Ashok Gehlot is going to be announced as the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan, according to sources.
The official announcement could be made any time later today.
Following elaborate deliberations, the Congress decided to name Gehlot as the Chief Minister.
Rajasthan PCC president Sachin Pilot was also seen as a close contender for the post.
The result of the Assembly elections for Rajasthan was announced on Dec 11. Of the 199 seats that went for elections, Congress won 99 constituencies and BJP 73 only.
The 67-year-old leader is the third time chief minister of the state. He was chief minister in 1998-2003 and 2008-2013.
Gehlot belongs to the Mali community.
He has been the General Secretary of the party, the third-in-command after party president Rahul Gandhi and treasurer Ahmed Patel.
Along with the administrative part, Gehlot will have to consolidate the voter base further for the upcoming General elections in 2019.
This is a developing story, more details awaiting.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday appeared to have successfully brokered peace between Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot after several rounds of discussions and tweeted a picture of the two warring leaders from Rajasthan with himself.
“The united colours of Rajasthan,” he said in the tweet along with the photograph in which the three leaders were seen in a jovial mood.
Gandhi met the two leaders separately thrice since Thursday and is learnt to have decided the chief ministerial face in the state. But there was no immediate clarity on who would be the chief minister and it is likely to be announced by this evening.
There have been hectic discussions between top party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on the selection of chief ministers for Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Senior party leaders K C Venugopal, Avinash Pande and Jitendra Singh were also present during the meeting Friday.
There is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale jets from France, the Supreme Court said on Friday and dismissed all the petitions seeking an investigation into alleged irregularities in the Rs 58,000 crore deal.
There was no substantial evidence of commercial favouritism to any private entity, the bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said on the issue of an offset partner in its ruling on a batch of petitions.
While one lot sought a court-monitored investigation into the deal, another asked for a direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities.
The bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph, said it is not the job of the court to deal with the comparative details of the pricing.
There has been a necessity for fighter aircraft and the country cannot remain without jets, it said.
The CJI, who read out the judgement for the three-judge bench, said no reasons were found to interfere in the procurement process for the fighter jets.
The apex court said it does not find substantial matter to interfere with the issue of procurement, pricing and offset partner.
It noted the need for induction of 4th and 5th generation of fighter aircraft like Rafale in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Both sides involved in the deal have clarified all aspects in the procurement of Rafale jets deal, the bench said.
The court said nobody questioned the procurement of the Rafale fighter jets when the deal was finalised in September 2016.
It added that questions were raised on jet deal only after former French president Francois Hollande came out with a statement. This cannot be the basis of judicial review, it said.
The court said it cannot compel the government to procure 126 or 36 fighter jets. That depends on its decision.
The apex court reserved its verdict on the batch of pleas on November 14.
Advocate M L Sharma was the first petitioner in the case. Later, another lawyer, Vineet Dhanda, moved the apex court with the plea for court-monitored probe into the deal. AAP leader Sanjay Singh also filed a petition.
After the three petitions were filed, former Union ministers Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie along with activist advocate Prashant Bhushan moved the apex court with a plea for a direction to the CBI to register FIR for alleged irregularities in the deal.
The Centre earlier defended the deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets and opposed public disclosure of the pricing details.
India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of Indian Air Force equipment.
The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.
While reserving the verdict, the apex court said the pricing details of Rafale jets could only be discussed after it decided on whether to make it public.
The observation by an apex court bench came after the government refused to publicly divulge pricing details of the deal, saying it would give an advantage to India’s enemies.
Hearing a bunch of pleas alleging criminality in the Rafale deal and seeking a court-monitored probe into it, the apex court had asked wide-ranging questions from the government on various issues, including lack of sovereign guarantee from the French government, selection of Indian offset partner by the Dassault Aviation and the need to enter into an Inter-Governmental Agreement (IGA) with France.
The court took note of submissions and counter-arguments on the pricing of the fighter jets with the petitioners alleging that the government has been giving “bogus arguments” and “hiding behind the secrecy clause”.
Vehemently defending non-disclosure of the price publicly, Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, said that the cost of a bare Rafale jet as per 2016 exchange rate was Rs 670 crore and the disclosure of price of a “fully loaded” aircraft would give an “advantage to the adversaries”.
Bhushan claimed the Union Law Ministry red-flagged two issues — absence of sovereign guarantee by France and the international arbitration clause in IGA as per which the arbitration seat would be at Geneva — but the government went ahead with the deal.
Venugopal admitted there was no sovereign guarantee, but said France has given a ‘letter of comfort’ which would be good enough as a governmental guarantee.
During the hearing, the court also interacted with senior IAF officers and enquired about the requirements of the force.
The IAF officers emphasised the need for induction of ‘four plus or fifth’ generation fighter aircraft like Rafale, which have niche stealth technology and enhanced electronic warfare capabilities.
Amid the anti-BJP wave going across the nation, which was observed during the assembly election results in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Rajasthan, the Supreme Court’s notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for allegedly concealing criminal cases registered against him in his 2014 election affidavit gave another opportunity to the netizens and the Opposition to criticise Fadnavis and strengthen the political atmosphere in favour of the oppositions ahead of the 2019 the elections.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on a plea seeking annulment of his election for alleged non-disclosure of pending criminal cases against him in his nomination papers. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph sought response of the Chief Minister on an appeal filed against a Bombay High Court order. The Bombay HC had dismissed the plea of one Satish Ukey seeking annulment of Fadnavis’s election to the Maharashtra Assembly on the ground of alleged non-disclosure of all pending criminal cases against him.
Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande stated, “If the government speaks about transparency and any question is being raised, then according to me, CM Fadnavis should reply to the notice and satisfy the query of the court.”
Later, on Thursday afternoon, CMO released a statement stating that CM Fadnavis will file an appropriate response to the Supreme Court’s notice to him on a plea seeking annulment of his election to the state Assembly for alleged non-disclosure of pending criminal cases against him. The SC’s notice was whether or not to admit the plea, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) mentioned in the statement. It also said that Fadnavis had filed all details about cases against him in the election affidavit in 2014. The petitioner had moved the high court which dismissed the case calling it baseless.
When AV spoke to BJP regional vice-president Vasant Gite, he commented, “Our CM Office has declared a note on this that, we will reveal our statement at an appropriate time.”
The Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) has recently released its report on India’s 31 Chief Ministers, which also included the criminal cases registered against each of them. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had the highest number of criminal cases, 22, registered against him. Some of the charges against Fadnavis include three serious criminal charges such as “abetment of such assault, if the assault is committed”, “voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means”, being part of an unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent.
Congress leader Harish Rogye appealed for the investigation to take place. “When we contest for an election, we need to put all our criminal and other records in front of the Election Commission and if he has not shown it, then legally he is responsible.”
“Narendra Modi and BJP had said many things, but now we can clearly see that the corrupt people have thrived in his reign. Even the loan defaulters who have fled, aren’t they friends with Modi? They only said that they want a corruption-free India but the whole corruption is taking place from their side. The whole country is watching and we have seen the results in the recent five assembly elections,” Rogye further expressed.
Apart from Fadnavis, there are several other political leaders including Arvind Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar who got mentioned. However, since the notice was sent to the CM, it caught fire on social media. Now, after winning in five states, the Opposition took every advantage of it to make their fortune in state’s upcoming elections. Appearing for the petitioner, Kapil Sibal argued that Fadnavis didn’t disclose details of the pending cases and as per law, he had to disclose cases taken cognisance by a court.
NCP legislator Shashikant Shinde asserted, “If the Supreme Court has sent the notice, then it should be verified whether those are political cases or criminal cases. If the court takes any decision against any leader who has criminal records and was elected by muscle power, then the decision should be accepted without any dispute.”
Nonetheless, the decision on this case will take its time to make way out. Looking at the current Indian political scenario, where there are a number of criminal record holders and corrupt leaders in the politics, it must be ensured in the coming years to make a crystal clear image of the Indian politics in the minds of people across the globe.
The most non-controversial yet famous Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis was always in hullabaloo for some or the other reason. Recently, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to Devendra Fadnavis for failing to disclose criminal cases pending against him in his 2014 election affidavit. A Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph issued a notice in a petition filed by Satish Ukey. The Association for Democratic Reform (ADR) has recently released its report on India’s 31 Chief Ministers, which also included the criminal cases registered against each of them. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had the highest number of criminal cases, 22, registered against them with 3 “serious criminal cases”. Some of the charges against Fadnavis include serious charges such as “abetment of such assault, if the assault is committed”, “voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means”, “being part of an unlawful assembly, rioting, voluntarily causing hurt and wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent”. Well, he is not the one in this list, including Arvind Kejriwal and Nitish Kumar there are many others who got mentioned.
Since Thursday morning, this issue has caught fire on social media; after winning in five States, the Opposition took every advantage of it to make their fortune in state’s upcoming elections. Fadnavis said that he didn’t mind topping the list of CMs with most criminal cases as the majority of charges against him were political in nature and were slapped on him in the course of his activism against the corrupt practices of the previous governments. Most of the cases are registered under Sections 143, 147 and 148 of the IPC, all related to unlawful assembly, rioting, etc. There is not a single case related to Section 324 of IPC for voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons as published in ADR report. Well, the bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph sought response of the Chief Minister on an appeal filed against a Bombay High Court order. Meanwhile, the Bombay HC had dismissed the plea of one Satish Ukey seeking annulment of Fadnavis’ election to the Maharashtra Assembly on the ground of alleged non-disclosure of all pending criminal cases against him.
Even otherwise, if we look at the overall performance of Fadnavis, the people of Maharashtra have a difference of opinion, but at large, his government has fairly performed.
There are several other reasons why Devendra is on Opposition’s radar; Maharashtra was ruled mostly by the leaders from Western Maharashtra i.e. Pune, Satara, Sangli, Solapur but he is from Vidarbha region, which is a backward region of Maharashtra, and he did a lot of development in his region. The Marathas and others ruled Maharashtra for most of the period; Fadnavis is a Brahmin. This is also a good change for diversity but not liked by many. There are no corruption charges against him. He is a young and hardworking person as against most of the politicians who are old and seasoned. He can get along with all types of people and carry them along. He has dealt maturely with Shiv Sena. The way he dealt with Anna Hazare’s agitation was praiseworthy. He has less ego issues and his utterances are sensible. He is a man of moderate views and not an extremist; he is trying his best to solve the farmer’s problems, but as we know no government was successful in solving these issues. In five years, what he tried doing is worth noticing.
The people of India highly regard him as the most youthful, accountable, and clean leader of Maharashtra. That is the reason why he probably sits there as the Chief Minister after leading Maharashtra BJP to a thumping election victory in 2014. The tenure of Devendra Fadnavis has been a period of tremendous growth for the average citizen of Maharashtra. Farm productivity has leapfrogged in the last four years while we are already well on our way to be a trillion dollars economy by 2025. He is a person whose government is doing well despite an unfriendly ally. He is a man who successfully faces so many political challenges with his government that has external support but not a complete majority.
He is the one who got electoral success for BJP across the State including in the strongholds of other parties. The impact of Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan (JSA), the much-acclaimed micro-irrigation project launched in 2015, couldn’t be assessed in the summer of 2016 because of a poor monsoon in the previous year. But the benefits are clearly showing now. After decent rains last year, thanks to JSA, groundwater levels across the State have increased significantly. Last April, in the drought-hit region of Marathwada, 4,640 tankers had to be deployed across 3,586 villages to provide drinking water. This year, it is down to 669 tankers for 886 villages. That’s a phenomenal reduction of 85 per cent. In fact, take a closer look at Latur district, which made national headlines after the city had no water and water trains had to be rushed in. In April 2016, the district required 260 tankers. This year, it has dropped to zero. In Osmanabad, the need has plummeted from 373 tankers to just one. His government removed the hurdles surrounding the 22 km Trans-Harbour Link project — India’s largest sea bridge connecting the island city of Mumbai and Raigarh district in the mainland that was stuck for years. Fadnavis has cleared a record 19,000 of the 20,000 files sent to him since October 31, 2014.
Shiv Sena, its ally in the current ruling government never fails to criticise him. Even the Critics and political opponents agree that Fadnavis is a soft-spoken, grounded and humble person. Rarely you will be hearing him speak heatedly with his staff, colleagues or journalists. It is this quality that wins trust and respect. Adding to that, given his RSS background, Fadnavis is extremely disciplined. He knows how much to speak and when to speak. More importantly, he knows when to keep quiet. But the big test for him will be in May 2019. Maharashtra will be crucial for Modi’s re-election and Fadnavis will have to deliver. He is neither corrupt nor inefficient.
(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@www.afternoonvoice.com)
The BJP has lost significant support from key sections of voters who had played an important role in propelling the party to power in the 2014 general election. Voters in rural areas, farmers, Dalits, tribals, first-time voters and unemployed have voted for the Congress much more than they have for the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, as well as in Chhattisgarh, indicating the slew of policies. Losses in these rural and urban parts indicate a serious flaw in how the BJP positioned itself politically. To me, it is a clear sign that the urban middle class, farmers, and traders have abandoned their traditional political romance with the BJP.
– Najmul Jaunpuri
A right move by appointing Shaktikanta Das
The resignation of Mr Urjit Patel as the RBI Governor comes as an unexpected move ahead of the proposed Board meeting. As the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet was quick to nominate former Economic Affairs Secretary Mr. Shaktikantha Das as the new Governor, the void has been rightly filled at an appropriate time. It is appreciable on the Committee’s part to quickly identify and appoint an incumbent with the IAS background and who also comes with a strong bureaucratic track record.
With the short timed exit of former Governor owing to differences between RBI and Ministry of Finance, there is not much time left to debate his departure owing to the upcoming final budget session before the term of the current NDA government comes to an end due to the crucial Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Of late, the post of RBI Governors being occupied by the economists and other experts, have been vocal about RBI’s policies and as also have outspokenly expressed the same with the media. The appointment of the new RBI Governor, now popularly known as an ‘inside man’ due to his vast experience at Government of India, will now certainly help reduce the decibel levels within the Boardroom and also help to strike balance between the Government and RBI.
As such there is not much time left either for the current NDA government, which is yet to bite the dust from the sudden exit from five assembly state polls and thus, needs to act fast to wrap up its complete term. Hence, with the appointment of the former IAS officer as a right incumbent, RBI should now not waste much time and implement necessary policies by duly consulting the Ministry of Finance. With this recent move to appoint a new RBI Governor, one hopes not to witness any more shadow boxing between the Mint Street and North Block.
– Varun Dambal
People want to get rid of BJP
The recent assembly poll trends in five states clearly showed that the people want to get rid of an autocratic BJP government at the Centre in 2019. The debts and discussions are going on all over the country on the same topic and political pundits have started to predict about the upcoming general election in the light of their experiences. But is a reality that the BJP is in desperate need of an appropriate agenda for 2019 elections, now that its main agenda of Hindutva has been exposed. However, the general elections will be a very interesting political drama as every political party will bend backwards to be victorious in India. Let’s hope for the best.
– MF Qasmi
Greeting to Shaktikanta Das
Shaktikanta Das is a face for all seasons and government has got its act right to fill the vacuum left after Urjit Patel’s exit as RBI governor with this stalwart. Master strategist of demonetization and GST, Shaktikanta Das is as capable as any other RBI governor we have had in the past but his role is now even more critical when the ruling government has suffered a political debacle which leaves very little room for experimentation and error. All his moves will also be watched by a scanner by deputy governor Viral Acharya who red-flagged government’s populist measures at RBI.
Shaktikanta is a government appointee but he should take decisions in the interest of economy and not populist ones to win votes for the government. Taxpayers’ money is at stake to build the nation, which should be utilised for the right purpose and I am sure the man in the hot-spot would do just that as he is a professional whose own reputation would be at stake and watched by the globe. Wishing Shaktikanta Das good luck and hope he has a memorable tenure that goes the distance and not like his predecessor that ended abruptly!
– SN Kabra
(The views expressed by the authors in the article are his/her own.)
India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma have been ruled out of the second Test starting on Friday, dealing a double blow to the visitors at a time when opener Prithvi Shaw is yet to recover from an ankle injury.
With the trio unavailable for selection, India included Hanuma Vihari, Ravindra Jadeja, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in a 13-man squad announced on eve of the second Test.
While Shaw injured his ankle while fielding in the sole warmup game before the series opener, Ashwin suffered an abdominal strain and Rohit hurt his back during the first Test which India won by 31 runs.
“Prithvi Shaw is recovering well from his left ankle injury but still undergoing treatment. R Ashwin has a left-sided abdominal strain. He is receiving treatment at the moment. Rohit Sharma jarred his lower back while fielding in the 1st Test at Adelaide. He is undergoing treatment. He too is ruled out of the second Test,” read a statement from the BCCI.
“The team management is closely monitoring these players and a call on their availability for the third Test will be taken at an appropriate time,” it added.
Ashwin’s unavailability is a big loss as he had taken a six-wicket haul at Adelaide to help India record their first win in a series opener in Australia.
Rohit, who made a Test comeback at the Adelaide Oval, was expected to retain his place in the eleven after scores of 37 and 1.
Multiple Grand Slam winner Mahesh Bhupathi says for India to host big-ticket WTA events, the country needs to produce a top-50 women’s singles player, who can bring the fans to the stadium.
India has just one WTA event — $125,000 Mumbai Open — but has a number of ITF 25k events, most of them hosted by MSLTA.
Bhupathi cited the example of Sania Mirza, who he says was their sole reason to bring Hyderabad Open in 2005.
India also hosted WTA Tier III Sunfeast Open from 2004 to 2008 but since then there are hardly any WTA events in the country.
“When Sania was playing, there were a lot of people watching. In any sport, you need to have a champion to champion the sport. In badminton, Saina did well, now Sindhu and Kashyap and all are doing well. We don’t have a girl in the top 50 to champion a WTA event,” Bhupathi said.
“We were fortuitous about the timing of our WTA event. We went and chased WTA event and brought it to India because of Sania’s breakthrough.”
Sania Mirza, who recently gave birth to a baby boy, should not rush her return to competitive tennis, said Bhupathi.
Sania and her cricketer husband Shoaib Malik welcomed their first child in October and she has been out of action since the beginning of the 2018 season.
“She will come back when and if she is ready. When you have a baby, priorities are different. When I had a baby, priorities were different. It didn’t come out of my stomach, I can imagine it’s harder for her. So she has to take her time and decisions as they come,” Bhupathi, who won the French Open mixed doubles trophy with Sania in 2009, said.
Bhupathi further spoke about the upcoming Australian Open next month and said one should not write off the legendary Roger Federer.
“Four years ago, a lot of people told me Federer can never win a Grand Slam again and then he won three. The genius of Roger Federer, you can never write him off. Of course, he is 37 years old, its going to be tougher for him every year. But you should never write him off in my opinion,” he concluded.
Nine people were killed and nearly 50 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive in the Turkish capital on Thursday, officials said.
Transport Minister Cahit Turhan told reporters in televised remarks that three of those killed were operators of the train.
One of the victims died in hospital, he added.
Turhan added that 47 people were injured and were in the hospital for treatment.
The fast train had been on its way from Ankara’s main station to the central province of Konya and according to Hurriyet daily, there were 206 passengers on board.
Earlier, the Ankara governor’s office said three out of a total of 46 people had been seriously injured.
The death toll was rising fast.
30 high-speed train to Konya hit a locomotive tasked with checking rails on the same route. Turhan said that the accident took place six minutes after the train left Ankara as it entered the Marsandiz station.
The governor said search and rescue efforts continued as “technical investigations” were underway to find out exactly what caused the crash in Yenimahalle district.
He said information about the cause of the crash would be shared with the public when it is known.
India will develop 4 km stretch of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab to International Border with Pakistan, Parliament was informed on Thursday.
The much-awaited corridor will connect Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur – the final resting place of first Sikh guru Guru Nanak Dev – with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India.
“The government of India has decided to develop the corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district up to the International Border (with Pakistan),” Minister of State for Highways Mansukh L Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
He was replying to a question whether the National Highways Authority of India has developed or plans to develop any project on the corridor.
“Approximate length of the road project is about 4 km,” he said. Work on the determination of the alignment of the road has been initiated, he added.
On November 26, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh laid the foundation stone for the corridor.
The decision to build the passage was taken by the Union Cabinet on November 22. Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, had spent more than 18 years of his life in Kartarpur.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone for the corridor in Pakistan on November 28. The corridor will facilitate visa-free movement of Indian Sikh pilgrims.
Ashok Gehlot is going to be announced as the new Chief Minister of Rajasthan, according to sources.
The serious flaw in the BJP
India’s premier spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and batsman Rohit Sharma have been ruled out of the second Test starting on Friday, dealing a double blow to the visitors at a time when opener Prithvi Shaw is yet to recover from an ankle injury.
