Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu will meet senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on June 29, sources in his office said.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party of weakening the country by spreading fear and hatred, and said only the Congress can unite the country and take it to the path of progress.
It is a double century with a difference for the cricketer turned politician, who is the lead campaigner for the Opposition Mahagathbandhan in the state.
Amid strains in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi alliance over Rahul Gandhi's strident criticism of V D Savarkar, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar has stepped in to play the peacemaker by conveying the Shiv Sena's concerns on the issue to the Congress leadership.
'You (Modi) come here and don't even take the name of your Chief Minister (Basavaraj Bommai) and (B S) Yediyurappa (former CM). Your speeches are all about Narendra Modi'
The authority said in its order that it believes that the movable assets and equity shares that were attached by the ED are proceeds of crime and linked to the offence of money laundering.
The Congress has so far announced 82 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls beginning April 19.
The Congress has projected unity to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Rajasthan but "core issues" between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot remain unresolved, according to sources close to Pilot.
Besides the national capital, polling for the sixth round of the marathon seven-phase elections will be held Saturday in 14 seats in Uttar Pradesh, all 10 seats of Haryana, eight seats each in Bihar and West Bengal, six seats in Odisha, four seats in Jharkhand and one seat in Jammu and Kashmir.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi will address leaders in Nava Raipur, as well as political, economic and international affairs resolutions will be deliberated upon at the party's 85th plenary session on Saturday.
"His own government has destroyed Gandhian institutions in Varanasi, Delhi and Ahmedabad," the Congress leader alleged.
Earlier this week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held a series of meetings, including with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan.
Sources within the INDIA bloc said appointing Nitish Kumar as convenor would lend credibility to the INDIA bloc's demand for conducting a nationwide caste census.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'For the last two elections, the Congress manifesto has been thrown into the dustbin.' 'This manifesto will also be thrown into the dustbin.'
Party treasurer Ajay Maken has claimed that "democracy will be over if the action of probe agencies goes unchecked" and said the Congress has full faith in the judiciary.
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 leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala said party president Sonia Gandhi has been summoned by the ED for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper on June 8, and she was determined to appear before the agency as she has nothing to hide.
'Not just Maharashtra, the Congress has not fielded even one Muslim candidate from Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.'
Kharge or somebody else, whoever becomes the chief, he will only be a face to show, Sushil Modi said.
What he has said is shocking and shameful, former Union minister and BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said, noting that the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin has repeated his remarks.
Opposition parties of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) boycotted Lok Sabha proceedings on Friday to protest the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the House.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Ramesh alleged that through the "electoral bonds scam", the Bharatiya Janata Party has collected Rs 8,200 crore and used the route of "pre-paid, post-paid, post-raid bribes and shell companies".
'How can one expect fair elections in such a situation when funds to the tune of Rs 270 crore have been freezed or taken away by the Income Tax authorities from Congress party's accounts'
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'
Five people were killed and about 50 missing following several incidents of cloudburst in Himachal Pradesh where rains washed away many houses, bridges and roads, officials said on Thursday.
Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
A day after his expulsion from the Congress, Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Sunday said leaders like Sachin Pilot and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are being disrespected in the party where people need 'chamchagiri' (sycophancy) to survive.
Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday morning, and is learnt to have discussed his role in the revamp in the party's state unit ahead of assembly polls.
There are concerns within the Congress with respect to the articulation of the party's demand for the caste census, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently accusing the grand old party of attempting to divide Hindus through its push for the Other Backward Classes.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was questioned for over 10 hours by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper and was called to depose again on Tuesday, as his party protested across the country, alleging that the Centre was targeting the Opposition by misusing agencies.
Among the bigwigs are Union ministers Amit Shah (Gandhinagar), Jyotiraditya Scindia (Guna), Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), Parshottam Rupala (Rajkot), Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and SP Singh Baghel (Agra).
Rahul Gandhi said that instead of getting involved in the Sanatan dharma row, the leaders should focus on the poor and their issues as they have been the party's traditional vote bank, the sources said.
This election will be remembered for being the first election where the Election Commission failed to take action on gross violations involving the ruling party that repeatedly used religion, communal slurs, lies and undocumented allegations, observes Ramesh Menon.
The grand old party is looking to retain power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh while seeking to come to power in the other three states going to polls -- Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Mizoram.
The Congress said the rally by the INDIA will send a "strong message" to the Lok Kalyan Marg, where the prime minister's residence is located, that the BJP-led government's "time is up".
'I assured them I will not back away. I will not betray those who have supported me till now. Their confidence in me is what gives me the strength to move forward'
Leaders of several like-minded opposition parties are likely to attend the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka chief minister-designate Siddaramaiah and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday in Bengaluru.
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