Tharoor, Kharge wish each other the best as Cong prez poll sees 96% turnout; all eyes on Oct 19

News Network
October 17, 2022

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New Delhi, Nov 17: Around 9,500 or 96 per cent of 9,915 eligible Congress leaders and workers on Monday cast their vote to the elect a non-Gandhi as party chief for the first time in 22 years, even as the scales were tilted heavily towards veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge against his younger rival Shashi Tharoor.

Among those who voted at various parts of the country included party chief Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and the two candidates among others.

“As per preliminary assessment, 9,497 out of 9,915 PCC delegates who are eligible to vote in the election cast their vote, accounting for 95.78 per cent of the total votes,” Congress’ Central Election Authority Chairperson Madhusudan Mistry told a press conference after the conclusion of voting.

The counting of votes will be held on Wednesday at the AICC headquarters.

There was no adverse incident during Congress presidential polls, Mistry said, adding he has not received any complaints.

Sonia along with Priyanka came to the AICC headquarters to vote. As she moved into the polling booth, Sonia told reporters, "I have been waiting for a long time for this day."

While former Finance Minister P Chidambaram was the first vote in AICC headquarters, others who voted there included Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh and senior leaders Janardhan Dwivedi and Salman Khurshid.

Kharge voted in Bengaluru while Tharoor voted in Thiruvananthapuram. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal also voted in Thiruvananthapuram.

Both the candidates wished each other the best. Tharoor telephoned Kharge in the morning to "reaffirm my respect for him and our shared devotion to the success of Congress." Kharge tweeted, "my best wishes to Shashi Tharoor. Spoke to him earlier today, both of us are contesting to strengthen Congress to build a stronger and better nation for the future generations."

After the voting, Tharoor tweeted, "My thanks to all the Congress colleagues, workers, delegates across the country who had the courage to participate, to campaign, to dream and to vote today -- whatever the result of this election, it is a victory for you!"

Senior leader Anand Sharma, who was among the 87 leaders who cast their votes at the AICC headquarters said it was a good start and expressed hope that there will be an election to the Congress Working Committee.

Asked about elections to the CWC, Mistry said AICC members will be elected and the new president will take a call on plenary session and next president will take a call on the election of CWC and CEA Members.

He said the party had started its exercise for presidential polls two years ago and it gathered momentum in the last six months.

"The entire process was completed in a democratic manner. Congress once again proven that there is an internal democracy within the party. Other political parties should also take lessons from this," he said.

He emphasised the election was conducted through a secret ballot. Fifty people, including Rahul, voted at the polling booth set up at the Bharat Jodo Yatra camp in Karnataka's Bellary. 

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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Agencies
November 22,2025

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New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has again claimed to have solved the conflict between India and Pakistan, repeating his assertion during a meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office.

Mamdani flew to Washington DC for his first meeting with Trump in the White House on Friday. Trump said he “enjoyed” the meeting, which he described as “great.”

During remarks in the Oval Office, with Mamdani standing next to him, Trump repeated his claim that he solved the May conflict between India and Pakistan.

"I did eight peace deals of countries, including India and Pakistan,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump had said he threatened to put 350 per cent tariffs on India and Pakistan if they did not end their conflict, repeating his claim that he solved the fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called him to say “we're not going to go to war.”

Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 60 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between India and Pakistan.

India has consistently denied any third-party intervention. India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Mamdani emerged victorious in the closely-watched battle for New York City Mayor, becoming the first South Asian and Muslim to be elected to sit at the helm of the largest city in the US.

He had been the front-runner in the NYC Mayoral election for months and defeated Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa and political heavyweight former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent candidate and was officially endorsed by Trump just hours before the elections.

Indian-descent Mamdani is the son of renowned filmmaker Mira Nair and Columbia University professor Mahmood Mamdani. He was born and raised in Kampala, Uganda and moved to New York City with his family when he was 7. Mamdani became a naturalised US citizen only recently, in 2018.

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News Network
November 26,2025

Mangaluru, Nov 26: Assembly Speaker and local MLA U.T. Khader has initiated a high-level push to resolve one of Mangaluru’s longest-standing traffic headaches: the narrow, high-density stretch of National Highway-66 between Nanthoor and Talapady.

He announced on Tuesday that a formal proposal has been submitted to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) seeking approval to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the widening of this crucial corridor.

The plan specifically aims to expand the existing 45-meter road width to a full 60 meters, coupled with the construction of dedicated service roads. Khader highlighted that land for a 60-meter highway was originally acquired during the initial four-laning project, but only 45 meters were developed, leading to a perpetual bottleneck.

"With vehicle density rising sharply, the expansion has become unavoidable," Khader stated, stressing that the upgrade is essential for ensuring smoother traffic flow and improving safety at the city's main entry and exit points.

The stretch between Nanthoor and Talapady is a vital link on the busy Kochi-Panvel coastal highway and connects to major city junctions. The move to utilize the previously acquired land for the full 60-meter width is seen as a necessary measure to catch up with the region's rapid vehicular growth and prevent further traffic gridlocks.

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