With Charanjit Channi's selection as Punjab CM, the Congress has got its opponents thinking seriously about their next move, notes Sanjeev Nayyar.
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.
The Samajwadi Party and Congress have announced that they will contest together under the INDIA bloc.
The electoral contest would take place between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, and voting will take place on October 17 in every state capital through secret ballot.
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.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar also indicated that it may not take up the pending scheduled petitions, heard earlier by a three-judge bench, during the day as it was sitting in a combination of two judges.
Khera told reporters in Hyderabad that the views of the newly-elected MLAs have been elicited and the central leadership is seized of the matter.
"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
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.
In a video statement, Suraj Pal who also goes by the name of Narayan Sakar Hari expressed his grief and condoled the deaths at the tragedy that took place earlier this week during a 'Satsang' in Fulari village in Hathras district.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
Maurya's remarks assume significance as they came barely a couple of weeks after his statement that the party organisation will always be bigger than the government caused a flutter.
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.
The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday said they have arrested six sevadars (volunteers), including two women, of the organising committee in connection with the Hathras stampede that killed 121 people.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Sunday.
Uttar Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said in post on 'X' that an FIR has been registered in the matter at the Nayagaon police station in Etah district.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to visit Wayanad in Kerala on June 12, party sources said on Monday.
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 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).
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge were among the top leaders who paid homage to former prime minister Manmohan Singh at his home in New Delhi on Friday.
It appears that the party has some kind of political death wish, observe Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'There is a big communication gap between leaders and party workers in the Congress.'
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.
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