Submit affidavit on expenses made during Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, HC tells BJP
Jaipur, Aug 18 : The Rajasthan High Court on Saturday asked the ruling BJP to submit an affidavit with details of expenses incurred on the ongoing Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.
The court fixed Aug 21 as the next date of hearing, asking party officials to come prepared with documents.
Petitioner-advocate Vibhuti Bhushan Sharma submitted a PIL in the court recently questioning the state government's order on August 1 to the Public Works Department to float tenders for the yatra arrangements.
The petition wants a check on government expenses during the yatra.
The PIL was taken up in the court of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog on August 10. The court had asked state BJP President Madan Lal Saini to submit his party's stand by Aug 16. However, as BJP's advocate was absent on the day, the hearing was held on Saturday.
The BJP is represented by advocate Ajit Kumar Sharma while the state government has chosen Rajendra Prasad to present its views in the court.
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Cong performed better in Kerala, anti-incumbency trends influenced WB, TN: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the Congress had largely met or exceeded expectations in several States, even as results in some regions reflected shifting voter sentiments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, he said the party accepted the mandate in Assam while performing better than anticipated in Kerala.
He also pointed to possible anti-incumbency trends influencing outcomes in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.
“In Assam, we got the expected result, and we accept the people’s mandate. In Kerala, we have won more seats than expected. We anticipated around 76 to 80, but we have gone up to around 95,” Siddaramaiah said.
In West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, there may have been an anti-incumbency trend, and that could have influenced the results, he added.
Siddaramaiah also extended his congratulations to a new political entrant in Tamil Nadu, noting the emergence of a different electoral dynamic in the State.
“I congratulate the new entrant who has achieved success there,” he added.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said electoral outcomes in some States had diverged from the party’s internal assessments, reflecting evolving voter expectations.
“We expected a certain trend, but the results have been different. Political reading was wrong in some places,” he said.
“People were looking for change in some States, and that has been reflected in the results,” Shivakumar, who is also the Congress Karnataka unit president, said.
Referring to Kerala, he said the Congress-led alliance had benefited from public sentiment.
“There was already an expectation based on local body elections, and people had shown confidence in us. That has translated into a strong result,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
On Tamil Nadu, he acknowledged that the scale of political shift had come as a surprise.
“We expected to secure around 30 to 40 per cent of the vote share, but such a major shift was not anticipated. It shows that voter expectations were different,” he said.
Shivakumar added that electoral outcomes underscored the need for better political assessment in future.
“We have to understand these changes carefully. Political reading cannot go wrong like this,” he said.
