The Opposition on Tuesday termed the Union Budget as a 'kursi bachao budget' driven by political compulsions and claimed that it ignored opposition-ruled states in a bid to 'appease' Bharatiya Janata Party's allies.
The 52-year-old, who joins her mother Sonia and brother Rahul as an MP in what is a rare instance of three members of a family together in Parliament, would visit Parliament as a teenager to listen to her father Rajiv Gandhi speak as prime minister.
Media reports claimed that the arrival of the Congress MLAs is part of a precautionary measure taken by the party to prevent any poaching attempts as the newly formed National Democratic Alliance government in Bihar, headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, seeks a trust vote on February 12.
On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
The development comes days after the party's humiliating defeat in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, where the Congress, led by Nath, failed to replace the BJP government.
The BJP's nationwide vote share saw its steepest decline in Rajasthan, falling by 9.23% from 2019, resulting in the loss of 11 seats.
Former Delhi government minister Rajendra Pal Gautam on Friday quit the Aam Aadmi Party and joined the Congress, alleging discrimination against Dalit and minority leaders in the Arvind Kejriwal led party.
A packed beyond capacity bus carrying passengers returning to work after Diwali fell into a deep gorge in Uttarakhand's Almora district on Monday, killing at least 36 of the over 60 people on board.
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.
'Leave aside the negative fallouts of phraseology like 'urban Naxals' and 'terrorists', both the BJP and the Congress have to re-discover themselves in the context of the 2024 election results, including those of the upcoming ones for Maharashtra and Jharkhand,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kharge also raised the issue of several companies purchasing electoral bonds soon after they faced raids by central agencies such as Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax Department.
The incident sparked a political blame game in the state where bypolls to nine assembly seats will be held on November 20. Opposition parties blamed the BJP government in the state and said the deaths raise serious questions about the negligence of the administration.
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 Election Commission Wednesday directed the leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to refrain from making speeches on religious and communal lines, and opposition Congress from potentially divisive statements on the socioeconomic composition of the armed forces.
The Congress leader said his sister Priyanka Gandhi will be representing Wayanad if the people give her an opportunity and expressed confidence that she will do an excellent job at being their MP.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said religion and politics are different things and one need not mix them.
The sources said the opposition leaders would now plan joint rallies that were put on hold due to the assembly elections.
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.
Sources said the leaders during the meeting discussed the possible reasons for the "unexpected" results in Haryana and decided to set up the team to ascertain the reasons behind such results and also look into complaints of "discrepancies" in EVMs, as alleged by party candidates.
Proceedings of both Houses of Parliament were disrupted on Monday as the treasury benches accused top Congress leaders of colluding with billionaire investor George Soros to destabilise the country, triggering protests from opposition members.
As many as 12 MLAs of the Congress have threatened to boycott the upcoming state assembly session from February 23 and head to Jaipur if the ministers are not replaced with new faces.
According to party sources, the Congress leadership has been making efforts to convince some ministers and lawmakers to contest, as they have faced problems in identifying winnable candidates in several segments.
Sources said MPs of the opposition alliance in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha will meet to chalk out their joint strategy for the session from September 18 to 22.
The three frenetic weeks of the Parliament's Winter session saw a security breach in the Lok Sabha, suspension of 146 MPs and the expulsion of Trinamool Congress member Mahua Moitra in the "bribe-for-query" case.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday hit out at the Election Commission for the 'tone and tenor' of its recent letter to his party while also urging the poll body to act against 'communal and incendiary rhetoric' allegedly used by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma during poll campaigns.
'Money power was deployed like an army in a war.' 'None of the MVA parties had that kind of money.'
Tharoor said there could be a surprise result in the election next year as there is an opposition coalition and there are chances of the INDIA alliance coming to power at the Centre by trouncing the BJP-led NDA in the general elections.
The party was reacting to Kumar's decision to resign as Bihar chief minister and leaving the Mahagathbandhan alliance in the state and also dealing a body blow to the opposition bloc INDIA.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah why he was not giving a statement in Parliament on the security breach issue but was giving interviews to TV channels.
The AAP will field candidates from the South Delhi, West Delhi, North West Delhi and New Delhi seats, while the Congress will contest from the Chandni Chowk, East Delhi and North East Delhi constituencies, the sources in the Aam Aadmi Party said.
Alleging that the BJP would end democracy if it was not voted out, Kharge said it was because of this democracy that a tea-seller's son could become the prime minister of India and he, the son of a labourer, could become the president of the opposition Congress.
NCP leaders including, Praful Patel, Chhagan Bhujbal and Ajit Pawar were present at the Bada Qabrastan during the last rites of Baba Siddique.
Striking an emotional chord with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he considers himself their soldier in New Delhi, and added his doors are always open for party workers -- 'the lions of the Congress'.
Despite this setback, Pandey emphasised that discussions regarding ticket distribution are ongoing and solutions will be found through timely communication.
Launching a strong attack on Congress in his reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President's address in Rajya Sabha, the Prime Minister targeted its leader Mallikarjun Kharge and took potshots at Rahul Gandhi while stating that the opposition cannot suppress his voice and people of the country have strengthened it.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday held discussions with his cabinet colleagues in the wake of the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot reportedly issuing him a 'show-cause notice', seen as a precursor to sanctioning his prosecution in the alleged Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam'.
A day after 21 houses were set on fire in Bihar's Nawada district, a top state government official on Thursday said 15 people have been arrested in this connection.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday said he would not be able to attend the flag hoisting function in the new Parliament building on Sunday and expressed disappointment over getting the invite 'quite late'.
Voting for this crucial phase, covering 40 assembly segments across seven districts -- Jammu, Udhampur, Samba and Kathua in the Jammu region and Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara in north Kashmir -- is scheduled for October 1.
Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a small town in Gujarat.
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