Page 12 - Indian National Congress

PM Modi blames Congress policies for encouraging Naxalism in Chhattisgarh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said Naxalism got encouragement for decades in Chhattisgarh and other states due to policies of Congress. Addressing a public meeting in Mohbhattha village in Bilaspur district, Modi said the situation is rapidly changing and a new era of peace is setting in Naxal-affected areas. "Over the decades, Naxalism got encouragement in many states including Chhattisgarh due to policies of Congress. Whichever region lagged in development, Naxalism flourished there, but what did the party that ran the government for 60 years do? It declared such districts as backward and turned away from its responsibility," he said. He said many mothers lost their beloved sons and many sisters lost their brothers (in Maoist violence). "The indifference of erstwhile governments was like adding fuel to the fire. You (Chhattisgarh) have also suffered it (the Naxal menace). The (previous) Congress government never took care of amenities of poor tribals," Modi said and list

Govt turning banks into 'collection agents of loot': Kharge on ATM fee hike

The Congress on Saturday hit out at the Modi government after the RBI's decision to allow banks to increase charges on ATM cash withdrawals, and said banks have been reduced to "collection agents" to "loot" citizens. Giving a list of charges levied by banks, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said a "painful" price rise and "unbridled loot" was the BJP's mantra. "Our banks have been unfortunately made 'collection agents' by the Modi government! ATM withdrawal charges to be costlier," Kharge said in a post on X. "The Modi government has extracted at least Rs 43,500 crore due to non-maintenance of minimum balance from savings accounts and Jan Dhan accounts combined, between 2018 and 2024," he said. "Other bank charges to LOOT citizens - an inactivity fee, which is Rs 100-200 every year. Bank statement issuance fee is Rs 50-100. Rs 20-25 per quarter is charged for SMS alerts. Banks charge 1-3 per cent as loan processing fees," he added. The Congress chief also claimed that if a lo

'Need to upskill our youth': Sibal stresses skill development at UIA meet

Sibal emphasized that strengthening the manufacturing sector would create jobs and improve India's strategic and economic standing

ICICI Bank refutes allegations of illegal staff termination

Terms allegations of termination of 782 employees 'voluntary abandonment of services'

Rahul Gandhi likely to visit US from April 19, to speak at Brown University

Earlier in September 2024, Rahul Gandhi was on a three-day visit to the US. During his visit, he travelled to Dallas, where he interacted with students and teachers at the University of Texas

Lok Sabha being run in 'undemocratic' manner, says LoP Rahul Gandhi

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that he was not being given a chance to speak and the House was being run in an "undemocratic manner". His remarks came after Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla asked him to follow the rules of procedure that members are expected to observe to uphold the dignity of the House. It was not immediately clear what was the reason for the Speaker to make the observation. Gandhi said the Speaker made remarks about him and then adjourned the House without giving him an opportunity to speak. He said that in the last week he had not been allowed to speak. About 70 Congress Lok Sabha MPs, including deputy leader of Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, party general secretary KC Venugopal and party's whip in the Lok Sabha Manickam Tagore, met the Lok Sabha speaker and raised the "denial" of opportunity to Gandhi to speak in the House, party sources said.

CBI raid part of probe; not politically motivated: Chhattisgarh dy CM

Slamming the Congress, the Deputy CM said that every time such actions are taken, Congress links it to politics

Suspended Cong MLAs forcibly 'evicted' from Odisha Assembly, claim leaders

The suspended Congress MLAs, who were staging a sit-in the Well of the House protesting action against them, were forcibly evicted from the Assembly and dropped near the Congress Bhawan, a party leader alleged on Wednesday. The MLAs were "forcibly evicted" from the Assembly on Tuesday night and they had to spend the night on the street at Master Canteen, he said. "We were manhandled and forcibly evicted from the Assembly at the dead of the night. This is grossly illegal and undemocratic," alleged party MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati, one of the two Congress MLAs who was not suspended. Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das and AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajay Kumar Lallu are sitting on dharna in the Master Canteen area on Wednesday protesting the suspension of 12 party MLAs. Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam alleged that the party MLAs during their stay in the Assembly, were denied food, water and even toilet facility. Kadam was injured in the Assembly on ...

BJP cites book on Bofors to demand Sonia, Rahul's resignations as MPs

The BJP on Tuesday cited a book by a journalist, who is credited with exposing the alleged Bofors scam, to attack Congress leaders Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, and demanded they quit as MPs till they make a full disclosure about their relations with alleged Italian middleman Ottavio Quattrocchi. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed the "huge revelations" made by Chitra Subramaniam in her book 'Bofors Gate' are worrisome, and alleged that Quattrocchi used his proximity to the then prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi to pull strings in finalising defence deals. There was no immediate reaction from the Congress to the BJP's allegations and the demands made at the press conference. It has long been alleged that Quattrocchi, who is no more, enjoyed warm ties with Sonia Gandhi, who is also of Italian origin, and used it to his business advantage in India. He was one of the accused in the CBI's long-winded probe into the alleged bribery in the Bofors gun deal after the kick

Manish Tewari files motion to discuss alleged aberrations in judiciary

The Congress MP called on the government to provide a comprehensive statement on the floor of the House regarding the incidents in question

Anurag Thakur slams Congress for 4% quota in govt contracts in Karnataka

He claimed that the Karnataka government's decision to provide 4 per cent reservation to minority contractors is against the law and added that they will have to face consequences

Sonia, Rahul to attend CWC meet in Ahmedabad on 8 April: Gujarat Cong chief

Senior Congress leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi will attend the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting here on April 8, the party's Gujarat unit chief Shaktisinh Gohil said on Friday. The CWC meeting will be followed by a session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on April 9, said Gohil, who is also a party spokesperson. The meeting of the CWC, the highest decision-making body of the Congress, will be held at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial complex in Shahibaug area at 11:30 am on April 8, he said. "The meeting will be attended by several key leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states as well as the party's state presidents will also attend this meeting," said Gohil. A CWC meeting had been held at the same venue in 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. After the April 8 meeting, party leaders will visit the Sabarmati Ashram in the city in the evening to pay

Cong demands speaker, state BJP chief resign after U'khand FM's exit

Former Uttarakhand Assembly speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal on Friday said the resignation of cabinet minister Premchand Agarwal was not enough and demanded the resignations of incumbent Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan and state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt also from their posts for not being fair to the hill people despite representing the hills themselves. Agarwal, who held key portfolios like finance and parliamentary affairs in the Pushkar Singh Dhami cabinet, resigned after his "unparliamentary" remarks against the hill people during the Budget Session created a major controversy. Kunjwal accused Speaker Bhushan of behaving in the House in a partisan manner like a political party leader despite occupying a constitutional post when the Agarwal episode was going on. Daughter of former chief minister B C Khanduri, the Speaker is an MLA from Kotdwar. "The Chair is supposed to be neutral. But her conduct was obviously partisan. "She should have asked Agarwal to immediately take back hi

Sitting or retired HC judge must inquire Colonel assault case: Cong leader

Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa on Friday demanded that a sitting or retired high court judge should inquire the complaint by an Army Colonel that he and his son were thrashed by 12 state police officials. "We demand an inquiry by a sitting or retired high court judge into the incident," Bajwa told reporters in Chandigarh, ahead of the opening day of the budget session of Punjab Assembly. Calling it a serious incident, the Congress leader said all the "erring" Punjab police officials should be arrested and dismissed from service. "Recently, (AAP national convener) Arvind Kejriwal was in Punjab, but neither he nor Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann have uttered a word about the incident," he said. Bajwa, who is Leader of Opposition in Punjab, also slammed the Bhagwant Mann government over the "deceitful" detention of several farmer leaders. He said the heavy barricades at the protest sites in Shambhu and Khanauri border were not put up by Punjab farmers, but the Haryana

'Caste census is necessary to reveal inequality to light': Rahul Gandhi

During a recent interview, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the Mahad Satyagraha and said it was "not just a fight for access to water but a struggle for equality and dignity"

Court issues notice to Rahul over his 'Fight against Indian state' remark

On January 15, Rahul Gandhi, during the inauguration of Congress' 'Indira Bhawan,' criticized the BJP, claiming that Congress and opposition parties were not just fighting the BJP but the Indian state

Cong to prioritise district units, all presidents to meet in Delhi

The Congress will hold meetings with its district unit presidents from across the country for three days, ahead of its AICC session, to deliberate on how to empower the district units and make them the focal point of the organisation. The District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents will meet on March 27, 28 and April 3 in three batches at the Indira Gandhi Bhawan here, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh told reporters after party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi met party general secretaries and in-charges of various states. The party's top brass deliberated on ways to strengthen the organisation and review the preparations for the AICC session set to take place on April 8 and 9 in Ahmedabad. This will be the fourth AICC session in Gujarat with the 1907 session in Surat, the 1938 session in Haripura and the 1961 session in Bhavnagar. "The meeting on March 27, 28 and April 3 will focus on how to bring the party's district units at the cen

Congress attacks PM Modi over giving 'clean chit' to China on podcast

Jairam Ramesh played purportedly a clip of PM Modi from 2020, where in the video the PM is heard saying "no one has crossed our borders, or any of our posts are captured by someone else"

Karnataka minister defends 4% minority quota amid BJP's 'appeasement' jibe

The Karnataka cabinet has approved changes to the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act to include the 4 per cent reservation for minorities

Delimitation based on population unfair to southern states, says Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said that if the delimitation exercise is based on population, it will be an injustice to the southern states as it would reduce their representation in the Lok Sabha and urged people to unite against this "injustice." Speaking at the centenary celebrations of the late K H Patil, a former minister, he also criticised the central government, expressing concern over the alleged lack of emphasis on education and the large number of vacancies in educational institutions. "The central government talks about cooperative federalism. If there is cooperative federalism, why are people not receiving the funds they are entitled to? Are cooperatives in Karnataka getting the money they should from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)? It has decreased by 58 per cent," Kharge said. Addressing the gathering, he urged the people of Karnataka to unite and fight against the injustice being done to them. "When the issue conce