Congress MP Ghulam Nabi Azad during his retirement speech in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday summed up his more than four-decade-old political career in few Urdu couplets and a brief speech.
Party president Sonia Gandhi, former chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress chief ministers Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Bhupesh Baghel of Chhattisgarh and Charanjit Channi of Punjab attended the meeting.
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.
According to the returning officer, former chief minister and NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah polled 27 votes while as Mohammad Shafi Uri got 25 votes in the third and final round of elections, held through Single Transferable Vote System.
The ambit of the G-23 grouping increased this time as some more leaders -- Patiala MP Preneet Kaur, former Gujarat chief minister Shankar Singh Vaghela, former union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar and former Haryana speaker Kuldeep Sharma -- joined them.
The government plans to screen the nation's entire population in the next five years for cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and strokes for early detection and treatment of the ailments, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Tuesday. He said during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha that a pilot project has been launched in 100 districts of 21 states for prevention and early detection of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and strokes.
The former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said the agenda of the new political outfit would be to struggle for the restoration of J and K's statehood and to fight for the job and land rights of people.
'Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are the two people who have been marked and punished'
The election is scheduled for February 13. Their names have reportedly been cleared by the coalition government of the NC and the Congress.
The BJP MP also said that MP said that he will seek breach of privilege proceedings against Ghulam Nabi Azad for "falsely" saying that the UPA had blacklisted Finmeccanica, the manufacturer of AgustaWestland choppers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured at the all-party meeting that the government is ready to discuss all issues.
'Rahul Gandhi might not be holding any post as of now but everyone knows that he is the "captain of the ship'
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
The meeting of the Congress' top decision-making body has been convened after demands from some quarters within the party to discuss important issues, including some defections in the recent past.
Senior leader P Chidambaram whose Rajya Sabha tenure is ending from Maharashtra is under consideration from Tamil Nadu as the Congress is all set to get the support of alliance partner the DMK. The G-23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Vivek Tankha, are also said to be in contention.
As of now, Azad couldn't be in the BJP leadership's calculus. The BJP has been trying to drill into the J&K electorate that this time around the UT would most certainly have a Hindu chief minister, explains Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
The Congress and the National Conference on Monday announced they will fight the Lok Sabha polls in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, in alliance, with both parties contesting three seats each.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he was proud of the manner in which the multi-party delegations presented India's views in various countries on the need to eradicate the menace of terrorism following the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
Malik had served as the 18th governor of Goa between November 3, 2019, and August 18, 2020.
From the 'group of 23' leaders, who had written letter to Gandhi seeking Congress' overhaul, Azad and Sharma continue to be regular members of the CWC,
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday said he likes leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who are proud of their roots and noted that Modi speaks frankly about his past as a tea-seller.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, which had always misguided the people, had swung the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
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Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will head all the three committees.
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Congress on Monday kept the government guessing on the insurance bill asking it to take on board all stakeholders and favouring the select committee route even as it insisted that the measure is its own "baby" and it is a "misnomer" that the party is opposed to it.
Watch Opposition vs government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
Rahul Gandhi had earlier indicated that he might be present at the Patna rally.
Azad was elected to the Upper House from Jammu and Kashmir, which does not have an assembly currently after it was made a Union Territory with the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution.
The opposition Congress is peeved at the Modi government's move to not allow its top leaders a meeting with the visiting US President, as has been the tradition.
Congress members of Parliament led by Rahul Gandhi on Monday staged a protest outside Parliament House demanding removal of Union Minister V K Singh for his "dog" remarks.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
The notices given by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Deputy Leader of Congress in the House, Anand Sharma, seek to corner the government on the issue accusing it of "destabilising" a democratically-elected government in Uttarakhand.
In a major setback to ruling National Conference-Congress coalition in Jammu and Kashmir, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday shared the six Lok Sabha seats in the state as two Union ministers, including Farooq Abdullah, bit the dust.
The change in Anantnag's demographic after delimitation has added layers of political complexities to the constituency with Pahari-Gujjar, Jammu versus Kashmir dimensions.
A flop Bharat Jodo Yatra could unleash more resignations from a party which under its current leadership is dying a slow death, warns Virendra Kapoor.
The Congress emphasised that there can be no talks with Pakistan at the 'moment' when it is 'waging a war of words'.
Watch Opposition vs Government duel in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha LIVE.
Addressing the Rajya Sabha on Friday, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad says that the government has sought cooperation from the private hospitals to deal with swine flu.
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