Dominic Xavier offers his take on the challenges confronting the Modi government.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and senior leader Jairam Ramesh were among the 10 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana, while counting was underway in Maharashtra after an eight-hour delay due to wrangling by rival parties over alleged breach of voting rules.
Ashok Gehlot has proved that a strong state leader can challenge the Congress high command.
The development comes after Congress cracked down on Sachin Pilot, stripping the dissident leader of the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit president, and sacking two loyalists from the state Cabinet.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Sachin Pilot's ejection as Rajasthan deputy chief minister.
While Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of being behind the demolition, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that it was the decision of the city's municipality headed by the saffron party.
Addressing a press conference at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's home in Jaipur, Rohit Bohra, Danish Abrar and Chetan Dudi called themselves "soldiers" of the party and said they will do whatever the top leadership tells them.
Polling for 16 Rajya Sabha seats in four states will be held on Friday amid allegations of attempts at horse-trading by rival parties which have corralled their MLAs in hotels and scenic resorts, prompting the Election Commission to appoint special observers and order videography of the entire exercise.
This tweet came following Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's remark on July 15, when without naming Pilot, he said leaders from new generation have become Union ministers and state chiefs without much toil.
'Everyone recognises Pilot's work for the party'
The ACB had issued notices to MLAs Bhanwarlal Sharma and Vishvendra Singh, who have been suspended from the party for alleged involvement in a conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot-led government, to appear for investigation, but they failed to do so.
Some of the MLAs seen in the video are Indraraj Gurjar, Mukesh Bhakar, Harish Meena.
"We would like to hold a discussion on the farm bills in the assembly and see what rights the state has. "We are examining possibilities. Soon, people will come to know what benefit the government can provide," Gehlot said.
Mishra had earlier clarified that Raj Bhavan had never intended "not to call" the assembly session and asked the Ashok Gehlot government to deliberate on three points including a 21-day notice period for convening a session and maintaining social distancing norms.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara said in a tweet, 'Tomorrow, Congress workers will protest in front of Raj Bhawans as part of 'Save Democracy-Save Constitution' agitation call. But, in Rajasthan we will not do anything like that.'
"This time we want to prepare the organisation very strongly. The workers should get respect, everyone's participation is important, there should be balance in power, and we should move forward taking all sections of the society along," Pilot told reporters after hour-long meeting with Sonia Gandhi.
'I appeal to Sachin Pilot and all his fellow MLAs to join today's Legislature Party meeting'
The five accused allegedly poured petrol on Babu Lal Vaishnav and set him on fire in Bukna village on Wednesday. He was referred to the SMS hospital in Jaipur in a critical condition. Vaishnav succumbed to injuries on Thursday night.
The CLP also recommended strong disciplinary action against any Congress MLA and office-bearer who 'weakens' the party. The resolution expressed confidence in the leadership of national party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Singh met Congress president Rahul Gandhi before joining the party.
"Where did we make any statement against the party? We wanted to draw the attention of the party high-command to the fact that we were not able to deliver on things promised in the manifesto for which the public elected us," Vishvendra Singh said in a video message.
The crisis in Rajasthan Congress intensified with Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at loggerheads, while Gehlot is blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs, Pilot is camping in Delhi to speak to the party leadership regarding the political turmoil in the state.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other senior party leaders, including All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pande and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also moved to Jaisalmer along with the MLAs in five chartered flights.
According to party sources, the Congress Legislature Party meeting lasted for about an hour and a half.
While the two MLAs will abstain in the event of a trust vote in the assembly, it is, however, not a withdrawal of support.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The complaint mentions "Gajendra Singh" but does not say if it pertains to the Union minister.
The two media groups have been critical of the Covid-19 management in the country and have done numerous news stories on the subject during the second wave of the pandemic that hit the country between April and May.
Gehlot and Pilot, however, dismissed suggestions that there was any infighting among the state leaders and asserted that they will unitedly take on the BJP.
Senior party leader Ahmed Patel, general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and general secretary organisation KC Venugopal have been made members of the panel.
The decision was taken in a BJP legislature party meeting held here on Thursday. After the meeting, Kataria told reporters that the motion of no confidence will be moved in the assembly session beginning Friday. He said the proposal was being finalised.
The BJP bagged 1,989 of the 4,371 panchayat samiti seats while the Congress won 1,852 with almost all results of the four-phase local government polls being declared.
The Governor has no discretion and at best he can confer with the chief minister for change of date to hold the session.
Taking a dig at the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the Rajasthan ruling party legislators of violating social distancing norms and other COVID-19 protocols which the government directs people to follow strictly but are violated when it comes to its MLAs.
Rajasthan Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the manifesto was prepared after taking opinions through multiple platforms such as social media.
' These youngsters don't have patience, which is a key trait in politics'
In a neck-and-neck electoral race, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party won 1,443 out of the total of 3,351 wards while opposition parties including Congress and Independents won 1,908 wards in the Rajasthan civic body polls, results for which were announced on Thursday.
Asserting that the Congress government in the state will not only complete its five years but will also win the next assembly elections, Gehlot again accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of conspiring to topple his government at any cost.
The meeting is expected to start at 11 am at the hotel on the city outskirts where Congress legislators in support of the Ashok Gehlot government are camping.
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.
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