According to official sources, family members of former prime ministers will not be guarded by the elite SPG commandos, as per the amendments approved by the Union cabinet.
Dr Manmohan Singh's mortal remains were consigned to the flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday, December 28, 2024 amid the chanting of religious hymns.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday praised her son Rahul's role in the party's revival in Uttar Pradesh. "Rahul Gandhi's efforts have helped the Congress do well. I am happy that Congress has done well in Uttar Pradesh after so many years," she said during her first visit to her constituency that gave her a victory margin of over 3.7 lakh votes in the recent elections.
On Monday, when Rahul Gandhi missed the party's 136th Foundation Day celebration event as he is travelling abroad to see his grandmother, and Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi couldn't attend the event due Covid-19 pandemic, Priyanka Gandhi took charge.
In a major development in the Congress, the party has formed an informal committee comprising General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi, political secretary to Sonia Gandhi Ahmed Patel and Defence Minister AK Antony to look into the party's affairs, as the Congress president will be away since she is undergoing treatment in the United States.
The announcement put an end to speculation that Sonia Gandhi may not contest in the upcoming polls due to health reasons and the party's newly appointed general secretary in-charge (East UP) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be fielded from her constituency.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
The two leaders have returned to the country amid a growing clamour for structural changes within the party after its debacle in the crucial Uttar Pradesh polls.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
The veteran Congress leader said the NDA's success was attributable to the absence of a strong and united Opposition.
Pushing for an active role for Rahul Gandhi in Parliament, 10 Congress Members of Parliament have written to party chief Sonia Gandhi, suggesting that he be appointed as the Leader of the Lok Sabha.
The government wants to introduce a nationwide goods and services tax to revive its stalled reform programme.
Dodging immense political heat that Congress is facing from the opposition and the civil society members, United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi is reportedly on a visit to her hometown Italy.
'In spirit, and more importantly in its DNA, this is the Congress Inc, or Incorporated, a family-run entity,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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.
The core groups had a separate wing of women workers.
Those responsible for protecting MPs have failed in their constitutional duties, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
A combative Congress president also hit out at the Centre saying it should not try to frighten them and that they 'would not allow democratic institutions to be weakened or destroyed'
In the midst of the ongoing controversy over Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde's remarks on 'Hindu terror' and the offensive launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party and other Hindu organisations asking that the home minister be sacked, Congress president Sonia Gandhi will visit Allahabad for the ongoing Kumbh Mela which is currently on and has attracted crores of devotees. Renu Mittal reports.
The Congress on Friday welcomed the statements of opposition leaders condemning Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha and said it was now time for the party to take on the job of building the opposition unity in a "systematic way".
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
'Anybody is free and welcome to contest in the election if they have the backing of 10 PCC delegates'
The Congress Working Committee (CWC) condemned the Pahalgam terror attack, calling it a direct assault on the values of the republic. The party accused the BJP of exploiting the tragedy to promote discord and polarization, while urging for unity and solidarity in the face of adversity. The CWC also demanded a comprehensive analysis of the intelligence failures and security lapses that led to the attack.
Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Gandhi demanded immediate withdrawal of the objectionable question and a review into the 'gravest lapse'.
Following his disqualification as a member of Parliament, Rahul Gandhi may have to vacate his official bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi within a month if he does not get relief from a higher court in the criminal defamation case, an official said on Friday.
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.
The ruling party said Rahul Gandhi should not worry about the PM and should rather be concerned about his and Sonia Gandhi's electoral fate in 2019.
'Harassment' is the objective, not detention.
Shah said the 'friendship' between Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the deal, and Congress' top leadership is 'time tested and deep'.
'Is it not a fact that all good leaders in the Congress have left the party?'
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will launch her nationwide election campaign in Assam along with party Vice president Rahul Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh by the end of the month.
The nation on Saturday remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 31st death anniversary with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and other leaders paying tributes at her memorial in New Delhi.
Indira Gandhi valued Rahul Gandhi's 'grit and determination' and often considered him mature enough to be taken into confidence on subjects she avoided discussing even with his parents when he was barely 14, according to a new book.
The launch coincides with the birthday of Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The highlight of the five-hour meeting, which ended with a plan to hold a 'chintan shivir' at the earliest opportunity to chalk the Congress' future strategy, was a demand by Sonia Gandhi's loyalists that Rahul Gandhi should assume the party leadership again.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were among the top leaders who paid homage to former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his home in New Delhi on Friday.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
However, the party remained evasive about the part she could play in the party in future.
Congress leader K C Venugopal on Friday gave Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar a breach of privilege notice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his remarks on why former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's family did not use his surname.
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