Enthused by a successful rally addressed by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in the tribal heartland, the Congress has geared up to organise a series of more such rallies and programmes.

BJP’s election campaign committee chief and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has lashed out at the Congress-led UPA government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over corruption and fall in the value of rupee.

In a bid to woo the Muslim electorate in Rajasthan, the BJP has directed its community leaders to galvanise the community members for the Suraj rally to be addressed by Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on September 10 in Jaipur. The minority cell of the party is planning to invite Mr Modi to pay obeisance at the dargah of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer.

A court in Jodhpur on Friday has directed the jail administration to examine the health of self-styled godman Asaram Bapu and submit a report by September 10. The court passed this order while hearing a plea made by Asaram to allow a female ayurvedic doctor to cure his ailment.

Self-styled godman Asaram’s close aide Shiva on Thursday said Asaram was innocent. He said the police was putting pressure on him to speak against the “godman”.

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu has been given no respite on Wednesday as a local court in Jodhpur rejected his bail plea. His lawyers said they will move to the high court for bail.

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu will spend one more night in barrack number 1 at Jodhpur central jail after a local court deferred hearing on his bail plea till Wednesday.

Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu was lodged in Jodhpur Central Jail on Monday after a local court remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.

The Jodhpur police on Sunday grilled controversial godman Asaram Bapu for hours for his alleged involvement in a sexual assault case. He denied all the charges levelled against him. The police took him to the site of the crime to recreate the scene.

The Jodhpur police on Saturday sealed Asaram Bapu’s ashram at Pal Road in Jodhpur after his followers attacked mediapersons.