Page 37 - Indian National Congress

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi resigns from Wayanad seat of Lok Sabha

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has resigned from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat of Kerala and retained the Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said on Tuesday. A Lok Sabha bulletin said his resignation has been accepted with effect from June 18. Ending speculation on the issue, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Monday the decision on the two seats after the party's top brass held discussions at his residence in the national capital. Rahul Gandhi's sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut by contesting the Wayanad bypoll. Following Rahul Gandhi's resignation from one of the two seats he had won, the Congress' tally in the Lower House now stands at 98. The Wayanad seat will be the first constituency to go for a bypoll in the 18th Lok Sabha. "Shri Rahul Gandhi, an elected member of Lok Sabha from two constituencies viz Wayanad and Rae Bareli parliamentary constituencies of Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, respectively, has resigned h

Jolt to Cong in Haryana: Kiran Choudhry, daughter Shruti quit; to join BJP

In a jolt to the Congress in Haryana where assembly polls are due in October, senior leader Kiran Choudhry and her daughter Shruti Choudhry quit the party and will join the ruling BJP on Wednesday. Both Kiran Choudhry and Shruti Choudhry resigned from the primary membership of the Congress on Tuesday. Shruti Choudhry was also the working president of the Haryana unit of the Congress. Kiran Choudhry, who is also a sitting MLA, told PTI that both she and Shruti, a former MP, will be joining the BJP on Wednesday. Kiran Choudhry snapped her four-decade long association with the Congress. Their joining is likely to come as a big boost to the BJP in Haryana with few months remaining for the polls. Kiran Choudhry, daughter-in-law of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal, is considered as bete noire of senior Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda. She and her daughter sent separate resignation letters to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in which they took a veiled dig at Hooda. While

Kerala BJP mocks Cong over Priyanka Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad

The BJP in Kerala on Tuesday continued to mock the Congress party's decision to field Priyanka Gandhi in Wayanad, which was vacated by Rahul Gandhi, and said the grand old party may consider her husband Robert Vadra in the upcoming by-poll in Palakkad assembly segment. BJP state chief K Surendran and senior leader V Muraleedharan criticised the Congress leadership over their decision and alleged that they had cheated the people of Wayanad. Surendran, who had contested against Rahul Gandhi in the April 26 Lok Sabha polls in the hill constituency, said it is once again proven beyond doubt that the Congress is the only "tool" for the so-called Nehru-Gandhi family to serve their family's interests. In a post on 'X', he said: "Mr @RahulGandhi claimed that Wayanad is his family. Now he has decided the candidature of his own sister claimed that Wayanad is his family. Now he has decided the candidature of his own sister @priyankagandhi to the upcoming by-election in Wayanad. Hope that Mr ..

Rahul in Raebareli, Priyanka in Wayanad: What it means for the Congress

On Monday, Rahul Gandhi announced that he would represent the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in Parliament, vacating the Wayanad seat in Kerala, where Priyanka Gandhi would now fight the bye-election

Rahul, Aaditya should apologise for remarks over EVMs: Sanjay Nirupam

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam on Monday said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray should apologise for disseminating "false" information based on a news report on the EVMs. A political slugfest erupted on Sunday over EVM tampering claims with Gandhi, Thackeray and other opposition leaders citing a media report which alleged that a relative of Shiv Sena's Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat candidate Ravindra Waikar was found using a mobile phone "connected" to an EVM during the counting of votes on June 4. The media report said a relative of Waikar, who won from seat by just 48 votes, had used a mobile phone to "unlock" an electronic voting machine (EVM) when the votes were being counted. Vandana Suryavanshi, returning officer of the constituency, however, dismissed the report in 'mid-day' newspaper as "false news" and said a defamation notice has been issued to the publication. She asserted that the EVM is a standalone system, not programmable and has

NCERT working on RSS directions, assaulting Constitution: Jairam Ramesh

Amid the row over revision of NCERT textbooks, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday alleged that the institution has been functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014 and is mounting an assault on the Constitution. In a post on X, Ramesh said the National Testing Agency has blamed the NCERT for the 'grace marks' fiasco in NEET 2024. That is only drawing attention away from the NTA's own abject failures, he alleged. "However it is true that the NCERT is no longer a professional institution. It has been functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014. It has just been revealed that its revised Class XI political science textbook criticises the idea of secularism as well as what it considers policies of political parties in this regard. "NCERT's objective is to produce textbooks, not political pamphlets and propaganda," the Congress leader said. "NCERT is mounting an assault on our country's Constitution in whose Preamble secularism features explicitly as a foundational pillar of the Ind

On calling Indira Gandhi 'mother' of India, Union min Gopi now takes U-turn

While retracting his earlier statement, Suresh Gopi continued to praise Indira Gandhi, labelling the former Prime Minister as the "real architect" of India post-independence

Political uproar over EVM 'unlocking'; Elon Musk joins debate. Key points

After claims that a relative of a Shiv Sena candidate used a phone to 'unlock' an EVM during vote counting, the poll body denied the allegations. Elon Musk's tweet on EVM hacking sparked a debate

EVMs in India are 'black box', nobody allowed to scrutinise them: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said EVMs in India are a "black box" which nobody is allowed to scrutinise, and asserted that "serious concerns" are being raised about transparency in India's electoral process. "Democracy ends up becoming a sham and prone to fraud when institutions lack accountability," Gandhi said and tagged a media report which claimed that a relative of Shiv Sena's candidate, who won the polls from Mumbai's north west by 48 votes, had a phone that unlocks an EVM. The former Congress president also tagged the post on X by Elon Musk in which he talked about eliminating EVMs. "We should eliminate electronic voting machines. The risk of being hacked by humans or AI, while small, is still too high," Musk had said in his post. The opposition parties have been raising concerns over EVMs for some time now and had demanded a 100 per cent count of the VVPAT slips which was not allowed.

Delhi water crisis: AAP MLAs write to Jal Shakti Min, urge intervention

The AAP MLAs have written a letter to Union Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil urging his intervention to solve the water crisis faced by the national capital amid the prevailing intense heatwave. Calling the situation "very critical", AAP's chief whip in Delhi Assembly Dilip Pandey on Saturday said the Yamuna water issue was an inter-state issue that required coordination of the Jal Shakti Ministry. Pandey said that in the letter from the AAP MLAs, time has been sought to meet the minister for a discussion on the matter. The AAP leader also said that instead of indulging in politics, all parties should work for a solution to resolve the water crisis and provide respite to the people of Delhi. "The entire matter is related to intervene state coordination and without Centre's intervention no solution will come out," Pandey told a press conference. The ruling AAP has accused the BJP ruled Haryana of stopping Delhi's share of Yamuna Water. Delhi's Water Minister Atishi has claimed that wa

Delhi water crisis: Congres organises 'matka phod' protests in Delhi

Amid a water crisis in the national capital, the Delhi Congress held 'matka phod' protests across the city on Saturday with its members smashing earthen pots to the ground. The protests began around 10 am in all 280 blocks in Delhi. Carrying earthen pots on their heads and Congress flags, the protesters raised slogans against the Delhi government and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Later, they threw the pots on the ground. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav, who also joined the protests, demanded a special session of the assembly to discuss the issue. He had alleged on Friday that the Delhi government had not taken effective steps to address the water shortage in the city due to which, people had to run after water tankers. Water Minister Atishi had said on Friday that water production in Delhi was decreasing continuously as less water was reaching the Yamuna river here. The AAP government has been accusing BJP-ruled Haryana of not releasing Delhi's share of water. Sharing data

Govt must ensure corp takeovers are fair, monopolies not created: Cong

The Congress on Saturday said it is the government's responsibility to ensure that competition among corporates is not stifled, oligopolies or monopolies do not emerge and corporate takeovers are free and fair. It is also the government's responsibility to ensure that undue advantage arising out of access to political power is not exercised, party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. His comments came after the Adani Group acquired Penna Cements while strengthening its share in the cement sector in southern India. "Aap chronology samajhiye (understand the chronology): September 2022: Adani acquires Ambuja Cements and ACC, to become 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." he said. "Upcoming: Adani is exploring the acquisition of Saurashtra Cement, Vadraj Cement, and

Former PM Indira Gandhi 'mother of India': Union Minister Suresh Gopi

Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Wednesday described former PM Indira Gandhi as the "mother of India" and late Congress Chief Minister K Karunakaran as a "courageous administrator". The BJP leader also called Karnuakaran and Marxist veteran E K Nayanar as his "political gurus". Gopi was speaking to reporters after visiting the memorial of Karunakaran, "Murali Mandiram" located in Punkunnam here. Interestingly, Suresh Gopi had won Thrissur Lok Sabha constituency by dashing the hopes of Karunakaran's son and Congress leader K Muraleedharan who finished third in a triangular contest in the April 26 polls. Urging mediapersons not to add any political connotation to his visit to Karunakaran memorial, the BJP leader said he came here to pay his respects to his "guru". He said like Nayanar and his wife Sarada Teacher, he had close relations with Karunakaran and his wife Kalyanikutty Amma also. He had visited Nayanar's home in Kannur and renewed his relationship with his family members on .

BJP attacking dreams of youth, alleges Priyanka on NEET 'irregularities'

Priyanka Gandhi asserted that the government's responsibility is to look into the complaints seriously and take action instead of ignoring the students and parents

Will Priyanka Gandhi mark her electoral debut from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat?

In the Lok Sabha elections 2024, Rahul Gandhi contested and won both Wayanad and Raebareli constituency, however, will have to give up one of the seats as per the rules

BJP leader seeks Maha minister's expulsion, claims he backed Cong candidate

A BJP leader has demanded the expulsion of Maharashtra Minister Abdul Sattar, alleging that he had supported the Congress candidate in the Jalna seat in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. In a letter to BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Wednesday, the party's Sillod city unit chief Kamlesh Katariya alleged that Shiv Sena leader Sattar and his supporters had helped Congress candidate Kalyan Kale, who defeated former Union Minister Raosaheb Danve by a margin of over one lakh votes in Jalna. The ruling Mahayuti in Maharashtra comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar. Katariya claimed that Sattar, who represents Sillod in the state assembly, had worked against (the BJP candidate) in his segment, which is part of Jalna Lok Sabha constituency. "The BJP has a voter base in Sillod, and Sattar is trying to finish off the party here. False cases are registered against party workers," he alleged in the ...

Himachal bypoll: Cong fully prepared for elections, says HPCC leader Kimta

HPCC General Secretary Rajneesh Kimta on Thursday said the party is fully prepared for the upcoming assembly by-elections in the state and will face the money power with unity. In a statement released here, he informed that the Congress has appointed three ministers as in-charges for by-election to Dehra, Nalagarh and Hamirpur assembly seats. The three Independent MLAs -- Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra) and KL Thakur (Nalagarh) -- resigned from the assembly on March 22 and joined the BJP the following day. The by-elections will be held on July 10. Agriculture Minister Chander Kumar has been appointed incharge of Dehra assembly seat, Education Minister Rohit Thakur for Nalagarh and Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani for Hamirpur. The Congress leaders have been alleging that nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels, and the three Independents who voted in favour of the BJP in Rajya Sabha polls on February 27 and BJP tried to topple the government by using

Congress to kick off 'Dhanyawad Yatra' in UP after Lok Sabha poll victory

The Congress made a major comeback in Uttar Pradesh by winning six of the 17 seats it contested in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections

Nehru's idealism, Ambedkar's social justice: Yogendra Yadav on Rahul Gandhi

Political commentator Yogendra Yadav analyses the Congress' performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, noting that Rahul Gandhi believes in 'socialist principles of economic equality'

New updates: Sonia Gandhi unanimously elected as Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson

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