With an eye on polls, the Congress government in Rajasthan has speed up work on setting up oil refinery at Pachpadra under Barmer district. The state government and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) signed MoU to set up a nine million tonne refinery in Barmer district.

The rising graph of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has changed the internal arithmetic of the saffron party in Rajasthan. The state BJP under the stewardship of former chief minister Vasundhara Raje sided with Mr Modi and on its way to cash in latter’s popularity to garner public support. The party sources said Mr Modi will be star campaigner in Rajasthan.

The man arrested for taking a bribe, “billionaire” compounder Mahesh Chand Sharma, has been found to be a recipient of the National Florence Nightingale Award.

With relief and rescue operations in full swing, the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP have engaged in a war of words in Rajasthan over the pilgrims stranded in Uttarakhand. The BJP blamed the Congress government for poor management while chief minister Ashok Gehlot questioned former chief minister Vasundhara Raje for not visiting Uttarakhand. “Ms Raje used to visit Dehradun often, why did she not go there when people needs her help,” asks Mr Gehlot.

While Rajasthan’s ruling Congress is geared up to kick off the 11th phase of the party’s Sandesh Yatra from eastern Rajasthan on Thursday, a factional feud has resurfaced in the party.

Though the state unit of BJP is making all efforts to create a conducive atmosphere to win the upcoming Assembly elections to be held in the end of 2013, it is set that the poll campaign will have a s

The 10th phase of the Congress Sandesh Yatra on Thursday started while the AICC roped in 13 observers for Rajasthan to help the party organisation in selection of candidates. The Opposition BJP had also assigned to its joint general secretary V. Satish the task to ensure better coordination among the party leaders in the state.

Both the ruling Congress and the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party have geared up for the next phase of battle to be fought through their respective yatras in Rajasthan. Congress leaders have claimed that the party had connected with over 15 lakh people in the last two months and covered 59 Assembly segments during the party’s Sandesh Yatra.

The police has arrested five persons, associated with NGO Awaj Foundation, for alleged rape and sexual exploitation of three speech-and-hearing impaired girls. Those who are arrested include NGO in-charge Alpna Dashnanai. The police sought help of experts to communicate with the victims.

Making a reference to governor Margaret Alva in a war of words between the ruling Congress and Opposition BJP has irked Raj Bhavan. Ms Alva has expressed her displeasure over it.