Politics

Gehlot and Pilot loyalists spar in Rajasthan

Published

5 months ago

October 31, 2022

The brimming internal feud in the ruling Congress in Rajasthan saw a Sachin Pilot loyalist MLA hitting out at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot‘s close aide and RTDC Chairman Dharmendra Rathore over his visit to the legislator’s constituency without informing him on Sunday. Congress MLA Ramniwas Gawriya also accused Rathore of weakening the party in his constituency by colluding with local BJP leaders.
Rathore, however, said he was a “true soldier” of the Congress party and it was in the public domain who had damaged the party.

The RTDC chairman was on a visit to Parbatsar constituency of Nagaur district, which is held by Gawriya, and attended a few programmes including an award ceremony where a former BJP MLA was also present.

Rathore was among the three leaders who were issued a show-cause notice in September by the Congress after MLAs loyal to the chief minister did not attend an official legislature party meeting convened for passing a resolution authorising the Congress chief to appoint a successor to Gehlot, triggering a political crisis.
Gawriya, who was one of the Congress MLAs who, led by Sachin Pilot, had revolted against Gehlot in July 2020, questioned Rathore for visiting the constituency without informing him.

“Dharmendra Rathore came to Parbatsar and BJP workers were leading him. He roamed around with the people of the BJP. This matter will be taken to the party high command,” he said in a video.

He “‘is not a mass leader. He has become the chairman by flattery. What is he doing? He is only damaging the party wherever he is going,” the MLA said.

When contacted, the RTDC chairman said that it was already in the public domain who had worked to damage the party in collusion with the BJP.

Targeting Sachin Pilot and his loyalist MLAs, Rathore said, “Everyone knows how much damage they have done to the Congress party. They sat in the lap of the BJP and tried to topple the Ashok Gehlot government.”

“I am a true soldier of Congress and will remain,” he continued.

On charges of attending a programme with the BJP leader, he said it was a programme of the Rajput community and such programmes are held beyond the party lines.

Gehlot and Pilot were at loggerheads for the CM post after Congress came to power in December 20218. The party high command made Gehlot the chief minister and Pilot was appointed his deputy, but Pilot along with 18 other MLAs including Gawriya rebelled against Gehlot’s leadership in July 2020 which further soured their relations.

Another political crisis erupted in September when Gehlot loyalist MLAs skipped a Congress legislature party meeting and handed over resignations to the Assembly Speaker against any move of the party to appoint Sachin Pilot as the new chief minister in place of Gehlot, who was in the race for Congress president post.

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Politics

AAP posters against PM Modi; raises slogan like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao”

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a nationwide poster campaign with slogans like “Modi Hatao, Desh Bachao” in 22 states, said AAP’s state convener Gopal Rai on Thursday.Gopal Rai also alleged at a press conference that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is engaged in ending the country’s democratic systems instead of fixing the education-health system and removing unemployment.

Posters in Hindi, English and all other regional languages are being put up in 22 states across the country. Rai said that from April 10, similar posters would be put up at universities across the nation to make students aware about the campaign.

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Politics

HC disqualifies JDS D C Gowrishankar Swamy legislator

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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JDS MLA from Tumakuru Rural constituency in Karnataka D C Gowrishankar Swamy was disqualified by the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday in a case relating to alleged electoral malpractice. The Court, however, kept the disqualification in suspension for one month, allowing Swamy to file an appeal in the Supreme Court. A single-judge bench of the high court was delivering its verdict on a petition filed by defeated BJP candidate B Suresh Gowda, which alleged electoral malpractice by Swamy for distributing fake insurance bonds to voters during the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election.

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Politics

BJP steps up OBC outreach to sway Nitish Kumar’s Luv-Kush base

Published

9 hours ago

March 31, 2023

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The BJP has upped its game in Bihar by stepping up its OBC outreach, especially among Kushwahas, one of the two castes of Nitish Kumar‘s Luv-Kush vote base, and has appointed PM Modi’s key aides to look after its work in the state.The BJP is going to celebrate Emperor Ashok’s birth anniversary on April 2 in Sasaram, which will be attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah. This comes days after BJP appointed Samrat Choudhary as its Bihar unit president, who is also a Khushwaha. The community sees Ashoka as their ancestor.

Luv-Kush is the alliance between the Kurmi and Koeri castes, which together constitute approximately 15 % of the state population. Nitish Kumar a Kurmi himself, had garnered the support of this caste alliance, to take on the Muslim-Yadav alliance of his once staunch rival Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“The BJP is organising a big public programme to mark the birth anniversary of Samrat Ashoka, whom Khushwahas see as their ancestor. Now, the Luv-Kush alliance whom Kumar treated as his bonded labourers, will now go with BJP, worshippers of Lord Ram,” Choudhary told ET.He said the genesis of Luv-kush alliance was to counter Yadav’s politics of appeasement.

Meanwhile, the BJP has appointed a new co-incharge for Bihar, Sunil Ojha from Gujarat who worked closely with the prime minister and was looking after the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, a region comprising Modi’s constituency Varanasi.

With Ojha’s appointment, there will be two key BJP functionaries — he and Bhikhubhai Dalsaniya, organisational secretary for BJP’s state unit — both from Gujarat and have worked with Modi for many years since his days as Gujarat chief minister. Ojha was relocated to Varanasi from Gujarat and registered as a voter from Modi’s constituency in 2018.”I was handling the party’s work in eastern Uttar Pradesh, which borders Bihar. So, the demography and social structure in both regions is the same,” Ojha told ET. Ojha’s appointment also came days after the appointment of the new state unit chief.

Bihar has always been an uphill task for the BJP dispensation, and has constantly been posing challenges for the party.

Now, ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP has redrawn its strategy with new state unit chief and incharges. The coming together of the JD(U) with RJD after parting ways with the BJP, poses a serious challenge for the BJP, as these two parties make caste equations unfavourable for the BJP.

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