A panel of Union ministers held a fourth round of talks with farmer leaders in Chandigarh on Sunday over their demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP, as thousands of protesting farmers camped at the Punjab-Haryana border.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who set off a national debate when he walked the Bharat Jodo Yatra in a T-shirt in north India's cold winter, donned a pheran to ward off Kashmir's bone-freezing chill on Monday.
The INDIA bloc is also likely to announce a secretariat for smooth coordination between the constituents and it is likely to be set up in the national capital. Besides, the members will also discuss the issue of having a coordinator or a chairperson to head the alliance.
The meeting comes in the backdrop of the shock resignation of party veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday and his letter to party president Sonia Gandhi in which he lashed out at Rahul Gandhi for 'demolishing the party's entire consultative mechanism'.
The Congress on Thursday said it will participate in the June 12 meeting of opposition parties in Patna but is yet to decide on who will attend the meeting.
In a jolt to the Congress ahead of Himachal Pradesh polls, senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee for the state, saying he was left with no choice after the 'continuing exclusion and insults'.
"Hum saath hain (we are together) is the message we want to give," Uddhav said.
"Whoever said all those words you mentioned, I did not respond in kind because it is not the way I am built and we now have to move on, let bygones be bygones, whatever was said, we need to forget and move forward. It is not about individuals or positions or someone's statements now. It is about the country and the party," Pilot said.
The committee comprises all the top leaders including Union ministers and AICC general secretaries from states.
Mistry said the election authority is in the process of finalising the AICC delegates who will vote in the crucial election for the top party post.
Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of the two aspiring CMs.
Gandhi was served a notice to vacate the government bungalow allotted to him by April 22
Extending its winning run in the south, the Congress on Sunday won 64 assembly seats to form government in the Bharat Rashtra Samiti-dominated Telangana, with the southern solace coming in the midst of a saffron sweep of the Hindi heartland where the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested two states from the grand old party and retained one.
Amid some Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) constituents switching sides to the National Democratic Alliance, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday said the opposition alliance is 'strong' and the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting a 'frantic rejig' of the political landscape as it is worried over the collective strength of the coalition.
"The committee has unanimously passed a resolution. It unanimously rejects his decision to step down and urges him to continue as party president," Patel said after a meeting of the committee.
A day after senior Congress leader Anand Sharma resigned from the chairmanship of the party's Steering Committee for Himachal Pradesh, interim party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday asked All India Congress Committee in charge of the Himachal Pradesh, Rajeev Shukla to pacify the issue.
RBI's interest rate decision, macroeconomic data, global trends and trading activity of foreign investors are the crucial factors to drive equity markets in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Markets would remain closed on Monday for Gandhi Jayanti. "While global cues will continue to dictate trends in local markets, focus will shift to RBI's monetary policy announcement on Friday. "Although the market is expecting a status quo on interest rates, global concerns like rising US dollar index and bond yields coupled with surging crude oil prices continue to weigh on investors' minds.
The Congress on Wednesday released a list of 40 leaders who would be the party's star campaigners for the May 10 assembly elections.
The Question Hour in Lok Sabha has been disrupted every day since March 13.
The Prime Minister's Office sought on Sunday to justify the exclusion of the Gandhi clan in the reconstituted government committee for commemoration of 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, arguing that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had opted out of such an initiative in May this year.
This comes a day after he targeted the saffron party and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, asking why they were not chanting 'Jai Siyaram' and 'Hey Ram'.
The United Progressive Alliance on Monday announced the constitution of a coordination committee under the chairpersonship of Sonia Gandhi to ensure cohesive functioning of the alliance, a demand that was placed by ally NCP during its recent stand-off with Congress.
Earlier, Vijay Wadettiwar questioned the recent meeting between Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar, who heads the rival faction of the party.
It would be best that Rahul remains party chief, but at the same time, Rahul's own wishes must also be respected, Aiyar said.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are among the top leaders participating in the meet, which is also expected to discuss the situation in the Kashmir valley
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The TMC general secretary, considered number two in the party, shared the letter sent to him by the central agency on X, formerly Twitter.
The Congress also asserted that the opposition INDIA bloc had been formed for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the national level and was not state specific.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday hailed the party's performance in the Karnataka assembly polls as the victory of politics that unites the country.
The Congress, referring to Gandhi's speech at a campaign rally at Hubballi on Saturday, said in a tweet that the Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson "sends a strong message to 6.5 crore Kannadigas,' and also posted pictures of her speaking at the public meeting.
Congress Working Committee called the recent assembly election results of five states a "cause of serious concern" for the party.
The fisheries minister, who has often landed in controversies, said lakhs of people come to Prayagraj on the birth anniversary of tribal king Nishad Raj.
While the whole world is using good words to describe India, its main opposition leader is claiming on foreign soil that the country has been destroyed and democracy is no longer there while the judiciary and the media are in a bad shape, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told reporters.
Tewari's consideration to contest comes amid the reports of several party top leaders being in the fray.
'It would indeed be difficult for someone from outside the Gandhi family to run the party'
'Rahul Gandhi might not be holding any post as of now but everyone knows that he is the "captain of the ship'
Gehlot's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led to the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.
The Congress slammed Ravi Shankar Prasad, accusing him of distorting, twisting and lying "with a straight face".
Sources said besides giving approval to the polls schedule, the members of the CWC, the party's highest decision-making body, could also express confidence in the leadership provided by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
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