Politics

The Congress, which had extended the invitation to all major political players, was hoping to project the event as another step towards opposition unity.

Short-term agriculture loans to the tune of over Rs 6,100 crore of over 16.65 lakh farmers drawn from cooperative banks and Chhattisgarh Gramin Banks, as on November 30, 2018, will be completely waived, he said.

Defending himself, the newly-appointed Chief Minister said, 'I had taken oath in 1991 and I remained the Delhi in-charge in the past, but the issue wasn’t raked up then, so you all know well why all this is happening now.'

The ban was causing great inconvenience to the people living along the Indo-Nepal border, the former Union minister said.

Hitting out at the Gandhi family for alleging corruption in the defence contract, she said that they showed "amazing audacity" by not listening to the Supreme Court's verdict in the case.

Sources said Gandhi met Chhattisgarh's four potential chief minister candidates -- T S Singh Deo, Tamradhwaj Sahu, Bhupesh Baghel and Charan Das Mahant -- at his Tughlaq Lane residence and held discussions with them.

Other senior opposition leaders who have confirmed their presence include Kerala CM and CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan, V Puducherry CM and Congress leader V Narayanasamy and senior TMC leader Dinesh Trivedi.

Mallikarjun Kharge said the party’s demand for a JPC probe still stands as the main contentious issue was pricing, which SC said it did not want to comment on as it is not in its jurisdiction

As the waiting cadres don't seem to be taking the slow nature of things very kindly, both Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot had to appeal to them to maintain calm.

KCR has national ambitions and his close aides feel that he will take the plunge at the right time by handing over chief minister’s post to his son KT Rama Rao.

"I am a Dalit and faced victimisation from the party which is 100 per cent anti-Dalit...I was always given the position where my caste fits," Bhagat told reporters here.

His statement comes two days after he severed ties with the BJP and resigned from the Union council of ministers, accusing PM Narendra Modi of reducing the Cabinet to a 'rubber stamp'.

Although the West Bengal chief minister had congratulated the winners, she had stopped short of naming either Congress or Gandhi.

It has taken Congress almost three decades to make adjustments and come to terms with altered political dynamics in the country. It finally seems to have learnt the lesson.

The battle for MP climaxed late on Tuesday night, with state Congress chief Kamal Nath writing to Governor Anandiben Patel and claiming that the party had the support of Independent candidates.

Mandsaur is the seat which Rahul Gandhi visited twice - last year in June when six farmers were killed in protests and again this year to commemorate.