Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Friday rejected criticism that his party practised politics of minorityism but asserted it cannot close its eyes to the discrimination against Muslims and other sections including Dalits.
In the midst of mounting pressure from both pro and anti-Telangana leaders, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of the crucial United Progressive Alliance and Congress working committee meetings to take a final decision on the separate statehood issue.
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi has a real chance to push through the changes he has been talking about for the past year, now that the state bosses stand exposed after the recent assembly polls. Anita Katyal reports
Doing some plain speaking, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday conceded that lack of discipline and unity were among the reasons for the party's debacle in Assembly polls and asked the cadre not to despair and be ready for the "battle ahead" in 2014 general elections.
Refuting allegations of divisions in the Congress in Rajasthan, Corporate Affairs Minister and Member of Parliament from Ajmer, Sachin Pilot, speaks to Kavita Chowdhury on a range of issues, including the Congress's prospects in the coming Rajasthan Assembly polls.
Despite the strong anti-incumbency sentiment against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, the Congress neither had the strategy nor an organisation to cash in, says N D Sharma
'He should have at least offered to step down. He should have shown some grace as head of the government in whom the party leadership reposed so much faith.' 'Sonia Gandhi is essentially a democrat. She does not like to disturb chief ministers. It is a reflection on the person's style of functioning when they mistake this trust as their personal power.' Former Union minister Kumari Selja lashes out.
Yet to come to terms with the poll drubbing, knives are out in the Congress state units against Prithviraj Chavan, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Tarun Gogoi and Partap Singh Bajwa as there's a gradual crescendo seeking their resignations. Anita Katyal reports.
'From the time Rahul Gandhi entered the scene, I started feeling dissatisfied. No true Congressman will be able to agree with the way Rahul Gandhi functioned. He has not attained enough maturity or wisdom.' 'You cannot compare Rahul Gandhi with Narendra Modi. When you take into consideration Modi's political experience and abilities, nobody can think of projecting Rahul Gandhi against him.' 'The main culprits behind such a humiliating defeat are Veerappa Moily and P Chidambaram. It was Moily who did the maximum damage to people and the party.' T H Mustafa, one of the first Congress leaders to criticise Rahul Gandhi, speaks out in this interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Senior Congress leader and former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh feels that Sonia Gandhi should retain the leadership of the party for now, as Rahul Gandhi still has things to learn.
