Page 28 - Indian National Congress

Monopolisation linked to India's shaky economic growth, unemployment: Cong

The Congress on Friday claimed growing monopolisation by five big conglomerates, including the Adani Group, was linked to India's shaky economic growth, unemployment crisis and high inflation, and asserted that companies must expand but the government had a responsibility to ensure oligopolies or monopolies did not emerge. The opposition party's remarks came days after the Adani Group said it had agreed to acquire CK Birla Group firm Orient Cement Limited in a deal valued at Rs 8,100 crore. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said on X, "Aap chronology samajhiye: September 2022: Modani acquires Ambuja Cements and ACC to become the country's second largest cement player." "August 2023: Adani acquires Sanghi Industries, India's largest single-location cement unit. June 2024: Adani acquires Penna Cements, giving it substantial market share even in the last remaining region of south India. October 2024: Adani acquires Orient Cement, gaining an additional 2

Your sacrifices will always inspire us: Congress pays tributes to Indira

The Congress paid tributes on Thursday to former prime minister Indira Gandhi on her death anniversary, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying her sacrifice for the country's unity and integrity will always "inspire us all on the path of public service". The then prime minister was assassinated by her bodyguards here on this day in 1984. Indira Gandhi was India's first woman prime minister. She was born on November 19, 1917. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi paid floral tributes to Indira Gandhi at the Shakti Sthal here and also visited the former prime minister's memorial on 1, Safdarjung Road. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also paid rich tributes to her and shared a quote of the former prime minister on serving the country till her last breath. "Humble tributes to India's first woman prime minister and our ideal, Indira Gandhi ji on her martyrdom day," he said. Kharge said Indira Gandhi played an important role in maintaining India's unity and integrity,

Manish Tewari hails Chandigarh MC's decision for open voting in 2025 polls

Manish Tewari said on Wednesday that the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation had taken a "historic, path-breaking decision" to conduct the 2025 elections with

Congress cites inflation data, claims India is in worst economic crisis

Asserting that India is in its "most precarious and difficult" economic situation in many years, the Congress on Wednesday said wage stagnation, inflation and inequality are undermining consumption growth in the country. These chokepoints will strangulate growth in the years to come if not taken seriously now, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in a statement. He said that for the past three decades, the India growth story was one of consumption growth the story of crores of families escaping poverty and entering the middle class, newly able to afford products and acquire assets. It was the sign of a thriving economy, one that was growing rapidly and distributing its gains widely, the Congress leader said. In the last 10 years, India's consumption story has now gone in reverse swing and emerged as the biggest pain point for the Indian economy. India Inc. has now joined the chorus, with a leading CEO even going so far as to say that the middle cl

Mayawati accuses BJP and Congress of undermining Dalit reservation

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday accused the BJP and the Congress of attempting to alter reservation policies for Dalits in states governed by them, claiming these changes threaten the unity and rights of marginalised communities. The four-time former Uttar Pradesh chief minister took to social media to express concern over the "new system" of sub-reservation for Dalits implemented by the BJP government in Haryana and the Congress governments in Telangana and Karnataka. "This hurried implementation of sub-reservation is part of a continued conspiracy to render reservation ineffective and inactive," the BSP chief alleged She claimed that both the BJP and the Congress are alike and dubbed them as "casteist" "The active engagement of casteist parties, which oppose reservation and threaten the unity of millions of oppressed and neglected Dalits, proves that the BJP and Congress are two sides of the same coin. Their actions pose a greater threat to society and the ...

Karnataka: Cong misuses internal reservation for politics, says Vijayendra

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra on Tuesday said that the Congress government in the state and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah were not honest on internal reservation among SCs and were only trying to use the issue for politics ahead of bypolls for three Assembly segments. The Karnataka Cabinet on Monday gave its consent to provide internal reservation among Scheduled Castes (SC) and decided to constitute a commission under a retired High Court judge that will be tasked with collecting empirical data. "If at all Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was serious about internal reservation, also on the Kantharaj report (on Socio-Economic and Education Survey, popularly known as the caste census) he would have taken action long back, but Siddaramaiah and Congress party only believes in taking political advantage and creating more confusion on this particular issue," Vijayendra said in response to a question on internal reservation. Speaking to reporters here, he said, "I don't think the chief

After four-year delay, Centre may commence population Census in 2025

The Opposition has been criticising the Narendra Modi-led coalition government for delaying the decadal Census programme, while demanding a caste-based Census

Maha polls: Raut cautions Cong against fielding candidate in Solapur South

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Monday warned Congress about fielding a candidate for the Solapur South assembly seat, for which his party has already announced a nominee. Speaking to reporters, Raut said such actions could provoke a similar response from their side and create "problems" for the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). "The Congress, in its new list, has announced its candidate (Dilip Mane) from the Solapur South constituency. This has happened when we have already fielded our candidate (Amar Patil) from the same seat. I consider it a typing mistake by the Congress. Such a mistake could happen from our side as well," he said. "I have heard that local Congress leaders are eager to contest the Miraj assembly constituency, which is part of our seat-sharing formula. If this infection (of fielding candidates against allies) spreads across the state, it will create problems for the MVA," Raut said. The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and NCP (SP) are part

Cong accuses UP Police of targeting Indian Youth Congress leader

The Congress on Monday accused the Uttar Pradesh Police and government of targeting a woman IYC leader and her family after she slapped a BJP worker over alleged "rape threats" issued by him on social media, and asserted that it will take the fight to a logical conclusion. The opposition party said the Varanasi-based Indian Youth Congress (IYC) leader Roshni Kushal Jaiswal went to the house of the BJP worker and slapped him twice after police did not take action over rape threats issued against her. Addressing a press conference here along with Haryana MLA and Congress leader Vinesh Phogat, Mahila Congress chief Alka Lamba said Jaiswal has been targeted by the police and administration for raising voice against BJP leaders and particularly against ruling party worker 'Saffron' Rajesh Singh. Lamba said Jaiswal's husband and brother along with five members of her team have been jailed and orders to attach her property issued. "We are telling you the story of Roshni Jaiswal, a daughte

Tripura CM slams CPI(M) and Congress for neglecting state culture

Tripura CM slams CPI(M) and Congress for neglecting state culture Through words, you can reach people. You are in a very important place as an artist,"

Congress announces third list of 16 candidates for Maharashtra polls

Earlier this week, the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance revealed its seat-sharing arrangement for 255 constituencies, assigning 85 seats to each party. The remaining 23 seats in the state Assembly

Who is saving Sebi chief, asks Cong; Rahul flags market risks to investors

The Congress on Saturday intensified its offensive against SEBI chief Madhabi Puri Buch, asking what was keeping her from appearing before a parliamentary panel. Shortly after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in an Instagram video, flagged "risks to billions of retail investors in the stock market", the party posed three questions on Buch, who skipped a recent appearance before the Public Accounts Committee by citing a last-minute emergency. "Why is Madhabi Buch reluctant to answer questions before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament? Who is behind the plan to protect her from being answerable to the PAC? Is there a well-thought-out conspiracy to risk the hard-earned investments of crores of small-medium investors and benefit Modi ji's dear friend Adani?" the Congress' media department chairman Pawan Khera asked in a statement. Gandhi earlier posted a video on Instagram in which he is heard speaking to Khera on the phone and urging him to devise innovative ways of ...

NCP (SP) releases second candidates' list for Maharashtra Assembly polls

The NCP (SP) on Saturday declared a second list of 22 candidates for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections, fielding the party MLA Sandeep Khirsagar, from Beed. Sunita Charoskar has been nominated from Dindori in Nashik district against deputy speaker Narhari Zirwal, fielded by Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The NCP (SP) has so far fielded 67 candidates. Declaring the latest list of candidates, Maharashtra NCP (SP) president Jayant Patil said no formula over seats has been fixed among MVA constituents for the assembly polls and that decisions are being made on the winnability of candidates. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents, Congress, NCP (SP), and Shiv Sena (UBT), had previously said that they would contest 85 seats each in the November 20 Maharashtra elections. However, discussions on the final seat-sharing pact are still underway. Ninety or eighty-five seats no formula has been fixed. Whoever can win, that party will be considered. Our effort is to put forth our best ...

Congress targets Kerala CM over horse-trading allegations against LDF MLA

The Opposition Congress on Saturday targeted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the horse-trading allegations that cropped up in connection with ruling LDF MLA Thomas K Thomas and criticised him for not ordering an investigation into the serious charges despite having knowledge about it. The grand-old party alleged that the Left veteran did nothing even after coming to know days ago that a ruling MLA had tried to woo two other LDF legislators into the Sangh Parivar-led front. While speaking to reporters in this northern district, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, alleged that Vijayan would do only things that satisfy the Sangh Parivar leadership. Accusing the chief minister of ruling with the fear of the Sangh Parivar, Satheesan said Vijayan is worried about cases being probed by the Central agencies. "That's why he has sent ADGP Ajith Kumar as a messenger to the RSS leaders...and ensured the victory of the BJP in Thrissur by disrupting Pooram...that's why he d

Maharashtra polls: Cong drops 2nd list of 23 candidates; see all big names

The Congress is contesting the polls in an alliance with Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Uddhavy Thackeray's Shiv Sena, and they plan to contest 85 seats each

Flare-ups in HP reveal Cong not immune to communalism: Prashant Bhushan

Sectarian flare-ups in Himachal Pradesh is a proof that Congress is not immune to communal politics, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan said on Tuesday. The northern hill state is afflicted with Hindu-Muslim confrontations for over a month, ostensibly over a mosque in Sanjauli near Shimla which some partisan groups are demanding must be demolished. "The way this incident happened and spread to other parts of Himachal shows that due to the work done by the Hindutva organisations, communal poison has spread. So they could mobilise people. "It also shows that even Congress is not immune to this disease," Bhushan said at the launch of a fact-finding report which carried its investigations from HP. "Even Congress has people who are opportunistically communal, even if they do not have a communal ideology. They feel they can use communalisation for gaining votes," he said, terming the trend dangerous. He said that while Rahul Gandhi did Bharat Jodo Yatra, some leaders of his party were not

Maharashtra polls: MVA seat-sharing stalemate resolved, announcement today

Top leaders of the Opposition's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance met here late Tuesday night with indications that the seat-sharing arrangement for the November 20 Maharashtra assembly elections has been finalised. The announcement was likely to be made on Wednesday with Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut stating that a press conference would be held. There was no confirmation from any of the MVA leaders of media reports that the Congress will contest 105, Shiv Sena (UBT) 95 and NCP (SP) 84 of the 288 assembly seats. The remaining seats would be given to smaller parties in the alliance. After the talks, especially those between the Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress, hit a roadblock, senior state Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat first met NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and then Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray. Later, Thorat and other leaders of the MVA again sat together for a meeting that lasted for over five hours at a luxury hotel here. Thorat said AICC's Maharashtra ...

Congress fields spouses of MPs- Warring, Randhawa for Punjab bypolls

The Congress released its candidate list on Tuesday for the November 13 bypolls to four assembly seats in Punjab, fielding Ludhiana MP Amrinder Singh Raja Warring's wife Amrita Warring from Gidderbaha and Gurdaspur MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa's wife Jatinder Kaur from Dera Baba Nanak. The bypolls to the Gidderbaha, Dera Baba Nanak, Chabbewal and Barnala seats were necessitated after the sitting MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. The party fielded Amrita Warring from the Gidderbaha assembly segment. Her husband Raja Warring had won the seat in 2012, 2017 and 2022. The seat fell vacant after sitting MLA Raja Warring won the Lok Sabha election from Ludhiana this year. Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa was the Dera Baba Nanak MLA when he won the parliamentary election from Gurdaspur and vacated the assembly seat. The Congress has fielded his wife Jatinder Kaur from the seat. Sukhjinder Randhawa had won the Dera Baba Nanak assembly seat in 2002, 2012, 2017 and 2022. The Congress fielded Ku

Congress announces candidates for Bengal bypolls in 6 constituencies

The Congress on Tuesday announced candidates for six assembly constituencies in West Bengal where bypolls will be held on November 13. The Congress nominees for the bypolls are Paresh Nath Sarkar for Naihati and Habib Reza Chowdhury for Haroa in North 24 Parganas, Bikash Champro Mary for Madarihat in Alipurduar, Shyamal Kumar Ghosh for Medinipur in West Medinipur, Tusharkanti Sannigrahi for Taldangra in Bankura, and Harihar Roy Singha for Sitai in Cooch Behar district. The electoral contest is expected to be a litmus test for all major political parties following the doctors' protests over the alleged rape and murder of a woman medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The stage is set for a four-cornered contest, as the CPI(M)-led Left Front, which had fought elections in alliance with the Congress in previous polls since 2021, announced candidates for five seats on Monday, including one for the CPI(ML). The Left Front is likely to support the Indian Secular Front (ISF) candid

Delhi air quality crisis sparks blame game; Congress slams AAP, Centre

While the air pollution crisis in Delhi is a recurring issue, it holds additional significance this year due to upcoming Assembly elections in the union territory