'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
In a communication, the ministry of home affairs told the Rajasthan chief secretary to send a report on the allegations of phone tapping, an official said. The chief secretary has been told to provide the details of the incident after two audio clips emerged, the official added.
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.
Following the party's sweep of assembly elections in three Hindi heartland states against the odds, the BJP's brain trust is now busy game-planning as to how it can improve on its 2019 Lok Sabha election tally of 303 seats.
'Putra-moh Congress ko nasht kar raha hai (Sonia Gandhi's love for Rahul Gandhi is destroying the Congress).'
"No MLAs will be going anywhere," DK Shivakumar said.
The state government issued a notification requiring the CBI to take prior consent of the state government for investigation of an offence under Section 3 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
He also said Shastri should share his views on the fight and struggle of the women wrestlers who are seeking justice against a Lok Sabha member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Brij Bhushan Singh Sharan. Brij Bhushan has been accused of sexual harassment of several women wrestlers.
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
'Nobody understands Gehlot's politics.' 'The Congress high command should wake up.'
The EC reminded Gandhi that the Model Code of Conduct prohibits leaders from making unverified allegations against political rivals.
With the Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle scheduled for later in the day, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday expressed his satisfaction over the move and stated that the inclusion of four Dalit ministers in the cabinet has sent out a positive message about the party and the state government.
In the presence of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, ace discus thrower Krishna Poonia joined the Congress at a rally in Rajasthan on Wednesday, ahead of the upcoming state Assembly elections, scheduled for December 1.
The sources said the Congress is the binding force for the opposition bloc and the stronger the Congress emerges the better for the alliance.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructure, the little-known Hyderabad-based firm that in recent years won the prestigious Zojila tunnel deal among other projects, forayed into city gas and acquired a media group, was the second largest donor to political parties using electoral bonds.
The election process of the Congress president that was to end by September 20 is likely to be delayed by a few weeks with the party focused on the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and some state units not completing the formalities, sources said on Thursday.
Truth is stranger than fiction, as far as Muslim politics in Rajasthan is concerned. The community which comprises more than 11 per cent of the state's total population, only one leader from the community has became a member of Parliament in the last 62 years. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
'It was my first day in office, so you cannot blame me for the missing photos.' 'I had to join the office and sit on the chair at a particular mahurat time.'
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.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
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.
'And once someone is dead in a family the ritual is to shave your head.'
The Congress is blaming the BJP to deflect criticism for its inability to keep its house in order, but truth is clear before the masses, the BJP said.
The Congress also has the support of 10 out of 13 independents, and other party MLAs like Rashtriya Lok Dal (1), which is its ally.
While some parties including the Trinamool Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party and the Samajwadi Party were keen on having early seat-sharing talks, the Congress delayed the deliberations pending the outcome of assembly polls.
For the first time in his political career, he failed to carry his party to even a working majority -- and again, for the first time in his career, he finds himself in a situation where he cannot rule by dictatorial fiat, points out Prem Panicker.
'The 2020 assembly election was a Tejaswi Yadav election; whereas this is a Lalu Yadav election. It is his plan.'
Sources said while the Congress units of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will hold separate discussions on May 26 on their preparations and actions to be taken, the party will also hold strategy meets on Chhattisgarh on May 27.
Seat sharing and campaign is likely to be top of the agenda, they added.
The incident took place early morning in Soorwal police station area when the bus was on its way to Lalsot from Sawai Madhopur.
At an election rally in Rajasthan on Tuesday, Gandhi said, "PM means Panauti Modi", insinuating the prime minister's presence at the Ahmedabad stadium during the India-Australia Cricket World Cup final brought bad luck to the home side, which lost the decider.
Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram suffered a fracture in his left rib after he was pushed away by Delhi Police during the party's protest in support of Rahul Gandhi who was summoned by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the National Herald case, said the party on Monday.
While the Congress is in power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh is ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Telangana by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Mizoram by the Mizo National Front.
'In Western UP, last time a lot of Dalits voted for the BJP.' 'This time, there is a rethink among Dalits about the extent of their support for the BJP.'
Rai also asserted that the Congress will win the upcoming Assembly elections in all five states.
Top Congress leadership led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held marathon discussions with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot joined them later in the evening.
The two parties have fielded 33 candidates each belonging to the Jat community for the December 7 polls.
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