Pranab Mukherjee was on Wedneday sworn n as the country's 13th President at an impressive ceremony in the packed and historic Central Hall of Parliament.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi held consultations with party leaders as the 72-hour deadline set by Trinamool Congress for rollback of diesel price hike, LPG subsidy cap and FDI in retail ended on Monday amid indications a worst case situation could be a pull out of union ministers by the key ally.
That he hasn't done so yet, has continued to be active on the political street, in public debate and on social media, signals an important change. It will give his party hope. Maybe the achievement of reducing Mr Modi well below the majority mark will now motivate him to stay committed, observes Shekhar Gupta
The Union Budget for 2004-05 was presented in the Lok Sabha today by Finance Minister P Chidambaram. In his opening remarks, Chidambaram said the verdict in the recent general elections was a vote for a change in the manner in which the government wa
Immediately after the House met, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla paid tributes to sitting MPs Rattan Lal Kataria and Balubhau alias Suresh Narayan Dhanorkar. He also said that 11 former members passed away in the last few months and read out their names.
Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday led the nation in paying rich tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 61st birth anniversary.
Andhra Pradesh ministers from the Telangana region, who have sent their resignation letters to Sonia Gandhi, arrived in New Delhi on Sunday to hold consultations with top leaders, and demanded that the government come out with a "time-bound programme" for the creation of a separate state.
Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, former chief minister of the state, had a meeting with Gandhi on the issue. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan also arrived in New Delhi in the evening for talks with central leaders.
'He has destroyed the Youth Congress. Now he is trying to destroy the National Students Union of India. Next he will destroy the Congress. Whatever responsibility you give him he will destroy that.'
D Purandeswari, Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development, has been asked to speak about literacy initiatives undertaken since the UNESCO regional literacy meet held in New Delhi in 2006 and the progress and the effect they have had in India.
She suggested several measures such as protection of doctors, easing the supply chains and deferment of loans.
DMK president M Karunanidhi told reporters that Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee will release a special postal cover on the occasion.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday met Sonia Gandhi and expressed his intention to contest the upcoming AICC chief polls, while the Congress president conveyed that she would stay "neutral" in the elections, sources said.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Shazia Ilmi sought to quell speculation that she would be pitted against Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha polls, saying she "never agreed" to contest from Rae Bareli.
'Rahul Gandhi might not be holding any post as of now but everyone knows that he is the "captain of the ship'
The advertisement highlights NCP chief Sharad Pawar's accomplishments as Union agriculture minister and thanks the UPA government for its support. While the Congress said it was unaware of the advertisement, the NCP claimed it was not issued by the party.
Gandhi said around 400 Congress members will be attending the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur from May 13 to 15 and stressed on the message of every leader holding one party post.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Syed Shahnawaz Hussain was made to wait a good 30 minutes on Tuesday outside the gate of the Mahabodhi temple, the site of serial blasts on Sunday, due to the visit by United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde.
He further added that the people of India respect different languages, religion, food and customs which varies from region to region. "That's the India that I believe in, where everybody has a place and everybody compromises little bit," he said.
A senior party leader on the condition of anonymity said the CWC meeting will be called next week although the agenda is to be worked out and finalised.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
Since it was formed 58 years ago, Haryana has had Jat chief ministers for 33 of those.
The Congress' central election authority on Thursday issued a notification for the All India Congress Committee president polls, setting the ball rolling for electing the successor to the longest-serving party chief Sonia Gandhi.
As Bharatiya Janata Party's war of words with the government intensified, party chief Nitin Gadkari on Monday asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi what 'action' she intends to take against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram, who have been dragged in the 2G scam by jailed former Union minister A Raja.
The saffron party also slammed Union Shipping Minister T R Baalu for announcing that the Sethu Samudram project will be completed in November next year saying his statement on the Vijayadashmi day was a 'deliberate attempt' to hurt the sentiments of crore of believers.
All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi has taken a conscious decision of being neutral to Andhra Pradesh politics in the wake of the sudden demise of its chief minister Y S Rajashekhara Reddy, and wait for a three-member committee to brief her. Till such time, she is not likely to meet any leader from the state.
Amar alleged that Jaipal was trying to "humiliate" Amitabh at the behest of the Congress president.
Gandhi's flying into Srinagar to meet Mehbooba assumes significance as there are reports that the PDP and the BJP are bargaining afresh over the formation of a new government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's first list of 20 candidates for Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka has caused dissidence among leaders in the state with few claiming that they would switch over to Congress.
The 78-year-old Ahamed died at 2:15 am at RML hospital where he was admitted on Tuesday and put on artificial life support.
In her condolence message for Patel, who served as her political secretary for years and was the All India Congress Committee treasurer, party chief Sonia Gandhi said, 'In Shri Ahmed Patel, I have lost a colleague, whose entire life was dedicated to the Congress Party.'
The coming assembly and Lok Sabha elections -- the choice of candidates, the campaign strategies and the negotiations with other Opposition parties --0 represent the real test for Mallikarjun Kharge.
Top leaders of 26 opposition parties were arriving in Bengaluru on Monday for a two-day brainstorming session with a call for unity and are expected to chalk out their joint programme aimed at defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The Lok Sabha MP said a clear picture about the Congress president poll can be known on September 30 and the Yatra would cross the state's borders the next day.
Scripting a new chapter in his illustrious career, Pranab Mukherjee will on Wednesday take over as India's 13th President. Watch the momentous ceremony LIVE on rediff.com
Scripting a new chapter in his illustrious career, Pranab Mukherjee will on Wednesday take over as India's 13th President.
In a statement in Hindi, she said governments and their leaders who ignore public sentiments in a democracy cannot govern for long and it is now quite clear that the protesting farmers will not bow in the face of the Centre's policy of 'tire and pushover'.
Both the BJP leaders asserted that Gandhi's disqualification was a natural outcome of the law as the Supreme Court has made it clear that a lawmaker stands disqualified from the time of his conviction.
Leaders of 24 non-BJP parties have been invited for the meet on June 17 and 18, the first edition of which saw the participation of 15 parties.
The Congress on Wednesday said senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was consulted several times before finalising the names in the revamped Jammu and Kashmir unit of the party, rejecting reports that the former Union minister was not on board.
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