Latest news with #SamvidhanBachao
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Congress begins restructuring of block units across Rajasthan
The Opposition Congress in Rajasthan has initiated an organisational exercise to constitute block committees across all Assembly constituencies and fill vacant posts in a bid to strengthen the party's structure ahead of the local body elections. While 80% of the block committees have been formed, the appointment of District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents will be carried out by the All India Congress Committee (AICC). Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Govind Singh Dotasra, who met Assembly coordinators from the State's seven divisions on Monday and Tuesday, said that a list of booth-level agents would be finalised within the next seven days. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had directed the State leadership during the Samvidhan Bachao rally held on April 28 to complete all pending appointments within two months. Mr. Dotasra said the party would allocate 50% of tickets in the upcoming urban local body and Panchayati Raj elections to candidates below the age of 50. 'This will help us in confronting the Bharatiya Janata Party government which is neither focused on people's welfare nor interested in continuing the schemes launched by the previous [Congress] regime,' he said. Around two dozen Pradesh Congress cells and departments, which were dissolved during the 2020 political crisis triggered by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's rebellion, are yet to be reconstituted. Though eight new district units were created in April, their respective heads are yet to be appointed. Mr. Dotasra said City Congress units would be set up in all 249 Municipal Council areas across the State, aimed at reinforcing the party's presence at the grassroots level. These units will encompass both urban and rural regions within the blocks, with committee formation expected to be completed before June 28. The PCC chief stated that the party had collected feedback on the activities of Assembly coordinators, their constituency visits, meeting attendance by senior leaders, and the public issues raised by elected representatives in panchayats and local bodies. This input, he said, would aid in achieving the organisational targets within the stipulated time. Mr. Dotasra held one-on-one interactions with coordinators from Jaipur, Udaipur, and Kota divisions on Monday, and with those from Bharatpur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, and Bikaner divisions on Tuesday. He directed them to follow the party's schedule of activities and ensure that block committees play a key role in the forthcoming local body and panchayat elections.
The Hindu
12-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
Eleven from Rajasthan among victims of Air India crash after take-off from Ahmedabad
Eleven persons from Rajasthan were among the passengers on board the Air India flight that crashed shortly after take-off from the Ahmedabad airport on Thursday (June 12, 2025). The victims from the State included five members of a physician's family from Banswara, who were relocating to London. Software professional Pratik Joshi and his physician wife Komi Vyas were travelling to London with their three children on the ill-fated flight. Dr. Vyas had recently resigned from a private hospital in Udaipur, intending to begin medical practice in London and reside with her husband, who had moved there in 2016. Two siblings, Shubh Modi and Shagun Modi, from the family of a marble businessman in Udaipur, were also among the passengers. After completing their business administration studies, the two had joined their father's business. They were travelling to London for leisure. Udaipur Collector Namit Mehta visited their residence in the city to meet the family. Mr. Mehta said Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma had enquired about the victims and assured the family of all possible support. In a statement, Mr. Sharma said Rajasthan, being a neighbouring State, was ready to provide all possible assistance to the Gujarat government in this hour of grief. He also expressed condolences on the death of former Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the plane crash. Mr. Sharma spoke to the families of the victims from Rajasthan over the telephone and consoled them. The district administration, which remained in touch with the bereaved families, ensured all possible help. Two other passengers from Udaipur district, Vardhichand Menaria and Prakash Menaria, employed in the culinary sector in the United Kingdom, had returned to India on holiday. They were en route to London to resume work. Abhinav Parihar from Bikaner and Khushboo Rajpurohit from Balotra were also among those on board. Governor Haribhau Bagade, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, and Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani expressed grief over the deaths. As a mark of respect for the deceased, both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Opposition Congress suspended their scheduled programmes until further notice. The BJP had planned political events including rallies and press conferences to mark 11 years of the Narendra Modi government, while the Congress had scheduled 'Samvidhan Bachao' rallies in Pratapgarh and Banswara.
Indian Express
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
The battle today is not for the abstract ideals of Constitution — it is for democracy itself
Written by Anmol Jain 'Samvidhan khatre mein hai' has been the rallying cry of Congress since the beginning of its campaign for the 2024 general elections. After the polls, the party doubled down on this narrative, directing its state units to conduct Samvidhan Bachao rallies across the country. Several such rallies were organised in April and May in many states, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh. On June 8, the Yatra began in Goa. Over the past year, Congress has left no occasion to assert that our Constitution is under threat. But a deeper, more pressing question must be asked, not just by the Opposition, but by every citizen: If the Constitution is in danger, what exactly needs to be rescued, safeguarded, and nourished? The complexity of the question demands that we ascribe an identity to the Constitution. And this identity is connected to another core idea of the Republic: Democracy. From the abuse of constitutional offices like that of the Governor — as the Supreme Court emphasised in the Tamil Nadu Governor case — to the trampling of rights, threats to the foundational essence of democracy are real. Notably, it is often rooted in constitutional structures and silences. For instance, the Constitution does not explicitly ask the Governor or the Speaker to shed all partisan loyalties in their functioning. However, our demand that they rise above party lines stems from the democratic values the Constitution is meant to embody. The Constitution, in this sense, becomes an accessible language through which we reassert and reinforce democratic values in public discourse. However, this language is gradually losing its resonance. When the essence of constitutional arrangements is repeatedly subverted for short-term political gain, non-constitutional justifications begin to suffice. And when courts do intervene, often the independent institutions are blamed, but not the style of governance. So, the political and intellectual struggle today cannot be framed merely as a defence of the Constitution. It must go deeper and become a struggle to resurface, reiterate, and reassert the 'identity' of the Constitution and the democratic values it is meant to uphold. And to do so, we must shift the pivot of the discourse from 'Constitution' to 'Democracy'. There are two long-term dangers to the overreliance on the Constitution as the central narrative. The first is political. If those raising the slogan today come to power, they would find it difficult to pursue the structural changes necessary for democratic repair. Any attempt to redesign constitutional structures and institutions, however justified, would risk the charge of hypocrisy. Having opposed constitutional change while in opposition, they would be accused of undermining it once in office. They might also face the slogan 'Samvidhan khatre mein hai.' The second is intellectual. An overemphasis on the Constitution risks stifling critical engagement with it. After all, constitutional provisions were used to enable the imposition of Emergency, legitimise central executive dominance, and allow repeated rights violations. In light of what the country has experienced over the past 75 years, a critical, reflective engagement with the Constitution is not only desirable, it is essential. But such a critique becomes difficult when the Constitution is treated as a flawless relic that must be defended at all cost. Any discourse rooted in democracy is politically sharper. It is far harder for incumbents to deflect an opposition narrative grounded in loktantra. The government is, no doubt, elected constitutionally and acts largely within formal constitutional bounds. But that is precisely the issue: Constitutional form is being used to mask democratic erosion. The Constitution remains intact, but democracy appears to be backsliding. This distinction is crucial. The battle today is not for the Constitution in the abstract. It is for democracy itself. The writer teaches law Jindal Global Law School. He was the 2023-24 Fox International Fellow at Yale University and Melbourne Law School
Indian Express
08-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Today in Politics: Amit Shah in Tamil Nadu for BJP organisational meetings; Chirag Paswan to launch Bihar campaign with rally
Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to hold BJP organisational meetings in Tamil Nadu on Sunday as the party works to sharpen its political outreach ahead of the Assembly elections in 2026. The meetings come after the party renewed its alliance with the AIADMK and appointed a new state president as the BJP gears up to challenge the dominance of the state's ruling DMK-led alliance. Party sources said Shah will chair a meeting of the core committee, which includes key leaders of the state organisation, and then speak to office-bearers from mandal, districts and the state. He will also offer prayers at the famous Meenakshi Temple in Madurai before his political programmes, they added. The AIADMK is the senior partner in the alliance, which is likely to include some smaller parties as well, amid the DMK's sharp campaign to paint the BJP as a party working against the state's interests, including by allegedly trying to impose Hindi. The DMK has also been raising the issue of alleged political damage to southern states in a future delimitation exercise due to their success in curbing population growth compared to their northern counterparts. The BJP has insisted that the DMK has been raising these issues as a diversionary tactic to shift focus from the alleged corruption and misgovernance under the rule of Chief Minister M Stalin. Shah has in the past asserted that any delimitation exercise will protect the interests of southern states. Chirag Paswan launches Bihar poll campaign With LJP(RV) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan announcing his intention to contest the Bihar Assembly polls, slated for later this year, and forgo politics at the Centre, the party is set to launch its election campaign on Sunday with a rally in Bhojpur district's Arrah. As reported by Liz Mathew, in recent weeks, Paswan has publicly spoken of his wish to return to Bihar, seen as a pitch to take up the position of either the kingmaker, if not the king, in state politics. And the message is not lost on the BJP leadership. While the BJP leadership maintains that Paswan is free to contest from any of the seats his party is allocated as part of a seat-sharing agreement, a section in the ruling party said he was merely trying to take advantage of a sense of confusion in the state unit. Also read | Amid Bihar's shifting sands in twilight of Nitish, Chirag Paswan eyes centrestage Paswan's public statements come at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's rivals believe that his time at the top of Bihar politics is drawing to a close. The LJP(RV) leader is said to harbour the ambition of being the face that can bring together key electoral forces in the state. Speculation is rife that Paswan, who his party wants to contest from an unreserved constituency, might choose an Assembly seat in the Shahabad region comprising Bhojpur and adjoining districts. Cong's Constitution campaign in Goa The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is set to launch a statewide 'Samvidhan Bachao (Save the Constitution) Yatra' to engage with citizens, listen to their grievances, and highlight the alleged failures and corruption of the BJP government, the party said. The yatra will cover all 40 constituencies of Goa and will be led by key Congress leaders, including GPCC chief Amit Patkar, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, and several MLAs and MPs. Earlier, the Congress had run a nationwide 'Save the Constitution' campaign from April 25 to May 30. (With PTI inputs)
Time of India
31-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Diggy sticks to vow, skips stage at Jabalpur rally
Jabalpur: Congress leader and former CM Digvijaya Singh chose not to take the stage at the party's 'Jai Hind Sabha' here on Saturday, sticking to his public vow made a month earlier after a podium scuffle in Gwalior. He remained seated with his supporters in an area designated for senior citizens in front of the stage. During this time, several leaders invited him to come on stage, but he declined their requests with folded hands. Alongside him were Vishnu Shankar Pauranik, the former president of Jabalpur rural Congress, and former MP Rameshwar the event, he was repeatedly invited to come on the stage, but he refused each time. On April 28, Singh declared he would never sit on a stage again after a squabble erupted among INC office bearers in Gwalior over seating arrangements on the podium during Congress' 'Samvidhan Bachao' rally. Singh had said, "This is my prayer to the (Cong) national general secretary, state president, LOP, and the honourable people on the dais. I pray and appeal to you to please end this fight over the stage. I will not sit on the Congress' or any other stage. I will sit down and will request that when the time comes for me to speak, then I be called on the stage."
