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Digvijaya Singh, five others get one-year imprisonment in 2011 assault case

Former MP CM Digvijaya Singh and five others, who were awarded one-year imprisonment, were later granted bail on surety of Rs 25,000 each.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh. (File photo)

A special court in Indore on Saturday sentenced six accused, including former Madhya Pradesh CM and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, to one-year imprisonment in a case related to a clash with protesting workers of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) in 2011.

The court later granted bail to all the convicts, including Ujjain MP Premchand Guddu, on a surety of Rs 25,000 each.

Three accused were acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence.

Government advocate Vimal Kumar Mishra said that because the sentence awarded to all the accused was less than three years, they were released on bail.

Meanwhile, Digvijaya Singh and former MP Premchand Guddu said that they do not want to comment on the decision of the court but they will appeal against the said sentence in the High Court.

Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/former-mp-cm-5-others-get-one-year-imprisonment-in-2011-assault-case-1929943-2022-03-26?utm_source=washare&utm_medium=socialicons&utm_campaign=shareurltracking

Sonia Gandhi asks Congress chiefs in 5 states to resign after poll drubbing

Gandhi’s decision came two days after the CWC meet and is aimed at facilitating ‘reorganisation’ of the state units.

Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi during the Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi, on 13 March 2022 | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi Tuesday asked the party’s state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand to tender their resignations in order to enable reorganisation of the party.

Earlier in the day, the Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar had resigned from his post after claiming responsibility for the party’s loss.

The Congress lost the recently concluded assembly elections in all five states. In a major setback for the party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stormed to power in Punjab with a landslide 92 seats in the 117-member state assembly.

To ‘facilitate reorganisation’

“Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi has asked the PCC Presidents of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa & Manipur to put in their resignations in order to facilitate reorganisation of PCC,” said Randeep Surjewala, general secretary in-charge of communication for the party.

The party, however, is yet to take a decision on the senior leaders who were made in-charges for the poll-going states, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was the in-charge for Uttar Pradesh. Vadra Tuesday held an organisational meet with leaders of the UP Congress to introspect on the reasons for the party’s defeat in the state.

Ajay Lallu, president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, had finished third in the seat (Tamukhi Raj ) he was contesting from.

Navjot Singh Sidhu, who leads Congress’ Punjab unit, had lost his Amritsar East seat. Sidhu has also been blamed as one of the reasons for the party’s loss in Punjab. Factionalism within the party is another reason that is said to have hurt the Congress’ prospects in Punjab.

Source: https://theprint.in/politics/sonia-gandhi-asks-congress-chiefs-in-5-states-to-resign-after-poll-drubbing/874997/

Gandhis’ Accessibility, AAP’s Rise: Congress Key Meet Addresses Elephant in the Room After Poll Rout

The four-hour Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting concluded on Sunday with senior members requesting party president Sonia Gandhi to continue to lead from the front. The meeting was held to introspect the Congress’s crushing defeat in five states – Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur – leading to renewed demands from several quarters for a change in the party’s leadership.

One of the demands made at the meeting was more accessibility of Congress leaders, especially Rahul Gandhi, which has been one of the major complaints of party members. Another demand raised by senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was fixing responsibilities. Azad, however, also made it clear that neither he nor any of the dissenting G-23 members are against the Gandhis.

According to sources, Sonia Gandhi, while addressing the meeting, said Gandhis are ready to step down and take responsibility for the election defeat. “I am often told that some of you feel we three are responsible for the state of affairs. If that is how you feel, then we three (Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka) are willing to sacrifice and step down,” she was quoted by sources as saying at the meeting.

Source: https://www.news18.com/news/politics/gandhis-accessibility-aaps-rise-congress-key-meet-addresses-elephant-in-the-room-after-poll-rout-4871234.html