The party may announce Somen Mitra as the Lok Sabha candidate from North Kolkata whose name is set to be decided upon following intra-party elections to choose contenders -- a move initiated by the Congress vice-president to ensure transparency in ticket-distribution system. Renu Mittal reports.
BJP strategists know it may not repeat its 2014 performance in its traditionally strong bases in the north and the west. This is where the success in the north east and east is so important.
The Congress has appointed Pratap Singh Bajwa as the new chief of its Punjab unit, replacing Captain Amarinder Singh.
Congress leader and former union minister Preneet Kaur on Monday won the Patiala assembly seat defeating her nearest Shiromani Akali Dal rival Bhagwan Dass Juneja.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday blamed India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's "two major blunders" -- declaring a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations -- for the sufferings of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
Here are some day's snippets of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections:
Even as there is a strong anti-incumbency mood in Punjab, the multi-cornered contest has made the 2017 assembly polls prediction more difficult.
'You can attack and conspire to weaken us, but you cannot destroy the Congress permanently.'
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
Dikshit, who served as Delhi CM for three terms, is said to have been sounded by the Congress high command for a leading role in Uttar Pradesh.
'They have no incentive to be part of either the NDA or INDIA at this stage, but they may hedge their bets towards the winning coalition in the post-poll setting.'
'It is not just about numbers. Sometimes coalitions and alliances have symbolic value.'
"Arvind Kejriwal spoke directly to Rahul Gandhi (on the ordinance matter) and said if there is any issue, they can resolve it over tea. In the opposition meeting on Friday, Kejriwal said there is a need to forget the differences and move forward together," a party source said.
Kharge's comments were a reference to the prime minister's remarks in February in Rajya Sabha wherein he had asserted that he alone outweighs all those who take turns to shout slogans to oppose him.
As the debate over the issue of leadership raged, another group of leaders put their weight behind the Gandhi family on Sunday, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay or Rahul Gandhi to take charge again.
Dikshit will take on BJP's sitting MP Manoj Tiwari and Aam Aadmi Party's Dilip Pandey.
Former Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday appeared all set to become Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha after his appointment as Leader of Congress in the Upper House.
Independence Day was celebrated across states and Union territories on Thursday, as several chief ministers announced job schemes while some others vowed their support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
The alliance leaders are getting together for the third round of the brainstorming session in Mumbai, after Patna and Bengaluru, to chalk out their common campaign strategy to take on the NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
'Kejriwal could have easily deputed someone to step in as chief minister, but being the authoritative and self-centered personality that he is, he chose not to do it.' 'If the AAP loses Delhi, where it has a huge majority, the only one to blame would be Kejriwal,' asserts Ramesh Menon.
'People are blowing up their entire retirement fund; they are selling their land and house to spend on one day for a marriage.'
At a time when the Congress is perhaps facing its toughest electoral challenge and senior leaders are opting out of the race one by one, the party has at least succeeded in fielding tough candidates in two Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. Anita Katyal reports.
Punjab politics has produced a dog's breakfast on the river waters issue. Except, you'd see even dogs eat better, says Shekhar Gupta.
The Congress may have reviewed its poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, but unease is growing in the party in crucial states such as Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which had returned spectacular results in the last two Lok Sabha elections.
The coming year will be one that will test sabka vishwas to the utmost, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
According to a senior Congress leader, the constituents of the opposition alliance intend to move forward with the theme "Main Nahin, Hum (We, Not Me)" at the meeting.
He said the farmer's agitation in Punjab against the new farm laws could lead to 'serious consequences' for national security and alleged that China and Pakistan were seeking to disturb peace in the country's border state. Stressing that his intention was not to disturb peace, Singh said he was trying to 'save' his state's farmers as the Centre was 'playing with' their livelihoods.
'The allegations of government involvement in targeted assassinations abroad are likely to help, not hurt, the ruling party.' 'True or false, they convey a sense of muscularity and, in some quarters, are celebrated as a harbinger of 'great power' status.'
'They are completely corrupt and have introduced a mafia culture which has seen one family control the entire resources of the state.'
The protesters who had gathered under the banner of the Joint Forum for Restoration of Old Pension Scheme and National Joint Council of Action said they were worried about their post-retirement future.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, IT expert Nandan Nilekani and cricketer Mohd Kaif are among 194 candidates as Congress tonight released the first list of its nominees for Lok Sabha polls that contains several new and young faces.
While the BJP and the Congress have always supported the bill, opposition by other parties and demands from some for quota for backward classes within the women's quota have been key sticking points.
Confrontation between the Sikh bodies of Punjab and Haryana has become more political than religious, says Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey.
The Congress on Monday deferred the election to the post of party president till the COVID-19 situation improves and decided to set up a group to assess losses in the recent assembly polls, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying it has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the 'serious setbacks'.
There was no immediate response from the Aam Aadmi Party over the matter.
The alliance would announce a coordination committee, which could be of 11 members from principal opposition parties.
After a week-long washout, Lok Sabha transacted some business on Monday as two bills were introduced and another taken up for consideration even as Congress and some other parties continued their vociferous protests, along with display of placards.
