The BJP may be ready and waiting to pounce on another key state of the Hindi heartland, but it is the Congress's holy trinity that issued them an invitation to the beheading, notes Sunil Sethi.
All 41 candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Telangana were elected unopposed on Friday after the biennial elections to 57 Rajya Sabha seats were announced recently.
The notice comes days before Delhi high court is scheduled to hear the Delhi police Crime Branch's application seeking vacating of an interim order staying coercive action against Sharma.
Singh has questioned the reliability of the EVMs on more than one occasion following the Congress' defeat in the recent assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Just after the brief address of the Governor, MLAs of the BJP raised the demand for a floor test, triggering an uproar. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Govind Singh raised the issue of coronavirus threat in the country and also mentioned the Central government's advisory.
Two state ministers have also come out in the open to demand a detailed assessment by the top leadership.
Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Gehlot, however, refused to disclose names of those behind the toppling bids allegedly involving transfer of money for horsetrading. "A complaint has been lodged with the SOG so that investigation about those who are involved in this organised crime of money transfer could be conducted," Gehot said at a press conference.
The MLAs, who are seemingly unhappy with their leadership, arrived in Surat on Monday night and are camping at the Le Meridian Hotel, they said.
Senior party leader Ahmed Patel, general secretary in-charge for Rajasthan Ajay Maken and general secretary organisation KC Venugopal have been made members of the panel.
Delhi has emerged as the youngest assembly in terms of age of elected legislators from the four states, with an estimated average age of about 43 years for members of Legislative Assembly elected in the national capital.
Anwar, an AICC general secretary, came out with a flurry of tweets calling for 'urgent and deep introspection' over the debacle of the party, the second largest constituent of the opposition coalition, which contested as many as 70 seats but returned with a tally of just 19.
Nomination forms for the post of Congress president poll have been collected by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Pawan Bansal, but Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has not done so yet, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Tuesday.
'Two years ago I told Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi that we have traitors in the Congress.'
After the meeting, Kharge said that there should be discipline in the party and the party has to be kept united.
'The Congress is trying to reinvent itself -- the caste census demand, OBC emphasis, the anti-corporate thrust, especially on Adani etc -- all this is not standard Congress strategy.'
The BJP and Congress have already launched spirited campaigns for the elections.
'About 90 per cent of our netas have no loyalty and will go with the winner.'
Nadda's visit assumes significance as it came ahead of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje's planned 'dharmik yatra' next week, seen as an attempt to re-assert her influence in the state unit after maintaining a low profile since the BJP's defeat in 2018 assembly polls.
Here is the lowdown of the each state and parties.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, was conspicuous by her absence at the event, which was attended by tens of thousands of people as the Congress sought to promote opposition unity.
The Congress party continues to be racked by arbitrary decision-making and the absence of accountability.
While they shouted slogans praising Pilot, another group protested against Rajasthan Health Minister Raghu Sharma. The two groups were dispersed after the brief demonstrations. Police denied reports that they had to resort to a lathi-charge.
"This time we want to prepare the organisation very strongly. The workers should get respect, everyone's participation is important, there should be balance in power, and we should move forward taking all sections of the society along," Pilot told reporters after hour-long meeting with Sonia Gandhi.
'Mamata wanted the Congress in alliance with the BJP in Bengal against the Left Front government.' 'Pranab Mukherjee opposed it, stating it would amount to compromising on secularism.' 'In 2021, Mamata defeats the BJP and becomes a champion of secularism.'
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.
Two Bahujan Samaj Party legislators, Suresh Meena and Murari Meena, and one Congress legislator Ramnarayan Meena tendered their resignations to the community leaders and not to the assembly Speaker on Saturday night.
KCR said Home Minister Amit Shah himself speaking at a public meeting in Munugode in October had said within one month the TRS government will go away.
Congress Legislature Party leader Ashok Gehlot will be sworn in as Chief Minister of Rajasthan on December 13, a Raj Bhavan spokesman said on Thursday.
A writ petition, challenging the ordinance was filed in the Rajasthan high court.
After the bill was passed unanimously, the House made a consensus resolution that the Central government should include the very bill in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution so that it could not be challenged anywhere in the court.
The party's decision to announce the first list of candidates so early underlines the significance it has attached to five state elections, the last round of assembly contest before the all-important Lok Sabha polls.
By Monday morning, a dozen dissidents were ready to leave the Pilot camp. Having found a hole at the bottom of his boat, Pilot, with dwindling numbers, in sheer desperation, connected with Priyanka Gandhi, reveals Prakash Bhandari.
Calling former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda-led party "communal" following its alliance with the BJP, he urged Janata Dal-Secular, to remove the word 'Secular' from its name.
'Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bengal can be the game changers of 2024.'
'Political convenience' and 'personal ambition' played a major part in Scindia's decision to the Congress, said a party leader.
Sanjay Raut said Shinde is not in Mumbai, but a communication has been established with him.
Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said his party wants a floor test in the state assembly and is 'begging' for it, but the Governor is not convening the House and 'delaying' the trust vote allegedly at the behest of the central government.
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.
Sources said the new heads of the party in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh will be announced soon.
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