'Rahul Gandhi should have prevented Nitish Kumar from going.' 'He must pacify Mamata Banerjee if he has a cause of Mohabbat Ki Dukaan.' 'He should bring this Mohabbat Ki Dukaan on the political canvas.'
Several top Congress leaders including party general secretary organisation K C Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Randeep Surjewala and Shashi Tharoor, wished the former party chief on her birthday.
This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
The former Congress president was asked to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification after the conviction and two-year sentence by a Surat court for his 'Modi surname' remark.
Asked what role she will assume after Rahul Gandhi takes over the reins of the party, Sonia Gandhi told media persons in the Parliament complex: "My role is to retire."
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday resigned from all party positions, including its primary membership, delivering another blow to the embattled party that has seen a series of leaders leave it.
Amid speculation over leadership change in Karnataka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the issue will be resolved after discussions with senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, while deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed there is unity in the party.
Congress leader V D Satheesan has accused Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of targeting Rahul Gandhi to curry favour with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, alleging blackmail and compromised investigations.
The House was adjourned seconds after convening amid ruckus over various issues, and Rahul Gandhi left Parliament soon after that.
The former Congress president was asked to vacate the premises by April 22 following his disqualification after the conviction and two-year sentence by a Surat court for his 'Modi surname' remark.
Gandhi was put in a police bus but officials did not disclose where he was being taken.
Addressing the newly elected MPs in the Central Hall of Parliament, she said far from taking responsibility for the failure, the prime minister intends to get himself sworn in again on Sunday.
Barely two months before the Lok Sabha election, Gandhi will be filing her nomination papers in Jaipur on Wednesday. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to accompany her.
By choosing not to declare her son Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has averted a Modi versus Rahul battle and effectively insulated her family against a backlash over a possible defeat in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
Rahul Gandhi succeeds his mother Sonia Gandhi, who remained in the post for 19 years.
Amid criticism that the Congress had given a walkover to Irani in Amethi, sources said, the party in its wisdom believed that Rae Bareli's historical, emotional and electoral importance for the Gandhi family was higher than that of Amethi.
Sources said Sonia Gandhi referred to Azad and others twice during her brief address and the issues raised by them.
The Congress party has accused the BJP government of disrespecting opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge by seating them in the third row during the Republic Day parade. BJP leaders have responded by questioning Rahul Gandhi's attendance at other important events.
The case pertains to the ED probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu has been at loggerheads with the chief minister, attacking him on issues like the alleged delay in the completion of a probe into the 2015 desecration of Sikh texts and the subsequent police firing on protesters.
The Congress Working Committee finally accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
Experts chart the way forward for Rahul Gandhi after the Congress party's humiliating defeat in Uttar Pradesh.
Amidst alleged power struggles within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, AICC general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala has called for discipline within the party, emphasizing that the party is paramount. This comes as the state's chief minister and deputy chief minister submitted a consolidated report on the performance of 31 ministers to Surjewala, fueling speculation about a potential cabinet reshuffle.
Rahul Gandhi would be pursued to return as Congress president as there is none in the party other than him who has a pan-India appeal, veteran leader M Mallikarjun Kharge has said.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday said it had filed a chargesheet on April 9 in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper. Apart from Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the chargesheet also names senior Congress leaders Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey as co-accused.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have slowed down her activities over the last few weeks, say highly placed sources in the party.
The agency has questioned the trial court's findings and sought appellate review, arguing that the refusal to proceed has caused serious prejudice to the investigation and prosecution.
A senior citizen from Dehradun, Pushpa Munjial, on Monday has filed a testament (will) in the district court transferring all her property to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
'Politics is a game of public perception and my father felt that by his long disappearances, Rahul Gandhi was losing the battle of perception.'
She is reportedly suffering a stomach ache, a source close to Gandhi said.
Gandhi, 75, was earlier asked to depose on June 8 but she sought a fresh date from the federal probe agency after she contracted the coronavirus infection.
'This judgment is welcome and people will now think twice before saying what they say.'
Shivakumar had said on February 14 that the Congress high command and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would examine the statements being made by party MLAs.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi turned 62 on Tuesday, but it was a subdued affair as she did not celebrate her birthday as a mark of tribute to the victims of the recent Mumbai terror strikes.The party had last week said that Gandhi will not celebrate her 62nd birthday and also asked party workers not to visit her today.However, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi were among the first to visit Gandhi to wish her.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will file a fresh charge sheet against Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case after taking cognisance of the latest Delhi Police FIR.
The opposition party also vowed to expose the "vendetta politics" against its leadership, asserting that the Congress cadre is agitated and is going to show its strength against the "misuse of agencies."
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Tripura this week to campaign for the Congress for the February 14 Assembly election.
The meeting assumes significance as the party high command has been trying to resolve the internal rift in the Punjab unit of the Congress and there is talk of its revamp, with just months to go for the assembly polls.
'If Rahul Gandhi is doing so much for the country and the party without thinking about his own health, then I realised that the only way to impress upon Soniaji and all those who are campaigning against him about how ordinary party workers are looking up to Rahulji was to write a letter in blood.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances