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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday met Congress parliamentary party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi at their residence in New Delhi.
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.
The Congress party has inaugurated its new headquarters, Indira Gandhi Bhawan, located at 9A, Kotla Road in Delhi. The new building, which was constructed during Sonia Gandhi's tenure as Congress chief, features modern facilities and reflects the party's forward-looking vision. The party will not vacate its current headquarters at 24, Akbar Road, which has been its home since 1978, and will continue to house some of its cells.
Apart from taking stock of the political situation in the country, the CWC discussed the upcoming presidential and vice presidential elections.
'...still have lost the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but could have won 140 seats.'
Venugopal said a decision on the Rajasthan chief minister would be taken by Sonia in a day or two.
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Noting that the assembly election results being very disappointing is an understatement, the Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson urged party MPs to channel their disappointment into positivity for next year's general elections.
Speculation about Sharmila growing closer to the Congress has been doing the rounds for quite some time after she met Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar in Bengaluru in May to congratulate him on the victory of the party in the neighbouring state.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will travel abroad for medical check-ups and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will accompany her, the party said.
Senior party leaders stressed that no one except the Gandhi family can hold the party together, the party will disintegrate and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should be given command after 2024.
This is the first meeting between Stalin and Sonia Gandhi after the DMK-Congress alliance was elected to power in the just-concluded assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
INDIA bloc MPs protest against the Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar, alleging irregularities and disenfranchisement of voters.
Gandhi was accompanied by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during their visit.
The Congress party in India has condemned the seizure of assets belonging to the National Herald, a newspaper founded by Jawaharlal Nehru, and announced nationwide protests against the action. The party's general secretary, KC Venugopal, described the action as "draconian" and said it was a politically motivated attempt to silence the opposition. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a chargesheet against Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, among others, on charges of money laundering in the case. The Congress has called for protests in front of ED offices across the country on Wednesday.
'I have always been a 'sevak' of the Gandhi family and whatever responsibility the Gandhi family has entrusted to its sevak, I will fulfil it'
In the purported five-second clip, Reddy is seen addressing a poll rally in Nalgonda on Tuesday and is heard saying in Telegu 'Sonia Gandhi is going to give the CM position to me if the party comes to power. There is no one senior to me here'.
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.
In her article, Sonia Gandhi underlined that the next few months will be a crucial test of India's democracy and that the country is at the crossroads with the Modi government bent on "misusing every power" and elections approaching in several key states.
There was a protest in the university demanding Gandhi's resignation as the chancellor and the students decided to walk down to her residence and paste a memorandum demanding her resignation on the door.
This will be the first time that the Congress, since its ouster from power in 2014, will get the post of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. It failed to get the position in the past 10 years as its tally was below the requisite 10 per cent of total seats in the House, both in 2014 and 2019.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party vice president Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Tripura this week to campaign for the Congress for the February 14 Assembly election.
'She has kept them poor so that they spend all their time keeping body and soul together and when the time comes to vote, they blindly vote for her. Had they prospered, they would have had the time to think. She wants the mindset to remain the same. It's the perfect vote bank, but that will change,' Ajay Aggarwal, the BJP's candidate in Rae Bareli, tells Swarupa Dutt/Rediff.com
As voting in the Congress presidential polls got underway, outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday said she had been waiting for a long time for this day.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday challenged Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut to prove her allegation that the state government took loans and diverted the money to Sonia Gandhi, failing which it said it would file a defamation case against her.
Arun told rediff.com that this was an "unwarranted and senseless attack against Sonia Gandhi," and challenged those responsible for the ad, "Who among us is so straightforward as to be able to speak on or about Sonia?"
The security cover of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has been strengthened with the addition of two bullet-resistant vehicles following a review of his Z category armed central protection recently, official sources said on Wednesday.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a charge sheet against Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a money laundering case related to a land deal in Haryana's Shikohpur. The ED has also attached properties worth Rs. 37.64 crore linked to Vadra.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has sought more time from the Enforcement Directorate to appear before it as she is still suffering from Covid, party sources said on Tuesday.
Pilot, who spent around an hour at Gandhi's residence where Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was also present, said he conveyed his sentiments and gave his feedback to the party president.
The President's office has condemned comments made by Congress leaders regarding President Droupadi Murmu's address to Parliament, stating that they hurt the dignity of the high office. The statement clarified that the President was not tired during her speech and that the comments were in "poor taste" and "unacceptable." The Congress leaders had reportedly discussed the speech, with Sonia Gandhi commenting on the President's alleged tiredness. The statement suggested that the leaders may have misunderstood the President's speech due to their unfamiliarity with Indian languages.
Sonia Gandhi had not campaigned for the party during elections in the recent past due to health reasons.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party, accusing it of repeatedly "wounding" the Indian Constitution. He claimed that the Congress, driven by its "lust for power," has consistently undermined the principles of the Constitution. Modi, however, praised India's democratic journey since its independence, highlighting the country's strong democratic roots and its unwavering commitment to its founding principles. He underscored the importance of unity for India's future development and emphasized that the Constitution is the bedrock of that unity.
Gandhi said the history of Manipur stands testament to its ability to embrace people of all ethnicities, religions and backgrounds, and the myriad possibilities of a diverse society.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday alleged that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was the "driving force" behind the "conspiracy" to implicate then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 riots case in the state.
The Congress on Wednesday said party chief Sonia Gandhi has taken both doses of COVID-19 vaccine while Rahul Gandhi could not take the jabs yet as he had contracted the virus in May.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
Reddy alleged that contracts worth thousands of crores were awarded to people close to Modi, who then purchased Rafale aircraft.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
