The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on the premises of Rajasthan Congress leader and former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Punjab AAP MLA Kulwant Singh as part of a money laundering probe linked to the Rs 48,000-crore PACL Ponzi scam. Khachariyawas, who served as a minister in the Ashok Gehlot government, claimed the ED action was politically motivated due to his criticism of the government. Singh, a real estate promoter, is reported to be Punjab's richest MLA with assets worth Rs 1,000 crore. The ED has been investigating the PACL scam since 2015, alleging that the company defrauded investors of Rs 48,000 crore through fraudulent investment schemes.
YouTuber Elvish Yadav has been booked for posting a misleading video claiming he was escorted by the Rajasthan Police during a music video shoot in Jaipur. The police have denied providing any official security to Yadav and have registered a case against him for attempting to damage the reputation of the Rajasthan Police. The controversy erupted after Yadav uploaded a video on social media showing him traveling in a car with a police vehicle moving ahead of him. While Yadav claimed the police were escorting them, the Rajasthan Police has refuted this claim, stating that no such escort was provided. The matter is currently under investigation.
The Congress on Sunday replaced its candidate for the Jaipur Lok Sabha seat, fielding former Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas after a section of party leaders objected to Sunil Sharma's nomination.
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.
On the other hand, another minister, Rajendra Singh Gudha, once again endorsed senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot's name for the chief minister's post.
Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has apologized for his remarks about revered poet-saint Meerabai, which drew significant backlash on social media. Meghwal's comments, made during a recent program in Sikar, sparked criticism, particularly from the Rajput community, which demanded an apology from him. He said he has immense respect for Meerabai and "expresses regret and asks for forgiveness" if his words had hurt anybody. The minister had said that Meerabai was troubled not by her husband but by her brother-in-law, who wanted to marry her after her husband's death.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot loyalist and state cabinet Minister Pratap Khachariyawas on Monday said that the Congress workers are attempting to save their party and have to be prepared to "spill blood on the roads" against the Bharatiya Janata Party which, he alleged, wants to "topple" the state government.
State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra, who along with two other ministers had offered to resign in a letter to party's national president Sonia Gandhi, had moved a proposal in this regard at the beginning of the meeting following which all ministers resigned.
Seventeen of the 25 ministers in the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan, including Govind Ram Meghwal, who also led the party's campaign committee, lost in the assembly elections.
Two ministers who raised the banner of revolt with former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot during the political crisis also find their names in the list.
Gehlot told Congress MLAs that they will be asked to come to New Delhi if he decides to file his nomination.
Ashok Gehlot has proved that a strong state leader can challenge the Congress high command.
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 Rajasthan government has suspended Jaipur Heritage Municipal Corporation Mayor Munesh Gurjar following her husband's arrest in a bribery case related to the issuance of land deeds, a development she termed a 'political conspiracy' against her and her family.
Govind Singh Dotasra, Harish Chaudhary and Raghu Sharma have already offered their resignations in writing to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday.
Congress in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken on Monday slammed the MLAs loyal to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for setting conditions for a party resolution, terming it a "conflict of interest", and said their decision to hold a parallel meeting amounted to indiscipline.
A Pilot camp MLA said that the former deputy chief minister is raising the issue of corruption in the public interest.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will meet the Congress high command in New Delhi on Wednesday amid suspense over whether he will file nomination for the post of party president, sources in Jaipur said.
Amid the ongoing political turmoil in the Congress in Rajasthan, the party's chief whip in the state, Mahesh Joshi, on Tuesday said a meeting of the MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was not called to mount pressure on the party high command.
The development suggested a worsening power struggle between the chief minister and Sachin Pilot who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.
The 15 ministers were sworn in on Sunday for the expanded Gehlot cabinet, fulfilling a key demand of former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot whose rebellion last year shook the state's Congress government.
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.
Some of them have also endorsed Sachin Pilot as chief minister. However, they added that whatever decision the party high command takes in this regard, they will accept it.
The meeting was called for discussing the points which were raised by Governor Kalraj Mishra on Monday.
Rajasthan is all set to vote on Saturday to elect members of a new assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party aiming to unseat the ruling Congress, which is fighting hard to change the trend of alternate governments in the state.
The political drama in Rajasthan over leadership change continued on Monday with MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot remaining non-committal on holding a meeting with Congress observers, who are likely to return to Delhi to apprise the high command about the developments.
The Governor, however, wanted the state government's clarification on some points before he makes the announcement, according to a Congress leader.
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.
Accusing Congress of 'abuse culture', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to punish those indulging in abuse, while casting their vote in polling booths on May 10.
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.
In an apparent reference to the return of Sachin Pilot and other rebel MLAs, the chief minister said that he told the MLAs on Tuesday night that they have to bear and work in the interest of people.
A video purportedly of a meeting of the Congress MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has surfaced.
Government sources argued that this meets the 21-day notice requirement on which governor Kalraj Mishra was insisting.
All eyes are on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as top leaders converged at her 10, Janpath residence in New Delhi on Monday after a series of developments in the last 24 hours in Rajasthan, where a majority of the party MLAs have rebelled against Sachin Pilot and want Ashok Gehlot to continue as the chief minister.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
The Congress took out marches and observed bandh at several places on Saturday to protest against rising fuel prices.
Rajasthan Congress leaders Jyoti Mirdha and Sawai Singh Chaudhary switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Jaipur on Monday ahead of assembly elections due later this year.
"He also gave verbal directions to make the necessary arrangements for the prevention of COVID-19 spread during the session," the spokesperson added.
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.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, senior leaders K C Venugopal, P Chidambaram and Salman Khurshid were among the party's top brass taking part in the satyagraha at Rajghat.
