A day after Ghulam Nabi Azad pinned the blame for the party's 2014 Lok Sabha poll debacle largely on Rahul Gandhi, Congress leader Sachin Pilot dubbed it on Saturday as "targeted personal vilification" of the former party chief and said it was wrong to hold one individual responsible for the electoral loss.
The Aam Aadmi Party held a protest on Saturday over CBI action against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and asked the BJP-led Centre to tell the nation what the probe agency found since it raided his residence and other locations last week.
With Ghulam Nabi Azad's exit casting a shadow on the meeting of the Congress' apex decision-making body, party leaders on Saturday slammed him for "targeted personal vilification" of Rahul Gandhi while the BJP said the veteran leader has raised valid questions.
In the midst of a political storm, Chief Minister Hemant Soren who may well lose his seat in Jharkhand’s Assembly has had a chequered career.
It's an internal matter of Congress. It's important to follow democratic principles in a political party. If it's not being followed, then the party's people should be worried about it: Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh on Ghulam Nabi Azad quitting the Congress
Congress leader Sachin Pilot says it is wrong to hold one individual responsible for electoral loss, day after Ghulam Nabi Azad pinned blame for party's 2014 Lok Sabha poll debacle largely on Rahul Gandhi
B/w 2015-2021, over 72000 schools were shut. Over 51000 were shut in 2018-19 itself. Private schools are thriving in areas they're (BJP) shutting govt schools in, those private schools have been built by their own MLAs. Almost 12000 private schools have been opened: Delhi Dy CM
They raided CM's office, then mine 4 years back. They registered cases against 40 MLAs, but didn't find anything. Then sent CBI to my house in a fake excise policy case, realized they will not find anything. So they've started something new now, on schools made: Dy CM M Sisodia
The Congress on Saturday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party over the alleged excise policy "scam" and demanded that either Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia should resign or he should be removed.
Amid the deepening political crisis in Jharkhand due to the uncertainty over Chief Minister Hemant Soren's fate as an MLA, Soren and ruling legislators were seen leaving for some unknown destination on three buses.
The three buses were occupied by the legislators of the ruling JMM-Congress-RJD coalition and guarded by security personnel. (PTI)
Jharkhand Congress Legislative Party meeting to be held at 8:30 pm today. Party's Incharge for the state, Avinash Pande will preside over the meeting. (ANI)
The Congress on Saturday slammed the Aam Aadmi Party over the alleged excise policy "scam" and demanded that either Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia should resign or he should be removed.
Congress general secretary Ajay Maken also alleged that Kejriwal was not removing Sisodia as the strings of the matter were attached to him. (PTI)
Maken challenged Kejriwal to a debate on the excise policy issue.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that the Centre did not have to impose GST on food items if the BJP had not spent a whopping Rs 6,300 crore on toppling governments of other parties in the country.
Kejriwal's remarks come a day after his called the BJP a "serial killer of state governments". (PTI)
During his address in the Delhi Assembly, Kejriwal also alleged that the BJP is using money collected through GST and hike in petrol and diesel prices to "poach" the MLAs.
The Twitter spat between Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Assam counterpart stretched on to Saturday with the AAP chief asking Himanta Biswa Sarma when should he come to see the schools of the northeastern state.
The argument between the two leaders in the virtual space began after Kejriwal had on Wednesday tweeted that a closure of schools is not a solution and there is a need to open more schools across the country, and shared a link to a news report claiming a "closure" of some schools in Assam. (PTI)
The development comes in the wake of a crisis situation in Jharkhand where a threat to Soren being "disqualified" as an MLA has arisen, while a marathon third round of a meeting of legislators of the ruling alliance is underway in the chief minister's residence to chalk out a strategy to deal with the emerging scenario. All the ruling MLAs are attending the meeting along with their luggage, they said.
The situation in Congress party is clear since a long time... I feel that "Ghulam Nabi ji Azad ho chuke hai": Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on the resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad, in Gwalior
I have no information about this. MLAs are coming with luggage for the meeting because they have been asked to be ready. We'll let you know if MLAs are asked to shift somewhere: Jharkhand Congress President Rajesh Thakur on MLAs to shift to Chhattisgarh amid political crisis in state
"MLAs from Jammu and Kashmir are here. A few more-some senior leaders and ex-ministers-will come in evening. Azad Sa'ab said a national party will be formed, we'll begin from J&K upcoming poll will be fought strongly. Don't want to reply to comments, we'll reply with victory," saidSalman Nizami to ANI.
Fresh political drama erupted in Jharkhand as reports emerged on Thursday stating that the Election Commission (EC) recommended the disqualification of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren from the state assembly as an MLA for violating electoral law by extending a mining lease to himself.
The opinion was sent to the Jharkhand Raj Bhavan in a sealed cover,PTIreported quoting Raj Bhavan sources. Raj Bhavan, however, has officially not confirmed the development.
When asked about the same, Governor Ramesh Bais told reporters that he would be in a position to comment on the issue once he took stock of developments. "I will be in a position to tell about any such decision when I reach Raj Bhavan," he said. Since then, he has not communicated to the media on the issue.
So, what does all of this mean for the Soren government?DHbrings you up to speed. Read more
As the meeting of MLAs was under way at Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren's residence, several media organisations found luggage outside. The reports claimed the bags tobe of the MLAs present there raising buzz over 'resort politics'.
Credit: PTI File Photo
"We are working for people, doing one work after the other. So, BJP is perturbed. When state is heading towards all-round development, BJP is worried. It wants to topple government one way or the other. We want to save government, BJP is insulting the people's mandate,"Jharkhand minister Banna Gupta tells ANI.
"Jharkhand's politics is different...BJP is trying to pollute politics here. If EC sends a report in a sealed envelope, it gets leaked even before it's opened. The alliance govt's recent decisions will affect their (BJP) base in tribal areas," saysJharkhand Congress MLA Bandhu Tirkey. "They (BJP) are perturbed. So, they have been conspiring against this Govt since day one. Whenever a tribal person became CM of the state, they didn't allow him to complete his tenure,"Tirkey added. (ANI)
"Two years back, 23 of us wrote to Sonia Gandhi that the party's situation is worrying and should be taken seriously. Congress lost all Assembly polls after that letter. If Congress & India thought alike, it seems either of them has started thinking differently," saidCongress MP Manish Tewari. "A crack seems to have appeared in coordination betweenIndia and Congress that existed since 1885. A self-introspection was needed. I feel that had the consensus of the meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence on December 20, 2020 been executed, this situation wouldn't have arrived," he added. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address Khadi Utsav at Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad at around 5:30 pm today.
Amid the political crisis in Jharkhand, a third meeting of UPA legislators on the second consecutive day has been called at CM Hemant Soren's residence today at 11 am. (ANI)
As the crisis between the Arvind Kejriwal government and Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena deepens in New Delhi, one pattern that is emerging is the Delhi CM intensifying his campaigns here in Gujarat.
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