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.
The Congress leadership is caught in a peculiar situation and wants to find a middle path to the issue, party sources said.
Kharge was successful in bringing Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar together in Karnataka and the party now wants to try the same formula in Rajasthan, the senior leader said.
The RSS which catapulted Jagdeep Dhankar to national prominence after 21 years of hibernation could not come to his rescue when BJP higher ups decided to seek his resignation, points out Prakash Bhandari.
Ashok Gehlot has proved that a strong state leader can challenge the Congress high command.
Pilot's demand to order a probe and take action in the alleged mining scam during the previous BJP government and other corruption allegations was supported by state cabinet minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday exchanged jibes over the red diary that a sacked state minister claims records financial misdeeds of the CM and his colleagues.
According to sources, Sahil and Nikki, who lived in a live-in relationship, had got married at a temple in Noida in October 2020.
A regular morning alive with the chatter of students assembling for prayers quickly turned into tragedy on Friday when a portion of their government school building collapsed, killing seven children and injuring 27, some of them critically.
Amid slogan shouting by Congress members, the House witnessed three adjournments.
With the deepening political crisis in Rajasthan over the appointment of Ashok Gehlot's successor, Congress Working Committee members have demanded from Sonia Gandhi to pull the state chief minister out of the race for the party chief and select another candidate for the top post, sources said on Monday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has already 'accepted defeat' by requesting him not to stop schemes initiated by the Congress in Rajasthan, and gave a guarantee that the Bharatiya Janata Party will not stop any scheme but only try to improve it.
The mortal remains of soldier Surendra Kumar, who was martyred in the Pakistani attack on the Udhampur airbase, were consigned to flames with full military honours at his native village in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan on Sunday.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said both Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot were "assets to the party", the CM on Tuesday suggested that the matter rests there.
Reiterating that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team felicitation event in front of Vidhana Soudha on June 4 was not organised by the state government, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday clarified that he 'called' Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot for the event, which he too was attending.
'Ashok Gehlot is a senior and experienced political leader. Whatever differences he has expressed with his younger colleague Sachin Pilot will be resolved in a manner that strengthens the Congress party,' All India Congress Committee general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said in a statement.
With party observers slamming some actions of loyalists of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, sources said decision on issuing show cause notices to miffed MLAs, who have been vocal in public, will be taken after interim chief looks Sonia Gandhi into the report by the observers sent to the state.
Banks may become more cautious in extending loans, as more and more farmers may take loans, relying on the assurance that a debt relief commission will back them in the event of default.
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.
The prime minister was addressing the flagging-off ceremony of the Vande Bharat Express through video conferencing.
"Even Shashi Tharoor had said it is a friendly match and after elections Congress will be the winner," Gehlot said.
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 Congress refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Gehlot and Pilot.
The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public, Gehlot told reporters.
Top Congress leadership led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held marathon discussions with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot joined them later in the evening.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is determined to implement the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project despite the Centre's indifference.
Gehlot said there is no such tradition in the party to offer posts to any leader in order to pacify him.
The meetings come days after an open rebellion by Gehlot loyalists over a possible leadership change in the state, clouding Gehlot's chances of running for the presidency.
Names of senior party leaders Kharge, Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, Sushilkumar Shinde, Mukul Wasnik and Kumari Selja are now also doing the rounds for the post.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress top leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday condoled the Bengaluru stampede deaths and the Bharatiya Janata Party asked the Congress government to own up responsibility for what it called the 'state-sponsored negligence'.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's speech in Dholpur reflects that his leader is Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi, Sachin Pilot said in a no holds barred attack against his party colleague on Tuesday.
Dominic Xavier wonders how a rebel leader -- and clearly, Gehlot is one after Sunday's rebellion by his MLA supporters, no matter his assertions to the high command's emissaries that he has no links to the mutiny -- can now lead the national party which so badly needs the adhesive of unity and tender care.
The FIR was registered on Saturday based on a complaint filed by Congress leader and former MLA Surendra Singh Jadawat.
As soon as the chief minister made the first two announcements, which featured in Budget 2022-23, the Opposition began creating a ruckus and stormed into the well of the House.
The results mark a defining turn in the fortunes of several regional satraps, especially in the BJP, around whom politics in their states have revolved for decades.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three party leaders, including two ministers, for the crisis in the state, but did not seek any action against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Sources close to Gehlot said that Rahul Gandhi is his first choice for the top party post.
Rajasthan Police personnel in several districts of the state boycotted Holi celebrations on Saturday to protest their demands, including promotions and removal of salary discrepancies. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot urged the current Chief Minister to intervene and address the police personnel's grievances, while Cabinet Minister Kirodi Lal Meena expressed support for their demands and promised to raise the issue with the government. The police personnel are calling for timely Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs) meetings, an increase in mess allowance, and other benefits. The boycott highlights the ongoing concerns of police personnel regarding their professional development and financial well-being.
Pilot said Gehlot has been calling him 'nikamma, naakara, gaddar and so on' but it was not part of his upbringing to use such language.
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.
