Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the All India Congress Committee president's election.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju defended security measures in Rajya Sabha, stating that marshals intervened to prevent disruption by MPs. This follows objections from the opposition regarding the presence of security personnel in the House.
Opposition parties and political analysts in Karnataka believe the 'truce' between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar is temporary, a lull before the storm and a 'strategic adjustment'.
'Previously, contributing only 25 per cent of material costs, states now face burdens of 40 per cent to 100 per cent of total costs, ensuring poorer states will curb project approvals, directly stifling work demand.'
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
Kharge, however, unfurled the national flag at his residence and later at the Congress headquarters where the Independence Day function was also attended by Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.
'It was the Congress which nurtured democracy, making it possible for Narendra Modi to become the Prime Minister despite his humble origins'
Interacting with the media at Brussels Press Club in Brussels, Gandhi said the government's action tells about its thinking.
Congress' good show was a "Janata Janardhana Victory", he said, crediting the people for the party's apparent return to power as it established a clear lead ahead of its rival BJP.
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
Kharge said he condemn this attitude of the government to threaten, scare and humiliate
Kharge claimed that the wording as well as the tone and tenor of the remarks made by the Home minister "are clearly satirical and made in a very bad taste".
The speculation on whether Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Sonia Gandhi will attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony continued with the party on Thursday saying that their decision would be conveyed at the 'right time'.
Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan was sworn in as the 15th Vice President of India, succeeding Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Kharge claimed that though the BJP says the corrupt must be put in jails, when leaders facing corruption charges join the saffron party, they are "put on the lap" and sent to Rajya Sabha or assembly.
The youngest in the CWC is 31-year-old Neeraj Kundan, who is an ex-officio member of the body as the president of the National Students Union of India, the students' wing of the party.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said there was no question of an apology over Rahul Gandhi's remarks in the United Kingdom and that those demanding so must answer on Prime Minister Narendra Modi "humiliating" the people of the country with his comments abroad.
Kharge's outreach is part of the Congress' efforts to bring several like-minded parties together on a common platform in their fight against the BJP.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, and Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar supremo Sharad Pawar were among the famous faces who queued up at the polling booths on Tuesday to caste their votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Rajya Sabha session was marred by heated exchanges between the opposition and treasury benches regarding the deployment of security personnel in the House. The session was adjourned amidst protests and accusations of undemocratic conduct.
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
INDIA bloc MPs protest against the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar, alleging irregularities and disenfranchisement of voters.
Gandhi alleged the increase in railway accidents in the last 10 years is a "direct result of the mismanagement and negligence of the Modi government, which has resulted in loss of lives and property of passengers on a daily basis".
Former Supreme Court judge B Sudhershan Reddy is the joint candidate of the Opposition parties for the Vice-Presidential polls, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge announced.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said his party will soon come out with a 'hydrogen bomb' of revelations about 'vote chori' and after that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not be able to show his face to the country.
The Congress party has launched a web portal where people can register to demand accountability from the Election Commission over alleged vote rigging, following Rahul Gandhi's claims of 'vote chori'.
Kharge said that India progressed due to Congress' approach of inclusion and taking everyone along.
Karnataka's Chief Electoral Officer has ordered an investigation into Rahul Gandhi's allegations of election fraud in the Mahadevapura Assembly constituency during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The CEO has requested supporting documents from Congress leader D K Shivakumar.
The poll panel said it found Kharge's letter, placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing electoral process, 'highly undesirable' and designed to create confusion, misdirection and impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday said the Congress stands 'badly exposed' in front of people for promising to them what the party knows it will never be able to deliver.
'I don't want to be called a new Indian voter when I am an old Indian voter.'
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Saturday said the Lok Sabha poll mandate is a "decisive rejection" of the politics of divisiveness and hate, and stressed that the INDIA bloc must continue functioning cohesively both inside and outside Parliament.
Harping on putting up a united front, the Congress alleged that democracy is being "mercilessly murdered" and MPs who raise people's issues are suspended from the House.
Senior Congress leader M Mallikarjun Kharge is not averse to running for the AICC president's election if party chief Sonia Gandhi asks him to contest, sources close to the veteran leader said on Wednesday.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has accused the Election Commission of failing to uphold the 'one man, one vote' principle, citing irregularities in voter lists. He claims the issue is widespread and systematic, with the opposition protesting the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar.
Unidentified persons also wrote 'agent of Trinamool Congress' on Kharge's posters and hoardings.
In his letter to Modi, Kharge asserted that strict legal action should be taken against those giving such statements so that Indian politics can be prevented from degenerating and nothing untoward happens.
The Congress has consciously contested on a lesser number of seats in this Lok Sabha election as part of a strategy to keep the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) together and defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has said.
The poll is witnessing a direct contest between ruling NDA nominee C P Radhakrishnan and joint opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, with the BJP-led alliance having a clear edge in the poll necessitated due to the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday asserted that the party's Kerala leaders 'stand as one' and were 'united' by the light of purpose ahead.
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