'I appeal to Sachin Pilot and all his fellow MLAs to join today's Legislature Party meeting'
The team, comprising Vayalar Ravi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, is right now meeting party legislators at Sahyadri Guesthouse at Malabar Hills.
Chief minister aspirant and Karnataka state Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday cancelled his Delhi trip, hours after confirming he would be flying to the national capital, fuelling speculation that all is not well in the ruling camp over the CM contender issue.
A day before counting of votes polled in the Karnataka assembly elections, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress on Friday went into a huddle and held strategy sessions on ways to keep their flock together.
He also asserted that everything has gone smoothly for the party in the assembly polls and the government will be formed soon.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Veerappa Moily will oversee the smooth transition of power in Andhra Pradesh.
Ministers will not be allowed to hold official meetings and meet visitors in the legislature complex during the session. They will have to conduct their official briefings and meetings in Mantralaya, the state secretariat, he said.
Congress leader Ajay Maken has written to party president Mallikarjun Kharge, expressing his unwillingness to continue as the in-charge of Rajasthan, sources said on Wednesday.
Senior Congress leader and Maharashtra assembly poll candidate Balasaheb Thorat has asserted that the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) will win a clear majority and also indicated his chief ministerial aspirations. Thorat, who is among the senior leaders in the MVA after NCP (SP) head Sharad Pawar, said he enjoys cordial relations with leaders of the alliance. He also criticized the ruling Mahayuti coalition, accusing it of corruption and communal politics.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday claimed that Uddhav Thackeray planned to make Eknath Shinde the chief minister of Maharashtra after the 2019 polls, but first the Bharatiya Janata Party and later Maha Vikas Aghadi allies including Sharad Pawar played a spoilsport.
Raut said there is always give and take in an alliance and they gave Ramtek and Kolhapur seats to the Congress. He said Sena-UBT has also given Amravati to the Congress.
Vice Admiral Li Hanjun, chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and Liu Shipeng, deputy chief engineer of China National Nuclear Corporation, have been expelled from the National People's Congress (NPC), the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
Union Minister Raksha Khadse on Sunday lodged a police complaint regarding the harassment of her daughter and some of her friends by a group of boys at an event in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district.
With all eyes on the Congress's next step in Rajasthan after Sachin Pilot's fast in Jaipur on Tuesday, AICC in-charge of state Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday said he agrees with the issue of corruption taken up by Pilot but the manner in which it was raised was not right.
The behaviour and conduct of certain ministers has upset some legislators, Patil said, as he warned that their fight would continue, if it is not corrected.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka had the last laugh as it won all the three Rajya Sabha seats it had contested in, out of total of four from the state that went for polls on Friday, while the Congress managed to win only one of the two seats to which it had fielded its candidates.
Trinamool Congress Legislature party on Monday formally nominated party leaders Biman Banerjee and Sonali Guha for the posts of speaker and deputy speaker respectively in West Bengal assembly.
In the past the Congress had cold-shouldered overtures from the Samajwadi Party chief, leading to bad blood between the two parties.
Wasnik claimed some people with "bad intentions" were trying to create a rift in the Goa Congress, but the legislators scuttled it by showing they are united.
'The central BJP leaders were determined to push Hindutva hard, and it failed.'
The appointment was made by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi who was authorized by a meeting of the Gujarat Congress Legislature Party in Gandhinagar on Tuesday to select the leader.
Shivakumar was scheduled to leave for Delhi on Monday but cancelled the travel plans citing ill-health.
Ahead of the crucial legislature party meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis met with caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday, the first in-person meeting since their discussions in Delhi last week for government formation.
Congress Legislature Party leader and Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coordination committee chief Siddaramaiah said no one would leave the Congress and there was no disgruntlement either.
The first meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Karnataka will be held at 5.30 pm on Sunday, according to All India Congress Committee in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala.
Ahead of its presidential poll, the Congress on Monday issued a set of guidelines for the election, debarring party office-bearers from campaigning for candidates.
The notices were sent to Ramesh Jarkiholi, who was dropped as minister in the recent cabinet rejig and is said to be extremely unhappy over it, B Nagendra, Umesh Jadhav and Mahesh Kumatahalli.
The Congress candidates were announced on a day former party chief Rahul Gandhi arrived in Aizawl on a two-day campaign visit.
Sinha said the announcement would be made on the auspicious occasion of 'Navratra'.
The Congress on Wednesday expelled former Madhya Pradesh MLA Laxman Singh, who is brother of ex-chief minister Digvijaya Singh, from the primary membership of the party for six years for 'anti-party activities'.
The development suggested a worsening power struggle between the chief minister and Sachin Pilot who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.
Deciding on the chief ministerial face who can bind the party going forward is the immediate challenge for the Congress.
Vice President V V Giri's resignation in 1969 triggered political upheavals that saw the ruling party defy its own presidential nominee, the expulsion of a sitting prime minister by her party president, and a historic split in the Indian National Congress, recounts Utkarsh Mishra.
One of the Congress members said two more legislators would join the group.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also appointed Harsh Mahajan, Rajender Rana, Pawan Kajal and Vinay Kumar as the new working presidents of the Himachal Pradesh PCC.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah on Wednesday resigned ahead of the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Hyderabad.
Congress chief had accepted the resignation of Punjab PCC chief Shamsher Singh Dullo, but had asked him to continue on the post till the appointment of the next PCC president.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would sound the poll bugle of the party for the coming assembly elections in Telangana by addressing a public meeting at Khammam on Sunday.
The Janata Dal [Secular] is expected to make a last ditch effort to persuade the Congress to accept its demand that it should lead the coalition government with Siddaramaiah as the chief minister.
