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.
As soon as the chief minister made the first two announcements, which featured in Budget 2022-23, the Opposition began creating a ruckus and stormed into the well of the House.
If the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) plans to give Aadhaar numbers to all Indian residents, the Rajasthan government promises to go a step further with a card for all female heads of households, to empower them financially.
'I gave enough evidence and proof to punish corrupt officials.' 'But my own government has not filed any FIR against such officials.'
In the last assembly elections in 2018, the state recorded a voter turnout of 74.06 per cent. The Election Commission has set a target of at least 75 per cent turnout in each constituency this time.
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.
Three out of the four royal scions who are contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Rajasthan will face a tough challenge. P B Chandra profiles the regal candidates.
Two days after its leader Gulab Chand Kataria was charge-sheeted by the Central Bureau of Investigation, a furious Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, accusing him of hatching a conspiracy against its leader due to political vendetta.
Rajasthan Food and Supply Minister Kirorilal Meena on Wednesday refused to withdraw his resignation, which he had submitted to Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje last Sunday, on the Gujjar issue. Breaking his silence over the matter, Meena told a press conference in Jaipur that even if the chief minister requested him to take back his resignation, he would not do so.
First-time MLA Rekha Gupta will be the new chief minister of Delhi, capping 11 days of suspense over who will get the top post after the Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power after over 26 years ending the 10-year rule of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party.
Addressing a rally in Mhow on Monday, Gandhi said Dalits, backwards and tribals had no rights before Independence, when "only maharajas and rajas enjoyed rights".
The Criminal Laws (Rajasthan Amendment) Bill was tabled in the assembly on Monday.
Former judge of the Rajasthan high court Justice Sajjan Singh Kothari was on Monday sworn in as Lokayukta.
Maheshwari, a three-time MLA from Rajsamand and also a former MP, was undergoing treatment at Medanta hospital for the past few days.
With the party fielding three Union ministers, besides four other MPs, as candidates in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, it may continue with the strategy in Rajasthan.
The Bharatiya Janata Party returned to power in Rajasthan on Sunday, winning 115 seats out of the 199 where assembly elections were held last week.
A Pilot camp MLA said that the former deputy chief minister is raising the issue of corruption in the public interest.
Names of the remaining 90 candidates will be short-listed in a day or so, Raje told a press conference in Jaipur.
A report by Indian civil society group Association for Democratic Reforms states that Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje spent the most while Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spent the least during their election campaign.
The BJP candidates are on the winning trail, outdoing their opponents with thumping leads. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports.
'The good governance which the Congress government claims has resulted in a regime where women in Rajasthan are afraid to go out of their homes.'
First-time MLA Bhajan Lal Sharma was sworn in as the chief minister of Rajasthan at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership on Friday, 12 days after the party ousted the Congress in the assembly polls.
The rally was taken out to showcase the public angst against the steeply rising prices of commodities drew BJP supporters from across the country.
The meeting is being held purportedly to discuss ways and means of raising the issues of Hinduism and the Ram Temple at Ayodhya in the coming weeks.
The Gujjar agitation showed no signs of abating with its leader Kirori Singh Bainsla turning down Rajasthan government's proposal for additional quota for the community even as security forces kept a close vigil on the protestors holding bodies of some of those killed in police firing.
The Rajasthan Dharma Swatantraya Bill, 2008, reintroduced by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje last week, prohibits conversion by use of force, allurement or fradulent means. It was passed by voice vote, even as Congress, Communist Party of India-Marxist and Lok Janshakti Party Legislative Assembly members demanded that it be referred to a select committee.
Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje will hold a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Legislature Party in Jaipur on Wednesday, to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming state assembly session.According to sources, the issue of electing a new Leader of Opposition as per the direction of the party's high command is not likely to figure in the meeting. Raje has been asked by the BJP's central leadership to resign.
The eighth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival kicked off on Wednesday to a grand start with a bevy of authors, poets, Nobel Laureates along with some Bollywood celebrities, trooping in to the pink city to participate in one of Asia's biggest literary jamboree.
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.
The 10 who put in their papers include nine Lok Sabha MPs, including Union ministers Narendra Singh Tomar and Prahlad Patel, and the one Rajya Sabha member, officials said.
Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat met United Progressive Alliance-Left presidential candidate Pratibha Patil on Saturday.
Just when we were wondering what our Dream Girl is up to, Hema Malini decided to surprise us yet again. The actress who played Amitabh Bachchan's wife in Baghban is taking on another wifey role in Gul Bahar SIngh's Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi. The BJP MP will play Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindhia while Vinod Khanna will play her husband, Jivajirao.
It will try to exploit the infighting in the state's ruling Congress while it manages factionalism within its own ranks
Gujjar leader Kirori Singh Bainsla, spearheading the community's agitation for ST status, has conveyed his readiness to resume the talks on Wednesday, officials in the office of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said late Tuesday evening. Rajasthan government promptly welcomed the development.
Gujjar leaders spearheading an agitation to press the demand of Scheduled Tribe status for the community on Sunday, turned down Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje's invitation for a dialogue sent to Gujjar leader Col (retd) Kirodi Singh Bainsla.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Lal Kishenchand Advani has convened a meeting of National Democratic Alliance chief ministers on Saturday to hold talks with them and evolve a strategy to counter the Congress campaign in next year's Lok Sabha elections. The meeting will begin at 11 am in the morning and continue after lunch.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has denied a Rajya Sabha ticket to popular actor Shatrughan Sinha. Instead, the party accommodated former health minister Dr C P Thakur. "The party has decided that popular leaders should be saved for the party campaign in the Lok Sabha elections," Anant Kumar told reporters when asked why Sinha was denied a nomination.
Refuting the Bharatiya Janata Party's charge that they had indulged in anti-party activities, two MLAs loyal to Vasundhara Raje said on Wednesday that they had not indulged in any indiscipline that led to their suspension. The two MLAs, Gyan Dev Ahuja and Rajender Singh Rathore, who have been asked to explain their conduct within seven days, maintained that they had not done anything against the party.
