Page 10 - Indian National Congress

Cong to hold meeting of newly-elected Himachal MLAs in Shimla on Friday

The Congress has convened a meeting of all its newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh in Shimla on Friday and the meet is likely to pass a resolution authorising the Congress president to elect the CLP leader. Earlier, the party had called all its MLAs to Chandigarh but changed its plans later after the party got a clear majority in the assembly elections on Thursday. AICC in-charge of Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla said the Congress was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people. "The newly-elected Congress MLAs would meet in Shimla on Friday post-election results and decide on electing the new legislature party leader," Shukla told PTI. He had earlier said that the party had called all its MLAs to Chandigarh but later changed the decision. Sources said the MLAs are likely to pass a one-line ...

Gujarat election results 2022: Here is what happened in five key seats

Gujarat Assembly Election Results 2022: According to the Election Commission's counting, BJP is leading in the state and is likely to cross the majority mark comfortably. Here are five key battles to

Himachal Pradesh Election Results 2022: Here's what happened in 5 key seats

Himachal Pradesh Assembly Election Results 2022: Congress has emerged victorious in the state after BJP's Jai Ram Thakur conceded defeat

Sonia Gandhi arrives in Jaipur as Bharat Jodo Yatra enters 92nd day

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrived in Jaipur on Thursday morning as the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra is crossing through Rajasthan, a party spokesperson said. She is scheduled to fly to Bundi in a helicopter where her son and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to take a halt later in the day after marching 24 kilometers as part of the yatra, he said. The march is set to take a break on December 9, which is also Sonia Gandhi's birthday. The yatra will resume from December 10. Rahul Gandhi began the Rajasthan leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Jhalawar district on Monday. Rajasthan is the only Congress-ruled state the yatra has entered and will cover about 500 km through Jhalawar, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Alwar districts over 17 days before entering Haryana on December 21.

Himachal Congress expels 30 Chopal block leaders for anti-party activities

The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Wednesday expelled 30 office-bearers of its Chopal block committee for anti-party activities. The expulsions came just a day before the counting of votes for the assembly polls held last month. Acting on a resolution passed by the block committee, Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president Pratibha Singh expelled the functionaries from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect. The expelled members included vice president Dhiren Singh Chauhan and Santosh Dogra.

Laws passed in haste, court's comments not good, says Kharge in Rajya Sabha

Speaking on Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar's first day as the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Leader of opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said that he hoped that no law will be passed in haste

MCD polls: Trends show AAP inching ahead of BJP; Congress far behind

The latest trends in the MCD elections show the Aam Aadmi Party just edging past the the BJP. The BJP has won 10 seats and the AAP six as the results started trickling in. The MCD has 250 wards, and the simple majority mark is 126. According to the trends available on the State Election Commission website at 10:45 am, the AAP was leading in 127 seats and the BJP in 106. The Congress was a long way behind at 11. The initial trends (at 9:30 am) put the BJP ahead of the AAP by a significant margin, but the pendulum swung in the AAP's favour soon after. This was the first election after the MCD was reunified earlier this year. AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj exuded confidence his party will emerge victorious. "We will win more than 180 seats. We have decked up our office... The BJP did not cite any achievement of their 15-year tenure in the MCD during the campaigning," he told the media at the party office. BJP's national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the exit polls

Cong leader Rahul Gandhi recommences Bharat Jodo Yatra on its 91st day

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recommenced his Bharat Jodo Yatra on its 91st day on Wednesday as he and fellow yatris marched towards the coaching capital of Kota from Darra Station Ganesh Mandir at 6 am. The yatra, which has so far covered over 2,400 kilometers since its start on September 7 from Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari, will travel at least 13 km in its first leg of its day three in Rajasthan to reach Mandana in Kota's Laadpura. The yatris will have a lunch break there before they resume at 3.30 pm to cover 9 more kilometers for a corner meeting at the Sasa Resort at 6.30 pm. They will then proceed for the night stay at Jagpura, Kota, around 8 kilometers away. As Gandhi started out the march on Wednesday he bowed before the Ganesh temple with folded hands. A group of tribal artistes from Banswara performed dance at the outset. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his former deputy Sachin Pilot, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, state minister Mahesh Joshi, AICC national

Cong leaders will find way to resolve Rajasthan infighting: Jairam Ramesh

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said the party leadership will come up with a way to resolve the infighting in its Rajasthan unit while keeping the party above individuals. The party faces a tussle for power in Rajasthan between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot. But the two have presented a united front as the party's Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra passes through the state. Ramesh said that after the yatra finishes, the election process in Rajasthan will start and there will be only seven or eight months left for the Assembly polls. "I don't have knowledge about the individuals. But the party leadership will come up with a way forward which preserves the primacy of the organisation and not the primacy of any one individual or the other," Ramesh told PTI on the way from Suket to Devarighata of Jhalawar district. He said that primacy of any individual is not important and the only objective is to find a way to strengthen the ...

Gujarat elections: 61% turnout in Phase 2, down from 70% in 2017; PM votes

A moderate voter turnout of 60.94 per cent was recorded in the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections covering 93 seats across 14 districts of north and central regions on Monday, the Election Commission (EC) said, a sharp drop from 70 per cent polling registered in these constituencies in 2017. Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Bharathi said barring a few incidents of violence, polling for the final phase went off peacefully and electoral fate of 833 candidates were locked in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). With this, voting for all the 182 Assembly seats in Gujarat has been completed and counting of ballots will be taken up on December 8. The first phase of elections on December 1 had covered 89 Assembly seats and recorded 63.31 per cent polling. Around 5,000 voters abstained from voting at six polling booths in three villages of Mehsana district over local issues, she told reporters. Provisional voter turnout stood at 60.94 per cent in the second ...

Uttar Pradesh urban local body polls: Inside vs outside for Congress

The decision of topping up the UP party organisation with leaders from the BSP is an explicit step to attract the Dalit vote

Target 151: BJP sets eyes on the prize in Gujarat Assembly elections

The greatest solace for the BJP was the Congress' inability to mount a robust campaign. But a bigger imponderable was how the Aam Aadmi Party would fare

Kharge makes strong pitch for fixing accountability in Cong organisation

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday strongly pitched for organisational accountability from top to bottom, and said those unable to fulfil their responsibilities will have to make way for their colleagues. In his opening remarks at the first meeting of the Congress steering committee constituted by him, Kharge asked state in-charges to submit a roadmap for movement on people's issues in the next 30 to 90 days. "I believe that the biggest part of our responsibility towards the party and the country is -- organisational accountability from top to bottom. If the Congress organisation is strong, accountable, lives up to the expectations of the people, then only we will be able to win elections and serve the people of the country," the Congress chief said. In a stern message to office-bearers, Kharge also said that while there are very responsible people in the party who were doing their duty, some people had assumed that lack of responsibility will be ignored. "This is neit

Cong to seek discussions on reservation, border, economy in winter session

The Congress on Saturday decided to seek discussions on issues of EWS reservation, state of the economy and situation at the border during Parliament's winter session, even as many of its leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, are unlikely to be present due to the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Besides these, the party during its parliamentary strategy group's meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence also decided to raise the issue of "weakening" of constitutional institutions in the country. Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party. During the session, which begins on December 7, the party is seeking to corner the government on the border issue with China, economic situation in the country, "weakening" of constitutional institutions and reservations for economically weaker sections (EWS). It will seek discussions on all these issues. Three big issues have emerged from the Congress' side for this short session of Parliament of 17 days, All India Congress Committee general ...

BJP revamps Punjab unit; many ex-Cong leaders appointed as office bearers

The BJP on Saturday announced revamping of its Punjab unit, adjusting former Congress leaders including the daughter of former chief minister Amarinder Singh. The appointment of new office bearers was approved by the BJP president J P Nadda, the party said. Jai Inder Kaur, the daughter of Amarinder Singh was among 11 state vice presidents announced by the party. The announcement came a day after the BJP made Amarinder Singh and Sunil Jakhar as members of the party's national executive. Former Congress leaders --Kewal Singh Dhillon, Raj Kumar Verka, Arvind Khanna and Fatehjang Bajwa, who had joined the BJP, found their place as state vice president, as per the list of new appointments announced by the party. Party leaders Dr Subhash Sharma, Rakesh Rathore, Dyal Singh Sodhi, Jagmohan Singh Raju and former Akali MLA Jagdeep Singh Nakai have also been appointed as party's vice president. Former Congress MLA and ex-minister Gurpreet Singh Kangar, BJP leaders Jiwan Gupta, Bikramjit Ch

Yogi Adityanath calls for Congress 'mukt' Gujarat, cites UP's example

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath on Saturday appealed to people to rid Gujarat of Congress which he said would solve all problems. He was addressing a rally in support of the BJP contestant in Khambhat town of Anand district on the last day of the campaigning for the second and final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections. Out of the total 182 seats, polling for 89 seats was held on December 1. The remaining 93 constituencies will vote on December 5. The counting of votes will be taken up on December 8. Adityanath dubbed both Congress and Aam Aadmi Party as a "threat to security and a barrier to development". "Mahatma Gandhi had once said the Congress party should be disbanded once India achieves Independence. Now it is your responsibility to do that. A 'Congress-mukt' Gujarat will solve all your problems," he said. Adityanath said the people of UP gave just two seats to Congress and nil to AAP in the last Assembly elections "as they knew both th

Gehlot vs Pilot: Groups fight for dominance in Bharat Jodo Yatra hoardings

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot may have put up a united front before AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, but their supporters are reportedly showing one-upmanship on the ground ahead of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. Supporters of the two leaders are competing in Hadoti to highlight their dominance, which is visible from the hoardings in the region. This has also led to blame games between leaders of the two factions. Pramod Sharma, who contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Congress in Jhalawar, alleged that the Pilot camp has been attempting to weaken Gehlot's influence. Sharma targeted Jhalawar district in-charge minister Pramod Jain Bhaya alleging that he was weakening the party's roots by leading a separate group of local people, and thereby sidelining efforts of the party's other workers. "The particular group (Bhaya's group) is going ahead everywhere only with Sachin Pilot. In many posters and hoardings that have ou

Delhi set for high-stake MCD polls; 14.5 million electors eligible to vote

The stage is set for the high-stakes civic polls in Delhi on Sunday, with poll authorities and security forces all geared up for the elections, largely being seen as a three-way contest among the AAP, the BJP and the Congress. Over 1.45 crore electors are eligible to exercise their franchise in the elections to the 250 wards of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, in which 1,349 candidates are in the fray. Polling will be held from 8 am to 5:30 pm and the votes will be counted on December 7. According to data shared by the State Election Commission officials, the total number of voters in Delhi is 1,45,05,358 -- 78,93,418 males, 66,10,879 females and 1,061 transgender persons. There are 250 wards in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). This will be the first civic election after the fresh delimitation exercise, and the poll will be held days after the first phase of the Gujarat assembly elections, and a day ahead of its second phase. Authorities have set up 13,638 polling stati

LIVE: Court acquits Umar Khalid in Delhi riots case, to stay in custody

Special Public Prosecutor Madhukar Pandey confirmed that Umar Khalid and Khalid Saifi were discharged in the matter by the court of Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala

Hearing of defamation case against Rahul Gandhi adjourned to Jan 7

The hearing of the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Saturday adjourned to January 7 by a court in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district as he is busy with the nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra. The exemption from personal appearance for Gandhi was granted by Bhiwandi Judicial Magistrate First Class IC Wadikar. "The defamation matter came up for hearing on Saturday. It has been adjourned for January 7, when arguments will be heard regarding permanent exemption of Gandhi," the Congress leader's advocate Narayan Iyer told PTI. The complainant Rahul Kunte was not present in court either during the day as he is out of station. The defamation case relates to comments made by the Congress leader during a speech on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the death of Mahatma Gandhi.