Tag: Congress

19May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Congress revives Morarji ‘treason’ charge to attack Jaishankar over Op Sindoor ‘message’ to Pakistan

New Delhi: The Congress Monday launched a fresh attack on External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, alleging that he “committed treason” by acting as an “informant” for Pakistan. The party cited his remarks that New Delhi sent a “message” to Islamabad at the “start” of Operation Sindoor that it would target only its terrorist infrastructure and not the military. Jaishankar is the latest in a long line of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders who have acted similarly in the past, the Congress said, claiming that former prime minister Morarji Desai belonged to the same category. Desai, a prominent Congress leader until his fallout with Indira Gandhi, was the first non-Congress prime minister of India as part of the Janata alliance, which later became the Janata Party, in 1977. Lok Sabha Leader of ...

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19May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

‘Absolute lie’: Cong slams Rijiju’s govt ‘did not ask for names for delegations’ remark

The Congress on Monday dismissed as an “absolute lie” Union Minister Kiren Rijiju’s reported assertion that that the government did not ask for names for the all-party diplomatic delegations going abroad, and said it was “cheap politics” to not get the names it selected cleared with the opposition party.Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the same PM who had abused the Congress publicly in countries such as Australia, the US, Qatar, South Korea and China, is taking the help of the opposition party in these delegations. “Why didn’t the prime minister pick up the phone and speak to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi? Why didn’t he have the courtesy to d...

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17May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Rahul breaks silence on Op Sindoor, targets Jaishankar, asks how many aircraft did IAF lose in combat

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, Saturday attacked the Centre, citing External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s remarks about New Delhi’s “message” to Pakistan at the start of Operation Sindoor, and linked it to “losses” suffered by the Indian Air Force in combat. “Informing Pakistan at the start of our attack was a crime. EAM has publicly admitted that GOI did it. 1. Who authorised it?  2. ⁠How many aircraft did our airforce lose as a result?” Gandhi wrote on X, attaching a 17-second-long video clip of Jaishankar speaking to media persons. Gandhi had remained silent thus far on Operation Sindoor and the subsequent military flare-up between India and Pakistan. He was scheduled to hold a press conference to share his thoughts on the issue Friday, but did not...

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17May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Excluded by Congress, Shashi Tharoor says ‘honoured’ by govt’s invitation to join all-party delegation

New Delhi: The Centre announced Saturday that Congress leader Shashi Tharoor will be among those leading seven multi-party delegations to various countries to present India’s position on cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, in light of the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor. The Congress had earlier submitted four names for inclusion in the delegations, but Tharoor, who is the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on External Affairs, was not among them, according to a list sent by Rahul Gandhi to Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju. Apart from Tharoor, two other opposition leaders—Supriya Sule of the NCP (Sharad Pawar) and DMK’s Kanimozhi—will also lead delegations, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs said in a press statement. Show Full Article ...

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14May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Tharoor faces Congress leadership’s ire for breaking from party line on Op Sindoor, Trump’s claims

New Delhi: Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor faced the party leadership’s ire Wednesday over his remarks on Operation Sindoor and US President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the White House brokered a truce between India and Pakistan, with top party functionaries accusing him of crossing the “Laxman rekha”, ThePrint has learnt. Questions aimed at Tharoor’s remarks came at him during a meeting chaired by Rahul Gandhi at the party headquarters. With Tharoor in the room, the leadership underlined that making statements not in step with the party’s formal position may invite disciplinary action, top Congress sources told ThePrint. “Congress party does not usually restrain leaders from speaking their mind. There’s ample freedom. That was the case with Shashi Tharoor also. But this time h...

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11May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Indira’s 1971 triumph in spotlight as BJP-Congress spar over US ‘mediation’ in India-Pakistan ceasefire

New Delhi: The Congress Sunday demanded a special session of Parliament to discuss what it called “attempts to internationalise” India’s dispute with Pakistan, citing the involvement of the United States in the ceasefire announced Saturday between the two neighbours. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought to downplay Washington’s role in brokering the ceasefire, saying the two countries had reached an “agreement”. It also took on the Congress for drawing a contrast between the current conflict and the 1971 war under Indira Gandhi, claiming that she “mishandled” the decisive victory won by the Indian armed forces. Addressing a press conference, Congress general secretary Sachin Pilot said the Centre should come clean on whether it has accepted the “mediation” by the United States ...

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5May By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

BJP says Congress demoralising Indian armed forces after Ajay Rai calls for using Rafale jets ‘parked with nimbu-mirch’

BJP Accuses Congress on Rafale: Accusing it of demoralising the Indian armed forces, the BJP on Monday took on the Congress after its Uttar Pradesh chief, Ajay Rai, exhibited a toy aeroplane with lemons and chillies, supposed to exemplify Rafale fighter jets kept in hangars, and questioned when India would take the next step against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack.On Sunday, Rai accused the BJP-led Centre of merely “talking big” and questioned when the Rafale jets, which were “sitting adorned with nimbu and mirch (to ward off the evil eye according to Hindu rituals)” would be pressed into service. “You brought the Rafale, which is parked with nimbu-mirch…I have not put the nimbu and mirch on them, the Central government did so, the Raksha Mantri has adorned them with nimbu mi...

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3May By source belowNo Comments

Politics

2 years of Manipur conflict—Congress demands fresh elections, says President’s Rule no solution

New Delhi: The Congress Saturday demanded fresh elections in Manipur, where ethnic violence erupted two years ago to the day, saying the imposition of President’s rule has failed to resolve the crisis and only a democratically-elected government can restore order in the state. Even as it described the Centre’s move to place Manipur under President’s Rule as a direct admission of the BJP’s failure, the Congress high command had so far refrained from demanding midterm elections in the state. The BJP had won 32 seats in the 60-member Manipur assembly in the 2022 polls. Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, the party’s Manipur unit chief and MLA Keisham Meghachandra Singh said the people of the state would welcome a fresh mandate, as the BJP governments— bo...

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30Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Whoever did it, wherever they are, they have to pay—Rahul on Pahalgam; asks PM to act ‘now’

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to act against the perpetrators of the Pahalgam terror attack “now” without “wasting time”, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi Wednesday said, calling for decisive action from the Centre. Addressing a press conference in Delhi hours after meeting the family of Pahalgam attack victim Shubham Dwivedi in Kanpur, he also demanded “martyrs’ status” for those killed in the 22 April attack. “Whoever did it, wherever they are, they have to pay for this. And they have to pay for it properly and not in some half-hearted way. They should remember they can’t do this with India. We have given a clear unanimous line that whatever happened is not acceptable,” Gandhi said. Show Full Article The Rae Bareli MP reit...

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29Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

BJP sees ‘sar tan se juda’ imagery in Congress’s ‘gayab’ dig at PM, calls it a signal to Pakistan

 New Delhi: A political controversy broke out Tuesday as the Bharatiya Janata Party came down heavily on the Congress for its “Gayab (invisible)” post, aimed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The post used ‘sar tan se juda (decapitation)’ symbolism to provoke communal tension, the BJP has alleged. In a post on X, Congress put up an image of clothes but no body, with the caption, “Jimmedariyo ke samay – Gayab (At the time of responsibility – invisible)”. Though it did not name the PM, the post came on the heels of the party questioning the absence of Modi at the all-party meeting on the Pahalgam terror attack for a briefing of all leaders. Former Pakistan minister Fawad Ahmed Hussain Chaudhry shared the post, saying, “Ooops, had heard about missing horns from the donkey’s head, but here, ...

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29Apr By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

Modi, Kejriwal should apologise for misleading country: Congress

After a Delhi court on Monday accepted EC’s closure report in a money laundering case linked to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Congress on Monday said that former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and the BJP “teamed up to fabricate scams like 2G and Commonwealth to defame the Congress”. “Two very honest and dedicated leaders—Dr Manmohan Singh and Mrs Sheila Dixit—were falsely accused… The truth of 2G has already come out in the court. Today, the court has accepted the ED’s closure report in the Commonwealth case as well,” said Congress communication in- charge Jairam Ramesh. “…Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal should apologise to the Congress and the people of India for misleading the country,” said Ramesh. Story continues below this ad Congress Media and Publicity Department ch...

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17Apr By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

Former Delhi Congress MLA Jai Kishan passes away at 66

Senior Congress leader and former Delhi MLA Jai Kishan died of heart attack Wednesday evening. He was 66. A prominent Dalit face in the capital, Jai Kishan won four times from the Sultanpur Majra Assembly seat in North West Delhi, in 1993, 2003, 2008 and 2013. In the 1998 polls, he fielded his wife Sushila Devi and she, too, won from the seat. Jai Kishan was a sanitation worker before he began his political journey. He joined the Congress in 1980 and served in various organisational roles, including All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president. Story continues below this ad Tributes poured in for Jai Kishan from the Congress’s top brass as well as the Delhi unt. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in a post on...

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13Apr By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

Pause, review, repeal RTI-destroying amendment: Cong to Ashwini Vaishnaw

Days after Union Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the Digital Personal Data Protection Act would not hamper disclosures under legal obligations, the Congress on Sunday urged Vaishnaw to “pause, review, and repeal” the amendment made to the RTI Act, 2005.On April 10, Vaishnaw responded to a letter on March 23 from Congress MP and general secretary in charge for communication Jairam Ramesh. Citing Section 3 of the DPDP Act, he had said, “Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall… (c), not apply to (ii) personal data that is made or caused to be made publicly available by… (B) any other person who is under the obligation under any law for the time being in force in India to make such personal data publicly available.” Story continues below this ad ...

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13Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Ex-Haryana MLA ‘duped’ of Rs 10 lakh by man who posed as power broker, fed her political dreams

Gurugram: Former Haryana Congress MLA and ex-parliamentary secretary Sharda Rathore has allegedly been defrauded of Rs 10 lakh. A man named Brij Bhushan Sharma, who has been named as the accused in the FIR lodged by her in Faridabad, allegedly promised to arrange meetings with senior national leaders on her behalf and manage her social media activities. When none of these promises materialised, Rathore demanded her money back. In response, Sharma issued cheques, which later bounced upon being presented at the bank. Rathore has now filed a formal complaint at Sector-17 police station in Faridabad.  ThePrint has accessed a copy of FIR number 82, registered Friday under Sections 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, for criminal breach of trust and cheating. ...

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11Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Rahul Gandhi continues Congress social justice push, reaches out to Bahujans

Carrying forward the theme of social justice that Congress has been highlighting in the recent past, party leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday urged Bahujans to support it for a better future. A day earlier, Congress said it stood firm on its commitment to enact a central law for SC/ST sub-plan and guarantee budgetary allocations in accordance with their population. The party also recalled the enactment of the guarantee under Article 15(5), introduced by the UPA government in 2006, of reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs in private educational institutions, underlining it must be implemented immediately. That apart, it reiterated that social justice could be furthered only via a nationwide caste census. Story continues below this ad Congress made the commitments in its ‘Nyaypath’ re...

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10Apr By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

Piyush Goyal says Naxalism will be eradicated by March 2026, slams Cong over 26/11 terror attacks

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that Naxalism will be completely eradicated from the country by March 2026. Goyal also said that Tahawwur Rana, one the key conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was extradited from the US due to the efforts of the central government. “Due to the efforts of the central government, terrorist Tahawwur Rana is being extradited to India… Also, the central government has taken the oath to eradicate Naxalism and by March 2026 next year Naxalism will be completely eradicated from the country. Out of the 160 districts of the country, only 12 districts are now facing the menace of Naxalism,” said Goyal while speaking at the “Mahavir Swami Janma Kalyanak” organised by the Bharat Jain Mahamandal on the occasion of Mahavir J...

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9Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

‘They say they’re Hindus, but…’: Rahul rips into BJP at AICC meet, taunts Modi & his ’56-inch chest’

Ahmedabad: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi signalled Wednesday, from the platform of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Ahmedabad, that the party is aligning its social justice agenda with the idea of pluralism—an apparent outreach to regain Hindu votes that it has lost over the past decade to a rising BJP. “We also call ourselves Hindus, but this is not our religion. Our religion is one that respects all and loves every person irrespective of caste, creed, religion and gender,” he said, referring to the act of a Rajasthan BJP leader sprinkling Ganga water to purify a temple visited by the state’s Leader of Opposition Tika Ram Jully, a Dalit. “Our Rajasthan legislative party leader, Tika Ram Jully, visited a temple. And the BJP leaders washed the temple following his visit. And they call ...

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8Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Real estate dynamo to Odisha’s 1st Muslim MLA, Congress’s Sofia Firdous is making even rivals take note

Moquim had nurtured his constituency well, and was popular. When he returned to Cuttack with daughter Sophia, there was a general gloom among his supporters. Elections were just a month away. There was not much he could do. His conviction disqualified him from contesting for the next six years.At this juncture, Moquim’s supporters and party workers approached Sofia and urged her to contest. They knew her from the time she had campaigned for her father and been with him sometimes during public engagements.“They kept telling me that I should take it as a challenge. I was initially not sure if I would be able to handle the rough and tumble of elections. But seeing their enthusiasm, I went to my father and told him that I will contest,” Sofia told ThePrint. Her father, she says, approved of he...

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4Apr By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Congress to challenge ‘constitutionality’ of Waqf Amendment Bill in SC, says Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: Congress MP and party General Secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh on Friday announced that the party will soon challenge the “constitutionality” of the Waqf Amendment Bill in the Supreme Court after it was passed in the Parliament in the early hours of Friday. In a post on the social media platform X, the Congress leader outlined the party’s ongoing legal actions, stating that the party was already challenging several laws in the Supreme Court, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019, amendments to the Right to Information (RTI) Act of 2005, and amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules (2024). Additionally, the party is intervening in the court to uphold the Places of Worship Act, 1991. “The INC’s challenge of the CAA, 2019, is being heard in the...

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3Apr By source belowNo Comments

Gaming

Eknath Shinde slams Uddhav Thackeray over opposition to Waqf Bill, calls him a ‘use and throw’ leader

Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday launched a blistering attack on Uddhav Thackeray for opposing the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, accusing him of abandoning Hindutva and Balasaheb Thackeray’s legacy forever. “By opposing the Waqf Amendment Bill, Uddhav Thackeray has completely turned his back on Hindutva and the ideals of Balasaheb Thackeray. His stance has not only exposed his ideological confusion but also cast a shadow over his political future,” Shinde said. Speaking to reporters in Mumbai, Shinde said that Thackeray’s opposition to the Bill had disappointed even his colleagues, many of whom still hold Balasaheb’s principles dear. “Yesterday was an unfortunate day for him,” he remarked, alluding to Thackeray’s political missteps. ...

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31Mar By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Why Congress leadership’s iftar engagements signal shift in approach to ‘appeasement’ charge

New Delhi: Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi attended Congress Rajya Sabha MP Imran Pratapgarhi’s Iftar party in New Delhi last week, seven years after hosting a similar gathering, only to later discontinue the practice. It is a sign of the times that Rahul’s presence at the event, which was attended by leaders from every Opposition party, was seen as politically significant in a city where such gatherings were once a fixture of the annual calendar. Then came 2014, the year when Narendra Modi took charge as the prime minister of a government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which, for the first time, did not require the support of allies to capture power at the Centre. Show Full Article Iftars became a relic of the past, with the Modi-led BJP...

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11Mar By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Oppn-BJP squabble on missing PM & President’s Rule overshadows Manipur budget discussion in Lok Sabha

New Delhi: The issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi not visiting Manipur since the eruption of ethnic violence in the state in May 2023 was triggered a political row in the Lok Sabha Tuesday, with the Opposition questioning his absence from the session, and the Treasury Bench accusing opposition leaders of attacking the prime minister. Initiating the discussion on the Manipur budget for 2025-26, which was taken up along with the second batch of supplementary demands for grants for 2024-25, and excess demand for grants 2021-22, of the Union government, Congress’s Gaurav Gogoi questioned why the prime minister was missing from the House with an important discussion underway. This led Speaker Om Birla to intervene and say that Modi had informed him of his absence on account of his Mauritius ...

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3Mar By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Congress finds common ground with TMC, alleges voter list manipulation by BJP ‘in connivance’ with EC

New Delhi: Amid strained relations between the two parties, the Congress Monday joined forces with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in alleging voter list manipulation under the watch of Election Commission of India (ECI), days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee flagged duplication of voter card numbers. In a statement issued hours after the TMC held a press conference in Delhi to amplify Banerjee’s allegations, the Congress called the latest revelations “shocking”. The Congress’s Empowered Action Group of Leaders and Experts (EAGLE) said, “The cover is now blown. It is clear that the ruling BJP wins or attempts to win elections by manipulating voter lists in connivance with the Election Commission. Which is why the process of appointment of the Election Commissioners is so criti...

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24Feb By source belowNo Comments

Politics

How a Hindi phrase in UCC is making even Uttarakhand BJP leaders squeamish

New Delhi: The term ‘sahvas sambandh‘ as the Hindi translation of “live-in relationship” in the Uttarakhand Uniform Civil Code has become a bone of contention in the state. While the Congress is protesting the “validation of live-in relationships” and the ushering in of “Bangkok culture” through the UCC and its use of ‘sahvas sambandh‘, some BJP leaders called for fine-tuning the term, arguing that it harms the reputation of Uttarakhand and could negatively impact its society and public sentiments. The UCC rules in Uttarakhand came into force on 2 January this year, making it mandatory for live-in couples to register with the state government. Failure to register is punishable by up to six months in jail. The requirements for live-in couples are many—from submitting a lengthy form and fees...

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17Feb By source belowNo Comments

Politics

Congress’s Sam Pitroda says China threat ‘blown out of proportion’, stirs fresh political row

New Delhi: Sam Pitroda, chairperson of the overseas unit of the Congress known for his tendency to make controversial statements, has stirred a fresh political row with his latest remarks that the “threat from China” is always “blown out of proportion”, prompting the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to demand a clarification from the opposition party. In an interview with the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS), Pitroda, who was reinstated as the Congress’s overseas chief after the last year’s Lok Sabha elections, suggested that China is often labelled a threat due to the tendency of the US to “define an enemy”. “I don’t know what is the threat from China. I think this issue is always blown out of proportion because the US has the habit of defining an enemy,” Pitroda said. Sho...

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16Feb By source belowNo Comments

Politics

‘Petty’ not to acknowledge good, says Tharoor, as Congress goes red after praise of Vijayan govt

New Delhi: With its Kerala unit left red-faced following Shashi Tharoor lavishing praise on the Left government’s new industrial policy, the Congress high command Sunday said the Thiruvananthapuram MP’s opinion does not reflect the stand of the party. On his part, Tharoor defended the piece, saying while he does not believe that the overall industrial climate has changed, “when something good emerges, even if only in one area, it is petty not to acknowledge it”. But, his explanation did not cut any ice with the leadership of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala. UDF convenor M. M. Hasan slammed Tharoor, saying if he wishes to air views that do not align with that of the Congress or the alliance’s stance, he should have the decency to resign from the Congress Working Com...

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