Page 20 - Sonia Gandhi

G23 meet sparks possibility of 3rd candidate in Congress president poll

With the process of the Congress president election gathering pace ahead of the last day of filing nominations, some G-23 leaders held a meeting on Thursday evening at the residence of Anand Sharma.

Congress presidential polls: Mallikarjun Kharge to meet Sonia Gandhi today

Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge will meet party president Sonia Gandhi on Friday, the last day of filing nomination papers

Stage set for Digvijaya Singh vs Shashi Tharoor for top Congress post

Gehlot apologises, opts out of race; Sonia to take call on Rajasthan CM

Met Sonia Gandhi, discussed events in Rajasthan in detail: Sachin Pilot

Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Thursday night met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and said he discussed the events in the state in detail and expressed his sentiments on the situation. Pilot spent around an hour at Gandhi's residence and also conveyed his feedback to her. "I met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and we discussed the events in Rajasthan in detail," Pilot said after meeting the Congress chief. Pilot met hours after his bete noire Ashok Gehlot met Sonia Gandhi in the afternoon, after which the Rajasthan chief minister announced that he will opt out of the Congress president's race. "I have conveyed my sentiments, given my feedback to Sonia Gandhi. Our priority is to win 2023 assembly polls in Rajasthan for which we will have to work together," Pilot said after the meeting. "Whatever positive decisions have to be taken with respect to Rajasthan, Congress president will take," Pilot said when asked on the action to be taken by the party after the

Congress leader says Sonia will decide on Rajasthan CM 'in a day or two'

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will decide on the Rajasthan chief minister's post within a day or two, party general secretary KC Venugopal said on Thursday. Venugopal made the statement outside Gandhi's 10, Janpath residence here after a series of meetings to resolve the Rajasthan crisis. He also said it will be clear by tomorrow, the last day of filing nominations for the top post, who all will contest. The comments came soon after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls as he took moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state, and said the decision on whether he would remain CM would be taken by the party chief. After meeting the party president, Gehlot told reporters that he apologised to Gandhi for the developments on Sunday when MLAs supporting him defied the central observers and thwarted the move to hold a meeting of party legislators. Instead, they held a parallel meeting to pitch for Gehlot's

Won't contest election for Congress president: Gehlot after meeting Sonia

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday announced that he will not contest the Congress presidential polls as he took moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state. After meeting party president Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot told reporters that he apologised to her for the developments on Sunday when MLAs supporting him defied the central observers and thwarted their move to hold a meeting of party legislators. Instead, they held a parallel meet to pitch for Gehlot's continuation or the guarantee that his bete noire Sachin Pilot does not replace him. Gehlot, a three-time state chief minister, described himself as a disciplined soldier of the party and expressed his sadness over the turn of affairs in the state. Asked if he will continue as chief minister, Gehlot said Gandhi will decide on the issue.

Top headlines:Deadline for 6 airbags extended; Gehlot out of Cong Prez race

The government said on Thursday it is deferring until October 2023 the implementation of norms mandating six airbags in all cars, giving the industry a one-year extension

Ashok Gehlot arrives in Delhi, says internal issues will be resolved soon

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot arrived in the national capital on Wednesday night amid speculation that he will meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday. The chief minister arrived around 10.30 pm on a special aircraft. Talking to reporters, Gehlot said internal issues that have cropped up within the party ahead of the Congress president's election will be resolved soon. He said the party has internal discipline, which helped it "survive the decline in Lok Sabha numbers" and it continues to be a national party. "There is discipline in the party under Soniaji," he said. "The events being reported by the media are small issues which keep happening. The media may have its own perspective on these events," he added. Gehlot said fighting issues the country is facing is more important for them. "Matters of a family are part and parcel of internal politics. We will solve everything," he told reporters in Delhi. He said for them the Congress president is foremost and they

Cong prez polls: Digvijaya Singh may enter the fray; Sonia meets Antony

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is likely to run for the party president's post even as the old grand party scrambles to find a candidate with barely two days left for the nomination process to end and its president Sonia Gandhi holding consultations with party veterans. The Congress President held a meeting with senior leader and loyalist A K Antony for more than an hour on Wednesday and is understood to have discussed the probable candidates for the Congress president. The meeting with Antony came days after an open rebellion by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot loyalists over a possible leadership change in the state, clouding Gehlot's chances of running for the presidency. The Congress presidential polls, in which a non-Gandhi is expected to be elected after more than two decades, have been marred by the Rajasthan crisis. Gehlot is also likely to meet Gandhi on Thursday amid uncertainty over the filing of his nomination. According to sources close to Singh, the forme

Gehlot may meet Sonia on Thursday to resolve Rajasthan crisis: Report

Gehlot was supposed to leave Jaipur for Delhi on Wednesday evening but his plan was postponed and now, there are possibilities of him leaving later

Ashok Gehlot likely to meet Sonia Gandhi to end Cong president poll crisis

After the crisis broke out in the Congress in Rajasthan, sources on Wednesday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is likely to meet Sonia Gandhi here and give an explanation of the happenings

Rajasthan crisis: Three Ashok Gehlot loyalists get show-cause notice

Congress president Sonia Gandhi deputed senior leaders Ambika Soni and Anand Sharma to talk to Gehlot

Rajasthan crisis:Cong observers recommend action against 3 Gehlot loyalists

Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three party leaders, including two ministers, for the crisis in the state, but did not seek any action against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. The three Gehlot loyalists against whom action has been recommended are Cabinet Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Minister and Congress Chief Whip in the Assembly Mahesh Joshi, and MLA Dharmendra Rathore. The observers - Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken - submitted their report to party chief Sonia Gandhi Tuesday evening, flagging "gross indiscipline" on the part of some leaders who organised a parallel meet of MLAs instead of joining a Congress Legislature Party meeting. The two observers had to return from Jaipur without holding the CLP meeting as a large group of MLAs considered loyal to Chief Minister Gehlot refused to join it and put forth certain conditions for the selection of Gehlot's successor. The sources said the report has not sought any action against Gehl

Sonia holds Himachal Central Election Committee amid Rajasthan crisis

Amid Rajasthan crisis, interim Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday convened Congress' Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting to finalise names of candidates for Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls.

Sonia seeks report on Jaipur rebellion, Gehlot less likely to be Cong Prez

Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken briefed president Sonia Gandhi on Monday regarding the developments in Rajasthan and will submit a written report about the crisis in the party's state unit by tonight or tomorrow. Talking to reporters after a nearly hour-long meeting with Gandhi, AICC in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken said they apprised the party president of the developments in the state after which she sought a detailed report on it. He said it was "unfortunate" that the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) could not be held and termed the move of pro-Gehlot loyalist MLAs and ministers as "indiscipline". He added that the CLP meet was kept after Gehlot's consent and the place and time were set as per his request. He said the MLAs and ministers loyal to Chief minister Gehlot cannot pose conditions to the party leadership as they amount to a "conflict of interest". "Kharge ji and I have apprised the Congress president of the CLP meeting in Rajasthan. The Congress

Opposition unity 'core' for 2024 LS polls as Nitish and Lalu meet Sonia

The meeting came soon after several opposition leaders had come together to pay tribute to former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal in Haryana.

'New generation should get chance now': Gehlot fuels leadership change buzz

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday said he has held constitutional posts for 40 years and the new generation should get a chance now, virtually admitting an imminent change of guard in the state. Gehlot, who has announced contesting for the post of Congress president, made the remarks during to a visit to Jaisalmer to offer prayer at the Tanot Mata Temple, in an indication that the Congress may choose Sachin Pilot as his successor in the state. Later in the day, a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party is scheduled to be held at his residence in Jaipur. "I have said it earlier as well. No post is important to me. I am doing politics for last 50 years. I have remained on some constitutional post or other for 40 years. What more I can get and want. So, it is in my mind that the new generation should get a chance and we all will together give a leadership in the country," Gehlot told reporters in Jaisalmer. Gehlot said the media reported that he did not want to leave t

Congress party prepares for first non-Gandhi president after 1998

The coming week Congress leaders will be filing nomination papers for the presidential poll

Aiming to unite Oppn, Nitish, Lalu to meet Sonia Gandhi in Delhi today

With an aim to unite the entire Opposition to counter BJP, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad will meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Delhi today

Manoj Yadav appointed AICC Joint Secretary, in-charge of J-K, Ladakh

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday appointed Manoj Yadav as Joint Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) with immediate effect.Along with this, he has been made Congress in-charge in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh."Congress President has appointed Manoj Yadav as Joint Secretary, AICC, attached to the AICC-in-charge of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh with immediate effect," AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said in a statement.Ghulam Nabi Azad left Congress on August 26. Earlier, Azad declined to accept the post of chairman of the Congress's campaign committee and a member of the political affairs committee in the party's Jammu and Kashmir unit.Earlier on Saturday, the filing of nominations for the post of Congress president began with a contest between Ashok Gehlot and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor on the cards.The nominations will be filed till September 30 and results declaring the new Congress chief will be announced on October 19.This ...