'A terrorist has no religion -- they are nothing but the face of evil. When you offer namaz for a terrorist, attend their funeral, or give them a grave, you affirm that they belong to a religion. That must stop'
Dominic Xavier wonders how a rebel leader -- and clearly, Gehlot is one after Sunday's rebellion by his MLA supporters, no matter his assertions to the high command's emissaries that he has no links to the mutiny -- can now lead the national party which so badly needs the adhesive of unity and tender care.
The party wants to give time to Sidhu, but if he does not agree, then strict steps can be taken, the sources said.
Unfazed by the revolt by Union Minister Harish Rawat, Congress high command has ruled out any re-think over the issue of chief ministership in Uttarakhand, declaring that party MP Vijay Bahuguna will take oath as the new chief minister on Tuesday as scheduled.
Their joining is likely to come as a big boost to the BJP in Haryana with a few months remaining for the polls.
Toughening his stance against the Congress high command, former Union Shipping Minister G K Vasan gave ample indications of breaking away from the party and reviving the erstwhile Tamil Maanila Congress.
'The Congress is trying to cover up their anti-incumbency by highlighting the Dalit CM factor.'
The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a confidential report presented to the party high command, Congress leaders from Telanagana analyse the poll debacle. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The grilling of Brigadier-General Dyer by Akshay Kumar's Sir C Sankaran Nair, as shown in Kesari 2, is purely an imaginary sequence, proves Utkarsh Mishra.
In what appears to be a setback for former Congress member of Parliament Jagan Mohan Reddy, his uncle Vivekananda Reddy on Tuesday made it clear that he will abide only by the Congress high command's orders. In a statement issued in Hyderabad, Reddy, brother of late Y S Rajashekhar Reddy, has dismissed the allegations made by his nephew that the Congress was trying to split the party.
Four-time Odisha MP Pinaki Misra's wedding to firebrand TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a quiet, intimate ceremony that chose privacy and tradition over fanfare, was a reflection of his personal style.
An organisational portfolio in the Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress party seems to be all that Y S Jaganmohan Reddy--son of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy--will get for the time being. Halting his aspirations of taking over the mantle from his father, the Congress high command has decided to continue with current Chief Minister K Rosaiah for the time being.
A party without a 'high command' would be 'anarchy,' he said.
On whether injustice has been done to Dalits by not giving a DCM post to the community, he said the people, especially the Dalit community, have huge expectations.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
Chhatrapati Yadav, the MLA from Khagaria Sadar, has shot off a letter to Congress high command, demanding that he be considered, by virtue of his caste, for a berth in the new cabinet headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
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.
The Congress high command on Saturday assured rebel Uttarakhand leader Harish Rawat that he will get his due but ruled out any change in the post of chief minister. The name of Rawat's wife Renuka is being considered among a few others for Rajya Sabha nomination for the lone vacant seat from the hill state, All India Congress Committee general secretary Chaudhary Birender Singh said.
The Congress leadership is caught in a peculiar situation and wants to find a middle path to the issue, party sources said.
He expressed confidence he and Pilot would work together after they agreed on a truce before the party high command.
Mumtaz Patel said that she will continue to work to make the party stronger along with the party cadre in Bharuch.
The Aam Aadmi Party will fight the 2024 Haryana assembly polls on its own, its state unit vice-president Anurag Dhanda said on Friday, saying the party has a complete organisational structure ready and will soon announce its village-level committees too.
Five Congress legislators on Wednesday threatened to resign if senior party leader and minister K H Muniyappa's son-in-law Chikka Peddanna was given a ticket to contest from Kolar in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, bringing into open the divisions in the outfit.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a 'decisive mandate' in the Lok Sabha polls and may take even less than 48 hours to decide on its prime ministerial pick, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said on Thursday, asserting that it stands to reason that the party which gets the maximum seats in the alliance will be a 'natural claimant' for its leadership.
In a blow to the Congress in poll bound Kerala, Senior leader P C Chacko on Wednesday announced his resignation from the party, alleging group interest in deciding party candidates for the assembly elections.
One-line resolutions from states authorising the Congress high command to decide candidates in elections could be a thing of the past with Rahul Gandhi set to tone up the functioning of the party.
Defence Minister A K Antony, who has been briefing the Congress high command about the steps to be taken to create the state of Telangana, has stated that the party needs to make its intentions clear for the people of Andhra Pradesh.
Amid protests in Hyderabad, a high-level meeting is likely to be convened in New Delhi to lay out a road map for the formation of Telangana.
'I tried a public donation drive to support my campaign for progressive politics without much success so far. I also tried to cut down the projected campaign spending to the minimum'
The top Congress leadership has not accepted Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation and adopting a wait and watch policy.
'Nobody understands Gehlot's politics.' 'The Congress high command should wake up.'
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress has been hit by rebellion and a three way split in Karnataka.
Group rivalry in the Kerala Congress unit has intensified further as the political mission of chief minister Oommen Chandy to induct Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ramesh Chennithala into the cabinet has failed.
The Congress fielded former Governor Margaret Alva's son Nivedit Alva from the Kumta assembly seat.
The hastily convened all-party meeting by Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Monday evening concluded without any conclusion being made on the confusion about the Congress' stand on the demand for a separate state of Telangana.
Navigating a history of animosity and mistrust, negotiations for a potential Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance in West Bengal face significant challenges while addressing the shared adversary of the Bharatiya Janata Party, with the Bengal Congress unit appearing reluctant to engage in an electoral pact.
As the All India Congress Committee Plenary session started in New Delhi, the party rank and file hoped that the Congress high command would be able to clear up the mess surrounding the party in the wake of the various scams surrounding it.
