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Tag: Congress

  • ‘Oppn Will Be In Attacking Mode…,’ Says Jairam Ramesh After INDIA Bloc Meeting |

    New Delhi: INDIA bloc leaders chaired a meeting on Thursday at Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi. The senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said that the alliance has discussed about strategies and now the opposition is in attacking mode towards the government.

    A meeting of INDIA bloc leaders was held at the residence of Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss the opposition’s strategy for the remaining session.

    “We discussed on our strategies for the remaining four days. There will be a ‘motion of thanks’ following the President’s address. We also discussed that. Today, we talked about multiple issues including how the speaker of the Lok Sabha was elected and the President’s joint address”, Ramesh said, ANI reported.

    Congress leader further said that the opposition will be in attacking mode.

    “The opposition will be in attacking mode. The mandate of the Lok Sabha polls is a personal, political and moral defeat of the Prime Minister. The opposition will remind him of this every day”, he said.

    Several prominent leaders were also in the meeting including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal, and Gaurav Gogoi, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party Hanuman Beniwal, DMK MP T Siva, and Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi.

    While speaking about the key meeting, DMK MP T Siva said, “We will give notices (in Parliament) on the NEET issue tomorrow.”

    After attending the opposition meeting at Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in Delhi Shiv Sena (UBT) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also said that we will raise the voice in parliament against all the issues burning in the country.

  • Sam Pitroda Re-appointed As Indian Overseas Congress Chairman |

    New Delhi: The Congress party on Wednesday announced the re-appointed of Sam Pitroda as a chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress with immediate effect. 

    “Hon’ble Congress President has reappointed Shri Sam Pitroda as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress with immediate effect,” senior party leader KC Venugopal said in an official statement.

     

    Sam Pitroda re-appointed as chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress with immediate effect pic.twitter.com/JZNb5P3PCD
    — ANI (@ANI) June 26, 2024

    The AICC released a statement that stated that the Congress President has reappointed Sam Pitroda to the position with immediate effect.

    Earlier this year in May, Pitroda resigned from his position amid controversies surrounding his remarks about the appearance of Indians. Following this, the grand old party distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments.

     

  • Lok Sabha Live Updates: NDA Vs Opposition On Speaker Post, Om Birla Vs K Suresh| Updates |

    Lok Sabha Speaker Election: Kota MP Om Birla, who previously served as Lok Sabha Speaker of the previous House, submitted his nomination as an NDA candidate on Tuesday. Birla’s name was unanimously agreed upon by all NDA parties, and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh also sought the opposition’s support. The INDIA bloc fielded Congress leader K Suresh as its candidate for the Speaker’s position against Om Birla, accusing the ruling NDA of failing to follow convention in handing over the Dy speaker position to the opposition.

    Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK’s T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla unless they were offered the position of Deputy Speaker. Venugopal stated that the BJP refused to commit to offering the Deputy Speaker position to the opposition.

    Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Lalan Singh accused the Congress of imposing conditions, adding that the ruling alliance was willing to discuss their demand when the election for Deputy Speaker took place.

    According to sources, over ten sets of nominations were filed in support of Birla’s candidature, including those from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Shah, Singh, and Nadda, as well as BJP allies such as the TDP, JD(U), JD(S), and LJP(R).

    Three nominations were submitted in support of Suresh, a Dalit leader and eight-term MP.

    Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had clarified on Tuesday that the INDIA bloc will only support the government’s nomination if the opposition is given the deputy speaker’s position. He also said that Defence Minister and senior BJP leader Rajnath Singh had yet to respond to the opposition’s request for the post of deputy speaker. Gandhi also accused the BJP of insulting Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge. 

    While speaking to reporters outside the Parliament house, Gandhi said, “Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the Govt constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire Opposition said that we would support the Speaker but the convention is that the Deputy Speaker post should be given to the opposition.”

    #WATCH | Delhi: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says “Today it is written in the newspaper that PM Modi has said that the Opposition should cooperate with the Govt constructively. Rajnath Singh called Mallikarjun Kharge and he asked him to extend support to the Speaker. The entire… pic.twitter.com/yR5CzlagEx


    — ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2024

    “Rajnath Singh said that he would call back Mallikarjun Kharge but he has not done that yet…PM Modi is asking for cooperation from Opposition but our leader is getting insulted…,” he said.

    Here are the live updates on Lok Sabha speaker’s election: 

    12:30 pm: Congress leader K C Venugopal and DMK’s T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla unless they were offered the position of Deputy Speaker.

    Venugopal stated that the BJP refused to commit to offering the Deputy Speaker position to the opposition.

    12:00 pm: Union ministers Piyush Goyal and Lalan Singh accused the Congress of imposing conditions, saying the ruling alliance was willing to discuss their demand when the election for Deputy Speaker was held.

  • ‘Helpless Modiji Just A Spectator…’: Priyanka Gandhi Blames BJP For NEET-UG ‘Leak’, Exam Cancellations |

    New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing controversy on the NEET 2024 medical exam, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attacked the Modi-led BJP government on Sunday and said that the ‘helpless’ Prime Minister is just watching the spectacle of the youth of the country who is wasting their prestigious time and energy in fighting against BJP’s corruption.

    The response comes after NTA decided to postpone the NEET-PG 2024 medical exam on Saturday. Congress leaders accused that under the BJP government entire education system has been given to the mafia and corrupt people.

    “The political stubbornness and arrogance of handing over the country’s education and the future of the children to greedy and sycophantic incompetent people have made paper leaks, cancellation of exams, the disappearance of education from campuses and political hooliganism the identity of our education system,” she wrote in Hindi on her official social media handle X.

    NEET-UG :- पेपर लीक
    NEET-PG :- रद्द
    UGC-NET :- रद्द
    CSIR-NET :- रद्द

    आज ये देश की कुछ सबसे बड़ी परीक्षाओं का हाल है।

    भाजपा राज में समूची शिक्षा का ढाँचा माफियाओं-भ्रष्टाचारियों के हवाले हो चुका है। लालची और चाटुकार किस्म के अयोग्य लोगों के हाथ में देश की शिक्षा और बच्चों…
    — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) June 23, 2024

    She further added that the  BJP government cannot conduct even an examination fairly and become the single biggest hurdle in front of the future of the youth.

    “The capable youth of the country are wasting their precious time and energy in fighting the corruption of the BJP and the helpless Modi ji is just watching the spectacle, post read.

  • BJP Conspired To End Shivraj Singh’s Political Career, Claims Congress’ Banna Gupta |

    New Delhi: Congress leader and Jharkhand Cabinet Minister Banna Gupta on Wednesday alleged the Bharatiya Janata Party for conspiring against Shivraj Singh Chauhan to end his political career.

    Speaking with ANI, Banna Gupta said, “The Bharatiya Janata Party has conspired against Shivraj Singh Chauhan to end his political career, but it was the public of Madhya Pradesh which made him victorious again by 8 lakh votes.”

    He further added, “When BJP saw his popularity and felt difficult to end his career, they placed him in the Modi 3.0 cabinet and made him in charge of Jharkhand. But BJP’s formulas and tactics will not work in Jharkhand because of their ill deeds.

    “They tried to diminish the constitution, in 2018 they tried to change the SC-ST law and now they were trying to turn the democracy into indentured labour. Their narrative was spotted by everyone in Jharkhand and in the whole nation. This is the reason behind the destruction of their 400-paar agenda and they were left with only 241 seats in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024,” said Banna Gupta.

    The reaction came after BJP’s senior leader and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was made the in-charge and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma co-in-charge of Jharkhand BJP in the run-up to the upcoming state assembly elections.

    Earlier, on June 10, after the swearing-in of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Kalpana Soren as MLA from Gandey assembly constituency, Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta expressed confidence that JMM will form government in Jharkhand again with full majority.

    Banna Gupta said, “Kalpana Soren is a very intelligent, educated woman. She was a housewife but after the way her husband was humiliated, tortured and sent to jail, she came out to fulfil her husband’s responsibility and protect the people. She has won the election from Gandey. In the coming time, our government will be formed again in Jharkhand and it will be with full majority.”

    He further said that the focus of the JMM government was to give jobs to the youth.”Whether it is the Surgeon pension scheme, Old pension scheme, or Jal Samriddhi Yojana we have done a lot of public-centric work. Our focus is on employment to the youth and we have prepared a lot of schemes to provide them jobs,” he added. 

  • Haryana Congress Leader Kiran Choudhry, Her Daughter Shruti Join BJP |

    NEW DELHI: In a big jolt to Congress ahead of the assembly polls in the state, the party’s prominent Haryana leaders, Kiran Choudhry and her daughter Shruti Choudhry, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday. Both the leaders joined the BJP in a ceremony at the party headquarters in New Delhi in the presence of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, former CM and Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and the BJP’s National General Secretary, Tarun Chugh.

    After joining the BJP, Kiran Choudhry said, “Today I took this decision because of Prime Minister, who has pledged a developed India by 2047. I have full faith that India will shine in the world. The public welfare work done by the Prime Minister has led to the formation of a BJP government in Delhi for the third time. I have worked a lot with Khattar ji. There used to be a lot of bitterness between us. But the way he worked has been my source of inspiration.”

    “The way he (Khattar) has worked honestly for the welfare of the people is commendable. Today we will take the BJP flag and in the coming times we will form a BJP government in Haryana for the third time,” the sitting MLA and former Haryana minister added. Notably, Kiran Choudhry is the daughter-in-law of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal.

    Her daughter, Shruti, who also joined the BJP, said that they will work to strengthen the county and the state. “The Prime Minister has taken historic decisions for our country. Due to this, India’s reputation has shined even more in the whole world. I have come here taking inspiration from Khattar ji. It is a matter of pride for us that Modi ji and Khattar ji have worked with Chaudhary Bansi Lal ji. The way Bansi Lal worked hard, we are joining the BJP with the same hard work. Today we are joining BJP so that we can strengthen the country and the state,” Shruti Choudhry said.

    Yesterday, the former MP from Bhiwani-Mahendragarh constituency has tendered her resignation as a Primary Member of Congress and also from the post of the Working President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. Union Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that it is a historic day that two prominent Congress leaders joined the BJP.

    “Today is a very historic day…Today, two prominent personalities are in the party, who have worked in Congress for many years…I have known Kiran ji since the time we worked with Bansi Lal ji…Kiran ji and I used to sit face to face in the assembly, ” Khattar said. Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini said, “Today, senior Congress leaders Kiran Chaudhary and Shruti Chaudhary decided to join the BJP, I welcome them. We will work to strengthen Haryana.”

  • People With Unconfirmed Train Tickets To Be Deboarded Forcefully By RPF? Congress Slams Indian Railways Minister | Railways News

    Lately, social media has been flooded with videos of people travelling in overcrowded sleepers and 3rd AC coaches. Those who are acquainted with train travel in India know that while people with waitlisted or general tickets are allowed to travel in sleeper classes, their entry was not allowed in the 3rd AC. However, now even 2nd AC premium seats are not spared and waitlisted people are seen travelling in the coach. The situation has become so grim that those with confirmed seats faced difficulty in getting or using their berths. People who faced difficulty despite paying for 3rd or 2nd AC raised the issue on social media. The condition is worse in sleeper and general classes where people are seen travelling stuffed in toilets and walking bays, leaving no space for any movement. In 2016, then Railways minister Suresh Prabhu had dreamt of ensuring confirmed tickets to every passenger by 2020. Four years later from the said deadline, even those with confirmed tickets are struggling to get their berths in 2024. 

    Indian PM (1/3)
    Narendra Modi failed in
    One Nation One Election

    but

    Indian Railway Minister
    Ashwini Vaishnav succeeded in
    One Train One Compartment

    Now

    1st AC, 2nd AC, 3rd AC, General, Inside of Train, Outside of Train,
    All feels the same. pic.twitter.com/QrTMgXYAqd


    — Schrodinger Ka Billa (@EducatedBilla) June 12, 2024

    When the issue was brought to the notice of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, he directed the authorities to take suitable steps to curb the entry of passengers with unconfirmed tickets in reserved coaches. The Zonal railways were directed to launch drives involving the Railway Protection Force and the Government Railway Police Force to ensure only passengers with confirmed tickets travelled in the reserved coaches. While the Indian Railways runs multiple special and clone trains to mitigate seasonal rush, the overcrowding of trains has become a new normal due to multiple reasons. 

    Sir Train No. 15120 from dehradun to Banaras. Coach no M1 (3rd AC)
    This is the condition of third AC what will be the condition in sleeper coach can you imagine? Please take action on this with immediate effect. Feeling no use of taking reservation tkt. @RailMinIndia @NWRailways pic.twitter.com/19WEWBtkCZ
    — Rajat Dadhich (@rajatsharmararo) June 14, 2024

    However, this did not go well with the Congress party. “These unreserved people who enter the reserved compartment do not travel by in the toilet on their own will. The government has converted sleeper and second-class coaches into AC coaches. People do not have enough money to travel in AC. Along with this, the number of passenger trains has also been reduced. Don’t use force on people and instead correct your mistake,” said Congress to Vaishnaw.

    ये कोई 3rd या 2nd AC नही है ये first एसी कोच है पूर्वा एक्सप्रेस का, (जनरल व sleeper में waiting) वालो ने इसे भी नही छोड़ा जो फर्स्ट ac का पैसा देकर यात्रा कर रहे है कैसे आयेगे जायेगे आप ही बताए??
    जनरल व स्लीपर के डिब्बे में जो 50% कटौती की गई है, उसका असर हर क्लास के यात्रियों… pic.twitter.com/Zm2qdn9QNx
    — M.M. Dhera(Attorney at Law) (@AdvocateDhera) May 30, 2024

    Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also posed serious questions to the Railways and the government. “Why has travelling by train in the normal Sleeper Class become very expensive? Why has the number of Sleeper Coaches been reduced? Last year 2.7 crore people had to cancel their tickets due to acute shortage of seats – a direct result of the Modi government’s policy of reducing the number of coaches,” said Kharge.

    जब भी कोई रेल हादसा होता है, मौजूदा रेल मंत्री जी कैमरों से लैस घटनास्थल पर पहुँच कर ऐसा व्यवहार करते हैं जैसे सब कुछ ठीक हो गया हो। @narendramodi जी, बताइये किसकी जवाबदेही तय होनी चाहिए, रेल मंत्री की या आपकी?

    हमारे 7 प्रश्न हैं – जिनका जवाब मोदी सरकार को देना पड़ेगा !…
    — Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) June 18, 2024

    Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared that the number of trains needs to increase by 3,000 every day to accommodate waitlisted passengers. However, that would be possible only by 2032 when the railways would be able to upgrade their infrastructure and put extra lines on their map. 

    So till then, if you are travelling on a train with an unconfirmed ticket, then you might get deboarded by the security officials. 

  • BJP, Congress Gear Up For Assembly Elections; Parties Field Candidates For July 10 Bypolls |

    New Delhi: As states are set to conduct by-polls for their assembly seats, on Monday BJP announced the name of the state election in-charge for Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Jammu and Kashmir. Saffron party appointed Bhupender Yadav and Ashwini Vaishnaw as State election in charge and co-in-charge for Maharashtra while Dharmendra Pradhan and Biplab Kumar Dev were appointed as election in charge and co-in-charge for Haryana. 

    BJP released a list of appointed candidates on microblogging site X which also consists the names of Shivraj Singh Chauhan and Hemanta Biswas Sharma as State election in charge and co-in-charge for Jharkhand while  Kiran Reddy was appointed as election in charge for Jammu and Kashmir.

    States are going for by-polls on June 10, the party announced the name of its candidate on Monday. AAP fielded Mohinder Bhagat for by-election to the Jalandhar West Assembly constituency in Punjab while BJP nominated Sheetal Angural for the same constituency.  BJP also announced the names of the candidates contesting for by-polls from the West Bengal assembly constituency — Manas Kumar Ghosh from Raiganj, Manoj Kumar Biswas from Ranaghat Dakshin (SC), Binay Kumar Biswas from Bagda (SC) and Kalyan Chaubey Bhattacharya from Maniktala constituency.

    The Congress party has also approved the names of Dr Pushpendra Verma and Hardeep Singh Bawa to contest in by-polls from Harmirpur and Nalagarh Assembly constituencies in Himachal Pradesh while Lakhpat Butola and Qazi Nizamuddin are going to contest in by-polls from Badrinath and Manglaur Assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand.

  • NEET UG Results: Congress Demands SC-Monitored Probe Into 2024 Exam ‘Irregularities’ |

    NEET UG 2024 Exam Result: The Congress on Friday accused the BJP of cheating young people and tampering with their futures on Friday, demanding a high-level investigation into “irregularities” in NEET for medical courses conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court. Paper leaks, test-rigging, and corruption, according to Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, have become commonplace in many exams, including the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

    “Paper leaks, rigging and corruption have become an integral part of many examinations including NEET. The Modi government is directly responsible for this. For the candidates, appearing in the recruitment exams, then facing several irregularities, getting caught in the labyrinth of paper leaks, is playing with their future. BJP has cheated the youth of the country. We demand that a high-level investigation should be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court so that our talented students appearing in NEET and other exams get justice.,” he wrote in a Hindi post on X.

    A record 67 candidates, including six from the same exam centre, received the top rank in the NEET medical entrance exam due to alleged mark inflation, according to several applicants. The NCERT textbook modifications and the provision of grace marks for tardiness at the testing centre, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA), account for some of the students’ higher scores. The NTA, however, refuted any irregularities. Six of the 67 students who shared rank one came from the same Haryana examination centre, according to the results released by NTA on Wednesday night.

    Earlier, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised the Modi government on Friday for what she described as anomalies in the NEET medical entrance exam and demanded that students’ “legitimate complaints” be looked into. The Congress party claimed irregularities have affected the future of around 24 lakh children. It said that the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the government should answer and also ensure accountability.

    NTA Issues Clarification Over Alleged Irregularities In NEET 2024 Results 

    The NTA provided a detailed explanation of the reason for the mark inflation, said that it had received complaints about time lost during the exam. “The normalisation formula, which was developed and approved by the Supreme Court in its Judgement dated June 13, 2018, was put into effect to address the time loss experienced by the NEET (UG) 2024 candidates after NTA took into consideration the cases and representations mentioned.

    “It was determined how much exam time was lost, and such candidates received grace marks in exchange. Therefore, the marks may also be 718 or 719,” the statement read. Speaking to news agency PTI, a senior NTA said that the question paper was created using a new NCERT textbook in response to questions regarding the claims of unclear grace mark implementation.”

    The entrance exam was held on May 5 at 4,750 locations in 571 cities, including 14 abroad. The NTA claimed on May 5 that the distribution of incorrect question papers at an exam centre in Rajasthan resulted in some candidates walking out with the papers. The agency denied any leaks of the question paper.

    A day later, the NTA reiterated that reports of question paper leaks in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG are “completely baseless and without any ground” and that every question paper has been accounted for.

  • Kingmaker Politics: What Do Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, Nitish Kumar’s JDU Want From Modi 3.0? |

    The Lok Sabha elections are done and dusted, but the anticipation for the 2024 cabinet members is continuous. However, all the NDA leaders selected the Prime Minister as their PM candidate unanimously, and the demands from the branded ‘Kingmakers’ are yet to be fulfilled.  

    After the unforeseen poll verdict, two parties, Nitish Kumar’s JDU and N Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP, with 12 and 16 seats, respectively, emerged as the highly demanded parties, with both the NDA and INDIA bloc seeking their loyalty.  

    Although Kumar and Naidu have pledged their allegiances to the NDA, they do possess adept negotiation skills and understand the importance of leveraging their support. Had the BJP achieved a majority independently, allies would have had to accept whatever they were offered. Yet, with the numbers falling short of a clear majority, a strategic opportunity has emerged, one that these seasoned politicians are poised to seize.  

    Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party has asked for two ministries along with the position of Lok Sabha House speaker in exchange for his party’s commitment, reports indicated.  

    Meanwhile, JDU leader KC Tyagi, while talking to the media, said that Bihar requires special status for the state. He expressed the expectation that, considering the significant support received from Bihar, the new government would take the initiative to grant Bihar special status and conduct a nationwide caste census. However, he added that JDU’s support for the NDA is unconditional.  

    A preferential status for Andhra Pradesh is another key issue that may come up in the negotiations. In fact, it was a dispute over a special status demand that prompted Mr Naidu to part ways with the BJP in 2016.