NEWS

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot has asked Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah to set his house in order hitting out at at Shah over the “language” the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief used in his address to a gathering in Jaipur.

Shah had attacked the Congress in poll-bound Rajasthan over its criticism of the draft National Register of Citizens in Assam. He had said that the criticism showed the Congress “is more concerned about its vote bank rather than the country’s security”. Shah also said the Congress did not have a leader in Rajasthan.

New Delhi: After alliance in Telengana, the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) held their first meeting to discuss a seat-sharing arrangement for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. This was done a day after the Opposition put up a combined show against Bharatiya Janata Party-led governments at the Centre and several states through a country-wide shutdown.

Both parties may from a grand alliance in the state, by getting smaller opposition parties on board, said state Congress chief Ashok Chavan after the meeting.

New Delhi: In an attempt to clear the air about the Sangh, which Gandhi recently compared to the Muslim Brotherhood, a team of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) functionaries will soon turn up at the offices of Congress president Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders with an invitation to attend the upcoming three-day lecture series by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.

According to Sangh functionaries aware of the developments, and who asked not to be identified, the RSS will send its functionaries to “personally deliver” the invitation to leaders of Opposition parties, including those from the Left and the BSP, to hear Bhagwat put forth his views on contemporary issues.

New Delhi: Affidavits declaring a candidate’s assets and other financial details could be scrutinised by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). Affidavits filed by candidates contesting elections to the Rajya Sabha and Legislative councils in states will now be sent to the CBDT by the election commission (EC).

So far, only poll affidavits of Lok Sabha and state assembly candidates that were submitted to the EC were sent to the CBDT, where they were scrutinised to ascertain if there were any discrepancies in disclosure or if there was an unusual spike in the assets of the candidates.