Rajasthan

Jaipur, Jul 24 (PTI) The Rajasthan High Court on Friday ordered maintaining status quo on disqualification notices issued by the assembly speaker to 19 dissident Congress MLAs, including Sachin Pilot.

The notices were served by the assembly speaker to the MLAs on July 14 after the party complained to him that the legislators had defied a whip to attend two Congress Legislature Party meetings last week.

The Congress had sought action against Pilot and the other dissidents under paragraph 2 (1) (a) of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution.

Jaipur, Jul 20 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday called Sachin Pilot useless , using the Hindi word nikamma in a no-holds-barred attack on his former deputy with whom he is locked in a power tussle.

Referring to the dissident leader's tenure as the Pradesh Congress Committee president, Gehlot claimed that nobody raised questions for the sake of the party even when they knew that he didn't work.

Jaipur, Jul 20 (PTI) The hearing on a writ petition filed by Sachin Pilot and 18 other dissident Congress MLAs from Rajasthan, challenging the disqualification notices issued to them by the state Assembly speaker, resumed in the high court here on Monday.

The petition was taken up by a bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Prakash Gupta on Friday and arguments were heard.

The counsel representing the Assembly speaker opened the arguments on Monday.

New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The Congress has absolute majority in the Rajasthan assembly, the party asserted on Sunday, a day ahead of a Rajasthan High Court hearing on its rebel MLAs' petitions challenging disqualification notices by the speaker.

Sources in the Congress also did not rule out the possibility that an assembly session could be convened, even as party chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala saying it is the prerogative of the state cabinet and the chief minister, and "they will decide appropriately".

Kota, Jul 15 (PTI) A court awarded life imprisonment to a 24-year-old man in a dowry death case in Rajasthan's Jhalawar district on Wednesday.

The court convicted Shiv Puri, a resident of Chan Ka Kheda village in Dug area, in the dowry death case and also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

According to Additional Public Prosecutor Lokesh Gupta, Puri got married to Maya Goswami (20), a native of Agar Malwa district in Madhya Pradesh, in February, 2016 and allegedly harassed her for dowry for around a year.

New Delhi, Jul 15 (PTI) "I am not joining the BJP," Congress leader Sachin Pilot said on Wednesday, asserting that the speculation about his switching sides was being fuelled by certain leaders in Rajasthan to tarnish his image.

Pilot's remarks come a day after the Congress sacked him as Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit president. Two loyalists of Pilot were also dropped from the state Cabinet.

Jaipur, Jul 14 (PTI) The Congress on Tuesday sacked Sachin Pilot from the posts of Rajasthan's deputy chief minister and the party's state unit chief.

Cracking the whip on the rebel party leader, the party also removed his loyalists Vishvendra Singh and Ramesh Meena from the state cabinet.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Governor Kalraj Mishra immediately after the Congress Legislature Party meeting where the decision to remove the three ministers was taken.

Jaipur/New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot on Sunday declared open rebellion, claiming that the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority now as over 30 Congress MLAs are supporting him.

In a statement, the state Congress chief also said he will not attend the Congress Legislature Party meeting scheduled to be held Monday.

Pilot says Ashok Gehlot in minority after over 30 Congress and some independent MLAs have pledged support, the statement on his official WhatsApp group said.

Jaipur, Jul 11 (PTI) Amid a political slugfest over the BJP's alleged attempts to topple the Congress-led Rajasthan government, several state ministers and party legislators met Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence on Saturday.

Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal, Health Minister Raghu Sharma, Transport Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and Labour Minister Tikaram Jully, among others, visited Gehlot.

Apart from Congress MLAs, Independent MLAs also met the chief minister.

Jaipur, Jun 28 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Sunday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to withdraw his statement at an all-party meeting, claiming that he had given a certificate to China that it did not intrude into Indian territory or capture any post.

"The prime minister should tell the people of the country what happened on the border," Gehlot told reporters at a video conference while referring to the Ladakh's Galwan Valley clash between soldiers of both countries.

Twenty Indian Army personnel were killed in the clash.