Union Minister Charan Das Mahant was on Monday appointed the acting Pradesh Congress Committee president of poll-bound Chhattisgarh, a week after senior party leaders in the state including PCC Chief Nand Kumar Patel were killed in a Naxal attack.
Patel, 71, the quintessential backroom strategist for the Congress, died at a Gurugram hospital in the early hours of Wednesday due to multiple organ failure more than a month after he tested positive for COVID-19.
In her condolence message for Patel, who served as her political secretary for years and was the All India Congress Committee treasurer, party chief Sonia Gandhi said, 'In Shri Ahmed Patel, I have lost a colleague, whose entire life was dedicated to the Congress Party.'
'What criteria is GoI (government of India) using to judge how long the lockdown is to continue...'
The party also declared sitting MP Praveen Nishad as its candidate from Sant Kabir Nagar
In some ways, Jyotiraditya parting ways with the Gandhis was similar to the saga of the Gandhis and the Bachchans, largely a story of friendship that turned sour. A fascinating excerpt from Rasheed Kidwai's The House Of Scindias: A Saga Of Power, Politics And Intrigue.
The current battle within the party is seen as setting the stage for August 10 when Sonia completes one year of interim presidentship, and questions are being raised about a leadership vacuum. For the first time, responsible quarters are suggesting that as Sonia cannot function as interim president indefinitely and Rahul seems to want power but not the responsibility, one way out is collective leadership, reports Aditi Phadnis.
The mortal remains of Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh Baghel, who was one of the soldiers killed in an attack by the Pakistan army across the LoC, were on Thursday consigned to flames at his village Darhia near here with full military honours.
The Congress said the alliance between the BSP and Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh has the support of the BJP, which is ruling the state since 2003.
If the process becomes completely online, there will be no intervention from a state government at any level.
As the rape and murder of two cousins in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun sparked a nationwide outrage, Chhattisgarh Home Minister Ramsevak Paikra has waded into a controversy by saying that rape happens "by mistake".
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi took a swipe at the BJP, saying one has to refer to the state-wise election schedule to know when one will have access to the vaccine. The BJP, however, said health is a state subject and its manifesto is for Bihar, not for the entire country, where it has promised that the state will buy the vaccine for its people.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday sought answers from Narendra Modi on CNT/SPT Acts, starvation deaths and 'divisiveness',a day after the prime minister threw challenges to Congress on citizenship, Article 370 and triple talaq. She also attacked the prime minister on economic slowdown, Citizenship Act, National Register of Citizenship and alleged assaults on women in different parts of the country.
Governments in most of the world saw their approval ratings dip as they struggled to contain the raging virus, which hit economy hard everywhere, but Indian politics followed a different script, with the outgoing year marking further shrinking of a rudderless Congress while the ruling BJP soared riding on Modi's enduring appeal.
The first chief minister of Chhattisgarh has been booked for allegedly fraudulently obtaining caste certificates, the police said.
The 41st meeting of the GST Council, to be held via video conferencing, has just one agenda for discussion -- making up for shortfall in states' revenues, sources said.
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
Earlier this week, the Congress claimed that the BJP had "abducted" some MLAs of the ruling party as well as its allies BSP and the SP to bring down the Madhya Pradesh government.
If the Congress manages to upset its dominant rival, the BJP, in these assembly polls, then it will be a big boost to the opposition for the Lok Sabha polls, while a good show by the BJP will energise its cadres and give a fillip to its hopes of retaining the power at the Centre in 2019.
Given the controversy over Uttar Pradesh's population control moves, Hemant Shivsaran/Rediff.com digs deep to find out how many children BJP MLAs in UP have.
In her book Death in Mumbai, Meenal Baghel digs deeper into the lives and psyche of the three protagonists -- Neeraj, Maria and Emile -- to unravel what made these otherwise ordinary people end up in such extraordinary, blood-stained circumstances.
On the directions of Chief Minister Raman Singh, the government has constituted a team of specialist doctors to probe the deaths that occurred on Sunday at Dr B R Ambedkar Memorial Hospital.
Sitharaman exhorted the states to work together with the Centre, stating that while the Union government sets the direction of economic growth, it is for the states to ensure effective implementation on the ground.
'The Congress didn't win elections only on soft Hindutva.'
The Chhattisgarh government has filed the original suit under Article 131 of the Constitution which empowers a state to move the Supreme Court directly in matters of dispute with the Centre or any other state. It is the first state to challenge the Act.
Rahul said that although Modi repeatedly attacked him, his father Rajiv Gandhi, grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, he gave him a hug.
It also said that Goswami can later file anticipatory bail plea in connection with the FIRs after three weeks.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
The complainant had claimed that Sundar and others had visited Nama village and asked Shamnath to support the naxal cause
The counting will begin at 8 am, and as per the Election Commission's COVID-19 guidelines, a candidate, his poll agent and counting agent can remain present in the counting hall, officials said, adding various measures have been taken to ensure social distancing and avoid crowding.
Fifteen candidates in the recently concluded elections to the Rajya Sabha have pending criminal cases against them, of which six of them have serious charges, a report by the Association of Democaratic Reforms and National Election Watch has stated.
'Modiji and the BJP have hoodwinked the nation by their machinations.' 'We have not been able to convince the electorate about Modiji's deceit.'
The Congress president has written to party chief ministers, asking them to file a review petition against an SC order regarding mass-scale evictions of tribals and other forest-dwellers.
As the debate over the issue of leadership raged, another group of leaders put their weight behind the Gandhi family on Sunday, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay or Rahul Gandhi to take charge again.
'Ramani is not alone in her fight,' the journalists said in the joint statement undersigned by them.
Judge M L Tahiliyani, who is presiding over the Mumbai terror attacks trial, on Thursday issued a notice to the Mumbai Mirror newspaper, asking why contempt of court proceedings should not be issued against it.
"NCP president Sharad Pawar, Loktantrik Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav, DMK chief MK Stalin, Bihar's former deputy chief minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal among other opposition leaders will attend the oath-taking ceremony in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on December 17," said well-placed sources.
Taking exception to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan not mentioning the death of healthcare workers due to Covid-19 in his statement in Parliament, the Indian Medical Association has published a list of 382 doctors who died due to the viral disease and demanded that they be treated as "martyrs".
'It will be better if the 'family' desists from giving 'advice and guidance' lest it should be seen as a backseat driver which had placed a puppet at the top,' says Amulya Ganguli.
The politics of hate does not pay. The people are too sensible to fall for such a ruse, says Amulya Ganguli.
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