If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday expressed happiness that the Congress party has taken cognisance of the issues raised by him about welfare of youth and corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje government in Rajasthan, and asserted the party will contest the assembly polls unitedly to secure a massive victory.
The visit comes amid the campaign for the November 25 assembly polls in Rajasthan, where the Congress hopes to return to power.
The media is under the pressure of the central government but they should see the interest of the public, Gehlot told reporters.
Pilot said he is not backing down from the stand he has taken against the state Congress government saying he is "politely requesting" it to take action in corruption cases from the previous dispensation.
Several top Congress leaders including party general secretary organisation K C Venugopal, Sachin Pilot, Randeep Surjewala and Shashi Tharoor, wished the former party chief on her birthday.
Former deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who has been involved in a leadership tussle with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, skipped his interaction.
Kharge also targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the people should not believe Modi's "guarantees".
Bidhuri's responsibility will be akin to the party's poll in-charge of the district, sources said.
It will try to exploit the infighting in the state's ruling Congress while it manages factionalism within its own ranks
'Rahul Gandhi is going to turn 54 and in India political leaders peak when they are around 60.' 'This 'bhai-behen ki jodi' has done a wonderful job for the Congress.' 'Priyanka Gandhi was a very effective campaigner.'
The Congress refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Gehlot and Pilot.
Amid his power tussle with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Pilot has announced that he will be among the people and Congress workers in various districts of Rajasthan between January 16 and 20.
The Congress has projected unity to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly polls in Rajasthan but "core issues" between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his bete noire Sachin Pilot remain unresolved, according to sources close to Pilot.
He also said Pilot should have raised his demand for action in cases of alleged corruption by the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government during a debate in the Rajasthan assembly, instead of holding a day-long fast on the issue.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot submitted his resignation to Governor Kalraj Mishra Sunday evening after his Congress party was defeated in the assembly polls.
Opposition leaders have slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party over its Lok Sabha member Ramesh Bidhuri, who is in the eye of a storm for his derogatory comments against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali, being given poll responsibility by the party in Rajasthan's Tonk district.
A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said both Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his former deputy Sachin Pilot were "assets to the party", the CM on Tuesday suggested that the matter rests there.
With the Rajasthan cabinet reshuffle scheduled for later in the day, Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Sunday expressed his satisfaction over the move and stated that the inclusion of four Dalit ministers in the cabinet has sent out a positive message about the party and the state government.
What some of our leaders were up to on Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
It is believed that Gehlot allegedly likened Pilot to coronavirus.
While 39 members of the all-important panel are general members, it has 32 permanent invitees, including some in-charges of state and 13 special invitees.
Before ending his life on Monday, Meena recorded a video alleging Joshi and a few other people had caused problems to him because of which he was forced to kill himself.
Pilot said the Congress was reduced to 21 seats in the 2013 assembly elections, but the people gave it a mandate in the 2018 elections.
The resignation also signals a continuing saga of unaddressed concerns of young leaders, once considered close to former Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Ashok Gehlot, widely seen as the Congress's ruling family's nominee for the Congress president's post, bunged a spanner in the works when his MLA supporters submitted their resignations on Sunday night to assembly Speaker C P Joshi.
Dominic Xavier wonders how a rebel leader -- and clearly, Gehlot is one after Sunday's rebellion by his MLA supporters, no matter his assertions to the high command's emissaries that he has no links to the mutiny -- can now lead the national party which so badly needs the adhesive of unity and tender care.
Supporters of the two leaders are competing in Hadoti to highlight their dominance, which is visible from the hoardings in the region. This has also led to blame games between leaders of the two factions.
Top Congress leadership led by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held marathon discussions with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Pilot joined them later in the evening.
Electorally, the yatra seems to have paid dividends in the south, but the march does not seem to be helping the Congress in stopping the BJP's surge in the Hindi-heartland states.
"I sometimes think of leaving it, but the chief minister's post doesn't leave me," Ashok Gehlot famously said earlier this year, in part as a signal to the Congress top brass not to pick someone else for the job if the party wins the assembly polls.
The Congress president during his year at the helm of the party has repaired the citadel for far more challenging years ahead, and played a crucial role in shaping the Opposition alliance.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday stressed that the party would fight the Rajasthan assembly polls "unitedly" and said that a decision on who would lead the next government would be taken by the high command after consultations with the newly-elected MLAs.
Pilot, who spent around an hour at Gandhi's residence where Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was also present, said he conveyed his sentiments and gave his feedback to the party president.
The crisis in Rajasthan Congress intensified with Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot at loggerheads, while Gehlot is blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for trying to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs, Pilot is camping in Delhi to speak to the party leadership regarding the political turmoil in the state.
BJP MP Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore alleged that the phone tapping of public representatives allegedly by CM Ashok Gehlot-led government has broken the trust of the people and extended an invite to all those with 'India first' ideology to join the BJP, fuelling speculations of Sachin Pilot joining the ruling party at the Centre.
He showed a video of Solanki and Poonia purportedly entering a hotel and exiting a hotel room one after the other.
The party also promised reservation to minorities on basis of their population after the caste census.
The BJP is far more prepared than the Congress as their pool of prospective candidates is much bigger, reports Prakash Bhandari.
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.
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