Rahul Gandhi expected to make first speech as Congress Vice President today

January 20, 2013

rahul_firstJaipur, Jan 20: After months of anticipation and clamour within the Congress, Rahul Gandhi has been appointed Vice President, as the party gets battle-ready for the general elections scheduled for 2014.

Mr Gandhi is now officially No 2 in the Congress. His boss is his mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Accepting the new role, Mr Gandhi said on Saturday, "I have great experience ...this is great party and we can transform this country."

The All India Congress Committee will hold a day-long session today on the third and final day of its Jaipur conclave. Mr Gandhi along with Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are expected to address the gathering there.

Mr Gandhi's appointment was endorsed at the Congress' highest decision-making body, its working committee or the CWC, which met on Saturday evening at the end of a two-day brainstorming session in Jaipur.

Defence Minister AK Antony moved the proposal at the CWC which received unanimous endorsement.

"CWC accepted the proposal and after their endorsement, Mrs Sonia Gandhi also gave her approval and Shri Rahul Gandhi accepted this responsibility," Congress spokesperson Janardhana Dwivedi said.

The party was quick to emphasise that Mrs Gandhi will continue to play a bigger role. "There is a younger India and we are the first party to include the youth. Sonia Gandhi is the supreme leader and she will help with decisions. She has a bigger role," Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit said.

Mr Gandhi was already assigned to leading the party's strategy when the Congress asks voters for a third shot in power. But the Congress said on Saturday that the party will decide the PM candidate later. "Mrs Gandhi has rightly appointed Rahul Gandhi to the post of vice president. And as far as the prime ministerial post is concerned the party would decide about it later," said Congress' Sachin Pilot.

The Congress said Mr Gandhi's promotion represents its commitment to representing the youth of the country. He is 41 and in states like UP and Bihar, his lead role in elections did not yield any real dividends for the party.

The substantial presence of young delegates at the Jaipur session is seen as a sign of Mr Gandhi's increasing influence on the party. In her speech on Friday, his mother emphasised an urgent need to address an alienation from the urban middle class, especially the youth.

Recently, the Congress responded clumsily when thousands of students protested for weeks against the gang-rape of a young student on a moving bus in Delhi.

Demonstrations demanded justice for the victim and better security for women, and there was huge anger at the failure of senior ministers to reach out to the protesters.

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News Network
March 4,2020

Bhopal, Mar 4: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister  Kamal Nath on Tuesday asserted that there was no threat to his government.

Nath's comments came when he was asked about reports of alleged 'poaching' attempts being made by the opposition BJP in the state.

“The legislators are telling me that they are being offered so much money. I am telling the MLAs to take it, if they are getting this free money,” Nath told reporters here on the sidelines of a programme.

Congress veteran Digvijaya Singh on Monday alleged that his party MLAs were being offered “huge money by BJP leaders” as part of the saffron party's “poaching” attempt to destablise the Kamal Nath government.

When Nath was asked about any threat to the stability of his government in Madhya Pradesh, he said, “There is nothing to worry about.”

Reacting to Nath's statement, state BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agrawal told PTI that his party has nothing to do with the allegations.

“In fact, these speculations and allegations are part of the internal bickering of among Congress leaders to get nominated for the Rajya Sabha polls,” he said.

After Digvijaya Singh's remarks on Monday, senior BJP leader and former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accused the Congress veteran of making false statements to create sensationalism.

“Speaking lies to create sensationalism is Digvijaya's habit. Probably some of his (Digivijaya's) works were not done and he wants to create pressure on the CM to get them done,” Chouhan alleged.

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Agencies
July 23,2020

Jaipur, Jul 23: Four days after the Special Operation Group (SOG) sent a notice to Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in connection with the purported audio clips indicating his alleged involvement in horse trading of MLAs in Rajasthan, a city court has directed the Rajasthan police to probe a complaint alleging Shekhawat's role in a credit society scam worth Rs 840 crore.

The additional district judge Pawan Kumar, on Tuesday, directed the additional chief judicial magistrate's court to send the complaint against Shekhawat to the SOG.

Shekhawat, his wife and other partners have been named in the complaint in the Sanjivani Credit Cooperative Society scam in which around 50,000 investors allegedly lost about Rs 840 crore.

The Jaipur unit of the SOG has been probing the scam since last year after an FIR was registered on August 23, 2019.

Now, Jaipur ADJ Court-8 ordered a fresh inquiry in the case against Gajendra Singh accepting the revised application filed by Lagu Singh and Guman Singh and said that "this is a serious matter and hence SOG should investigate this".

Both the applicants had invested a huge amount in Sanjivani credit cooperative society.

It is alleged in the complaint that a multi-storey building has been built with the money instead of a theatre which was proposed earlier and many properties were also bought in Ethiopia with the money.

An SOG investigation also reveals that a large amount of money has been deposited into accounts of Shekhawat and his wife at different time spans, said sources.

Earlier, Shekhawat was not mentioned in the chargesheet filed by the SOG in connection with the case. Later, a magistrate's court also rejected the application to include him in the chargesheet. The applicants then approached the additional district judge's court with a revised application.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Kolkata, Jan 27: The West Bengal government on Monday tabled a resolution against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in the Assembly.

The resolution appeals to the Union government to repeal the amended citizenship law and revoke plans to implement NRC and update NPR.

As per reports, state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Partha Chatterjee introduced the resolution in the House around 2 pm.

Three states - Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab - have already passed resolutions against the new citizenship law.

The law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state, with the TMC opposing the contentious legislation tooth and nail, and the BJP pressing for its implementation.

The new citizenship law has emerged as the latest flashpoint in the state, with the TMC opposing the contentious legislation tooth and nail, and the BJP pressing for its implementation.

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