The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken on Monday briefed party president Sonia Gandhi about the developments in Rajasthan and are expected to submit a written report about the crisis in the party's state unit latest by Tuesday.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi will embark on a fresh padayatra (foot march) from Gujarat to Meghalaya and during that period leaders and workers of the party's Maharashtra unit would criss-cross the state, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Nana Patole said on Tuesday.
Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said the orders and legislations enforced under the previous Bharatiya Janata Party regime like school textbook revision and anti-conversion laws, which are against the state's interest, would be revised or withdrawn by the new Congress government after reviewing them.
Asked how many seats INDIA bloc will get, Gandhi said, "Have you heard Sidhu Moose Wala's song '295'? So 295 (seats)."
During their visit to the holy city, the Congress leaders will take a dip in Saryu river, and then visit the Ram temple and Hanumangarhi temple, Rai said on Sunday.
Pilot was spied on after revolt, says Gehlot's OSD
With all eyes on the Congress's next step in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot's fast in Jaipur on Tuesday, AICC in-charge of state Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday said he agrees with the issue of corruption taken up by Pilot but the manner in which it was raised was not right.
The Congress is sending Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, senior leaders Bhupinder Hooda and Rajeev Shukla to Himachal Pradesh on Thursday with the possibility of the party getting a majority in the hill state.
Baghel will take the oath at 5 pm on Monday, December 17.
'Mrs Sonia Gandhi, chairperson, UPA has been admitted to our hospital today. She has been admitted in Department of Chest Medicine under the care of Dr Arup Basu and his team. Mrs Gandhi has been admitted for observation and treatment of a viral respiratory infection,' said Dr Ajay Swaroop, chairman of the hospital's board of management.
Pilot said rules and discipline of the party apply to all, adding that he hoped Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would take a decision in the matter soon.
Amid speculation about the number of MLAs supporting him and senior party colleague Siddaramaiah for the post of Karnataka chief minister, state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday said his strength is 135, as under his presidency, the party won the said number of seats in the assembly polls.
The former Union minister asserted that an objective analysis of the political situation will lead to the conclusion that the Congress has to be the "pole" around which Opposition unity in the 2024 Lok Sabha election can be built.
Congress' good show was a "Janata Janardhana Victory", he said, crediting the people for the party's apparent return to power as it established a clear lead ahead of its rival BJP.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said the arrest of Kurulkar is a "very serious matter" and alleged that it exposes the "anti-national face" of the RSS.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Madhusudan Mistry has emerged as the new pointsman in the organisation. While he is heading the team of Lok Sabha observers who have been appointed to report on the state of preparedness of the party for the LS polls, he himself is travelling to various states to get a first hand account of how prepared the Pradesh Congress Committee is to contest the coming election.
Upset over an open rebellion in Rajasthan, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday sought a written report on it from party observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken as the chances of Ashok Gehlot becoming the party chief receded and other names cropped up for the post.
Several top Congress leaders from party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were involved in the hectic parleys with Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar, which finally helped to break the logjam over the top post in Karnataka.
The Congress on Wednesday said the Supreme Court judgment on certain matters relating to transactions by the Adani Group has proven to be 'extraordinarily generous' to Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and asserted that the party's fight against crony capitalism and its ill-effects on prices, employment and inequalities will continue.
The Congress seems to be heading for the Karnataka polls so far on the strength of its local leadership and focusing on issues concerning the state, making corruption a central theme of its campaigning.
He also asserted that everything has gone smoothly for the party in the assembly polls and the government will be formed soon.
Amid the ongoing rift in the Punjab Congress unit, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has called a meeting of the state's Congress Legislative Party.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three key loyalists of Ashok Gehlot but did not seek any action against the chief minister, as the party scampered to resolve the crisis that has cast a shadow on the election of the party president.
Mistry said the poll body satisfied the candidate on every complaint but despite that he raised all those points in the media before bringing them to "our notice".
Nomination forms for the post of Congress president poll have been collected by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Pawan Bansal, but Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has not done so yet, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Tuesday.
Nirupam said he has spoken to the party's central leadership and offered to resign for the poor show in the civic polls.
Shah is a fatherly figure and a big issue has been made out of service to him, Bandi Sanjay Kumar said.
"Since 2020, there have been 113 violations observed and duly communicated," the officials said.
Sources said the leadership of the government going forward, if Gehlot is elected as party chief, is likely to be on the meeting agenda.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
'There was trust, but perhaps there was also this apprehension that given the supreme post of prime minister, Sonia Gandhi felt her authority may be a challenged.'
The MLAs, who are seemingly unhappy with their leadership, arrived in Surat on Monday night and are camping at the Le Meridian Hotel, they said.
A fierce competition among parties to offer freebies and guarantees, a scramble for tribal, OBC, women votes and a touch of Hindutva -- all have combined to make the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls a high-stakes battle with main rivals BJP and the Congress pulling out all the stops to gain power.
Several MLAs loyal to Gehlot, who was seen as the frontrunner for the post of Congress national president, had last week submitted resignation letters over a possible move to appoint Pilot as the next chief minister.
The delegation demanded that those responsible for the act should be brought to book as the issue was serious.
A renewed energy seems to have been infused into the 75-year old Congress leader Siddaramaiah's gait as he walked to address a packed press conference in Mysore on Saturday.
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah on Tuesday reiterated that upcoming assembly elections will be his last electoral battle, but he will remain active in Karnataka politics.
Names of senior party leaders Kharge, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Mukul Wasnik and Kumari Selja are now also doing the rounds for the post.
Gehlot's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led to the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.
