Forget India, UP won't accept Rahul's leadership, says Rita Bahuguna Joshi while joining the BJP
Taking note of complaints of indiscipline and anti-party statements, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge approved Nirupam's expulsion from the party for six years with immediate effect, an official communication from the party said.
The Congress took the gamble of going it alone but Rahul Gandhi's magic, like it did in Uttar Pradesh, failed this time in Bihar with the party recording its worst-ever performance in assembly elections in the state in last 10 years.
When asked whether Sonia will be present at the day-long convention, Congress spokesman Shaktisinh Gohil told reporters that Rahul had led the agitation against demonetisation and he would preside over it.
Tahul assured that he would raise the stampede issue in Parliament in a bid to prevent such incidents in the future, they said.
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.
Party sources in Delhi said Rahul Gandhi is keen to visit there on Wednesday, days after his sister and All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died and several injured Sunday in the bloodiest clash since the farmers' protest over the Centre's agri laws began last year.
Infighting in Congress in the wake of its electoral debacle in Uttar Pradesh came out in the open on Thursday with Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi saying there was a "lot of sabotage" at the local level in the party which is in a "crisis" at this moment.
Gandhi said the party will defeat the saffron party and Narendra Modi in Gujarat just the way it was defeated in Ayodhya.
The Congress on Friday said it will take a decision at an 'appropriate time' whether its senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Sonia Gandhi will attend the consecration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
Those who denounced the letter writers in the "Group of 23" like Nirmal Khatri and Naseeb Pathan have interestingly found places in the panels announced by Gandhi on Sunday evening.
"No such alliance has been formed, but the possibilities are always there," All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot told PTI.
Congress Member of Parliament Mohammad Azharduddin on Friday courted arrest, along with his supporters in Moradabad, to protest against the ransacking of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi's residence in Lucknow. Azharuddin, after offering Friday's namaz at the Jama Masjid in Moradabad today afternoon, took out a march along with his supporters from Jama Masjid despite prohibitory orders.
Congress chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh Sheila Dikshit on Sunday narrowly escaped with minor injuries after a makeshift platform on an open mini-truck collapsed during a roadshow
Notably, Scindia had also backed the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, taking a stand in contrast to that of his party's.
Former Union Minister Rasheed Masood was on Monday made special invitee to the Congress Working Committee with immediate effect. The announcement was made by party General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi.
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.
After Rahul Gandhi reviewed the Uttar Pradesh poll debacle, another review committee led by senior leader A K Antony would go into the causes of the Congress rout in Uttar Pradesh and Goa as also the shock defeat in Punjab and the performance in Uttarakhand.
Speculation has been rife that the Gandhi or his sister Priyanka could be projected as the Congress face in UP.
A total of 121 people, mostly women, died in the stampede at self-styled godman Baba Bhole's satsang in Hathras on Tuesday.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Sunday.
Talking to reporters in Lucknow on the sidelines of a workshop for Pradesh Congress Committee members, Jaiswal said the UP government had complained that in certain states the laid down security procedures were not being followed for the protection of Mayawati.
A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
It appears that the party has some kind of political death wish, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
Also, with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years following the polling on Monday and counting on Wednesday.
The MLAs who have been expelled for six years are Sanjay Pratap Jayaswal (Basti district), Madhuri Verma (Bahraich), Vijay Dube (Kushinagar), Mohammed Muslim (Tiloi-Amethi), Dil Nawaz Khan (Bulandshahar) and Nawab Kasim Ali Khan (Rampur).
The party has fielded Parvati Das for the by-election to the Bageshwar assembly seat in Uttarakhand and Lijinlal G for the Puthuppally assembly seat in Kerala.
Congress on Thursday demanded its resignation saying since the parties which had helped form the government three years ago had withdrawan their support, this government has no moral right to continue.
The Congress on Wednesday filed a police complaint over the recent statements of leaders belonging to the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) targeting Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sought to nip in the bud a possible controversy on Tuesday, when he made it clear that he did not force the helicopter pilot to land in zero visibility conditions in Sitapur on Monday evening.
After serving as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years, Digvijay Singh has been entrusted with the responsibility of the Congress' affairs in UP. In an interview with Renu Mittal, Singh talks about the 'friendly fight' between the two parties in UP.
Even though it was stated that no action would be taken against the senior leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi, they say that the retaliation had already begun, reports Aditi Phadnis
Priyanka stressed on the importance of the UP polls for the party, calling it a "do-or-die" situation.
'There is a big communication gap between leaders and party workers in the Congress.'
The names of Bahujan Samaj Party Member of Legislative Assembly Jitendra Singh and local party leader Imtizar Abdi have been added in the FIR filed in connection with the arson at the house of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi in Lucknow. The names of the two have been added on Friday night on the basis of a complaint by Joshi and Congress general secretary Subodh Srivastava, police sources said on Saturday.
The controversy has sparked reactions across states. The famous Mankameshwar temple in Uttar Pradesh has now banned offerings of 'prasad' bought by devotees from outside and said they can offer homemade 'prasad' or fruits.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Rita Bahuguna Joshi was on Thursday remanded to judicial custody for 14 days for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Chief Minister Mayawati.The state police, who took her into custody late on Wednesday night while she was on her way from Ghaziabad to New Delhi, produced her before Moradabad's chief judicial magistrate, who ordered her to be sent to 14 days judicial custody. She was then sent to the Moradabad jail.
Alleging negligence in the construction of the temple, Das claimed that there was also no arrangement for the drainage of rainwater from the temple premises after the showers on Saturday midnight.
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