Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh was on Friday questioned for the second consecutive day in connection with an alleged disproportionate assets case against him.
In a jolt to the ruling Congress in Himachal Pradesh, state party chief and Mandi MP Pratibha Singh on Wednesday announced that she has decided not to contest the Lok Sabha elections as the ground situation was "not favourable" and workers were disheartened.
A bench headed by Chief Justice H L Dattu agreed to hear the CBI's two petitions on reopening of the court after the Dussehra break.
The action comes two days after Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a key meeting and broke the ice by starting dialogue with some of the prominent 'letter-writers', who had earlier written to her demanding an overhaul of the party and an effective leadership.
The political crisis arose in Himachal Pradesh during the recently held polling for the Rajya Sabha elections as nine MLAs, including six Congress rebels and three independents, voted in favour of BJP candidate Harsh Mahajan.
The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday challenged Mandi MP Kangana Ranaut to prove her allegation that the state government took loans and diverted the money to Sonia Gandhi, failing which it said it would file a defamation case against her.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has been quizzed and his statement recorded by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with alleged kickbacks made to him and State Trading Corporation employees by some private companies.
The agency had summoned Singh earlier also, but then he had excused himself stating his official commitments.
Himachal has a tradition of change in government after every elections and going by the trend, this time it is the turn of the BJP which is upbeat after exit poll results.
In fresh confrontation with Team Anna, Union Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday said he intends to file a criminal defamation suit against Arvind Kejriwal while Congress MP Jagdambika Pal has slapped a privilege notice against the activist for allegedly insulting Parliament.
The BJP launched an all-out and aggressive personalised campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, but voters went by local rather than national issues.
Some of our leaders were busybusy over the weekend.
The Home Ministry may play the role of mediator between the BCCI and the Himachal Pradesh government, which expressed its inability to provide security to the India-Pakistan World Twenty20 match scheduled to be held in Dharamsala on March 19. Home Ministry officials said there is a need to sort out the differences between after state Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh wrote a letter to Home Minister Rajnath Singh stating that his government cannot provide security for the match. "It is a matter of concern that Himachal Pradesh government expressed its inability to provide security to the match. It is an event involving players of two countries. We will try to convince the state government," an official said.
Rebel Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA Rajinder Rana on Saturday claimed that nine more party legislators 'feeling suffocated' due to Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's style of functioning are in touch with him as he called the chief minister 'liar number one'.
The Congress on Sunday retained the Mandi Lok Sabha seat when its candidate Pratibha Singh, wife of Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, trounced her BJP rival Jai Ram Thakur by a huge margin of over 1.36 lakh votes.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh questioned the motive behind the inauguration of the "incomplete" temple by the leaders of the BJP and the RSS.
Former skipper Imran Khan feels that Pakistan should not play its scheduled World T20 match against India in Dharamsala on March 19 given the "hateful statements and resistance" shown by Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. According to Dawn News, Imran told the media on Sunday that he was disappointment with the statements issued by the ChiefMinister. "The statement by the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister is an irresponsible one and is totally against the standards of hospitality and hosting. The Chief Minister's statements clearly promote hate," said Imran. "Amid this situation, I don't believe the Pakistan team should play at Himachal Pradesh," he added. Virbhadra Singh had earlier expressed inability to provide security for the match between India and Pakistan in the wake of objections raised by the Kangra-based families of martyrs and ex-servicemen, who consider hosting Pakistan as an "insult" to the soldiers who lost their lives in Pathankot airbase terror attack in January.
He joined the BJP in the presence of Union minister Piyush Goyal and lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership for providing a "strong government".
'Putra-moh Congress ko nasht kar raha hai (Sonia Gandhi's love for Rahul Gandhi is destroying the Congress).'
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
The outgoing BJP government had 12 cabinet ministers, including Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.
"For me, it is like homecoming," said the 93-year-old who returned for the second time to the Congress which he had last left ahead of the 2017 assembly elections to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Restoration of the pre-2004 pension scheme, regularisation of contract employees after two years, enhanced daily wages, social security pension and appointment of anti-corruption grievances commissioner were the other promises made in the manifesto.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said the views of the newly-elected MLAs in Himachal Pradesh were being sought to bring out a consensus on who will be their leader.
The Congress rebels are seeking to install a person of their choice as the new chief minister of the state.
'Nitish Kumar was not happy about promoting R C P Singh as Union minister.'
The one-year-old Himachal Pradesh Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was expanded on Tuesday with the induction of Rajesh Dharmani and Yadvinder Goma as cabinet ministers.
President Pranab Mukerjee was on Thursday accorded a warm welcome as he arrived in the state for his five-day sojourn amid the serene climes of 'The Retreat', surrounded with thick pine forests near Shimla.
Allocation of portfolios would be the immediate vexatious issue for the party, with supporters of Virbhadra Singh already feeling sidelined after the elevation of the late chief minister's professed rival Sukhu.
Under attack from BJP on corruption charges, Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh filed three defamation cases against Arun Jaitley and other party leaders, accusing them of unleashing a malicious campaign against him and his family through media to tarnish his image.
As per the orders issued on Monday by the chief secretary, appointments of all chairman, vice-chairman, and nominated members in boards and corporations, autonomous bodies, cooperative institutions and other committees, including temple committees and urban local bodies be terminated forthwith.
'The Congress government is on its way out in Himachal Pradesh.'
The Congress won 40 seats in the 68-member Himachal Pradesh assembly while the BJP got 25 seats.
What some of our leaders were up to on Monday, December 12.
Scores of Bharatiya Janata Party youth wing activists on Tuesday staged a protest outside Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's residence demanding an explanation from him on charges of corruption against Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.
The swearing-in ceremony of the new ministers would take place at the Raj Bhavan in Shimla on January 8 at 10 am, the sources said on Saturday.
"There are people who get converted and do not disclose that they have converted. They take double benefits," RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale said at a press conference."
Congress leader Virbhadra Singh, who quit Manmohan Singh cabinet after a Himachal Pradesh court order in a corruption case, on Sunday said his resignation is not a setback to the party's prospects in Himachal Pradesh polls later this year as he would come out unscathed before the vote.
Deshmukh, who is Science and Technology Minister, was given additional charge of the Ministry immediately after Virbhadra Singh resigned in the wake of a Himachal Pradesh court framing corruption charges against him in a 23-year-old case in June, this year.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday spoke to Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde and Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand seeking "timely and prompt" relief measures for flood-affected people in the two states.
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