Civic polls: Mahayuti’s victory was due to fraudulent voting, alleges Congress

Jaipur, Feb 12 (IANS) In a significant move to eliminate colonial symbols, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Vasudev Devnani has announced the renaming of Ajmer’s 113-year-old King Edward Memorial (Rest House) to Maharishi Dayanand Vishrant Grih.

The Cooperative Department officially issued the notification on Tuesday, marking a historic change.

Speaker Devnani had previously announced this decision during the 200th birth anniversary celebrations of Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati, which were held in Ajmer.

With this order, the King Edward Memorial will now be known by its new name, aligning with efforts to restore cultural and historical identity.

Following Speaker Devnani’s instructions, the Cooperative Department initiated the renaming process, culminating in an official order on Tuesday.

The notification states that the King Edward VII Memorial (Rest House) Society, registered on September 16, 1975, under the Rajasthan Society Registration Act, 1958, will now be recognised as the Maharishi Dayanand Rest House Institute, Ajmer.

The order was issued by the Registrar of the Cooperative Department, Rajiv Kajot.

King Edward Memorial had long been viewed as a symbol of colonial rule in Ajmer.

Speaker Devnani, committed to reclaiming the city’s cultural heritage, had directed the renaming as part of broader efforts to remove remnants of historical subjugation.

This decision was announced at a recent function in Rishi Udyan, Ajmer, honouring Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary.

The renaming of King Edward Memorial is part of a larger initiative to restore Ajmer’s original identity.

Various organisations and intellectuals had earlier approached Speaker Devnani, urging similar changes.

This has already led to the renaming of Hotel Khadim (RTDC) to Hotel Ajaymeru, which aims to strengthen the city’s cultural pride.

Additionally, Speaker Devnani had announced that Foysagar Lake in Ajmer would be renamed Varun Sagar.

The King Edward VII Memorial (Rest House) Society, located near Ajmer Railway Station, was established between 1912 and 1913 to provide affordable accommodation for pilgrims visiting Ajmer and Pushkar.

It has been under the Society’s management since 1975 and was officially recognised as an old monument through a State government gazette notification on September 3, 2014.

The complex spans a total area of 17,542 square yards (nearly 9 bighas). This renaming marks another milestone in Ajmer’s cultural revival, reinforcing its historical and spiritual significance, said officials.

–IANS

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Hyderabad, Dec 18 (IANS) Tension prevailed at the Congress party headquarters at Gandhi Bhavan here on Thursday as the party leaders tried to march towards the BJP office as part of its protest over the National Herald Case.

All India Congress Committee (AICC) ICC in-charge Meenakshi Natrjan, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Mahesh Kumar Goud and other leaders sat in front of Gandhi Bhavan after police stopped them from marching to the BJP office located on the other side of the road.

A large number of policemen were deployed to prevent any untoward incident in the area in the heart of the city. Police closed the gates of Gandhi Bhavan to stop Congress leaders from coming out of the premises.

Raising slogans against the central government, protesters sat in front of the Congress office, leading to a huge traffic jam on the busy road. Police intervened to detain them and restore vehicular traffic.

The Congress party leaders accused the BJP of misusing the investigative agencies, after a Delhi court refused to take cognisance of the ED’s money laundering charge against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald case.

The protest was organised in response to the call given by the AICC. Mahesh Kumar Goud said that their protest is peaceful. He alleged that the BJP was misusing power to target Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The TPCC chief said that the Delhi court’s order is a slap in the face of the fascist policies of the central government. “At least now the government should admit its mistake and apologise to the Gandhi family,” he said.

The ruling party in Telangana organised protests at various places in the state, accusing the BJP of misusing Central agencies to target opposition leaders and tarnish the image of the Congress leadership.

Carrying party flags and raising slogans against the BJP-led government at the Centre, the Congress leaders and cadres participated in the rallies in Nalgonda, Warangal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Adilabad, Khammam, Mahabubnagar and other places in the state.

Police personnel were deployed in large numbers to prevent any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed near the office of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay in Karimnagar town as the Congress leaders and workers tried to lay siege to it as part of the protest. Police stopped the protesters near the BJP leader’s office, leading to a tense situation.

The protesters were carrying posters with slogans like ‘Victory to National Herald’ and ‘Victory to Young India’.

–IANS

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New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday criticised Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, accusing them of “prioritising” the reception of Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi over formally welcoming and seeing off German Chancellor Friedrich Merz during his visit to the state.

German Chancellor Merz, along with his delegation, arrived in Bengaluru on Tuesday, visited several institutions across the city and later departed from Kempegowda International Airport. Minister for Large and Medium Industries and Infrastructure Development M.B. Patil, represented the Karnataka government and bid a warm farewell to the Chancellor and his delegation at the airport.

However, the BJP alleged that the Chief Minister and Deputy CM failed to extend due respect to the visiting foreign dignitary and instead chose to give precedence to the party’s high command and a particular family over the interests of the state and its people.

BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, speaking to IANS, said, “Once again, the Congress party has shown that, for the party and its Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar, power and family are more important than the people and the state.”

He further alleged that a significant opportunity had been missed.

“Therefore, when the German Chancellor visited Karnataka, Germany being a very strong economy with thousands of crores of investments in the state, their priority was not to receive him and secure more investments, but to go and receive Rahul Gandhi instead, who was still in transit. It shows that Congress gives more importance to the high command than to the state and its people,” Poonawalla said.

BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo also criticised the Congress leadership and told IANS, “Leadership in the Congress remains confined to a single family, which does not function democratically and instead behaves like a royal household. Even if a child from that family arrives, Congress leaders roll out the red carpet.”

He alleged that the visit of the German Chancellor did not receive the attention it deserved.

“Their mindset is evident from the fact that even the German Chancellor, a guest of the country, did not receive due respect because Rahul Gandhi was on a Karnataka visit at the time. This reflects how distorted their thinking has become,” Shah Deo said.

He further pointed out that Bengaluru’s global stature should have been leveraged during the visit.

“Bengaluru is an IT hub, and this was the right time when they could have held talks about the German investments; however, they lost this opportunity,” he added.

–IANS

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