Page 18 - Sonia Gandhi

Winter Session: Sonia Gandhi chairs Congress Parliamentary Party meeting

Amid the Opposition's offensive against the government over the India-China border tensions, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday chaired a meeting of all party MPs in Parliament to discuss the strategy for the remainder of the Winter Session. The Congress Parliamentary Party meeting was held at Parliament's Central Hall with party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and all party MPs in attendance. Gandhi is the chairperson of the CPP. Later in the day, the Congress will stage a protest in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament complex to demand a discussion on the India-China border tensions. Leaders of other opposition parties are expected to join the protest. Opposition parties have been demanding a discussion on the India-China border tensions and the latest Chinese transgressions since the Winter Session started on December 7.

Kullu admin writes to BRO for restoration of Sonia's plaque at Atal Tunnel

The Kullu district administration has written to the Border Roads Organisation regarding the reinstallation of a plaque bearing Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's name at the Atal Tunnel. "We have written to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) chief engineer regarding the installation of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi's plaque," Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said. Garg also claimed that the BRO had taken up the issue with the Defence ministry. However, when contacted, BRO Chief Engineer Jitender Prasad said he was on leave and not aware of the status. A day after Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assumed the chief minister's office, he had said the issue of "restoration" of a plaque declaring that the foundation stone for the Atal Tunnel was laid by Gandhi would be taken up with the authorities concerned. In a statement, Sukhu had said Gandhi laid the tunnel's foundation stone as the then National Advisory Council chairperson. Terming the plaque going "missing" an "insult to democracy",

Karnataka CM Bommai urges Kharge, Gandhis to clear their stand on terrorism

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday asked the AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to clear their stand on terrorism and terrorists

Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi pay tribute to 2001 Parliament attack victims

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi remembered who laid their lives during the terror attack in Parliament in 2001, by saying that their sacrifice inspires us

Cong leaders greet Sonia on birthday, Kharge hails her 'indomitable spirit'

Several Congress leaders greeted former party chief Sonia Gandhi on her birthday on Friday, with AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge saying her "indomitable spirit" in the wake of adversity has inspired millions. The former Congress president is in Rajasthan on her 76th birthday and is spending time with her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Rahul Gandhi is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra that is currently passing through Rajasthan.Today is a pre-declared holiday for the Yatra. In a tweet, Kharge said, "Extending my warm birthday greetings to CPP Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji. Her grace, dedication, indomitable spirit and dignity in the wake of adversity has inspired millions. I wish her a long and healthy life". The Congress, from its official Twitter handle, said, "Warm birthday wishes to Smt Sonia Gandhi who epitomizes sacrifice, courage & dedication.Her sense of duty and grace is an inspiration." Several top Congress leaders including party general secretary ...

Sonia Gandhi arrives in Jaipur as Bharat Jodo Yatra enters 92nd day

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi arrived in Jaipur on Thursday morning as the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra is crossing through Rajasthan, a party spokesperson said. She is scheduled to fly to Bundi in a helicopter where her son and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is expected to take a halt later in the day after marching 24 kilometers as part of the yatra, he said. The march is set to take a break on December 9, which is also Sonia Gandhi's birthday. The yatra will resume from December 10. Rahul Gandhi began the Rajasthan leg of his Bharat Jodo Yatra from Jhalawar district on Monday. Rajasthan is the only Congress-ruled state the yatra has entered and will cover about 500 km through Jhalawar, Kota, Bundi, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa and Alwar districts over 17 days before entering Haryana on December 21.

Congress MPs pay tribute to Ambedkar on his 66th death anniversary

Congress MPs including its president Mallikarjun Kharge and former chief Sonia Gandhi paid tribute to the architect of the Indian Constitution on his 66th death anniversary

Indira Gandhi left indelible imprint on the country, says Sonia Gandhi

There was an unchanging core to Indira Gandhi's personality including fierce commitment to an all-inclusive patriotism, staunch secularism; indomitable courage and fortitude and empathy for the poor

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Repeat BJP govt in Himachal by breaking tradition of 'ma-beta party': Shah

Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah used the "ma-beta" barb on Tuesday to hit out at the Congress in Himachal Pradesh as well as in Delhi, wondering how can those facing a chargesheet provide a good government in the hill state. He also said gone are the days of "raja-rani" and it is the time of common people in a democracy like India, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has focused on the politics of performance instead. The home minister addressed a series of public meetings in Chamba, Karsog and Kasumpti to launch an attack on the Congress, saying no one believes in the "guarantees" given by the party. Shah, who is on a two-day tour of poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, will spend the night in Shimla. He is scheduled to address poll meetings in the hill state on Wednesday as well. Addressing a public rally in Chamba in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in the November 12 Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls and Bhattiyat MLA Bikram Singh Jaryal, Shah

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Sonia Gandhi stepping down as Cong prez 'emotional moment' for all: Gehlot

Terming Sonia Gandhi's guidance as invaluable for the Congress party, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the change of guard is an emotional moment for all partymen. "When Sonia Gandhi took over as Congress president in 1998, the party did not have a government at the Centre and it had many challenges in the states too. After she took over as party president, the Congress won in all states, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka," he said in a tweet in Hindi. In 2004 and 2009, the UPA government was formed at the Centre by defeating the BJP, he said. Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as Congress president on Wednesday and said the party will break the "system of lies and hatred" prevailing under the current government. Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years, had defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the president's post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the

Mallikarjun Kharge sets up 47-member Steering Committee in place of CWC

New Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge set up a 47-member Steering Committee, which includes his predecessors Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

Sonia Gandhi writes to British PM Sunak, hopes India-UK ties will deepen

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Rishi Sunak on his elevation as British Prime Minister and hoped India's ties with the UK will further deepen during his tenure. "I am delighted at your taking over as Prime Minister of Great Britain. It is certainly a matter of pride for all of us in India," she said in her letter to Sunak, who is of Indian origin. "India-Britain relations have always been very special and I am confident that they will be further deepened during your tenure," Gandhi said. Sunak on Tuesday took charge as Britain's first Indian-origin Prime Minister with a promise to put the crisis-hit country's needs "above politics" and "fix the mistakes" made by his predecessor, a day after he was elected the leader of the Conservative Party in a historic leadership run. The 42-year-old investment banker-turned politician is the youngest British prime minister in 210 years. He is also Britain's first Hindu Prime Minister. Sunak's ..

Congress will be strengthened by Kharge's leadership: Sonia Gandhi

The Congress faces many challenges but with unity and strength it will move forward to tackle them as it has done before, outgoing party chief Sonia Gandhi said on Wednesday. Speaking at an event where Mallikarjun Kharge formally took over as the Congress president after he was handed over the certificate of election to the top post, Gandhi said she is confident that the Congress will be inspired and strengthened by his leadership. She said it is her biggest satisfaction that the new Congress president is very experienced and has risen from being an ordinary worker to such heights through his hardwork. Gandhi said she did her duty as Congress president to the best of her ability and was feeling relieved as she would now be free from this responsibility. The Congress faces many challenges but with full strength and unity "we have to move forward and succeed" she said. Kharge is the first non-Gandhi to head the party in 24 years. He succeeds Sonia Gandhi, the longest serving party

Mallikarjun Kharge to formally take over as Congress president on Wednesday

Hectic preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters for Wednesday's ceremony where party president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the outfit in 24 years. Kharge defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the top post in the grand old party after the Gandhis opted out of the race. Security personnel and workers made last-minute arrangements on the AICC headquarters lawns where a tent was being put up and in the Congress president's office room. Chairman of the central election authority of the Congress Madhusudan Mistry will formally hand over the election certificate to Kharge at the function, which will also see the presence of outgoing chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Kharge, 80, takes charge of the party at a time when it faces a tough challenge from a formidable BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has ousted the Congress from many states. For Kharge, wh

Gandhi family, its NGOs not above law: BJP on cancellation of FCRA licences

The BJP on Sunday welcomed the cancellation of the FCRA licences of two NGOs headed by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and said the Gandhi family and organisations linked to them can't be above law. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra claimed that the home ministry's decision to cancel the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) for alleged violation of laws has "exposed" their corruption. He also hit out at the RGF for receiving donations from controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, the Chinese embassy and the Chinese government besides several people accused of corruption charges, including Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor, when the Congress-led UPA was in power. The Modi government has acted in accordance with the law and the Constitution, he said, adding that no one had the courage to act against the likes of Naik, who is facing probe on terror charges and fled India when the UPA was in ...

Kharge's presidency of Congress in Modi era is a poisoned chalice

It's time to admit the Congress's problem is not, in fact, the Gandhis. If anything, they hold together a party that would otherwise split into multiple factions

Sonia Gandhi has last word in Cong, likely to remain so: Ashwani Kumar

Former Congress leader Ashwani Kumar has said the election of Mallikarjun Kharge as party president by a huge margin shows Sonia Gandhi has the last word in the organisation's internal politics. She is likely to command such respect as long as she is active in the party in whatever capacity, Kumar said on Wednesday while asserting that it is because party persons retain a sense of personal loyalty to her, which extends to the family. "That Kharge was her undeclared choice is indisputable notwithstanding vehement denials by the establishment to the contrary. Sonia Gandhi has once again demonstrated her astute political judgment in using elections to demonstrate the family's pre-eminence in the party established over long years of exercise of political patronage," Kumar said in a statement. The former union minister also lauded Shashi Tharoor for taking on the challenge to contest the top Congress post and said he is no loser. "The election process is a victory for him. He invested h

Mallikarjun Kharge faces multiple challenges in new role as Congress chief

He is the first non-Gandhi president of the party in more than 20 years