In a public show of dissent, the 'G-23' leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Kapil Sibal, who have been pressing for a leadership change and organisational overhaul in the Congress, gathered on one stage in Jammu on Saturday, saying the party is weakening and they have come together to strengthen it.
The entire leadership of the party is expected to participate in the rally, being organised to highlight issues like economy, unemployment, and agrarian crisis.
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of Punjab assembly polls, their alliance on Tuesday defeated Congress in the Chandigarh municipal corporation election in which demonetisation had emerged as a key issue.
Yadav vowed to dislodge the government headed by Nitish Kumar, whom Congress leader Avinash Pandey in his address accused of "apharan" (hijacking) of the mandate in the previous elections.
Speaking to reporters for the first time after arriving in Bengaluru and sending in their resignations, the 22 MLAs said they were ready to face any consequences.
Scindia, who was also named as its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh by the BJP, hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "competence and complete dedication" to serving India and asserted that the country's future is fully secure in his hands.
'If the platform is public, then every Indian regardless of his ideology and commitment has got the right to convey his view'
Voices of resentment resonated in the camps of Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress criticising the choice of new faces by the leadership. Sena leaders have expressed disapproval over party seniors and former ministers not finding a place.
Party's state unit chiefs of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat were also detained along with the workers during the protests.
Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi read out the Preamble to the Constitution of India as part of the 'Satyagraha of Unity' protest.
The Congress protested vociferously both inside and outside Parliament on Monday against the political developments in Maharashtra as it stalled proceedings and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of "murdering democracy" in the state.
Priyanka said the presence of Gandhis in the party would impede the functioning of a non-family president only if her family wanted things to be that way.
Restoration of the pre-2004 pension scheme, regularisation of contract employees after two years, enhanced daily wages, social security pension and appointment of anti-corruption grievances commissioner were the other promises made in the manifesto.
Azad was taken into custody by police on Tuesday for violating the model code of conduct.
Nitesh Rane, suspended Congress leader Narayan Rane's the 26-year-old son, on Wednesday quit as general secretary of the Mumbai Youth Congress, saying he was disillusioned" with the leadership. "My father has said he was disillusioned with Sonia Gandhi's leadership. Likewise, youngsters are disillusioned with Rahul Gandhi's leadership," Nitesh told reporters while announcing his decision to quit the post.
The campaign's main theme song 'Main hi toh Hindustan hoon' has been penned by Javed Akhtar.
A number of Congress leaders across the country have gone against the party's stand in Parliament on abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution in Jammu and Kashmir by supporting the Centre's move and a bill to bifurcate the state. The Congress has strongly opposed the move and the bill to bifurcate the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union territories.
He also accused the Congress of delaying a solution to the Kashmir issue for seven decades.
The Congress leaders maintained that such propaganda against the party would not work and the truth shall prevail.
Calling the Congress-National Congress Party split in Maharashtra a "farce", Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said they were one and the separation was meant to divert the attention of voters ahead of the assembly poll.
Two other Rajasthan ministers Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena were also sacked from the state cabinet after a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, its second in the last two days. The meeting was billed as a 'second chance' for Pilot, who had turned down appeals from the party's top leadership -- including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi -- to return to the fold.
Rajya Sabha took up the discussion on The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill that have already been passed by Lok Sabha.
'All appointments are from one family. And this is the fundamental difference between the Congress and the BJP'
He flew down to Mumbai as a Congress troubleshooter with a mission to save the wobbly coalition government in Karnataka, but minister D K Shivakumar hardly found any support from the Maharashtra unit of his party in his task and was sent packing to his home state.
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday claimed that it was due to their efforts that the Central government stepped in to help out the stranded youths from Gujarat in Angola.
The prime minister also raised the Rafale jet deal and the law against triple talaq, accusing the Congress of trying to block them.
He also alleged that for the Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation and its allies being a Hindu is no different from the team identity loyalty of the 'British football hooligan'.
Though a first time Member of Parliament, All India Congress Committee spokesperson Manish Tewari has a long association of nearly 31 years with the Congress, since joining its youth wing in 1981. The 47-year-old leader was seen as a strong defence line of the Congress in the Joint Parliamentary Committee on 2G to counter the Bharatiya Janata Party's onslaught.
Blaming non-Congress governments for the prevailing backwardness in Uttar Pradesh, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged the youth of the state to get into politics to transform the country's most populous state.
With Scindia quitting the party, the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh appeared headed for a collapse.
"Maharashtra has got nothing to do with Kashmir? Soldiers from Buldhana sacrificed their lives for the protection of Kashmir. Opposition doesn't feel national issues are important," he said.
BJP president and Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the prime minister shared his vision and commitment for the development of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region and and urged them 'to be a part of this historic journey'.
At a time when senior Congress leaders are shying away from contesting the April 24 Lok Sabha elections in Tamil Nadu and despite a lack of enthusiasm among cadres, there is a race to get tickets to contest from select constituencies perceived as "winnable", party sources said.
In this year's budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman hiked tax on petrol and diesel, raised import duty on gold, levied additional surcharge on super rich and brought a tax on high value cash withdrawals as she sought to spur growth with reduction in corporate tax and sops to housing sector, startups and electric vehicles.
The Congress chief said if his party is elected to power, its government would spend 6 per cent of the GDP on education.
Condemning the attack on his supporters by Youth Congress activists in Allahabad, yoga guru Ramdev on Friday said the party should "inculcate virtues of humility and discipline" among its cadre.
Scores of Youth Congress workers clashed with the police on Wednesday while staging a demonstration outside the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi against the opposition party's "reluctance" to engage in a debate.
The Congress will kickstart its election campaign in the poll-bound Himachal Pradesh with party President Sonia Gandhi addressing a rally at Mandi on Monday.
The crisis staring at the 13-month old government after over a dozen MLAs of the ruling combine quit on Saturday deepened with two Ministers and Independent MLAs -- H Nagesh and R Shankar -- resigning from the ministry and withdrawing their support to the coalition.
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