Speaking at a public function at Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan's Banswara, Gehlot said India has scripted history in the world as democracy in alive in the country even after more than 70 years since it achieved independence.
This is the first time both the leaders met after Pilot openly rebelled against Gehlot a month back.
The CBI has arrested five individuals and conducted searches across India in connection with the NEET UG paper leak case. Protests have intensified, and calls for the Education Minister's resignation have grown louder. Political parties are trading blame, and the Supreme Court is considering a plea for an overhaul of the National Testing Agency.
Gehlot, whose government had faced a rebellion led by his former deputy Sachin Pilot in 2020, said he has adopted the policy of "forgive and forget" and has moved on. He asserted that he has not opposed grant of any party tickets to Pilot's supporters.
Agrasain Gehlot has been asked to depose before the investigating officer on Wednesday in Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, they said.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha on Wednesday made public three pages of the purported "red diary" which he has claimed contains the details of financial misdeeds of the Congress government and cited their contents to allege corruption in Rajasthan Cricket Association election.
Days after a crisis erupted in Rajasthan Congress, former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot met food and civil supplies minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas at the latter's residence in Jaipur on Monday night.
Addressing party supporters during a protest rally in Jaipur against Bharatiya Janata Party, Gehlot said, "BJP at the Centre is involved in the conspiracy to topple democratically elected Rajasthan government. For the last one and half years, we have worked for farmers, we have effectively tackled coronavirus. I think BJP can not deal with it and hence they are conspiring to topple Congress-led Rajasthan government."
The fact that Gehlot has stayed relevant these five years with his populist schemes is one reason why he may beat incumbency in a state that votes for change every election, observes Ramesh Menon.
'When the Congress attacked Modiji, Vasundharaji kept mum.' 'Why was she so tongue-tied?' 'Everybody knows why she kept quiet then.'
"Whoever said all those words you mentioned, I did not respond in kind because it is not the way I am built and we now have to move on, let bygones be bygones, whatever was said, we need to forget and move forward. It is not about individuals or positions or someone's statements now. It is about the country and the party," Pilot said.
Both the Rajasthan chief minister and the man who would like to be CM couldn't help grinning at Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal's Hindi, responding to a journalist's question about whether party President Mallikarjun Kharge had gotten Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot to smoke the peace pipe.
Legislator Ved Prakash Solanki, who is considered close to former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, also criticised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for his recent remarks praising Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Vasundhara Raje, for helping him survive the 2020 revolt by some Congress MLAs.
The prime minister was addressing the flagging-off ceremony of the Vande Bharat Express through video conferencing.
In Karnataka, the BJP lost the elections because of multiple poles of power, a problem the central leadership could not sort out in time. Could the same happen to the Congress in Rajasthan? asks Aditi Phadnis.
Dismissing the charges levelled against him by Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party chief Ashok Parnami as "baseless", former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's son Vaibhav today dared him to come up with factual details.
Gehlot made the announcement in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chief Rahul Gandhi at a rally here on the sidelines of the "Bharat Jodo Yatra".
'Once elected, you have to act like people's representative for the full five years or else people show you your place.'
While Pilot, who declared a week ago that he was placing no conditions for returning to the government, reportedly doesn't want a berth for himself, he has sought places for his followers.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said the accused in the Kanhaiya Lal killing case in Udaipur were 'linked' to the Bharatiya Janata Party and should have been 'hanged by now' but the investigation by the National Investigation Agency was not progressing as it should.
The Congress in Rajasthan plunged into a crisis on Sunday as several MLAs loyal to Ashok Gehlot submitted resignation letters over a possible move to appoint Sachin Pilot as the next chief minister, their rebellion erupting just ahead of a Congress Legislature Party meeting.
Terming Gehlot's "praises" for her as a big conspiracy, Raje in a statement on Sunday night said he "has made such outrageous and untrue allegations because of the rebellion happening in his own party and diminishing mass base".
Gehlot's meeting with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi led to the buzz that the two may have discussed the possibility of him being the next party president.
Union minister files a case against Rajasthan officials, alleges that audio recordings of tapped phone conversations has tarnished his reputation and disturbed his mental peace.
Rathore, however, said he was a "true soldier" of the Congress party and it was in the public domain who had damaged the party.
Mishra has sought clarification from the state government regarding the proposal of convening the Assembly session, said sources on Monday.
A major fire near the main unit of the newly built Rajasthan refinery of HPCL has postponed the inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The fire, which broke out near the crude distillation unit, was doused in about two hours with no reported casualties.
Pilot, who is involved in a power tussle with Gehlot, on Monday said paper leak incidents hurt the aspirations of the youth.
BTP legislators Rajkumar Roat and Ramprasad asserted that their party's president and other leaders have agreed on extending support to the Gehlot government on the condition that demands related to development of the state are fulfilled.
As the five states -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram -- go to the polls, here is how the big names are faring.
Senior party leaders stressed that no one except the Gandhi family can hold the party together, the party will disintegrate and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should be given command after 2024.
The Congress MLAs who have been appointed advisers are Jitendra Singh, Rajkumar Sharma and Danish Abrar. Independent legislators Babu Lal Nagar, Sanyam Lodha and Ramkesh Meena have also been appointed advisers to Gehlot, according to a list released by the Chief Minister's Office.
Govind Singh Dotasra, Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma have already offered their resignations in writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday.
Amid internal rumblings in the Punjab and Chhattisgarh Congress, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said his government will complete its full five-year tenure.
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.
"Sanjay Jain has been arrested by the Special Operations Group (SOG) team of Rajasthan Police, under sections 124A and 120B of Indian Penal Code (IPC)," Police said.
Ramesh also said the Congress leadership is considering a proper solution to the Rajasthan issue.
Initial investigation revealed that the woman was in a relationship with another man, Dhariyawad SHO Peshawar Khan said, adding that the incident took place on Thursday.
The Gandhis have served both the Congress and India. But it has been 12 years since the 2014 verdict, and the returns have been diminishing. It is time for them to step aside, let the party find its own footing, and allow someone else to make the hard calls. That is what the Congress needs. And frankly, it is what India needs too, points out Harishchandra.
The Congress claims the Ashok Gehlot government has the numbers to prove majority in case there is a floor test.
