Vaddakkan, who hails from Kerala, was a part of the first media group formed by Sonia Gandhi in the late 1990s when she became the President of the INC

Amid demands from party activists, Congress President Rahul Gandhi may contest the Lok Sabha polls from a seat in Karnataka apart from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh where his candidature has already been announced.  

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has accused the BJP of trying to create a 'hyper nationalistic environment' ahead of the Lok Sabha polls only to distract people from the issues of unemployment, agrarian crisis and what he called 'massive failures' of the Modi government.

"My commitment to you is that the moment we win the 2019 elections, all the fishermen of the country will get their own dedicated ministry in Delhi," Gandhi said.   

"Can you call me Rahul instead of sir? It makes me comfortable," Congress President Rahul Gandhi told a college girl during an interactive session at Chennai's Stella Maris College.

Wearing a jeans and T-shirt, Rahul Gandhi faced a range of questions from the students about the Congress-led UPA's plans for economic growth, bringing peace in Jammu and Kashmir, on charges against his brother-in-law Robert Vadra, views about the Modi government and the reason for hugging Modi in Parliament.

In his informal interaction with the students, he also brought up the issue of the Rafale deal and reiterated his allegations about the pricing of the aircraft and the process. "I will be the first person to say it... investigate Robert Vadra but also investigate Prime Minister Narendra Modi,"

Priyanka's speech was simple and to the point, while Rahul's speech was a rehash of what he had been saying all these years, without any variations.

“They have a particular view about role of women in our society, different languages and cultures are inferior to one centralising culture and idea,” he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged Congress President Rahul Gandhi and other politicians, sportspersons, actors, business leaders to encourage maximum voter engagement in 2019 general elections

BJP leaders criticized Rahul for showing respect to the terror mastermind by using the word 'Ji'. Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded that it was senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh who had once said "Masood Azhar Ji" and "Hafiz Saeed Sahib".

"The Prime Minister has betrayed the public and he has failed. We will not allow the PM to mislead and fool the people of India," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.

"In the simple dignity of Sabarmati, the truth lives on," she said in her first tweet posted over a month after she joined Twitter on February 11.

A case was filed against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in a Bihar court on Tuesday for addressing terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad chief as "Masood Azhar ji".  

Earlier, a booth worker speaking in the presence of Gandhi, urged him not to align with the AAP in Delhi.

In its strike back on Rahul Gandhi's attack, the BJP alleged that the Congress chief had respect for JeM chief in his heart for he addressed with suffix 'ji' in his speech.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Pulwama terror attack, pointing to National Security Adviser Ajit Dovals role in the 1999 release of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) head Masood Azhar.

The mining ban issue has been at the centre ever since the Supreme Court banned extraction and transportation of iron ore from 88 mining leases in February last year.

International Women's Day is celebrated annually on March 8.

Apart from Sonia and Rahul, other bigwigs who feature in the first list include Salman Kharsheed from Farrukhabad, RPN SIngh fom Kushi Nagar and Jitin Prasad from Dhaurahra.