Page 54 - Indian National Congress

HC set to pass order on Cong's pleas against tax re-assessment exercise

The Delhi High Court will pronounce its order on Friday on the Congress party challenging the reassessment proceedings against it by the Income Tax Department. A bench of Justices Yashwant Varma and Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav is scheduled to pass its verdict at 2:15 PM. The high court had reserved its order on March 20 on the pleas filed by the political party against the tax reassessment proceedings initiated against it by the authorities for three successive years, that is, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17. The party has contested the reassessment proceedings, claiming they were barred by limitation. Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, representing the Congress party, had submitted that tax reassessment proceedings are barred by limitation and the I-T department could have gone back to a maximum of six assessment years. The I-T department, however, asserted there was no violation of any statutory provision by the tax authority and that as per the material recovered, the "escaped" incom

Cong Prez Kharge makes way for son-in-law, unlikely to contest LS polls

Amid firm indications that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is unlikely to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the party on Thursday fielded his son-in-law, Radhakrishna Doddamani, from his home turf of Gulbarga. The octogenarian won the Lok Sabha polls from the Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) segment in 2009 and 2014, but lost the electoral contest in 2019. "Kharge's hands are full. In addition to managing party affairs at the national level, he has to coordinate with the INDIA bloc partners. Also, his term in the Rajya Sabha is not yet over," a senior Congress leader said. The Congress president's son, Priyank Kharge, who represents the Chittapur Assembly constituency in Gulbarga and is a minister in the Karnataka government, was not interested to throw his hat in the ring either and hence, Doddamani emerged as the natural choice, according to party sources. The sources said the Congress president took the final call in the matter. Doddamani is a businessman who also manages ...

BJP scared of Oppn, acting out of panic: Cong on Kejriwal's arrest

Soon after Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest by the ED on Thursday, the Congress alleged that the BJP is scared of the outcome of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and creating all kinds of problems for the opposition out of panic. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that the "arrogant" Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making false claims of an electoral victory every day and trying to weaken the opposition by indulging in "illegal means" ahead of the polls. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that a "scared dictator" wants to create a dead democracy and the INDIA bloc will give a befitting reply to such designs. "A scared dictator wants to create a dead democracy," Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X. "While capturing all the institutions, including the media, breaking up parties, extorting money from companies, freezing the accounts of the main opposition party were not enough for the 'devilish power', now the arrest of elected chief ministers has also become a .

Cong's 3rd list for LS polls: Kharge's son-in-law to contest from Gulbarga

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury would contest from Baharampur in West Bengal

Caste census against 'Indira-Rajiv legacy': Congress leader Anand Sharma

Anand Sharma invoked Congress' historical position on the issue under the regime of former PMs Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and advised the party to refrain from indulging in identity politics

Lok Sabha elections 2024: All you need to know about Phase 3 of polls

Lok Sabha polls phase 3: Following the polls to 191 parliamentary seats in the first two phases, 94 constituencies in 12 states/UTs will be up for voting in the third phase, to be held on May 7

PM Modi's 400 plus claim 'hollow', INDIA bloc will win majority: Baghel

Terming Prime Minister Narendra Modi's '400 paar' claim as "hollow", senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said the BJP's Ram temple pitch "would not make much of a difference" in the Lok Sabha polls and exuded confidence that the INDIA bloc will get a clear majority to form the next government. In an interview with PTI, the former Chhattisgarh chief minister also claimed that the Lok Sabha polls will be Narendra Modi versus the "whole of India". He expressed confidence that the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will get a majority to form the government at the Centre, while the Congress would be victorious in more than half of the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh. Asked about whether the INDIA bloc was still strong enough to take on the BJP despite JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar switching over to the NDA and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee deciding to go solo, Baghel said, "Our natural alliance partners are with us, in fact our alliance has expanded with t

BJP accuses Congress of violating MCC, files two complaints with EC

On Tuesday, the former Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur led a BJP delegation and filed two complaints with the Chief Electoral Officer in Shimla

Congress Working Committee meets to finalise party's LS poll manifesto

Sources said the party's Central Election Committee (CEC), chaired by Kharge, would discuss and finalise its candidates for remaining seats in the evening

Tharoor slams CPI, says it is supporting BJP in Thiruvananthapuram

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hit out at the CPI on Tuesday, saying that it is ironic that the Left party which complains about Rahul Gandhi's candidature in Wayanad is "playing the BJP's game" in Thiruvananthapuram. The Congress candidate from Thiruvananthapuram said the only effect of the CPI's campaign against him in the constituency is to divide the anti-BJP vote, "and they preach alliance dharma in Wayanad". Tharoor, who has been representing Thiruvananthapuram for the past 15 years in the Lok Sabha, is eyeing a record fourth term. He is facing BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Electronics and Information Technology. The CPI has fielded Pannian Raveendran in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat. In a post on X, Tharoor said, "It's ironic that the same @cpofindia that complains about @RahulGandhi's candidature in Wayanad is playing the BJP's game in Thiruvananthapuram." "The only effect of the CPI's

Ahmedabad East LS seat Cong candidate Rohan Gupta withdraws from poll fray

Congress candidate from Gujarat's Ahmedabad East Lok Sabha seat Rohan Gupta has said he has withdrawn from the contest due to his father's serious medical condition. Gupta is the Congress' national spokesperson and his name was in the list of candidates declared by the party on March 12. "Due to serious medical condition, my father is admitted in hospital and I am withdrawing my candidature for Ahmedabad east parliament seat as Congress Candidate. I will extend complete support to the new candidate nominated by party," Gupta said in a post on X on Monday. He also posted an image of his handwritten letter to Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil, informing about his decision to withdraw from the poll fray. All 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat will witness polling in a single phase on May 7 and vote counting will be held on June 4. The Congress is yet to declare candidates for 19 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has declared 22 candidates in the state so far.

India's key Opposition alliance flounders as general elections near

India's finance minister last week defended the electoral bonds, saying cash received under the system was "legitimate"

India's key Opposition alliance flounders as general elections near

India's finance minister last week defended the electoral bonds, saying cash received under the system was "legitimate"

2024 Lok Sabha elections: 'Chaar June ko Chaar Sau Paar', says PM Modi

'Congress aims to fill coffers by looting the public', said PM Modi at a rally in Karnataka's Shivamogga

SC refuses to stay HP Assembly Speaker order disqualifying rebel Cong MLAs

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the order of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Speaker disqualifying six Congress rebels, who had cross-voted in the recent Rajya Sabha polls in the state. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta issued notice to the office of HP Assembly speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania and sought its response to the plea in four weeks. The bench said that pending adjudication of their plea, rebel HP Congress MLAs will not be allowed to vote or participate in the proceedings of the Assembly. "On the question of by-election on six vacant seats, we will have to examine whether the elections which have been notified by the ECI are to be stayed during the pendency of plea," the bench said. It posted the matter for listing on May 6 and gave the rebel MLAs a week to file their rejoinder. The filing of nominations for six vacant assembly seats starts on May 7. The six rebels -- Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya S

K'taka under acute water crisis, Modi govt refusing to help, says Cong

The Congress on Monday said Karnataka is reeling under an acute water crisis due to a severe drought situation in most parts and accused the Modi government of refusing to help the people of the state. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh's attack on the government came on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to address a public meeting in Shivamogga. "The prime minister is in Shivamogga, Karnataka today. We hope he addresses some of the key issues in the state in his address," he said. Ramesh said Karnataka is reeling under an acute water crisis due to a severe drought situation in most parts of the state, with 223 of the state's 236 Talukas facing drought conditions. "The state government has requested the Modi Sarkar to release funds of Rs 18,172 crore for drought relief. Why has the Modi Sarkar refused to help Karnataka's people so far?" he said in a post on X. To help alleviate the drought-related stress on the rural economy, the Karnataka ..

Highlights of the day: LS election counting on Jun 4 after 6 wks of voting

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ECI publishes details of electoral bond data on its website: See full list

22,217 electoral bonds were bought from 2019-24, of which 22,030 were redeemed, according to SBI

Congress' five guarantees: From health benefits to employment promises

Under Swasthya Adhikar, Cong promises to deliver the right to health that will provide universal healthcare, including free medicines, treatment, essential diagnostics, among other health benefit

Prominent Bollywood singer Anuradha Paudwal joins BJP, praises PM Modi

Noted Bollywood singer Anuradha Paudwal joined the BJP here on Saturday ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Addressing a joint press conference with BJP leaders at the party's headquarters, Paudwal praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said she was happy to join the party led by him. The famous playback singer, who was conferred the Padma Shri, the country's fourth-highest civilian award, joined the BJP in the presence of its senior leaders, including national general secretary Arun Singh and chief spokesperson Anil Baluni.