"The Congress party complains a bit too much. It accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'stealing' the mandate in Goa. It unsuccessfully petitioned before the Supreme Court. It attempted to raise issues in the Lok Sabha," he said in a Facebook post.
In his remarks at the rallies, Pilot has cornered the Gehlot government over issues such as the repeated paper leaks and political appointments of retired bureaucrats while sidelining party workers.
As the new year arrives, the Bharatiya Janata Party's finds itself on the cusp of the most consequential cycle of state polls since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as the results will tell if the road ahead in its bid for a third straight term at the Centre is getting any bumpier or a strong opposition challenge remains elusive.
Leaders from 26 opposition parties, in power individually or in alliance in Delhi and 10 states, are meeting in Bengaluru to discuss strategy to take on the Narendra Modi-led NDA in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP's victory in the desert state was so absolute that the Congress failed to open its electoral account in 17 of Rajasthan's 33 districts! P B Chandra reports.
This is a complete betrayal of the mandate of the people of the Sagardighi Assembly constituency, Ramesh said on Twitter.
"Had there been no demolition, probably the courts too would have ordered status quo," he said then. And his last wish, he said, was to live till the temple comes up.
Scindia had left the Congress a few months back and joined the BJP as he believed that he was being marginalised by senior party leaders in Madhya Pradesh.
Any move of the present government to appease the Marathas may boomerang. Eknath Shinde is a worried man with the agitation not having an easy solution, notes Ramesh Menon.
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The senior leader, however, said that if the action of any MLA leads to harm to Congress government then it is simply not acceptable. "I consider Sachin Pilot as one of the most talented, competent and impressive Congressmen we have. He is a friend also. We all value him in the party. He should come and air his grievances, the floor is open. All people are prepared to listen to him," Singhvi said.
He hoped that some of the dissident MLAs, who are led by sacked deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, will also attend the session when it is called "very soon".
It had given the BJP a tough fight in 2017 winning 77 of the 182 seats at stake.
The Congress claims the Ashok Gehlot government has the numbers to prove majority in case there is a floor test.
Since 2018, the BJP has failed to win a majority in any of the state polls. It lost power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2018 followed by Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The party managed to form government in Karnataka by winning over opposition MLAs and in Haryana by allying with a regional party.
In her second cabinet reshuffle, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday inducted six new ministers including a Dalit woman MLA, elevated two state ministers to Cabinet rank and dropped two state ministers.
Two other Rajasthan ministers Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena were also sacked from the state cabinet after a meeting of the Congress Legislature Party, its second in the last two days. The meeting was billed as a 'second chance' for Pilot, who had turned down appeals from the party's top leadership -- including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi -- to return to the fold.
'When the Congress attacked Modiji, Vasundharaji kept mum.' 'Why was she so tongue-tied?' 'Everybody knows why she kept quiet then.'
Elections for 19 Rajya Sabha seats spread across eight states will be held on Friday with the contest in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan promising to be a close affair between the BJP and the Congress.
The COVID-19 case fatality rate has reduced from around 3.33 per cent in mid-June to 2.25 per cent today.
'No indiscipline will be tolerated but I am hopeful that Pilot will turn up for the meeting
Adequate security and Covid safety measures have been put in place for the electoral exercise.
There are lessons for the Congress to learn from the Karnataka elections of how burying the hatchet among top leaders and not washing dirty linen in public can help, says Ramesh Menon.
On the occasion, Gandhi said their campaign was against hatred, violence and fear being spread in society.
It should announce its candidates 45 days before the elections; trust rooted leaders; start its campaign focused on five guarantees six months before elections.
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.
Pilot has spoken to a senior party leader from southern India on Thursday laying conditions for his return.
In line with exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken an early lead in Uttar Pradesh, after one hour of counting.
He also said his equation with the Gandhi family will remain the same as it has been for the last 50 years.
There was no official word on the number of MLAs who attended the meeting at Gehlot's home, but party leaders claimed 106 legislators were there.
In one state, the BJP sweeps in Modi's name -- and only because of Modi's name. In the other state, Modi's name did not work. Himachal underlines the limitations of Modi's magic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
"The Congress have gone and made promises in Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh that they never fulfilled," Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed.
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.
The Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of making efforts to topple the Gehlot government by indulging in horse-trading.
The division bench completed the hearing of arguments and said it will pronounce its order on Friday, requesting the Speaker too to extend his deadline for accepting the MLAs replies to the notices. The notices had followed a Congress complaint that the 19 MLAs should be disqualified from the assembly for defying a party whip.
Pilot said he will be taking 'appropriate and strictest possible legal action' against the MLA who 'was made to' level these accusations. Congress MLA Giriraj Singh Malinga alleged that Pilot had offered him money to join the BJP.
With the Pradesh Congress committees passing resolution seeking Rahul Gandhi at the helm of All India Congress Committee, party General Secretary, Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday said such measures have no binding effect.
'100 per cent, the BJP will form the government in Madhya Pradesh and Shivraj Singh Chouhanji will be once again chief minister.'
The BJP on Thursday alleged that the CBI action against its leader Gulab Chand Kataria is nothing but a "conspiracy of CM Ashok Gehlot", who is "panicked" seeing the massive support the party is getting in poll-bound Rajasthan.
Kin of jailed leaders Mahipal Maderna, Malkhan Singh Bishnoi and Babulal Nagar -- accused in cases like rape and murder -- have found place in the third list of Congress hopefuls for the Assembly elections along with two other party leaders who are facing criminal charges.
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