SPG Act tweaked to ensure that commandoes accompany protectees overseas as well.
The whole drama of the Congress Working Committee meeting was enacted precisely to underline the First Family's supremacy and, more particularly, to insulate Rahul Gandhi from any harsh criticism for the party's humiliating poll drubbing, reports Anita Katyal.
'We needed Smriti Irani to champion democratic values, but she's chosen to be a coward.' 'In fact, she has shrunk India's democracy.' 'Why blame her or the BJP? I can't hear the voices of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.' 'They lack the guts to stand up in support of Padmavati, Sexy Durga and Nude.' 'When it comes to defending freedom they are no different,' says Karan Thapar.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
Kharge said he condemn this attitude of the government to threaten, scare and humiliate
Senior leaders are of the impression that Rahul's stock is down in the Congress party with very few willing to root strongly for him. He did not speak at the meeting as AICC general secretaries did not speak during the meeting.
In the years after Mahatma Gandhi, India has only suffered in the hands of "fake Gandhis", believes Narendra Modi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday asserted that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not be restored even if Congress stalwart and late PM Indira Gandhi comes down from heaven.
Speaking to around 60 journalists in three different sittings, the Congress vice-president, who is known to be media shy when it comes to his personal life, has opened up on a range of topics.
Rahul left for an undisclosed location abroad amid a growing clamour for structural changes within after the party's debacle in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
'Wait for more action the day after (the Friday meeting).'
Anand Sharma said weaponisation of laws and their use to target and humiliate people should not happen.
These remarks from a legislator considered close to Shivakumar come amid renewed speculation about a leadership change in Karnataka later this year.
While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change.
'Rahul is not even a lamp before the sun'
Gandhi spent around 20 minutes at the party office and met Shiv Sena - Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Sanjay Raut and others.
Sonia Gandhi had not campaigned for the party during elections in the recent past due to health reasons.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
The security cover of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has been upgraded from the 'Y' category to 'Z', official sources said on Thursday.
The opposition party was reacting after BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia asked Ansari and the Congress to come clean on the claims of Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza that he had visited India five times during the Congress-led UPA rule and passed on sensitive information collected here to his country's spy agency ISI.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
'Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal are the two people who have been marked and punished'
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that the home ministry's decision to cancel the FCRA licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust for alleged violation of laws has "exposed" their corruption.
In a rare show of bonhomie between estranged cousins, Bharatiya Janata Party's Varun Gandhi 'praised' Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for his efforts towards empowerment of women in Amethi, reacting to which the Congress vice president said he was happy to receive the appreciation.
'It would indeed be difficult for someone from outside the Gandhi family to run the party'
Will he, will he not? That is the question on every Congress leader's mind as Rahul Gandhi has still not indicated whether he is ready to take on the mantle of party president.
Priyanka also lauded her mother, calling her the bravest woman for overcoming huge difficulties during her record 19-year tenure as the Congress chief.
In his first formal interaction with the office-bearers of the revamped All India Congress Committee on Saturday, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said the party would be working towards giving 50 per cent representation to women in party posts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and heir-apparent Rahul Gandhi. Much has been said about their speeches at the Congress rally in Delhi on Sunday, but whose speech do you think was better? Vote now!
A huge political row broke out after Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee derisively mimicked Dhankhar during the opposition's protest on the stairs of Parliament on Tuesday against the suspension of MPs, drawing strong condemnation from the ruling BJP.
Denouncing the United Progressive Alliance government as a "failure" on all fronts, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday came out with a scathing "chargesheet" on its 10-year rule that accused Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi of being equally guilty of all ills by exercising authority without responsibility.
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi read out the Preamble to the Constitution of India as part of the 'Satyagraha of Unity' protest.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
"Under Mahalakshmi, Rs 2,500 per month financial assistance will be given to women in Telangana, gas cylinders at Rs 500, and free travel for women in buses across the state," she said explaining some of the guarantees.
The Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra re-entered Haryana on Thursday evening from Uttar Pradesh but he left for Delhi to meet his ailing mother Sonia Gandhi and will return next morning, a senior Congress leader said.
While Sonia Gandhi has been avoiding attending public events, Rahul Gandhi left on a short personal visit abroad only on Sunday.
All India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah attended the ceremony held at the L B Stadium in Hyderabad.
Faisal Patel, son of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel, has announced he will stop working for the grand old party, claiming that he tried to follow in his father's footsteps but was denied at every step. Ahmed Patel, who had served as a Rajya Sabha MP, All Indian Congress Committee treasurer and former party president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, died in November 2020. Faisal had aspired to contest from the Bharuch seat in Gujarat in last year's Lok Sabha elections but the Congress did not nominate him.
Hooda and Azad were reported to have discussed concrete proposals to strengthen the Congress and ensure collective leadership and decision making as demanded by the grouping which met on Wednesday and signed a joint statement.
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