Dr Raman Singh, who on Sunday led the Bharatiya Janata Party to a third consecutive victory in the Naxal-affected state of Chhattisgarh, has earned the reputation of being a 'silent performer'.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attacked the Modi government of forcing everyone into silence at a function to re-launch the National Herald newspaper.
In his first formal interaction with the office-bearers of the revamped All India Congress Committee on Saturday, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi said the party would be working towards giving 50 per cent representation to women in party posts.
It was a spectacle of bonhomie in the Central Hall of Parliament as Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted his political adversary Rahul Gandhi warmly grabbing his hand, while Congress President Sonia Gandhi chatted intermittently with BJP veteran L K Advani.
Neelabh Mishra had earlier been editor of Outlook Hindi and has done extensive work in areas of research and documentation including for the Right to Information movement.
A Ganesh Nadar reports from the much-anticipated press conference of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi following the Congress's dismal performance at the elections.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
AICC general secretary incharge of Chhattisgarh B K Hariprasad says he does not think rebel Congress leader Ajit Jogi will raise the banner of revolt now. Anita Katyal reports
A majority of Congress leaders said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader.
Addressing a press conference in Dehradun, Harish Rawat accused the BJP-led central government of 'killing democracy' by using its brute majority to cause 'political instability' in a small state.
The Congress had won over 400 seats in the 1984 Lok Sabha election after which Rajiv Gandhi became the prime minister.
Protests continued for the 14th day, seeing proceedings in the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha being washed out.
While all political parties have been talking about following in the footsteps of the debutant Aam Admi Party by fielding fresh faces in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-U leader Nitish Kumar has set the ball rolling by deciding not to renominate his party's three sitting MPs in the coming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha scheduled for February 7. Anita Katyal reports.
The leaders alleged that those who had no contribution in the freedom struggle wanted to spread fear 'in the name of nationalism', suppress the voice of people and were questioning the legacy of Congress.
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.
The occasion at Congress party headquarters on 24, Akbar Road in New Delhi was that of celebration, one that is rare with the party these days. However, what prevailed was confusion, chaos and mayhem.
The Congress' protests in the national capital were replicated in other parts of the country.
The swearing in of the new members will begin on Thursday and continue on Friday, when the Lok Sabha speaker will be elected. Rediff.com contributor Renu Mittal reports
The other two accused in National Herald case are Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi, but they had not moved the high court against summoning of the documents and balance sheet.
The results, while bringing the Congress back to power in this state, also end the rule of the 66-year-old BJP stalwart, who has earned several monikers during his 15-year-long tenure -- Doctor saheb being a trained Ayurvedic medical practitioner, chaur wale baba for his popular rice scheme and the 'Mobile Wale Baba' for giving free smartphones to 50 lakh women and students.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday chaired his first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee two days after the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha which the Opposition lost.
'All the hoardings showed only Rahulji. No pictures of Indiraji and Rajivji. What is the Congress's worth without its history? It is unthinkable that none of our hoardings shows Indira and Rajiv. It was a total fiasco to see that many advertisements were in black and white. In such competitive politics, how can you experiment?' fumes a Congress leader.
A divided house until recently, Congress is putting up a spirited campaign to checkmate BJP in its erstwhile stronghold of Naxal-dominated Bastar region of Chhattisgarh where the ruling party hopes to cash on its developmental agenda coupled with Chief Minister Raman Singh's clean image in the Assembly elections.
No one else filed papers till Sunday, according to Mullapally Ramachandran, the chairman of the party's Central Election Authority.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is hailed as the architect of economic reforms in the country, is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, it was announced on Tuesday.
The new Congress president is building a core team of youngsters while waiting for his mother's coterie to retire, reports R Rajagopalan.
Gandhi on Friday chaired his first CWC meeting after being elected as the party chief.
What is the National Herald case all about? Here's a ready reckoner.
Hitting back over Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramaniam Swamy's allegation questioning his nationality, Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "throwing mud" on him through his "cronies" and dared the government to "jail" him if he is guilty.
Rejecting the Election Commission's suggestions on transparency and accountability in poll funding, the Congress party has expressed its inability to issue receipts to all persons or companies making donations to it for elections as it "neither practical nor possible".
'It seems clear that what the Gandhis have done is, if not criminal, at least improper. The fact is that having never had to work for a living, having never had to look for a job like the rest of us, having always lived in government housing their entire lives, it is only natural that they should see no difference between personal property and everything else,' says Aakar Patel.
The Congress president said that if he was allowed to speak for 15 minutes on a host of issues, including the Nirav Modi scam, PM Modi would "run away".
Under the scheme coming into effect from April 1, 2018, a donor could purchase bonds from authorised banks against cheques or digital payments. These would be redeemed only in the designated account of a registered political party.
The Congress chief and her son were given bail on furnishing a personal bond of Rs 50,000 and one surety each. Three others including Motilal Vora, Oscar Fernandes and Suman Dubey were also granted bail.
Share swap has moved the 'founder tag' from Sam Pitroda and Suman Dubey to the Gandhis.
Digvijaya Singh, the Congress veteran who is one of its general secretaries, talks about his inability, despite years of urging, to get party vice-president and supposed heir, Rahul Gandhi, to communicate more directly. And, on related matters of generational change.
Being a non-profit firm, Young Indian does not have a profit and loss account.
Accusing Narendra Modi of using religion for canvassing by putting out Lord Ram's portrait in the backdrop at his Faizabad rally, Congress on Monday approached Election Commission demanding registration of an FIR against him and other party leaders as well as derecognition of BJP.
Congress is riven by four different approaches to an issue: the Sonia Gandhi way, the Rahul Gandhi method, Lok Sabha MPs' tactic, and Rajya Sabha MPs' style, reports R Rajagopalan.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has called a meeting of chief ministers of 12 Congress-ruled states to figure out how to fill out the vacancies in the Rajya Sabha. Highly-placed sources have said that he wants to cajole Amethis's former feudal lord Sanjay Singh; by giving him an RS ticket, in view of his own weak position in Amethi. Renu Mittal reports.
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