From a humble police constable to a first time MP from Telangana and now at the centrestage as a Union minister of state, Porika Balram Naik has come a long way and is being rewarded for his discipline and loyalty to the Congress high command.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Congress minister Peerzada Mohammad Sayeed will continue in the council of ministers, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Saturday, a day after he divested him of education portfolio in the wake of examination scandal involving his step-son.
Political parties may be backing P A Sangma to mount pressure on the Congress high command to pick Pranab Mukherjee for the top post, says Neeraja Chowdhury
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has silenced his critics by successfully diffusing the indefinite auto rickshaw drivers' strike that was to begin from November 9.
Stepping up pressure on the Centre, Congress lawmakers from non-Telangana regions on Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that the government should not bifurcate Andhra Pradesh, but were counselled patience by him
Newly elected Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki on Tuesday said his cabinet would be finalised by this week following the approval by the Congress high command.
A day after tendering their resignations, Congress ministers, members of Parliament and members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday met senior party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and are understood to have demanded an early decision by the Centre on the separate state issue.
Indicating that the leadership feud in Uttarakhand Congress was far from over, Union Minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday held consultations with his supporters while making it clear he would not quit the party.
Minister of State in Prime Minister's Office, Prithviraj Chavan, considered close to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, was selected as the new Maharashtra chief minister on Wednesday morning.
'How and why did we lose so many seats in places where we were expected to win?'
'I want to repeat that we have a majority of the MLAs and even our adversaries know this'
A final decision on Congress joining the new government in West Bengal at the invitation of ally Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee will be taken by the party high command, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said on Sunday. "We will take a final decision after discussions with the Congress high command. Decision will be disclosed at the appropriate time," Mukherjee said. "I congratulate Mamata Banerjee for this fantastic win. It is a big achievement," he said.
Where is the much-vaunted Congress 'high command, asks T V R Shenoy. Exactly where it was when Anna Hazare was shaking Delhi in August? Exactly where it was when the FDI-retail concern brought Parliament to a halt in November?
Bihar Congress chief Chowdhary Mahboob Alam Kaiser expelled B N Sharma, Abdul Fatah, S K Tiwari, Shakeel Alam and R N Chowdhary from the primary membership of the party for six years, party spokesperson Prem Chandra Mishra told PTI.
Stepping up pressure on Lokpal issue with a rally in the capital, Team Anna on Sunday said the Congress high command should make it clear "what it wants" as the "right" bill will not come without its word.
As part of efforts to mollify the dissatisfied ministers, the chief minister has despatched ministers Aanam Ramanarayana Reddy and Kasu Venkata Krishna Reddy for talks with the rebellious ministers.
With the Congress high command making up its mind to take disciplinary action against the rebel Member of Parliament Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, his camp followers have stepped up their counter attacks.
Congress leaders from the Telangana region who have submitted their resignations to further press their demand for a separate state said that a permanent solution to the issue may come about only by November, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Prithviraj Chavan's statement has created another controversy for the ruling alliance in Maharashtra.
Amid indications that his continuance in office may be untenable, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has been summoned to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Saturday.
But the ways of the Congress high command are never so simple. It behaves as a State by itself, reports Sheela Bhatt from New Delhi's Talkatora stadium after witnessing how the clamour was kept up to name Rahul Gandhi as the Congress PM candidate.
Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a Congress MP from the Telangana region, is an avowed advocate of a separate state. The NRI-lawyer-turned-politician who won a second term in 2009 from Nizamabad, spoke to Neerja Chowdhury candidly on where matters stood and what could be the way forward.
Throwing a direct challenge at the Congress high command, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Saturday said that he would ensure the defeat of the AP Reorganisation Bill 2013 when it comes up for passage in the state assembly.
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.
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.
'The CPI-M indulges in senseless talk. Be it the solar scam or the National Games scam, did the CPI-M prove anything?'
In 2014, the Congress had won five seats in Mumbai, which has 36 assembly segments.
In an apparent bid to put pressure on the Congress high command over "injustice" against former chief minister Ashok Chavan a group of 40 Congress MLAs from Maharashtra are planning to meet party President Sonia Gandhi with a charter of demand in a couple of days.
Seeking to buy time, the Congress high command appears to be toying with the idea of having a deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee chief in Andhra Pradesh from Telangana region amid a growing clamour for a separate state
September 2 may be the day of the final showdown between Jaganmohan Reddy and the Congress high command
'Is there any truth to the rumour that the Income Tax authorities have traced a money trail to a senior politician down in South India?'
'Majority of the workers are not interested in the coalition'
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.
In a virtual revolt against the Congress high command, the party Member of Parliament from Kadapa YS Jaganmohan Reddy has announced his decision to go ahead with his Odarpu Yatra or condolence tour of the state from July 8, coinciding with his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy's birth anniversary.
The Congress high command is constantly holding consultations with all concerned to find an amicable solution to the Telangana issue, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K Rosaiah said in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Jammu and Kashmir Health Minister Sham Lal Sharma, who is in the eye of a storm over his 'azadi' remark, appears in for trouble with the Congress high command on Saturday issuing a showcause notice to him.
Andhra Pradesh's new chief minister has been in trouble from day one. With several serious challenges facing the state and the Opposition parties vying for power, the Congress will lose out if it does not play its cards right.
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.
'They want to keep the BJP out, but how to make it happen is the issue that the Congress high command will resolve.'