The ruling Rajasthan Congress has speed up the process to select candidates for the up coming Assembly elections and asked the block level committees to hold meetings by August 7 to shortlist names.

The Congress decision to select candidates in time for the upcoming Assembly elections and drop those who are not capable of winning has made several sitting MLAs jittery. But it has galvanised party workers. Party sources said the Congress will shortlist the names of probables by August 22.

Eleven children were killed and 25 injured on Tuesday morning after a school van they were travelling in collided with a truck in Rajas-than’s Hanumangarh district.

The ruling Congress party’s hope to ride on several pro-people schemes and proposed refinery in the upcoming Assembly polls in Rajathan suffered a setback following factionalism and dissident activities.

Even though the BJP has given a free hand to Rajasthan state president Vasundhara Raje to run the party on her own, murmurs of discontent can be heard within the BJP. Sources said most of the RSS-backed leaders have made peace with Ms Raje or have been sidelined in the party.

In a bid to get rid of factionalism and indiscipline, the Congress high command adopted a tough posture against the disgruntled leaders and ministers. AICC general secretary in-charge Gurudas Kamat warned the disgruntled leaders saying that there was no dearth of leaders.

With the ruling Congress and the Opposition BJP busy with their respective rathyatras in view of the upcoming Assembly elections, the left-wing parties as well the SP and the Janata Dal have intensified their efforts to strengthen the third front in Rajasthan.

They are born stand-up comedians and have been traditional folk entertainers for centuries, but now members of the Muslim Bhand community say they are struggling hard to keep alive their art. “We live neglected by society and there are few takers for this art,” says Subrati, a senior member of the community.

In a shocking case of rape and sexual assault of five daughters over several years, a 62-year-old man and his wife have been arrested by the police in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. According to the victims, he did not even spare his four-year-old granddaughter.

Despite repeated reminders, 30 Rajasthan ministers and MLAs have been not paying the party’s mandatory annual contribution. The Congress took strong exception to the defaults by public representatives and indicated those who would not make contributions to the party fund, as per the Manmohan Singh Committee’s recommendations, would face action.