SEVERAL RAJASTHAN CONGRESS MLAs AGAINST SACHIN PILOT TAKING OVER AS CM

High drama unfolded in Rajasthan Sunday evening as a group of Congress MLAs loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot reached the assembly speaker's residence to submit their resignation ahead of a legislature party meeting which was called to decide on his successor.

The development suggested a worsening power struggle between the chief minister and Sachin Pilot who was tipped to be Gehlot's replacement after he declared his candidature for the Congress president's post.

One of the Gehlot-loyalist MLAs claimed more than 80 legislators, including Independents, have reached Speaker C P Joshi's residence in buses and will submit their resignation. No resignations were however submitted.

The Congress has 108 members in the 200-member house. It also enjoys the support of 13 Independents.

The group of MLAs earlier held a meeting at Minister Shanti Dhariwal's residence, which was seen as an attempt to thwart the possibility of Sachin Pilot being made the next chief minister.

Congress observers Mallikarjun Kharge and Ajay Maken, along with Gehlot, reached the chief minister's residence where the Congress Legislature Party meeting was to be held this evening. Pilot reached there separately.

Some of the MLAs loyal to Gehlot said his successor should be someone who was instrumental in saving the govt during the political crisis in 2020 and not someone who was involved in the bid to topple it, a veiled reference to Pilot.

Another leader, Govind Ram Meghwal, said Gehlot can shoulder both roles, that of the chief minister as well as the party's national president. He said if Gehlot does not remain the chief minister, the party will face a major trouble in winning the next Assembly elections.

The Congress leadership – the Gandhi family – were apparently caught off guard by the strategic play by Gehlot who emphatically signalled he would not be a pushover and would like to remain the king in his backyard. He is keen that a leader close to him and not Sachin Pilot be appointed the successor.

LALU, NITISH MEET SONIA GANDHI, AND AN OPPN RALLY IN HARYANA

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav on Sunday met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and requested her to lead the opposition unity efforts to dislodge BJP from power in 2024 general elections.

Talking to the media after the meeting Lalu said, he along with Nitish Kumar told Sonia Gandhi that she heads India's largest opposition party and requested her to take the initiative.

"We came together in Bihar and ousted BJP. We are together. All of us will come together and oust the BJP from power in India," Lalu said, adding that prevailing situation in the country is quite alarming, the Modi govt is trying to intimidate opposition leaders. "But we are not going to be intimated by their machinations," Lalu asserted.

There is a need for all parties to join hands and work together to take the country forward, Nitish Kumar said. He said all parties are on the same page in fight against BJP and discussion on a concrete plan will happen after Congress president election.

Meanwhile, several top opposition leaders, including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, CPI(M)'s Sitaram Yechury and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal, congregated for a grand rally of the INLD organised in Haryana's Fatehabad on Sunday.

Addressing the rally, JDU leader KC Tyagi said the Bihar CM has come from Patna to challenge Delhi Sultanate at a time when eight former Congress CMs have joined the BJP. He said Kumar has no fear of the ED, income tax and other agencies. Stating that he is not the PM candidate, Kumar later said there is no question of a third Front, there should be one front, including the Congress and only then the BJP can be defeated in 2024.

Bihar deputy CM and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and Arvind Sawant of the Shiv Sena also attended the rally being held in a show of opposition unity.

CONGRESS CHIEF’S POST: LOYALIST JAIRAM RAMESH BATS FOR A CONSENSUS

As the Congress presidential election looms, veterans hope consensus will prevail again as it has for the better part of the party’s 137 year history that saw only four contests for the top post.

Congress general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh on Sunday batted for consensus in the election of Congress president, taking forward a tradition several organisational stalwarts, notably former President Pranab Mukjerhee and a long time AICC general secretary organisation Janardan Dwivedi nurtured.

Earlier, Mukherjee championed the need for consensus to the top Congress post and famously tried to forge intra-party agreement for Sitaram Kesri who eventually defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in only the third major election held for the presidential post in Congress history.

Mukherjee even records in his memoirs, “Certain offices should not be sought. They should be offered. Congress presidency to be one such office. The old practice of inviting an eminent person to preside over the annual session of the Congress and that person holding office till the next annual session was truly remarkable. My efforts were always focused at having a unanimously chosen or consensus candidate for the office of Congress president. That is what prompted me to work for a consensus in favour of Kesri, failing which I supported him.”

The tradition of consensus candidates in Congress is rooted in awkward situations that arose within the party in the event of elections.

In 1950 for instance, Purushottam Das Tandon, considered close to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel defeated then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s candidate JB Kripalani.

Kripalani resigned from the Congress to form his own Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party. Tandon had to later quit as Congress president due to differences with Nehru.

An awkward situation had also arisen when Subhash Chandra Bose defeated Mahatma Gandhi’s candidate Pattabhi Sitaramayya in the Congress presidential election of 1939.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / Sep 25

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Saturday 4,766

Active Cases 41,406 (-442)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,28,510 (12)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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ANALYSTS PUNCTURE COUP RUMOURS AGAINST CHINESE PRESIDENT XI JINPING

The coup rumours against Chinese President Xi Jinping that gripped the Internet all of Saturday were laid to rest following cyber sleuthing and analysis by open source intelligence analysts. The verdict was that Chinese troop movement, the so-called explosions or the cancellation of flights were incorrect.

A story claimed that a former President and PM had persuaded Song Ping, a former member of the Standing Committee, to take control of the Central Guard Bureau that night while Xi was placed under arrest at the airport on his return from the Samarkand summit on September 16. There were details that suggested something sinister was afoot. Fake graphics were created to show that flights had been cancelled in China; a video of a massive explosion suggested there was heavy fighting on in Beijing and another short video showed troop movement, which it was claimed was headed for Zhongnanhai, the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party.

Open source intelligence analysts quickly punctured these claims. The visuals of the explosions were traced to the one that took place in Tianjin in 2015. Flight tracking websites, one of which was briefly taken in by a fake graphic, showed that all was normal in the skies above China. The video of the troop movement was found to be unrelated.

Open source intelligence analysts found that a number of accounts with very low followers and none connected to authentic media handles and some strangely from Africa, acted as major spreaders of the rumours. Given the tensions with China, several right wing Twitter handles from India too retweeted many of the coup claims. In the end, it was much ado about nothing.

US WARNS RUSSIA OF "CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES" IF NUCLEAR WEAPONS USED

The United States would respond decisively to any Russian use of nuclear weapons against Ukraine and has spelled out to Moscow the "catastrophic consequences" it would face, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said today.

Mr Sullivan's remarks represented the latest American warning following the thinly veiled nuclear threat made by Vladimir Putin last Wednesday in a speech in which the Russian president also announced his country's first wartime military mobilization since World War Two.

"If Russia crosses this line, there will be catastrophic consequences for Russia. The United States will respond decisively," Jake Sullivan told NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

Sullivan did not describe the nature of the planned U.S. response in his comments today but said the United States has privately to Moscow "spelled out in greater detail exactly what that would mean." Sullivan said that the United States has been in frequent, direct contact with Russia, including during the last few days to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Russian President Putin's actions and threats.

IRAN PRESIDENT VOWS OF "DECISIVE ACTION" AGAINST ANTI-HIJAB PROTESTS

Iran's ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi has vowed "decisive action" against the wave of unrest that has rocked the country since the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.

Raisi labelled the protests "riots" and urged "decisive action against the opponents of the security and peace of the country and the people", speaking with relatives of a Basij militiaman killed in the city of Mashhad, in a phone call Saturday, his office said.

At least 41 people have died, mostly protesters but including members of the Islamic republic's security forces, according to an official toll, although human rights groups say the real figure is far higher.

Hundreds of demonstrators, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested since the mostly night-time demonstrations and street clashes broke out after Amini's death on September 16 and then spread to scores of cities.

THE REST

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55 AFGHAN SIKHS, HINDUS REACH DELHI, 43 STILL STUCK

A batch of 55 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, who were stranded in Afghanistan, landed at IGI Airport, Delhi, Sunday.

The 55 people, including 38 adults, 14 children and three infants, were evacuated via a special flight organised by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar and now just 43 of them still remain in Afghanistan.

Puneet Singh Chandhok, president of Indian World Forum, said, “SGPC in coordination with Indian World Forum and GoI is facilitating evacuation of distressed minorities from the Islamic nation. As many as 68 Afghan Hindus and Sikhs have arrived in Delhi after the attack at Gurudwara Karte Parwan in Kabul. The airfare for the same is being borne by SGPC. More than 300 have arrived since the Taliban took over Kabul.”

Only around 43 Hindus and Sikhs still remain in Afghanistan.

Receiving the families at the airport, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, AAP MP in Rajya Sabha and president of World Punjabi Organisation, said that the Ministry of External Affairs has granted them e-visas and repatriation was facilitated by both the govts.

MUKUL ROHATGI DECLINES ATTORNEY GENERAL’S POST

In a surprising turn of events, Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was learnt to have earlier conveyed his willingness to the govt’s request to be Attorney General of India, has declined the offer.

Asked what prompted him to change his mind, Rohatgi said there was “no specific reason”, and added that he had taken the decision after “second thoughts”. When it was pointed out that he had given his consent earlier, Rohatgi said: “That’s why I said on second thoughts. The notification is not out yet. So…”

ANKITA MURDER CASE: LAST RITES HELD FINALLY, AFTER ANGRY PROTESTS

People's anger over the murder of Ankita Bhandari, who worked as a receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri district continued with the Rishikesh-Badrinath National Highway (NH) 58 being blocked in protest, even as her last rites were finally conducted on Sunday evening.

A large crowd, comprising students, political activists and common people, had earlier gathered in large numbers at the mortuary of the base hospital where her body was kept. Then, they held a sit-in protest on the Badrinath National Highway in front of the mortuary, demanding the hanging of Ankita's killers, stranding vehicles on both sides of the highway.

Earlier in the day, the family of Ankita, in whose killing Pulkit Arya, the son of now expelled BJP leader Vinod Arya is allegedly involved, refused to perform the last rites, saying they will wait till the final post-mortem report comes.

The provisional post-mortem report had confirmed assault before death and the cause of death as drowning.

LET LOOSE, COWS ON ROADS, IN OFFICE PREMISES IN GUJARAT

The cows are coming home — and how — in Gujarat. Angry at the govt for not releasing funds to registered cattle pounds and shelters, the charitable trusts running them are setting them free, often into govt buildings. By Sunday, nearly 1,750 cowsheds run by such trusts, housing over 4.5 lakh cattle, had joined the agitation.

Amid calls to boycott the ruling BJP in the coming Gujarat Assembly elections, videos went viral of cows in thousands entering govt buildings like offices of the sub-divisional magistrate and courts, in the talukas of Banaskantha.

On Friday, cattle were let loose on the streets in the north Gujarat districts of Banaskantha and Patan. In Kutch, on Sunday, those running the shelters handed over keys to the govt, saying they would not vote for the BJP in the elections.

With cattle taking over roads and govt buildings, especially in Banaskantha – in some places for hours — it has been left largely to the harried police force to clear them. Policemen chased them out with lathis, tried to reason with the protesters, as well as put up barricades to try to prevent their movement.

‘KHALISTAN REFERENDUM’ AND MEA ADVISORY ON CANADA

Ranked no. 12 on the 2022 Global Peace Index, Canada is trying to make sense of India’s recent advisory that noted “a sharp increase in incidents of hate crimes, sectarian violence and anti-India activities in Canada”. The leading daily there, Toronto Star, captured the bewilderment of many: “The language employed by Indian diplomats was that which one might expect to be used more to describe Iraq, Libya or Afghanistan”.

Many feel the trigger for the advisory is a controversial September 18 “Khalistan Referendum” in Brampton, held by a pro-Khalistan organisation Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). While the organisers claimed a turnout of about 100,000, some said the figure was “wildly exaggerated”.

The advisory is being seen as a pointed rebuke from New Delhi to the Justin Trudeau govt, given Trudeau’s support to the farmers’ protests in 2020.

Meanwhile, the results of the referendum will be declared once the voting has taken place at other venues across Canada and the world. Besides Brampton, voting has already been held in places such as London, Rome and Geneva. The SFJ called the advisory “a threat to the freedom of speech and expression of Sikhs in Canada who are supporting liberation of Punjab”.

Manan Gupta, a Brampton resident who often speaks in local media on community issues, said there have been attempts to create a divide between the Indian diaspora. He cited recent attacks on a few local Punjabi broadcasters who are perceived to be pro-Indian govt. “I don’t think we will see Leicester (UK) type incidents but there have been numerous attempts to create a rift between communities. This trend needs to be reversed,” says Gupta.

Diaspora politics, over the last few years, has led to tensions between Sikhs and Indo-Canadian Hindus. Last year, at the height of farmers’ protests, there were support rallies and pro-Indian govt counter-rallies in Canada.

SURYAKUMAR, KOHLI POWER INDIA TO AUS SERIES WIN

Virat Kohli's scintillating strokeplay found its match in maverick Suryakumar Yadav's batting pyrotechnics as the duo fashioned India's series-clinching six-wicket win over Australia in the third and final T20 International in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Kohli (63 off 48 balls) and Suryakumar (69 off 36 balls) shared a quickfire 104-run partnership from 62 balls to lay the platform for India, who clinched the three-match series 2-1.

Earlier, Cameron Green (52 off 21) scored upfront while Tim David (54 off 27) provided the final flourish as Australia posted 186 for six after being invited to bat.

With the pitch offering grip and turn, Axar Patel(3/33) picked three wickets, while also executing a sensational run out. Yuzvendra Chahal (1/22) was also in his element, bowling an economical spell.

Chasing 187, India didn't have the best of starts as openers KL Rahul (1) and Rohit Sharma (17) were out inside the first four overs.

But Kohli and Suryakumar batted with authority, hitting boundaries and sixes at regular intervals to keep the required run rate in check as Australian bowlers struggled to find answers.

RUN OUT CONTROVERSY: MCC BACKS INDIA WOMEN'S TEAM

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the guardians of the laws of cricket, stamped its seal of approval on Deepti Sharma's run out of Charlotte Dean at the non-striker's end which saw India win the third women's ODI against England at Lord's.

Spinner Deepti ran out Dean (47) for the final wicket by whipping off the bails at the non-striker's end as the England batter had stepped out of the crease before the ball was delivered.

Though Deepti's act was perfectly legal, it still divided opinions with some England players and several commentators expressing their annoyance.

But the MCC said there was nothing wrong in it. "Whilst yesterday was indeed an unusual end to an exciting match, it was properly officiated and should not be considered as anything more," the MCC said in a statement on Sunday. "MCC's message to non-strikers continues to be to remain in their ground until they have seen the ball leave the bowler's hand. Then dismissals, such as the one seen yesterday, cannot happen."

Recently, the ICC while modifying the playing conditions had moved this kind of dismissal from 'unfair play' to 'run out'. The changes would come into effect from October 1.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

When the silences are no longer awkward, you know you are around friends. – Unknown

OFF TRACK

A scriptwriter comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing wife is standing outside. "What happened, honey?" the man asks.

"Oh, John, it was terrible," she weeps. "I was cooking when the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn't notice the stove had caught on fire. It went up in seconds. Everything is gone. I nearly didn't make it out of the house. Poor Fluffy is gone........"

"Wait! Back up a minute," the man says. "My agent called?"