'Anybody is free and welcome to contest in the election if they have the backing of 10 PCC delegates'
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.
Miffed over the Congress central leadership nominating poet-politician Imran Pratapgarhi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, as its candidate from Maharashtra for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls, party functionary Ashish Deshmukh on Tuesday resigned from the post of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary.
Hit hard by defections in the last five years, the Congress in Goa on Friday made its candidates sign affidavits and take an oath of loyalty to the party in the presence of its senior leader Rahul Gandhi.
Party sources in Delhi said Rahul Gandhi is keen to visit there on Wednesday, days after his sister and All India Congress Committee general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died and several injured Sunday in the bloodiest clash since the farmers' protest over the Centre's agri laws began last year.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra released the Congress' manifesto for Uttarakhand on Wednesday promising to reserve 40 per cent jobs for women in the police department, jobs to four lakh people, and creation of a 'tourism police' force.
While over 80 MLAs, including some of the independents, have reached a hotel in Udaipur, Soldier Welfare Minister Rajendra Gudha, SC Commission Chairman and MLA Khiladi Bairwa and MLA Girraj Singh Malinga expressed their displeasure in Jaipur.
The CBI also submitted another referral report in the court exonerating Bharatiya Janata Party leader AP Abdullakutty in the sexual exploitation complaint by the woman.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Pandavapura, participating in a public event of the party after a long gap.
Barring a brief lull in 2008 triggered by her standoff with Congress president Sonia Gandhi over the issue of family entitlement in ticket distribution, the suave and soft-spoken Alva's career has largely been a dream run.
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.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, who along with two other ministers had offered to resign in a letter to party's national president Sonia Gandhi, had moved a proposal in this regard at the beginning of the meeting following which all ministers resigned.
Rawat had played a crucial role in the removal of Amarinder Singh as chief minister of Punjab, who was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi.
Ahead of a likely organisational and government reshuffle in Punjab, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met poll strategist Prashant Kishor at his residence.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's move to seek the resignation of vice-chancellors of nine universities has kicked up a huge political storm in the southern state with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday issuing a stern warning to the Constitutional head asking him not to cross the limits of his powers.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu will meet senior party leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Delhi on June 29, sources in his office said.
The Congress on Sunday took a strong exception to the exclusion of former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the Karnataka government's newspaper advertisement on freedom fighters and termed the Bharatiya Janata Party action 'pathetic'.
The police which are probing the matter on Bommai's instruction had arrested B R Naidu, the former chief of Congress' Karnataka unit social media team, on Wednesday night from his residence.
The panel, chaired by Mallikarjun Kharge, has been tasked with addressing differences between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu.
After Punjab, the party high command has shifted its focus to Rajasthan, where demands for Cabinet expansion and political appointments gained momentum after reports of resentment in the camp led by former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who along with 18 MLAs had rebelled against the leadership of Gehlot last year.
Sidhu told Gandhi that he is working hard and will work harder now, and that he will join his duty as Punjab Congress president, Rawat said.
Chowdhury is considered a strong critic of Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress president Mamata Banerjee. His appointment also triggered speculation on whether he would continue to hold the post of the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, going by the party's principle of giving one post to one person.
Party leaders list three clear positive outcomes -- an activated Congress which has hit the ground running leaving the past inertia behind, an interactive top brass which is directly engaging the people, and a mobilised organisation which was dormant for many years.
Sources said Sidhu's resignation has not been received by the party and its leadership will take a call once it reaches them.
A delegation of Congress leaders, including Lok Sabha MP Gaurav Gogoi and All India Congress Committee general secretaries Jitendra Singh and Ajoy Kumar were stopped at Jorhat airport by the district administration on Wednesday when they were on way to Nagaland, where the Army gunned down 13 civilians in a botched anti-surgency operation.
The action comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a key meeting and broke the ice by starting dialogue with some of the prominent 'letter-writers', who had earlier written to her demanding an overhaul of the party and an effective leadership.
Top Congress leaders are learnt to be discussing the current political situation.
I don't want to hide that some questions are still being resolved, Rawat said.
"Congress state in-charge Harish Rawat is my good friend but who gave him the right to take such a big decision about Punjab at his level? What is the meaning of Captain's leadership now after the Kharge committee's decision to contest elections under Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi?" Congress MLA Pargat Singh said.
In a letter to Gandhi, Amarinder Singh is learnt to have mentioned that there could be an adverse impact on the party's prospects in the upcoming and crucial 2022 assembly polls by ignoring the old guard and other senior party leaders representing Hindu and Dalit communities, sources said.
Pargat Singh, Raj Kumar Verka, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Sangat Singh Gilzian, Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Kuljit Nagra and Rana Gurjit Singh are likely to be included in the cabinet, according to the sources.
The Congress has accused Twitter of acting against Gandhi's account under pressure from the government.
Any adverse electoral fallout in Thrikkakara by-poll may have an impact on Rahul Gandhi because this falls in the state he represents as a member of Parliament and KC Venugopal because it is his home state, reports Shine Jacob.
A day ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls for four seats from Karnataka, Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah on Thursday wrote an open letter to Janata Dal-Secular MLAs requesting them to cast their 'conscience vote' in favour of his party's second candidate Mansoor Ali Khan, stating that his win will be a victory of 'secular ideology' followed by both parties.
The Centre has imposed a ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities.
Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.
Pilot had claimed that the Ashok Gehlot government was in minority and more than 30 Congress and some independent legislators have pledged support to him.
The Congress had taken action against them on July 17 after three audio tapes allegedly pertaining to the conspiracy to topple the government surfaced.
The Congress has decided to hold its public rally against inflation in Jaipur on December 12 after the Delhi Police denied it permission to host the rally in the national capital.
Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Indira Hridayesh passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest in New Delhi on Sunday.
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