In her opening remarks, while chairing the meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Gandhi also accused the Centre of giving preferential treatment to some states while maintaining "thundering silence" on requests of states ruled by the Congress and opposition parties.
Sharma had on Monday slammed Congress' association with the ISF led by Muslim cleric Abbas Siddiqui in West Bengal, contending that it was against the "Gandhian and Nehruvian secularism" and the party cannot be selective in fighting "communalists".
The party also announced that Kamal Nath will contest the bypoll for the Chhindwara assembly constituency.
The appointees are expected to reflect Rahul Gandhi's vision of a new Congress with MP and Rahul's "bench mate" in the LS, KC Venugopal, expected to play an important role.
On January 29, Krishna resigned from all the posts held by him in the grand old party.
Hitting out at Tharoor, Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee working president and the party's chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Kodikkunnil Suresh on Friday said everybody in the party should work according to it's policies and programmes.
Even though it was stated that no action would be taken against the senior leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi, they say that the retaliation had already begun, reports Aditi Phadnis
Tharoor had so far maintained a silence since the letter appeared in the media and was heatedly debated at the Monday meeting of the Congress Working Committee, which urged Sonia Gandhi to continue as party president and bring about organisational changes.
As the debate over the issue of leadership raged, another group of leaders put their weight behind the Gandhi family on Sunday, calling for Sonia Gandhi to stay or Rahul Gandhi to take charge again.
Some commentators said Gandhi's decision will augur well for a party that needs to reinvent itself and present a clear vision to again emerge as a credible alternative.
Gandhi reportedly told them that he has already conveyed his decision to the Congress Working Committee and would not relent.
Other members of the group are former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Communist Party of India-Marxist chief Sitaram Yechury.
Aaditya claimed that Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari refused to grant more time to the Sena to muster numbers.
On the 45th year of the imposition of Emergency in the country, Shah claimed leaders are feeling suffocated in the Congress and the party's disconnect with people keeps widening.
The Congress party continues to be racked by arbitrary decision-making and the absence of accountability.
We must resist the temptation to look at the absolute numbers being vaccinated, and focus instead on the percentage of the population vaccinated, he said in his letter.
In a blow to the Congress in poll bound Kerala, Senior leader P C Chacko on Wednesday announced his resignation from the party, alleging group interest in deciding party candidates for the assembly elections.
The Congress party will have an elected president by June 2021, with the party's working committee on Friday approving holding the internal election after the assembly polls.
He served as an effective link between the party and government during the two terms of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) between 2004 and 2014. As political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, he had access to leadership that no other leader in the party had and worked the channels to work out various issues.
The disgruntled leader said he will be unable to continue in the party for long if his voice is not heard.
The senior Congress leader asserted that those calling for reform should have had a discussion with others as well.
As president of the Congress, he said he is responsible for the loss of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Congress Working Committee members could offer their resignation at its meeting on Monday in the wake of the party's worst-ever performance in the Lok Sabha polls, amid indications that it could witness an attack on advisors of party vice president Rahul Gandhi while insulating him from criticism.
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.
Sources said the Congress Parliamentary Party authorised Gandhi to pick the party's leader in Lok Sabha.
'It would indeed be difficult for someone from outside the Gandhi family to run the party'
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
Besides Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and the CWC members also paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at the Bapu Kuti.
Replying to the debate in Rajya Sabha on a motion thanking the president for his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament, he said for the first time in decades, people of Jammu and Kashmir got benefits of reservation.
The Congress on Monday deferred the election to the post of party president till the COVID-19 situation improves and decided to set up a group to assess losses in the recent assembly polls, with party chief Sonia Gandhi saying it has to put its house in order by facing reality and drawing lessons from the 'serious setbacks'.
Senior Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh Keshav Rao resigned from his party on Thursday and joined the K Chandrashekhar Rao-led Telangana Rashtra Samithi in Hyderabad.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi's decision not to name Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate has demoralised the already-bruised cadre. Expect a stormy AICC session in New Delhi on Friday, says Renu Mittal
The CWC passed two resolutions on the 75th anniversary of the Quit India movement and re-dedicated itself to uphold and defend the idea of India as envisioned by the leaders of the freedom movement.
Rahul Gandhi, who Congress chief Sonia Gandhi said will be 'back soon' from his sabbatical, could replace his mother in the top party post as early as May.
The Wayanad lawmaker, who became the Congress president in 2017, offered to step down from his post at the Congress Working Committee meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the Congress' abysmal performance in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.
Today political parties are not in a position to judge easily which castes, communities and groups are on their side due to the fluid situation where every caste wants empowerment. That makes this Rajasthan election interesting, says C P Joshi in a rare and exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Even as the Congress claimed credit for the decision to form Telangana state, other parties on Tuesday gave mixed reactions with Bharatiya Janata Party claiming it would have formed the state during NDA rule but for opposition from a key ally while the Left cautioned that this may spur more such demands.
Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.
Sources said the Congress leadership is also in talks with AAP leaders and senior leaders within the party are trying to convince Delhi Congress leaders for an alliance.
Chauhan, a former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, said political parties governed by dynasty, family and caste politics were defeated everywhere including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in the general elections.
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