Faisal Patel, son of late Congress stalwart Ahmed Patel, has announced he will stop working for the grand old party, claiming that he tried to follow in his father's footsteps but was denied at every step. Ahmed Patel, who had served as a Rajya Sabha MP, All Indian Congress Committee treasurer and former party president Sonia Gandhi's political secretary, died in November 2020. Faisal had aspired to contest from the Bharuch seat in Gujarat in last year's Lok Sabha elections but the Congress did not nominate him.
Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Dineshchamdra Jemalbhai Ananvadiya and Rambhai Harjibhai Mokariya won both Rajya Sabha seats from Gujarat on Monday.
Arguing for the bail to former Samajwadi Party leader, the senior advocate named Patel, changing his earlier statement that the money could have come from BJP since L K Advani had said that his party had conducted a sting operation.
'A thief sees a thief in everyone,' he said in an apparent swipe at the prime minister.
Patel, 71, who was critical for a few days, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications. His son Faisal said he died at 3.30 am.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday accused Ahmed Patel of having "deep relations" with a Gujarat hospital where an alleged Islamic State operative worked before his arrest, even as the Congress defended its senior leader, dubbing the demand for his resignation from the Rajya Sabha as "outrageous".
Patel's victory, which came against heavy odds, has given the Congress and the rest of the Opposition the confidence that Modi and Shah weren't invincible.
The 71-year-old remained Sonia Gandhi's most trusted lieutenant for most of her tenure as the longest serving Congress president, standing by her side through sun and shade.
Patel rejected the charge as "completely baseless" and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party not to politicise matters pertaining to national security and divide the peace-loving Gujaratis.
Patel, who died on Wednesday at a Gurugram hospital where he was admitted with COVID-19, could have been the tell-all leader offering insights and information with his inside view of the workings of the Congress and the political world. But he would have none of it.
Union minister Smriti Irani will also contest the Rajya Sabha polls from Gujarat from where she is already an MP and her term ends on August 18.
He was elected as a local body councillor in 1976 in Bharuch Municipal body of Gujarat at the age of 25 years and became the political secretary of Sonia Gandhi and remained a bridge during UPA-I tenure between the party and the government.
The ED had summoned Patel, 70, twice for questioning in the case but the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat later cited prevailing COVID-19 guidelines that advises senior citizens to stay indoors in order to remain safe from the pandemic.
The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended on Friday afternoon.
These MLAs are: Shankarsinh Vaghela, his son Mahendrasinh, Raghavji Patel, Bhola Gohil, Dharmendra Jadeja, P K Raulji, Amit Chaudhary, Karan Patel.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that some Congress leaders pressured individuals to donate funds to the Young Indian and Associated Journals Limited (AJL) on instructions from senior party functionaries. The ED's chargesheet in the National Herald case claims that these individuals made payments to the company "under the influence" from senior leaders who promised them "certain favours" in party politics. The chargesheet, filed on April 9 before a local court, names Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi as accused, along with five others, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The agency alleges that these donations were not made voluntarily but in expectation of political benefits. The ED also found that YI and AJL received funds from various entities through "quid pro quo" arrangements, where individuals were asked to make payments for advertisements in the National Herald in exchange for past favours from Congress leaders.
An interview with B K Hariprasad, Congress general secretary incharge of Gujarat.
'BJP has lot of money. Even a rich person like me is scared of taking on the financial muscle of the BJP.' 'What is the point of throwing money? Result toh aane wala nahi hai.'
'Amar Singh witnessed some of the major political developments from close quarters'
Ahmed Patel, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh will be part of the Rajya Sabha Committee, which will also include Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and party's deputy leader Anand Sharma. Azad and Sharma are signatories to the letter that demanded an overhaul of the Congress party and a new 'full-time and visible' party president.
'They want to keep the BJP out, but how to make it happen is the issue that the Congress high command will resolve.'
Congress MP Shantaram Naik on Tuesday gave a notice for breach of privilege against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy in Rajya Sabha.
The parties that have submitted the notice include the Congress, All India Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, National Conference, Dravida Munnetra Kazagham and the Aam Aadmi Party.
The suspended Rajya Sabha parliamentarians, who spent the night on the lawns near Mahatma Gandhi's statue in what several old-timers said was the first such overnight protest in the complex, got a surprise visitor in the morning -- Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh who came with tea and snacks.
Party chief Rahul Gandhi formed a nine-member Core Group Committee, a 19-member Manifesto Committee and a committee comprising 19 top party leaders who will look after the publicity during the elections.
NCP MLA Kandhal Jadeja said his party has decided to support BJP candidate.
'Since 2002, we have not received any justice and we are still fighting for it.'
The death toll may rise further as some of the injured workers are in a serious condition, according to police. As companies of methanol and xylene chemicals are located near the affected factory, authorities have shifted about 4,800 people from nearby Luvara and Lakhigam villages to safer places as a precautionary measure.
Some lawyers in the Congress argued against upsetting the judiciary. It was a tongue lashing from Sharad Pawar that spurred the Congress and other parties to go ahead with their move.
The eight members -- distributed among the Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Trinamool Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party -- were suspended earlier in the day for the remainder of the Monsoon Session over their 'unruly behaviour' during the passage of farm Bills in the Upper House of Parliament.
The SC asked Gujarat Congress 'why is it so late in raising question over the use of NOTA'.
This was the second time D K Shivakumar foiled Amit A Shah's plans.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar in the National Herald money laundering case, officials said.
A special investigation team (SIT) on Wednesday submitted a charge sheet against activist Teesta Setalvad, retired director general of police R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt in a case of alleged fabrication of evidence in connection with the 2002 Gujarat riots cases.
The apex court had questioned the poll panel's notification and said that NOTA was meant to be exercised by individual voters in direct polls.
Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar on Monday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi for a fresh round of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case.
Each 'adarsh village' should have piped drinking water, connectivity to the main road, electricity supply to all households, library, telecom and broadband connectivity including CCTVs in public areas. Emphasis will also be on e-governance, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
Kapoor has told the Enforcement Directorate that he was 'forced' to buy the M F Husain painting from Priyanka Gandhi and the sale proceeds were utilised by the Gandhi family for the medical treatment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New York, according to the charge sheet filed by the federal anti-money laundering agency in a special court in Mumbai.
Raut said industrialists should be supported, but not corruption.
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Bharatiya Janata Party candidates Jyotiraditya Scindia and Sumer Singh Solanki on Friday won Rajya Sabha election from Madhya Pradesh.
