Addressing the 83rd Congress plenary, party president Sonia Gandhi said that there can be no tolerance for corruption. She hit out at the Opposition for not taking action against its leaders involved in corruption.
The cable in which Rahul Gandhi tells the US ambassador Timothy Roemer that radical Hindu groups pose a bigger threat than the LeT could haunt the young leader, says Sheela Bhatt.
Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt presents an inseiders view of the Congress plenary held at Burari.
A cursory look at the speech revealed that the telling lines where he says that he has nothing to hide and makes the offer of appearing before the PAC, "I sincerely believe that like Caesar's wife, the prime minister should be above suspicion and it is for this reason that I am prepared to appear before the PAC even though there i no precedent of this."
Launching a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, senior Congress leader and Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the opposition party would not come to the power in the next decade and even after.
Minutes after Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's speech at the 83rd Congress plenary on Monday, where he offered to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the wake of scams that have rocked the nation, he came under the fire of the Opposition.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, speaking on the second day of the Congress plenary meet on Monday in New Delhi, said the PM's post should be above suspicion and that he is ready to appear before the Public Accounts Committee in the 2G spectrum scam even though there was no precedent to do so.
'The challenge can only be met if Sonia Gandhi asserts herself and sets a clear Left-of-Centre direction for the Congress and the UPA. The Congress's best bet lies in building a new social coalition based on the most disadvantaged strata of subaltern groups, including Dalits, OBCs and Muslims, driven by a pro-poor programme.'
Union Minister for Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, too, slammed Rahul Gandhi and said his remarks on the judiciary were irresponsible.
The mood in the party seems to be in favour of not delaying any further the launch of the high-profile first-time parliamentarian into active politics.
Rao had recently said a non-Congress and non-BJP front should be formed in the country
Sonia Gandhi has the record of holding the longest tenure as Congress chief.
This, the Congress said in its political resolution, was necessary as there were misgivings on the 'misuse' of EVMs to 'manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.' The resolution called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.
She called upon them to forcefully fight against the challenges posed by the present dispensation
The former prime minister also criticised the current government for 'messing up' the economy.
In what is being seen as a great irony, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's face has been removed from the latest posters, billboards and advertising campaign of the Congress party.
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
'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.'
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