Ashok Gehlot, widely seen as the Congress's ruling family's nominee for the Congress president's post, bunged a spanner in the works when his MLA supporters submitted their resignations on Sunday night to assembly Speaker C P Joshi.
Taking to Twitter to express his anger, Abdullah, who is also the vice president of the National Conference, said that he would be taking legal action against the Chhattisgarh chief minister for his comments made during an interview to a prominent English newspaper.
Yet another Congress leader has attacked party Vice President Rahul Gandhi saying he has neither direction nor any policy and called him an 'MD of a team of jokers'.
The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Gehlot and Pilot, however, dismissed suggestions that there was any infighting among the state leaders and asserted that they will unitedly take on the BJP.
The party is very much united and working together, the AICC general secretary organisation said.
Massive protests were seen across the country after Congress party members and workers took to the streets to agitate against the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Gehlot said he has the proof that horse trading was being committed to topple his government.
'Anybody is free and welcome to contest in the election if they have the backing of 10 PCC delegates'
'The Congress today has lost contact with the Hindu clergy.' 'They go to to Hindu clergy only during the time of elections.'
"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.
"This time we want to prepare the organisation very strongly. The workers should get respect, everyone's participation is important, there should be balance in power, and we should move forward taking all sections of the society along," Pilot told reporters after hour-long meeting with Sonia Gandhi.
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
'Nobody understands Gehlot's politics.' 'The Congress high command should wake up.'
'No indiscipline will be tolerated but I am hopeful that Pilot will turn up for the meeting
Slogans of 'Rahul ji, we are with you' and 'Please do not resign' rang through the air.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
Addressing a party rally in Rajasthan, Gandhi also flayed the BJP over the situation in ethnic strife-torn Manipur and said the ideology of the BJP has set the northeastern state on fire.
To chart the Congress's future course, its chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups -- on political affairs for guidance on key issues, task force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration, and another to coordinate the October 2 'harat Jodo Yatra.
Prominent G-23 members including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari have not been included in the Congress list of star campaigners for West Bengal assembly elections.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were on Tuesday stopped by police from entering Meerut on their way to meet the families of those who died during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act.
Who will win in the end? The Dashing Pilot or the elderly warhorse?
Rahul is looking to bring new leadership in the state units that can bring in the young generation back into the party fold and revive its sagging image and morale. Renu Mittal reports
The estimated costs of these weddings start from Rs 100 crore and go up to Rs 700 crore.
The coming weeks will be a tightrope walk for Gehlot who has 100 loyalists MLAs waiting to be rewarded on one side and the dissidents who wanted to be rehabilitated on the other, observes Prakash Bhandari.
Kharge also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the people should not believe Modi's "guarantees".
"The new class of 70 crore people, who are above the poverty line but below the level of middle class, has been created in the last ten years and it includes security guards, taxi drivers etc," Gandhi said at a rally in Deoli area of Tonk district.
'Sachin Pilot has revived the Congress.' 'What goes in favour of Ashok Gehlot is experience.'
Electorally, the yatra seems to have paid dividends in the south, but the march does not seem to be helping the Congress in stopping the BJP's surge in the Hindi-heartland states.
Asserting that the Congress government in the state will not only complete its five years but will also win the next assembly elections, Gehlot again accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conspiring to topple his government at any cost.
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.
Priyanka Gandhi addressed 209 rallies and roadshows, the maximum by any top leader during the UP election campaign, followed closely by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who spoke at 203 poll events.
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
It won't be wise old Modi versus an immature Pappu any longer. It will be Modi versus a whole collection of experienced Opposition leaders, predicts Vir Sanghvi.
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.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh are among those named by the party as its star campaigners in Uttar Pradesh.
While Sonia Gandhi has been avoiding attending public events, Rahul Gandhi left on a short personal visit abroad only on Sunday.
While it would be wonderful to have a bright young politician like Sachin Pilot or Jyotiraditya Scindia as Rahul's premier, the chances are that Rahul will opt for Symbolism over Competence and Youth. And what more potent symbol than a Dalit Lady Leader?
Party leaders, sources said, maintained that Congress cannot afford to have a new leader at the helm for rebuilding the organisation at this juncture and that the responsibility for the defeat is collective and not individual.
A majority of Congress leaders said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader.
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