All eyes will be on Dausa on Wednesday, where a tribute ceremony to mark the 25th death anniversary for former Union Minister Rajesh Pilot will be held.
The meeting assumes significance as it comes days after Congress national general secretary Sachin Pilot met former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and invited him to the programme. This was the first such meeting in recent years and is being seen as a sign of thaw between them. The two leaders are often seen as power centres within the state Congress.
Gehlot shared the video of their meeting on X and recalled his long association with Rajesh Pilot. “AICC general secretary Sachin Pilot invited me to the program organised on the 25th death anniversary of former Union minister Rajesh Pilot at his residence,” Gehlot said on X.
He said, “Rajesh Pilot and I reached the Lok Sabha together for the first time in 1980 and were MPs together for about 18 years. We are still saddened by his sudden demise. The party also suffered a deep shock due to his departure.”
Sachin Pilot also shared the photo of the meeting and wrote on ‘X’, “Met former chief minister Ashok Gehlot today. Requested him to attend the tribute ceremony organised in Dausa on June 11 on the 25th death anniversary of my father Rajesh Pilot.” Ties between Pilot and Gehlot were strained after the political crisis that hit the Ashok Gehlot-led government in 2020.
Jharkhand Congress to meet over SC welfare
Senior Congress leader Radha Krishna Kishore on Monday said that the Jharkhand unit of the party would convene a state-level meeting on June 11 to formulate a roadmap for the socio-economic development of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community.
Kishore, also the Jharkhand finance minister, said that the alliance government in the state is committed to establishing an advisory council and a commission for the SC community soon.
Story continues below this ad
“The Jharkhand Congress has convened a meeting with senior leaders and activists from the SC community to develop a strategy for the socio-economic development of the community in the state,” Kishore said while addressing reporters.
He said that Jharkhand Congress in-charge K Raju, co-in-charge Dr Bela Prasad, AICC’s SC department chairman Rajendra Pal Gautam and state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, among others, would participate in the meeting.
“The SC population in the state is approximately 50 lakh but their socio-economic conditions remain poor. Officially, the per capita income in Jharkhand is stated to be Rs 1.05 lakh annually. However, based on my observations, the per capita income of the poor and SC community is likely to be not more than Rs 60,000 annually,” he said.
KCR may appear before Kaleshwaram probe panel
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president and former Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao is likely to appear before the judicial commission probing the alleged irregularities in Kaleshwaram project Wednesday, party sources said on Tuesday.
Story continues below this ad
KCR, sought to appear before the panel on June 11 instead of June 5, the day he was earlier summoned, they said.
The commission had last month issued notice to KCR for appearance as part of its ongoing inquiry.
The damage to the barrages of Kaleshwaram project was a major issue during the 2023 assembly elections in the state.
Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy recently announced that the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has labelled the Kaleshwaram project, built at a cost of over Rs one lakh crore, to be “probably the biggest man-made disaster in the country”.
– With PTI inputs
