Indian National Congress

Firing a fresh salvo at the government, the Congress on Sunday pointed to Adani Group's alleged China links and asked why the conglomerate is still being permitted to operate ports in India. Attacking the Centre, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh cited a media report which claimed that the government denied security clearance in 2022 to a consortium of APM Terminals Management and Taiwan's Wan Hai Lines after agencies discovered a connection between a Wan Hai director and a Chinese firm. This blocked the consortium's bid to operate a container handling terminal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Ramesh said in a statement, pointing out that it is a government policy to prevent Chinese firms and entities with Chinese connections from operating ports and terminals in India. "This raises fresh questions about the Adani Group's China links. As we have repeatedly pointed out in our Hum Adani ke Hain Kaun (HAHK) series of questions to PM Narendra Modi, Chinese citizen Chang ..

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday said the "united opposition" feels a probe into the Adani group companies is necessary and his party is in support of such a demand. Talking to reporters, Raut said he does not wish to get involved in the differences between the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party over the nature of the investigation. "The united opposition feels a probe is necessary into the Adani companies and the Shiv Sena (UBT) is part of it (opposition),'' he said . A probe monitored by the Supreme Court and an inquiry by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) can be done together, the Rajya Sabha member said. Raut said industrialists should be supported, but not corruption. Notably, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar had in an interview to NDTV on Friday said the inquiry committee appointed by the Supreme Court following allegations of stock manipulation levelled against the Adani group by US-based Hindenburg Research would be more ...

The Congress has to be at the centre of any coalition that would take on the BJP in the 2024 general elections and all Opposition parties should be more mindful of sensitivities as well as be circumspect in criticising each other's ideologies in order to build a strong alliance, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal said on Sunday. Sibal, a prominent voice in the Opposition ranks, gave a clarion call to all political parties opposed to the BJP-led government to first find a common platform which, he said, could also be his newly-launched 'Insaaf' platform for fighting injustice. In an interview with PTI, the former Union minister said the leadership question of an Opposition coalition for 2024 need not be answered at this stage and also cited the example of 2004 when the incumbent Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was voted out of power despite the Opposition not having a declared face. He asserted that the Congress certainly has to be the fulcrum and at the centre of any coalition of Opposition

Days ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Sunday appointed B N Chandrappa as working president of its state unit. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Chandrappa working president in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, a party statement said. The Karnataka unit is headed by D K Shivakumar. The appointment of Chandrappa comes after Karnataka Congress working president R Dhruvanarayana passed away last month. The Congress has so far declared 142 candidates for the polls. The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Karnataka, the only southern state where the saffron party is in power The elections to the 224-member assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.

At a time when Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar, a Congress ally in Maharashtra, has expressed doubts over Opposition's demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Madhya Pradesh's Indore on Saturday

The Congress on Wednesday hit back at Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia for his scathing criticism of Rahul Gandhi, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should "beware" of a man who did not stay loyal to his former party and will also "not be loyal" to him. Scindia launched a sharp attack on Gandhi and the Congress, alleging the party has been left with no ideology except the one of a "traitor" which works against the country. The BJP leader attacked the Congress for according Rahul Gandhi a "special treatment" following his conviction in a defamation case and accused the party of pressuring the judiciary, and doing everything possible to stay relevant. Slamming Scindia for his remarks, Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, "When Mr. Scindia talks about doing things to stay politically relevant, I can think of his own example. To stay politically relevant he changed his party, he changed his friends, he changed his loyalties and he is giving us a lecture

BJP National General Secretary BL Santosh on Wednesday hit out at former CM Siddaramaiah, terming his tenure as the "most corrupt, indecisive and Hindu-hating government"

Union minister Nitin Gadkari has asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his critical remarks on late Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar and said no one has the right to insult him. Gandhi should realise that he insulted the Hindutva icon due to some misunderstanding, Gadkari said addressing a gathering organised as part of the 'Savarkar Gaurav Yatra' at Shankar Nagar in Maharashtra's Nagpur city on Tuesday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said the former Congress president should show a big heart and tender an apology for his "crime". "Who has given him the right to insult Savarkar? No one will tolerate insult of Savarkar," Gadkari maintained. Gadkari, speaking in a lighter vein, thanked Gandhi for giving the BJP an opportunity to make the country's youth aware about Savarkar's life and message through the yatra. The former Congress chief has constantly targeted Savarkar by raking up the issue of his mercy plea. His latest attack came last month following his ...

Slamming the Congress for creating an unwarranted hue and cry over Rahul Gandhis ouster from the Lok Sabha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the former MP was not the first member to be disqualified

The BJP on Thursday seized on Congress leader Digvijay Singh's thanks to Germany for reacting to Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from Lok Sabha to accuse the opposition party of "inviting foreign powers for interference into India's internal matters", and termed him and his party "disgrace to nation". Senior BJP leaders, including Union ministers Anurag Thakur and Kiren Rijiju, slammed the German reaction, asserting that India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership will not tolerate any foreign intervention. Their attack came after Congress leader Singh thanked the German foreign ministry and Richard Walker, Chief International Editor of Deutsche Welle, for "taking note of how Democracy is being compromised in India through the persecution of Rahul Gandhi". Singh tagged a tweet by Walker in which the senior journalist had posted a video of a German foreign ministry spokesperson reacting to Gandhi's disqualification. At a press briefing, Germany's foreign ministry spokesper

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday replied to the Lok Sabha Secretariat's notice to vacate his official bungalow and said he will abide by the eviction notice, even as his party leaders slammed the government, accusing it of humiliating him. Gandhi was on Monday served a notice to vacate the government bungalow, allotted to him, by April 22 following his disqualification as a member of Lok Sabha after his conviction in a criminal defamation case last week. In his communication to the LS Secretariat, Gandhi said,"thank you for your letter of March 27, 2023, regarding the cancellation of my accommodation at 12 Tughlak Lane. As an elected member of the Lok Sabha over the last four terms, it is the mandate of the people to which I owe the happy memories of my time spent here." "Without prejudice to my rights, I will, of course, abide by the details contained in your letter," he said in his letter to the MS branch of the LS Secretariat which had sent him the notice. The Housing ...

Along with Congress members, MPs belonging to the DMK, NCP, the Left and BRS also wore black

Scores of Indian Youth Congress activists staged a protest at the Jantar Mantar here on Monday against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha and were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament. Indian Youth Congress (IYC) activists from across the country gathered at the Jantar Mantar to show solidarity with Gandhi and criticised the central government for "silencing" voices of the democratic opposition. Carrying IYC flags and "Satyameva Jayate" placards, the protesters demanded justice for Gandhi. "The Centre has shown that no one can speak or question the Modi government. Rahul ji raised questions about Adani...so they attempted to silence him by disqualifying him," said Vikram, one of the protesters. "Rahul Gandhi is fearless and will continue to question the government over their wrong deeds," he added. The protesters said they would "gherao" Parliament to as part of their protest. They were detained when they tried to march towards Parliament. IYC

As many as 16 of 17 MLAs of Congress were suspended from the Gujarat Assembly on Monday for the remainder of the Budget session till March 29 for creating ruckus and staging protests in the House over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP. Some MLAs of the main Opposition party, including Imran Khedawala, Geniben Thakor and Amrtutji Thakor, were evicted by marshals as they sat in the well of the House and refused to go back to their seats despite repeated appeals made by Speaker Shankar Chaudhary. Except for Anant Patel, the rest 16 MLAs of Congress were present in the House on Monday. As soon as the question hour began, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda demanded a discussion on the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha claiming he had been "silenced by the BJP government" for raising the issues concerning people. Gandhi was disqualified as an MP after a court in Surat convicted him on March 23 in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname"

In which we munch over the week's platter of news and views

While addressing a press conference, BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said Rahul Gandhi's problem is that the people are not voting for the Congress party

Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday termed as "excessive" the two years' imprisonment awarded to Rahul Gandhi in a defamation case and urged the ruling dispensation to show "a big heart" on the Congress leader's disqualification. Kishor, who is now touring Bihar, his home state, as part of "Jan Suraaj" campaign, also underscored that the Congress did not seem to be well prepared to reach out to the masses with the message that it has been wronged. "I am not a legal expert but with due respect to the process of law, the sentence awarded to Rahul Gandhi seems to be excessive. In the heat of elections, people say all types of things. This was not the first instance and not going to be the last", asserted the IPAC founder who has, in his professional capacity, worked with many political parties, including the BJP and the Congress. "Two years in prison seems to be excessive for what is essentially a defamation case", said Kishor, adding "I would like to remin

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) on Saturday charged the Narendra Modi government at the Centre with having played an "active role" in ensuring "hasty" disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan also alleged that the CBI case against Bihar Deputy Chief Minister and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, was an instance of "central agencies being used to settle scores with political opponents". Lalan was responding to questions, here, from reporters on the disqualification of Gandhi following his conviction, by a Gujarat court, in a defamation case. "A due procedure should be followed in disqualification of a member of Parliament and legislature upon conviction in a case. There should be a notification from the Election Commission on which the Lok Sabha Speaker should act after seeking the approval of the President. Obviously, this takes some time", said Lalan. He added, "in case of Rahul Gandhi, though t

A day after he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha following his conviction in a defamation case, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday