Page 298 - Congress

Will perform magic tricks to earn money, but won't let people down: Gehlot

Terming himself as 'Pratham Sewak' of the people of Jodhpur, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said if the need arises he would earn money by performing magic tricks, but would not let the people of this Rajasthan district down. The 72-year-old Congress leader was born into a family of professional magicians in Jodhpur. He made the statement while addressing the people during the inauguration of a newly built road 'Rao Jodha Marg' for the convenience of the tourists visiting the 15th-century Mehrangarh Fort. While citing his role in the development of Jodhpur, Gehlot said he had become the MP for the first time 42 years back. "What was Jodhpur then? No water, no train. But today, it has water, electricity, trains, roads, education and health infrastructure. I left nothing to be desired in these years," he said. He said if somebody does a research on Jodhpur, they would learn about its development and see what Jodhpur was and what has it become now. He also wished for United .

Teachings of Sant Kabir relevant even in modern times: Bhupinder Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said the teachings of Sant Kabir are relevant even in modern times and called the mystic poet and saint an epitome of human virtue. The former Haryana chief minister in Rohtak at an event extended greetings to the people on the occasion of Sant Kabir Jayanti, and called the a social reformer, a thinker, critic, writer, guide, philosopher, poet, scholar, visionary, and an ideological movement in himself. "Sant Kabir is our guide. Hindus and Muslims alike considered him as their own. His couplets are still remembered by all of us," he said and quoted some of his famous 'dohas.' According to a statement, Hooda, who is the Leader of Opposition in Haryana Assembly, said the teachings of Sant Kabir are also more relevant in today's era when some people are trying to create divisions on the basis of caste and religion for their political gains. "We believe that every political party should take inspiration from the thoughts of Kabir Das ji

Odisha rail tragedy: Cong demands Railway Minister Vaishnaw's resignation

The Congress on Sunday demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the Odisha rail tragedy and attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying he should accept part of the responsibility for creating an all is well facade even as the critical infrastructure of the Indian Railway "languishes in neglect". The Opposition party asked whether the prime minister will take responsibility for the "deadliest rail tragedy" of this century. It also asked who is responsible for ignoring the warnings and suggestions of experts, the parliamentary committee and CAG report. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that Modi was busy flagging off trains while not paying attention to railway safety. He called for fixing accountability of all posts from top to bottom to prevent such incidents in future. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil and AICC's publicity and media department head Pawan Khera alleged that the Odisha ra

Accountability needs to be fixed from top to bottom: Kharge slams PM

In the wake of the Odisha rail tragedy, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was busy flagging off trains while not paying attention to railway safety. He called for fixing accountability of all posts from top to bottom to prevent such incidents in future. In a series of tweets, Kharge posed questions to the Modi government and alleged that "PR gimmicks" have made the working system of the dispensation "hollow". Noting that three lakh posts are vacant in Railways, he said posts at high levels whose recruitment is through the Prime Minister's Office are also lying vacant. He asked why these posts were not filled in the last nine years. The Railway Board itself has recently admitted that long working hours of loco pilots due to acute shortage of manpower is the main reason for the increasing number of accidents, the Congress president said and asked why the posts were not filled up. Kharge claimed that the Principal Chief Operatin

Priyanka Gandhi demands resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Congress leader Pawan Khera and Shaktisinh Gohil cited several internal reports of the Railways, CAG audit report to highlight the lapses

Train crash: Modi govt's incompetence, only high decibel PR, says Congress

Congress demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and said the Odisha train tragedy was "man-made" devastation caused by "utter negligence

Maha Cong takes stock of 41 LS seats, to review constituencies separately

The Maharashtra Congress has taken stock of 41 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state while the review of six constituencies in Mumbai and Chandrapur seat will be done separately, state party president Nana Patole has said. The allocation of seats will be discussed in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) meeting, Patole said on Saturday. Maharashtra sends 48 members to the Lok Sabha. Speaking to reporters on the last day of the two-day review meeting of the Congress, Patole said his party is prepared to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha polls with enthusiasm and the resolve to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party. 'The review of 41 Lok Sabha constituencies (out of the total 48) is complete. The review of Chandrapur and six constituencies in Mumbai will be conducted separately. The discussion has been positive. Congress workers want the party to contest the maximum number of constituencies," he said. The tripartite MVA comprises the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP

LIVE: Odisha train mishap toll 288; 'stringent action for guilty', says PM

Catch live updates from across the globe here

Probe financial dealings of Solar scam judicial commission judge: Cong

The Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Saturday demanded a probe into the financial dealings of the Solar scam judicial commission judge (rtd) G.Sivarajan

Many questions to ask of PM, rail minister post Odisha train mishap: Cong

The Congress on Saturday said the "horrendous" train accident in Odisha reinforces why safety should always be the foremost priority and asserted that there are many questions to ask of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw but those can wait as the immediate task is of rescue and relief. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has deputed the party's leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and AICC Odisha in-charge A Chella Kumar to immediately visit the accident site to take stock of the situation and oversee the relief efforts being undertaken by its workers and frontal organisations, AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said. In a statement, Kharge said, "At this moment of grave national tragedy on account of the terrible train disaster in Odisha, I have instructed the entire Congress party organisation to extend all possible help." A number of Congress leaders from different states have either already reached or will soon reach ...

Now its Centre's turn to create 2 cr jobs as promised: Shivakumar

On criticism by Oppn parties, especially BJP, on the guarantee schemes, Shivakumar said that instead of criticism, let the PM bring black money from abroad and deposit Rs 15 lakh to individual banks

Doctor prescribing cure worse than disease: Chidambaram on sedition law

With the law commission backing the sedition law, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said the panel's recommendation is a case of the "doctor prescribing a cure that is worse than the disease". The former home minister said a draconian law in the statute book is an invitation to the rulers to misuse it and this hypothesis has been proved many times over. Chidambaram's assertion comes after the law commission backed the penal provision for the offence of sedition, saying repealing it altogether can have serious adverse ramifications for the country's security and integrity. The commission has recommended enhancing the jail term in sedition cases from a minimum of three years to seven years, contending that it would allow the courts greater room to award punishment in accordance with the scale and gravity of the act committed. In a tweet, Chidambaram said the recommendation of the Law Commission that examined the validity and relevance of section 124A (sedition) of the

Odisha tragedy: Safety should always be priority in rail network, says Cong

The Congress on Saturday said the "horrendous" train accident in Odisha reinforces why safety should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network and asserted that there are many legitimate questions that need to be raised. At least 238 people were killed and more than 900 injured in the train crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express and a goods train in Odisha's Balasore district on Friday. It is one of the deadliest train crashes in the history of the Indian Railways. Jairam Ramesh, the Congress general secretary said in a tweet that the train accident in Odisha is truly horrendous and is a matter of the greatest anguish. "It reinforces why SAFETY should always be the foremost priority in the functioning of the rail network. There are many legitimate questions that need to be raised but that should wait till tomorrow," Ramesh tweeted. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party ch

Rahul Gandhi confident of Oppn uniting for 'alternative vision' for India

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday told members of the Indian American community here that India is currently experiencing a "fight" between two different ideologies and exuded confidence that all opposition parties are joining hands for an "alternative vision" of the country to that of the ruling BJP. Making his last public appearance during his two-day visit to the US Capitol, Gandhi said that when he meets the non-Congress opposition parties, he has always emphasised that it is very important that they fight unitedly. Lots of media people like to sort of make BJP larger than life, RSS larger than life. Please look at the Himachal (Pradesh) election. Please look at the Karnataka election. We are going to have elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan,... see those elections and you will see that the Congress Party is more than capable of defeating the BJP, a confident-looking Gandhi told members of the Indian American community at a reception hosted in his honour

Cong, BJP engage in heated war of words over Rahul's Muslim League remark

Rahul, when asked about Congress's alliance with Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala, said that Muslim League is a completely secular party, there is nothing non-secular about it

Why protecting WFI chief despite knowledge of misconduct: Cong, TMC ask PM

The remarks from the Congress and Trinamool Congress leaders came after the details of the two FIRs, which included the details of alleged sexual harassment by Singh of the female wrestlers, emerged

Govt trying to shield WFI chief, women wrestlers must get justice: Cong MLA

Congress MLA Krishna Poonia on Friday accused the government of shielding WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and said if the women wrestlers who have accused him of sexual harassment are not heard, no other woman in the country will be able to raise her voice in future. In a video message, the Rajasthan Sports Council president and former athlete also urged the Centre to not ignore the complaints of the women wrestlers who have brought glory to the country. Top wrestlers of the country, including Asian Games gold medallist Vinesh Phogat and Olympic medallists Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, have been protesting against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and demanding his arrest for allegedly sexually harassing seven female grapplers, including a minor. They began a sit-in at Jantar Mantar on April 23 but were removed from the site by the Delhi Police on May 28 after they tried to march to the new Parliament building when it was being inaugurated. In her video message, .

Cong failed on poll guarantees, difference in post-poll statements: Bommai

Alleging that Congress has defaulted on its poll guarantees, senior BJP leader Basavaraj Bommai on Friday said the ruling party should not push the state into financial hardship to implement its guarantee scheme. Pointing to the conditions attached to avail the guarantee schemes, the former Chief Minister said there is a big difference between the pre-election and the post-election statements of the party. He was speaking to reporters on the Cabinet's decision regarding implementing the guarantees such as 200 units of free power to all households (Gruha Jyoti), Rs 2,000 monthly assistance to the woman head of every family (Gruha Lakshmi), and 10 kg rice free to every member of a BPL household (Anna Bhagya). Referring to the Congress' promise of providing 200 units free electricity for everyone, Bommai said there is a difference in what the CM announced today. "Calculating average consumption is a hidden agenda," he alleged. Under this scheme, the government will take into account t

Govt wants to make sedition law 'draconian', will use it against Oppn: Cong

With the law commission backing the sedition law, the Congress on Friday accused the BJP government of planning to make it more "draconian" and giving a message ahead of the general elections that it will be used against opposition leaders. Alleging that the BJP uses the sedition law as a tool of "subversing, subjugating, and silencing dissent", the opposition party also asked why the government has not yet had the courage to do away with the law despite the apex court rendering it inoperative and making strong observations in that regard. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, "A message of colonial mindset has been given that there will be a distance between the ruler and the ruled and through this law, the foundations of the republic will be uprooted. A message has been given ahead of the general election that we will use this in a one-sided manner particularly against opposition leaders." The Congress' attack com

Rahul's statement on Muslim League based on his experience, says party

The Indian Union Muslim League (M) on Friday welcomed Rahul Gandhi's statement that the Kerala-based party is completely secular, saying the Congress leader's assertion came from his party's experience. IUML general secretary P K Kunhalikutty claimed that the state leadership of the BJP has admitted the role of the Muslim League in guiding Muslims on the right path when many tried to mislead the minority community post-demolition of the Babri Masjid three decades ago. "Rahul Gandhi's statement that the Muslim League is a secular party is based on his party's experience. We look at it with great responsibility. The Muslim League's close relationship with Congress dates back to the days of Indira Gandhi," the senior IUML leader said in a Facebook post. IUML, a strong constituent of the Congress-led UDF in Kerala for many decades, had extensively campaigned for Gandhi's victory from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The BJP on Friday criticised Gandhi for his stateme