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The Congress on Saturday announced the first phase of a nationwide campaign against the alleged paper leaks and examination irregularities, with Rahul Gandhi scheduled to address a series of student conventions, starting from Kota on June 17. The movement will seek to unite students beyond political affiliations and provide a platform for affected youth to share their experiences and demand accountability for "repeated examination failures and paper leak scandals", the party said. In a statement, AICC general Secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal said, "The Congress party will therefore seek a comprehensive discussion in Parliament on the crisis confronting India's youth and advocate legislative measures to protect their interests, rights and future." He said LoP Rahul Gandhi, who has emerged as the "most consistent and credible advocate" for India's students and youth, will conduct a series of large student conventions starting with Kota (June 17), Allahabad (July 10), Patna (July
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi told INDIA bloc leaders earlier this week that going by the anger among the people, the next general election is "already won" but the main problem is that there won't be a free and fair election to win. At the meeting of the INDIA bloc on Monday, he also gave a clarion call to the leaders to stay united, saying it is easy to beat the BJP "if we stand together and resist". Gandhi also responded to the criticism of the Congress by its allies, including the Left parties, by referring to the "blue-necked one (Shiva) who drinks all the poison", and said whatever criticism they have of him or his party will be accepted with a smile on the face. Gandhi on Friday put out on his social media accounts his over nine-minutes speech that he made at the meeting where the INDIA bloc constituents stressed on unity against the BJP. On Monday, the INDIA bloc members unanimously decided to demand Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's immediate resignation over the ...
The Supreme Court on Friday said once nomination of a candidate is rejected by the returning officer, the only remedy is to approach the Election Commission as it heard Congress leader Meenakshi Natarajan's plea challenging rejection of her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls. The court also asked Natarajan to show any judgement passed by the it where it has interfered in such cases. A bench comprising Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and Atul S Chandurkar said, "However erroneous the decision may be, once a nomination is rejected, the remedy ordinarily lies elsewhere. Is there any judgment of this Court where we have interfered at that stage? Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Natarajan, submitted that a candidate is supposed to disclose a criminal case which provides for a minimum sentence of two years and, in the present matter, only summons were issued. He said the nomination paper for the Rajya Sabha poll in Madhya Pradesh was wrongly rejected by the returni
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party's media cell head Pawan Khera besides BJP leaders Satish Poonia and Tarun Chugh were among 24 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Thursday. All but three of the 27 seats for Rajya Sabha were decided with NDA candidates declared elected unopposed in 19 and Congress in the remaining five. Elections for two seats in Jharkhand, where a keen contest is on the cards, and one seat in Mizoram will be held on June 18. The scrutiny of nominations for elections to 24 Rajya Sabha seats in 10 states besides bye-elections to one seat each in Maharashtra, Odisha and Tamil Nadu was on Thursday. All the candidates declared elected unopposed were handed over winning certificates by the respective returning officers. Elections would be held for the two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, where three candidates - JMM's Baidyanath Ram, Congress nominee Pranav Jha and Independent Parimal Nathwani, a director at Reliance Industries who has the suppo
Top Congress leaders met the Election Commission on Wednesday, alleging that the nomination papers of Meenakshi Natarajan, its Rajya Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh, were wrongly rejected. A delegation of top party leaders, including K C Venugopal, Randeep Surjewala, Jairam Ramesh, Deepa Dasmunshi, Vivek Tankha and Abhishek Singhvi, along with Meenakshi Natarajan, met the commission and demanded that the decision should be reversed. They contended that no case is pending against Natarajan as no court has yet taken cognisance of a private complaint filed against her. Singhvi, who also heads the legal cell of the Congress, said on X that " the decision of the Returning Officer is indeed poor and absolutely partisan." Singhvi said he spoke to Natarajan and several other senior Congress leaders on Tuesday after he learnt of this "most remarkable and astonishing rejection" of her nomination papers by the Returning Officer. "This is, on the face of it, patently and blatantly illegal
The Congress on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he may have passed a "self-proclaimed and dubiously invented" milestone but he is a "millstone" around India's neck, presiding over the "murder of democracy". The opposition party's attack came as Modi became India's longest continuously serving elected prime minister. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said Jawaharlal Nehru became prime minister of India on August 15, 1947 presiding over a stellar Cabinet - the likes of which have rarely been seen in the world. Over the next five years, modern India came into being, he said on X. "Over 560 princely states were integrated peacefully into the Indian Union, the Constitution of India was debated and adopted, zamindari was abolished, reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were put in place, a number of multipurpose irrigation-cum-power projects were launched, the infrastructure for science and technology capability was established ..
In a scathing attack on the government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said 12 years of "anti-poor" economic policies and a "compromised" foreign policy have pushed the country into such a dire situation that lakhs of poor families and women have been forced to bear the "poisonous smoke of firewood stoves". Gandhi's criticism of the government came over its reduction of the number of subsidised refills of LPG gas cylinders under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. "Twelve years of anti-poor economic policies and a compromised foreign policy have today pushed the country into such a dire situation where lakhs of poor families and women have been forced to bear the poisonous smoke of firewood stoves," he said in a post in Hindi on X. "The number of subsidized cylinders under the Ujjwala scheme has been reduced from nine to four and on top of that, the price of domestic LPG cylinders has been increased by Rs 89 in the last 3 months -- meaning, first hike the prices, then cut th
The upcoming elections to three Rajya Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh took a dramatic turn on Tuesday with the nomination of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan being rejected on charges of concealing information about a case in the affidavit. "Natarajan's nomination has been rejected by the Returning Officer on the grounds of hiding information about a case," an MP Assembly official told PTI. A complaint was submitted by BJP candidate Mahesh Kewat, contesting the third Rajya Sabha seat, to the Returning Officer alleging that Natarajan deliberately hid information about a case filed against her in Telangana. Sanket Gupta, the lawyer representing Kewat, told reporters that a criminal case is pending against Natarajan in a Telangana court and is not mentioned in the affidavit. He said the Returning Officer has rejected her nomination on this basis. "This information has been deliberately concealed. According to Supreme Court guidelines, you are required to provide this information
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday urged opposition leaders to strengthen unity to confront the political, economic, social and foreign policy challenges facing the country due to the Modi government's "misgovernance". Addressing a meeting of the Opposition INDIA bloc here, Kharge charged that the assault on the Constitution continues and probe agencies are persistently being used as tools to harass, intimidate, and bully political opponents. He also highlighted that the economic environment is extremely negative and new investments are not coming in at the pace required to generate new jobs. The Congress chief also pointed out to the "complete mismanagement" of the examination system due to which the hopes and aspirations of lakhs of youth are being betrayed. Batting for unity among opposition leaders, he said, "On April 17, 2026, we demonstrated our unity and solidarity in the Lok Sabha in a very decisive manner, when we all came together firmly to defeat the Modi ..
The Congress on Saturday said Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan must take responsibility for the lapses in CBSE on-screen marking (OSM), calling his continuation in office an insult to lakhs of students and their families. Pradhan's continuation in office only speaks of his desire for power, the Congress remarked and accused him of being "incompetent" in running a "compromised ministry". In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said after weeks of denying any wrongdoing and claiming that all is well with its COEMPT's On Mark portal, the CBSE has finally been forced to acknowledge COEMPT's incompetence. He cited media reports in this regard that claimed that after initial denial, the CBSE invited an ethical hacker to plug gaps in the IT system. "It began with a public acknowledgment of the data breach (months after the cybersecurity vulnerabilities were reported by 19-year-old Nisarga Adhikary), and has now become even more painfully clear, as reports emerge that
Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar early on Saturday said that the crisis triggered by Minister Ramalinga Reddy's resignation over portfolio allocation has been resolved after marathon discussions with the senior Congress leader. Shivakumar met Reddy for nearly two-and-a-half hours at a private hotel in Jayanagar late on Friday night amid efforts by the Congress leadership to persuade the veteran leader to withdraw his resignation. The meeting went on till the wee hours of Saturday. Senior Congress leaders and some of Reddy's close associates were also involved in the discussions. "This is a family matter. We will all sit together and talk. Everything has been resolved," Shivakumar told reporters after emerging from the meeting around 1.30 am. "He has expressed his grievance; it was a case of miscommunication. Something has happened, and we will sort it out. Don't worry, we will run everything first-class. We have given opportunities to all senior leaders, and we will set ...
Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy on Friday announced that he will tender his resignation from the post of minister, expressing displeasure over allocation of portfolio. The minister said he wanted the Bengaluru Development portfolio but was made minister for Major and Medium Irrigation projects. The resignation comes after Chief Minister D K Shivakumar allotted the portfolios on Thursday night. "I am resigning from my post because I cannot work against conscience," Reddy said at a press conference here. He said, "How long can I tolerate this humiliation and what else were options before me?" This was a major setback for the Shivakumar government, which came to power on Wednesday. The Congress leadership made a last ditch attempt in the middle of the press conference to persuade the disgruntled minister, but he remained firm in his decision. He told the leaders who approached him with the party leadership's message that the time is now lapsed to pay heed to any suggestions.
State Congress President D K Shivakumar took oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday. He was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at Lok Bhavan here. Shivakumar took the oath in the name of revered seer "Gangadhar Ajja", while holding a copy of the Constitution. Thirteen ministers, including a Deputy CM will take the oath along with Shivakumar. Shivakumar, a 64-year-old Vokkaliga strongman, was elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party in Karnataka on May 30, following Siddaramaiah's resignation as CM on May 28. Shivakumar had served as Deputy Chief Minister under Siddaramaiah. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, outgoing CM Siddaramaiah, AICC General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, CMs of Congress ruled states, several top Congress leaders, dignitaries, and invitees were present at the swearing-in. Religious leaders from all major communities, incl