The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
The Odisha government has constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a Nepali student at KIIT University and the subsequent protests by students. The three-member panel will investigate the institute's handling of the situation, including the suspension of students seeking justice. The incident has sparked outrage and raised concerns about the safety of international students at the institute. The Nepal government has threatened to stop issuing no objection certificates for students studying in Odisha if the situation is not resolved.
'If you want to have fair elections you should have an officer, who is appointed as per the rules laid down for such appointments, which is based on seniority.'
A day after the party's rout in Delhi elections, the knives are out in the Congress with leaders blaming each other and raising questions on whether the party has outsourced the task of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party to others.
The discussions are mostly one-on-one, party insiders said on Thursday, a day of many meetings.
The party's top leadership, which is now looking for a replacement for Gandhi, will have a new team once the new Congress chief is appointed and some more resignations are likely to pour in till then.
The move by Pilot to open a new front against Gehlot amid the factional fighting is seen as an attempt to pressure the party high command to resolve the leadership issue ahead of the year-end polls.
Hours after Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday said the government might get the Digital Data Protection Bill classified as a money bill, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw refuted the charge and termed it a "normal bill".
Conceding that the RJS is the "big brother" in Bihar, the Congress said that Rahul was "the face of anti-NDA forces" in the country.
Several cine personalities such as Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, junior NTR, Venkatesh, Prakash Raj and Khushbu hit out at the minister for her remarks.
The communal violence in Sambhal that claimed four lives and left over 20 people injured has now sparked a debate over a purported rivalry between the Turk and Pathan communities, with political and administrative figures weighing in on the cause of the unrest.
Tharoor said that he could not meet some delegates as their contact details were "missing" from the list that was provided to him.
Surjewala made the case for state-specific alliances while arguing for a larger coalition with like-minded parties in 'national interest'.
While Lok Sabha members across party lines demanded an inquiry, hundreds of students continued their protests near Rau's IAS Study Circle in the west Delhi locality where the horror unfolded Saturday night, killing the three students trapped in the basement illegally used as a library as floodwaters rose outside.
A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole's satsang in Hathras on Tuesday.
Seemingly expressing his displeasure against ministers demanding three more deputy chief minister posts in Karnataka, state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said the party would respond to them appropriately.
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.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
Y S Sharmila's message to voters in Kadapa is brief: 'I am YSR's daughter, my brother Jagan has ruined Andhra, vote for me, vote for Congress.' A Ganesh Nadar listens in.
Tharoor's close aide Aalim Javeri collected the forms from the office of the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on the first day of the start of the nomination process, all but confirming an electoral face-off for the top party post with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Thursday demanded immediate arrest of industrialist Gautam Adani after the billionaire industrialist was charged in the United States for alleged bribery and fraud.
Priyanka stressed on the importance of the UP polls for the party, calling it a "do-or-die" situation.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi has links to an organisation financed by the George Soros Foundation, which has reportedly supported the idea of an independent Kashmir. The party claims this connection demonstrates foreign influence in Indian internal affairs. This comes after BJP's claims of US involvement in destabilizing India, which the US has denied. The BJP also accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of collaborating with the Soros-funded OCCRP to damage India's economy and reputation. The allegations have drawn criticism from the US embassy and the opposition Congress.
Shashi Tharoor has been removed as Congress spokesperson after the party high command received complaints that he had embarrassed the party with his praise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"The film has been made to insult the entire Sikh community. We will not let the movie release in Mohali or anywhere in Punjab. The SGPC is united in this matter," said Rajinder Singh Tohra, a member of the SGPC.
The two leaders are "deeply involved in corruption" and should be dealt with accordingly, Congress leader Ajay Maken said.
Congress's Lok Sabha members Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque said this list must be made available in order to verify who is entitled to nominate a candidate and who is entitled to vote.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday alleged a 'well-planned' conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, where a team of Congress MPs led by Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to visit on December 4 amid restrictions imposed by the district administration.
Among the other promises made by the party are purchase of wheat and paddy at Rs 2,500 per quintal and Rs 400 per quintal for sugarcane.
'While some women allow themselves to be exploited so that they can climb up the ladder, there are many voiceless and silent people who get exploited by men in powerful positions.'
Dikshit will take on BJP's sitting MP Manoj Tiwari and Aam Aadmi Party's Dilip Pandey.
The Congress Working Committee finally accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
They try to hide behind the smokescreen that these are works of fiction inspired by real events. So, you can pick and choose from facts and fictionalise to push the right triggers with your audience or appease the powers that be, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Over the past week, Rahul Gandhi has replaced office-bearers in charge of party units in Gujarat and Karnataka and Goa, and brought in young leaders as secretaries. These changes are unlikely to be a one-time exercise and poll-bound states would get the primary attention.
Priyanka Gandhi was earlier actively involved in key decision making in the party along with her mother and brother, including the selection of new chief ministers for Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh recently.
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.
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
Much drama is likely to continue in the coming year, within the Sangh Parivar as well as involving the Opposition parties and, of course the BJP's allies, predicts Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
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.
From the 30-share Sensex pack, Sun Pharma, Reliance Industries, Infosys, Tata Motors, Infosys, Titan, Maruti and NTPC were among the major laggards. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the gainers.
