Page 8 - Sonia Gandhi

Cong leader Sonia Gandhi elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan on Tuesday, officials said. Bharatiya Janata Party's Chunnilal Garasiya and Madan Rathore were also elected unopposed to the Upper House from the state, Assembly Secretary Mahaveer Prasad Sharma said. Tuesday was the last day for withdrawing nominations. As no other candidates were contesting, the three leaders were elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed, the officer said. The tenure of Rajya Sabha members Manmohan Singh (Congress) and Bhupendra Yadav (BJP) is ending on April 3. The third seat fell vacant after the BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena resigned from the House in December after being elected MLA. The BJP has 115 members and the Congress 70 in the 200-member assembly. There are 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Rajasthan. After the results, Congress has six members and the BJP four.

Highlights of the day: Cong dismisses Kamal Nath's BJP switch speculation

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Congress believes only one family has right over Bharat Ratna: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday targeted the Congress and said the party believes that members of only one family has the right over the Bharat Ratna. Modi was addressing a gathering at a ground-breaking ceremony here for about 14,000 projects across the state worth more than Rs 10 lakh crore. "Just a few days ago, our government had the privilege of awarding Bharat Ratna to Chaudhary Charan Singh, the messiah of farmers. Honouring Chaudhary Saheb, the son of the soil of Uttar Pradesh, is an honour for crores of farmers and labourers of the country. But unfortunately, the Congress and its allies do not understand this," he said. "You must have seen that when (name of) Chaudhary Charan Singh was being discussed in the Parliament, how the Congress people made it difficult to even speak about Chaudhary Saheb. Congress people believe that the members of only one family has the right over Bharat Ratna," the prime minister said. He further said that the Congress did not confer Bha

Uniting country is true patriotism: Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra

Uniting the country is true patriotism, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said here on Saturday and added that the rich and the poor live in "different Indias". Gandhi was addressing a gathering on the second day of the Uttar Pradesh leg of the 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'. Gandhi, along with the party's state president Ajay Rai and other Congress leaders, stood atop an open jeep and toured the busy Gudaulia area of the temple town. Gandhi also visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Addressing the people at Gudaulia intersection, Gandhi said that India is a country of love, not of hatred. "The country will become weak due to conflict between brothers. True patriotism is to unite the country. "I have come with my head bowed before Ganga ji. Everyone should feel that they have come to meet their brother during this yatra," Gandhi said. He said that there are "two Indias" in the country - one for the rich and one for the poor. He also hit out at the media alleging that it doesn't show the issu

I-T dept freezes Cong's accounts, party says political activity affected

The Income Tax department has frozen the Congress' four main bank accounts on "flimsy grounds", party treasurer Ajay Maken claimed on Friday and alleged that democracy was in danger in the country. This has affected all political activity of the party, Maken said at a press conference. Sources later said nine accounts had been frozen. The accounts were frozen on an Income Tax demand of Rs 210 crore for 2018-19, an election year, Maken said. "For the first time in the country's history, accounts of the principal opposition party have been frozen by the tax authorities on flimsy grounds, barely two weeks before the announcement of general elections," Maken told reporters. He appealed to the judiciary to save democracy as it was in danger and said the country is headed towards one-party democracy. Maken said the party has already appealed to the Income Tax appellate authority.

Congress govt will give legal status to MSP, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Farmers, who had embarked on 'Delhi Chalo' protest over their demands on Tuesday, have continued with their agitation

RS nomination filling window ends, many set to get elected unopposed

BJP chief J P Nadda, new party entrant Ashok Chavan and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi are among those in the fray for the Rajya Sabha elections with the deadline for filing of nominations ending Thursday. The biennial elections are scheduled on February 27 in 56 seats - 10 in Uttar Pradesh, six each in Maharashtra and Bihar, five each in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, four each in Gujarat and Karnataka, three each in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Rajasthan and Odisha, and one each in Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. However, a majority of the candidates are likely to get elected unopposed. February 20 is the last date of withdrawing candidature. Voting is scheduled to take place from 9 am to 4 pm on February 27 and the counting will be held on the same day from 5 pm onwards. In Uttar Pradesh, eight BJP candidates have filed nominations - former Union minister R P N Singh, former MP Chaudhary Tejveer Singh, state party general secretary Amarpal Maurya,

RS polls: 4 BJP, 1 Cong candidate file nominations from Madhya Pradesh

All four BJP candidates, including Union minister L Murugan, and one Congress candidate from Madhya Pradesh filed their nominations on Thursday for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held later this month. Murugan, BJP Kisan Morcha's national vice president Banshilal Gurjar, state party women's wing chief Maya Naroliya and Valmiki Dham Ashram head Umesh Nath Maharaj, who has been nominated by the BJP, filed their nominations before the returning officer in the state assembly complex here. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP president V D Sharma and ministers including Kailash Vijayvargiya and Prahlad Patel were present on the occasion. Earlier, Yadav welcomed Umesh Nath Maharaj and Murugan on their arrival in the state capital Bhopal for filing their nominations for the Rajya Sabha polls scheduled on February 27. The Election Commission had on January 29 released the date for the Rajya Sabha elections to 56 seats from 15 states, includ

'My heart is with you': Sonia Gandhi's letter to people of Rae Bareli

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi said in the letter that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due to health and age issues

Sonia Gandhi to miss LS polls, sends emotional message to Rae Bareli voters

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday informed voters of her Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha polls due to health and age issues. In an emotional message to the constituents of the segment she has represented since 2004, the 77-year-old also threw subtle hints of a possible entry of a member of her family from the Rae Bareli segment. "I am proud to say that whatever I am today, I am because of you and I have always done my best to honour your trust. Now on account of health and age issues, I will not contest the next Lok Sabha election," she said in the message. "After this decision, I will not have the opportunity to serve you directly but my heart and soul will always remain with you. I know that you will stand by me and my family in future, just as you have in the past," she said in the message written in Hindi. The message to the voters comes a day after the former Congress president filed her nomination for

Rahul Gandhi led 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' to resume with rally in Bihar

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Thursday pick up the threads of his 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' with a public meeting in Bihar's Aurangabad district, about 150 km from the state capital. According to senior party leader and MLC Prem Chandra Mishra, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge is also likely to address the rally. "Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge are likely to reach Gaya by flight and take a helicopter for Aurangabad. Thereafter, Gandhi will resume the Yatra", Mishra told PTI over phone. Notably, Gandhi was last seen in Bihar a fortnight ago when his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra had covered four districts of the Seemanchal region. According to Mishra, after the rally, Gandhi is likely to interact with farmers in Tekari Vidhan Sabha area, which falls in Gaya district but is a part of the Aurangabad Lok Sabha constituency. "Gandhi will spend the night at Sasaram. On Friday he will travel to Kaimur district from where we will see him off into the adjoining state of Uttar Pradesh"

Manmohan Singh to end 33 yrs stint in RS on Apr 3; Sonia to begin first

Former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh will end his 33-year-long parliamentary innings in the Rajya Sabha in early April, just as former party chief Sonia Gandhi enters the Upper House of Parliament for the first time. Singh, who is known for ushering in several bold reforms in the economy, became a member of the House for the first time in October 1991. He was finance minister in the Narasimha Rao government from 1991 to 1996 and the prime minister from 2004 to 2014. Sonia Gandhi will enter the upper house for the first time from Rajasthan, filling the seat that will fall vacant after 91-year-old Singh completes his tenure on April 3. The Congress leader filed filed her nomination papers in Jaipur on Wednesday. She will be the second member of the Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former prime minister and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, who had a two-and-a-half-year tenure (from August 1964 to February 1967) as a member of the House. Sonia Gandhi ha

Rajya Sabha elections: Congress fields Sonia Gandhi, Singhvi in first list

The Congress has released the names of four candidates, one each for Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar, for Rajya Sabha biennial elections, slated for Feb 27

Farmer protest: Rahul Gandhi speaks with injured farmer, attacks Modi govt

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has spoken with a farmer injured in police action during the tillers' protest march, and accused the Modi government of having a "dictatorial attitude" towards the country's food providers. Gandhi's telephonic conversation on Tuesday night with the injured farmer, Gurmeet Singh, was facilitated by Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Raja Warring who visited a government hospital in Rajpura town of Patiala district after the farmers clashed with Haryana Police. In a post in Hindi on his WhatsApp channel, Gandhi said, "Talked on phone to former soldier Gurmeet Singh ji, who was seriously injured in police atrocities during the farmers' movement." "Equired about his health and expressed support to him for their peaceful movement demanding their rights," the former Congress chief said. "He is a youth as well as a farmer - instead of hailing him, this dictatorial attitude of the Modi government towards the country's protector and food provider is putting democra

Rajasthan Congress welcomes Sonia Gandhi's nomination for Rajya Sabha

Sonia Gandhi left her residence early on Wednesday morning for Rajasthan from where she will file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha elections

Sonia Gandhi to submit nomination for RS polls from Rajasthan today

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi will file on Wednesday her nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan, party sources said. It will be the 77-year-old leader's first term in the Upper House after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha MP. Congress sources said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are likely to accompany her to Jaipur for filing her papers. Gandhi, who represented Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, will not contest the next general elections. She has been a five-term Lok Sabha MP and was first elected in 1999 after taking over as the Congress president. "She is likely to file nomination for Rajya Sabha on Wednesday," a source said. A total of 56 members of Rajya Sabha from 15 states are retiring in April and the election to the seats will be held on February 27. The last date for filing nominations is February 15. The Congress is comfortably placed to win one of the three Rajya Sabha sea

Highlights of the day: India will become 3rd largest economy, says PM

LIVE updates: Catch all the latest updates from around the world here

Rajya Sabha elections: Sonia Gandhi likely to file nomination from Jaipur

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi are likely to travel with Sonia to Rajasthan's capital city where she will file her nomination, party sources said on Tuesday

Congress likely to send former party chief Sonia Gandhi to Rajya Sabha

Congress leaders met at party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence to discuss the names of candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for February 27

Few benefitting from 'system', others paying GST, dying of hunger: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led Centre, claiming that only some people were benefitting from the "system" in the country while all the others were paying taxes and dying of hunger. If the people raise voice against anything, they have to face action by the ED, CBI and the I-T department, Gandhi said addressing a gathering at Ramgarh chowk in Udaipur area of Chhattisgarh's Surguja district as part of his 'Bharata Jodo Nyay Yatra'. He claimed that violence was happening and hatred was being spread because injustice was being meted out to the people in the country round-the clock. Perhaps, it has been happening so much that people are not even able to realise it. It has become like a habit, Gandhi said. "You (people) must ask a question to yourself thrice a day that how much money you are getting from the country's fund each day. How much return you are getting after your day-long struggle and efforts. In 10 days, you will come to know that you are being ..