Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge stated that the party high command will decide on the ongoing speculation about a chief minister change in Karnataka. This comes amid intensified power tussle within the ruling party as the Congress government reached the halfway mark of its five-year term.
Sonia also described the mention of Emergency by the PM, the Lok Sabha Speaker as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".
Congress President Sonia Gandhi's decision not to name Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate has demoralised the already-bruised cadre. Expect a stormy AICC session in New Delhi on Friday, says Renu Mittal
Describing the meeting as 'positive', Banerjee said she discussed the political situation in the country as well as opposition unity with the Gandhis.
Gandhi had decided not to celebrate her birthday because of rape incidents and assaults on women in the country.
Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala said party president Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper on June 8, and she was determined to appear before the agency as she has nothing to hide.
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.
The interim panel headed by him would take the place of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body, till a new CWC is formed after Kharge's election is ratified at the party plenary.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of party general secretaries and state in-charges on March 26 to discuss organisational elections, the party's membership drive and the current political situation besides planning agitational programmes.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
Trying to strike an emotional chord with the voters, Sonia asked the people to consider Rahul Gandhi too as their own.
Dr Singh's eldest daughter Professor Upinder Singh gently reminded the gathering that this was a moment for prayer, not accolades.
Commencing her 16th year as Congress president, Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said being at the helm was "not an easy task" and gave credit to the party's rank in helping her accomplish the job.
Apart from taking stock of the political situation in the country, the CWC discussed the upcoming presidential and vice presidential elections.
Union minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi asked officials in her Lok Sabha constituency of Pilibhit to follow the example of Sonia in order to check corruption in the education department.
Congress cadres are lamenting that Sonia Gandhi abdicated her authority to vice president Rahul Gandhi, who, in turn, "in his wisdom, abdicated his authority to non-political players". Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three key loyalists of Ashok Gehlot but did not seek any action against the chief minister, as the party scampered to resolve the crisis that has cast a shadow on the election of the party president.
Amid criticism that the Congress had given a walkover to Irani in Amethi, sources said, the party in its wisdom believed that Rae Bareli's historical, emotional and electoral importance for the Gandhi family was higher than that of Amethi.
Sonia Gandhi has the record of holding the longest tenure as Congress chief.
'Where is the remote control in the BJP? When I become president, the remote control will stay with me'
"No, she will not make me the PM," was Dr Pranab Mukherjee's cryptic response in a reference to Sonia Gandhi when he was asked by his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee about his chances of becoming the prime minister in 2004.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi demanded immediate withdrawal of the objectionable question and a review into the 'gravest lapse'.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a money laundering case related to a land deal in Haryana's Shikohpur. The ED has also attached properties worth Rs. 37.64 crore linked to Vadra.
The presidential poll is fast becoming a race for posturing by political parties, all of who are keeping an eye on the general election scheduled for 2009
The nation on Saturday remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 31st death anniversary with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and other leaders paying tributes at her memorial in New Delhi.
The meeting at Gandhi's 10 Janpath residence was seen as very crucial in forging an Opposition unity with efforts on to reconcile differences between the Congress and some regional parties that have been at loggerheads traditionally.
The direction came on an application filed in a suit by Congress member Pridhwyraj P, who was suspended from the party in 2019, seeking directions to quash the suspension order on the ground that it was in violation of the party's rules and by-laws.
Rahul Gandhi would be pursued to return as Congress president as there is none in the party other than him who has a pan-India appeal, veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge has said.
Upset over an open rebellion in Rajasthan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday sought a written report on it from party observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken as the chances of Ashok Gehlot becoming the party chief receded and other names cropped up for the post.
As Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), party MPs and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members 'courted mass arrest' outside the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday in a show of collective solidarity with her.
Gandhi cited the example of Maharashtra assembly elections, claiming there was an addition of 65 lakh voters to the voter list in two hours, "which was impossible."
Under SPG protection, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were using Range Rovers.
I&B Minister Manish Tewari criticised Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj for using "inappropriate language" against Congress President Sonia Gandhi, saying her remarks were "condemnable".
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
Faisal Patel, son of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel, has announced he will stop working for the grand old party, claiming that he tried to follow in his father's footsteps but was denied at every step. Ahmed Patel, who had served as a Rajya Sabha MP, All Indian Congress Committee treasurer and former party president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, died in November 2020. Faisal had aspired to contest from the Bharuch seat in Gujarat in last year's Lok Sabha elections but the Congress did not nominate him.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will flag off the march on Saturday.
Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999.
Sheela Bhatt offers her take on Congress President Sonia Gandhi's speech that kicked off the the party's Chintan Shivir.
In an apparent message to the G23, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said she is a full-time, hands-on party president and there is no need for leaders to speak to her through the media.
