The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday picked first-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma as Rajasthan's new chief minister, ending days of speculation that followed its victory in the assembly polls.
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.
However, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and her five cabinet colleagues have won their respective constituencies.
"There was 90 percent blockage in one of his coronary arteries and one stent was placed successfully. He is absolutely fine," Dr Sudhir Bhandari, principal of the SMS medical college, told reporters.
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.
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.
The witness, driver of the vehicle in which the actor was travelling when the alleged incidents had taken place, surfaced after the high court verdict.
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.
He also targeted the Congress government in Rajasthan, saying that had it set up a special court in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case, which happened in Udaipur last year, the accused would have been hanged by now.
Shah said that it is "a 3-D government in Rajasthan and three Ds stands for 'dange' (riots), 'durvyavhar' (ill-treatment) with women and 'Dalit' atrocities.
Amid raging Lalitgate row, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Friday cancelled her visit to Punjab where she would have come face-to-face with Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah for the first time since the damaging revelations.
Pilot, who has returned to the Congress fold after a month-long rebellion against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, made the remarks during the debate on a motion of confidence moved by the ruling party in the Rajasthan Assembly.
The party fielded Maneka Gandhi from Sultanpur, while Uttar Pradesh minister Jitin Prasada has replaced Varun Gandhi in Pilibhit.
Mentioning the chief minister's statement about people surrounding the Raj Bhawan over Mishra not summoning a session of the state assembly, the BJP said it was an attempt to "terrorise" the governor's office.
Talks resumed in Jaipur on Wednesday between Rajasthan government and agitating Gujjars who have been blocking rail tracks and roads in three districts for a week now to press for five per cent quota in government jobs.
The BJP is faced with the crucial question of who will lead the party in the four impending state polls this year: In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha on Wednesday made public three pages of the purported "red diary" which he has claimed contains the details of financial misdeeds of the Congress government and cited their contents to allege corruption in Rajasthan Cricket Association election.
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.
Sacked Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha had claimed that the red diary which he had secured from the residence of Congress leader Dharmendra Rathore during an income tax raid in July 2020 on the directions of the chief minister had details of Gehlot's financial transactions.
While Rajasthan BJP president Satish Poonia accused the Congress of being behind the demolition, state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra asserted that it was the decision of the city's municipality headed by the saffron party.
The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill was tabled in the assembly on Monday.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted, "Shayad meri tapasya mein kuch kami reh gayi (Maybe my penance fell short)."
Pressing for 5 per cent reservation, Gujjars on Sunday intensified their agitation by blocking highways in parts of Rajasthan and threatening to expand it across the state as they alleged that the state government had failed to offer any concrete proposal to meet their demand.
Since 1979, the BJP has not fielded any Muslim candidate from any parliamentary seat from the state.
Eknath Shinde is appearing to be holding a tight grip on the Shiv Sena, as the strength of MLAs supporting him is expected to cross 50 as more legislators are likely to reach Guwahati on Friday thus further deepening the political crisis in Maharashtra.
"Rajasthan is the only state where no demand was raised to change the PCC president in seven years. We knew that nothing is happening here. We knew he is 'nikamma' (worthless) and 'nakara' (idle), still we did not question this in the interest of the party," Gehlot told reporters.
As a politician, Yadav is amiable and a consensus-maker, not hamstrung by dogma.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party announced its first list of 41 candidates for the Rajasthan assembly polls, at least seven disappointed ticket aspirants -- or their supporters -- on Tuesday protested against the party.
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.
Gujjars remained adamant for calling the committee of ministers at Bayana in Bharatpur for holding talks to resolve the issue
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.
Political temperatures were soaring in several states that could see close contests, with parties trying to keep their flock together and trading accusations of poaching of MLAs.
Congress on Monday accused Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje of "forcible, illegal occupation" of the Dholpur Palace along with Lalit Modi through a private company.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday lashed out at opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties over Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Udhayanidhi Stalin's remarks against 'Sanatan Dharma', accusing them of insulting 'Sanatan Dharma' for votebank and appeasement politics.
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.
'Every Congressman in Rajasthan is in Ashok Gehlot's pocket.'
The move comes after the Punjab assembly earlier this month adopted a resolution against the farm laws and unanimously passed four bills to counter the Centre's contentious legislations.
Police on Thursday arrested three persons, including brothers of the prime accused Rajendra Kasawa and a supplier of mining explosives, in connection with the blast in Petlawad town that killed 89 people last week.
The Ashok Gehlot camp has been saying that they enjoyed the support of 109 MLAs, a claim contested by the Pilot loyalists. In the run-up to the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on Tuesday, Pilot loyalist Ramesh Meena said, "A floor test should be conducted in the assembly. This will expose the claim that the Ashok Gehlot government has the support of 109 MLAs."
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal apologises for not stopping the event and making a speech after the incident.