Congress in Goa wants to go it alone

May 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress Sunday said any decision on including Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad in the government will be taken only after discussions with its pre-poll allies. 'No discussion took place about anybody - this was not on the agenda.

May 16th, 2009 GUWAHATI - The Congress was leading in 16 of the 24 seats in the northeast followed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in three and the Left parties in two. According to latest trends available, the Congress was leading in 10 of the 14 seats in Assam followed by the BJP with three and the Bodoland People's Front, an ally of the Congress, in one seat.

May 16th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The Congress party is leading in nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana two hours after the counting for the parliamentary elections began Saturday. The Congress is leading in Gurgaon, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat and Faridabad.

May 16th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - The ruling Congress in Haryana was leading in nine of the 10 Lok Sabha seats two hours after the counting for the parliamentary elections began Saturday. The Congress was leading in Gurgaon, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Sirsa, Bhiwani-Mahendragarh, Ambala, Karnal, Sonepat and Faridabad.

May 11th, 2009 KOLKATA/SHIMLA - Trinamool Congress (TMC) Chief Mamata Banerjee has expressed confidence that the Congress-led coalition will form government without Communists' support. Addressing a news conference here on Sunday, Banerjee said, "Congress-Trinamool Congress alliance will remain strong.

May 8th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat met Biju Janata Dal leader and Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik here on Friday for discussions on forming a credible secular alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. After the meeting, Karat said he was confident about forming a non-Congress, non-BJP front that would be "well-poised" to defeat both the Congress and the BJP.

April 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has claimed that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar could have become prime minister had he continued in the Congress party. 'National politics is always decided on strength...

March 27th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin has been named as Congress' candidate from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad constituency for 15th Lok Sabha elections. Azaruddin's name was announced among the fourteen names declared on Friday by the Congress party.

March 27th, 2009 KOLKATA - West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Friday said that neither the Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would be able to cobble up a majority to return to power at the centre. 'The BJP with its Hindutva agenda has lost its appeal and everybody (United Progressive Alliance partners) is estranged from the Congress,' Bhattacharjee said in an interview to a private regional news channel here.

March 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unmoved by the Congress declaring it would go it alone in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Saturday asserted that he would stick to the alliance firmed up with the Lok Janshakti Party for the state. Hours after the Congress announced that it would fight 37 of the state's 40 seats, RJD chief Lalu Prasad said: 'We will give only three seats to the Congress and there will be no reconsideration on this.' Yadav told reporters: 'If the Congress wants to field its candidates they can, but (Congress chief) Sonia Gandhi will realise the importance of the RJD after the elections.' The Congress move came after the RJD and Ram Vilas Paswan of LJP earlier in the week unilaterally decided the alliance formula for Bihar, leaving just three seats for the Congress.

March 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Unfazed by the Congress announcing it would go it alone in Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Saturday asserted that he could not help if the Congress was unhappy with the seat sharing formula firmed up with the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and he would stick to it. At the same time, he sought to dispel talk about any spilt in the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), saying his party continued to be a part of the ruling coalition.

March 18th, 2009 KOLKATA - Activists of Trinamool Congress and Congress party organised a yagna here for the success of the alliance of these two parties in the ensuing elections to the Lok Sabha. This was consequent to the finalisation of the tie-up and sharing of seats between the two parties in West Bengal.

March 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress and its United Progressive Alliance (UPA) partner Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Wednesday struck an alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan told reporters that the two parties had arrived at a seat-sharing arrangement for 40 of the 48 seats in the state.

January 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Congress party Saturday said that a decision would soon be taken on inducting former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin into the party. 'Azharuddin met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other senior party leaders recently and expressed a desire to join the Congress party.

January 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi was Thursday removed as a spokesperson of the party, a day after he asked Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh to go for 'physical and mental check up'. 'Chaturvedi has been removed from the panel of the Congress spokespersons,' a Congress leader told IANS.