The Parliament was adjourned till 2 pm after Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Congress ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam triggered uproar over the alleged land deals by kin of a leading politician and plight of ethnic Tamils in Sri Lanka.
As Robert Vadra confronts serious charges of corruption, Rediff.com looks back at a happier time, when the pretty princess of Indian politics had married the little-known businessman from Moradabad.
Speaking on the issue, political commentator and the author of 'Sonia A Biography', Rasheed Kidwai tells Rediff.com's Priyanka that the accusations don't reflect state craft and whether government funds were misused.
Along with the 'CryPM' QR code, the party also put out a 'PayCM' QR code poster too, with Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's image in the middle.
I wish they will spare her and not let her life's dedicated efforts be judged," said Vadra.
The nomination is an indication that the veteran Congress leader is not sure of victory from Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency she has represented for five terms.
Chiding the Manmohan Singh government for "coming out in defence" of Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said Congress "lacks" such sensitivity in expressing solidarity with the victims of terrorism.
Ruling out any probe into business dealings between Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty major DLF, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the government cannot look into private transactions unless there are specific allegations of corruption.
The ED said the firm, Ms Skylight Hospitality, has been given two weeks time to furnish financial statements and other documents of the firm to the investigating officer of the case.
The Congress on Tuesday launched a counter offensive against Arvind Kejriwal daring him to issue a white paper on the finances for his campaign and rejected as "baseless" the fresh charges levelled by the activist against Robert Vadra saying there was "nothing new and no proofs"
"The attack (by Arvind Kejriwal and Prashant Bhushan), which was made under a well-planned conspiracy was not on an individual but on Congress and its leadership. It was alleged that the blackmoney of Congress was invested in it. If such an allegation is made, a clarification will certainly come from Congress," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi told media persons.
He said with a view to releasing a white paper on the state's finances, the cabinet has asked the officials to furnish information on the expenditure made by the previous government from 2014 to December 7, 2023 on all departments in the state government and the purposes for which the expenditure was incurred.
Amid the Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and in Haryana beginning to turn the heat on him, businessman Robert Vadra, also the son-in-law of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, recently ensured his companies filed their pending balance sheets.
Robert Vadra, who is at the centre of a controversy over his property dealings with realty giant DLF and others, began investing in real estate five years ago, in 2007-08.
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
CBI is expected to issue summons to a number of other people and entities involved in the case in the near future
The announcement from the Congress lawmaker brought fore cracks in the party, which on Tuesday lost the sole Rajya Sabha seat to the Bharatiya Janata Party and is apparently scrambling to keep its members together to prevent the fall of its government.
But the Robert Vadra firm, which held luxury apartments in top DLF projects, sees income and profits dry up since FY11.
She called on the people of the state to ensure this election is not about Modi or any other leader, irrespective of their party.
On balance, RG contesting from Raebareli instead of Amethi isn't the masterstroke the party's adherents are touting it to be, but neither is it the blunder the BJP and its tame media is framing it as, points out Prem Panicker.
More than 48 lakh candidates appeared in the examination conducted on February 17 and 18 across the state.
The notable names in the BJP's first list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Hema Malini from Mathura, Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, Smriti Irani from Amethi, Lallu Singh from Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli among others.
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
The Rajasthan assembly on Tuesday witnessed pandemonium after the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party alleged that government had unduly favoured Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra in land deals in the state.
Out of the 25 seats, five seats each are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.
In the video titled 'Mum, Memories and Marmalade', the mother-son duo of Sonia and Rahul are seen having a light-hearted banter about food.
If Tamil Nadu voters preferred the DMK combine, it owed to the Modi-Annamalai combo's ideological battle which often crossed the line of political decency and also challenged 'Tamil pride', argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Is it not a fact that all good leaders in the Congress have left the party?'
Vinesh Phogat was locked in a war of words with cousin Babita, with the former requesting the latter not to weaken their movement.
Top Congress leadership on Tuesday discussed the issue of government formation in Telangana.
It was not just these instances but also some images from the Congress' 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' last year when it was passing through the state remain etched in people's memory.
The Delhi high court on Friday dismissed petitions by Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra against the income tax department's decision to transfer their assessments to the Central Circle, which is mandated to check tax evasion, instead of an ordinary assessment in a matter related to fugitive arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari.
Indian Administrative Service officer Ashok Khemka is tired of talking about his latest transfer -- allegedly his 42nd one. Khemka was reportedly transferred after he -- as the director general of consolidation of land holdings and land records --- started probing a land deal between realty giant DLF and businessman Robert Vadra.
Justice S N Dhingra Commission, which was set up to probe into grant of land licences to some companies including that of Robert Vadra's in Gurgaon during the Congress rule in Haryana, on Thursday sought six weeks more time to submit its report hours before the deadline was to end.
In a major organisational rejig ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress on Saturday appointed Avinash Pande the general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, replacing Priyanka Gandhi Vadra while Sachin Pilot was made the general secretary in-charge of Chhattisgarh.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday reserved its order on the maintainability of a writ petition filed by a local activist -- seeking a probe into allegations of irregularities against Robert Vadra relating to his land transactions with real estate major DLF in Haryana.
The best-case scenario is that the BJP will top out at around 50 seats in UP -- a drop of 12 from the 62 it had won in 2019. Taken in tandem with Maharashtra and Karnataka, this is what is likely to put paid to the BJP's ambitions of a third term for Modi, argues Prem Panicker.
Taking note of a Public Interest Litigation seeking investigation into the alleged nexus between realty giant DLF and businessman Robert Vadra, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday directed the central government to submit a reply within the next three weeks.
In the wake of fresh charges levelled by social activist Arvind Kejriwal against Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday demanded Congress and UPA ministers stop defending him and order a fair, free and comprehensive inquiry into his business dealings.
Ruling out any probe into business dealings between Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra and realty major DLF, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Monday said the government cannot look into private transactions unless there are specific allegations of corruption.
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