Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
The resumption of drilling with the auger machine is likely to speed up the rescue efforts.
In a tweet in Hindi, Rawat said, 'Isn't it strange that the organisational structure at most places, instead of extending a helping hand, is standing with its head turned away or playing a negative role at a time when I have to swim across the ocean of elections.'
The remarks by Sibal, a noted advocate, came after Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar and eight others were inducted into the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government.
Rawat, who thanked Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and other party leader for lending support, said the state would need active support of the central government and that he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
Dismissing the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department inquiry into the death of Swami Nigamanand as ordered by the Uttarakhand government, the Congress on Wednesday demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the case. "The Ramesh Pokhriyal government is responsible for the death of Swami Nigamanand as it failed not only to check illegal quarrying in the Kumbh area at Haridwar but also failed to provide proper medical care to him," said a BJP leader.
The action was taken upon a plea filed by Congress Vikasnagar runner-up candidate Navprabhat on alleged tampering of electronic voting machines.
Saket was among the nine members of Legislative Assembly who rebelled against the Harish Rawat government.
Many families in the affected area are finding it hard to sever their emotional ties with their homes and move out.
'In Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, he is far more popular than the defeated chief ministers,' notes Karan Thapar.
Counting for assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur was held on Thursday. Here's how the big names fared.
Going by Himachal Pradesh's "riwaj", or tradition, it should be the Congress' turn to form the next government.
More than angry, we are pained that you are behaving like this. That the highest authority - Government of India - behaves like this. How can you think of playing with the court, asked the court.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's comprehensive defeat to the Congress in Karnataka where the two parties ran a campaign of contrasts has left the ruling party much to ponder as the two rivals are facing a direct contest in three more state polls this year in the run-up to the all-important 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra released the Congress' manifesto for Uttarakhand on Wednesday promising to reserve 40 per cent jobs for women in the police department, jobs to four lakh people, and creation of a 'tourism police' force.
The number of subsidence-affected homes rose to 678 while 27 more families were evacuated to safety, a bulletin from the Disaster Management Authority in Chamoli said, adding so far 82 families have been shifted to safe locations in the town.
It is for the second time that hearing of their appeal has been postponed by the single bench of the high court which had earlier posted the matter for hearing on Friday.
After the party's drubbing in the just-concluded assembly polls in five states, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers.
Faced with poll debacle in four states, the Congress is expected to hold a 'chintan shivir'.
Shinde, participating in a discussion on the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha, took a jibe at the opposition coalition Indian National Develomental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) describing it as a 'destructive alliance' and said the next elections will be fought on the issue of scams of the United Progressive Alliance and schemes of the National Democratic Alliance.
She said she had told the party leadership last year that it was difficult to travel in the three hill states due to her health.
The poll reforms advocacy group further said that 10 (14 per cent) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases against themselves.
A day after expanding his cabinet, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday held talks with senior Congress leaders in New Delhi to resolve various issues confronting his government. "We can only say that Bahuguna has held talks with some top leaders in New Delhi," a senior Congress leader said. Following the expansion, Bahuguna's first task would be to nominate a new Speaker of the House.
A case was registered against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in Hyderabad for his alleged remarks on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the police said on Wednesday.
Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Friday hit out at the Congress for blaming the anti-incumbency of his four-and-half-years tenure for the poor show in assembly polls, saying the party's leadership will never learn.
Former external affairs minister and veteran Congressmen S M Krishna met with party president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Tuesday.
It will not be a cakewalk for three-time Congress MLA and Uttarakhand Sports and Forest Minister Dinesh Agarwal to win Dharampur constituency in Dehradun this poll season with BJP fielding two-time mayor Vinod Chamoli from the seat.
The lawyers of the nine rebel Congress MLAs ahead of the trial of strength in Uttarakhand assembly as met Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal in ab attempt to prevent action against them.
Th epicentre of the 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which struck at 1.57 am, was in Nepal, about 90 km east-southeast of Pithoragarh
The two parties, however, are in a neck-and-neck race in Manipur and Goa.
The Congress hit out at Devendra Fadnavis being sworn-in as the Maharashtra chief minister on Saturday, saying it was a "betrayal of people's mandate" and the "illegitimate" government formation will self-destruct.
The Congress is finding it tough to accommodate defeated senior leaders in the Rajya Sabha as it does not have the numerical strength in various assemblies to win the seats.
Imposing a blanket ban on construction of houses and commercial establishments along the banks of rivers, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Monday announced setting up of a statutory body to look into planning and development of the flood-hit areas of the state.
Whether it is the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party, both will need the Congress's helping hand," said a Cabinet minister.
Rawat had played a crucial role in the removal of Amarinder Singh as chief minister of Punjab, who was replaced by Charanjit Singh Channi.
He said had the alliance with Goa Forward gone through, the Congress would have got majority in the state and that it was unfair to now make him a "villain".
Several exit polls on Monday forecast a clear majority for the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab with some of them giving an edge to the saffron party in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.
'Modigate is snowballing into a huge thing with the electorate. The BJP is in for huge punishment by the electorate.'
In Haridwar, where he performed 'Ganga Aarti' at the famous Har Ki Pauri Ghat, Gandhi said, "We will give you a chief minister who comes to you, listens to your problems and runs the government accordingly."
Sonia, Rahul and former prime minister Manmohan Singh gave fiery speeches attacking the Modi-led government.
