Congress set to wrest Rajasthan, legislature party meets Wednesday to pick CM
Jaipur, Dec 11: The Congress Tuesday was set to wrest Rajasthan from the BJP after its candidates were declared elected on 97 seats and were leading on two others out of the 199 that went to the polls.
As the Congress hovered around this 99-seat mark putting together the victories and the official trends Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje submitted her resignation to Governor Kalyan Singh.
The ruling BJP bagged 73 seats, Bahujan Samaj Party won six, Bhartiya Tribal Party won two, the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party three, the CPI(M) two and the Rashtriya Lok Dal one.
Independents won 12 seats and were leading on one more as the focus in Rajasthan shifted on who would be the Congress choice for chief minister between two-time CM Ashok Gehlot and the party's state unit president Sachin Pilot.
With three winners yet to be declared, the Congress vote share was 39.3 per cent, half percentage point ahead of the BJP.
The newly elected Congress legislators will meet Wednesday morning to discuss this.The All India Congress Committee has sent K C Venugopal as observer.
"The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting will be held at 11 am on Wednesday, in which the elected MLAs of the party will pass a resolution. The observer will seek individual opinions of the MLAs," AICC general secretary Avinash Pande said here.
He said Congress president Rahul Gandhi will then be briefed and a second meeting of the CLP held in the evening.
The decision on the new minister will be announced after the evening meeting, he said.
In a show of unity, both Gehlot and Pilot along with other leaders appeared before the media, flashing the victory sign.
Rajasthan has a 200-member assembly but polling on Alwar's Ramgarh constituency was postponed following the death of the Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.
In 2013, the BJP won 163 seats and the Congress 21.
The election was fought hard by both sides, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi themselves addressing several rallies with corruption, dynasty' and religion figuring prominently, even as the ruling party tried to showcase its welfare schemes.
In the end, the trend of the state alternating between a Congress and a BJP government seemed to continue. Gehlot was the chief minister before Raje, who had succeeded him.
Thirteen of the state's ministers 19 were knocked out as the results came in.
These losers included Otaram Devasi (Sirohi) who was the minister in charge of cow welfare and Yoonus Khan, the tourism minister fielded against Sachin Pilot.
Raje, however, retained her Jhalrapatan seat for the fifth time in a row. This time, it was by a margin of 34,890 votes against former party veteran Jaswant Singh's son Manvendra Singh who recently switched to the Congress.
Among the Congress winners are Johri Lal Meena (Rajgarh-Laxmangarh), Madan Prajapapat (Pachpadra), Zahida Khan (Kaman), Ramlal Jat (Mandal) and Prashant Bairwa (Niwai).
BJP's Santosh (Anupgarh), Kaluram (Dag), Sama Ram Garaisa (Pindwara-Abu) and Jagsi Ram (Reodar) also won.
Bahujan Samaj Party's Sandeep Kumar (Tijara) and Wajib Ali (Nagar) were among the other winners declared so far.
Ashok Gehlot said people had given their mandate to the Congress.
We will get a clear majority and will also take along other parties or candidates who quit the BJP for us," he told reporters here.
If the party fails to cross the halfway mark in a full House of 200, it needs 101 seats the Congress is expected to count on the the Bahujan Samaj Party, the CPI(M) and some of the independents.
The winning independent candidates include those who had rebelled when they were denied the ticket by the two main parties.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
