Page 172 - Congress

Caste census only way to ensure equal opportunity for all, says Congress

The Congress on Sunday asserted that a caste census is the only way to ensure equal opportunity for all in the country. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said caste has been a socio-economic reality of Indian society for centuries. "We cannot deny caste-based discrimination in India and the disadvantages imposed by caste at birth," he said in a post on X. "To make the distribution of economic growth more equitable, we need a survey of the ownership of assets and the representation of people in the institutions of our democracy," Ramesh said. Therefore, what is needed is a caste census combined with a survey of national assets and governance systems, which is updated from time to time, he asserted in the post on X. "This survey of caste groups, national assets, and representation in governance systems -- collectively called a comprehensive socio-economic caste census -- is the only solution to ensure an India with equal opportunity for all," the Congress leader said using the

Congress replaces candidate in Jaipur LS seat, fields Pratap Khachariyawas

The Congress on Sunday replaced its candidate for the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat, fielding former Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas after a section of party leaders objected to Sunil Sharma's nomination. Sharma's candidate sparked controversy over his alleged association with the 'Jaipur Dialogue', which is critical of the Congress on social media. Sharma, however, asserted that he has had no association with the organisation and has been invited by it occasionally to present the Congress' view. Sources said local opposition led to the change. Congress general secretary K C Venugopal stated that the party has fielded Murari Lal Meena as its candidate in the Dausa Lok Sabha constituency of Rajasthan. It also fielded Pratibha Suresh Dhanorkar from the Chandrapur Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra.

Direct contest between 'INDIA' and NDA in Varanasi: Cong UP chief Ajay Rai

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai, who has once again been named as the party candidate from Varanasi against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said on Sunday there will be a direct contest between the INDIA bloc and the NDA, and the issue of "local versus outsider" will also figure prominently in the Lok Sabha polls on the seat. "This time the Lok Sabha elections will be held directly between the INDIA block and the NDA. Due to this, the equations have changed and the electoral environment has also changed completely. The people are facing unemployment, inflation and corruption, and are fed up with the BJP's false claims of development. They have made up their mind to change (the winner) this time," Rai said while talking to PTI. In the past several elections, along with the BJP and the main opposition party, a third strong candidate also used to be fielded, which would divide the votes, Rai said. But this time, there is a direct contest between the INDIA bloc and the NDA, he

38 corporates donated Rs 2,004 cr to BJP via electoral bonds: Priyanka

She added for the first time in the country's history, a sitting government turned all the agencies at its disposal, as well as the entire system of the country into an 'extortion racket'

Bawankule accuses Sharad Pawar of spreading rumours, calls it unfortunate

Bharatiya Janata Party's Maharashtra chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Sunday said it was unfortunate that senior leaders like Sharad Pawar were part of the group spreading rumours that the BJP intended to change the Constitution. The country's Constitution is very strong and no one can change it, the BJP leader said, adding that people should not fall prey to the "false narratives" of leaders, including NCP (SP) head Pawar. In a social media post, Bawankule said, "Rumours are being spread about BJP's intentions to change the Constitution because of the various guarantees offered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It is unfortunate to see senior leaders like Sharad Pawar joining the herd." "No one can change the Constitution of the country. It is very strong. Sharad Pawar would definitely know the number of times the Congress party amended the Constitution," he said. Contrary to such record, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government always respected and honoured the Constitutio

Congress releases 4th list for LS polls; fields Ajay Rai against PM Modi

The Congress on Saturday released its fourth list of 45 candidates for the Lok Sabha election, fielding its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai from Varanasi to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party has left the Nagaur parliamentary constituency in Rajasthan for the Hanuman Beniwal-led Rashtriya Loktantrik Party. The Congress fielded its veteran leader Digvijaya Singh from Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh and newly-inducted leader Lal Singh from Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur. In Tamil Nadu, the party has fielded Karti Chidambaram from Sivaganga, Manickam Tagore from Virudhnagar and S Jothimani from Karur. For Uttar Pradesh, where the party is in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and is contesting on 17 seats, the Congress announced candidates for nine seats. These include Rai from Varanasi, Danish Ali from Amroha, Imran Masood from Saharanpur and Alok Mishra from Kanpur. With this, the Congress has now declared a total of 183 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.

Rajinder Rana hints at more Congress MLAs joining BJP in Himachal Pradesh

More legislators are feeling suffocated in the Congress and would also show courage to leave the party in the coming days, said Rajinder Rana, one of the six disqualified MLAs who switched to the BJP on Saturday. The Congress rebels and three independent MLAs, who had voted in favour of the BJP in recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls, were given a rousing welcome by the BJP on their arrival here after joining the party in New Delhi. "More legislators are feeling suffocated in Congress and are in contact with us. They would also show courage to leave Congress in the coming days," Rana told reporters here. He blamed the Congress leadership for the "political disaster" in the hill state and claimed the state government 'is on a ventilator". The BJP workers and supporters of these leaders danced to the traditional folk tunes while welcoming them here on Saturday night. The three independents are Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur constituency), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh) ha

Opaque electoral bond scheme ensured bribes through banks, says Congress

Stepping up its attack on the BJP-led government over the electoral bonds issue, the Congress on Saturday said the "opaque scheme" ensured that prepaid, postpaid and even post-raid bribes could be routed through the banking channel. The opposition party also reiterated its demand that there should be a Supreme Court-monitored inquiry into the issue. At a press conference, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that this is the prime minister who gave a guarantee of 'bringing back black money' and instead "legalized corruption and is then desperately trying to hide it". The opposition party also released a "python code" due to which, it claimed, it took less than 15 seconds to match the donors with political parties, "exposing the brazen and ridiculous claim of the SBI that it would take months to provide the data asked by the Supreme Court". The Congress has highlighted four patterns of "blatant corruption" in the electoral bonds scam -? "Chanda Do, Dhanda Lo i.e. Prepaid

Highlights: 2004 poll results will repeat itself, says Jairam Ramesh

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Electoral bonds data: Metal, mining giants focus on home ground Odisha

For Vedanta, All India Congress emerged as the second most donated party at Rs 125 crore, followed by BJD at Rs 40 crore

History of 2004 will repeat itself: Cong leader Jairam Ramesh on LS polls

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday rejected the BJP's claims that the 2024 poll results are a foregone conclusion, saying "tiger mein abhi bahut jaan hai" and the opposition bloc will repeat the history of 2004 when the saffron party was unseated from power despite its 'shining India' campaign. The Congress general secretary in-charge communications also said his party is going into the Lok Sabha polls with its "five nyays" and "25 guarantees", and has full confidence that the opposition INDIA bloc will get a clear mandate. In an interaction at the PTI office here, Ramesh also said the Congress' guarantee is not of one person but of the party and its "ghoshna patra (manifesto)" will be called the "nyay patra" which will focus on Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Shramik Nyay, Kisaan Nyay and Hissedari Nyay and the 25 guarantees under these. Asked if the polls will be about "Modi ki Guarantee" versus the Congress' "nyay" guarantees, he said, "Our guarantee is not of one person. We ar

PM 'rattled' by INDIA bloc, says Congress on Arvind Kejriwal's arrest

The Congress on Thursday claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest shows that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "rattled" by the strength of the INDIA bloc and asserted that this would strengthen the alliance further in the Lok Sabha polls. Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case on Thursday. Reacting to the developments since last night, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "This is vendetta politics, it has become very clear that the prime minister (Narendra Modi) and the home minister (Amit Shah) are rattled by the INDIA bloc which is a very strong alliance. This is not an alliance of seats it is a janbandhan (people's alliance)." "It has become very clear from this step that we are going to get the mandate in this election," Ramesh told PTI. He asserted that the unity among INDIA bloc parties would increase going forward. "Only .

Defamation case against Rahul Gandhi: UP court schedules hearing on April 2

A special court here on Friday postponed the hearing on a defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to April 2 due a strike by lawyers. The defamation complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra for his alleged objectionable remarks against Home Minister Amit Shah. The plaintiff's advocate, Santosh Pandey, said the hearing in the case was scheduled for Friday, but it was deferred to April 2 as lawyers abstained from court proceedings due to a strike over their various demands. The case was filed in August 2018. Last December, the court issued a warrant against Gandhi. Subsequently, Gandhi halted his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Amethi on February 20 last and reached the court and was granted bail.

Electoral bonds data: Here's a list of the biggest donors and beneficiaries

Lottery firm Future Gaming and Megha Infrastructure were the biggest purchasers of the electoral bonds scheme, while BJP and TMC were the largest beneficiaries

INDIA bloc to raise objection against 'targeting' of Oppn leaders with EC

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee condemned the arrest of Delhi CM Kejriwal; said INDIA bloc will meet with the Election Commission to object against the 'deliberate targeting' of Opposition leaders

BJP scared of Oppn, acting out of panic: Cong on Kejriwal's arrest

Soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the ED on Thursday, the Congress alleged that the BJP is scared of the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and creating all kinds of problems for the opposition out of panic. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the "arrogant" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making false claims of an electoral victory every day and trying to weaken the opposition by indulging in "illegal means" ahead of the polls. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that a "scared dictator" wants to create a dead democracy and the INDIA bloc will give a befitting reply to such designs. "A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. "While capturing all the institutions, including the media, breaking up parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the accounts of the main opposition party were not enough for the 'devilish power', now the arrest of elected chief ministers has also become a .

Lok Sabha elections 2024: Congress announces new list of candidates

The Congress on Thursday announced five more candidates from Rajasthan, including AICC secretary Kuldeep Indora from Ganganagar and former minister Pramod Jain Bhaya's wife Urmila Jain from Jhalwar-Baran seat, for the Lok Sabha elections. The party has left the Sikar parliamentary seat for the Communist Party of India (Marxist). All five Congress candidates are fresh faces and will be contesting the Lok Sabha elections for the first time. Apart from Indora and Urmila Jain, the other candidates include Congress leader and chairman of a private university Sunil Sharma from Jaipur city, Sangeeta Beniwal from Pali and Umeda Ram Beniwal from Barmer. Umeda Ram Beniwal had earlier contested the assembly election on a Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) ticket and had recently joined the Congress. Sangeeta Beniwal was the chairperson of the Rajasthan State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The party on March 12 announced the names of 10 candidates from Rajasthan while the BJP has ..

Highlights of the day: Delhi CM Kejriwal arrested in excise policy case

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Systematic effort underway by PM to cripple Cong financially: Sonia Gandhi

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rejected the allegations and criticised the Congress leadership for its 'irresponsible and shameful comments'

Congress to finalise Himachal LS list soon, options open for rebels: Kimta

The Congress leader further said, "We have implemented the Old Pension Scheme and provided an honorarium of 1500 rupees to the women