The desertion by more than two-thirds of the Congress legislative party makes TMC, a newbie in Meghalaya, the principal opposition in the Northeastern state.
The decision was reached after an over two-hour meeting at the Punjab Congress Bhavan between chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Sidhu, who had resigned from the post of the state party chief on Tuesday.
Suspended Congress leader claims 100 letters to Sonia Gandhi over leadership change
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
In a tweet in Hindi, Rawat said, 'Isn't it strange that the organisational structure at most places, instead of extending a helping hand, is standing with its head turned away or playing a negative role at a time when I have to swim across the ocean of elections.'
Congress leaders and workers continued their protests in several states on Thursday against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money-laundering case with many of them taken into preventive custody including former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury in Hyderabad after she allegedly grabbed the collar of a police official.
Congress leaders and workers took to the streets on Monday in Delhi and various state capitals as Rahul Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi for questioning in the National Herald case, with the opposition party accusing the Modi government of 'trampling on democracy'.
Rashtriya Janata Dal president Lalu Prasad on Wednesday hinted at a thaw between his party and the Congress, saying had a telephonic talk with Sonia Gandhi whom he asked to hold a meeting of 'like-minded' parties which could join hands to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Deepak Babaria, secretary, All India Congress Committee, on the Gujarat polls.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Sunday.
'When I said the Gandhi family had to step aside, it was because we have consistently seen that the public has not accepted them.'
The Congress has decided to hold its public rally against inflation in Jaipur on December 12 after the Delhi Police denied it permission to host the rally in the national capital.
The Congress Working Committee will meet on Sunday to discuss the outcome of the assembly elections in five states where the party received a drubbing, sources said.
Sources said Sonia Gandhi referred to Azad and others twice during her brief address and the issues raised by them.
Fifteen ministers took the oath in Rajasthan on Sunday in a cabinet expansion that included 12 new faces, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
Seeking to reach out to the fishing community in poll-bound Kerala, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday interacted with the fishermen at Thangassery beach in the district.
"The Congress ideology...the ideology it follows has been existing in India for thousands of years. Just like the RSS has its icons, the Congress has its own icons... they are different icons. But, we have them, it is about bringing this ideological ocean and allowing our people to swim in it," he said.
'Come, join this army. This is not an army of hatred, this is not an army of violence, this is an army of truth and this is an army that will defend the idea of India'
The Prime Minister's Office tweeted a picture of their meeting but shared no details about their talks.
NCP spokesperson and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik said that AICC general secretary H K Patil was told about this scheduled meeting when he and other Congress leaders met Pawar in Mumbai recently.
'I am requesting Sonia Gandhi to listen to her inner voice again.' 'Then, she will know this is the time for the family to step aside.'
Congress will definitely win in Uttarakhand and replace the "corrupt" Bharatiya Janata Party government in the forthcoming polls, says All India Congress Committee in-charge of the state Chaudhry Birendra Singh in an interview
'No indiscipline will be tolerated but I am hopeful that Pilot will turn up for the meeting
A dominant force in the country's politics for decades, the grand old party's free fall continued as it lost Punjab to AAP and finished with just two seats out of 403 in the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh.
Chief spokesman of the Congress party, Janardan Dwivedi, on Friday announced changes made in the All India Congress Committee by Congress President Sonia Gandhi before going abroad for surgery.
There is no threat to the Amarinder Singh-led government in Punjab and the party's victory prospects for the upcoming assembly elections, Rawat said.
She also called upon the partymen to continue to put pressure on the union government to ensure that the daily rate of vaccination trebles so that 75% of the population gets fully vaccinated by end of this year.
Kickstarting his party's 'Mission 2022' with a 'rath yatra,' Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying it has 'crushed farmers' and on return to power in Uttar Pradesh would 'crush the Constitution' as well.
The 15 ministers were sworn in on Sunday for the expanded Gehlot cabinet, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the farm laws, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday urged him not to share the stage with Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra during the directors general of police conference in Lucknow keeping in mind farmers' interest.
The Congress on Friday alleged that Facebook was being used as a weapon by the Bharatiya Janata Party to spread hate and fake news in the country and demanded that a joint parliamentary committee probe be conducted on the issue and laws be enacted to restrict Facebook and WhatsApp.
Referring to his grandmother and the former PM, he said she took '32 bullets for the country' but her name was not even mentioned at a government event in New Delhi on the anniversary of the victory over Pakistan.
Congress leader Charanjit Singh Channi was on Monday sworn in as the chief minister of Punjab, making him the first Dalit to hold the top post in the state.
According to sources, Gandhi himself is taking stock of poll preparedness by talking to leaders and listening to their views for poll strategy.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi has directed state units to ensure that one-third members of the All India Congress Committee and Pradesh Congress Committees are women.
"You are seeing my face everywhere," the Congress leader added while addressing a press conference to release the party's 'youth manifesto' along with her brother and former president Rahul Gandhi.
The crucial meetings come amid talks of the Congress leadership making efforts to bring all leaders together ahead of next year's Punjab Assembly polls and present a united face of the party.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala claimed that 78 party legislators had sought Singh's ouster in a letter to the central leadership and it was not party president Sonia Gandhi who made him quit.
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
However, Gaurav Gogoi, the All India Congress Committee in-charge of party affairs in the state, refused to accept Mitra's resignation.
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