Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said he is "more than happy" to take responsibility for everything wrong the party did in its history, including the 1984 Sikh riots. He acknowledged that the party made "a lot of mistakes" when he was not there, but said he has publicly stated that what happened in the 80s was "wrong." The remarks were made during an interaction at Brown University in the US. The video of the interaction was uploaded on the YouTube channel of the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs on Saturday. The BJP has criticized Gandhi for his remarks, accusing him of "ridiculing" the beliefs of Hindus and Sikhs.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress has managed to put off the Telangana issue for a while following the Srikrishna Commission report. For the first time, legislators from the Andhra assembly misbehaved with each other at the start of the budget session.
Moving a resolution, Stalin said that in the event of increase in the number of seats in Parliament, 1971 Census should be the basis for it. Also, the 1971 Census should be basis for delimitation of LS seats for 30 years from 2026, he asserted.
Gandhi will embark on a 15-kilometre padyatra in Telangana's Adilabad district on Friday, highlighting the issues of farmers.
The census will be carried out with a reference date of October 1, 2026 in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and March 1, 2027 in the rest of the country, the notification said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath launched a scathing attack on West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the violence during protests against the Waqf law, accusing her of remaining silent while "Bengal is burning." He also said that the only treatment for rioters is stick, as "Those who respond only to thrashing don't understand words."
Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh on Sunday said a separate state of Telangana could be carved out of Andhra Pradesh, only if the State Assembly first passes a resolution on it.
Mounting pressure on the Centre, Congress and Telegu Desam Party legislators from Telangana asserted that they will resign on Monday in support of their demand for statehood to the region.
The Nizam was laid to rest at the Mecca Masjid in Hyderabad with full State honours. Thousands of mourners took part in the funeral procession.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday said all the party rebels contesting against the official candidates of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) have been suspended for six years.
In UP and Bengal, it is willing to sacrifice its interests to stop the BJP and would work towards ensuring the BJP did not win incremental seats in Odisha and Telangana.
24 hours was all it took for the Congress to overturn its decision to boycott the TV debates on the exit poll results. Sudhir Bisht offers an explanation.
Both the TRS and Congress are desperately looking for alliances to form the first government in Telangana, however, the last resort for both of them will be to join hands. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'It will split people and create caste clashes. Unity of people will be affected for the time being.'
The Bharat Mata controversy in Kerala shows how political and symbolic fights between the state and the Centre have taken attention away from education, throwing the state's oldest university into confusion and disorder, observes Shyam G Menon.
Declaring the Telangana government's support to the Telugu film industry, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Thursday said the former would take steps to make Hyderabad a destination for international film shootings.
Modi believes that the Congress leadership does not have the political sagacity to undertake a course correction because of its preoccupation about not losing its current gains in the voter base, observes Shekhar Iyer.
Pushed to the corner by the deteriorating health condition of Telangana Rashtriya Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Congress on Wednesday night agreed to pass a resolution in the Andhra Pradesh assembly for the creation of a separate Telangana state, in a bid to defuse the current volatile situation. Addressing a press conference late on Wednesday night, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, "The process of creating a separate Telangana state will be initiated."
The vexatious Telangana statehood issue is hanging like a Damocles' sword on the Congress' head. It is still unable to take a call on whether or not to grant statehood to the region though it's off and on releasing signals that something is going to happen.
The party's gamble to go in for early elections paid rich dividends.
In the clearest indication that the Congress leadership is moving towards the formation of a separate state of Telangana, the party organised a massive show of strength in Hyderabad on Sunday giving a clarion call in favour of the new state.
A day after Parliament gave its nod to Telangana to become the 29th state, Mamata Banerjee on Friday attacked the "Congress-BJP syndicate" for clearing the bill to serve their respective political agendas describing the "unholy nexus" as an "alarming signal" for the country.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar in the National Herald money laundering case, officials said.
For the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh the ongoing crisis in Telangana will not end with granting statehood. The decision on making Hyderabad a common capital or Union Territory will be a crucial one if it wants to retain power in the state, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Faced with fresh agitation on the issue of Telangana and continued uncertainties over the food security bill, the Congress top brass including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi deliberated on the way ahead.
All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi is studying AICC observer Ghulam Nabi Azad's note on Telangana and a decision is likely to be out by this weekend.
Grappling with the contentious Telangana issue, the Congress on Sunday indicated that the much-talked about mechanism on it was unlikely to be formed soon and urged partymen to withdraw from the Joint Action Committee agitating for the creation of a separate state, warning them of stern action for indiscipline. "The terms of reference are under preparation and not yet finalised," said Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, who is also in charge of party affairs in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party member Prakash Javadekar seemed most upset with Friday's Rajya Sabha adjournment as his resolution on creation of a separate Telangana state was on top of the private members' business listed for the afternoon session.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
The ruling Telugu Desam party is trying to take advantage of the anxiety of Telangana Rashtra Samiti over the coming by elections to 12 assembly seats in Telangana region. While the TRS was hoping that all the MLAs who had resigned in support of Telangana state will be re-elected unanimously and no other party will enter the fray, Congress and Telugu Desam have queered the pitch by declaring their intentions to contest the by elections.
'This is what happens when you do politics in between personal foreign trips and nightclubbing'
The prospect of an upset worries the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh as it faces a threat from a rebel candidate in the biennial election to Rajya Sabha slated for Friday.
If states have to fall in line with MSPs declared by political parties, they will have to do so in violation of central order or bear the full expense of the surplus procured at above MSP rates.
Andhra leaders are readying for a stormy session over Telangana tomorrow. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Hyderabad remained tense on Sunday in anticipation of an announcement by the Centre on the creation of a separate state of Telangana by Sunday evening. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders before making a final announcement on Telangana by Sunday evening.
Just eight months after its good showing in the Lok Sabha polls, the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) seems to be running out of steam with internal bickering and conflicting ambitions resulting in diminishing electoral returns that have once again put the Bharatiya Janata Party in the driver's seat in national politics.
Census exercise with caste enumeration will be carried out with the reference date of October 1, 2026, in snow-bound areas like Ladakh and of March 1, 2027, in the rest of the country, the Home Ministry announced on Wednesday.
Amit Shah believes Bandi Sanjay Kumar is 'single-handedly' capable of unseating the TRS government in the December 2023 assembly election and there is no need for the BJP's central leaders to jump into the Telangana scene.
Vicky Nanjappa spoke to Madhu Yashki Goud, Congress Member of Parliament from the Telangana region, on what forced his party of suddenly change its stance on granting statehood to Telangana.
