Page 4 - Indian National Congress

Time to free Delhi of AAP's 'extremely poor' governance: Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said the time has come to free Delhi from the group of Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP which has provided extremely poor governance in the national capital. Campaigning door-to-door in the Panckuian Road locality in New Delhi, Vaishnaw urged voters to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise in the February 5 assembly elections in Delhi. We are at a crucial stage. Everyone has seen how Kejriwal, with his extremely poor governance, has pushed this beautiful city of Delhi into serious problems. Now, the time has come to free ourselves from this and take Delhi forward, Vaishnaw, the Information and Broadcasting Minister said. It is essential that on election day (Feb 5), everyone remembers to step out by 8 am and also encourage others to go out and vote, the bureaucrat-turned-politician said. The BJP has asked several of its Union ministers and chief ministers to campaign for the Delhi polls. Chief Ministers Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam),

Kejriwal betrayed Delhi voters, city's progress was under Cong: Kharge

Kharge alleged that Kejriwal, who once championed the fight against corruption, has failed to uphold his promises and misled the public for political gains

Delhi elections LIVE: Kejriwal alleges BJP bribing slum dwellers with Rs 3,000 for fake votes

Delhi Assembly elections LIVE: Catch all the major news developments related to the Delhi elections here

Congress MP claims his dissent note was 'redacted' in Waqf Bill report

Taking to social media platform X on Saturday, Hussain expressed strong disapproval over what he described as an attempt to suppress Opposition voices

Zakia Jafri, widow of Cong MP killed in Gujarat riots, dies in Ahmedabad

Her husband, Ehsan Jafri, was among 69 people killed during the violence at the Gulberg Society in Ahmedabad on February 28, 2002

Rahul Gandhi criticises Union Budget as 'band-aid for bullet wounds'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday slammed the Union Budget as a "band-aid for bullet wounds," saying that the Centre was "bankrupt of ideas". He said solving the economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift. "A band-aid for bullet wounds! Amid global uncertainty, solving our economic crisis demanded a paradigm shift," Gandhi said in a post on X The Congress earlier criticised the Union Budget as bereft of cure to "illnesses" of stagnant real wages, lack of buoyancy in mass consumption, sluggish rates of private investment, and a complicated GST system that the economy is suffering from. It also accused the Narendra Modi government of appearing to offer "bonanza" to Bihar, governed by NDA ally Nitish Kumar, and "cruelly" ignoring Andhra Pradesh, another pillar of the same alliance.

Budget 2025: Jairam Ramesh slams FM Sitharaman for excluding basic schemes

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech announced an increase in the money allocated to Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0 scheme, in her 8th Budget presentation

Bihar appears to have got bonanza, why was Andhra ignored: Cong on Budget

Taking a swipe at the Modi government over its budget announcements, the Congress on Saturday said Bihar appears to have got a bonanza and asked why the other pillar of the NDA, Andhra Pradesh, has been so "cruelly ignored". Bihar remained in focus in the presentation of the Union Budget for the fiscal 2025-26 with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman making several announcements for the state, including setting up of a Makhana Board, financial support for western Kosi canal and support for enhancing capacity of IIT Patna. Presenting her record eighth Union Budget in the Lok Sabha, the finance minister also announced that the Centre will establish a National Institute of Food Technology, entrepreneurship and management in Bihar and also facilitate greenfield airports there to meet the future needs of the state. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said Bihar appears to have got a bonanza of announcements. "It is natural since elections are due there late

Priyank Kharge slams 'Modinomics', says Budget unlikely to bring relief

Priyank Kharge stated that the Centre's policies have led to high unemployment, closure of Small and Medium Enterprises and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and farmers' protests

Sonia Gandhi calling President as 'poor thing' demeans high office: BJP

The BJP on Friday latched on to former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's reaction to President Droupadi Murmu's address to both Houses of Parliament, alleging the Congress leader referring to the President as a "poor thing" demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset. Soon after the President delivered her address to the joint sitting, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were seen discussing the speech. "The poor lady, the President, was getting very tired by the end...she could hardly speak poor thing," Sonia Gandhi was purportedly heard saying in a video doing the rounds on social media. Latching on to the remark, BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said on X, "Sonia Gandhi referring to the President as a 'poor thing' demeans the high office and reflects her feudal mindset. This is not the first time the Congress has ridiculed the first tribal woman to hold the highest constitutional office in the country." "Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition,

Incumbent upon PM to expose foreign interference: Cong's Karti Chidambaram

The remark came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that this is the first Parliament session in which he has witnessed 'no foreign interference' since 2014

BJP wins the Chandigarh mayoral election, defeats AAP-Congress alliance

Harpreet Kaur Babla, the BJP candidate, defeated Prem Lata from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)

Congress promises caste census, permanent jobs in Delhi election manifesto

In the first part of its manifesto, Congress had already announced five guarantees, including Rs 2,500 per month under the Pyari Didi Yojana, Rs 25 lakh health insurance for all

BJP richest party with Rs 7,113 cr fund, Congress has Rs 857 cr: EC data

The BJP, which claims itself as the biggest political party in the world, has a whopping cash and bank balance of Rs 7,113.80 crore against the principal opposition Congress party's Rs 857.15 crore as on March 31, 2024, according to figures provided to the Election Commission. The BJP spent as much as 1,754.06 crore during 2023-24 when Lok Sabha elections were announced, a whopping 60 per cent rise than Rs 1,092 crore spent in 2022-23. In comparison, the Congress spent as much as Rs 619.67 crore during 2023-24, against Rs 192.56 crore in 2022-23. The Lok Sabha elections were announced on March 16, 2024. According to the figures provided to the EC in their annual audit reports, the BJP has received voluntary contributions through the now banned electoral bonds of Rs 1,685.69 crore during 2023-24, against Rs 1294.15 crore in the previous year. The ruling party has also shown having received other contributions to the tune of Rs 2,042.75 crore during the year, against Rs 648.42 crore

Congress saw 320% surge in donations in 2024 elections, BJP witnesses 87%

The share of electoral bonds in the BJP's total contributions dropped to less than half during the same period to 43 per cent while electoral bonds comprised 73 per cent of the Congress' donations

Delhi polls: Over 730 cases of violating model code of conduct registered

More than 730 cases of alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) have so far been registered ahead of the February 5 Delhi Assembly polls, an official said on Monday. The cases were lodged between January 7, when the MCC into force, and January 26. A total of 22,857 people were arrested under various legal provisions, including those under the Excise Act, during this period, according to a statement. Ahead of the polls, police have intensified vigilance at border checkpoints and conducted crackdowns on illegal activities, including smuggling of arms, liquor and drugs. Delhi Police has recorded 738 cases of alleged MCC violations and confiscated 364 illegal firearms and 445 cartridges, the statement said. It has also seized 61,610 litres of liquor worth more than Rs 1.8 crore, 156.411 kg of drugs worth over Rs 72 crore and more than 1,200 banned injections. Law enforcement agencies have also seized Rs 6.36 crore in cash and 37.39 kg of silver, the statement said. Polli

Congress demands hike in MGNREGA wages to Rs 400 per day in Union Budget

Accusing the Modi government of perpetuating a policy of indifference to the plight of MGNREGA workers, the Congress on Monday demanded that the Union Budget must increase MGNREGA wages and the Aadhar Based Payment Bridge Systems not be made mandatory. The opposition party demanded that MGNREGA wages be increased with the goal of hitting Rs 400 per day as a national minimum wage. In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said MGNREGA wages cannot be set by the arbitrary whims of the government. He said a Standing Committee must be established to evaluate the need for changes in the wage rate. The Aadhar Based Payment Bridge Systems (ABPS) must not be made mandatory, Ramesh said. He also put forward the demand that the number of workdays under MGNREGA must be increased from 100 to 150 days. "One of the earliest indications of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's uncaring attitude and shortsightedness was his mockery of MGNREGA on the floor of ..

A new address, and then a reshaped house: Cong eyes organisational revamp

"Expect a major reshuffle in Maharashtra and Rajasthan after 27 January," said a top Congress leader

No PMAY houses for Telangana if Cong names scheme 'Indiramma': Bandi Sanjay

Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar said on Saturday that no houses would be sanctioned by the Centre if the Congress government in Telangana undertook housing for the poor in the name of 'Indiramma'. He said that if the photo of PM Narendra Modi is not included on PDS ration cards and housing scheme documents, a plan would be devised for the central government to directly provide housing and ration cards to the poor. Speaking at an event in Karimnagar, where Corporation Mayor Sunil Rao and others joined the BJP, the Union MoS (Home) said the Modi government is ready to sanction houses to Telangana under the PM Awas Yojana in the upcoming allotment. However, if the Congress government tries to engage in 'gambling' under the name of the 'Indiramma' scheme (named after former PM Indira Gandhi), the Centre will not sanction even a single house, said Sanjay Kumar. He said that photos of CM A Revanth Reddy and Indira Gandhi are displayed on the ration cards, even though PDS rice and other

Cong alleges Maharashtra govt elected illegitimately, cites voter list data

Opposition Congress on Saturday alleged that the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra was "not legitimately elected" and claimed there was a suspicious addition of a large number of voters and manipulation of votes during the November 2024 assembly polls. Congress' data analytics department chairperson Praveen Chakravarty and former Maharashtra chief minister Prithiviraj Chavan made the allegations in a press conference. "The government in Maharashtra is not legitimately elected through a fair electoral process. We say this with full responsibility as India's oldest political party and as the only political party that fought for India's freedom and helped establish India as a constitutional republic," Chakaravarty said. There has been significant manipulation of the voter results in the recently-held state assembly elections in Maharashtra, he said. "Forty-eight lakh new voters were added in the electoral rolls in the assembly elections after the Lok Sabha polls, while only 3