Neha Kakkar

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday indicated to withdraw the Bill in the virtual programme held on the International Girl Child Day. Speaking on the occasion, he said, "A controversy has arisen in Rajasthan that child marriages are being registered after the Marriage Registration Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly. There is no prestige issue as far as the Bill is concerned and we are getting it checked by the legal department.

there is an interesting story behind why Pilot drove Gehlot on this occasion. As per sources in the Congress party, Gehlot and pilot along with Rajasthan Congress in-charge Ajay Maken and PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasara flew together in a helicopter to address an election rally on Friday after nomination papers on two seats namely Vallabh Nagar and Dhariayawad were filed by Congress candidates.

They are breaking the political barriers to accept the 'goodness' of a leader sitting on the opposition side. The trend started recently when Prime Minister Narendra Modi openly praised Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot during the foundation stone laying ceremony of medical colleges in Banswara, Sirohi, Hanumangarh and Dausa districts on Thursday.

"I was listening to the CM of Rajasthan. He presented a long list of tasks. I thank CM that he has so much trust in me. That's the biggest power in a democracy," Modi said while speaking at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the medical colleges in Rajasthan. Decades-old medical education system needs to be reformed, Modi said.

His statement comes two days after former deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's loyalist and state Congress vice president Rajendra Chaudhary raised a demand to anoint Pilot as CM and Ashok Gehlot as 'Margadarhsak'. Harish Chaudhary, speaking to media, said, "There is a difference between Rajasthan and Punjab. The MLAs of Rajasthan are with Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Long queues of vehicles were seen in front of the Jodhpur airport. Pilot's staunch supporters, Parbatsar MLA Ram Niwas Gavadia and Mukesh Bhakar, the MLA from Ladnu, were present on the occasion. Pilot's followers also raised slogans supporting their leader in Gehlot's hometown.

Shivakumar reached here at around 1.30 p.m. in a chartered plane and went to Gehlot's residence. He had a discussion with him for half an hour and went to Delhi thereafter. Addressing the media, Shivakumar said: "I am on a personal tour and have not come here with any message for anyone nor have come with any special agenda. There is nothing special to be discussed on Karnataka, Rajasthan and the centre but personal work."

The dinner was hosted on Thursday night. The two-day one-on-one interaction round was aimed to break the ice between the two camps being led by Gehlot and former deputy CM Sachin Pilot. Surprisingly, Pilot, being in Delhi, was absent in this so-called dinner diplomacy which did become a talk of the town. The CM, meanwhile, reiterated his call asking all the MLAs to forget and forgive the past and move ahead to develop the state.

Stepping up its investigation on the FIR filed by union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Rajasthan phone tapping case, the Delhi Crime Branch has issued a notice to Congress chief whip Mahesh Joshi and summoned him for interrogation on June 24 at Prashant Vihar office. The development comes in view of the intensified war between Sachin Pilot and chief minister Ashok Gehlot.