'Samvidhan Hatya Divas', MUDA, and Nagendra hog the limelight as parties awaits 'litmus test' of bypoll results
Hello Readers,
This week, while the decrescendo in the chorus of politics was slowly settling down as we anticipated some hobnobbing among politicians and celebrities from India and the world alike at the star-studded Ambani wedding, what we did not see coming was another reminder of the 50 year-old Emergency imposed on the country! Imposed by former PM Indira Gandhi in 1975, the topic was 'touched upon' by the President during her Parliament speech and then by politicians from all quarters, but there was more to come, Home Minister Amit Shah ensured! We have this and more in this week's DH Political Theatre. Dig in!
Samvidhaan ka Hatya'char'
In an announcement that was bound to get a lot of bouquets and brickbats (now with Opposition's respectable numbers in the House), the PM's second-in-command announced that the day June 25 will be henceforth commemorated as 'Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas' to mark the 'massive contributions' of those who endured inhuman pains of the period.
This will help in keeping "the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of the democracy alive in every Indian", he added.
Congress' Jairam Ramesh was expectedly quick to react, as he called it "another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy by the non-biological PM". In line with the Opposition's rhetoric of calling the Lok Sabha election results a political and moral defeat for the BJP, Ramesh christened June 4 as 'Modi Mukti Diwas'! We can expect more reactions from others soon as we roll into the weekend because who needs actual issues resolved when we can instead commemorate ailings of the common man for every day of the calendar year?!
Congress reviews LS poll results; MUDA, Valmiki scams in Karnataka irk party
Congress took out a report card on its performance in the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka and the party found adjustment politics and administrative lapses in the government among other reasons for its dismal show. But troubles for the state Congress are far from over it seems, as the alleged MUDA scam has been haunting CM Siddaramaiah while the BJP is demanding a CBI probe into it.
The CM, while assuring of a probe, has also accused the Opposition of being 'jealous' of him that despite being an OBC man, he became chief minister twice. The BJP, on the other hand, accused him of "recklessly defending the corruption."
Along with MUDA, the Valmiki Corporation scam has also been giving the Congress sleepless nights and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday arrested former minister and Congress MLA B Nagendra in connection with the multi-crore scam. How much more can they take!
Maharashtra: Mixed signals continue
Maharashtra continues to be a tug-of-war zone for NDA and I.N.D.I.A. bloc. The Lok Sabha polls' results seemed like things were moving in favour of Uddhav Thackeray and Maha-Vikas Aghadi, but the MLC poll results threw a surprise. While the ruling bloc only managed 17 seats in the LS polls, MLC polls saw them win nine seats.
One can surely hope for more when the state goes to polls later this year. Maha-battle ahoy!
'Mohabbat ki dukan' but 'nafrat ka vaar' too
The loss faced by Smriti Irani from Amethi in the Lok Sabha polls had buoyed Congress but the BJP heavyweight has been at the receiving end of a lot of online criticism since then, and has been uncharacteristically silent post the political drubbing. But who better to come to her aid than her very own bete noire? Yes, came as a surprise to us as well!
Gandhi asked party leaders and workers to "refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty" towards the former union minister, saying humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness and not strength.
But the Congress MP hasn't lost all steam when it comes to attacking the saffron party it seems. During a trip to Gujarat earlier, Gandhi vowed that their party will defeat PM Modi and BJP in the western state soon. "We will break their government like they broke our office."
The Gandhi scion was referring to Bajrang Dal activists vandalising a Congress party office in Ahmedabad over the former's speech in Parliament.
Gandhi, who also visited Manipur, said that his party and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will raise the need for peace in the northeastern state with full force in Parliament to put pressure on the government to end the ongoing ethnic violence.
Uttar Pradesh: Satsang politics & more
While the Hathras stampede was a tragedy like no other, leaving 121 dead in its wake, the revered 'Bhole Baba' has to answer for nothing, if the probing panel is anything to go by.
While the preacher got a clean chit, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav slammed the Yogi government in the state for failure in the case and accused them of making minor arrests. Adityanath had earlier taken a dig at Akhilesh and wondered how "everyone knows of the baba's political allies". The SP chief had reportedly attended a satsang of the preacher.
The BJP, this week, also concluded a post-mortem of what went wrong for it in its traditional bastion during the Lok Sabha elections, and found that fake videos and messages about PM, Amit Shah, paper leaks exams (not forgetting the NEET fiasco), and charges of 'changes in the Constitution' by I.N.D.I.A. parties were the primary reasons for their considerably poor perform in state.
Bypolls: Acid test for all
The July 10 bypolls were seen as an acid test for the parties as soon a number of states will be heading for assembly polls. While the results, to be declared on July 13, will not destabilise the state governments, adverse outcomes will raise questions on leaderships in Bihar, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh.
Kejriwal's trysts at court(s)
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been in and out of court(s) ever since his arrest by ED and CBI, and the Supreme Court on Friday gave the AAP national convenor some respite when it granted him interim bail in the former agency's case. It won't exactly be of much use to the AAP leader as he will still be in jail in the CBI case. The BJP, however, downplayed the bail and it said it was "completely wrong to misinterpret" the apex court's order. The AAP hailed it as a "victory of truth" and "defeat of the BJP's conspiracy".
Mumbai BMW accident turns political, Gundaaraj, defection drama & a murder down south
Posh cars are seemingly becoming synonymous with hit-and-run accidents in Maharashtra of late. Nothing against luxury car brands, but earlier this week, a BMW driven by one Mihir Shah, a prominent Shinde Sena leader Rajesh Shah's son, was involved in an accident that killed a woman in Mumbai. CM Eknath Shinde assured strict action against the guilty and the leader has been sacked from his position in the party. The accused was arrested and his father, accused of helping him escape, was also held but later got bail.
KCR-led BRS continues to suffer defection in Telangana as MLAs and MLCs keep deserting the party to join the ruling Congress in Telangana.
Mob lynching cases in Bengal have become a thorn in Mamata's side even as the TMC supremo blamed the BJP and a section of the media as well for "maligning the state". She picked out an incident from 2021 that had gone viral to lash back at the opposition, saying the incident happened when Arjun Singh (who has switched sides from the TMC to BJP to TMC to BJP again) was BJP MP of Barrackpore Lok Sabha constituency. Small mercies she think? (not!)
The NEET knot
The National Testing Agency (NTA) earlier this week claimed before the Supreme Court that the distribution of marks in NEET-UG, 2024 at national, state, city and centre levels was found to be quite normal with no external factor affecting it. While enough politics has happened over the exams with blame and counter-blame playing out, students can only hope for some solution to the problems plaguing them soon.
Trouble in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu saw sparks when the state BSP chief K Armstrong was late last week killed by bike-borne assailants and DMK came under fire from opposition parties, including its allies like Congress, over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. CM Stalin later assured of justice to the family of the victim.
Modi travels West, does Biden need some rest?
PM Modi on Thursday returned after concluding his two-nation visit to Russia and Austria, during which he held talks with the top leadership of the two countries and discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation. Modi's interaction with his friend Putin also involved talks on the Ukraine conflict as he reportedly told the Russian president that a solution to the same is not possible on the battlefield, and peace talks do not succeed amidst bombs, guns and bullets. And just after this, India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its military. We will leave that for our readers to decode further!
From Moscow, the PM went to Austria, becoming the first Indian prime minister to visit the country in 41 years, where he met President Alexander Van der Bellen and Chancellor Karl Nehammer and discussed ways to expand bilateral cooperation in several sectors, including the environment and combating climate change.
The sword of Damocles hangs over Joe Biden as he seeks re-election amid facing more calls from fellow Democrats to abandon his bid.
So, as we await yet another week of political showdown with bypoll result to be out today and the Union Budget in just over a week, we will be back next week with more!
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DH Newsletters Team