He joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for providing a "strong government".
'A pro-Modi wave and anti-incumbency will be incomplete without strong candidates.'
Speaking to media after meeting party functionaries at Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee office in Mumbai, the former diplomat also said his aim was to make Congress stronger before the 2024 polls.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday conducted raids at over a dozen locations in Chhattisgarh including at premises linked to state Congress leaders as part of an ongoing probe into the alleged coal levy scam, officials said.
The Congress in Maharashtra on Wednesday announced support for the candidate of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena in the November 3 byelection to Andheri East assembly constituency in Mumbai.
According to political analysts, the results of these bypolls, which saw a high-voltage campaign by senior leaders from various parties, will set the tone for the forthcoming elections in the state, including of the cash-rich Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and other civic bodies.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday and Tuesday.
The Congress on Friday won the Amravati division graduates constituency, taking the tally of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to three in elections for five Maharashtra Legislative Council seats, a result which has come as a jolt to the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party-Balasahebnachi Shiv Sena alliance.
The debate, which saw several heated exchanges, will continue on Thursday.
With the party bagging its first victory in the hill state without the charismatic presence of Virbhadra Singh, Sukhu's elevation makes it clear that the party is ready to move on.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a white t-shirt in the biting cold has been a hot topic of discussion -- and not just in top political circles.
He was arrested by the police from his residence in Hata town of the state's Damoh district, an official said.
Congress leaders and workers from Kolar have been exerting pressure on the Congress legislature party leader to contest from there.
A row erupted over the presence of Congress leader Kamal Nath at a Sikh religious event in Indore where kirtan singer Manpreet Singh Kanpuri apparently referred to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots after Nath left the venue and slammed organisers.
In an apparent attack on Gehlot, Pilot said one's upbringing should be such that he gives respect to others, adding that respect comes back when it is given.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka on Friday sought to woo farmers, women and younger generation with a slew of welfare measures in its last budget in the current term, also earmarking Rs 1000 crore towards development and renovation of various temples and maths in the state.
Exit polls on Monday predicted a big majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat while most of them gave an edge to it in Himachal Pradesh, indicating re-election of the ruling party in both states.
Pawar said state Congress leaders Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat had met him and extended an invitation to participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra.
In earlier elections, the Congress was considered the only major contender for Muslim votes in Gujarat, but this time the main opposition party is facing stiff competition from smaller outfits to get minority electors on its side.
An OBC leader, Thakor, who has good oratory skills, will have to take along all factions in the state unit while taking on the well-organised BJP which has been in power in the state from 1998.
Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra on Tuesday announced a financial assistance of Rs 20 lakh to the family of a nine-year-old Dalit boy who died after being beaten up by his teacher in Jalore district.
'Why choose people from outside the state?'
AAP would like to send an icon from the state to the Upper House of Parliament and one of the foremost names to have emerged is that of 41-year-old off-spinner.
Congress sources said internal surveys indicate that the party is likely to get a majority in Himachal polls leading to increasing the number of contenders for the chief minister's post.
Well ahead of the November 12 assembly elections, the BJP projected Thakur as the next chief minister.
Gujarat Congress working president Hardik Patel on Monday removed his designation and party poll symbol of 'hand' from his Twitter profile amid mounting speculation about his next political move after he launched a scathing attack on the state party leadership and praised the ruling BJP.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
Ajmal in an interview to a media house on Friday had commented on women and Hindu men as well as Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, purportedly as a rejoinder to his remarks on 'love jihad'.
He called on all sections of the society, especially SC/ST and other weaker sections to unite for safeguarding the Constitution and democracy.
Elections to 92 nagar parishads and four nagar panchayats in Maharashtra will be held on August 18, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Friday.
Amid growing chorus from Siddaramaiah's camp in Karnataka Congress to project him as the chief ministerial face of the party for the 2023 assembly polls, his son and Varuna MLA on Wednesday asserted that his father has a chance to become CM once again.
The Congress party finished second, winning a paltry 17 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party bagged just five.
The discussion will prove Gandhi has more knowledge about religion and spirituality than these persons, Kamal Nath said.
The Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party's formula to woo voters with laptops and tablet computers might work in some south Indian states but would not be of any help in Uttar Pradesh where the electorate is "much wiser", senior Congress leader Sriprakash Jaiswal has said. Exuding confidence that the issue of development would be the main issue in the UP elections, Jaiswal said there is a growing realisation that non-Congress governments have "hindered" growth.
Amid the deepening political turmoil in Maharashtra, state Congress president Nana Patole accused Deputy CM and senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar of harassing Congress legislators and ministers by stalling their development funds.
The incident took place on Saturday evening and a first information report (FIR) was registered at Khergam police station in the wee hours of Sunday in which Patel accused local BJP leader Babu Ahir, who is the district panchayat president, and his supporters of attacking him after being upset over a song sung in Patel's support at a garba event.
In veiled criticism of the Ashok Gehlot government on Tuesday, Congress leader Sachin Pilot called for zero tolerance to incidents like the recent killing of a Dalit boy and called for action against local officials for an alleged lathi-charge on the victim's family.
Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday skipped a meeting held by newly-appointed Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring with several party leaders from Amritsar.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would participate in the Karnataka leg of the "Bharat Jodo Yatra" led by Rahul Gandhi that will be entering the state on September 30, state party chief D K Shivakumar said on Friday.
Sidhu made the remark welcoming the change, ushered by the people and emphasising that their verdict should be 'humbly accepted'.
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