Page 180 - Congress

Modi govt treating farmers like 'enemies', says Congress chief Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday alleged that the Narendra Modi government was "anti-farmer" and treating farmers as "enemies" for demanding their rights. His remarks come a day after farmer leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal gave a call to farmers across the nation to reach Delhi on March 6 for a protest. They also gave a four-hour countrywide 'rail roko' call for March 10 in support of their various demands, including a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP) for crops and farm debt waiver. They have asserted that the farmers' ongoing agitation will be intensified at the existing protest points and will continue till their demands are met by the government. In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge alleged that in order to benefit its "select crony capitalist friends", the Modi government has consistently sacrificed the interests of farmers. "When the farmer who provides food to the country wants to produce a bumper crop and export it, then the Mo

Agniveer scheme against youths of country, says Rahul Gandhi in Bihar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre was neglecting 73 per cent of the country's population, which belongs to marginalised sections of the society. Addressing the 'Jan Vishwas Rally' organised by the RJD here, Gandhi, in an apparent reference to the BJP, alleged that "one party" was trying to create hatred among people but "we are offering 'nafrat ke bazaar mein mohabbat' (love in the market of hatred)". He alleged that injustice is being meted out to farmers, youths and downtrodden in the country. "The Centre is neglecting 73 per cent of the population that belongs to marginalised sections of the society," Gandhi said. Referring to the Agniveer recruitment scheme, the implementation of which saw protests in Bihar, the Congress leader asserted that the initiative was against the youths of the country. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking on the occasion, claimed that the INDIA bloc will win the maximum number of

Included 'nyay' word to yatra as injustice leading to hatred: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday emphasised the importance of "nyay" (justice) during his ongoing yatra, attributing the rise of hatred in the nation to prevailing injustices. Addressing a gathering in Mohana, located in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior district, he flagged economic disparity, social inequality, and the mistreatment of farmers and youth as key concerns. The BJP has been denying all such charges. Gandhi, on a brief stopover for his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', criticised the adverse effects of policies like the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, linking them to a surge in unemployment rates, which he claimed were the highest in 40 years. "The GST and note ban have fanned extreme unemployment," he claimed, adding "the unemployment rate now was the highest of the last 40 years". The Congress leader further claimed that India's youth unemployment rate was even higher than countries like Pakistan, attributing it to the impact of policies of the government which

AAP-Cong combine will win all 10 LS seats in Haryana: State AAP chief Gupta

The Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana chief Sushil Gupta on Sunday exuded confidence that the AAP-Congress combine will win all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state. People want change both at the Centre and in Haryana, he claimed. The AAP and the Congress are constituents of the INDIA bloc formed by opposition parties to take on the BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The two parties announced their seat-sharing arrangement for Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana a week ago. As part of the arrangement, the AAP has fielded Gupta from Kurukshetra while the Congress will contest the remaining nine seats in Haryana. "We will win all the 10 seats," Gupta said when asked how he sees the AAP's tie-up with the Congress. "Every worker of the two parties is working hard. Besides, we are getting full support from (Bhupinder Singh) Hooda ji, Randeep Singh Surjewala ji, Kiran Choudhary ji, Kumari Selja ji and the local leaders in Kurukshetra constituency." The BJP had won all the 10 seats in Haryana

Rahul's Bharat Jodo yatra to pause for day in MP due to Oppn rally in Patna

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday spoke to Agniveers and ex-servicemen in Gwalior city of Madhya Pradesh on the 50th day of his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', a party functionary said. The yatra will take a pause on Sunday as Gandhi will participate in the opposition INDIA bloc's rally in Bihar capital Patna later in the day, he said. Gandhi will leave for Patna to take part in the opposition's rally there, Congress state media cell chief KK Mishra said. The yatra will resume in MP on Monday, he said. Earlier, the yatra, a mass outreach programme led by Gandhi ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, entered MP in Morena district on Saturday afternoon. It will pass through Shivpuri, Guna, Rajgarh, Shajapur, Ujjain, Dhar and Ratlam districts of MP, as per the schedule. The east-to-west Manipur-Mumbai yatra is scheduled to traverse 6,700 kilometres through 15 states. It aims at highlighting the message of 'nyay' (justice) while meeting common people on the way.

Himachal crisis: Pressure tactics will not save govt, say independent MLAs

Pressure tactics such as targeting businesses of Independent MLAs and their families is a futile exercise and will not save the government, said two Independents who voted against Congress in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in Himachal Pradesh. Speaking to PTI on Sunday, K L Thakur, Independent MLA from Nalagarh, said, "It is unfortunate that the chief minister has stooped to such a level and this kind of politics has never been seen in Himachal Pradesh." "I have been a former BJP legislator and had been associated with the party for years. I voted as per my ideology," he said. The Independent MLAs -- K L Thakur (Nalagarh), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) annd Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), were among the nine MLAs who voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan in the Rajya Sabha election for the lone seat from the state on August 27. The MLAs voting for the Congress candidate Abhishek Manu Singhvi failed to make it past the half-way mark in 68-member House. The Independent MLAs in the state h

Had govt brought law on MSP, farmers wouldn't be protesting again: Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda has said that farmers would not have been on a warpath with the government again had it brought a fourth law, alongside the three contentious agro-marketing legislations that were eventually repealed in 2021, to make buying farm produce below their MSPs an offence. The three 2020 laws that the government had said were essential for farm sector reforms were repealed in November 2021 after a prolonged farmers' protest spearheaded by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha. The agitating farmers were also demanding a law to grantee a minimum price for crops, but the government did not agree to this. Now, thousands of farmers from Punjab are again on the streets -- this time led by SKM's splinter group Samyukt Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) (SKM-NP) and the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) -- demanding a legal guarantee for MSP for crops and farm-debt waiver. The have been camping out at the two border points -- Shambhu and Khanauri -- on Punjab-Haryana border for past .

Highlights of the day: 400 farmer unions to be at 'Mahapanchayat' in Delhi

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Congress will provide MSP to farmers 'legally', says Rahul Gandhi in MP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said his party will provide Minimum Support Price (MSP) to farmers legally if it came to power at the Centre. He was speaking at a public meeting in Morena after his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' entered Madhya Pradesh from Rajasthan. The BJP government at the Centre has waived loans of Rs 16 lakh crore of ten to fifteen industrialists but it is denying (legally guaranteed) MSP to farmers, he alleged. Farmer organisations in Punjab and Haryana are currently agitating for legally guaranteed MSP for crops. Gandhi also claimed that 73 percent people of the country including Other Backward Classes, Dalits and tribals do not have any representation in the government and various other sectors, and a caste-based census will ensure justice to them. Such a census will ensure equal participation of these communities in various sectors, the Congress leader said. Earlier in the afternoon, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari welcomed Gandhi and senior leader

Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' resumes from Dholpur district

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra resumed from Rajasthan's Dholpur district on Saturday afternoon. Gandhi, along with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan AICC in-charge Sukhjinder Randhawa and other leaders started the yatra in the presence of a large number of party workers. He was in an open jeep, greeting the party workers who were carrying the party flag. The yatra, which resumed after a break of five days, will enter Madhya Pradesh from Rajasthan and the night halt will be in Gwalior, a party spokesperson said here.

At least 9 more MLAs in touch with us, says disqualified HP Cong MLA Rana

Rajinder Rana, one of the six Himachal Pradesh Congress MLAs who cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha elections and was later disqualified from the assembly, on Saturday rubbished Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's claim that some rebel legislators want to return, asserting that at least nine party legislators were in touch with them. He also accused Sukhu of misleading people with his statements. "No one wants to return. On the other hand, at least nine more MLAs are in touch with us," Rana told PTI. On the other hand, Sukhu claimed that "80 per cent of the Congress is together" and the rest were dissatisfied over "trivial issues". He claimed that he held discussions with the six disqualified MLAs and the situation would "surely get better after the formation of the coordination committee". About the cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections for the lone seat in the state, Rana said, "We took this decision to uphold the honour of Himachal Pradesh and its people." "Did the Congress

Govt failed to realise 'Make in India' due to 'complete inaction': Kharge

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday targeted the Centre on 'Make in India' and alleged that the government has failed to realise the initiative due to "complete inaction" in creating jobs and utilising funds. He posed several questions on why the government did not create enough jobs and on the under-utilisation of funds in key sectors to promote manufacturing in the country. "The Modi government failed to realise 'Make in India'! The loud drumbeating on their interventions in the manufacturing sector has been drowned by complete inaction," he said in a post on X. Posing several questions, the Congress chief asked why the value added by manufacturing in India's GDP declined from 16 per cent to 13 per cent over the past decade. He also asked why the average manufacturing growth plunged under the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "It was 7.85 per cent during Congress-UPA which dropped to almost 6 per cent only," he said. Recalling that the Centre had promise

Cong leader Rahul Gandhi-led 'Nyay Yatra' to enter Madhya Pradesh today

The Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', after the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', aims to cover 6,700 km through 15 states, with Lok Sabha polls around the corner

Gadkari sends legal notice to Kharge, Ramesh for sharing 'misleading' news

Union minister Nitin Gadkari sent legal notices to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday for allegedly sharing misleading and defamatory news contents about him on X. Gadkari's lawyer, Balendu Shekhar, said his client was shocked to know about, hear and see the contents and posts from the official handle of the Congress on the microblogging platform. Kharge and Ramesh deliberately posted a 19-second video clip of Gadkari's interview given to "The Lallantop" web portal, concealing the contextual intent and meaning of his words, the lawyer said. The notice said a sinister act has been committed with the sole intent and ulterior motive to fan and create confusion, sensation and disrepute to Gadkari in the eyes of public. It said it was also a futile endeavour to create rifts in the solidarity of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is poised to win the trust of people in the upcoming general election under the leadership of Prime Ministe

Highlights: Bengaluru cafe blast case booked under UAPA, others by police

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BJP's poll body mulls over Lok Sabha candidates for nearly 16 states

The BJP's Central Election Committee (CEC) in its meeting for deciding Lok Sabha poll candidates has deliberated on the party's nominees for nearly 16 states amid indications that several heavyweights may figure in the first list. The CEC members, which included Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party's national president J P Nadda and Union ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, pored over the probables for states like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa and Uttarakhand among others to finalise the nominees. The CEC meeting, which began around 10:30 pm on Thursday and lasted for more than five hours, was held at the party's headquarters here. Before that, Shah and Nadda hat met Modi at his residence to hold consultations, sources said. They said the first list may have the names of Modi, Shah and Singh from their current seats Varanasi, Gandhinagar and Lucknow respectively besides several Union ministers, including some who will be ...

HP crisis could've been averted if issues of MLAs been addressed: Pratibha

A day after Congress' central observers asserted that there was no threat to the government in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief Pratibha Singh on Friday said the political crisis could have been averted had the grievances of MLAs addressed time. Congress' central observer D K Shivakumar on Thursday said Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has taken responsibility for Abhishek Manu Singhvi's defeat in the Rajya Sabha polls -- which had triggered the crisis for the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh. Pratibha Singh said there was acrimony towards Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu as 14 months after the Congress came to power in the state, leaders who worked hard to ensure the party's victory were not "accommodated" by him. "Fourteen months is a long period and I have been consistently urging the chief minister to accommodate leaders who worked hard for the victory of the party but nothing was done," she said. Had the issues of the disgruntled MLAs been

Double-engine govt guarantees 'jungle raj' in UP, says Rahul Gandhi

The truth of the double-engine government in Uttar Pradesh is that it is a "guarantee of jungle raj", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday while announcing a statewide protest by party workers against the law and order situation. "The law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh is the biggest example of how the BJP and Modi media together are indulging in the 'business of lies'," he alleged in a post in Hindi on X. Highlighting several recent cases of crimes against women, he said the bodies of minor sisters are found hanging from trees at some places. "Somewhere the audacity of gang rape by BJP members in IIT-BHU campus, and somewhere a woman judge was forced to commit suicide for not getting justice. "This is the condition of that state whose law and order system is being praised tirelessly," Gandhi said. He also mentioned the recent murder of a Dalit student returning after taking her Class 10 exams in Rampur. "It is time to come out of the false image created by Modi medi

Number of candidates contesting LS polls rose 4-fold between 1952 and 2019

The number of candidates contesting the Lok Sabha polls has seen a rise of over four times from 1,874 in 1952 to 8,039 in 2019, according to official data. The average number of candidates per constituency has jumped from 4.67 to 14.8 in the same period, the data showed. With the Lok Sabha polls nearing, the battleground is set but it is yet to be seen how many candidates are in the fray even as the proportion of candidates contesting has seen a rise since 1952 when the first elections were held. On an average, there used to be only around three to five contestants per Lok Sabha seat until the sixth Lok Sabha elections in 1977 but in the last elections 14.8 candidates on average contested from per constituency across the country. According to an analysis by non-profit organisation PRS Legislative Research, there were 8,039 candidates contesting from 542 Parliamentary constituency seats in the 2019 general assembly elections. A closer look at the last Lok Sabha polls in 2019 show t

Highlights: Himachal LoP criticises CM for inviting back disqualified MLAs

Himachal Pradesh news highlights: Catch all the latest updates on the disqualification of the Congress MLAs in Himachal assembly here