The Congress party has announced its seven candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Pawan Khera, Meenakshi Natarajan, Praveen Chakravarty, Neeraj Dangi, Mansoor Ali Khan, and Pranav Jha, representing various states like Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and Jharkhand. The elections are set for June 18.
The new Cabinet in Karnataka led by chief minister-designate D K Shivakumar is likely to be a small one with 10-14 ministers including some young faces, sources said on Tuesday. The top Congress leadership on Tuesday held day-long deliberations with outgoing chief minister Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar on giving final shape to the new cabinet in the state.
The Congress party has accused the BJP and the Election Commission of being "partners in crime" in what it terms "seat chori" (seat theft), following the rejection of its Rajya Sabha candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination. The party claims the rejection was based on "flawed and unreasonable" logic, alleging non-disclosure of a criminal case against Natarajan, despite her stating only a legal notice exists.
Announcing the decision at the party headquarters in Hyderabad on Tuesday, All India Congress Committee general secretary K C Venugopal said the swearing-in will take place on December 7 in Hyderabad.
Sharmila, the sister of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, had joined the Congress on January 4 in Delhi in the presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would sound the poll bugle of the party for the coming assembly elections in Telangana by addressing a public meeting at Khammam on Sunday.
Factors such as anti-incumbency, voter fatigue, and dissatisfaction among the youth contributed mainly to the poor showing of Bharat Rashtra Samithi in the Telangana legislative assembly election on Sunday.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a heated debate between BJP and Congress members regarding the handling of Naxalism, with the BJP accusing the previous UPA government of failing to contain left-wing extremism and the Congress defending its efforts to curb the threat.
'She was not a yes person. She would tell the truth and her feelings to Indira Gandhi, and Indira Gandhi would value her opinion. The same was the case with Rajiv Gandhi who would value her opinion.'
Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the Congress party for its alleged inaction in addressing Maoist violence during its long rule, while highlighting the Modi government's success in nearly eradicating Maoists from Bastar, Chhattisgarh.
Kanugolu had also made forays in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh following a directive from the party's central leadership but regional satraps Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath reportedly were not on the same page as the poll strategist.
The 13 members include, sitting Congress MLA Danasari Anasuya (Seethakka) and former legislator Vem Narendar Reddy.
Moving forward following the decision to bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, the Congress on Tuesday night appointed separate Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs for Seemandhra and Telangana.
Odisha's and Telangana's principal opposition parties, the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi, on Monday announced that their MPs will abstain from voting in the vice presidential elections.
As the triangular political contest in Telangana intensifies, many believe that for the regional major BRS, it is a battle for survival after being routed in the assembly polls held late last year. What is haunting the party this time is the scams, the 10-year anti-incumbency factor, and family dominance in the party.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi assures that the Indian government is prepared to bring back Indians stranded in the Gulf region due to the Iran-Israel conflict and disruptions in Dubai, emphasizing citizen safety as the top priority.
In a major organisational revamp, the Congress on Friday appointed former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel as general secretary in-charge of Punjab and Rajya Sabha MP Syed Naseer Hussain as general secretary for Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
It will be clear whether the voters preferred the Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regime for a third term or the "six guarantees" by the Congress worked any miracles or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or if there will be a fractured verdict, by tomorrow evening.
In the purported five-second clip, Reddy is seen addressing a poll rally in Nalgonda on Tuesday and is heard saying in Telegu 'Sonia Gandhi is going to give the CM position to me if the party comes to power. There is no one senior to me here'.
The Congress on Saturday released its election manifesto for Telangana, promising socially-inclusive growth with focus on jobs and social justice and a three-pronged approach for building the new state.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti, headed by K Chandrasekhar Rao, will form the government in Telangana, after results revealed that the party won 63 seats to clinch power in the 119-member assembly in Telangana.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
However, finding the funds to fulfill them will be a herculean task.
Reddy dared the saffron party to prove its claim that the Congress government in the southern state did not fulfil its poll guarantees.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi who is leading the party's pan-India Bharat Jodo Yatra on Sunday gave some exciting moments during the foot march as he suddenly started to sprint along with some school children, forcing others to run.
Arun Beereddy (37), a native of Telangana's Hyderabad, was arrested from Delhi. He handles the 'Spirit of Congress' account on X, the official said.
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.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
Sports stars in Telangana stepped out to cast their vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on Thursday.
While the party announced 144 party candidates for Madhya Pradesh elections, it announced 30 candidates for the Chhattisgarh polls and another 55 for Telangana assembly polls slated next month.
They said a 'mock poll' would be conducted in the Central Hall of the Samvidhan Sadan at around 2:30 PM on Monday after the briefing on the procedure to vote in the vice presidential polls.
The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday questioned former Indian cricket team captain and Congress leader Mohammed Azharuddin for over nine hours in a money laundering case linked to alleged financial irregularities in the Hyderabad Cricket Association, official sources said.
TDP Telangana unit president Ramana said they favoured a 'grand alliance' for the elections in the interest of Telangana people.
Asked about him sticking with the Congress since he got the parliamentary polls ticket from Moradabad in 2009, he said loyalty is very important to him since the beginning.
The Congress has not found the answers to many niggling questions on Telangana, but the party has already chalked out a political game-plan in the new state, says a correspondent in Delhi
Ahead of the crucial Congress meeting on Telangana, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy on Friday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and briefed her about the political situation in the state.
Seeking to buy time, the Congress high command appears to be toying with the idea of having a deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee chief in Andhra Pradesh from Telangana region amid a growing clamour for a separate state
Gaurav Gogoi will head the screening committee for Rajasthan with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot included among the ex-officio members of the panel.
New Andha Pradesh Congress Committee president and state's transport minister Botsa Satyanarayana, whose appointment has created a stir in the party, has said that there was nothing wrong if Andhra Pradesh was divided into two to fulfil the demand of Telangana people for statehood.
