Glimpses from Sunday's Congress rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi against 'Vote Chori'.
Sharma's letter comes at a time the Congress has intensified its demand for a nationwide caste census and promised to carry out the exercise if elected to power in the Lok Sabha elections.
A statement issued by the parliamentary affairs ministry earlier on Saturday said the all-party delegations will project India's national consensus and resolute approach to combating terrorism in all forms and manifestations.
Led by Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar MP Supriya Sule, Group 7 will engage with key countries in Africa -- Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia -- and Qatar to present India's position on Operation Sindoor, launched in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack.
The delegations led by Baijayant Panda, Ravi Shankar Prasad (both Bharatiya Janata Party), Sanjay Kumar Jha (Janata Dal-United), Shrikant Shinde (Shiv Sena), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), Kanimozhi (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and Supriya Sule (Nationalist Congress Party-Sharad Pawar) will visit a total of 32 countries and the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
A day after senior Congress leader Anand Sharma resigned from the chairmanship of the party's Steering Committee for Himachal Pradesh, interim party president Sonia Gandhi on Monday asked All India Congress Committee in charge of the Himachal Pradesh, Rajeev Shukla to pacify the issue.
The Congress in Kerala on Sunday distanced itself from the controversy over Shashi Tharoor's decision to accept the Centre's invite to lead a multi-party delegation abroad, stating that it is for the party high command to comment on the matter.
The opposition party, however, said the four eminent Congress MPs and leaders who have been included at the instance of the Modi government will, of course, go with the delegations and make their contributions.
The Congress on Sunday said it was not stopping anyone from being part of diplomatic delegations to be sent to various countries following Operation Sindoor and that its leaders who have been named at the instance of the government must listen to their conscience and contribute to the exercise.
The government nominated Tharoor, who serves as chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, to lead one of the seven multi-party delegations abroad for putting across India's stand against Pakistan for supporting terrorism.
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
A special court in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, has ordered a CBI investigation into the 2021 killing of Kamlesh Prajapati in an alleged fake encounter. The court rejected the CBI's closure report and directed the agency to investigate the role of several police officers and politicians, including the then revenue minister, in the case. The court found that the police's claims about the encounter were fabricated and that the killing was not carried out in the discharge of official duty.
The former Union minister and Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday said that the party needs revival and which is possible with collective efforts.
'The Congress submitted four names to the government as the people who should accompany the delegation.' 'I don't know what happened to those names.' 'When I was approached, I told them to speak to my party.' 'I have no further involvement with this delegation.'
The opposition party's attack came after Shashi Tharoor, not part of the four leaders nominated by the Congress, was named as the head of a delegation to key partner countries to convey India's message of zero tolerance against terrorism following Operation Sindoor.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma scotched speculation about his meeting with BJP president J P Nadda on Thursday, saying if he had to, he would do so openly as they both hailed from Himachal Pradesh and studied at the same university.
The action comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a key meeting and broke the ice by starting dialogue with some of the prominent 'letter-writers', who had earlier written to her demanding an overhaul of the party and an effective leadership.
The leaders who Gandhi met included Deputy Leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma and Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari. She is likely to meet some other leaders of the G-23 as well in the coming days.
Sharma had on Monday slammed Congress' association with the ISF led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, contending that it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" and the party cannot be selective in fighting "communalists".
In a jolt to the Congress ahead of Himachal Pradesh polls, senior leader Anand Sharma on Sunday resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee for the state, saying he was left with no choice after the 'continuing exclusion and insults'.
The immediate trigger is the environment ministry's latest policy of asking corporates to mandatorily commit five per cent of project investments in environment protection measures.
When Kamal Nath took over five years back, the world economy was booming. Many countries are in recession now. Nath had to mainly stall the negotiations at the World Trade Organization but Sharma will have to take the Doha Development Round forward.
Part of the official delegation accompanying Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the Association of South East Nations summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, he was briefing the media on board the aircraft earlier on Sunday.
As Trade Minister Anand Sharma resists the WTO's attempts to nix India's food security initiative, Rediff.com's Uttam Ghosh offers his perspective.
Top Congress sources hinted on Thursday that Sharma will not have to resign as the party would re-nominate him by July. He is likely to get his third term in Rajya Sabha from Maharashtra or Andhra Pradesh.
Batting for exporters hit hard by global downturn, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Monday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and made out a strong case for fiscal relief for the export sector in the Budget next month.
'Ensure that all property-related documents are up-to-date.' 'Relying on outdated documents can create legal complications.'
Says Indian Patent Law conforms fully with global obligations under the WTO IPR pact-TRIPS.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma on Wednesday appeared to share industry's concerns over naming Kumar Mangalam Birla in an FIR in coal scam case saying it was unfortunate and could raise questions over investor confidence in the country.
Etihad is in talks to pick up a 24 percent stake in Jet.
Sharma said India was poised to grow at 8.5-9 per cent with its investor and FDI-friendly regime.
He also said that the party "cannot be selective in fighting the communists" and it must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour.
'The government has pushed HP in a debt trap. Nepotism has reached the zenith,' says senior Congress leader Anand Sharma.
Exports were up 0.8 per cent in Jan while imports rose 6 per cent.
The Maharashtra unit of the Congress party is divided over the nomination of Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to the Rajya Sabha from the state.
His family alleged that he died there due to the negligence of a senior physician who despite being on duty was late in attending him.
The incident occurred when Banerjee, who was part of his party MPs' team which was raising slogans in the Well on the FDI issue, was returning to his seat after the House adjourned for the day shortly after noon.
The retail company has sought approval to invest Rs 10,500 crore to set up single-brand retail stores in the country.
Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is an "assault" on the foundations of the Constitution and fails the morality test while asserting that it was wrong to blame his party for the Partition.
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