Congress

TVK govt wins trust vote in TN Assembly, AIADMK rebel group backs govt

The floor test proceedings to prove the strength of the C Joseph Vijay-led TVK government were underway in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Wednesday with the Congress and Left parties extending support to the government while the opposition DMK staged a walkout and abstained from voting. BJP with its lone MLA, stayed 'neutral.' Earlier, Chief Minister Vijay moved a resolution seeking the confidence vote. Floor leaders of the respective parties were allowed to speak first. AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami opposed the Vijay-led government in the proceedings. The party's rebel leader S P Velumani declared support to TVK government, even as the Palaniswami faction opposed him. The main opposition party, DMK, staged a walkout and abstained from taking part in the voting. Congress, CPI , CPI (M), VCK, IUML and AMMK extended support to the government while the BJP said its stand was "neutral." Anbumani Ramadoss-led PMK, which has four MLAs, said it was "abstaining." The vote

Kerala CM buzz intensifies; anti-high command posters surface in Wayanad

Kerala is likely to know the name of its next Chief Minister later on Wednesday, with indications that the Congress high command could make an announcement before noon. The delay in the decision has kept the camps of three top contenders--AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala on edge. As the Congress leadership continued discussions over the selection of Kerala's next Chief Minister, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday met former Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) presidents in Delhi to gather their views and help end the prolonged uncertainty. Sources said the Kerala leaders called to Delhi by the party leadership during crucial discussions on Tuesday expressed their views on the Chief Ministerial choice, with the names of Venugopal, Satheesan and Chennithala figuring prominently in the consultations as the high command continued its deliberations. Former KPCC chief K Muraleedharan, after meeting Gandhi

Bigger the theft, bigger the reward: Rahul slams Centre on WB appointments

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe at the appointments of erstwhile chief election officer Manoj Agarwal as the new West Bengal chief secretary and Subrata Gupta as the chief advisor to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, saying that in the BJP-EC "chor bazaar", the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward. The Congress has claimed that the appointments reflected the "brazen collusion and connivance" between the Election Commission and the BJP. In a post in Hindi on X, Gandhi said, "In the BJP-EC's 'chor bazaar'' the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward." The opposition party had on Monday said that there is not even an attempt to keep the collusion discrete or concealed. Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, had said the BJP-led West Bengal government has appointed the erstwhile chief election officer Agarwal, a 1990-batch IAS officer responsible for overseeing the recent Assembly elections in the state, as the new chief ...

Kerala CM suspense continues: Is there a deadline to form the govt?

Kerala's CM decision remains pending even after Congress-led UDF's decisive win, as contention among the three top leaders delays the decision, raising questions on government formation timelines

'Proofs of failure': Rahul Gandhi slams PM Modi over seven appeals

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi further accused PM Modi of shifting the responsibility to the public so that the government could itself escape from accountability

Triangular contest continues in Kerala as BJP eyes next Assembly polls

BJP begins strategising for next Assembly polls; Modi says 'saffron sun' rising in Bengaluru. Archis Mohan writes

Karnataka Minister D Sudhakar passes away at 66, condolences pour in

Karnataka Minister D Sudhakar died in the early hours of Sunday after a prolonged illness, a medical bulletin said. He was 66. The planning and statistics minister breathed his last at the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences here. He had been undergoing treatment for a lung infection for the past two months. "Honourable Minister Mr Sudhakar D, 66 yrs old, was declared dead at 3.15 am on 10.05.2026 in Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Electronic City," Dr R Chinnadurai, Medical Director of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, said in the bulletin. Sudhakar was a senior Congress leader and the MLA from Hiriyur in Chitradurga district. Mourning his demise, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he was saddened to hear about Sudhakar's death. He said when he met him in the hospital, he felt he would recover. "Sudhakar was a person with immense concern and commitment towards public service. Such a person should have remained among the people for many more years. Despite t

Venugopal factor looms as Congress huddles to pick Kerala's CM face

Days after the results of the Kerala Assembly election gave a decisive mandate to the Congress-led UDF, the party is yet to finalise its chief ministerial face, with its top brass in a huddle. The X-factor in the Kerala story is the powerful general secretary (organisation), K C Venugopal, the Lok Sabha MP from Alappuzha who has thrown his hat in the ring even though he did not contest the assembly elections. Also in active contention are state Congress leaders V D Satheesan, who is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the outgoing assembly, and former LoP Ramesh Chennithala, considered close to former party president Sonia Gandhi. The senior leaders gathered at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence in the national capital, where they discussed the report of central observers, who are learnt to have indicated that a majority of MLAs support Venugopal. Sources said around 43 MLAs and all party MPs from the state have supported Venugopal as chief minister, given his stature in t

TN Cong MLAs shift to Hyderabad as TVK seeks numbers to form govt

With uncertainty continuing over government formation in Tamil Nadu, five Congress MLAs from the state were camping in Hyderabad on Saturday in an apparent move by the party to prevent any poaching attempts. Congress MLA P Viswanathan from Melur, who was formerly the AICC in-charge of party affairs in Telangana, was leading the group of five MLAs during their stay in Hyderabad, party sources said. The Congress has already declared its support for TVK, and Viswanathan is likely to become a minister if a TVK government is formed, the sources added. Actor Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, which won 108 seats-10 short of a majority-had earlier reached out to the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), and VCK parties that had been allied with the DMK, seeking their support to form the government after emerging as the single largest party in its maiden Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, held on April 23. The VCK, a long-time ally of the Left parties, is expected to formally announce its support for the

Decision on Kerala CM likely in 24 hours: Congress leader Muraleedharan

As lobbying intensifies among the three top contenders for the chief minister's post, senior Congress leader K Muraleedharan on Saturday said the party high command was likely to take a final decision on Kerala's next CM within 24 hours. The UDF's sweeping Assembly poll victory in Kerala has triggered a wave of lobbying and demonstrations by the supporters of senior leaders V D Satheesan, Ramesh Chennithala and K C Venugopal, urging the Congress leadership to select the respective leaders as the new CM. "The information from Delhi is that discussions on the chief ministerial candidate will be completed within 24 hours," Muraleedharan told reporters. Acknowledging public fervour, he emphasised that flex boards and marches alone would not determine the leadership. He added that the views of MLAs and coalition partners would also be considered by the Congress leadership. "I will not publicly reveal what I told the high command representatives. I have conveyed the sentiments of the pe

Shashi Tharoor moves Delhi HC against publication of deepfake videos

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday moved the Delhi High Court against the publication of AI-generated deepfake videos purportedly showing him "praising Pakistan" and making statements on such "politically sensitive" issues. Justice Mini Pushkarna issued summons to social media platforms X and Meta Platforms as well as the Centre on the lawsuit by the Thiruvananthapuram MP and current chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, and indicated she would pass an interim order in his favour. Senior advocate Amit Sibal, appearing for Tharoor, submitted that unknown entities were repeatedly publishing fake videos by misappropriating his face, voice and other attributes of his personality, which ought to be taken down. The senior counsel argued that the videos are detrimental to Tharoor's reputation as a patriot and chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs. "India Today and PTI have put publicly that these are fake videos, yet t

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam reaches out to Left, VCK to shore up numbers

TVK sought support to prove majority in Tamil Nadu, while Congress leaders in Kerala openly jockeyed for the chief minister's post after poll results

Pak not isolated like after Mumbai attack: Cong on Op Sindoor anniversary

Taking a swipe at the government, the Congress on Thursday said that in spite of extensive diplomatic outreach by India following Operation Sindoor, Pakistan did not get isolated as it had been after the 2008 Mumbai terror attack, and has come in for praise from the US military establishment. On the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, the opposition party recalled that the first announcement of the ceasefire that halted the operation unexpectedly was made at 5:37 PM IST on May 10, 2025 by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said, "As we celebrate the first anniversary of the launch of Operation Sindoor and salute the achievements of our armed forces, it would be useful to recall the following: The first announcement of the cease fire that halted Operation Sindoor unexpectedly was made at 5:37 PM IST on May 10 2025 by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who claimed that it was intervention by President Trump that

Despite Cong support, Vijay-led TVK struggles to find more allies

Vijay's TVK falls short of majority in Tamil Nadu and struggles for allies, as political churn unfolds across Kerala, West Bengal and Puducherry

DMK calls Congress "backstabbers" over alliance with Vijay's TVK in Tamil Nadu

DMK calls Congress "backstabbers" over alliance with Vijay's TVK in Tamil Nadu

Congress declares support to TVK, says alliance covers future polls as well

The Congress party, a long-time ally of the DMK, on Wednesday announced support to actor-politician Vijay's TVK to form the government in Tamil Nadu and severed ties with the Dravidian major. The Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) have decided to extend its full support to the TVK to form the government, AICC Tamil Nadu incharge Girish Chodankar said in a statement citing TVK chief Vijay's request seeking support. He said: "Our support shall be conditional upon the TVK keeping out from this alliance any communal forces that do not believe in the Constitution of India. This alliance between the TVK and the Tamil Nadu Congress will strive to bring back Perunthalaivar Kamaraj's glory days of Tamil Nadu, with a strong commitment to Thanthai Periyar's social justice ideals and Dr BR Ambedkar's constitutional ideals in the years and decades to come. This alliance - founded on mutual respect, appropriate share, and shared responsibility between the two

Hung verdict in Tamil Nadu polls spark support talks for Vijay's TVK

In a changed political atmosphere in Tamil Nadu with no single political party having a simple majority to form the government post the Assembly election, opinion is divided among the allies led by the Dravidian majors in extending external support to Vijay-led TVK in government formation. Both the DMK and AIADMK are at unease as the Congress and also a section in the AIADMK express willingness to extend external support to Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagtam in forming the government. Post poll, the TVK's political prospects appear to impact alliances led by both the Dravidian majors in a different manner, triggering a speculation of a split. Leema Rose Martin, who won from Lalgudi on an AIADMK ticket, has stated that talks were underway on extending support to the TVK. Her son-in-law Aadhav Arjuna, who won from Villivakkam is TVK's general secretary. On May 5, former AIADMK minister O S Manian, emerging from his meeting with party general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated

Congress likely to support Vijay's TVK for govt formation in Tamil Nadu

The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said. The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night. AICC in-charge for Tamil Nadu Affairs of the party Girish Chodankar had called the meeting of the Committee to decide on extending support to TVK. The meeting, the sources said, was convened on Zoom and senior members expressed their views in favour of supporting the actor-turned-politician. The PAC of Tamil Nadu Congress unanimously decided to support TVK leader Thiru Vijay to form a secular government in Tamil Nadu, the sources confirmed. Earlier during the day, the Congress claimed that Vijay had sought its support for government formation in the state and informed that its leadership has directed the state unit to take a final decision on the matter, keeping in view the state's sentiments. The party, which

Every 6th BJP MP in Lok Sabha won through 'vote chori': Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that every sixth BJP MP in the Lok Sabha secured his or her seat through "vote chori" and asked if they should be labelled "ghuspethiya" in that party's own parlance. Gandhi also claimed that the BJP would not be able to win even 140 seats today in the Lok Sabha if fair elections are held. "Through vote theft, sometimes individual seats are stolen, and at other times, an entire government. Of the 240 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha, roughly every sixth MP secured seat through vote chori," the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said in a post in Hindi on X. "They are not hard to identify - should we, in the BJP's own parlance, label them 'ghuspethiya'? And what of Haryana? There, the entire government itself is an 'ghuspethiya'. The very institutions they keep in their pockets - the ones they manipulate to distort voter lists and the electoral process - are themselves 'remote-controlled'," Gandhi said, in a scathing attack on the ...

Cong says TVK chief Vijay sought its support to form govt in Tamil Nadu

The Congress on Tuesday claimed that TVK chief Vijay has sought the party's support in government formation in Tamil Nadu and its leadership has directed the state unit to take a final decision on the matter. Top Congress leaders held a meeting at party chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence on Tuesday evening. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Congress in-charge for Tamil Nadu state unit Girish Chodankar were among those present. Addressing the media after the meeting, Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal said the Tamil Nadu unit of the party has been directed to take a final decision keeping in view the sentiments of the state as reflected in the electoral verdict. "Today we had a meeting to discuss about the Tamil Nadu political situation. Basically, we discussed the post-election scenario in the meeting, which was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Tamil Nadu in-charge Girish Chodankar. "The