The Congress on Thursday secured a seat in the present Bengal assembly as its candidate Bayron Biswas won the Sagardighi bypoll, defeating the nearest rival of the Trinamool Congress by 22,980 votes.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao met his Maharashtra counterpart Uddhav Thackeray as a part of his campaign against the BJP.
Questioning the "silence" of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi over allegations involving Robert Vadra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday wondered if the internal politics of the Congress does not allow them to speak about them or "defend" Vadra.
Amidst the flurry of political activities in Delhi over selection of the Presidential nominee, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, whose name has been reported to be Congress' first choice as candidate, on Thursday telephoned former West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
Fed up with the nine years of UPA "misrule", Left parties will work for the defeat of Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections, Communist Party of India-Marxist General Secretary Prakash Karat said in New Delhi on Friday.
The Grand Old Party must bring widespread reforms across all levels of the organisation to show it is no longer in a state of inertia and to present itself as a viable political alternative to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress veteran Kapil Sibal said.
In a surprise statement, Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the Congress has announced that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is not their Presidential candidate, comments that came shortly after a Congress spokesperson suggested he is too "valued" to be spared.
Rao's visit is significant in the wake of Trinamool Congress' allegation that there were discrepancies in the district voters' list.
Congress MLAs including women members wore helmets when they entered the West Bengal assembly on Wednesday, a day after a scuffle inside the House spun out of control, even as the Speaker ordered a probe into the role of security men during the violence.
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari on Friday declared his support to Congress saying it will "strengthen" secularism and termed communalism as "bigger threat" to the country than corruption.
Congress has sent out a clear signal of taking the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal head on by making three leaders from the state as Union ministers, two of them bitter critics of Mamata Banerjee.
Tharoor said Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha following his conviction in a 2019 defamation case has generated a 'surprising wave of Opposition unity' with many parties having begun to feel the truth of the adage -- united we stand, divided we fall.
Reflecting new strains in the Congress-Trinamool tie up, Union minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked his party to counter Mamata Banerjee's charge that Congress was responsible for the break up of the alliance for the upcoming civic polls.
In winning a seventh term, the BJP also matched the Left Front's feat in West Bengal.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
The TMC also announced it would hold talks with other regional parties in their bid to take on the BJP in the crucial 2024 elections but at the same time denied that it was planning a third front, separate from the Congress-led front.
The Congress on Thursday sought to explain away the delay in clinching a seat-sharing deal with Trinamool Congress for the Assembly election in West Bengal by citing procedural work.
On poll eve, both the BJP and the Congress claimed they were headed towards a majority and would form the government.
Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury while making these points however, spoke out against any need for change in the top leadership of the party, stating that both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi have been 'trying wholeheartedly'.
In the wake of the killing of 24 EFR jawans by the Maoists in West Bengal, the Congress has asked the civil society to ostracise individuals and organisations providing legitimacy to and "romanticising" such violence and described them as Fifth Columnists.
The sources said the Congress ministers will attend cabinet meetings only when the party high command gives the 'green signal'.
A day after the Trinamool Congress, a key ally of the United Progressive Alliance, hinted at going alone in 2014 Lok Sabha elections in West Bengal, a Congress MP on Tuesday said it was impossible for the Mamata Banerjee-led party to win all 42 seats without its support in the state.
The Telangana issue assumed centre stage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was absolutely no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders. However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states.
Babulal Marandi, former chief minister of Jharkhand and leader of Jharkhand Vikas Morcha (Prajatantrik), tells Gyan Varma that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee should be praised for withdrawing support to the United Progressive Alliance.
Cracks appeared in West Bengal's ruling Left Front as the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), one of its constituents, on Tuesday withdrew its support to the Congress-led Siliguri Corporation.
Six Trinamool Congress ministers on Friday submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who expressed sadness over the ally's decision in protest against allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday called for a federal front of non-Congress and non-Bharatiya Janata Party regional parties for the coming Lok Sabha elections and said a plan of action should be decided.
The Congress on Friday said it would pull out its ministers from the West Bengal government, days after the Trinamool Congress decided to withdraw support to the United Progressive Alliance government.
Seeking to keep Mamata Banerjee in good humour ahead of Presidential poll, the Congress on Tuesday said she had not crossed the limit by suggesting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's name for the President's post and played down the threat by the Trinamool Congress to pull out from government.
Senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday night had a meeting with party MPs, district presidents, Pradesh Congress Committee chief and Congress Legislature Party leader of West Bengal to discuss the strategy for the upcoming assembly polls in the state.
While Congress, leading the UPA coalition, insisted that the government will complete its full term, BJP said if "Mamata Banerjee can get this country free of this government early, it is even better".
With the Supreme Court rejecting West Bengal government's plea for rescheduling the Panchayat polls in view of Ramzan, the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist on Tuesday blamed the ruling Trinamool Congress for it and said the party was not serious about holding the election at the grassroot-level.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in an interview to CNN-IBN did not rule out coming back with the Congress after the 2014 general elections.
With pressure mounting on West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim for his alleged role in shielding some on those involved in the February 12 violence and the killing of a police officer at Garden Reach in Kolkata, the Trinamool Congress has removed him as government spokesman.
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday attacked Congress, accusing it of trying to help Communist Party of India-Marxist in the coming civic polls in West Bengal and virtually compared its United Progressive Alliance partner to collaborators of Pakistani army during Bangladesh liberation war.
Apart from Chamkaur Sahib assembly seat which comes in Maajha region of Punjab, Congress is all set to field CM Channi from Adampur assembly constituency which falls in the Doaba Region.
In his concluding remarks at the 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, Gandhi had said that it is only the Congress that can fight the BJP at the national level and regional outfits cannot fight this battle of ideology.
The West Bengal Congress on Thursday said the Centre should caution the state over repeated violence there, but did not favour immediate imposition of President's Rule as demanded by Trinamool Congress.
Capping weeks of hard bargaining, Congress finally accepted Trinamool Congress' seat-sharing formula and will contest 14 of the 42 seats while Trinamool Congress would be in fray in 28.
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