The highlight of Tuesday's debate on Operation Sindoor was the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the rebuttal by Congress's Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi coming a close second.
Wayanad will continue to support Rahul but not to the same extent as in 2019, when his margin of victory had been enormous. Articulate, to the point and speaking in fluent Malayalam, CPI's Annie Raja, had the people who gathered to see her, listening in rapt attention, notes Shyam G Menon.
The Congress party has strongly refuted Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build the Babri Masjid using public funds, calling it a 'lie' and a 'WhatsApp university story'. Congress leaders have accused Singh of distorting history and distracting from real issues.
In 2019, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi won the seat by a margin 1,67,178 votes against Dinesh Pratap Singh.
Bypolls to one Lok Sabha and four assembly seats across four states will be held on May 10 along with the Karnataka assembly polls, the Election Commission announced on Wednesday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told party's Lok Sabha MPs to ignore comments of "middle- and low-rung" leaders of INDIA bloc parties and asserted that the Congress as the largest party in the opposition grouping is capable of addressing issues, sources said. The advice by Gandhi comes amid various leaders of the INDIA bloc weighing in on the leadership issue and TMC leaders aggressively pitching for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to head the opposition alliance.
'We face problems due to attacks by elephants at our homes inside the forest. We won't cast vote this time. There is no use of participating in elections'
Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.
A number of high-profile electoral battles, starring veterans and debutants, formidable opponents and unlikely contestants, feature in Tuesday's outcome.
Modi said that Congress' tally in the Lok Sabha polls will be an "all-time low"
'He should not come to Kerala and fight against the CPI which is an integral part of the INDIA alliance'
Curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which were set to expire on Sunday, have now been extended till December 31 in Sambhal.
Following the restoration of his membership, the Congress said it would like him to be a key speaker in the debate on no-confidence motion likely to be taken up in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Centre had sent multiple advance warnings to the Kerala government about possible floods and landslides in the state, starting as early as July 23, and nine National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were rushed to the state the same day.
Her immovable assets are worth over Rs 7.74 crore, which includes two inherited half shares of agricultural land in Mehrauli area of New Delhi and a half share in a farmhouse building located therein, all of which together are now worth over Rs 2.10 crore.
Priyanka's victory seems assured, but the broader implications for Kerala's political landscape and South Indian politics remain to be seen.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge distributed sweets among leaders of the opposition bloc INDIA during a meeting in his chamber ahead of the commencement of the House proceedings.
'The entire electorate of Wayanad is joyful. Rahulji is with us and we are with him wherever he is.'
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the government regarding the Pahalgam terror attack, questioning intelligence failures and demanding accountability.
The Congress' top leadership will deliberate on the Lok Sabha election results and chalk out its future strategy at a crucial meeting of the party's working committee on Saturday.
His Twitter bio now describes him as a member of the Indian National Congress and Member of Parliament.
Days after violence erupted over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, an imam of another mosque was fined Rs 2 lakh for allegedly using a loudspeaker at high volume. The incident occurred in the Anar Wali Masjid, prompting authorities to take action. The imam, identified as Tahzeeb, was fined and granted bail, with orders to refrain from similar conduct for six months. The incident comes amid ongoing tensions in Sambhal following the November 24 violence during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, which resulted in four deaths and several injuries. The incident has become a major political controversy, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raising the issue in Parliament.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday launched a no-holds-barred attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party saying he was not scared or intimidated by the saffron party's tactics of taking away his MP "tag" or his official residence as the more the ruling dispensation attacks him, the more he knows he is on the right path.
The Congress appeared to have bounced back in the state's political landscape after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the AAP in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls.
Gandhi said the central issue is that they are attacking the Constitution and insulting the memory of Ambedkar.
Ruling parties held sway in most of the 13 states in the assembly byelection results declared on Saturday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies wresting seats in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan and the Trinamool Congress sweeping West Bengal.
Rahul Gandhi said that the ongoing Lok Sabha election is aimed at saving the country's Constitution.
Political pundits unanimously suggest that the state is not experiencing a discernible Gandhi wave this time around.
Irani said that Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Raebareli is a "victory" for the people in Amethi.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on the BJP in her maiden Lok Sabha speech, accusing the government of trying to weaken the Constitution and prioritizing the interests of one individual over the people. She criticized the BJP's alleged attempts to change the Constitution, the growing monopoly of the Adani Group, atrocities on women, and the demand for a nationwide caste census. She also challenged the BJP to hold elections using ballot paper, saying it would expose the reality.
Ending his 52-year-long association with the party, P V Balachandran, a member of the KPCC executive committee, said both majority and minority communities are moving away from the Congress and the people would not stand with a party which has lost its direction.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the NDA won 64 seats -- 62 bagged by the BJP and two by Apna Dal.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
The plea said the grounds for disqualification ought to be specific with the nature of offences as specified under the CrPC and not in a "blanket form", as is currently in force according to section 8(3) of the 1951 Act.
Gandhi, a former Congress president, represented Amethi in Parliament from 2002 till 2019.
'Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli?'
On speculations of Priyanka Gandhi contesting in the 2024 election, Rai said that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from wherever she wants to.
Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the party said in a statement.
This is the first time that Gandhi has raised an issue in the 17th Lok Sabha
