Page 28 - Indian National Congress

Sonia Gandhi says Agnipath 'directionless', vows to work for its withdrawal

Congress president Sonia Gandhi Saturday termed "directionless" the Centre's 'Agnipath' scheme for recruitment in the armed forces, and said her party will work for its withdrawal. She also appealed to the youths protesting against the scheme to adopt peaceful and non-violent means to fight for their demands. "It is unfortunate that the government has announced a new armed forces' recruitment policy, which is completely directionless and it has done so while ignoring your voices," she said in a statement in Hindi, addressed to the youths. Declaring her party's support for them, the Congress president said along with the youths, several ex-soldiers and defence experts have questioned the scheme. Gandhi, who is being treated at a hospital here for a lower respiratory tract infection and post-Covid symptoms, said she can understand the pain of the youths over the "three-year delay" in recruitment despite lakhs of vacancies in the Army. Gandhi said she also empathises with the youths

Chidambaram resigns from Maharashtra seat following election to RS from TN

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP P Chidambaram resigned from his seat in Maharashtra on Thursday, following his election to the Rajya Sabha from the state of Tamil Nadu."Following my election to the Rajya Sabha from the state of Tamil Nadu, I am required to resign my seat from the state of Maharashtra. Accordingly, today I tendered my resignation from the seat from the state of Maharashtra," tweeted the Congress leader today.The tweet further read, "The Hon'ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha has accepted my resignation. I was honoured to represent the state of Maharashtra. I wish the people of Maharashtra the very best in the future, peace and prosperity."On June 11, the BJP registered a win by bagging eight out of 16 Rajya Sabha seats in the four states (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Haryana) while Congrees bagged five seats in a fiercely contested battle. The biennial elections to the Upper House of Parliament were held for six seats in Maharashtra, four each in Karnataka

Court rejects Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking transfer of defamation case

A court in neighbouring Thane district has rejected Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's plea seeking transfer of a defamation suit filed against him by an RSS worker to another court. Principal District Judge A J Mantri rejected Gandhi's plea in December last year. However, the order was uploaded only on Tuesday. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh activist Vivek Champanerkar, in a 2019 civil defamation case, sought a token compensation of Rs 1 from Gandhi, accusing him of defaming the RSS by linking it to the 2017 murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh. The suit is pending before a Civil Judge, Senior Division. Gandhi's lawyer pleaded that the case should be transferred to Civil Judge, Junior Division because the compensation sought by the plaintiff was below Rs 5 lakh. The principal district judge noted in the order that Gandhi could raise the point of pecuniary jurisdiction before the the same judge who is hearing the suit. Champanerkar's lawyer, Aditya Mishra, had submitted that ...

Presidential polls: Congress may attend Opposition meet called by Mamata

Banerjee has convened the meeting on June 15 at the Constitution Club in the national capital for discussions to come out with a consensus Opposition candidate

Sangrur LS bypoll: AAP slams Cong for using pictures of singer Moose Wala

The Congress is "politicising" the death of singer Sidhu Moosewala for the Lok Sabha bypolls, alleged AAP candidate Gurmail Singh on Monday as he slammed an election song released by the party.

Sonia, Rahul to never compromise on ideological fight: Ashok Gehlot

Their remarks came after Congress leaders took to the streets as Rahul Gandhi appeared before the ED for questioning in a money laundering case

ED's summons to Rahul in money laundering case baseless: Chidambaram

As Congress members, Chidambaram said, party leaders will express solidarity with Rahul Gandhi and march with him to the ED's office on Monday

Prez polls: Nadda, Rajnath to hold talks with other parties on BJP's behalf

Nadda and Rajnath will interact with ruling NDA and opposition UPA constituents, besides other parties, on presidential polls, says BJP

Cong has rules for some leaders only, says Kuldeep Bishnoi after expulsion

Hours after being expelled from the Congress, Haryana MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi on Saturday hit back at the party, accusing it of partisan behaviour.

Congress expels Haryana MLA Bishnoi for cross voting in Rajya Sabha polls

A day after losing the Rajya Sabha election in Haryana due to cross-voting, the Congress cracked the whip and expelled its legislator Kuldeep Bishnoi from all party positions. The Haryana Congress has alleged that Bishnoi, an MLA from the Adampur constituency in Hisar, did not vote for the party candidate Ajay Maken and cross-voted in favour of Independent candidate Kartikeya Sharma, who was supported by the ruling BJP-JJP combine. The Congress had 31 MLA and needed as many votes to win the Rajya Sabha seat from Haryana, but one of its legislators cross-voted and another's vote was cancelled. "The Congress president has expelled Kuldeep Bishnoi from all his present party positions, including the post of special invitee of the Congress Working Committee, with immediate effect," a statement from AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said. Bishnoi had not attended any of the party meetings of its legislators and had said that he has voted as per his conscience.

Congress to protest at ED offices Monday over summons to Rahul Gandhi

Congress leaders and ministers in Maharashtra will stage protests outside the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) offices in Mumbai and Nagpur on June 13 against the Centre's "dictatorship"

RS poll: Top guns Sitharaman, Surjewala, Raut elected, BJP wins big

This poll results has given an edge to the BJP, amid the fight for "secular votes" between the Congress and JD(S)

Kharge holds consultations with Oppn party leaders on presidential poll

Election for the next President of India will be held on July 18 in which 4,809 electors comprising MPs and MLAs will vote to elect incumbent Ram Nath Kovind's successor

RS poll counting on hold in Haryana as BJP seeks cancellation of 2 votes

BJP backed independent candidate wrote to EC of India, demanding the cancellation of votes of two Congress MLAs, due to "violation of the secrecy of votes in the Conduct of Election Rules 1961"

Congress wins three Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan, says CM Gehlot

Congress candidates Randeep Surjewala, Mukul Wasnik and Pramod Tiwari were elected to the Rajya Sabha, according to a tweet by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

Wrong economic policies of govt have put inflation burden on people: Rahul

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged on Thursday that the Modi government has not shown loyalty to the country or its people and warned that inflation will rise further in the coming days. He said "wrong economic policies" of the government have put the burden of inflation on the common people and it is becoming unbearable. "There is a difference between loyalty and performance. The Modi government did not show loyalty to the country, or to the people. I am talking about inflation. If you think inflation will go down in the coming times, then you are under a misconception. Get ready for a fresh onslaught from the Modi government in the coming days," he said in a Facebook post in Hindi. Gandhi said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the Repo rate by 0.50 per cent and it now stands at 4.90 per cent. According to the RBI, inflation is going to increase further in 2022-23, while retail inflation will remain at 6.7 per cent, he noted. "The wrong economic policies of t

Cong leaders protest at Punjab CM's residence, say he refused to meet them

Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring and other party leaders held a protest at the CM's residential complex on Thursday, complaining that he failed to keep his appointment with them. The Congress leaders claimed that they were called inside the CM's residence here, frisked and their mobile phones also taken away. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, however, denied that the Congress leaders were given time by him and said they held a protest in support of their party leaders facing corruption charges. Mann was apparently referring to the arrest of former forest minister and Congress leader Sadhu Singh Dharamsot and naming of Sangat Singh Gilzian in a corruption case. Besides Warring and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa, former deputy CMs Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and O P Soni, former ministers Aruna Chaudhary and Bharat Bhushan Ashu were present during the protest. Warring claimed that when they reached the CM's residence in the morning, they wer

MSP of kharif crops for 2022-23 meagre, below inflation rate: Congress

The Congress on Thursday accused the government of betraying the country's farmers and said the minimum support prices (MSP) of Kharif crops announced for 2022-23 are meagre and below inflation rate

Congress to protest in Delhi when Rahul appears before ED: Report

The Congress is preparing for a major show of strength in the national capital on June 13 when former party chief Rahul Gandhi will appear before the ED in connection with a money laundering case.

Fringe is BJP's core, alleges Rahul amid controversy over Prophet remarks

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday hit out at the BJP for calling their former spokespersons as fringe.