INDIA targets NDA with electoral bonds
Although the parties are unlikely to develop a joint common minimum programme, the INDIA group may nevertheless provide an explanation of its position on shared concerns.
Only three days remain before the first round of the Lok Sabha elections on April 19—a date that the INDIA coalition has officially set for its campaign. The parties have released their manifestos, and frequent coordinated campaigns are also important in communicating the alliance’s message to the electorate.
Following his April 12 public rally alongside Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin, Rahul Gandhi, the most popular member of the Congress, is scheduled to participate in a combined programme in Ghaziabad with former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav. One of the main tactics of the INDIA bloc in UP is the merging of the two parties’ faces, particularly while facing a three-way fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
Although the parties are unlikely to develop a united common minimum programme, the INDIA group may perhaps provide an explanation of its position on shared concerns. The united document will centre on matters of shared interest, including jobs, inflation, preserving the constitutional bodies, etc. It was brought up by two leaders that at the group’s second meeting in Bengaluru and third meeting in Mumbai, a common vow was first planned.
The opposition attacks PM Modi and the electoral bond
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came under fire from the opposition on Monday for saying that “everyone will regret” the electoral bonds problem.
PM Modi was accused by Rahul Gandhi of “orchestrating the scheme.” “Names and dates are crucial in electoral bonds. The Wayanad MP was reported by ANI as stating, “If you see the names and dates, you will know when they (donors) gave the electoral bonds, right after what contract was given to them or CBI inquiry was withdrawn against them.”
Gopal Rai, an AAP politician and minister in Delhi, referred to electoral bonds as “perhaps the biggest scam ever,” while Gandhi charged Prime Minister Modi of masterminding this alleged “extortion scheme.” Rai criticised PM Modi’s government, claiming that money was obtained through electoral bonds from questionable sources, such as businesses that were losing money.
Plans for AAP governance
Managing the election campaign and overseeing the Delhi administration are crucial responsibilities for the Aam Admi Party, the most prosperous political startup in recent memory. Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and its strongest campaigner, is detained by the courts. Despite a local court extending the Chief Minister’s judicial custody until April 23, AAP officials said on Monday that Kejriwal will meet with two of his ministers in Tihar jail each week to oversee the status of work under various departments. They also outlined a detailed plan to run the state administration from prison.
AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak said at a press conference two hours after Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann met Kejriwal in jail that Kejriwal will provide ministers with “guidelines and directions” during the twice-weekly meetings.
“Every technological detail will be examined. We shall investigate all legal proceedings and protocols. Weekly meetings will be held, and the departments will be properly reviewed, according to Pathak.
The ministers of Delhi, Atishi, Kailash Gahlot, and Saurabh Bharadwaj have been added by Kejriwal to the list of 10 guests who are permitted to see him twice a week in prison, according to Tihar jail officials.
West UP statehood aspiration is revived by Mayawati
During her Sunday election rally in Muzaffarnagar, BSP chief Mayawati brought up the topic of creating a separate state for western Uttar Pradesh. She also promised that her party would take significant action in that direction if elected to power to govern at the federal level.
This is not an impromptu pledge made by the former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, the first Dalit woman to head the state, despite opposition parties branding it as a “election gimmick” for manipulating Muslim-Jat and Dalit votes in this Lok Sabha election.
RLD leader Dr. Mairajuddin Ahmed claimed that “the movement of Harit Pradesh got diluted after the demise of Ajit Singh.”
Why is Delhi-born Kanhaiya Kumar running for office instead of Bihar?
Following its failure to get a slot for him in Begusarai from INDIA ally Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Congress party has selected Kanhaiya Kumar as its candidate from North East Delhi.
Vijay Swaroop, the head of HT’s Patna bureau, explains why Kumar is running from Delhi this time around after losing the Begusarai seat in the 2019 election.
Remarkably, just five years after he first entered politics from the Begusarai Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, known as the Leningrad of Bihar due to its long history as a Communist stronghold, Kanahiya Kumar, a former CPI candidate in the previous general elections, has switched to running as a Congress candidate in the North East Delhi seat.
Abdullah demands a straight fight from Azad.
Vice-president of the National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah, asked Ghulam Nabi Azad, chairman of the Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), on Monday to run against him in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections rather than “hiding behind a camera” and making remarks disparaging his party.
Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Abdullah is running for office from the Baramulla parliamentary constituency in north Kashmir. He is currently touring the Chenab valley region for four days in an effort to assist Choudhary Lal Singh, the INDIA bloc’s candidate.
Azad was announced as the DPAP contender for the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha seat. Azad is also a former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He did, however, express uncertainty about his candidature due to the fact that he was not consulted by the party before to the announcement.
