The CPI-M's allegations were termed a political conspiracy by the opposition Congress which accused the Left party of stooping low to target its political opponents.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will appear before a court in Gujarat's Surat city on Thursday when it is expected to deliver its verdict in a 2019 criminal defamation case filed against him over his 'Modi surname' remarks, party leaders said on Wednesday.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday held feedback meetings and interacted with party leaders at Birla auditorium in Jaipur.
With 'go solo' being the mantra for Congress after its success in Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the party is now set to dump Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal in the Bihar assembly elections scheduled later this year. An indication to this effect came when All Indian Congress Committee in-charge of the state Jagdish Tytler and Pradesh Congress Committee president Anil Sharma recently met party president Sonia Gandhi.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
The padyatra concluded at the Lal Chowk area on Sunday with Rahul Gandhi unfurling the national flag but the official closing would take place on Monday in Srinagar, amid snowfall.
Those responsible for protecting MPs have failed in their constitutional duties, said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
In a jolt to the Congress ahead of Himachal Pradesh polls, senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee for the state, saying he was left with no choice after the 'continuing exclusion and insults'.
APCC president Ripun Bora said following discussions with various parties, it has been decided that the Congress will join hands with the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF), the Communist Party of India, the Communist Party of India-Marxist, Communist Party of India-Marxist Leninist and the Anchalik Gana Morcha.
Ahead of the all-party delegation's visit to Kashmir Valley next week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi held deliberations with senior party leaders on the strategy for the troubled state.
Referring to her party's pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, she said it was based on "mutual respect" and "honest intentions", adding that "the SP-BSP alliance is perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
With the Pradesh Congress Committee presidents in at least eight states yet to be appointed, All India Congress Committee general secretaries and other office-bearers in line to be changed, Congress chief ministers in the firing range with party MLAs wanting a change, a large number of gubernatorial appointments yet to be made and a reshuffle of the council of ministers on the cards, Congress president Sonia Gandhi appears to be in no hurry to enforce the required changes wit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on Tuesday poised to form the government for a third consecutive term with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance getting a majority in the Lok Sabha, notwithstanding crushing losses in three Hindi heartland states after a bitterly fought election that was projected as a referendum on his popularity.
Amid the chanting of hymns, preceded by a gun salute and band played by the Assam Police, the state's longest serving chief minister's mortal remains were consigned to flames by his son Gaurav Gogoi.
'Every Congress leader in UP and the rest of India is calling me and thanking me that finally someone spoke about this JNU gang ruling the Congress party in UP.'
"I sometimes think of leaving it, but the chief minister's post doesn't leave me," Ashok Gehlot famously said earlier this year, in part as a signal to the Congress top brass not to pick someone else for the job if the party wins the assembly polls.
It may be for the first time that any leader in any political party in Kerala had taken such a step to register their protest against the party leadership for denying poll ticket.
Extending its winning run in the south, the Congress on Sunday won 64 assembly seats to form government in the Bharat Rashtra Samiti-dominated Telangana, with the southern solace coming in the midst of a saffron sweep of the Hindi heartland where the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested two states from the grand old party and retained one.
In yet another blow to the Congress in poll-bound Kerala, All India Congress Committee member and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president K C Rosakutty on Monday resigned from the party's primary membership and decided to associate with the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was on Thursday poised for a landslide victory in Gujarat to retain power for a record seventh straight term but was behind the Congress in Himachal Pradesh which could go with the trend of alternative governments in the hill state.
'About 90 per cent of our netas have no loyalty and will go with the winner.'
Gehlot told Congress MLAs that they will be asked to come to New Delhi if he decides to file his nomination.
The opposition, which had earlier accepted defeat, is again jumping around today, the UP CM said.
Sober by temperament and nature, Kharge has never landed in any major political trouble or controversy.
In key organisational changes, the Congress on Wednesday appointed young face Anil Chaudhary as its Delhi unit chief and named D K Shivakumar, known to be the party's chief troubleshooter in crisis situations, as the head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
With President's rule scheduled to end in Jharkhand on July 18, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Congress leaders on Tuesday held talks on the possibility of formation of a government in the state.
"I thank the high command for imposing their trust on me and assigning me this big responsibility," she said soon after the announcement.
Local residents have stressed that land acquisition for rehabilitation must be completed promptly, as it has been delayed after estate owners challenged it in the Kerala high court.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's speech in Dholpur reflects that his leader is Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi, Sachin Pilot said in a no holds barred attack against his party colleague on Tuesday.
He also asserted that everything has gone smoothly for the party in the assembly polls and the government will be formed soon.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Wayanad in Kerala on June 12, party sources said on Monday.
Right to apprenticeship, legal guarantee for MSP, passing a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs, a nation-wide caste census and scrapping of Agnipath scheme are among the promises made by the Congress in its Lok Sabha polls manifesto released on Friday.
It begins with the position of All India Congress Committee member for which there was a price tag of Rs 1 lakh, followed by UPCC membership for Rs 50,000, District Congress Committee membership for Rs 5000 and Block Presidentship for Rs 20,000.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, who along with two other ministers had offered to resign in a letter to party's national president Sonia Gandhi, had moved a proposal in this regard at the beginning of the meeting following which all ministers resigned.
Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal held a crucial meeting in New Delhi on Thursday night to finalise seat sharing arrangements for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to be held early next year.
Will he leave the party? Will he float a new one? Or join an existing one? As speculation is rife over Jyotiraditya Scindia's next move, the Madhya Pradesh Congress unit appears to be divided on the rift between him and Chief Minister Kamal Nath, reports Sandeep Kumar.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
The Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government will have a total of 30 ministers, including 18 who had resigned earlier.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
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