Page 63 - Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi retains Rae Bareli | What's behind the strategic move?

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday announced his decision to retain the Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency while giving up the Wayanad seat, both of which he won in the recently concluded 2024 Lok S

Priyanka's presence in Parliament will be huge asset to Congress: Tharoor

Priyanka Gandhi's presence in the Lok Sabha would strengthen the opposition benches and Wayanad would have a very strong person to represent them in Parliament, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday. Tharoor, speaking to the PTI on the sidelines of his 'thanksgiving' campaign in Neyyattinkara Assembly constituency, said Priyanka has been a very effective orator during the election campaigns and he was happy that she decided to enter electoral politics from Kerala. "I think Rahulji absolutely had to keep Rae Bareli, it is a very important signal to the people of Uttar Pradesh and of North India in general. "At the same time, he did not want to feel that he was abandoning the people of Wayanad and it is better to entrust it to his own sister. So I think it is a wonderful decision," Tharoor said as he travelled through the constituency in an open vehicle, thanking the voters. He said the same was his preference for the last few weeks, when it was clear tha

After Priyanka, husband Robert Vadra looking to enter politics? His answer

Priyanka Gandhi is set to contest the Wayanad Lok Sabha bye-election, which has been necessitated after Rahul Gandhi announced his decision to vacate the constituency

Saddened by 'character assassination', Maliwal urges INDIA leaders to meet

Swati Maliwal says she was beaten at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's house and then her 'character was assassinated'

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 ..

Hearing in defamation case against Rahul Gandhi postponed to June 26

The hearing in the defamation case against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his alleged objectionable remarks against Union Home Minister Amit Shah was on Tuesday fixed for June 26 as the concerned judge was on leave. The case related to Gandhi allegedly making objectionable comments against Shah is going on in the MP/MLA court here. The defamation complaint against Gandhi was filed by BJP leader Vijay Mishra. Santosh Kumar Pandey, the plaintiff's lawyer, said that the matter was listed to be heard on Tuesday but due to the judge of the concerned court being on leave it has been postponed to June 26. The concerned court judge Shubham Verma had on June 7 fixed June 18 as the date for hearing the above case. The Congress leader had appeared in the court on February 20 in the defamation case and he was granted bail by the court. The complaint was filed on August 4, 2018, against Gandhi for his alleged objectionable comments against Shah at a press conference in Bengaluru. The ...

Swati Maliwal writes to INDIA bloc, seeks time to discuss assault case

Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal on Tuesday sought time from INDIA bloc leaders to discuss the alleged assault against her by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's aid Bibhav Kumar. In a letter to INDIA bloc leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Sharad Pawar, the Aam Aadmi Party member complained she was subjected to "victim shaming and character assassination" for speaking up against the abuse. "Instead of finding support, I was confronted with incessant attacks on my character and victim shaming orchestrated by the leaders and volunteers of my own party," she wrote. "Over the past one month, I have encountered first-hand pain and isolation a survivor faces when she fights for justice. . . I would like to seek your time to discuss this pertinent issue," she added. Maliwal posted the letters addressed to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and national president Sharad Pawar on X. "I have worked on the ground for the last 18 years and have heard 1.7 lakh cases in the Women's Commission in 9 years. Withou

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

Priyanka Gandhi to make poll debut as Rahul to leave Wayanad for Rae Bareli

Kharge attributed the party's decision to have Rahul retain Rae Bareli to the Nehru-Gandhi family's "emotional" and "generational" ties with that seat

Ensure full transparency of EVMs or abolish them: Rahul Gandhi to EC

Raising questions on the reliability of EVMs, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday asked the Election Commission to ensure complete transparency of the machines and processes or abolish them. The demand came a day after the Congress leader had alleged that the electronic voting machine is a "black box" and nobody is allowed to scrutinise them while further alleging that serious concerns are being raised about transparency in our electoral process. "When democratic institutions are captured, the only safeguard lies in electoral processes that are transparent to the public," Gandhi said in a post on X. "EVM is currently a black box. EC must either ensure complete transparency of the machines and processes or abolish them," the former Congress president also said. Another Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi said, "Before treating the Electronic Voting Machines as infallible, the Election Commission of India should put out data on how many Electronic Voting Machines were found faulty ...

Highlights of the day: Rahul Gandhi to keep Rae Bareli LS seat, vacate Wayanad seat, says Kharge

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Rahul Gandhi picks Rae Bareli, Priyanka to contest from Wayanad LS seat

Rahul Gandhi said it was a difficult decision for him as he has an emotional connection with both Rae Bareli and Wayanad

Wayanad or Rae Bareli? Cong to hold discussions to decide on Rahul's seat

Congress' top leadership on Monday held discussions on Monday at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence here to decide whether Rahul Gandhi should vacate his Wayanad or Rae Bareli seat. The meeting also discussed whether Rahul Gandhi would take up the post of Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, sources said. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former party president Rahul Gandhi and party general secretaries K C Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were present during the discussions. Sources said the leaders are learnt to have held crucial discussions on which seat should Rahul Gandhi vacate or keep, and whether he should take up the position of Leader of Opposition. Rahul Gandhi had won both from Wayanad and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies and he has to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results, which came out on June 4. The Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party, has also urged Rahul Gandhi to tak

Elon Musk sparks fresh debate on EVMs: How do e-voting machines work?

Reacting to alleged voting irregularities in Puerto Rico, Elon Musk's Saturday remark has fuelled Indian political debate on EVM

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

EC should release data on EVMs found faulty in LS polls: Gaurav Gogoi

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi on Monday asked the Election Commission to put out data on how many EVMs were found faulty throughout the Lok Sabha polls. Gogoi, who won the just concluded Lok Sabha elections from Assam's Jorhat seat by defeating his nearest BJP rival by a margin of over 1.44 lakh votes, said he can confidently say that these machines have shown inaccurate results. Gogoi's statement came a day after a fresh political row erupted over EVM tampering claims with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders citing a media report that alleged that a relative of the Shiv Sena candidate in Mumbai North West Lok Sabha constituency was found using a mobile phone "connected" to an electronic voting machine during the counting of votes on June 4. In a post on 'X', Gogoi said before treating the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) as infallible, the Election Commission of India should put out data on how many EVMs were found faulty throughout the elections. He said the

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

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.

Popularised by Rahul Gandhi, pocket version of Constitution drawing fancy

Measuring roughly 20 centimetres in length and nine centimetres in breadth, a leather-bound copy of the Constitution, which was frequently flashed by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi during the Lok Sabha elections has a deep Lucknow connection thanks to its publishers, who first printed it in 2009. And if publishers Eastern Book Company are to be believed, people have started showing more interest in the coat pocket edition of the Constitution after Gandhi pulled it out on several occasions during the campaign. Sumeet Malik, one of the directors of the Eastern Book Company, told PTI that the idea of printing a court pocket edition came from Supreme Court advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who suggested that they should publish a version that fits easily in the lawyers' court pockets. "The first edition was launched in 2009 and there have been about 16 editions of this book, which have been published so far. And over the years, these copies have been purchased by many lawyers and