Page 387 - Congress

Cong warns Gehlot loyalists over public comments on 'internal matters'

The Congress on Thursday warned of strict disciplinary action against its leaders in Rajasthan for making public statements on the party's internal matters and against other functionaries. In an advisory, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal said all Congress leaders at any level should refrain from making public statements against other leaders or about the party's internal matters. The advisory follows an open rebellion in Rajasthan with MLAs supporting Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot defying the central observers' attempts to hold a legislature party meeting for passing a resolution authorising Sonia Gandhi to decide on the next chief minister. "We are noticing statements of Congress leaders in Rajasthan regarding the party's internal matters and against other leaders," Venugopal said. He further said that strict disciplinary action will be initiated if any violation of this advisory is made.

Congress leader says Sonia will decide on Rajasthan CM 'in a day or two'

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will decide on the Rajasthan chief minister's post within a day or two, party general secretary KC Venugopal said on Thursday. Venugopal made the statement outside Gandhi's 10, Janpath residence here after a series of meetings to resolve the Rajasthan crisis. He also said it will be clear by tomorrow, the last day of filing nominations for the top post, who all will contest. The comments came soon after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls as he took moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state, and said the decision on whether he would remain CM would be taken by the party chief. After meeting the party president, Gehlot told reporters that he apologised to Gandhi for the developments on Sunday when MLAs supporting him defied the central observers and thwarted the move to hold a meeting of party legislators. Instead, they held a parallel meeting to pitch for Gehlot's

LIVE: PM Modi to inaugurate 36th National Games in Ahmedabad

PM will declare open the 36th National Games at a gala ceremony in the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera area

Friendly contest, not battle between rivals: Tharoor on meeting Digvijaya

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who is likely to file his nomination for the Congress president's post on Friday, met Shashi Tharoor, who said they agreed that theirs is "not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest" among colleagues. Singh met the party MP from Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday after collecting nomination papers for the polls. "Received a visit from Digvijaya Singh this afternoon. I welcome his candidacy for the Presidency of our Party," Tharoor said in a tweet. "We both agreed that ours is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest among colleagues. All we both want is that whoever prevails, @incIndia will win!" he said. Tharoor has already declared that he will file his nomination for the post of Congress president on Friday, the last day of the nomination process. Polling for the post will take place on October 17 while the result will be announced on October 19.

Won't contest election for Congress president: Gehlot after meeting Sonia

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls as he took moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state. After meeting party president Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot told reporters that he apologised to her for the developments on Sunday when MLAs supporting him defied the central observers and thwarted their move to hold a meeting of party legislators. Instead, they held a parallel meet to pitch for Gehlot's continuation or the guarantee that his bete noire Sachin Pilot does not replace him. Gehlot, a three-time state chief minister, described himself as a disciplined soldier of the party and expressed his sadness over the turn of affairs in the state. Asked if he will continue as chief minister, Gehlot said Gandhi will decide on the issue.

Top headlines:Deadline for 6 airbags extended; Gehlot out of Cong Prez race

The government said on Thursday it is deferring until October 2023 the implementation of norms mandating six airbags in all cars, giving the industry a one-year extension

Over 10 MP Cong MLAs to propose Digvijaya Singh's candidature in Delhi

More than 10 Congress legislators from Madhya Pradesh will reach Delhi to be the proposers for veteran leader Digvijaya Singh when he files his nomination for the Congress president's election, a party leader said on Thursday. Singh, who arrived in Delhi late Wednesday night leaving the Bharat Jodo Yatra midway, collected the nomination papers on Thursday for the party president's election. He is likely to file his nomination on Friday. Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Dr Govind Singh is among the MLAs who will go to the national capital. Asked if he will go to Delhi along with 10 other MLAs to be the proposer for Digvijaya Singh's candidature as the party president, Govind Singh said Not just 10, more legislators will be going." I will go via Gwalior as there is a programme in that city, he said. Digvijaya Singh told reporters at the AICC headquarters in Delhi that he has taken the nomination papers and will most probably file his nominations on Friday. Asked

Internal politics goes on, will resolve it: CM Gehlot on Rajasthan crisis

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot sought to play down the political crisis in the state for which three of his loyalists have been issued show cause notice by the party's central leadership

Digvijaya Singh likely to file nomination for Congress prez elections today

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday night left Kerala for Delhi and is likely to file his nomination for the election to the party president's post on Thursday, sources said. AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was also in the same flight from Kerala to Delhi. Singh and Venugopal were participating in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra which was currently in Kerala. Singh will hold a meeting of his supporters at night and is likely to file his nomination papers on Thursday, the sources added. Nominations for the Congress president's election can be filed till September 30. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister is the latest entrant in the fray for the party chief's election, even as the fate of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot contesting the party chief's election is uncertain.

Cong prez polls: Digvijaya Singh may enter the fray; Sonia meets Antony

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is likely to run for the party president's post even as the old grand party scrambles to find a candidate with barely two days left for the nomination process to end and its president Sonia Gandhi holding consultations with party veterans. The Congress President held a meeting with senior leader and loyalist A K Antony for more than an hour on Wednesday and is understood to have discussed the probable candidates for the Congress president. The meeting with Antony came days after an open rebellion by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot loyalists over a possible leadership change in the state, clouding Gehlot's chances of running for the presidency. The Congress presidential polls, in which a non-Gandhi is expected to be elected after more than two decades, have been marred by the Rajasthan crisis. Gehlot is also likely to meet Gandhi on Thursday amid uncertainty over the filing of his nomination. According to sources close to Singh, the forme

Congress president election: Senior leader Digvijaya Singh enters race

Singh, currently part of Bharat Jodo Yatra, had a week back said he was not ruling himself out of the party chief's post but later publicly stated that he was not interested

Gehlot may meet Sonia on Thursday to resolve Rajasthan crisis: Report

Gehlot was supposed to leave Jaipur for Delhi on Wednesday evening but his plan was postponed and now, there are possibilities of him leaving later

Rajasthan political crisis: Rahul's aide says matter to be resolved soon

Amid the ongoing political turmoil in Rajasthan over the appointment of Ashok Gehlot's successor, KC Venugopal said that everything will be clear in a day or two about who will be the next CM

Congress against communal ideologies, institutions: Jairam Ramesh

The Congress on Wednesday said it is against all ideologies and institutions that abuse religion to polarise the society and misuse it to spread hate, bigotry and violence. All India Congress Committee general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said his party is against all forms of communalism. His statement came a day after the Central government banned the Popular Front of India (PFI) and several of its associates for their alleged terror activities. Ramesh said, "The Congress has always been and will continue to be against all forms and types of communalism majority or minority makes no difference." "The Congress' policy has always been to uncompromisingly fight all ideologies and institutions that abuse religion to polarise our society, that misuse religion to spread prejudice, hate, bigotry and violence," he said in a statement. Ramesh said this fight is of utmost priority to preserve, protect and celebrate the secular and composite construct of the society and ...

Ankita murder case: Rahul accuses BJP, RSS of viewing women as objects

The recent murder of a 19-year old receptionist in Uttarakhand allegedly by a BJP leader's son, an issue which led to protests in the northern state, was raised on Tuesday by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his Bharat Jodo Yatra speech in which he said the incident indicates the BJP and RSS ideology of viewing women as "objects". Referring to the murder of the young woman -- Ankita Bhandari -- the Congress leader alleged, "A BJP leader who owned a hotel, his son, who ran the hotel, was forcing a young girl to become a prostitute. When she refused to become a prostitute, she was found dead in a lake." "That is the way BJP treats women of India," Gandhi, also the MP from Wayanad, alleged. "It is the most disgusting, the most shameful example of how the BJP and RSS treat women in this country. The ideology of BJP and RSS views women as objects and second class citizens. India can never succeed with this ideology. A country which cannot learn to respect its women or empower them, can ..

Rajasthan crisis: Three Ashok Gehlot loyalists get show-cause notice

Congress president Sonia Gandhi deputed senior leaders Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma to talk to Gehlot

Rajasthan crisis:Cong observers recommend action against 3 Gehlot loyalists

Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three party leaders, including two ministers, for the crisis in the state, but did not seek any action against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The three Gehlot loyalists against whom action has been recommended are Cabinet Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Minister and Congress Chief Whip in the Assembly Mahesh Joshi, and MLA Dharmendra Rathore. The observers - Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken - submitted their report to party chief Sonia Gandhi Tuesday evening, flagging "gross indiscipline" on the part of some leaders who organised a parallel meet of MLAs instead of joining a Congress Legislature Party meeting. The two observers had to return from Jaipur without holding the CLP meeting as a large group of MLAs considered loyal to Chief Minister Gehlot refused to join it and put forth certain conditions for the selection of Gehlot's successor. The sources said the report has not sought any action against Gehl

Only request to PM Modi is to stop rupee from scoring century: Congress

?? The Congress on Tuesday attacked the Centre over the depreciating value of the rupee against the dollar and said the only request to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to stop the rupee from scoring a century. The rupee appreciated 37 paise to 81.30 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday while consolidating in a narrow range and settling 9 paise higher at 81.58 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said for the first time in history, the rupee is racing fast towards 82 against the dollar. "With Modi Ji's blessings, the rupee has become the weakest in history and he who claimed (before coming to power) the fall in the value of rupee is directly linked to fall in prime minister's credibility must realise his own credibility is in a bottomless pit," Shrinate said. Exactly a year ago, in September 2021, the value of the rupee was 73 against USD 1, which has now increa

Congress leader Sachin Pilot arrives in Delhi, reason not disclosed

Amid the ongoing political crisis in Rajasthan, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Tuesday reached Delhi from Jaipur, but the reason for his arrival has not yet been disclosed

Kharge emerging as top candidate for Cong Prez, Gehlot in race: Report

LoP Mallikarjun Kharge is said to have emerged top choice for the party President's post but the game is still on and Congress sources said that leaders have been called for nomination on Thursday