Wearing black clothes, Congress leaders hit the streets on Friday to protest against price rise and unemployment with a host of them, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, being detained by police amid dramatic standoffs outside Parliament and the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi.
Congress leaders from various parts of Rajasthan have already arrived in Jaipur to take part in the rally, which will be held at Vidhyadhar Nagar stadium.
Bypolls will be held on Wednesday in 31 assembly seats spread across 10 states and Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, from where Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is making her electoral debut. Though these bye-elections are not going to have any bearing on the governments, they are seen as a big test for the Congress and the INDIA bloc which failed to put up a united show in the recent Haryana assembly polls. Most of these seats fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested the Lok Sabha elections and won while in some constituencies, the bypolls are being held due to death of the representatives. The Wayanad seat was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, who also won from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency which he kept. Voting will be held in seven seats in Rajasthan, six in West Bengal, five in Assam, four seats in Bihar, three in Karnataka, two seats in Madhya Pradesh, and one seat each in Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala and Meghalaya. Votes will be counted on November 23.
Robert Vadra indicated that he will also join politics and said there is an atmosphere of change in the country. His entire family is working diligently on this, he added.
The President's office has condemned comments made by Congress leaders regarding President Droupadi Murmu's address to Parliament, stating that they hurt the dignity of the high office. The statement clarified that the President was not tired during her speech and that the comments were in "poor taste" and "unacceptable." The Congress leaders had reportedly discussed the speech, with Sonia Gandhi commenting on the President's alleged tiredness. The statement suggested that the leaders may have misunderstood the President's speech due to their unfamiliarity with Indian languages.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla chided Congress member Deepender Hooda over certain remarks as Shashi Tharoor chanted 'Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan' after taking oath as member of the House.
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Tuesday offered 'antim ardas' -- the final prayers in the Sikh tradition -- for the protesters killed in the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with their leaders vowing to intensify the agitation against the Centre's new agri laws.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination papers in Jaipur for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said she is not the only face of the party for Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and her remarks at a press conference on Friday about being the face of the party were made in a 'slight exaggerated way' in response to repeated queries from the media on the issue.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
Indicating his keenness to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, Robert Vadra, businessman and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has said that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that the party's Kerala leaders 'stand as one' and were 'united' by the light of purpose ahead.
She said it was a strange thing for her to know that for the time being he has been disqualified from even fighting another election for eight years.
'I just invited PM Modi for Kalki Dham for shilanyas, so what crime did I commit as a Congressman?'
Several opposition MPs in India have criticized the government's handling of the deportation of Indian citizens from the United States, questioning the treatment they received. A US military aircraft carrying 104 Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar, India, on Wednesday, marking the first batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. The deportees reported being handcuffed throughout the journey, sparking protests from opposition leaders who staged a demonstration in Parliament wearing handcuffs. While the government maintains it will address the issue at a later time, opposition members condemned the treatment of the Indians and questioned the government's handling of the situation.
Congress leader Lalan Kumar said she talked to the kin of farmers Lavpreet Singh, Nakshatra Singh and journalist Rajast Kahsyap, extending her condolences.
The CRPF has raised its first-ever contingent of 32 women commandos in its VIP security wing and they will now be tasked to guard its protectees, based in Delhi, who receive the top Z+ cover.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly criticised Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane for calling Kerala a "mini Pakistan", saying the remark is "highly provocative and condemnable". Vijayan said Rane's comments expose the Sangh Parivar's approach towards Kerala, which he said involves alienating and spreading hate campaigns against the state. He also criticised the leadership of the ruling party for not reacting to Rane's "serious breach of oath". Vijayan called for all democratic and secular forces to unite against the Sangh Parivar's "hateful propaganda".
Congress Working Committee called the recent assembly election results of five states a "cause of serious concern" for the party.
Priyanka Gandhi said that according to the family, the district magistrate meted out the worst treatment to them, and asked who was protecting the officer. In a tweet in Hindi, the Congress leader said, 'According to the aggrieved family, the worst treatment meted out to them was by the district magistrate. Who is trying to save him? He should be immediately suspended, and his role in the entire matter should be probed.'
'Priyanka did draw huge crowds and eventually all of those ended up voting for the Samajwadi Party.' 'The voters today are smart enough to vote for the party which they know is going to win or they know this party will come second, but no way will they vote for a party which will come third or fourth.'
The Congress leader said his sister Priyanka Gandhi will be representing Wayanad if the people give her an opportunity and expressed confidence that she will do an excellent job at being their MP.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the farm laws, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday urged him not to share the stage with Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra during the directors general of police conference in Lucknow keeping in mind farmers' interest.
He is learnt to have discussed the formulation of a joint opposition strategy on the issue of Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the detention of prominent leaders including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
A high-voltage drama unfolded in Lucknow on Saturday evening as Priyanka Gandhi alleged that she was manhandled by police personnel who grabbed her by the throat and pushed her when she resisted their attempts to stop her from visiting the residence of the retired IPS officer, arrested in connection with the recent anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests.
A high-voltage drama unfolded in Lucknow yesterday as Priyanka alleged she was manhandled by cops who grabbed her by the neck and pushed her when she resisted their attempts to stop her from visiting the residence of an ex-IPS officer arrested for anti-CAA protests.
Targeting the Congress over its party president M Mallikarjun Kharge's 'venomous snake' barb at him, Modi on Saturday said till now the party and its leaders had hurled different types of abuses at him 91 times.
The decision on Rahul Gandhi's appointment as the Leader of Opposition was made after a meeting of the floor leaders of the INDIA bloc at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.
The government has moved to increase the strength of the joint committee of Parliament that will scrutinise the two bills proposing simultaneous elections from 31 MPs to 39, giving representation to more parties.
Priyanka Gandhi also said farmers were in debt, and about 12,000 of them had committed suicide.
"His own government has destroyed Gandhian institutions in Varanasi, Delhi and Ahmedabad," the Congress leader alleged.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress party has inaugurated its new headquarters, Indira Gandhi Bhawan, located at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi. The new building, which was constructed during Sonia Gandhi's tenure as Congress chief, features modern facilities and reflects the party's forward-looking vision. The party will not vacate its current headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, which has been its home since 1978, and will continue to house some of its cells.
Her expression of strong support to Chidambaram, who has also been a home minister, came a day after the Delhi high court refused to grant him any protection from arrest in the INX media case.
Robert Vadra on Wednesday claimed that he has been stopped from going to Lucknow to meet his wife and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been detained in Sitapur while on her way to meet victims of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Priyanka said the presence of Gandhis in the party would impede the functioning of a non-family president only if her family wanted things to be that way.
Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar on Monday said the party's national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has agreed to campaign and spend time in the state, for the assembly elections next year.
Jan Adhikar Party leader Pappu Yadav joined the Congress on Wednesday and announced the merger of his outfit.
Priyanka also dismissed Bharatiya Janata Party leader and union minister Uma Bharati's controversial remarks that the country will see her the way it views a "thief's wife".
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances