Himachal Pradesh Governor Bandaru Dattatraya was allegedly manhandled by some Congress members in the assembly complex on Friday, following which five MLAs were suspended for the remainder of the Budget Session.
Passed by a voice vote, the Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill, 2022, also bans "mass conversion" - described as two or more people converting at the same time - through force or allurement .
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
The disqualified MLAs are Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Devinder Kumar Bhutoo, Ravi Thakur and Chetanya Sharma.
According to an international media report, the jet crashed in the afternoon local time while flying a demonstration flight at the prestigious air show.
While two bodies were recovered on Wednesday, the death toll climbed to four on Thursday after the recovery of two more bodies from the Indira Priyadarshini Hydroelectric project site in Kangra district.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi also appointed Harsh Mahajan, Rajender Rana, Pawan Kajal and Vinay Kumar as the new working presidents of the Himachal Pradesh PCC.
The sources said that Priyanka Gandhi remained in constant touch with the party president, the chief minister, ministers and all important leaders, and did not allow any laxity.
Voting for the bypolls in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Tamil Nadu were held on Wednesday.
Justice Surya Kant is set to become the 53rd Chief Justice of India, bringing extensive experience and a record of significant verdicts on key issues.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The Congress maintained that the state government had not ordered any such inquiry and it could be an internal matter of the CID. A top CID official has also said that no formal inquiry was ordered into the incident.
The Maharashtra government plans to introduce a stringent anti-conversion law in the winter session of the legislature, with provisions stricter than those in other states.
The Congress is sending Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, senior leaders Bhupinder Hooda and Rajeev Shukla to Himachal Pradesh on Thursday with the possibility of the party getting a majority in the hill state.
A detailed break-up of the winners and losers of the Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh poll.
The Commission did not announce the elections for the Gujarat assembly, the term of which ends on February 18, 2023.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi took a jibe on party leaders, "You all are sitting together right but otherwise you don't even talk to each other."
Gujarat witnessed seizures of Rs 71.88 crore in just a few days after the announcement of the election
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Himachal Pradesh is making efforts to mollify party leaders who are disgruntled over distribution of tickets to six Congress rebels for the assembly bypolls, former chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said on Tuesday.
A notification in this regard was issued on Thursday evening which further said that these six MLAs ceased to be members of Himachal Pradesh legislative assembly with effect from February 29.
The returnees also included three independent MLAs, who too had landed in Panchkula on Tuesday after casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha election.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Women, who voted overwhelmingly and exceeded men in the polling for Himachal Pradesh assembly, fared poorly in the elections with just three candidates making it to the 14th Vidhan Sabha. There were 26 women in the fray including seven from the Bharatiya Janata Party and four from the Congress but only three candidates, Congress leaders Vidya Stokes and Asha Kumari, and BJP leader Sarveen Chowdhary won the elections.
Negi's remarks came after Kangana shared images of her visit to a flood-devastated region of her home state.
High drama was witnessed during the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet meeting on Saturday with ministers Jagat Negi and Rohit Thakur leaving midway following a 'heated debate' over policy decisions, sources said.
Perhaps, another Ranji title with Mumbai will be a fitting send off for Ajinkya Rahane.
The Congress secured 43.90 per cent vote share as it wrested Himachal Pradesh from the Bharatiya Janata Party, winning 40 seats in the 68-member assembly in the hill state which maintained its tradition of voting the incumbent government out of power since 1985.
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
The Himachal Pradesh Assembly election results declared on Thursday saw 22 candidates, including five independents, making their maiden entry into the House.
Though Sukhu has been putting up a brave face and there appears to be no immediate threat to his government, the BJP is looking to bring down his dispensation with bypoll wins amid a view that it may draw more legislators of the ruling party into its fold.
Here's how our netas faring in the elections.
The BJP in Himachal has its own problems. But it is not a party that sits around twiddling its thumbs.
"The opposition parties should draw proper lessons from these results and draw up plans to put up an effective united opposition to the BJP state-wise by marshalling all the forces," the CPI-M said in a statement.
Modi said at a time when people are about to vote for the future of the state, "I want to offer you gratitude for your blessings and affections."
The party on Wednesday removed former minister Sudhir Sharma, who was among the six rebel MLAs who were later disqualified for defying party whip on the state budget, from the post of All India Congress Committee secretary with immediate effect.
Referring to Monday's rocket-propelled grenade attack at Punjab police intelligence headquarters in Mohali, he said, "it could have been Shimla also."
As trends indicated a comfortable win for the grand old party in Himachal Pradesh, Shukla said the party was happy that it is getting an opportunity to form the government in the state and asserted that the party will do everything to fulfill the 10 guarantees made to the people of the state and would provide better governance to people.
Going by Himachal Pradesh's "riwaj", or tradition, it should be the Congress' turn to form the next government.
The term of the Gujarat Assembly ends on February 18 next year while that of Himachal Pradesh on January 8, 2023.
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