Rahul Gandhi's roadshow from Tuesday

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will embark on a roadshow from Deoria in eastern Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, starting Tuesday traversing as many as 233 Assembly constituencies to reach out to people ahead of crucial polls in the state early next year. The programme was announced by All India Congress Committee General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad, who said the Congress vice-president would travel through 39 districts of Uttar Pradesh covering 2,500 km in the month-long exercise.

Rahul Gandhi's roadshow follows the one by Sonia Gandhi earlier this month, which was successful. Two yatras by state party leaders are currently going through various districts of the state. Azad said no big public meeting was planned and Rahul will address small rallies and hold road shows in towns along the way.

Special session by Delhi govt on Friday

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has called a one-day special session of the legislative Assembly on Friday over a number of issues concerning the national capital. The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last week.

Last month, the Kejriwal-led government had also called a four-day session during which the Assembly ratified the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Constitution Amendment Bill, becoming the third non-BJP-ruled administration to do so.

Sandeep's wife says her husband falsely implicated

Wife of sacked Delhi Minister Sandeep Kumar, who was arrested on rape charges, on Sunday came out in support of her husband, claiming he was "falsely implicated" in the scandal. "My husband is innocent, I stand by him. Rape charges against my husband are wrong," Ritu Kumar told a news channel in New Delhi. The embattled ex-minister's wife said the charges were part of a "political conspiracy against her innocent husband" and that her entire family was with Sandeep at this hour. The MLA from Sultanpur Majra was arrested on Saturday on rape and other charges following a complaint by a woman, who purportedly figured in an "objectionable" CD with him. He was also suspended from AAP after the scandal came to light. Sandeep, who is being interrogated by the police, has claimed innocence in the matter.

Sushilkumar Shinde's story is story of India: President

President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday lauded the former Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde for his struggle to reach the highest positions in the country, overcoming difficult circumstances. "In overcoming the odds of an extremely humble background and beginning, overcoming the handicaps thereof without bitterness and rising up to the highest positions in the country, Shinde's story is indeed the story of India," Mukherjee said. He was speaking at the 75th birthday celebration of the senior Congress leader at his native town Solapur in western Maharashtra.