In a communication, the ministry of home affairs told the Rajasthan chief secretary to send a report on the allegations of phone tapping, an official said. The chief secretary has been told to provide the details of the incident after two audio clips emerged, the official added.
As Election 2024 hurtles towards result day in a medley of mangalsutra, mujra, mutton, machli and other barbs, these may sound like character names from Hindi comics of yore. Instead, these are the mocking, sometimes vicious monikers given by political rivals to each other.
Virender Poonia is the husband of Olympian discus thrower and sitting Rajasthan MLA Krishna Poonia. He is now admitted to the Railway Hospital in Jaipur.
The CLP also recommended strong disciplinary action against any Congress MLA and office-bearer who 'weakens' the party. The resolution expressed confidence in the leadership of national party president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra hit back at the Congress a day after it cited some audio clips to accuse some saffron party leaders, including Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, of conspiring to topple the Ashok Gehlot government in the state.
The assembly session comes days after the top leadership of the Congress announced the return of Pilot and 18 other dissident MLAs to the party-fold. Referring to Pilot's open rebellion while addressing the legislators, the CM asked them to 'forget what has happened'.
Contesting on a Congress ticket, Poonia, on Tuesday, won the Sadulpur assembly seat in Rajasthan, defeating sitting BSP MLA Manoj Nyangali.
The Congress on Tuesday suffered a major upset in Himachal Pradesh at the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha elections which were marred by cross-voting in all the three states though it won three seats in Karnataka while the saffron party pocketed an extra seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Premlata Singh, wife of Union minister Birender Singh, was commenting on the gang rape of a 19-year-old woman in Haryana's Rewari city.
The Congress legislator, who is a COVID-19 patient, was the last one to cast his ballot wearing a PPE suit. He came to the assembly complex in an ambulance, the official said.
The fact that Gehlot has stayed relevant these five years with his populist schemes is one reason why he may beat incumbency in a state that votes for change every election, observes Ramesh Menon.
Congress in-charge for Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa on Wednesday started one-to-one meetings with state ministers and MLAs amid attempts by the party's central leadership to broker peace between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and dissident leader Sachin Pilot ahead of assembly polls 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.
Right-wing group Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena's president Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi was shot dead in the living room of his house in Jaipur on Tuesday by three armed men, one of whom was also killed in retaliatory firing, police said.
The FIR was registered on Saturday based on a complaint filed by Congress leader and former MLA Surendra Singh Jadawat.
The Rampur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh which fell vacant following the disqualification of SP leader Mohammad Azam Khan is one of the five seats going for the bypolls.
Dominic Xavier wonders how a rebel leader -- and clearly, Gehlot is one after Sunday's rebellion by his MLA supporters, no matter his assertions to the high command's emissaries that he has no links to the mutiny -- can now lead the national party which so badly needs the adhesive of unity and tender care.
After the resignations of three MLAs, the Congress, whose strength has been reduced to 65 in the 182-member House, had earlier shifted its legislators to three resorts in Rajkot, Ambaji in Banaskantha district and Anand in Gujarat to thwart any 'poaching' bid. However, a police complaint was on Sunday filed for alleged violation of lockdown norms against a resort in Rajkot district where the Congress had lodged some of its MLAs.
The shifting of MLAs to Congress-ruled Rajasthan will allow the party to focus on drawing up its strategy for the crucial Rajya Sabha elections for which it has fielded two candidates, the source said.
Congress candidate Shafia Zubair won the Ramgarh assembly poll in Rajasthan, while BJP candidate Krishan Middha won over his nearest rival from the Jannayak Janata Party for the high-stakes Jind bypoll in Haryana.
Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in Uttar Pradesh, Padampur in Odisha, Sardarshahar in Rajasthan, Kurhani in Bihar and Bhanupratappur in Chhattisgarh are the assembly seats where the bypolls are being held.
What provoked Ashok Gehlot's belligerence was Sachin Pilot's participation in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi in Madhya Pradesh. Gehlot was also aware that Rajasthan assembly Speaker C P Joshi had met Rahul in Maharashtra.
The pilot ejected safely and a court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said in a brief statement.
A writ petition, challenging the ordinance was filed in the Rajasthan high court.
Sukanta Majumdar, the state BJP president, said, "Amit Shah has set a target of 35 seats. We will achieve that".
The crisis surfaced on Friday when the Rajasthan Police issued notices to Gehlot, Pilot and the government chief whip, seeking time from them to record their statements over an alleged bid to destabilise the state's Congress government.
On August 17, the top court had deferred the hearing on Dilawar's plea after it was informed that the Chief Justice of the high court has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 and the functioning was postponed till August 19.
Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Through gestures and decisions, the BJP high command has signalled that Raje may not be the lead actor but rather play a supporting role in a high-stakes election in its stamping ground.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, BJP chief J P Nadda and new party entrant Ashok Chavan and Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and L Murugan were among the 41 candidates elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh will witness polling on February 27.
A Pilot camp MLA said that the former deputy chief minister is raising the issue of corruption in the public interest.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi met Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot separately.
A win for SP could provide some consolation for Akhilesh Yadav after the defeat in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections early this year and the loss of Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats to the BJP in June bypolls.
The BJP had on Monday demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on moral grounds after his government said in a reply to a question in the state A assembly that it taps phones in the interest of public safety and order.
Raje however, said that "Gehlot's 'praises' is a big conspiracy" against her.
Terming Gehlot's "praises" for her as a big conspiracy, Raje in a statement on Sunday night said he "has made such outrageous and untrue allegations because of the rebellion happening in his own party and diminishing mass base".
Seeking an interim stay on the high court order, Joshi's petition said it was the top court's duty to ensure that all constitutional authorities act within the 'Lakshman rekha' drawn for each one of them.
Replying to the debate on the motion, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it again of trying to bring down his government.
The Adanis and the Ambanis already knew about it and sorted their money in advance, said the BJP MLA
Maderna was arrested on December 2 in Jodhpur by the CBI along with Bishnoi, the brother of Congress MLA Malkhan Singh, after it filed charge sheet against three other arrested accused.
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