After the debacle in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress is now facing the problem of some of its chief ministers being in a state of crisis, due to "decision deficits" and dissidents.
Legislator Ved Prakash Solanki, who is considered close to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, also criticised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his recent remarks praising Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Vasundhara Raje, for helping him survive the 2020 revolt by some Congress MLAs.
'I am the senior most Congress party leader from Kerala, and I don't know why I am sidelined.'
In a day of frantic developments, Digvijaya Singh entered the fray for the Congress president's election as Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot opted out of the race and the suspense over his continuation at the helm in the state deepened with the party saying it would be decided in a day or two.
Speaking to the media persons in Delhi on Sunday, the Rajya Sabha member said: "I have declined the offer to be the next Punjab CM. I believe Punjab CM face should be a Sikh."
The Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (AYSS) on Thursday asked the local Congress leaders to have the demand for restoration of land to Sri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) conceded by the UPA government or else resign from the party and join the agitation.
Amid the factional feud in the Punjab Congress, Sidhu will be meeting All India Congress Committee general secretary Harish Rawat and senior party leader K C Venugopal on October 14 for a discussion on organisational matters related to the party's state unit.
The stakes are at an all-time high for Congress leader Priyank Kharge, who is contesting from Chitapur in Kanataka's Gulbarga district. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'Sidhu's suggestions regarding formation of the new government were completely ignored, so he stepped down.' 'Channi's government is walking on the same path as Amarinder Singh's.'
For the Congress to be taken seriously, it has to convince those around it that it could actually double its Lok Sabha seat share from the existing 52, and vote-share by a third more from the stagnating 20 per cent in 2014 and 2019, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Karnataka Minister K S Eshwarappa, who is facing charges of abetment to suicide in connection with the death of a civil contractor in Udupi, on Thursday announced stepping down from his position.
Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole has said that his party's top brass will discuss with Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar his much-debated meeting with politically estranged nephew and state Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar when the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) holds its conclave in Mumbai later this month.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a gaddar (traitor) on Thursday and said he cannot replace him as he had revolted against the Congress in 2020 and tried to topple his own government.
In his remarks at the rallies, Pilot has cornered the Gehlot government over issues such as the repeated paper leaks and political appointments of retired bureaucrats while sidelining party workers.
He said that the Congress government has fulfilled 98 per cent of the promises made in its manifesto and the next manifesto will be prepared on the basis of the 'Vision 2030' document.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday said he was not under any pressure from his party high command during the stand-off with ally Nationalist Congress Party and reported dissidence within his own ranks.
The rebel Congress leader said he expressed his desire to join BJP and work under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah. He also discussed Assam's political and flood situation.
Fearing what lies ahead if the Congress led United Progressive Alliance loses power, it is believed that 19 governors appointed by it are considering putting in their papers. Karnataka's Hansraj Bhardwaj has already submitted his papers and is awaiting clearance from the party high command, reports a correspondent.
Like the last time, Ghulam Nabi Azad is believed to have taken the lead in preparing and despatching the letter this time too.
The Union Cabinet, which recently cleared the note on the formation of Telangana and paved the way for the creation of the new state, will do its best to ensure that the process is completed by December 9, when the chief minister of the state is likely to be sworn in.
'If the Congress wants to keep the ship afloat, it will have to bury the differences.'
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra Sunday evening after his Congress party was defeated in the assembly polls.
Emerging from a meeting with UPA presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee in Kolkata on Monday, Congress MPs Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Deepa Dasmunshi lashed out at the TMC for "spreading canards" against Sonia Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee and demanded immediate severance of all ties with the party.
Congress leaders close to Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy disagreed with the party high command's idea of consoling the kin of those who died after Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's death by assembling them at respective district headquarters. "I don't think it is proper to ask the family members of those who died after Rajasekhara Reddy's death to assemble at the district headquarters to offer them financial assistance. "
The party on Wednesday removed former minister Sudhir Sharma, who was among the six rebel MLAs who were later disqualified for defying party whip on the state budget, from the post of All India Congress Committee secretary with immediate effect.
Two ministers who raised the banner of revolt with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot during the political crisis also find their names in the list.
The veteran leader quit the party and formed a new outfit to pursue the demand for a separate Vidarbha state.
'I want to repeat that we have a majority of the MLAs and even our adversaries know this'
Soon after taking the oath of office, the newly-sworn in Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi said his government is standing with farmers and will appeal to the Centre to withdraw the three farm laws.
As he said this, he set the target of winning 156 seats in the assembly election due later this year.
The results in Karnataka were declared on May 13 but the party has not finalised its chief ministerial face yet and the process of consultations is on.
Congress legislators in Andhra Pradesh are pressing ahead with their informal meeting in Hyderabad on Saturday, to reiterate their demand to make Jaganmohan Reddy the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after the tragic death of his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in spits of the party high command expressing its displeasure over the campaign.According to sources, the party high command was perturbed by the undue haste to thrust Jaganmohan Reddy into the spotlight.
Navjot Singh Sidhu quit as the Punjab PCC chief, triggering other resignations and plunging the party into a fresh crisis just months ahead of the assembly elections.
The decision of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to withdraw support from the Andhra Pradesh government has spurred hectic behind the scene activity in the ruling Congress party.
Union minister Harish Rawat, who lost in the race for Uttarakhand chief ministership, is sulking and said to have resigned from the Union government.
'The continuous and mysterious praise of the BJP and the chief minister by AIUDF leadership and senior members have affected the public perception of the Congress party'
B S Gnanadesikan, who resigned as Tamil Nadu state Congress chief, tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com what is wrong with the party in the state.
In the eye of a storm ever since he defied the high command, Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday claimed the party has given the "go-ahead" to him to continue with his tour of Telangana region and that all issues have been sorted out.
"I sometimes think of leaving it, but the chief minister's post doesn't leave me," Ashok Gehlot famously said earlier this year, in part as a signal to the Congress top brass not to pick someone else for the job if the party wins the assembly polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday attacked the Congress and its erstwhile government in Puducherry, saying the V Narayanasamy led dispensation had 'different priorities' than public welfare and flayed party leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent 'north-south' remarks.
