The former Union minister said the population debate is 'utterly misplaced' and half a century out-of-date as a large majority of Indian states have achieved replacement levels of fertility.

Ajay Kumar Lallu said the party has emerged as the main challenger to the "oppressive" UP government and the 'winds of change' were blowing in the state.

Amid signs of chill in Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan's ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav on Sunday reached out to him for aligning with the Opposition, saying he can carry forward his father Ram Vilas Paswan's legacy only by joining the 'existential fight' against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue M S Golwalkar's thoughts.

"All you have to do is to put the picture of (UP Chief Minister) Yogi (Adityanath) in front of you and Priyanka Gandhi's picture and you won't need to ask any more questions," said Khurshid, who is the chief of the party's manifesto committee for the state.

The senior Congress leader asserted that those calling for reform should have had a discussion with others as well.

Kapil Sibal, a prominent member of the Congress's group of 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul last year, on Thursday slammed fellow letter signatory Jitin Prasada for crossing over to the Bharatiya Janata Party and said it represented politics of "prasada" or personal gains.

Alleging that Prasada had placed "personal ambition" over everything else, Moily said the Uttar Pradesh leader's ideological commitment was suspect from the beginning and the party winning zero seats in West Bengal under his charge showed that he was incompetent.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary in-charge Uttar Pradesh, has lashed out against the Yogi Adityanath dispensation in its handling of the second wave, saying it has ceased to act as a protector and support system for the people in the state.

'The Modi government's lack of foresight has compelled India to become an importer of vaccines today and even now, their "vaccine strategy is flawed and discriminatory'

The Congress MP from Sivaganga also slammed the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance and said the people of Tamil Nadu do not want a government which has any "stain, scent or shadow" of the BJP as its 'Hindi-Hindutva' agenda "irritates" them.

He also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party wanted to create a Delhi-like situation in Puducherry and take power away from an elected government.

'When I joined politics at 53, I thought I had left it too late to make the kind of impact I felt I was capable of. What can I say about someone who is 88?'

A day ahead of former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi's visit to Rajasthan to raise the voice of the farmers against the farm laws, he said that the Centre should withdraw the laws and after thorough consultation with farmers and states, come up with a new set of legislations which the tillers would themselves want and is not something that is forced upon them.

The existing building is a British-era building, designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker who were responsible for planning and construction of New Delhi.

The senior leader said there an all-round support for Sonia and Rahul Gandhi is "apparent to anyone who is not blind".

We should be ready beforehand and I agree that if we have to go for alliances then the formalities of those alliances should be completed as soon as possible

Congress leader Shatrughan Sinha said the "writing on the wall is clear" that the 'Mahagathbandhan' will be 'maha vijayi' (grandly victorious) as everyone can see the attraction and euphoria for the grand opposition alliance.

Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.

The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.

Sibal said the BJP always tries to gain a foothold in states where its presence is limited and afterwards "dumps" its allies.