The Trinamool Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, have indicated that their party chiefs have better credentials for the post than the newly-elected Congress head, reports Archis Mohan
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a strong pitch for the party being given the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha contending that it is the single largest party in the opposition.
Launching a direct attack at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that the 'Mann ki Baat' man appears to retreat into a 'maun vrat' whenever there is a scandal involving his colleagues.
The Congress chief hit out at the BJP's ideological mentor, the RSS, alleging that it was a "male chauvinist organisation" and did not have women in it, thus cannot do what the Congress can for women.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused it of destabilising institutions, polarising society and mistaking its parliamentary majority for a licence to impose its narrow ideology on people
With just a day left for the budget session of Parliament to wind up, the government finally scored a goal when it passed the Judicial Commission and Constitution Amendement Bills in the Lok Sabha, hurriedly obtained the President's signature in a matter of hours and by late evening brought the Constitution amendment part of the Bill to the Rajya Sabha for consideration.
'Whether she will remain CPP chairperson or not, that she will decide.'
The 71-year-old MP may have time to pursue her other interests, but many believe that she will continue to play the role of a mentor.
The NCP chief says, "Self-styled' loyalists of 10, Janpath, convinced Gandhi that it would be better to back Narsimha Rao in 1991 as prime minister over him as the "Gandhi family was not about to let someone with independent mind" to get the top post, Sharad Pawar has claimed.
In a frontal attack on the Narendra Modi government, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday said there has been an "alarming increase" in communal incidents since it came to power and asked party men to resist its "authoritarian and sectarian" tendencies.
A meeting of the Congress will be held on May 24 at 5pm in Parliament to elect the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. After the party managed to bag just 44 seats in the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, all indications point to the fact that supremo Sonia Gandhi would be made the chairperson of the party.
Against the backdrop of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah slamming him on the issue of revocation of special status to the state, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Friday advised him not to use words like "cheating and deceiving" and clarified that his party has always been opposed to Article 370.
While the government has the option of ensuring the passage of these Bills as money Bills, there are voices within the government advising discretion on the GST roll-out by April 1.
It's been 13 days that the Winter Session commenced, but no work has taken place as MPs continue to spar over the note ban.
Taking an apparent dig at Modi, Gandhi satirised a song, saying "Aapka toh lagta hai bas yahi sapna, ram ram japna garibo kaa maal apna (It seems your only dream is to take away money from poor while chanting the name of Ram)".
Rahul exuded confidence that his party will emerge victorious in Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh assembly polls and defeat the BJP in the 2019 general polls.
The Congress may get chairmanship of the prestigious Public Accounts of Committee but still there is no guarantee whether it will get the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
'Now is the winter of our discontent,' said Richard, summing the emotions of most active Congressmen. But this winter seems chillier with senior party leaders not seeing eye-to-eye on how to muster up a consummate opposition in the parliament and is made bitter by the poor morale of the senior leaders who feel they are being sidelined by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, says R Rajagopalan.
Hitting out at the Congress, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said it should not politicise the issue of the Leader of Opposition status in Lok Sabha.
During the Congress regime, India did witnessa slew of reforms which are now taken up by the Modi government too.
Vociferous protests by Opposition members led by the Congress continued in the Lok Sabha.
The past three weeks have demonstrated that the Congress is still to recover from the drubbing it received in Lok Sabha elections, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
More and more Congressmen are breaking their silence and coming out in the open blaming party vice president Rahul Gandhi for the poll drubbing. Renu Mittal reports.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "blatant U-turn" on the issue of transparency.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumitra Mahajan will be appointed Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha on Friday. Other key parliamentary posts like that of Leader of Opposition, deputy Speaker, chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and head of the all-important standing committee on finance will be keenly contested.
'If the Congress is to challenge the NDA government, Rahul Gandhi will have to shed his indifference to Parliament, become more visible and vocal and, essentially, lead from the front,' says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
Congress leaders told Rediff.com that if Sonia or Rahul Gandhi do not take up the leader of opposition's post in Lok Sabha, it would lead to factionalism and internal dissension, something that the party can ill-afford at this juncture. "Kamal Nath is undoubtedly a senior MP but his candidature is bound to be opposed by the MPs from southern states as they have won more seats," remarked a senior Congress functionary, adding that senior ministers like Veerappa Moily and Mallikarjun Kharge can be expected to push their candidature for this post. Anita Katyal reports.
Can the Congress vice-president listen to the voices of dissension in the party and change his outlook and style of functioning? In other words, can the party depend on Rahul to bring them back to power, muses Anita Katyal
Doing some plain speaking, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday conceded that lack of discipline and unity were among the reasons for the party's debacle in Assembly polls and asked the cadre not to despair and be ready for the "battle ahead" in 2014 general elections.
A combative Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday mounted a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of running a government "of some people, by one person for a select few" and said he has not much to showcase even as the government completes one year.
'The Congress is unsure of emerging as the single largest party or group on May 16. In such a scenario, they do not wish to accord a loser tag to the young Gandhi... The Congress feels Rahul's projection as a prime ministerial nominee in 2014 would come in the way of the formation of an alternative, non-BJP government...' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt explains how the transition of power within the Congress is making the party vulnerable.
'He depended too much on assurances given by sadhus and sants. He may not be culpable, but he was wholly responsible for December 6, 1992.' 'While Manmohan Singh came to reforms out of conviction, Rao came to reforms out of compulsion. If the compulsion had not been there, I don't know how he would have responded.'
Arun Nehru's image of a political strategist, dealmaker and trouble shooter never allowed him to become a political leader of people, says Sheela Bhatt
Rahul's time is not now, only Sonia Gandhi can lead the Congress into the 2014 final, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Do you know there is a 500 page report prepared by an inquiry committee headed by myself? When I placed the report in Parliament, have you heard any single Opposition leader give a notice for discussion? Why are they not demanding a discussion in Parliament on the report? They could have established that there was a scam. Today, a Parliament Committee report is as good as a Parliament report and this report says the 2G scam is no scam. Our government is suffering because of the media hype on these scams,' Congress MP P C Chacko tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Here is the full transcript of Congress vice president and Lok Sabha poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi's first formal TV interview with Times Now Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami.
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