Page 19 - Sonia Gandhi

Will Kharge be a rubber stamp or a connect between party and family?

Kharge began life as a trade union lawyer and knows what it is to struggle

Sonia Gandhi visits Kharge, congratulates him on winning Cong prez poll

Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday visited veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on winning the party presidential poll with a huge margin

Mallikarjun Kharge becomes first non-Gandhi Congress President in 24 years

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years. The 80-year-old leader succeeds Sonia Gandhi at the grand old party's highest office. Kharge defeated Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor in the October 17 Congress' Presidential polls, which saw over 9,500 delegates across the country voting. A leader with more than 50 years of experience in politics, he is also the second AICC President from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and also second Dalit leader after Jagjivan Ram to hold the post. Kharge was elected MLA for nine times in a row, seeing a steady rise in his career graph from humble beginnings as a union leader in his home district of Gulbarga (renamed as Kalaburagi). He joined the party in 1969 and went on to become President of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee. That Kharge was unconquerable at the hustings was mirrored until 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which h

Latest LIVE: PM release 12th installment worth Rs 16,000 cr under PM-KISAN

From Congress presidential elections to coronavirus cases, catch all the latest developments from across the globe here

Will have no shame in taking advice, support of Gandhi family: Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said the Gandhi family has struggled to strengthen the party, and he would have no shame in taking their advice and support in case he is elected party president. Kharge, considered close to the Gandhis, joined Rahul Gandhi in Bellary on Saturday for the Bharat Jodo Yatra and later addressed a public meeting there. The veteran leader said he is the "delegates' candidate" in this polls to the party's highest post, scheduled for October 17. Responding to a question about talk that he would be remote-controlled by the Gandhi family, Kharge said, "They say such things as there is nothing else to tell. The BJP indulges in such a campaign and others follow it. Sonia Gandhi has worked for 20 years in the organisation...Rahul Gandhi was also president...they have struggled for the party and put their strength for its growth." Congress delegates will vote on Monday to elect their party president. Kharge, who is up against party leader Shas

Tharoor's 'netagiri' jibe at Kharge camp on eve of Congress president polls

Congress presidential poll candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday took a veiled dig at the Kharge camp saying some colleagues were "indulging in 'netagiri' and telling party workers" that they know whom Sonia Gandhi wants elected. If anyone has "fear or doubt" in their mind, the party has made it clear that it will be a secret ballot, he said and urged the Congress delegates to listen to their hearts while voting to elect the new party president. "I also asked Sonia Gandhi how she views the elections. She said that it is very good for the party, and you fight with full courage ('himmat'), and we will stay neutral. She had said that there will be no official candidate from their side," Tharoor told reporters at the Uttar Pradesh Congress headquarters. The Thiruvananthapuram MP, who is contesting against veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the Monday election, emphasised on "decentralisation" in the organisation so that "'all decisions are not taken in Delhi. He said that there should b

I appreciate that I'm seen as the underdog in Congress election: Tharoor

Political career spent defending the values of inclusive India, allegations of disloyalty to Nehru Gandhi family malicious: Congress MP

Bharat Jodo Yatra: Laskar named Congress coordinator of north-east states

The Congress has appointed Sharif Uz Zaman Laskar as coordinator of northeast states for organising sub-yatras there parallel to the main Bharat Jodo Yatra. Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who heads the Bharat Jodo Yatra organising panel, appointed Zaman, who is currently vice president of Assam PCC. The Congress is organising sub-yatras in states where the main Kanyakumari-Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra is not passing through. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had last month announced that Assam would start its Bharat Jodo sub-yatra on November 1 from Dhubri to Sadiya town.

After Gandhis refused to fight Prez poll, decided to enter fray: Kharge

Congress presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said he decided to enter the fray for the top post after members of the Gandhi family refused to contest the poll and he wanted to strengthen the party. The electoral contest would take place between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, and voting will take place on October 17 in every state capital through secret ballot. "After the Gandhi family refused to contest the election for the post of Congress president, I decided to contest this election after consulting my well-wishers," said Kharge, who was here to meet members of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC). "I decided to contest the election to strengthen the Congress and to save its ideology," Kharge said, adding he was meeting more than 9,000 members of his party across the country and seeking their support. He said that he has prepared his manifesto by incorporating the announcements made at the party's Udaipur Chintan Shivir. "Fifty per cent posts in the organisa

When Mulayam and Pawar dashed Sonia Gandhi's prime ministerial hopes

Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, who passed away on Monday, and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar formed the unlikely duo who set in motion political events in 1999 that dashed Congress president Sonia Gandhi's prime ministerial hopes. Gandhi, then a newly appointed Congress chief, had staked claim to form the government at the Centre after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha on April 17, 1999. We have 272 and we hope to get morewe are confident we will get more, Gandhi had famously told reporters at the Rashtrapati Bhawan after calling on the then President K R Narayanan. However, Yadav, whose 20 members in the Lok Sabha were crucial for the Congress to cross the majority mark, had different plans and was not keen to back Gandhi as the prime minister. Yadav had proposed the name of CPI(M) stalwart Jyoti Basu for the top executive post, bristling at Gandhi's claims of forming a Congress ...

Contesting Congress prez poll as no Gandhi member running for post: Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed regret that none from the Gandhi family was running for the party chief's post and said he took the plunge on advice of all in the party. As part of his campaign for the AICC presidential post, Kharge visited the headquarters of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee in Vijayawada. Kharge said he played a long innings in Karnataka politics and contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 on the advice of current party president Sonia Gandhi. "Election for the Congress president's post became inevitable as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka refused to take it up. So I have jumped into the fray for the president's post on the advice of all in the party," Kharge told reporters after addressing the AP Congress leaders. "I served as Union Labour and Social Justice minister," he said and also mentioned his tenure as Congress party leader in Lok Sabha. Kharge said he would implement the Udaipur Declaration of offering 50 per cent of p

Kharge rubbishes talk of him being 'Sonia's remote control', slams BJP

Senior Congress leader and candidate for the party's presidential polls Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said there is no such thing as "remote control" in his party unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party, where every president is selected through a "consensus". In the city to campaign for the election to the party's top post, Kharge asserted that if becomes the head of the grand old party, the remote control would be with him. He was replying to a query about the BJP's claim that he would act as the "remote control" and "proxy" of Sonia Gandhi after being elected to the post. "A lot of people say I am a remote control and work from behind. They say I will do what Sonia Gandhi will say. There is no such thing as remote control in Congress, people take decisions together. It is your thinking. A few people are creating this idea," Kharge said. Attacking the BJP, he said, "How many times has the prime minister held (party president's) election? All the presidents were selected through consensu

Sonia Gandhi joins Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Karnataka's Mandya

Congress interim president on Thursday morning joined the party's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' in Mandya in Karnataka

Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatra will have no impact: Karnataka CM Bommai

The Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', which is currently passing through the poll bound Karnataka, with the participation from the party's top leadership- Sonai, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, "will have no impact", state's Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday. He rejected the claims that the ruling BJP was planning for rallies and state-wide tours of its leaders to counter the Congress' yatra, stating that they were planned much earlier. "Naturally all party leaders will work for their own party, she (Sonia Gandhi) has walked for half-a-kilometer and gone, it's okay. As far as we are concerned, we have nothing to do with it and it doesn't make any impact," Bommai said in response to a question on the impact of Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi's marching in the state as part of the yatra. To a question on the ruling BJP planning rallies and state wide travel of its leaders, to counter Congress' yatra, he said these were all planned much earlier. "As I had said earlier there will be

Sonia Gandhi arrives in Karnataka to take part in Bharat Jodo Yatra

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday arrived here to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by her son, party leader Rahul Gandhi

Congress president's election: Uncertain times ahead for the party

The election of Kharge as Congress president is almost certain. From here on, if the Congress does not improve its poor electoral performance, a challenge could emerge to the Gandhi family leadership

Sonia to participate in Bharat Jodo Yatra on Oct 6 in Karnataka: Report

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra on October 6 in Karnataka, sources said on Sunday. The Yatra will pass through Karnataka for 21 days covering 511 km in the state. It began on September 7 from Kanyakumari and entered Karnataka on Friday after passing through Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Sonia Gandhi will walk with the participants on October 6 during the Karnataka leg of the Yatra, a party source said. This would be the first time that Sonia Gandhi will participate in the Yatra which began when she was abroad for a medical check-up. Rahul Gandhi has been walking continuously in the Yatra and reached Gundlupet in Karnataka on September 30 from Gudalur in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. The Yatra has entered a crucial phase with the Karnataka leg as the state goes to polls next year and is the first time when it is passing through a BJP-ruled state.

Kharge, Tharoor and Tripathi in fray for Congress Presidential poll

Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and K N Tripathi are the three men in the Congress presidential race for which nominations end on Friday with the veteran Kharge from Karnataka emerging a clear favourite. The 80-year-old Kharge, flanked by top Congress leaders, filed several sets of nomination papers with the proposers also including members from the G-23 ginger group comprising Anand Sharma, Prithviraj Chavan, Manish Tewari and Bhupinder Hooda. Tharoor, who was also part of the G-23 group, filed five sets of nomination papers, while former Jharkhand minister Tripathi filed a single set of poll papers with Madhusudan Mistry, the chairman of the Congress's Central Election Authority. Kharge appeared to be a clear favourite for the Congress presidential election as a galaxy of leaders were present by his side when he filed his nomination papers at the AICC headquarters here. "I was encouraged by all leaders, party workers and delegates from key states to contest the elections. I th

Gandhi family not backing anyone 'directly or indirectly': Tharoor

Congress presidential poll candidate Shashi Tharoor on Friday said he is aware of his underdog tag and talk of an 'official candidate' in some quarters but he has been assured by the Gandhi family repeatedly that they are "neither directly nor indirectly" backing anyone. Tharoor, who filed his nomination papers for the top post at the AICC headquarters here, also said it is apparent that not everything about the electoral process has been ideal, but added that there is no point seeking perfection now as if one wants to play the match, one has to "bat on the available pitch". The Thiruvananthapuram MP, however, asserted that he remains convinced of the party's commitment towards ensuring that these elections take place in a free and fair manner. In an exclusive interview with PTI, Tharoor said he believes that a fresh leader, who has not been "jaded by being entrenched within the current system for too long", could energise the party and also appeal to more voters than the Congress .

Congress president poll: As nominations close, here are 10 things to know

This is the first Congress president election in more than 20 years with no member of the Gandhi family in the contest