Sheila urged Rahul to clear the air over a pre-poll alliance with AAP so that there is no confusion among the party cadres.
The statement came after chief ministers of West Bengal, Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh announced that the law is "unconstitutional" and has no place in their respective states.
While no specific state-oriented sops were rolled out, a strong thread of political wellness ran through the Budget.
Rajya Sabha took up the discussion on The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill that have already been passed by Lok Sabha.
Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said the unity of opposition parties will take shape on its own, sidestepping questions of her taking on the leadership role.
Rahul Gandhi, in turn, thanked all the leaders for reposing faith in him and said he would apply his mind on their request of becoming the Congress president, the sources said.
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
Gandhi had decided not to celebrate her birthday because of rape incidents and assaults on women in the country.
The Lok Sabha was remained disrupted on Tuesday as the Congress moved an adjournment motion in the House.
Nitin Gadkari has a message as much for his party as much purportedly it is for the Opposition. Listening to him, whatever be his reasons and motives, will help, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
For the first time in seven years the prime minister finds himself at his most vulnerable, observes Virendra Kapoor.
"Didi has already said in Delhi that if Akhilesh Yadav needs our help, we are ready to extend help. The gesture of senior SP leader Jaya Bachchan seeking votes for the TMC during the West Bengal Assembly elections will be reciprocated in Uttar Pradesh," said Laliteshpati Tripathi, who recently joined the TMC.
'One senior Congress leader told me: "As long as Rahul is seen arriving there is no harm done, but when he opens his mouth, oh God...",' reveals T V R Shenoy.
The decision of its two oldest allies to walk out means that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who is also president of the Janata Dal-United, is now the oldest BJP ally besides being the most powerful.
With crucial assembly elections round the corner in four states, Congress leaders are currently debating whether to project chief ministerial candidates in the poll-bound states.
For Lok Sabha candidates, the statutory poll expenditure limit has been fixed at Rs 70 lakh.
He said his party will continue to fight the "worst sentiments" the prime minister represents.
Reduced to a mere shell of its former glorious self, it now mechanically sticks to the form while substance was frittered away a long time ago, says Virendra Kapoor.
Opposition parties, though resigned to the fact that they lack the numbers to defeat or stall the bill in the two Houses, have decided upon different tactics that they would employ to highlight their reasons for opposing it.
Gandhi reportedly told them that he has already conveyed his decision to the Congress Working Committee and would not relent.
59 constituencies across 7 states and one Union Territory will go to polls in the seventh phase on May 19.
The Congress chief met senior United Democratic Front leaders, including Ramesh Chennithala and P K Kunhalikutty.
'The Congress has become two distinct parties, one of the durbar, the other of the field and if they keep drifting apart, death is a certainty,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Having emerged as the face of opposition resistance to the Narendra Modi juggernaut after the TMC's triumph in the assembly elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is locked in an unequal battle as she squares off with "lightweight" rivals in her own lair--Bhabanipur.
The curtain came down on rumbustious electioneering over the last two months when assembly polls were also held in four other states - Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur.
'Those who are part of the NDA, like the JDU and LJP in Bihar, should also think. Polls are approaching in Bihar, people will seek answers from them'
Within four years of winning a single party majority in the Lok Sabha with 282 seats -- the first time it has happened in 30 years -- the BJP has lost it.
While the saffron party may not get a majority, the National Democratic Alliance will sail through, said Gujral, who represents one of the BJP's oldest allies in Parliament.
The whole drama of the Congress Working Committee meeting was enacted precisely to underline the First Family's supremacy and, more particularly, to insulate Rahul Gandhi from any harsh criticism for the party's humiliating poll drubbing, reports Anita Katyal.
'There are more young people in Assam who are unemployed than possibly anywhere else.'
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
"Our decision to form an alliance with the Congress was to stop the Modi-Shah duo," Sisodia said.
Extended rounds of negotiations having failed, farm leaders now reckon that their best chance to pressure the government lay in defeating the BJP in the coming assembly poll, particularly in UP, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The Congress stalwart could not have asked for a better gift on his 75th birthday.
The final phase saw voting in all 13 seats of Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Priyanka said the party's fight will continue till the laws are scrapped.
Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com gives the lowdown on the 59 seats spread across seven states and one Union territory going to polls in the last and final phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on May 19, 2019.
This is the first full-scale review of VIP protectees by the Union home ministry after the Modi 2.0 government took charge.
"We are here to welcome Modi ji for giving us new employment under pakoda yojana. We want to sell pakodas at Modi's rally, so that he knows how great it is to sell pakodas for the educated youth," a woman protester said.
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