Ashok Gehlot active on electoral pitch
Elections are six months away but former CM and AIICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot has increased his political activity in Rajasthan. Ever since the Gujarat elections, Gehlot is perceived to close to Congress chief Rahul Gandhi.
He played his role in stitching a ruling alliance in Karnataka. For the Rajasthan elections, the Congress brass is yet to give a clear signal. Given the tug-of-war between Gehlot and PCC chief Sachin Pilot, the Congress leadership is clear that nobody will be declared as CM face. Both leaders are projecting a message of unity. Gehlot is already touring the poll-bound state.
Om Mathur factor dominates BJP talks
Rajasthan BJP chief Madan Lal Saini was coronated with much fanfare last weekend. CM Vasundhra Raje extended a warm welcome to Saini. But it was BJP national vice-president Om Mathur who was talked about in the political circles. Mathur is said to be close to PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah. Mathur is from Rajasthan and his supporters want him as the CM — a reason why he is not a favourite of Raje camp. The BJP’s central leadership had pushed for Union minister Gajendra Singh, which was not acceptable to Raje. Mathur is said to have got both sides agree on Saini’s candidature. All eyes are now focused on how big a role he plays in allotment of party tickets for the state polls.
Milk for all govt schools, madrasas in poll year
Students of all government schools and madarsas will be served milk under the mid-day meal scheme. CM Vasundhara Raje launched the Annapurna Doodh Yojna by personally offering a glass of milk to a school student at Dahmi Kalan village in Jaipur on July 2. In January, the Centre had issued an advisory instructing the states to provide milk to students for tackling undernourishment among children. Around 62 lakh students in over 65,000 schools will benefit from the scheme. But, teachers are mostly unwilling to take the responsibility of purchasing milk from cooperative societies and of distributing it. Also, the purity of milk is another area of concern.
Jaipur girl cracks top three entrance exams
Vidushi Varsheney is now the pride of Jaipur. The 18 year old has cracked back-to-back some of the toughest medical and engineering entrance exams. In the AIIMS 2018 result, she bagged All India Rank (AIR) of 43. Earlier, she secured AIR 100 in the NEET, AIR 1886 in JEE main and AIR 2962 in JEE advance examinations. Vidushi had AIR 44 in the prestigious JIPMER 2018 exam and obtained 94.6 percent in 12th Board exams. She has decided to pursue MBBS from the AIIMS as she wants to follow the footsteps of her elder sister Vishaka, who is doing MBBS from Jaipur’s SMS Medical College. “People consider daughters as a burden but I wanted my daughters to be independent and be regarded as assets” says Vidushi’s mom Dr Poornima Agarwal.
Rajesh Asnani
Our correspondent in Jaipur
rajesh.asnani@newindianexpress.com