The Congress seems to have learned nothing from its defeats. At a time when its supporters worry that the idea of India is under attack, the party is still preoccupied with its own battles, notes Vir Sanghvi.
'As long as a Hindu rashtra is not formalised, one can live in hope,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Since when have elections become rocket science that you need to hire highly-priced specialists?And even if in the age of social media every party needs to present its best face, is Prashant Kishor the only one with such expertise, especially when his record is mixed with more losses than election wins to his credit? asks Virendra Kapoor.
Senior Indian Administrative Services officer Ashok Singhvi, who is the Principal Secretary (Mines) in Rajasthan, was arrested in the wee hours of Thursday by the state Anti Corruption Bureau in the eighth arrest in a bribery case involving clearance for reopening of six closed mines of a miner.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper and summoned her for a second round of questioning in the case on July 25.
Congress leaders are now in a "wait and watch" mode over the possible ripple effect of Punjab developments in faction-ridden Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the only two states other than Punjab where the party is in power on its own.
Leaders across the political spectrum on Friday condoled the demise of Chhattisgarh's first chief minister Ajit Jogi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailing the IAS officer-turned-politician for striving to bring a positive change in the lives of the poor.
Jairam Ramesh said the Congress has to be the "fulcrum" of any Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections as it is the only political force with a pan-India presence.
Surjewala said the party's 10-day agitation was formalised at a meeting in which Rahul Gandhi participated in, but neither he nor Sonia Gandhi would be participating in the state and district level programmes.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, while addressing a rally in Jaipur Rural on Monday, attacked the BJP and Narendra Modi and said they are not seeing the achievements of the UPA government. She also sought to point out, in a barb at Modi, that running a state and a country are two different things. Shanawaz Akhtar reports.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, who have extended support to the Congress to form the government in the state, were not present.
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's statements embarrassed the party, and within hours she alleged she had been 'misquoted'
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
Several leaders, including many MPs, wrote to Sonia Gandhi, either calling for her to continue or urging Rahul Gandhi to take charge.
Scindia's departure from the Congress also raises question marks about delayed decision-making and status quo in the Congress.
Ahead of completion of three years of the National Democratic Alliance, the Congress young brigade alleged that the government has failed on various counts including on issues like dealing with Pakistan, Kashmir policy, internal security, women safety and rising cases of rapes, atrocities on Dalits, high petrol and diesel prices, besides generation of jobs.
The government had constituted a one-man probe panel to look into Walmart's lobbying activities, after a political furore over the issue late last year.
The fear that Mamata might snatch the mantle of Opposition leadership which the Gandhis firmly believe to be theirs by birthright seems to have persuaded Sonia and Rahul to give up their hoity-toity ways, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'Anti-incumbency against sitting MPs and the government is a big issue here. We will win all seats in Mumbai'
Whatever the outcome of the assembly election in Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot is firmly ensconced in the Congress inner circle.
The Congress VP attacked the PM and said that the party would not let the BJP proceed on the land bill.
'The Congress can exist without (someone from) the Nehru-Gandhi family being its president.'
Amarinder, 75, was sworn in as the state's 26th chief minister along with nine ministers, including Navjot Singh Sidhu.
'The stimulus packages, sector reliefs, loans etc are coming to industry, but state governments have not got any money from GST, no money from excise, no money from any income source.'
Taking an apparent dig at Modi, Gandhi satirised a song, saying "Aapka toh lagta hai bas yahi sapna, ram ram japna garibo kaa maal apna (It seems your only dream is to take away money from poor while chanting the name of Ram)".
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other senior party leaders, including All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pande and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also moved to Jaisalmer along with the MLAs in five chartered flights.
Ramesh said the substance of Modi's speech is 'mostly bogus' but is presented in a very convincing manner.
Apart from being the CM twice earlier, he has won a series of Lok Sabha and assembly elections from the state and headed the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee four times.
Narendra Modi's new team includes a former cabinet colleague from his days as Gujarat CM, an academic and a sadhvi.
'There is no money with the villagers as there is little work.'
Telangana and Rajasthan are the last states to go to the polls in the current round of assembly elections, which also covered Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.
The Congress, who has presently become a "leaderless" party, has also been facing multiple shocks at the state levels.
Gandhi was referring to prime minister's 'silence' on Rafale fighter aircraft deal with France and the Modi government's 'failure' to bring fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya to book.
On Saturday, Delhi unit of the Congress unanimously adopted a resolution urging Rahul to take over as the president.
'I realised what a great leader he was by the way he took decisions to undertake the most-risky of missions.'
In a first such action in India's electoral history, the Election Commission had Wednesday ordered campaigning in the nine West Bengal constituencies to end at 10 pm on Thursday, instead of 6 pm on Friday, in the wake of violence between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Trinamool Congress in Kolkata during Amit Shah's roadshow.
Students of class VIII in Rajasthan schools will no longer study the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru in their social science textbook as references to the first prime minister have been dropped.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and other political leaders across the country on Wednesday mourned the demise of actor Irrfan Khan, calling him a 'rare talent' who will be greatly missed.
Singh's strong comments are the first public criticism by a ruling party MP against the help extended to Lalit Modi by Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Raje
Opposition parties on Sunday slammed External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and demanded her resignation for "helping" scam-tainted former Indian Premier League commissioner Lalit Modi.
