Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala and senior leader Jairam Ramesh were among the 10 candidates elected to the Rajya Sabha on Friday from Karnataka, Rajasthan and Haryana, while counting was underway in Maharashtra after an eight-hour delay due to wrangling by rival parties over alleged breach of voting rules.
Union minister files a case against Rajasthan officials, alleges that audio recordings of tapped phone conversations has tarnished his reputation and disturbed his mental peace.
'Goa is a tiny state, but in terms of its Business of Politics, several powerful lobbies of India are involved in it, be it the mining lobby, hoteliers' lobby, casino lobby, hawala lobby, drugs lobby etc.'
With moves being made for government formation in Delhi, the Bharatiya Janata Party may be veering round to the possibility of taking a shot at power with the party chief Amit Shah virtually justifying such a course of action.
Seeking to consolidate its position in Rajya Sabha, the Bharatiya Janata Party is banking on independents for four additional seats and is seeking to capitalise on the infighting within the Congress in as many states in the June 10 biennial election.
'With vendetta politics as its main plank, the BJP will be looking out for every opportunity to destabilise this Mahagatbandhan government.'
Mishra had earlier clarified that Raj Bhavan had never intended "not to call" the assembly session and asked the Ashok Gehlot government to deliberate on three points including a 21-day notice period for convening a session and maintaining social distancing norms.
The Congress has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of making efforts to topple the Gehlot government by indulging in horse-trading.
Gehlot alleged that that the BJP wanted to repeat what it had done in Madhya Pradesh.
Twenty-seven Aam Aadmi Party members of Legislative Assembly led by Arvind Kejriwal met Lt Governor Najeeb Jung and told him that delay in dissolving the Delhi assembly was "encouraging horse trading".
Around 100 lawmakers from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples' Party submitted the no-confidence motion before the National Assembly Secretariat on March 8, alleging that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf government led by Khan was responsible for the economic crisis and the spiralling inflation in the country.
Malik said that as per the state Constitution he did not have to take permission from the president or Parliament.
"I am also quitting as member of Legislative Council," Thackeray said in a webcast.
In a letter to all MLAs, Gehlot sought their cooperation in fulfilling the promises of development and prosperity of the state.
Speaker Ramesh Kumar said the motion of confidence would reach finality on Monday and it would not be prolonged further under any circumstances, to which the government agreed.
The legislators will be staying at a luxury resort there and likely to visit the Somnath temple, sources said.
The Congress has accused the BJP of carrying out "one of the most heinous" horse-trading the country has ever seen and said it will hold nationwide protests against the "immoral political destabilisation".
Nitish Kumar will parade 130 MLAs before President Pranab Mukherjee if not invited to form government.
"The BJP will study the case (action of the Governor)... permission of the Governor is not required to prosecute the chief minister."
While the Congress has cited alleged poaching attempt as a reason for keeping their MLAs in the hotel, the BJP said they moved theirs to train them on the Rajya Sabha poll process.
Earlier it said floor test is the only way to settle all issues that have entangled the politics of Maharashtra following a rebellion by Sena leader Eknath Shinde leading to a survival crisis of the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition government.
Nitish Kumar alleged that Modi was behind the move to allow Manjhi more time to prove his majority.
Qadri said the Governor should have satisfied himself by seeking additional documentation in support of the claims made in letter for government formation.
Mishra has sought clarification from the state government regarding the proposal of convening the Assembly session, said sources on Monday.
In the letter written Sunday, he accused Shekhawat, other BJP leaders and some 'overambitious leaders' of his own party for being involved in the alleged attempt to bring down his Congress government.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and other senior party leaders, including All India Congress Committee general secretary Avinash Pande and spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, also moved to Jaisalmer along with the MLAs in five chartered flights.
Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar earlier said, "To ensure that BJP is not successful in its mission, 44 of us Congress MLAs are leaving from Gujarat for Bengaluru. To hide their failure, the saffron party is trying to make sure our MLAs resign by offering money and through police pressure."
Gehlot, however, refused to disclose names of those behind the toppling bids allegedly involving transfer of money for horsetrading. "A complaint has been lodged with the SOG so that investigation about those who are involved in this organised crime of money transfer could be conducted," Gehot said at a press conference.
Other Congress leaders who are learnt to have spoken with Pilot are Ahmed Patel, P Chidambaram and K C Venugopal.
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.
The BJP is certain that the TMC will divide the Opposition votes, leaving it free to cruise through the polls.
The BJP hit back, saying Gehlot has failed to run the government and is frustrated and making unreasonable allegations.
"We realised that we don't have the required numbers to form the government and we don't want to indulge in horse-trading," Fadnavis told reporters after announcing his decision.
Central Bureau of Investigation officers who probed cases like 2G, CWG scam and horse trading in Jharkhand Rajya Sabha elections are among the 28 from the agency awarded with prestigious the president's police medal for distinguished service and police medal for meritorious service on Republic Day.
Sounding confident of winning the trust vote on February 20, Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said he would enter the ring as a "wrestler" without bothering about his win or loss.
The TMC likened its MLAs who have joined the BJP to "rats abandoning a ship sensing danger".
PDP patron Mehbooba Mufti staked claim to form a government with the support of the Congress and the National Conference, while People's Conference leader Sajad Lone also staked claim to form the government with the help of the 25-member BJP.
The petitioners alleged that the governor has acted in a "partisan manner" and allowed himself to be a "pawn in the BJP's illegal usurpation of power".
Amid reports that Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to form government in Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party has called a meeting of its MLAs on Thursday to discuss future course of action.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances