.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Professor Vijay Kumar Malhotra (Bharatiya Janata Party) also wanted the government to make public the report of the Enforcement Directorate on the alleged receipt of payment.
The erstwhile divestment commission to be now be replaced by the BRPSE.
No government department seems to have any information about the tours and travels undertaken by the United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi as a Right To Information application kept moving to different ministries without any substantial response.
Activist-turned politician Arvind Kejriwal has refuted all charges levelled by Digvijay Singh, saying that the Congress general secretary's letter describing him as ambitious and self-serving does not deserve any response, as the party has lost its mental balance. He said this while addressing reporters on Saturday in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh.
Volcker: Opposition stages walkout in both Houses
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has convened a meeting of senior ministers on Tuesday to discuss the recommendations of the National Advisory Council on the Food Security Bill.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of repeatedly "wounding" the Indian Constitution. He claimed that the Congress, driven by its "lust for power," has consistently undermined the principles of the Constitution. Modi, however, praised India's democratic journey since its independence, highlighting the country's strong democratic roots and its unwavering commitment to its founding principles. He underscored the importance of unity for India's future development and emphasized that the Constitution is the bedrock of that unity.
Noting that these three Cs haunt Indian education today, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson said in an article that this "carnage" of India's public education system must end.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was taken ill on Monday, was back in the Lok Sabha on Thursday to attend the debate on Land Acquisition Bill but did not participate in voting the legislation which was being pushed by the National Advisory Council headed by her.
Noted agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan, bureaucrat-turned-activist Harsh Mander and academician Madhav Gadgil have been denied re-nomination.
Food security, minority welfare and legislation to deal with communal violence ranked high in the 14-point focus area listed by the newly-constituted National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi at its first meeting in New Delhi on Thursday.
Singh claimed the ICCR chairmanship is not an office of profit and in the past, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and P V Narasimha Rao had occupied this post when they were external affairs ministers.
The National Advisory Council headed by Sonia Gandhi favoured drastic amendments to the Communal Violence Bill and recommended the creation of a national authority to check communal and sectarian violence. This was the view expressed by most members of the NAC at its meeting chaired by Gandhi. At its next meeting, the NAC is expected to deliberate on how a national authority could set up within the framework of the Constitution.
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