Page 32 - Congress

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Congress says MGNREGA underfunded for 11 years, demands ₹400 daily wage

The Congress on Friday alleged that MGNREGA has been "chronically underfunded" by the Modi government, making a "mockery" of the scheme's demand-driven vision, and reiterated its demand of significant budget enhancement and a minimum wage of Rs 400 per day to kickstart real income growth. Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh asserted that Friday marked the twentieth anniversary of MGNREGA formally becoming a law. "On a day when we should recall the many achievements of the world's largest social welfare scheme, we must instead grapple with the scheme's very uncertain future under this government," Ramesh said on X. The finance ministry's regulations prohibit government schemes from spending more than 60 per cent of the budgeted expenditure in the first half of the financial year, he said. "The ministry has blown through 60 per cent of its budget within five months itself, leaving a question mark on what the future holds for crores of India's rural ..

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NDA enforces 5-hr bandh in Bihar to protest hurling of abuse at PM's mother

Women workers of the NDA constituents in Bihar on Thursday enforced a five-hour state-wide bandh to protest the alleged hurling of abuse at the mother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Congress' recently concluded 'Voter Adhikar Yatra'. The members of women cells of BJP, JD(U) and other alliance partners enforced the bandh, which began at 7 am, and staged protests in Patna and other areas. At Patna's Income Tax roundabout, the protesters raised slogans and displayed placards, slamming the Congress and RJD over the incident. Senior BJP leaders, state ministers, party MPs, MLAs and workers will also stage a sit-in outside the state unit office later in the day. Bihar BJP president Dilip Jaiswal, MPs Ravi Shankar Prasad and Dharmshila Gupta, state minister Nitin Nabin and other senior leaders will participate in the dharna, a statement issued by state BJP said. Speaking to PTI, Patna (Central) Superintendent of Police Diksha said, "Adequate forces have been deployed at all .

Cong terms GST overhaul 'GST 1.5'; says wait for 'true GST 2.0' continues

With the GST Council approving a complete overhaul of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, the Congress on Thursday termed it a "GST 1.5" and said time alone will tell whether it would stimulate private investment as well as ease the burden on MSMEs. The opposition party asserted that the wait for a "true GST 2.0" continues. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that a key demand of the states made in the true spirit of cooperative federalism '? namely, the extension of compensation for another five years to fully protect their revenues'? remains unaddressed. In fact, that demand assumes even greater importance now, he said. The Indian National Congress has for long been advocating for a GST 2.0 that reduces the number of rates, cuts the rates on a large number of items of mass consumption, minimises evasion, mis-classification, and disputes, does away with inverted duty structure '? lower tax on output as compared to inputs '? eases the complia

Chidambaram welcomes new GST reforms but says move is '8 years too late'

In a post on X late Wednesday, the former Union finance minister said the current GST design and rates should not have been introduced in the first place

Online betting sites operated by K'taka Cong MLA gathered ₹2,000 cr: ED

The Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday alleged that online betting sites "operated" by arrested Karnataka Congress MLA K C Veerendra collected funds worth more than Rs 2,000 crore in a short span of time. It also claimed that Veerendra, the "prime accused" in a case linked to alleged cheating of public through illegal online betting, and his associates in Dubai were operating several gaming websites by using various gateways and fintech service providers for layering of funds and for masking their "illicit" activities as genuine e-commerce businesses. The federal probe agency had arrested the 50-year-old Chitradurga MLA late last month from Sikkim where he had gone on a business trip to lease a casino. He is currently in ED custody. The agency took Veerendra into custody after conducting searches against him, his linked persons, family members and some others in the case. The ED said in a statement that it conducted fresh searches in the case on Tuesday at Bengaluru and Challaker

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Rahul urges PM to announce special relief package for flood-affected states

In the wake of devastation due to floods, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately announce a special relief package for Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, as well as accelerate relief and rescue operations. The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said, "Modiji, floods have caused massive destruction in Punjab. The situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is also extremely worrying." "In such difficult times, your attention and the active help of the central government is extremely necessary. Thousands of families are struggling to save their homes, lives and loved ones," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. "I urge that a special relief package be announced immediately for these states, especially for farmers - and relief and rescue operations be accelerated," the former Congress chief said. He also issued a video statement reiterating his demand of a special package for the ...

PM Modi says he is 'deeply hurt' by abuses hurled at his late mother

Calling the remarks during Congress' Bihar yatra an insult to women and "Mother India," Modi said he may forgive RJD and Congress, but the people of Bihar never will

'Capitulating before so-called dragon': Cong slams govt after Modi-Xi talks

The Congress on Monday attacked the Centre after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and accused it of "cowardly kowtowing" and capitulation to the "so-called dragon." The party also termed as "anti-national" Prime Minister Modi's silence on Pakistan-China "jugalbandi" during Operation Sindoor. Congress general secretary in-charge, communications, Jairam Ramesh, said that for a long time, India has been accusing China of its "double standards" and "double-speak" on terrorism. "Now, Prime Minister Modi tells President Xi that India and China are both victims of terrorism. If this is not the so-called elephant capitulating before the so-called dragon, then what is it?" he said on X. "Even more anti-national is the fact that Prime Minister Modi remained completely silent in his conversation with President Xi about China's jugalbandi with Pakistan during Operation Sindoor something revealed by top Indian Army officials themselves," Ramesh said. "The

Bihar polls: 8.9 million SIR complaints rejected by EC, says Congress

Senior Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday claimed that a staggering 89 lakh complaints of irregularities were flagged by the party's Booth Level Agents (BLAs) in Bihar during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, but all were rejected by the Election Commission. Alleging that the irregularities cast a doubt on the intention of the EC, Khera demanded that the entire exercise be conducted again. The EC keeps getting news planted through its sources that no complaints are coming from any political party. The truth is that the Congress submitted 89 lakh complaints pertaining to irregularities in the SIR to the EC, chairman of the media and publicity department of the Congress said in a press conference. When our BLAs went to file complaints, their complaints were turned down by the EC. The EC categorically told our BLAs that complaints could be accepted by individuals only, not by political parties, Khera claimed.

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Sachin Pilot slams indecent language against PM, says Congress not involved

Meanwhile, the man accused of hurling abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother during a political rally in Bihar was arrested

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Names of 6.5 mn poor deleted from Bihar's electoral rolls: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday claimed that the names of 65 lakh people, who are poor and belong to socially weaker sections, have been deleted from the electoral rolls of Bihar. Addressing a rally in Sitamarhi as part of the 'Voter Adhikar Yatra', Gandhi said the people of Bihar would not allow the BJP and Election Commission to "rob" them of their right to vote. "We have exposed the BJP and the EC, who were indulging in stealing votes... They did it in Maharashtra, Haryana and Karnataka. Now they want to repeat it in Bihar, which we will not allow them to do," he said. Gandhi claimed he would provide more evidence of what he termed "vote chori" in the coming months. Ahead of the rally, he visited the famed Janaki Temple in the area and offered prayers. Bihar will go to the polls later this year.

FIR registered against MLA Rahul Mamkootathil for stalking women

A case was registered against Palakkad MLA Rahul Mamkootathil on Wednesday by the Kerala police for various offences, including stalking and harassing women on social media. The development came hours after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram that all possible legal steps would be taken in connection with the allegations against Mamkootathil. The Crime Branch wing of the police registered the case and launched an investigation on the instructions of state DGP Ravada A Chandrasekhar, a statement issued by the State Police Media Centre said. The case was registered after it was found that complaints received by the DGP included commission of cognizable offences, it said. The FIR was registered under sections 78(2) (stalking) and 351 (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 120 (o) (causing, through any means of communication, a nuisance of himself to any person by repeated or undesirable or anonymous call, letter,

PM Modi's MEGA has become 'MAHA headache' for India: Cong on US tariffs

Taking a swipe at the government after the additional tariffs imposed by the US on India came into effect on Wednesday, the Congress said Prime Minister Narendra Modi used his supposedly winning formula of MAGA+MIGA=MEGA earlier this year but this Modi-made MEGA has now become a MAHA headache for India. Congress general secretary in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the "Trump double tariff" has come into effect, which will undoubtedly hit India's labour-intensive exports to the US -- especially textiles, gems and jewellery, leather, marine products, and engineering. "Over the last twenty four hours, the US commerce secretary has also spoken out against the H1B visa system of which the biggest beneficiaries have been Indian IT professionals," Ramesh said on X. "This has been one of the key demands of the MAGA base of President (Donald) Trump, the same MAGA which Prime Minister Modi in February this year used in his supposedly winning formula MAGA+ MIGA= MEGA. This Modi-made

Congress suspends MLA Rahul Mamkootathil over sexual misconduct allegations

Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Tuesday said MLA Rahul Mamkootathil was suspended from the primary membership of the party after it was satisfied that the information gathered about his "misconduct" towards women was correct. He also said that if Mamkootathil is innocent, he should prove it. A day after Mamkootathil, facing multiple sexual misconduct allegations, was suspended from the primary membership of the party on Monday, Chennithala said the Congress will not tolerate activities that hurt the dignity of women. "I don't know whether these allegations are correct or not, but the gathered information said this is correct. That is why we all advocated for strong action," Chennithala, who is abroad, told PTI in a telephonic interview. Describing the party's decision against Mamkootathil as "bold and idealistic", which will help uphold the dignity and rights of women, the senior leader said there was consensus among the party leaders on the necessity of stringent acti

Congress questions govt on nuclear energy reforms, private sector entry

The Congress on Tuesday questioned the government over its promise of amending two existing acts to allow private companies to establish and run nuclear power plants, and asked whether the bills will be introduced in Parliament's Winter session. The opposition party also asked the government -- what about a Bill to establish an independent regulatory body that is not part of the atomic energy establishment. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that when Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the 2025-26 Budget, grand promises were made to give a boost to nuclear energy by amending the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010, and the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, to allow private companies to establish and run nuclear power plants. However, somewhat surprisingly, neither of these two Bills were even introduced in the recently-concluded session of Parliament, he said. "Will the Bills be introduced in the Winter session three months hence? ...