The delimitation process threw up a new challenge for Congress MP Sachin Pilot, who is just one parliamentary term old. As he pitches for a second term in the Lok Sabha from unfamiliar turf, Krishnakumar P shadows the young MP and discovers that he has grown into a seasoned politician.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot called Sachin Pilot a gaddar (traitor) on Thursday and said he cannot replace him as he had revolted against the Congress in 2020 and tried to topple his own government.
'Don't make the mistake that Scindia made. The BJP is unreliable. Nobody who joined it from any other party has succeeded there'
The Congress workers were protesting against the Centre's new land bill
Lokesh Sharma, the former OSD of Rajasthan's ex-chief minister Ashok Gehlot, has turned approver in a phone tapping case that happened during the political crisis in the state in 2020. Sharma was accused of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and unlawfully intercepting telephonic conversations. He has alleged that Gehlot was involved in tapping of phones and gave evidence to support his claim. Sharma claims that he was directed by Gehlot to circulate recordings of phone calls to the media.
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra has once again found himself at the center of a controversy, this time for his comments about Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Kamra has been a controversial figure for years, with his comedy often targeting politicians and other public figures. This latest incident has led to a backlash from Shinde's supporters, who have vandalized the venue of Kamra's show. Kamra has a history of making controversial remarks, including heckling a TV anchor on a flight and making comments about the judiciary.
Shah said that it is "a 3-D government in Rajasthan and three Ds stands for 'dange' (riots), 'durvyavhar' (ill-treatment) with women and 'Dalit' atrocities.
'They wanted to prove that the BJP was behind all this, which was not the case. Then Deputy CM Sachin Pilot even said that no one was listening to them even when they wanted to tell their side of the story, so they all got together and reached the party's high command'
Congress leader and Union minister Sachin Pilot was on Sunday arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police while he was on his way to violence-hit Bhatta-Parsaul village in Greater Noida district to meet families of farmers injured in the recent agitation on land acquisition.
On Wednesday, the Congress had announced that former chief minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot would be contesting the Rajasthan assembly elections.
The Congress leader, responsible for the party's victory in the recent bypolls, has slogged it out, meeting people, establishing contact and listening, all the time, to people.
The BJP's nationwide vote share saw its steepest decline in Rajasthan, falling by 9.23% from 2019, resulting in the loss of 11 seats.
Sachin Pilot on Thursday became the first Union minister to be commissioned as a regular officer in the Territorial Army, fulfilling his desire to follow his father's footsteps to be in the armed forces.
He said Gehlot could tell how he got the call recordings and whether the call interceptions were done legally or not.
The saffron party had realised after the first phase of the elections that it was "on the backfoot," Pilot said.
'The BJP may well be his ultimate destination.' 'In the process, he has probably shot himself in the foot.' 'It is unlikely that either Scindia or Pilot will be anything other than a No 3 or a No 4 in the Modi-Shah dispensation,' predicts Amulya Ganguli.
Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot will represent India at the state funeral of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas on Friday
Congress leader and Union Minister Sachin Pilot will be commissioned into the Territorial Army as a regular officer in New Delhi on Thursday by Army Chief General Bikram Singh.
Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot will represent India at the state funeral of Hugo Chavez, former president of Venezuela, in Caracas on Friday.
Congress leaders Digvijay Singh, Sachin Pilot and Rita Bahuguna Joshi were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police at the Delhi border on Tuesday, when they were going towards state Chief Minister Mayawati's village to protest against the 'coercive' acquisition of land.The leaders were prevented at the Delhi-UP border by the UP police from going towards Badalpur, the village of Mayawati, where the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee has organised a 'Kisan Sangharsh Rally'.
Rajasthan's Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Saturday visited Kota's JK Lon Hospital, where over 100 newborns have died in a month and said that accountability should be fixed in the matter.
24 hours before campaigning ends in Thiruvanathapuram, Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers Shashi Tharoor and his BJP rival Rajeev Chandrasekhar are busy getting their message across to voters.
The young minister of State for Communications and Information Technology shares his views on how his professional education has helped him shed the stereotypical image of a politician.
Marking a generational shift in state politics, Union Minister Sachin Pilot was on Monday appointed the Congress chief in Rajasthan where the party faced a rout in Assembly polls.
Reacting to Modi's comments, Sachin Pilot had said that there is no need for anyone other than his party and the people to worry about him.
The Congress is yet to declare candidates on a majority seats as its Central Election Committee will meet on Sunday to finalise names for more seats.
Earlier in the day, rich tributes were paid to Yechury at the Communist Party of India (Marxist) headquarters at the AKG Bhavan here, where his mortal remains were brought from his residence in the morning.
On the eve of the Haryana assembly poll results, the issue of chief minister-ship has taken centre stage in the Congress with all eyes on its high command's next move as the party expects to regain power after 10 years in the state.
Congress said the BJP should ask Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to step down as it can no longer "continue to defend the indefensible".
'These frequent visits show the BJP fears that the Congress will retain power.'
The state's former deputy chief minister has also demanded disbanding of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission and its reconstitution, and a compensation for those affected by government job exam paper leak cases.
The estimated costs of these weddings start from Rs 100 crore and go up to Rs 700 crore.
Not known to share the best of equations with his former deputy, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday came out in support of Sachin Pilot amid allegations by the Bharatiya Janata Party that his father, former Union minister Rajesh Pilot, was involved in the bombings over Mizoram in 1966.
'I want to ask the Congress only one question: What is more important than election management in politics?'
Infighting between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot has been out in the open throughout the Congress term.
The Congress last week hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his criticism of then PM Indira Gandhi's decision to use the Indian Air Force in Mizoram in 1966, saying he "twisted decisions" taken by his predecessors out of their political and historical context to score "petty debating points".
Taking a jibe at Narendra Modi and his 'marketing gimmicks', Union Minister Sachin Pilot says that the Gujarat leader is capable of taking credit for even the businesses set up by Gujaratis across the world over the past many decades.
"The Congress is "going to (fight) the election with unity" and it will win the polls," Sharma said after the meeting at Pilot's Civil Lines residence that lasted for nearly half an hour.
A day after his expulsion from the Congress, Acharya Pramod Krishnam on Sunday said leaders like Sachin Pilot and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are being disrespected in the party where people need 'chamchagiri' (sycophancy) to survive.
In eight districts of Alwar, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dausa, Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur and Tonk, the Congress in the 2018 assembly elections had won 29 out of 42 seats while the Bharatiya Janata Party got only six.
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