Simultaneous polls will help save resources, spur development and social cohesion, deepen "foundations of democratic rubric" and help realise the aspirations of "India, that is Bharat", the panel had said.
While a tweet from a close aide of the Gandhi's and the Chief Whip of the party in Rajya Sabha, Jairam Ramesh took a dig on Azad for accepting the award, Congress stalwarts from the G-23 group have congratulated him for the 'well-deserved' award.
Azad ended his five-decade association with the Congress last month, saying the party was comprehensively destroyed and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing" its entire consultative mechanism.
Congress party circles are talking about a major Cabinet reshuffle on September 18. Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Public Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad and Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik are said to be tipped for party organisational work, while party spokesman Janardan Dwivedi and his junior Manish Tiwari are likely to be included in the Union Cabinet.
Taking a strong exception to National Conference leader Mustafa Kamal's remark on Indo-Pak talks, Union minister Gulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday night asked the party to clear its stand on the issue.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday directed Telangana Congress members of legislative assembly and Parliament to withdraw their resignations, paving way for United Progressive Alliance to come out with a package for Telangana.
Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan on Monday had an hour-long meeting with Union Minister of Health Gulam Nabi Azad and discussed with him the hot subject of auction of medical seats in private medical colleges for a cost of Rs 70 to 80 lakhs.
As Union Health Minister Gulam Nabi Azad is busy in solving the Telangana crisis, India's health service is deteriorating more and more. With Azad's ministry not initiating any new reforms for urban or rural health care in the last few years, the country's poor are facing hard times.
"Since home minister has called a meeting of the chief ministers on internal security on Januray 6, I hope to take over before that so that I could represent J&K as the chief minister. But we have few formalities. The governor's rule has to be revoked before that," Omar Abdullah said.
Prominent G-23 members including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal and Manish Tewari have not been included in the Congress list of star campaigners for West Bengal assembly elections.
Construction delays, inclement weather, red tape if these were not enough reasons to worry Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, then a possible dengue outbreak in New Delhi is sure to break him down to tears.
Pranab Mukherjee Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel will liaise on behalf of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, while Gujarat Chief Miniser Narendra Modi, Jaswant Singh, S Gurumurthy and Cho Ramaswamy are the pointsmen for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani.
Former chief minister Dr Farooq Abdullah sought to play down the demand by saying that it was a populist comment made by a small-time politician.
Mehbooba Mufti, president of People's Democratic Party, claimed that she has surrendered her security, and so has her party legislators.
"It does worry me. These trends are the outcome of unfortunate things happened in July and August. The question is that secularism is getting shrunk at the cost of development," Azad said, adding that it should be 'a worry for each and every Indian'.
The CLP will meet at 11 am at Vidhan Bhavan, party spokesman Anant Gadgil said.
Mukherjee has been entrusted with the task of handling the stand off between the two stalwarts before it gets out of hand, according sources close to external affairs minister.
Sources said the process was stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad and other leaders claimed the countdown for the ouster of the BJP and its allies from power in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls had begun.
A senior party leader on the condition of anonymity said the CWC meeting will be called next week although the agenda is to be worked out and finalised.
PDP leaders were asked to go out of the House after they attempted to tear the constitution.
After some recent events that turned against the party, including the Congress' G-23 Group asking for a revamp in the party, Congress leader and MP Manish Tiwari has been included in the star campaigners list of Congress for Assam and West Bengal Assembly polls.
Former Union minister K V Thangkabalu, a senior Congress leader from Tamil Nadu, has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections.
Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad approached leader of the house Arun Jaitley, saying that he is accompanying Sonia Gandhi to Varanasi on Tuesday.
Expressing concern over rising incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to his Pakistani counterpart on the issue.
The Group of Ministers on Telangana is set to discuss the draft bill for the creation of Telangana on Saturday.
A senior Congress leader said the Opposition's presidential pick Meira Kumar might also pay a visit to Lucknow to seek votes from the electoral college as the party "will not leave any stone unturned" for the election.
The bus, which way on its way to Kishtwar from Keshwan, skidded off the road at Sirgwari and rolled down into the gorge around 7:30 am.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister also wrote fresh letters to the Lok Sabha members of other opposition parties seeking their support for the no-trust vote.
The lower house has been witnessing daily disruptions since the winter session began last week. It had passed a bill on transgender rights on Monday.
'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.
Trinamool Congress described it as "Black Monday" and a dark day for the country's constitution, the idea of India, and the Rajya Sabha
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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