Facebook -- which counts India among its largest markets with over 300 million users -- has been in the eye of a storm after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report alleged that the social media platform's content policies favoured the ruling party in India. The report had accused Facebook of ignoring posts containing hate speech by BJP MLA Raja Singh. Since then, the ruling BJP and Congress have been trading barbs over the social media giant's alleged political bias.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Narayan Rane's suspension from Congress has been revoked with immediate effect, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi revealed on Monday.Rane had been suspended for lashing out at the Congress' top brass, including party chief Sonia Gandhi, after he lost the Maharashtra chief minister's post to Ashok Chavan.
The Karnataka leg of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's Discover India tour is scheduled to start on Tuesday. During his five day tour, Rahul will visit eight districts in the state. the eight districts on Rhul's itinerary - Chamarajanagar, Mysore, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad, Gadag, Bagalkot, Bijapur and Raichur are not the traditional strongholds of his party. A major part of Rahul's tour will involve interaction with tribals.
In a move aimed at avoiding pressure from regional allies seeking seats in several states, the Congress on Thursday ruled out a national alliance in the coming Lok Sabha elections, limiting adjustments to the states. "We do not have an alliance at the national level. We have alliance partners and seat adjustments at the state level..." All India Congress Committee general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters after a meeting of the Congress Working Committee in New Delhi.
June 19 is All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's birthday. It would be his first after the party's almost decisive victory in the Lok Sabha elections. And the party wants to say 'thank you' to the young leader in style and substance.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Minster Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union Minister Saiffudin Soz, along with Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony are likely to take part in the deliberations. Congress sources said the election results clearly indicate that National Conference will be in a position to form the government with support of Congress and from some independents.
All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi began his two-day tour to Bundelkhand from Wednesday to assess the drought by directly interacting with people.
Dikshit was elected at a meeting of 42 party legislators in New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon. The meeting was attended among others by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Mohsina Kidwai, Minister of State for Finance P K Bansal and Delhi Pradesh Congres Committee chief Jai Prakash Aggarwal.
The Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi express in which Rahul Gandhi was travelling was stoned tonight near Panipat, about 100 km from here, and the All India Congress Committee general secretary was not in the three compartments which was hit. There were no immediate reports of any injury to passengers while Special Protection Group sources said there was no threat to Rahul in the incident.
Joining the debate on austerity, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said politicians should be austere all the time -- a stark reminder to two the Union ministers who had to check out of five-star hotels in Chennai a couple of days ago following an embarrassing media exposure.
The Congress on Wednesday said that the process of declaring its candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha election would start soon."Party leaders sent to various constituencies for selection of nominees have already submitted their reports. The party will soon announce its candidates in certain seats, where there is a unanimous opinion on nominees," All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh said.
Alva, who has been sulking since her son Nivedith was not given nomination in Karnataka elections, was critical of adoption of 'different yardsticks' in deciding party nominations for coming elections in six states.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi seems to be taking a great deal of interest in a large number of party and government matters as he shifts to the centre-stage of Congress politics.
After serving as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh for ten years, Digvijay Singh has been entrusted with the responsibility of the Congress' affairs in UP. In an interview with Renu Mittal, Singh talks about the 'friendly fight' between the two parties in UP.
The decision is being seen as a balancing act in the faction-ridden party in the state.
'I think there must be some sort of a nexus between the rioters and a section of police officials which resulted in gruesome killings and arson'
She said she had told the party leadership last year that it was difficult to travel in the three hill states due to her health.
The new entrants will be welcomed into the party by All India Congress Committee general secretary Prithviraj Chavan in the KPCC office, party state general secretary M Ramachandrappa told PTI in Bangalore.
Apart from the two major parties (Cong: 98; BJP: 67) the Bahujan Samaj Party is leading in four seats, while the Janata Dal-United and the Communist Party of India-Marxist are ahead in one each.
"Had the UP government honestly implemented the Centrally-sponsored schemes, the situation would have been different," Gandhi said. He said the state government should immediately set its priority for the Bundelkhand region as any further delay could lead to a catastrophe.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary and in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs Veerappa Moily on Wednesday said that the United Progressive Alliance government. is considering the formation of the second States Reorganisation Commission to look into the demand for a separate Telangana state and Vidarbha state.
The Congress met Karnataka Governor Rameshwar Thakur on Monday and urged him to dismiss the Kumaraswamy-led state government. Congress leaders also asked Thakur to impose President's rule in Karnataka. During the meeting, Congress legislators submitted individual letters to Thakur stating that they will not support any party in government formation.
Once a Congress-led government is formed at the Centre, the farm laws will be revoked and dumped into the 'dustbin', he said, addressing a gathering in the evening here on the conclusion of his 'Kheti Bachao Yatra' (save the farming march), which began from Punjab's Moga district on Sunday.
The Congress on Sunday said that it will not take the initiative to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir if it does not emerge as the single largest party in the 87-member Assembly."If we do not emerge as the single-largest party, we will not take the initiative to form the government," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan told reporters in New Delhi.Congress sources said the party would like to go with one of the two regional parties.
The Congress on Thursday dismissed an opinion poll predicting party vide-president Rahul Gandhi as the third choice for prime ministerial prospect, terming it inaccurate.
Congress leaders from Maharashtra Ashok Chavan, Prithviraj Chavan and Pradesh Congress Committee chief Balasaheb Thorat attended the meeting along with the top brass of the party, including Ahmed Patel.
The CM's son had rebelled against the Congress, but says will support the party in the coming elections.
Singh stressed on discipline and unity in the party.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi arrived in Beijing on Thursday to meet and exchange views with the newly-elected Chinese Communist Party leadership on a range of bilateral issues. She is accompanied by her son Rahul Gandhi on the five-day visit which is expected to boost bilateral relations that are already on the upswing. Gandhi is scheduled to meet Chinese President and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Hu Jintao on Friday.
The Congress in north Karnataka has been given a three month ultimatum to regain its past glory by All India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi, who met with youth Congress party workers at Hubli on Wednesday. Rahul sought to know why the party's performance has been dismal in north Karnataka. He urged party workers to pull up their socks and work extensively towards bettering the party.
Senior party leaders R K Dhawan and V Narainswamy are members of the committee, which has All India Congress Committee general secretary Ashok Gehlot as convenor.
Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president Dr K Keshav Rao has submitted his resignation to the party high command, after the Hyderabad police filed a case of murder against his son Venkat on Monday.
Madhavrao Scindia briefly left the Congress in 1996 and was later pacified to rejoin ranks
With two contenders for chief minister's post, the Congress is having difficulty to install its government despite having numbers on their sides.
Congress has adopted a wait-and-watch mode in Karnataka in spite of reports suggesting that it might extend outside support to the JDS if the latter severed links with the BJP. The final decision will be taken by Sonia Gandhi when she comes back.
Congress parliamentarian Rahul Gandhi is not happy about his countrywide sojourn being termed as a 'Discover India' tour, saying it was not a 'Bharat Darshan' for him. The 37-year-old All India Congress Committee general secretary also clarified that the tour, which has been seen as a launch of the party's election campaign, had nothing to do with any poll.
At the same time, Digvijay Singh also wanted Andhra Congress leaders, including Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee Chief Kesava Rao, Sports Minister Satyanarayana Rao to show restraint.
Scindia also said that as far as talks for alliances are concerned, "like-minded parties should also think in a like-minded way".