Since 1993, when the BJP came to power after a stint of President's rule, the state has alternated between the Congress and the BJP.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday announced his government's decision to form 19 new districts and three new divisions in the state, earmarking Rs 2,000 crore for development of infrastructure for them.
The MLAs inducted into the Rajasthan cabinet are Meena, Madan Dilawar, Rathore, Gajendra Singh Khimsar, Babulal Kharadi, Jogaram Patel, Suresh Singh Rawat, Avinash Gehlot, Joraram Kumawat, Hemant Meena, Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary and Sumit Godara.
As veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh and former Union minister and vice president of the BJP Kisan Morcha Subhash Maharia have now made the infighting within the saffron party in Rajasthan public, chances of the ruling party touching the mark of 25 seats now seems impossible, say political observers. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
A list of some prominent political families of the BJP.
Accusing Indian Premier League Commissioner Lalit Modi of having acted as an "extra-constitutional power" during Vasundhara Raje's rule, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has claimed he used to pressurise officers for favours due to his proximity to the Bharatiya Janata Party leader.
However, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her five cabinet colleagues have won their respective constituencies.
Dissident Congress leader Sachin Pilot began a 125-km foot march from Ajmer to Jaipur on Thursday, challenging Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and the party's top brass as assembly elections in Rajasthan approach.
'The culture of the BJP has changed and the party too has changed with this new culture. 'The BJP is having bad political management, bad man management, personal management and inter-personal relationships.' 'Therefore, people like me are not in the BJP.'
The opinion poll has said that if the assembly polls are held now, the Congress is likely to win 142 seats in Rajasthan against the BJP's 56.
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.
There are reports that Sachin Pilot, who is engaged in a tussle for power in Rajasthan ever since the Congress won the state in 2018, may announce his own party.
The Congress on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "silence" on the Lalit Modi controversy, saying he should come out of his 'meditation' and answer the nation as he too is "liable".
It's not that rapes are happening only in Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday alone, four rape cases were reported across Rajasthan. The rape victims in the desert state include two minor girls, an elderly woman, a child and a transgender.
For voters in this part of Rajasthan, it is water and farmers' issues which seem to be on the top of their minds as they ponder over whom to elect in the December 4 Assembly polls.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
If you thought that the skewed sex ratio of Rajasthan has dampened the spirit of the fairer sex in the desert state, then you are in for a surprise. For, if you browse through the ongoing Rajasthan assembly poll candidature list, you will realise how the female candidates are way ahead of their male counterparts, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
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.
Amid speculation over Congress leader Sachin Pilot's next move, sources close to him on Tuesday said he was firm on his demands, including action against alleged corruption during the previous Vasundhara Raje government, and was waiting for a definitive response from the party high command.
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.
A report by Indian civil society group Association for Democratic Reforms states that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje spent the most while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spent the least during their election campaign.
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
The record voter turnout in Rajasthan has forced politicians and psephologists to junk their pre-poll calculations. Now, all eyes are on the December 8 counting, says P B Chandra
The highest winning margin was registered by BJP candidate Subhash Chandra Baheria in Bhilwara who defeated Congress candidate Ram Pal Sharma with a margin of 6,12,000 votes.
Ashok Gehlot, the otherwise soft-spoken chief minister of Rajasthan, has lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party over its decision to nominate Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the party's prime ministerial candidate.
Chouhan's fate will be determined by the BJP central command's assessment of the implications of such a move ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public, Gehlot told reporters.
'The sacrifice made by Queen Padmini is a matter of pride for the state,' Raje said.
The Congress leadership is caught in a peculiar situation and wants to find a middle path to the issue, party sources said.
The BJP said that the decision will not have any impact on the party's prospects in western Rajasthan.
At its Jaipur meeting, the BJP will focus on this year's assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh while the Congress's Chintan Shivir in Udaipur will discuss how it can resurrect itself.
As Rajasthan waits for December 8 when counting of votes will take place to decide the fate of its Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Bharatiya Janata Party's Vasundhra Raje among others, PB Chandra tries to gauge the mood in both the parties, especially after the exit polls results were announced.
Paving the way for the first set of labour reforms in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to Rajasthan's amendments to three laws.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday promised loans to farmers and unemployed youth, creation of 15 lakh jobs and quota for Gujjar and other backward communities if voted to power in Rajasthan in next month's assembly election.
Delhi's ruling party is all set to tackle the Parliamentary polls in the desert state, says Shahnawaz Akhtar
The results of bypolls to three Lok Sabha and 29 assembly seats spread across 13 states and a union territory have been a mixed bag for the BJP as its fortunes continue to nosedive in West Bengal against the might of Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee while bad tidings have also come from states like Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Malik, who was then governor of Jammu and Kashmir, has recently alleged intelligence failures and that the central government denied aircraft for the movement of security personnel.
The 71-year-old Dhankhar has been a noted lawyer, was instrumental in getting Other Backward Class status for Jats in Rajasthan and loves to beat his own cappuccino desi-style.
Why Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi cancelled his campaign at Shahpura at the last minute? Read on...
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