Union minister and BJP candidate Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has claimed that he got budget worth thousands of crores sanctioned by the Centre for water works in Rajasthan but the previous Congress government in the state failed to utilise it. While trashing Congress candidate Karan Singh Uchiyarda's reported remarks that he could not get water for the region despite being the Jal Shakti minister, the BJP leader said he was saddened by the endorsement of the same by BJP workers. "I allocated thousands of crores of budget to the Rajasthan government for water, but if the government didn't work, what can I do? Even the Central Government has its limitations; water is a state government matter, and it was their responsibility to work on it, but they didn't and indulged in corruption", he said. Addressing a rally in Ajasar village in Pokhran on Saturday, Shekhawat said his own people were throwing mud on his face. "Congress candidate is saying that despite being the Minister of Water, ...
Echoing Shekhawat's sentiments, Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma underscored the significance of the upcoming elections in shaping a developed India by 2047
On Monday, fifteen trainee Rajasthan Police sub-inspectors, including the one who topped the recruitment exam, were detained for allegedly clearing the test in 2021 by using unfair means, police said
Shekhawat said that in the year 2019, only 16 percent of the rural homes in the country had access to water through pipelines and 19 crore 40 lakh families in the country live in rural areas
The government has saved Rs 24,000 crore due to blending of ethanol with petrol and majority of the benefit has been passed on to sugarcane farmers, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. He said at present the blending of ethanol stands at 12 per cent and the government plans to take it to 20 per cent as desired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Admitting that India's oil import has increased in the last few years, Shekhawat, who was replying to questions on behalf of Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, said the country has benefited by ethanol blending. "Oil import dependency has been increased over the past years. However, the growth of the country and energy demand go almost parallel," he said. Shekhawat said good thing is that Rs 24,000 crore has been saved in past few years due to ethanol blending. "Sixty-seventy per cent of this amount goes to farmers who produce sugar cane," he said. Replying to another question, the minister said dri
The infrastructure including the road, railways, waterways, airways and energy has seen revolutionary growth and modernisation in the last 10 years of the Narendra Modi Government, Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Wednesday. Addressing a press conference here at his residence, Shekhawat said India is a country that has invested the most in the water sector in the last 10 years. India has invested around US $250 billion across the water spectrum, be it irrigation, river purification, drinking water or groundwater recharge, he said. He said from independence till 2019, only a little more than 16 per cent of the houses were getting tap water supply. But since 2019, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the Jal Jeevan Mission, there has been a revolution in this sector. The Union minister said 3.5 times more work was done in the water sector in the last four years than what was done during the 72 years of Independence. "Even after completing 72 years
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Sunday said drinking water facilities have reached 72 per cent households in the country and the remaining will be completed by December 2024. When the Jal Jeevan Mission started in 2019, a little over 16 per cent of the households had access to drinking water facilities, Singh told a group of visiting journalists from Assam here. He emphasised that the implementation of the scheme is the responsibility of the state governments, and each state faces different geographical challenges and availability of water resources ranges from surplus to scarce. "We had prepared a guideline in consultation with the state governments and implementation of the scheme was done according to it", he said. Despite the challenges faced during two years of COVID, "I can say with pride that drinking water facilities has reached 72 per cent of the households", the Union minister said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged that each household will b
The Lok Sabha polls are set to be held in 2024
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Saturday said the Central government will again hold a meeting with Punjab and Haryana to resolve the contentious issue of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal. Shekhawat was replying to a question on his meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar over the SYL issue in Chandigarh on December 28. The minister said the Centre, earlier, also had tried to build some consensus in the matter on the directions of the Supreme Court. "This time again, we will make an effort and hold a discussion together and if any way out is found then we will work on the same. Otherwise, we will work as per the directions of the SC," said Shekhawat. The Union minister was here to attend the Viksit Bharat Sankalap Yatra. On December 14, Haryana CM Khattar said that Shekhawat had called the meeting of both the CMs over the SYL issue on December 28 in Chandigarh. Punjab CM Mann had said he would attend the meeting, bu
Vasundhara Raje, Mahant Balaknath, Diya Kumari, Kirodi Lal Meena, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and CP Joshi emerge as strong contenders for the CM post
The party, which didn't project a CM face, fought the Rajasthan elections collectively under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi
The Rajasthan High Court on Friday directed the state's Special Operations Group not to arrest Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in connection with the Sanjeevani Credit Cooperative Society case without previous approval of the court. The HC also barred the agency from filing any charge sheet against him sans previous approval of this court. Justice Farjand Ali granted relief to Shekhawat here while observing that there were submissions to be made on behalf of both parties which required the matter to be heard at length and deferred the hearing till January 8. While providing liberty to the agency to continue to investigate the matter, the court directed it to issue notice to Shekhawat at least 20 days before if he is required for investigation as he is a sitting Member of Parliament and a public figure who may have several professional commitments. The direction came during the hearing of an application by Shekhawat seeking a stay on further investigation as well as filing o
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that the Congress government is working on curbing inflation, lowering unemployment, reducing the wealth gap and creating brotherhood within religions
Rajasthan state Assembly elections LIVE: Catch all the latest updates of Rajasthan elections 2023 here
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday hit out at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accusing him of spreading falsehood and misinformation with regard to the various water projects including the Mekedatu balancing reservoir across the Cauvery river. Shekhawat reacted to Siddaramaiah's statement on Saturday alleging that the Narendra Modi-led government did not address Karnataka's water issues despite scanty rainfall. Alleging that projects like Mekedatu and the Mahadayi River are pending Centre's approval, Siddaramaiah charged, "Do you want to inflict more thirst on Kannadigas, dear Prime Minister?" Lashing out at Siddaramaiah, Shekhawat said in a statement on 'X': "We know it is tradition for Congress to spread false rumour & misinformation. But it isn't becoming of a CM to wreak havoc in people's lives by doing so." Regarding the Mekedatu project, the Minister said the discussion on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) was included as an agenda item during
Rajasthan state Assembly elections LIVE: Catch all the latest updates of Rajasthan elections 2023 here
Hindu priest Ramjilal Sharma was killed in Dausa district two days earlier, leading to allegations that it was a result of the state government's minority-appeasement policy
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accuses BJP of 'copying' the Congress and calls their strategy in Rajasthan a 'fail'
Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat had filed a criminal defamation case against Rajasthan Chief Minister for claiming he had a role in the Rs 900 crore Sanjivani Cooperative Society scam
The Union minister predicts that BJP will cross its record 2013 tally of 163 seats in the 200-member Rajasthan House this time