TMC supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a letter to the heads of other political outfits, senior leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin, Tejashwi Yadav, Uddhav Thackeray, Arvind Kejriwal, Naveen Patnaik, saying that the time has come for a united and effective struggle against BJP's attack on democracy and constitution.

Congress has released its list of 30-star campaigners for the forthcoming West Bengal. According to the list, party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi, ex-PM Dr Manmohan Singh and party leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Sachin Pilot, Navjot Singh Sidhu, others will campaign for the party.

The Congress is yet to release the list of its star campaigners for the assembly polls in which Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka are likely to be included. All eyes will be on the names of the leaders led by Ghulam Nabi Azad whose Rajya Sabha term ended recently.

In the first-ever show of strength, the dissenters in the Congress (G23) shared a public platform in Jammu and participated in the Shanti Sammelan, raising internal issues of the Congress like party becoming weak in the past decade, leadership, while at the same time, sharing a piece of advice for the young generation.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday targeted Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi over a recent speech comparing politics in north and south India and said that the opposition leader was playing divisive politics.

Advocate Satya Sabharwal, appearing for the BJP MP, and advocate Tarannum Cheema, appearing for Gandhis and others, confirmed that the high court has issued notice in the matter and stayed the trial court proceedings till April 12.

Stressing that fuel prices are at a "historic and unsustainable" high, Gandhi said petrol has breached the Rs 100 per litre mark in many parts of the country and the surging price of diesel has added to the escalating woes of millions of farmers.

The letter row, which created a major controversy in the Congress in August last year, does not seem to have died down, with AICC members being mailed a copy of the letter written by 23 senior leaders to interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking widespread reforms in the party.

Navjot Singh Sidhu is considering his return to the Punjab cabinet but is likely to be given a ministry other than he held earlier. Sidhu had been the local bodies minister and also held the charge of tourism ministry.  

The name of Jyotiraditya Scindia, who switched sides and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party triggering the collapse of Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh in March last year, also figures in the list for making a contribution of Rs Rs 54,000.

According to sources, during the meeting Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, without naming anyone, said that there are other issues in the country, however for few leaders only organisational election matters. 

Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress position on the issue of the farm laws has been clear from the very beginning. She said that the party has rejected them categorically because they will destroy the foundations of food security.

Sonia took over as interim Congress president in August 2019 after Rahul Gandhi resigned in the wake of the party's Lok Sabha debacle in May 2019.

Several Congress leaders are demanding a full-time and active party president and an organisational overhaul since the paty's loss in 2019 general elections.   

Former Uttarakhand chief minister Harish Rawat on Wednesday called for bestowing India's highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, on Sonia Gandhi and Mayawati, saying that while the Congress president has taken the honour of Indian womanhood to new heights, the BSP chief had inspired millions of oppressed.  

​Launching a stinging attack on the Centre, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday demanded that the "arrogant" government should withdraw the new farm laws immediately and unconditionally.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday gave the party's 136th Foundation Day event a miss with senior party leader A K Antony unfurling the flag at the AICC headquarters here.

In Bihar, where Congress emerged as the weak link in the grand alliance, the Congress could also give the responsibility to a new face.

Leaders like Randeep Singh Surjewala, KC Venugopal and Rajeev Sattav who are considered to be close confidantes of former Congress president were not a part of the meeting. 

After several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sonia called a meeting of top leaders of the party in which seven leaders of the disgruntled faction also attended. A total of 19 leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi were present.