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.
"Sonia Gandhi is currently travelling on a short international visit for personal reasons," the Congress party's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
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.
Didi will skip the meeting in protest against the violence unleashed in Bengal allegedly by Left Front and Congress workers during a trade union strike. She slammed the 'double standards' of the Congress and the Left.
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.
Asked about the organisational changes made by Gandhi and the subsequent reported statements by some leaders who had written to her over party reforms, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he had not seen a single statement by any Congress leader on the issue and cannot comment on that.
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.
'This plan was never official. It was there secretly. It was by the high command.'
In a sudden development, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday sought the views of senior Congress leaders, over the recent diplomatic developments involving Pakistan and United States.Gandhi, after hearing Bharatiya Janata Party's opposition to the End-Use Monitoring Agreement with the US, decided to seek the opinion of senior Congress leaders about the issue.Congress president Sonia Gandhi is understood to have discussed the Indo-Pak join statement with them.
Sources in the Congress and NCP said the draft CMP and allocation of portfolios between the three parties will be discussed in the meeting.
Sources said Modi also called up various leaders, including Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham's M K Stalin and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Parkash Singh Badal.
Gandhi was put in a police bus but officials did not disclose where he was being taken.
Terming Congress president Sonia Gandhi as "gangotri" (fountainhead) of corruption in the country, Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy said on Wednesday that the Opposition should not play her game.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision-making body, will hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to approve the exact schedule of dates for the election of the Congress president.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has come across tough resistance from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the issue of sacking tainted ministers in his Cabinet. For now, Dr Singh is having it his way, but voices of dissent are growing louder. Renu Mittal reports.
Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy on Wednesday condemned Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj'' "act" in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, describing it as ''unfortunate'' and ''not expected''.Swaraj had alleged that Congress President Sonia Gandhi had instructed party members of Parliament to interrupt her speech.
It was significant that the ceremony took place at 24, Akbar Road, the party's former national headquarters, and not at its new office in Kotla Road.
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
You suffered the pain of walking for miles. But the Modi-Yogi governments acted irresponsibly and turned their faces away and closed their eyes, despite the pain of the people: Sonia
Priyanka also lauded her mother, calling her the bravest woman for overcoming huge difficulties during her record 19-year tenure as the Congress chief.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday wrote to the Enforcement Directorate seeking postponement of her appearance by a few weeks till she recovers completely from Covid and a lung infection.
Dr Singh's eldest daughter Professor Upinder Singh gently reminded the gathering that this was a moment for prayer, not accolades.
Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was on Thursday conferred the coveted Indira Gandhi peace prize by President Pranab Mukherjee who said India will continue to support the African nation in its pursuit of stability and economic growth.
While a massive crowd gathered of 25,000 thronged Congress President Sonia Gandhi's rally in Keshod, only 3,000 showed up when the Gujarat chief minister campaigned in the Junagadh town. Prasanna D Zore reports
With party observers slamming some actions of loyalists of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, sources said decision on issuing show cause notices to miffed MLAs, who have been vocal in public, will be taken after interim chief looks Sonia Gandhi into the report by the observers sent to the state.
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.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar had asked Rahul Gandhi to tone down the criticism of Savarkar and reminded the Congress leader that the real fight of the opposition parties was with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.
"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.
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.
Expressing surprise over Congress fielding a second candidate 'all of a sudden', senior JD-S leader and former Minister H D Revanna requested the national party for support to keep the 'communal forces' out of the race.
'I know, you did it all for love,' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Wednesday in an Instagram tribute showing her mother Sonia Gandhi, who on Wednesday handed the party's reins to a new Congress president, holding a photograph of the late Rajiv Gandhi.
Rajiv, who was the sixth and youngest prime minister of India, was assassinated on May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu during a poll campaign.
Senior Assam Congress leader Debabrata Saikia has filed a police complaint against Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for his alleged "hateful statement" such as Lok Sabha MP and former party president Sonia Gandhi's "residence should be burnt".
'It was then that the game started. It was decided that under no circumstances, the seat tally of the Congress should increase from 206 in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls'
To chart the Congress's future course, its chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups -- on political affairs for guidance on key issues, task force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration, and another to coordinate the October 2 'harat Jodo Yatra.
India has expressed condolences over the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following a joint US-Israel strike, amidst rising tensions in West Asia and criticism over the sinking of an Iranian warship.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, who had gone abroad for a "routine checkup" on February 27 following a surgery six months back, returned to New Delhi on Monday.
