At General Elections or Legislative Assembly elections, the party has won 3% of seats in the legislative assembly of the State (subject to a minimum of 3 seats). At a Lok Sabha General Elections, the party has won 1 Lok sabha seat for every 25 Lok Sabha seat allotted for the State.

At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party has polled minimum of 6% of votes in a State and in addition it has won 1 Lok Sabha or 2 Legislative Assembly seats. At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party has polled 8% of votes in a State.

source:wikipedia

New Delhi: The National Executive meet had been called for an announcement on the Jan Lokpal draft bill. What followed it, however, was a war on corruption. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal read out names from a sheet of paper of India's "corrupt politicians" who, he said, should be defeated in Lok Sabha elections.

Among the top mentions were Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Kapil Sibal, A Raja, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh, P Chidambaram and Suresh Kalmadi.

As he read out names, his party members shouted in approval.
"People like Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi, who have spent Rs 500 crore to build their brands, will take that money back from us only. How can they deliver good governance?" Kejriwal asked.

"Our aim should be to not allow a single corrupt politician or even a family member to enter the House," he said, urging the people to submit similar 'corruption' lists of their own.

Below is the list of names Kejriwal presented at the meet:
Narendra Modi
Rahul Gandhi
Suresh Kalmadi
Nitin Gadkari
Sushil Kumar Shinde
Praful Patel
BS Yeddyurappa
Anant Kumar
Veerappa Moily
HD Kumaraswamy
P Chidambaram
Alagari
Kanimozhi
Salman Khurshid
Annu Tandon
A Raja
Tarun Gogoi
Kapil Sibal
Mayawati
Mulayam Singh
Sriprakash Jaiswal
Pawan Bansal
Farooq Abdullah
Naveen Jindal

Source: Zee News, IBN Live

New Delhi: It is a worrying time for the Congress party as its key allies at the Centre, the National Conference (NC) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), are hinting at parting ways ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. While NCP leader Praful Patel defended BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying the 2002 Gujarat riots should be laid to rest, NC leader and Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said his party isn't averse to fighting the elections alone.

Praful Patel's statement attempted to distance NCP from the familiar chorus in the Congress that Modi should apologise for the 2002 Gujarat riots. He said, "If the judicial system has given any pronouncement, I think we ought to respect it and we need not question it further."

New Delhi: The PM says the Congress victory in the general elections will be Rahul Gandhi's victory..

12:39 pm: Manmohan Singh says, "This session is very important in view of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. It will us to prepare for the elections. We need to thoroughly introspect our failures in the recently concluded Assembly polls and strategise our moves accordingly."
12:37 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is addressing the session.
AICC meet live: PM says Congress's win in LS polls will be Rahul's victory
The PM says, "We need to thoroughly introspect our failures in the recently concluded Assembly polls and strategise our moves accordingly."

12:32 pm: Senior Congress leader from UP hits out at Narendra Modi saying, "Modi is a coward. He knows he can never be the prime minister so he is not quitting the chief minister's post."
12:30 pm: Pramod Tiwari speaks on political resolution. He says, "Next election is between Gandhi vs Godse. And I am confident that Gandhi will win. I do not even want to take the name of the man leading the Godse camp. The fight is between the real and the fake."
12:25 pm: Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi will become the prime minister. "We will win the elections and make Rahul Gandhi the prime minister. Congress President thought that she should not break the Congress party's trend of not announcing the prime ministerial candidate."
12:23 pm: BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy hits out at the Congress saying, "Manmohan Singh has given up. The countdown for them is over now. I am not surprised as Congress looks like has given up on 2014 and has reconciled to the fact."
12:20 pm: Janata Dal United chief Sharad Yadav says, "Restlessness has increased under UPA 2. There are lots of issues and Sonia has remained on the old Congress lines. She has not spoken on farmers and other backward classes. The forces outside the Congress and BJP will decide where the country will go in future. These two parties have to run behind these parties."
12:10 pm: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to address the session at around 12:30 pm.
12:01 pm: Chidambaram asks Congress to field candidates below 35 years of age. He says, "I have a radical idea, don't know if it is supported by others. I believe that in half of the Parliament seats, Congress should field candidates below 35 years of age. Young India, empowered India should take the reigns of the Congress party and India."

11:58 am: On Rahul Gandhi's role in the party, Chidambaram says, "We have chosen Rahul Gandhi to lead the party in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. This is more than anointing a leader."
11:55 am: Chidambaram says, "We have spent heavily on minorities, women and education. More loans is growth but more loans to girl child and poor is inclusive development and social justice. This has been achieved under UPA."
11:50 am: BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says, "Changing faces will not change what Congress has done when in power. Who is responsible for the failures of the Congress-led UPA. Congress and corruption are made for each other."
11:46 am: Chidambaram lists out the economic achievements of the UPA. He says, "We can look back at the 10 years, but I also ask you to look forward to the next 10 years. I challenge any political party to point out any government in India that has performed better than we have done. No other period or government has witnessed the growth, the inclusive development and social justice as we have in this period."
11:44 am: Chidambaram says, "Our idea of India is not that we grow, our idea is inclusive growth and that every citizen gets justice, social justice, gender justice. The political career is never ending saga of sacrifice."
11:40 am: Finance Minister P Chidambaran to speak at AICC session shortly.
11:35 am: Ghulam Nabi Azad says, "We are zero in publicity though we are superheroes at work. With price rise, the right to food is helping the poor get food at a very low price."
11:33 am: Congress leader PL Punia says, "It's not fair to compare Rahul with regional leaders."
11:30 am: BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman hits out at Sonia Gandhi's speech. She tweets, "Do I get the feeling that the Congress President's speech, with claims such as RTI et al aside, lacked readiness to fight. War weary already?"
11:24 am: AICC declares that the Lok Sabha election campaign will be led by Rahul Gandhi and the recent political set back are a wake up call. "We must retain faith in ourselves, our agenda is prosperous and inclusive India, we will work tirelessly for the people of India.
"Serious challenge to country from communal divisive force. We will contest between opposing ideologies, one seeks to divide, one seeks to unite. We want to route out corruption come out with more laws. Price rise is the biggest burden on common man and we are committed to doing everything to control price rise. Congress wants inclusive society."
11:23 am: Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad initiates session on the AICC political resolution. Ajay Maken tweets, "Draft resolution calls upon the UPA government and Parliament to debate and enact all six pending anti-corruption Bills."
11:16 am: Rahul Gandhi intervenes and says he will make his stand clear on his role in the party during his speech around 3:30 pm.
11:12 am: Congress members raise the demand for naming Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial nominee.
11:07 am: Sonia hits out at BJP and hold them responsible for spreading hatred, violence. "We have always fought against communal forces. Secularism is our identity and an election compulsion
11:05 am: Sonia praises Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. She says, "Manmohan Singh has led the government with prestige and pride for 10 years. The government and the party are strong despite many allegations. Communal forces and thought are a very big danger to our social fabric. Congress's way has always been to connect people."
11:03 am: Sonia adds that the UPA government has done much more than any other government. She says, "Politics and differences should be kept aside for the cause of development. Has any government ever done so much ever before. NO government has done so much despite an irresponsible opposition and hurdles."
11:02 am: Highlighting other initiatives of the Congress-led government, Sonia says, "Another threat that we are seeing around us is disparity amongst officers on how you know rather than how well you know and to fight this we have brought in a scheme for education, midday meal and scholarship for the weaker sections of the society."
11:00 am: Party workers hail Sonia Gandhi during her speech.

10:59 am: On the issue of corruption, Sonia says, "Two years ago I had presented a 5-point programme to combat corruption. All Congress states are committed to a strong Lokayukta and Lokpal Bill. We are responsible for the historic RTI act as in transparency lies the solution to fight corruption. Fully operational Aadhaar will end corruption in delivery of subsidies, pensions, wages and government benefits"
10:58 am: Sonia says the Congress has faced many difficult times but the party never lost heart. She lists out UPA achievements and says, "In spite of economic growth, disparities are wide spread and cannot be addressed just by rapid growth. Rural wages have increased manifold under MNREGA."
10:56 am: Sonia says the Congress party and the UPA government reponded to the the key threats that India faced. The divisive forces are stretching the social fabric to a breaking point
10:54 am: Sonia adds that the party stands on its beliefs and philosophies. "We reflect what we stand for. 2014 battle will be a battle for India, a battle for preserving secular tradition."
10:53 am: Sonia says the Congress party is ready and prepared for the 2014 Lok Sabha battle. She says, "This election will be a battle for India as was conceived by our forefathers."
10:52 am: Congress President Sonia Gandhi addresses AICC meet says CWC decision on not naming Rahul Gandhi as the party's prime ministerial candidate is final.
10:49 am: Youth congress workers shouting slogans, say Rahul Gandhi should be made prime ministerial candidate.
10:45 am: Congress to appeal to secular parties in its resolution.
10:41 am: DPCC chief Arvinder Singh Lovely welcomes everyone on behalf of Delhi Congress unit. He says, "It is true that we have lost Delhi Assembly elections, but we are now more determined to stand up together. Congress never compromises with its policies and philosophy be whatever."
10:39 am: Sonia Gandhi is being garlanded by the party leaders. Rahul Gandhi and the Prime Minister also share the honour.
10:35 am: Congress President Sonia Gandhi enters the venue. She will address the party members shortly.
10:33 am: CWC decision on not naming Rahul as the party's prime ministerial nominee can also be seen that the party is not for the dynasty but for the people.
10:29 am: Leaders move towards the venue for the session.
10:28 am: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh standing in first row along with Sushil Kumar Shinde, Rahul Gandhi, Kamal Nath.
10:27 am: Congress President Sonia Gandhi hoists party flag ahead of the session. All the party leaders sing the national anthem.
10:22 am: Former Delhi Chief Sheila Dikshit said, "Sonia has only followed the tradition and not made the announcement on prime ministerial nominee yet. Everyone wants Rahul Gandhi to be the next Prime Minister."
10:21 am: Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar clarifies that he never said that the party should sit in the opposition.
10:20 am: Around 1,000 Congress members attend the meet.
10:05 am: AICC meet to begin shortly. Congress President Sonia Gandhi to speak around 10:30 am.

9:50 am: Youth Congress to demand a rethink on the decision and ask for Rahul Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate of the party.
9:43 am: Each state unit will be given a chance to speak at the session.
9:40 am: Congress President Sonia Gandhi will be the first to speak, followed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Sonia will conclude the session.
9:30 am: Congress leader Anu Tandon said the party never announced the prime ministerial candidate. "We have never announced the PM candidate. We can work under both Rahul and Sonia. Not scared of the BJP," she said.
9:20 am: Posters of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra have adorned the walls outside Talkatora Stadium, where the Congress session is taking place. Party workers hope that she will play a bigger role this time.
9:11 am: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief Arvinder Singh Lovely said, "We are not disappointed. We will fight elections under Rahul Gandhi. We have never had a tradition of announcing a prime ministerial nominee. I have my sympathies with the BJP. There are too many people waiting to be PMs in their party."
9:07 am: Congress leaders arrive at the venue for the meet.
9:05 am: With Congress leaders backing Rahul's prime ministerial candidature, many are disappointed with the decision. Party leader Jagdish Sharma said, "Party worker says Rahul Gandhi should have been made prime ministerial candidate."

The crucial All India Congress Committee meeting will begin on Friday to startegise the party's move ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Even though the party had on Thursday at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting announced that party Vice President Rahul Gandhi will not be named as the party's prime ministerial candidate, but will lead the party's election campaign. Keeping up with the party's tradition, the CWC did not name the prime ministerial nominee for the party.

Sources said that party President Sonia Gandhi herself stepped in and opposed Rahul being named as the prime ministerial nominee. She said, "No need to announce a prime ministerial candidate just because other parties have done. There is no convention to announce a prime ministerial candidate. Rahul Gandhi will head the election campaign of the Congress.

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley took dig at the Congress for not announcing the prime ministerial nominee saying, "It is a recognition of reality since they know they are not going to form the government, why the need for announcing one. Any party that takes a decision of this kind weighs the political realities. I think the intention could also be to duck a comparison."

The elections which were believed to be personality driven will now be seen as a battle between BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and other regional parties. The Congress was trying also to project Rahul as the anti-corruption leader and even gave the credit of the passage of the Lokpal and Lokayukta Bill, 2011 in the winter session of Parliament to him.

Meanwhile, the BJP is also conducting a three-day brainstorming session to strategise the party's move ahead of the general elections where party leaders and workers are expected to be present.

Reasons believed to be behind not naming Rahul Gandhi as party's prime ministerial nominee:
The Congress did not want to pitch Rahul directly against Narendra Modi.

Some senior Congress leaders would have had a problem working with Rahul's style.
The Congress felt that that many allies like NCP, RLD wouldn't be comfortable with the idea of a junior like Rahul as the prime ministerial nominee.
The Congress is working to get new allies and Rahul as prime ministerial candidate could be a roadblock.

The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were both adjourned till noon. When both houses reassembled, Lok Sabha was again adjourned till 1 pm following noisy scenes.

Both houses of parliament were adjourned till Thursday after being repeatedly disrupted over the BJP's demand for a statement by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the missing files related to the allocation of coal blocks.

As soon as the Lok Sabha assembled at 11 a.m. Tuesday, the price rise issue was raised by the Left parties and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) forcing Speaker Meira Kumar to adjourn the house for half-an-hour.

When the house reassembled, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded a statement from the prime minister on the missing files relating to the coal blocks and alleged that the now untraceable documents carried names of Congress leaders.

"The prime minister should come in the house and clarify on the missing files. These files contain the names of Congress leaders involved and the decisions taken in the allocation of coal blocks," said Sushma Swaraj.

She urged Leader of the House and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, who was back after two weeks after having undergone surgery, to bring the prime minister in the lower house.

The entire NDA, including BJP, JD-U and Shiv Sena members, protested on the issue and raised slogans against the government and there was complete chaos in the house even as the Communist Party of India-Marxist members continued to raise the issue of price rise and the Telugu Desam Party and Congress members protested against the decision to create Telangana.

As noisy scenes continued, the house was serially adjourned till noon, 1 pm, 2 pm and later for the day.

Wednesday is a holiday on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan.

Earlier, Defence Minister A.K. Antony made a statement on the sinking of submarine INS Sindhurakshak.

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge also tabled a statement on the train accident in Bihar in which 28 people were killed.

Three bills related to first national aviation university and the first national women's university besides one on a civil aviation authority were introduced.

The Rajya Sabha was also repeatedly disrupted and adjourned till 2.30 pm over the missing files linked to the coal blocks.

As soon as the house assembled at 11 a.m., members of the BJP raised the issue of the missing files.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said the prime minister should make a statement on the issue. The house was first adjourned for 10 minutes on this issue.

When it met again, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal rose to make a statement following which BJP members disrupted the house again, forcing the chair to adjourn it till noon.

Jaiswal Saturday admitted that some files related to coal blocks allocations had gone missing.

The house was then adjourned till 2 pm, 2.30 pm and finally till Thursday as opposition members sought details of the missing files.

BJP ups the ante against PM over missing coal files, stalls Food Bill

New Delhi: On a day when the Congress was hoping to get the Food Security Billpassed in the Lok Sabha, the BJP stepped up its attack on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the missing files in the coal scam. The BJP stalled both Houses of Parliament demanding that the Prime Minister makes a statement on the missing files.

This came even as Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal made a statement in the Rajya Sabha. The government said the Coal Minister is ready to make a statement in the Lok Sabha, too. However, the BJP demandeed that only the Prime Minister makes a statement on the missing files.

"The Prime Minister should explain the House on the missing files. The Supreme Court has ordered that the concerned person hand over all the files to CBI and who is the concerned person? It is the PM who had the Coal Minsitry then, said Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

Sources now say that the Prime Minister is unlikely to make a statement on the missing files in Parlaiment. The Lok Sabha has been adjourned till Thursday. The government questioned the Opposition's motives in disrupting the House asking why they wanted the PM to speak on every issue.

The UPA was hopeful that its ambitious Food Security Bill will be passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The government had agreed to some amendments to win over key allies and spoke to Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and the Telugu Desam Party, which has been constantly disrupting the House.

Earlier, in his statement in the Rajya Sabha, Jaiswal said he was ready to face any punishment if found guilty of the allegations. At the same time, he asked Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley as to what punishment he would undergo if the case was otherwise. "All efforts are being made to locate documents which are not readily available...My Ministry would leave no stone unturned in tracing and providing the documents sought by the CBI," he said, adding a total of 769 files and documents running into 1.5 lakh pages have been handed over to the investigating agency.

Raising the issue earlier, Jaitley said there are media reports that one of the beneficiaries of the coal block allocation was some body with whom the Coal Minister was related. He alleged that the files were not missing but made to have gone missing.

"If files relating to that allocation are missing, should he be making a statement on those files. I want to know from the Chair that on account of this conflict of interest, should he make the statement...If not direct, it is a case of indirect involvement," said Jaitley.

Replying to the opposition attack, Jaiswal conceded that some files are missing and hence an inter-Ministerial Committee headed by an additional secretary has been set up to look into the issue and any action will be taken only after its report. "The mandate given to the Committee is to examine and review non-availability of files/documents and suggest appropriate action," he said, adding the Committee has held two meetings and documents are being located.

Amid slogan shouting by BJP, Jaiswal said some documents belonging to a period prior to 2004 are missing and alleged who had the interest in getting the files to pre-2004 period missing while pointing the needle of suspicion at NDA regime.

(With additional information from PTI)

Source: IbnLive,DNA,PTI

The party wins 2% of seats in the Lok Sabha (11 seats) from at least 3 different States. At a General Election to Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly, the party polls 6% of votes in four States and in addition it wins 4 Lok Sabha seats. A party gets recognition as State Party in four or more States. Both national and state parties have to fulfill these conditions for all subsequent Lokshabha or State elections. Else, they lose their status.

source:wikipedia