In a statement, the 63-year-old leader said the announcement by Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Chhattisgarh on Monday was nothing short of a "cruel joke". While Congress governments spoke of 'Garibi Hatao' (Remove Poverty), the Modi government was fooling people by promising to bring back ill-gotten black money from foreign banks, she said.
Accusing both the Congress and BJP of betraying the faith of the people, she said they had failed to solve the problems faced by the poor, farmers, women, youth and unemployed. The Congress and the BJP were "two sides of the same coin", she said.
She said it would have been better for the Congress President that before announcing his party's 'minimum income for the poor' poll sop, he had initiated schemes in the governments run by his party in states like Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh which would have actually benefitted the poor and the marginalised.
This, the Dalit leader said, would have infused faith among the people who might now think that these announcements were merely "hawa-hawai" (high talk).
The four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also said that the 'Garibi Hatao' slogan coined by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi yielded poor results.
Election promises made by both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), she said, had till now proved hollow and unrealistic.
Suggesting that both these national parties should refrain from selling dreams to the poor, the BSP chief exhorted people to keep their eyes open and vote for a party that talks less and does more.
"I appeal to the people of this country to vote for a party that does not believe in talking but acts and can control crime, maintain law and order and can work for the larger welfare of the people by taking historic steps," she said.
Speaking at a wedding he attended here, Stalin said the political situation in different states varied.
He said the party leaders in Kolkata were of the view that they would voice their view on the Prime Ministerial candidate post the Lok Sabha elections.
According to Stalin, none of the party leaders said he was wrong in announcing Gandhi's name as the Prime Ministerial candidate.
"I had announced Gandhi's name at a function organised by DMK. It was our function. I voiced the feelings of the Tamil Nadu people," Stalin said, in response to media reports as to why he didn't reiterate the wish at the Kolkata meeting.
Talking to reporters in the Parliament House complex, he said that Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman should answer the specific questions posed by him to Modi when she replies to the debate on the Rafale deal.
He said Lok Sabha on Wednesday witnessed a discussion on the deal that "PM has personally signed."
"You witnessed that the government refused to answer fundamental questions. Arun Jaitley did not answer the fundamental questions. The Prime Minister, who is being accused in the matter, chose to run away from the House, did not put his foot in the Lok Sabha," he said.
Gandhi said Jaitley should answer his questions instead of abusing him.
"The fundamental question here is there should be a JPC (joint parliamentary committee) probe. Supreme Court has said that Rafale inquiry is not in its jurisdiction. If we come to power in 2019, there will be criminal investigation and people responsible will be punished," he said.
Gandhi said the youth of the country are putting questions to the prime minister.
"Who decided to raise the price of the fighter jet from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1600 crore? Whose decision was this? Was this the decision of the Air Force, Defence Ministry or Prime Minister? We want clear cut answers," he said.
Gandhi said an important question is if the Defence Ministry had objected to any element of the deal.
"Are there documents with the Defence Ministry that they opposed the deal? She should say there were no objections. If there are objections and file notings, then on what basis did the Prime Minister overrule these questions? I hope she will answer but I have my doubts she will not be able to," he said.
The Congress chief said the Indian Air Force wanted 126 fighter planes but the government is purchasing only 36 planes. "Were national security considerations taken into consideration (while taking the decision)?"
He alleged that a private entity made Rs 30,000 crore in the offset deal.
He said the contract to manufacture planes should have come to HAL but the planes being procured by government are being manufactured in France.
"The industry should have come to India. Who decided to keep HAL out? This is not Narendra Modi's money. This your money," he said.
The Congress leader claimed that former French President Francois Hollande has said that Modi "made it clear" that the deal to purchase fighter jets will go through if the offsets contract is given to the private entity.
He said Sitharaman in her reply should state if Modi pushed the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited out of the deal to manufacture the planes.
"I had an excellent meeting today with the Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dr Lotay Tshering. We discussed the political situation in the region and other matters of common interest. I look forward to continuing our dialogue in the future," Gandhi tweeted.
Tshering arrived here on Friday on a three-day visit to India, his first official trip abroad after assuming office in October.
Gandhi pointed to a December 19 interaction that saw Nirmal Kumar Jain, a BJP worker, asking the Prime Minister why his government was busy collecting all manner of taxes but not providing any relief to the middle class by reducing the Income Tax rates or easing the procedures for securing loans.
While putting his question Jain specifically urged the Prime Minister to take care of the middle class.
Modi's reply was: "Thank you, Nirmal ji. You are a trader, so it's normal that you will talk business. I favour taking care of common people and the common people will be taken care of."
Modi then immediately switched to addressing workers from neighbouring Puducherry by saying: "Chaliye Puducherry ko Vanakam."
Reacting on media reports on the issue, Gandhi took to Twitter to yet again target Modi for his reluctance to face questions.
"Vanakam Puducherry! That's NaMo's answer to the struggling middle class. Forget a press conference he can't even string together a polling booth worker's conference. BJP-vetted questions is a superb idea. Consider vetted answers as well," tweeted Gandhi.
The Congress President has repeatedly questioned Modi for not holding a press conference since he became the Prime Minister in 2014.
After the disastrous loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and the series of defeats in subsequent Assembly elections, the current results will be the first outright victory for the Congress in a direct contest against the BJP and is expected to be a morale booster for the party as it gears up to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in next year's general elections.
Gandhi was elected Congress President unopposed last year on December 11 at the culmination of party's organisational elections. He took over from his mother Sonia Gandhi who had helmed the country's oldest party for 19 long years.
Gandhi has effected changes both organisationally and in the way it approached election campaigns. The party's outreach now combines conventional way of campaign with an active presence on the social media. It has been vociferously taking up issues against the Narendra Modi government and immediately reacts to issues.
Gandhi has also been campaigning extensively in election bound states, holding rallies, road shows and press conferences. He has also been making regular tweets in which he sharply attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a range of issues including alleged corruption, jobs, demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax.
Congress' Rajasthan chief Sachin Pilot recalled that Rahul Gandhi was elected party chief on the day the party is poised to snatch three Hindi heartland states from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
"Today is a decisive day and Rahul Gandhi became Congress chief on the same day last year. And what can be a better gift than the party forming its governments in three BJP-ruled states," Pilot said.
The latest Election Commission figures show that Congress was poised to register a comprehensive victory in Chhattisgarh, leading in 66 constituencies in a House of 90.
It is poised to win 101 seats in Rajasthan and cross the half-way mark.
In Madhya Pradesh, it is leading in 115 constituencies compared to 106 by the ruling BJP. The BJP has been ruling both Madhya Pradesh and Chaattisgarh for the last 15 years.
The Congress could not perform to its expectations in Telangana, where the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti is poised to register a handsome victory. Congress has also been voted out of power in Mizoram.
"Congress party workers, be vigilant after polls close today. In MP, EVM's behaved strangely after polling: Some stole a bus and vanished for two days! Others slipped away and were found drinking in a hotel," tweeted Gandhi.
The Congress chief was referring to the incident in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar where electronic voting machines (EVMs) were transported in a vehicle without any registration number and reached the collection centre 48 hours after the voting ended.
In another incident, two polling officers were "found drunk" along with EVMs inside a hotel owned by a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary.
Reporting the incidents to the Election Commission, the Congress on Tuesday had demanded a probe alleging that the BJP was "in collusion with the local administration" in attempting to tamper with EVMs during the November 28 Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls.
Campaigning for the second phase of the assembly polls, Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over alleged crony capitalism, and Chief Minister Raman Singh and his family for corruption.
"Chhattisgarh was created so that its natural resources can be utilised for the welfare of the people. But now we have two Chhattisgarhs - one of the rich, of those wearing suit-boot, and the second of the masses, poor, marginalised, farmers and workers.
"We don't want two Chhattisgarhs. We want justice," said Gandhi, addressing a rally in this erstwhile princely state.
Claiming that Rs 3.5 lakh crore of corporate loans were waived off by the Centre, Gandhi asked why even a rupee of farm loans was not waived.
"I had asked Modi why was he not writing off loans given to the poor farmers, but he never bothered to reply. So from here I declare that within 10 days of coming to power in the state, we will waive off loans of each and every farmer," said Gandhi.
He said the waiver of farm loans will be offset by recoveries from fraudsters like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who, with the help of Modi government, had defrauded banks of billions of rupees.
Sharpening his attack on Modi over demonetisation and the Rafale deal, Gandhi alleged that "thieves, with the help of Modi, laundered their black money into white through demonetisation".
"Modi now doesn't talk about corruption because the entire nation knows that the 'chowkidar' (watchman) himself is the thief," said Gandhi, accusing the Prime Minister of "only lying before the masses".
Gandhi attacked Chief Minister Raman Singh over an alleged Rs 5,000-crore chit fund scam and a Rs 36,000-crore scam in the public distribution system (PDS).
"In the PDS scam, Rs 36,000 crore was siphoned off. A diary was seized where it was written that the money was given to CM Madam and Dr. Saheb. I want to ask Singh who is this CM Madam and Dr Saheb?"
The Congress chief also alleged that Chief Minister's son Abhishek had undisclosed offshore accounts as per revelations in the Panama Papers.
The second phase of Chhattisgarh Assembly polls for 72 constituencies spread across 19 districts will be held on November 20.
The first phase of polling in 18 constituencies across eight Maoist-affected districts was held on November 12.
The results will be declared on December 11.
Addressing another rally in Jashpur in the state, Gandhi alleged that the "Rafale deal was done by Modi to give Rs 30,000 crore to his industrialist crony".
He also promised setting up food processing units in all the blocks in the state so that farmers could easily sell their produce at the right price and their sons and daughter could get jobs in these factories.
He also flayed the Chief Minister for unemployment in the state, saying despite thousands of vacancies in various government departments and institutions, the youth were not employed because of corruption.
The Congress party asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if he would intervene and ensure that speedy justice was delivered while asking Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan if he had the "moral authority" to continue in his position.
"In Mandsaur, an eight-year-old girl was kidnapped and gang-raped, and is battling for her life. The brutality this young child was subjected to sickens me. As a nation, we must come together to protect our children and bring the attackers to speedy justice," Gandhi tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said: "Will he ensure that no politics is played over this entire incident and the girls of the country find a safe environment to live and grow happily? It is the responsibility of the Prime Minister and the government."
The child was abducted while she was waiting for her father outside her school on Tuesday.
She was gang-raped, her throat slit and left to die. A day later, the Madhya Pradesh Police arrested Irfan alias Bhaiyu, 20, a labourer, on the basis of CCTV footage.
On Friday, the police made arrest of another construction worker, Asif, 24, after Irfan named him as an accomplice. Both were booked under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act while the probe continued.
Doctors treating the victim in Indore said she was "severely assaulted". She has started showing signs of improvement, they said, adding that the minor might be out of danger physically but her mental trauma would last longer.
Chaturvedi said: "Three cities of Madhya Pradesh are among the 15 cities, considered most unsafe in India. I would want to ask Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, who calls himself a 'mama' that the world and this country also remembers another 'infamous Mama' that he has turned out to be.
"On what moral grounds and what moral authority the Chief Minister continues to be in that position?" she added.
Chaturvedi said: "In terms of insensitivity, the incident has reached its peak when a BJP MLA from Indore introduces the MP of Mandsaur to the parents of the victim and says how they should feel glad that he has paid them a visit."
"What are you trying to prove? Is this not your job or a responsibility? Should you not feel ashamed of yourself for trying to gain brownie points out of his visit?" she said.
"This is more shameful and shows the mentality that prevails in the BJP and how they are willing to gain political mileage out of every single sad and damning incident taking place," she added.
Chouhan on Friday condemned the incident and said that rapists were a "burden on the earth" and his government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the accused were hanged.
"The murder of democracy happened the minute a desperate Congress made an ‘opportunist' offer to the Janata Dal-Secular, not for Karnataka's welfare but for their petty political gains. Shameful!," Shah said in a series of tweets.
He said the people's mandate in Karnataka was in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party as the Congress was reduced to 78 from 122 and the saffron party surged from 40 to 104.
"Who has the people's mandate in Karnataka? The BJP, which has won 104 seats. Or, Congress which dropped to 78 seats, whose own Chief Minister and ministers lost by big margins. JD-S who won only 37 seats and lost their deposits on several others," he said.
Slamming the Congress for questioning Governor Vajubhai Vala's decision to call BJP to form the government, he reminded that it was the grand old party which imposed Emergency and misused Article 356.
"President of the Congress obviously does not remember the glorious history of his party. The legacy of Rahul Gandhi's party is the horrific emergency, blatant misuse of Article 356, subverting the courts, media and civil society," he said.
Shah's attack comes soon after Rahul Gandhi termed the swearing-in of Yeddyurappa as 'mockery' of Constitution.
"The BJP's irrational insistence that it will form a government in Karnataka, even though it clearly does not have the numbers, is to make a mockery of our Constitution," Gandhi said.
"This morning, while the BJP celebrates its hollow victory, India will mourn the defeat of democracy," he added.
Governor Vala administered the oath of office and secrecy to Yeddyurappa at 9 a.m. at the Raj Bhavan amid tight security hours after the Supreme Court declined to stay his swearing-in ceremony.
The Prime Minister's attack came in the wake of Rahul Gandhi's challenge last week that if he was allowed to speak for 15 minutes in Parliament, Modi would not be able to withstand it.
Addressing his first election rally for the May 12 Assembly polls, Modi took a dig at Rahul Gandhi saying: "He is correct. There is no way ordinary people like me, who do not even dress well, can sit with such high and mighty people like the Congress President."
But immediately he changed gear and launched a blistering attack on Rahul Gandhi.
"The Congress President is a 'naamdaar' (only name). So how does he know about the efforts of 'kaamdaars'. We are kaamdaars (known by our work). What is our level that we can sit with people like the Congress President who look down upon us," he asked.
Challenging Rahul Gandhi to speak for 15 minutes on the achievements of the Siddaramaiah government "without reading from any piece of paper", he said: "You can speak in Hindi, English or your mother's mother tongue (Italian)."
He also challenged Rahul Gandhi to take Visveswaraya's name five times in the 15-minute speech. "That is enough. The people of Karnataka will measure the strength of your words."
Targetting Rahul Gandhi over dynasty, Modi said that his identity was through the family name while he himself was known for the work he did.
Besides Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister also attacked former Congress President Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over their promises of providing electricity to every village by 2009.
"Perhaps due to over excitement, the newly elected Congress President forgets decency. He did not even bother to congratulate the hardworking 'mazdoors' due to whom India's villages are getting electricity."
Modi said that in 2005, Manmohan Singh had said he will provide electricity to every village by 2009.
"Manmohan Singh said we will electrify villages by 2009. Sonia Gandhi went a step ahead and said we will provide electricity to every house by 2009. But what happened? In any case, we saw how the Congress treated Manmohan Singh. They tore off ordinances and disrespected him."
He said the Congress had nothing but contempt for the poor and labourers.
Modi said the government was now going to provide electricity to every household in India and asked those who ruled India for a majority of the years since 1947. "Why did they not think about the 18,000 villages lacking access to electricity."
"New US visa Rules, huge setback for India. There are some things a hug can buy. For visas, you're on your own," tweeted Gandhi, attaching a Times of India story with a headline "Startup visas, work permits for spouses of H-1B visa holders to go".
"Foreign policy by Narendra Modi, foreword by Donald Trump," he added.
"August 2015, Modi claims to create history by signing the Naga accord. Feb(ruary) 2018, Naga accord is still nowhere to be found," Gandhi tweeted.
"Modiji is the first ever Indian PM whose words don't mean anything."
Modi on August 3, 2015, announced that the government had entered into an agreement with Naga insurgent groups.
He said the accord did not just mark the end of a problem but the "beginning of a new future" in the northeast region with which he shared "deep" relationship.
"Deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to the derailment of coaches of the Seemanchal Express. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May the injured recover quickly," Modi tweeted.
"Railways, NDRF, and local authorities are providing all possible assistance in the wake of the accident."
Gandhi asked his local party workers to help in the relief work.
"I am deeply hurt by the Bihar rail tragedy. I offer my condolence to the families of the victims and appeal to the local party workers to extend every possible assistance in the relief work," Gandhi tweeted.
At least seven people were killed and 27 others injured when 11 coaches of the Delhi-bound Seemanchal Express derailed on Sunday morning in Bihar's Vaishali district.
Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the victims' kin.
The budget-related tweets this year was more than 1.5 times the conversation volume from Budget 2018 in the same timeframe, the micro-blogging platform said in a statement.
"The budget discussion and debate lit up the world with more than 1.4 million tweets generated," said the company.
"Five years of your incompetence and arrogance has destroyed the lives of our farmers. Giving them Rs 17 a day is an insult to everything they stand and work for," was the tweet from Rahul Gandhi that was the most re-tweeted one.
After victories in the Hindi heartland, the Congress president's farmer-centric poll sops and income guarantee promise to the middle class have charged the State politics. An elated Anurag Kerketta, a youth of Bhawanipatna who received a guarantee card from Rahul Gandhi said that if the Congress gets back to power he is fully confident, that the party will work for the farmers and the middle class.
If Congress can do it (waive off farm loans) in Chhattisgarh, then it can certainly execute that for the welfare of the farming community in Odisha, said another Bhawanipatna local.
Rahul's campaign in western Odisha may have enthused party workers but the recent exits of two senior leaders Jogesh Singh and Naba Das from the party, raises questions whether it would be enough for the party.
The BJD stated that announcement of welfare schemes by Rahul Gandhi are just poll-oriented while the saffron party is of the view that the Congress president's visits to Odisha will have no impact.
"Rahul Gandhi fulfilled all the promises that he made in the three states after the party was voted to power. So the people of the State have confidence in him and this will pave way for a new government in Odisha which will be led by the Congress," said party leader Tara Bahinipati.
"This is just a political stunt. As elections get nearer, leaders make many promises to woo voters. So Rahul's promises have no base," said BJD MLA, Pushpendra Singh Deo.
BJP MLA, Pradip Purohit said it will have no impact on the farmers. "Today, if the farming community is suffering then only the Congress party is to be blamed," said Purohit.
A senior ED official said the agency has attached Skylight Hospitality Pvt Ltd., which has now been named as Skylight Hospitality LLP's property in Delhi's Sukhdev Vihar. Its worth is Rs 4.43 crore.
Besides the Delhi property, the agency also attached movable properties worth Rs 18.59 lakh pertaining to four persons linked to the Bikaner land deal case.
The agency claimed that Skylight Hospitality (P) Ltd had purchased 275 bigha (69.55 hectare) fraudulent land for Rs 72 lakh and sold the same for Rs 5.15 crore to Allegeny Finlease Pvt. Ltd., illegally generating profit of Rs 4.43 crore.
The four other individuals too generated a profit of Rs 18.59 lakh in the sale of impugned fraudulent land.
The agency had earlier attached properties worth Rs 1.82 crore and filed a chargesheet before the Special PMLA court against nine accused.
So far, the total attachment by ED in the case is worth Rs 6.44 crore.
Vadra, along with his 75-year-old mother Maureen Vadra, was questioned for the first time in the land deal case on Tuesday for over eight hours in Jaipur. However, on Wednesday, Vadra was also questioned alone for over eight hours by the agency sleuths in Rajasthan capital.
The ED has been probing the alleged irregularities in the purchase of land in Kolayat area of the border town of Bikaner in Rajasthan, which was meant for those displaced due to Army's field firing range.
The agency registered a criminal case under the Money Laundering Act in 2015, taking cognizance of the case filed by the Rajasthan Police after forgery allegations.
The agency had earlier issued notices to Skylight Hospitality, but had not mentioned Vadra's name or any company linked to him in its FIR.
According to the ED, during investigation it had surfaced that Allegeny Finlease as a company was "not involved" in any "real business activities" and many of its shareholders were found to be dummy or non-existent.
The government had cancelled the mutation (transfer of land) of 374.44 hectares of land after allotments were found to have been allegedly made in the names of "illegal private persons".
Revenue officials had said in the complaint that government land in 34 villages of Bikaner, which was meant to be used for expanding the Army's firing range, was "grabbed" by the land mafia by preparing "forged and fabricated documents" in connivance with government officials.
The ED suspects that a huge amount of money was laundered in this case by people buying land at cheaper rates through forged documents.
Vadra was also questioned for over 24 hours last week in Delhi for three days -- Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday -- in a separate money laundering case.
He also denounced the Modi government over demonetization and Goods and Services Tax and also accused it of spreading distrust and hate.
"No 2 crore jobs. No 15 lakhs in bank accounts. No acche din. Instead: No jobs. Demonetization, farmers in pain. Gabbar Singh Tax, Suit Boot Sarkar. Rafale. Lies... Distrust. Violence. Hate. Fear. You vote today for the soul of India. For her future," he said.
Polling is on for 91 seats in the first phase of parliamentary elections across 18 states and two union territories. Votes are also being cast for Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Odisha.
The case was filed by Krishnavadan Brahmbhatt, a BJP corporator from the city's Khadia ward, who contending that the Congress chief's terming Amit Shah a "murder accused" at the rally was defamatory as well as false "because Amit Shah had been discharged honourably by the CBI court in January 2015" in the killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an allegedly staged gunfight.
Issuing the summons, Metropolitan Magistrate D.S. Dabhi fixed the next hearing on July 9.
Brahmbhatt's lawyer had argued that an Ahmedabad court could have jurisdiction though Gandhi made the remarks in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur since the speech was televised nationally while city newspapers also reported it.
"Narendra Modi has not worked for the farmers, youths, traders rather he worked only for 15 people in last 5 years and waived their Rs 5.5 lakh crore loan," Gandhi said at a rally at Simdega district of Jharkhand.
Prominent leaders of the Grand Alliance for the first time shared a dais in the state after the poll alliance was announced. JMM Executive President Hemant Soren and JVM-P President Babulal Marandi were among those present.
"Modi's government diverted Rs 35,000 crore MNREGA rural job fund to Nirav Modi. They reduced right to food fund. Modi has promised two crore jobs but employment could not be generated.
"After demonetisation and Gabbar Singh Tax was launched. Poor people fund diverted to 15 people. Rs 30,000 crore diverted to Anil Ambani, Rs 35,000 crore to Mehul Chowksi" claimed Gandhi.
"If Narendra Modi can lie, why can't Congress speak truth?".
"Modi government distributed the funds to looters but Congress has decided to give Rs 72,000 crore annually to 25 crore people under the Nyay scheme. The Nyay fund will come from looters of the country.
"It will also improve the purchasing power and help the markets. If markets will flourish then factories will be set up and it will create employment," said Gandhi.
"Congress and its allies are dedicated to protect the rights of tribal, poor and other section of the society. It was the Congress government at the Centre which had brought Pesa, Land Acquisition Act, Tribal bill.
"We will protect the Jal, Jungle and Jameen of the tribal and poor people. Modi not satisfied with diverting poor people's fund now want to snatch land of the tribal and poor people".
Interestingly, the court's direction came after learning that the hearing in the contempt case against Rahul Gandhi had been segregated and posted for that date.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi said: "We are a little perplexed that the two cases (Rahul's contempt and Rafale) have been segregated."
The CJI said the court would certainly want to complete hearing of the review petitions on May 10. The three-judge bench, also comprising Justice K.M. Joseph and S.K. Kaul, insisted that the hearing of both cases should be held together.
The Supreme Court is scheduled to break for summer recess after May 10.
The CJI queried regarding the listing of matters before the court. He said: "How it is possible, this (Rafale review petitions) has come today and the other matter listed on May 10...?"
The CJI emphasised that there was an order to hear both matters together. "Then why it has to come up today?" was the CJI's query.
The petitions in the Rafale case have been filed by former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist-advocate Prashant Bhushan. They are seeking a review of the December 14 verdict of the top court which dismissed the plea seeking probe into alleged irregularities in the Rafale deal.
In its recent affidavit, the Centre opposed the review of the December 14 judgement stating that the Rafale deal has no apparent error.
The EC on May 1 had sent a show-cause notice to Gandhi for his speech in Madhya Pradesh's Sahadol on April 23 in which he alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has made a new rule under which the tribals can be shot at.
Gandhi in response on Friday told the poll panel that his words, in Hindi, were used in a "free flow of a political speech" and there was no intention of "misleading, misrepresenting or stating false and non-existent facts".
"The Model Code of Conduct should not be construed in an over-expansive manner against the letter and spirit of the brooding omnipresence of the Indian Constitution," he said.
Claiming there was no violation of the poll code during his speech, the Congress President said he was targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies and programmes.
He said his remarks were part of a political speech criticizing BJP's "anti-tribal policies".
Gandhi also requested the poll panel to dismiss the complaint against him and not initiate further action.
He accused the BJP of filing the complaint only to distract him from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections as he is the star campaigner of his party.
Gandhi said elections are an expression of popular will and the "object of elections cannot be achieved" unless freedom of speech is permitted and the merits or demerits of a policy are exposed for the people to judge.
He also cited a number of statements by BJP leaders, including Modi and party chief Amit Shah, in which some "objectionable" words were spoken while campaigning.
Accompanied by SPG personnel and mediapersons, Gandhi exercised his franchise at a booth on Aurangzeb Lane in the New Delhi constituency.
Congress candidate Ajay Maken accompanied Gandhi. The BJP has fielded incumbent MP Meenakshi Lekhi and Aam Aadmi Party Brijesh Goyal in New Delhi.
Owning moral responsibility for the rout of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Babbar sent his resignation to Congress President Rahul Gandhi.
He lost the Fatehpur Sikri seat to Raj Kumar Chahar of the BJP by a margin of over four lakh votes.
"My best wishes to the winners. The UP Congress results have been disappointing. I have failed to discharge my responsibility effectively and I blame myself for this. I will meet the party leadership and place my views before them," the actor-turned-politician tweeted.
The Congress could manage to win only the Rae Bareli seat represented by UPA chairperson and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. Even pary chief Rahul Gandhi could not save his family pocket borough Amethi, that has always voted in favour of the Congress for 39 years.
Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani trounced Gandhi by over 55,000 votes.
Amethi district head Mishra early on Froday sent his resignation letter to the party chief.
The BJP and its ally, Apna Dal, have won 64 of the 80 Uttar Pradesh seats for Lok Sabha, while the SP-BSP alliance got only 15 seats.
In Karnataka where the Congress-Janata Dal-Secular alliance could only manage to win 2 out of 28 seats. The BJP showed its best performance winning 25 seats. The Congress had won 8 seats in 2014.
State party Patil took moral responsibility and resigned from the post. In his letter to Gandhi, Patil said it was time for the Congress to introspect.
Odisha's Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik also resigned taking responsibility for the loss as BJP gained in vote share.
In Biju Janata Dal's home turf, the BJP made in-roads and won eight out of 21 seats. The BJD won 12 and the Congress one. The Congress could not open its account in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls in Odisha.
Leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala said this after the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) met for the first time after registering a resounding victory in the Lok Sabha polls, winning all but one of the 20 seats in the state.
A source in the know of things said Rahul Gandhi's visit could be either on Saturday or Monday.
Gandhi won with the highest ever margin of victory in any Lok Sabha election with 431,770 votes. He defeated his nearest rival P.P. Suneer of the Communist Party of India who secured 274,597 votes while Gandhi received 706,367 votes.
"This huge victory has placed more responsibility on us and we assure the people that this victory will not get into their heads. They will always work for the people of the state," said Chennithala.
Gehlot arrived at the Congress headquarters at 5.15 p.m. and directly went into Patel's chamber.
After the meeting, the Rajasthan Chief Minister left for Jaipur.
Earlier in the day, Gehlot had met Rahul Gandhi at his residence.
On Monday, Gandhi had declined to meet Gehlot after giving him an appointment.
Vadra arrived at the ED office in central Delhi where he will be questioned under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
The case relates to the ownership of 1.9 million pounds of overseas assets and undisclosed entities set up to evade tax.
Majority of the party leaders feel that the party should avoid contesting bye-elections until its organisation strength right from the booth level has improved.
A group of former Congress legislators and leaders have sent a letter to Congress President Rahul Gandhi, urging him to concentrate on building up the party organisation before contesting elections.
"The bye-elections to 11 Assembly segments will not change the complexion of the state assembly since the BJP is way ahead of the halfway mark but if the Congress does not fare well then the party will face maximum flak," said a former legislator who is a signatory to the letter sent to the party high command.
The party leaders feel that the Congress, in fact, should start preparing for the 2022 Aassembly elections which is still two and a half years away.
"We have time and we should learn from the BJP when it comes to mobilising party cadres. The party should take up one Assembly segment at a time and ensure that the organisation is built down to the booth level.
"There are 403 Assembly segments. And even if we devote one day to one segment, we will build up the organisation within 13 months after which the party can start candidate selection," a former Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president suggested.
A section of party leaders have communicated their suggestion to UPCC President Raj Babbar, who has also resigned, owning moral responsibility for the party's poor performance in the recent elections. There has been no decision on his resignation though.
A senior leader, said to be close to Babbar, said that unless a decision is taken on his resignation, he cannot initiate any exercise for party building.
"There is no doubt that every Congress worker and leader now feels that time has come for us to end our differences and work collectively towards strengthening the party. I agree that we should avoid contesting bye-elections unless we are very sure of the results," he said.
Meanwhile, bye-elections to 11 Assembly segments were to be held in Uttar Pradesh. Rita Bahuguna, a legislator from Lucknow Cantt, has been elected to the Lok Sabha from Allahabad and her Assembly seat will be vacant.
So shall be Satyadev Pachauri's, who won from Kanpur and his assembly seat Govind Nagar, will fall vacant.
The third, Uttar Pradesh Minister S.P. Singh Baghel has won from the Agra Lok Sabha seat and his Assembly seat Tundla will face a bye-election.
Similarly, BJP MLA from Pratapgarh, Sangam Lal Gupta, is now the MP from Pratapgarh. Saharanpur BJP MLA Pradeep Kumar has won the Kairana Lok Sabha seat.
BJP MLA from Chitrakoot R.K. Singh Patel has won the Banda Lok Sabha seat while Barabanki MLA Upendra Rawat is now an MP from the same seat.
Bahraich legislator Akshaywar Lal has won the same Lok Sabha seat and in Aligarh, BJP MLA Rajvir Singh has scored a victory on the Hathras seat.
SP MLA Azam Khan will soon vacate his Rampur seat since he has won the Lok Sabha elections from the same Lok Sabha seat.
In Ambedkar Nagar, BSP MLA Ritesh Pandey has won the Lok Sabha elections and his Jalalpur Assembly seat will also be vacant.
Vadra was asked about the money received by his company as alleged kickbacks in petroleum deals in Gujarat. The agency said the money was used to buy properties in London.
He appeared before the investigators at ED's Jamnagar office in central Delhi following summons.
The case relates to the ownership of 1.9 million pounds of overseas assets and undisclosed entities set up to evade tax.
In a Facebook post before arriving at the ED office, Vadra wrote: "As I make my way for the 13th time, post almost 80 hours with the Enforcement Directorate, answering any number of questions, amidst sensation and unnecessary drama around, I stay focused and calm."
The businessman was upset with news reports and media questions on his health and wrote: "But blatantly and carelessly airing my health matters is not correct... But my time spent with people with worst problems, ailing, blind and orphaned kids to see them still smile, gives me the strength to go on..."
Vadra appeared before the financial probe agency, a day after a Delhi court allowed him to travel to the Netherlands and the US for six weeks of medical treatment.
Last Thursday, Vadra was questioned by the ED for over seven hours on the amount received by his company as kickbacks in petroleum deals in Gujarat. The agency accused him of using the money to buy properties in London.
However, he skipped the ED questioning the next day citing ill-health.
Gandhi won the election from Wayanad in Kerala.
He had also contested from the Gandhi bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh but was defeated by BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani by a margin of over 55,000 votes.
Rahul took the oath in English.
Minutes before taking oath, he tweeted that his fourth consecutive term as a member of the Lok Sabha begins Monday.
My 4th consecutive term as a Member of the #LokSabha begins today. Representing Wayanad, Kerala, I begin my new innings in Parliament by taking my oath this afternoon, affirming that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India ??
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 17, 2019
"Representing Wayanad, Kerala, I begin my new innings in Parliament by taking my oath this afternoon, affirming that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of India", he tweeted.
Speaking to media persons in Parliament, Gandhi said: "I will not participate in the process of electing the new President as it will make things more complicated."
Gandhi offered to step down as President on May 25 following the party's dismal performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
His offer was rejected unanimously by the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's highest decision making body.