Page 52 - Indian National Congress

Cong protests against I-T notices, terms it attempt to 'choke' party funds

A large number of Congress leaders and workers carried out a sit-in protest on Saturday in Kerala's capital over the Income Tax notices issued to the party, and alleged that the ruling BJP is trying to "choke" it financially ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The protest was organised in front of the Income Tax Department office here by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). Inaugurating the sit-in protest, KPCC acting President M M Hassan launched a scathing attack against the BJP government at the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "The objective of the BJP is to choke the Congress party financially and keep it completely out of election-related activities," he alleged. Besides the Congress, several other opposition political parties had also been served with the I-T notices by the BJP government, he pointed out. At the same time, the BJP has amassed crores of rupees via electoral bonds and is not even ready to disclose the actual amount before the Supreme Court, the lea

Veteran Cong leader Shivraj Patil's daughter-in-law joins BJP in Maha

Chakurkar had met Fadnavis at his official residence 'Sagar' in south Mumbai on Friday

INDIA bloc rally not person-specific but to protect democracy, says Cong

The Congress asserted on Saturday that the INDIA opposition bloc's "Loktantra Bachao Rally" that will be held at the Ramlila Maidan here is not aimed at protecting a person but at saving the Constitution and democracy. The opposition party said a "strong message" will be sent out from the rally on Sunday to Lok Kalyan Marg (where the prime minister's residence is located) that the BJP-led government's "time is up". Addressing a press conference on the rally, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi will address the rally, among other senior leaders. "It is not a person-specific rally. That is why it is called Loktantra Bachao Rally. This is not one party's rally, about 27-28 parties are involved in it. All constituents of the INDIA jan bandhan will be taking part in the rally," Ramesh said. His remarks assume significance in view of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders pitching the rally as being specific to protestin

Congress should stand up to Sena (UBT): Nirupam on LS seats in Mumbai

In the wake of the Shiv Sena (UBT) announcing 17 candidates for the Lok Sabha polls in Maharashtra, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Saturday said his party should not allow itself to be arm-twisted by the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit for the seats in Mumbai. He claimed that the Sena (UBT) was not in a position to win any seat without Congress' support. Earlier this week, the Sena (UBT) brought out a list of 17 candidates, and said it would contest a total of 22 parliamentary seats in Maharashtra. These seats included four in Mumbai. Nirupam himself is eyeing to contest the Mumbai North-West seat from where he lost in 2019, However, the Thackeray-led party's move triggered unease among the other two Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies - Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) - as the three parties are yet to finalise the seat-sharing deal for the Lok Sabha polls, which will be held in five phases in Maharashtra starting April 19. Talking to PTI, Nirupam said, "Th

Our govt will usher in 'Rozgar Kranti', says Cong chief Mallikarjun Kharge

The Congress will usher in a 'Rozgar Kranti' by taking concrete steps to increase employment opportunities, enable entrepreneurship and realise the aspirations of the youth, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge said on Saturday. He said the Congress guarantees that the future of youth will turn from bleak to bright and reiterated the 'Yuva Nyay' guarantees which the party would implement if voted to power. In a post on X, he said, "The Congress party will usher in a 'Rozgar Kranti (employment revolution)' through Yuva Nyay guarantee! We will take concrete measures to increase employment opportunities, enable entrepreneurship and realise the dreams and aspirations of our youth." Kharge listed the guarantees given by his party under its 'Yuva Nyay' pitch. Under the 'Bharti Bharosa' guarantee, the Congress chief said, his party would provide 30 lakh new Union government jobs, according to a jobs calendar. As part of 'Pehli Naukri Pakki', the party will provide one year Right to Apprenticesh

Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi slams govt over rising debt, inflation

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the BJP-led Centre on Saturday over its proposal to borrow more than Rs 14 lakh crore, asking why is the government "drowning the people in debt" when instead of relief being provided to them, the "burden of unemployment, inflation and economic crisis" is increasing. In her budget speech last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed to borrow Rs 14.13 lakh crore by issuing dated securities to meet a revenue shortfall in the next financial year starting April 1. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said: "The finance ministry stated that the government is going to borrow more than Rs 14 lakh crore in the current financial year. Why?" In the 67 years since independence till 2014, the country's total debt was Rs 55 lakh crore, the Congress general secretary said while pointing out that in the last 10 years, the Narendra Modi government increased it to Rs 205 lakh crore. The Modi government has borrowed about Rs 150 lakh crore in the

Raj Congress to hold protest against I-T notices, freezing of bank accounts

Rajasthan Congress will hold protests at all district headquarters of the state on Saturday against the fresh notices issued to it by the Income Tax Department and the freezing of the party's bank accounts. General Secretary and spokesperson of Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Swarnim Chaturvedi said the BJP-led central government is continuously attacking democracy and democratic systems in the country. Public demonstrations will be organised by the district Congress committees at all the district headquarters of Rajasthan on Saturday, he said. All senior leaders, office bearers, and workers of the Congress will participate, he added. As part of a well-planned conspiracy of the central government, the bank accounts of the Congress party were frozen and now undemocratic action is being taken against it by the Income Tax Department which has asked it to pay Rs 1,823.08 crore, he said. This is being done so that the Congress is not able to participate with strength in the genera

Maharashtra Congress wants 'friendly fights' on six seats, says Naseem Khan

Maharashtra Congress leader Naseem Khan on Friday said the unilateral announcement of candidates by the Shiv Sena (UBT) had angered his party workers and the state unit was keen on "friendly fights" in six Lok Sabha constituencies. The Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) comprise the Maha Vikas Aghadi. "We met today and decided to communicate to the central leadership that we will have friendly fights on six seats, namely Sangli, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West and some more places. The manner in which Shiv Sena (UBT) announced candidates on seats claimed by Congress has angered our party workers," Khan said. The Shiv Sena (UBT) announced its candidates in Sangli, Mumbai South Central, Mumbai North West, while the NCP(SP) is claiming Bhiwandi.

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LS polls: RJD to contest on 26, Cong, Left to field on 14 seats in Bihar

In the seat-sharing formula for the Mahagathbandhan allies, RJD gets key constituencies in Madhubani and Hajipur while Congress to contest from Kishanganj and Muzaffarpur

BJP must apologise after CBI clean chit on AI-Indian Airlines merger: Raut

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Thursday asked the BJP to apologise to former prime minister Manmohan Singh after the CBI filed a closure report in its Air India-Indian Airlines merger case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a closure report in its probe into the alleged irregularities in the leasing of aircraft by NACIL, a company formed by the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines during the UPA era, as there was no evidence of any wrongdoing, officials said Thursday. NCP leader Praful Patel, who now belongs to the outfit headed by Ajit Pawar, was the Union civil aviation minister in the earlier Congress-led United Progress Alliance (UPA) government when the leasing was done. Talking to reporters, Raut said the BJP had made a hue and cry over alleged corruption in the civil aviation sector during Manmohan Singh's tenure as PM. The BJP must apologise to Dr Singh, he said. The National Aviation Corporation of India Limited (NACIL) was formed after the mer

LS polls: INDIA bloc's protest, PM Modi calls Congress a 'bully'. 10 points

Lok Sabha elections 2024: INDIA bloc's protest against Arvind Kejriwal arrest, Govinda's re-entry into politics, phase two of nominations, and all the latest updates on Lok Sabha elections

Congress will reserve 50% government jobs for women, says Rahul Gandhi

The Congress will reserve 50 per cent of government jobs for women if it is voted to power, former party chief Rahul Gandhi said on Friday, asserting that powerful women will change the destiny of India. Gandhi asked why even today only one in three women is employed and why is there only one woman in 10 government jobs. "Isn't the population of women in India 50%? Is the presence of women in higher secondary and higher education not 50%? If so, then why is their share in the system so less?" the former Congress chief said. "Congress wants - 'Aadhi Abaadi Poora Haq', we understand that women's potential will be fully utilized only when women have equal contribution in the government running the country," he said in a post in Hindi on X. Therefore, the Congress has decided that half the recruitment in all new government jobs should be reserved for women, he said. "We are also in favour of immediate implementation of women's reservation in Parliament and in assemblies," Gandhi ...

I-T serves Rs 1,700 crore tax notice to Congress after HC rejects plea

The Income Tax department's notice for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21, will add to the worries of Congress, which is already facing a cash crunch on the account of frozen bank accounts

Indian economy in distress but BJP doesn't understand, says Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday claimed that the Indian economy is in "severe distress" and alleged "the so-called doctors of the BJP" do not care. In a post on X, the former finance minister said the BJP claims that the Indian economy is in robust health in 2023-24, but has no explanation why net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have dropped by 31 per cent. FDI is a measure of the confidence that foreign investors have in a country, the government and its policies, he pointed out. Such confidence has declined sharply in 2023-24, Chidambaram said. "BJP gives certificates to itself. The good certificate must come from foreign and Indian investors. Indian investors have expressed no confidence in the policies of the BJP government during the last three years," he said. That is why the finance minister had to admonish them and, when that failed, beg them to increase their investments, the Congress leader said. He further said that foreign investors have reali

LS polls: As elections near, call for eco-friendly campaigning grow louder

As election campaigns started across the country, environmentalists demand that political parties take the digital and other non-conventional ways of electioneering to minimise the impact of non-biodegradable poll materials on nature. Political parties should rely mostly on social media to reach voters and shun flexes and plastic flags that litter streets once the polling is over and many a time reach waterbodies polluting them or block drains causing them to overflow. Parties blame the need for visibility factor in elections behind the use of those materials and promise to address the issue. Environmentalist Somendra Mohan Ghosh asked, Why can't we come out of campaigns by putting up flexes, plastic flags even in remote rural parts which create a non-biodegradable mess and put a strain on the environment? Shifting to the digital mode for election campaigning should not be a distant dream in the present age as mobile phones with internet are available even in remote areas of the ..

Cracks in MVA: Congress, Uddhav Sena spar over candidates in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra Congress on Wednesday objected to the Shiv Sena (UBT) announcing its candidates for the Bhiwandi, Mumbai South Central and Sangli Lok Sabha seats, saying MVA partners must stick to "coalition dharma". Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat urged Sena (UBT) to reconsider its decision. However, his party colleague Sanjay Nirupam adopted a more belligerent stand, attacking their leadership for letting the Uddhav Thackeray-led outfit grab most of the seats in Mumbai. Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) constituents Congress, Sena (UBT) and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) have been holding seat-sharing discussions for the 48 constituencies in Maharashtra, where the Lok Sabha polls will be held in five phases starting April 19. Amid the talks, Sena (UBT) earlier in the day released its first list of 17 candidates for the upcoming elections and said it will contest a total of 22 seats in the state. Congress Legislature Party leader Balasaheb Thorat said the announcement was not

LS polls: EC's notice to Supriya Shrinate, crisis in K'taka Cong. 10 points

Lok Sabha elections: Amid the political row over campaign conducts and remarks, the last day to file nominations for Lok Sabha elections phase one ends today

Congress has concrete plan to tackle unemployment, says Chidambaram

Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday attacked the BJP-led central government over Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran's reported remarks that the government cannot solve all social and economic problems, and asserted that his party has a concrete plan to tackle unemployment which will be revealed in its manifesto. Nageswaran reportedly asserted on Tuesday that it was incorrect to think that government intervention could solve every social and economic challenge, contending that a diagnosis was easier than a solution when it concerned problems like unemployment. In a post on X, former finance minister Chidambaram said, "The most startling confession has been made by the Chief Economic Adviser. He said that 'Government cannot solve the problem of unemployment'. Shocking." "If that is the official stand of the BJP government, we must boldly tell the BJP 'vacate your seat'," he said. The Congress has a concrete plan to tackle the issue of unemployment and it will be ...

Will not fight LS polls, son Deepender likely to contest: Bhupinder Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday ruled out the possibility of him contesting the Lok Sabha elections and said a discussion was on within the party about fielding his son Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak seat. "There is no intention that both of us will fight. I am also the Leader of the Opposition (in Haryana) and the Assembly polls are nearing. So I don't have any intention (to fight the parliamentary election)," the former Haryana chief minister told reporters in Rohtak. Replying to a question, the senior Congress leader said discussion is on within the party about fielding Deepender Singh Hooda from the Rohtak parliamentary seat. He said that he does not have any intention to fight the Lok Sabha polls when Deepender enters the fray. The final decision on the matter will be taken by the party, he added. Bhupinder Singh Hooda said if senior party leaders, Randeep Singh Surjewala or Kumari Selja, decide to fight the Lok Sabha polls "we will be happy". Notably,