Sole aim at present to defeat BJP in Rajasthan:Sachin Pilot
Jaipur, Aug 2 : Amid claims and counterclaims within the party to Rajasthan Chief Minister's post, Congress state unit President Sachin Pilot on Thursday said that his sole aim at present is to defeat the BJP and make his party form the state government.
"As Pandava prince Arjun was totally focused on his target, a fish's eye, I too am focusing on one thing: To form a Congress government in Rajasthan," said the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee chief, who has returned from a four-day Australia trip.
He said that the opposition party will work unitedly to ensure the ouster of the Vasundhara Raje-led Bharatiya Janata Party government.
As for the party claimants to the CM's post, he said that the Congress had earlier too given him big responsibilities at quite a young age. "I was made an MP when I was just 25; I was made the Union Minister at 31; and now I am leading the Congress state unit at 35."
He also took a dig at Raje, asking her to remain well prepared during her 'Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra' since the public would question her on the unfulfilled promises made during the time she was in the opposition.
There have been claims and counterclaims by various Congress leaders in Rajasthan on the party's chief ministerial candidate. Many Congress leaders have demanded that Ashok Gehlot be named the party's chief ministerial face in the Assembly elections to be held this year.
In the past, Gehlot had said in Jodhpur: "When the (chief ministerial) face is in front of you for 10 years, where is the need to talk about a new face?"
Congress state party affairs incharge Avinash Pandey had announced later that the Assembly elections will be contested under the leadership of Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
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Nightclub fire: Goa court remands Luthra brothers in police custody for five days
Panaji (PTI): A court in North Goa on Wednesday remanded Gaurav and Saurabh Luthra, co-owners of the ‘Birch by Romeo Lane’ nightclub, in police custody for five days.
The brothers, brought to Goa from Delhi after being deported from Thailand in connection with the December 6 blaze that killed 25, were produced in the court after undergoing health check-ups twice at the District Hospital in North Goa.
Judicial Magistrate First Class Mapusa Puja Sardesai remanded the two brothers in police custody for five days.
Advocate Vishnu Joshi, representing Bhavana Joshi who lost four family members in the tragedy, said that the accused were asking for “special consideration” claiming poor health.
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“We said they should not be given any extra relaxation,” he said, adding that the court has taken cognisance of the fact that this is about the death of “25 people in the form of mass genocide”.
“But since they kept pressing for medical check-up, the court ordered reexamination of their health. It is clear in the medical examination that they don’t require any consideration. The accused sought special considerations in the lock-up like a good mattress, which the court refused,” said Joshi.
A team of the Goa Police, along with the Luthra brothers, arrived at the Manohar International Airport, Mopa, in North Goa at 10.45 am.
The duo was initially taken to a Primary Health Centre at Siolim for medical examination. They were then taken to the District Hospital at Mapusa.
After their health assessment, the two were brought to the court.
The court directed that the accused be sent for fresh medical examination. Accordingly, the two were again taken to the District Hospital.
Later, they were produced before Judge Sardesai, who ordered the five-day police custody of the accused.
After the fire tragedy at Arpora village, the Anjuna police had registered a case against the Luthra brothers on various charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
The brothers were arrested in Delhi on Tuesday after being deported from Thailand. A court there allowed the Goa Police their two-day transit remand.
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The duo had fled to Phuket in Thailand early on December 7, hours after the fire at their nightclub, prompting the authorities to issue an Interpol Blue Corner Notice and cancel their passports.
They were detained by Thai authorities at Phuket on December 11 following a request from the Indian government, which later coordinated with officials in Thailand to deport them under legal treaties between the two nations.
Five managers and staff members have already been arrested by the Goa Police in connection with the fire.
