After recording a significantly improved performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections compared to 2019, the Indian National Congress is set to begin a series of strategy meetings within the party to prepare for state assembly elections scheduled for later this year in Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir.
Indian National Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and MP Rahul Gandhi are scheduled to begin strategy meetings with leaders from Jharkhand on Monday. The meetings in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir will be held between June 25 and 27.
“We are committed to continuing the momentum in our favour and winning a thumping victory in the upcoming state elections. To accelerate our efforts, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge and Shri Rahul Gandhi will be holding a strategy meeting with senior leaders from poll-bound states…Let’s move forward and advance!” AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal said in a post on X.
The Supreme Court has ordered elections in Jammu and Kashmir by September 30, while the rest of the state is scheduled to vote in November and December.
In 2019, the Indian National Congress won 44 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra, 31 of the 90 seats in Haryana, and 16 of the 81 seats in Jharkhand. The Indian National Congress took power in Maharashtra with the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after the collapse of the coalition, and in Jharkhand with its ally the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), but fell short of a majority in Haryana and needs the Janayak Janta Party (JJP) to form a coalition government there.
The upcoming elections are likely to be tightly contested: The Indian Union outperformed the NDA in Maharashtra, and the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party were neck and neck in Haryana in the Lok Sabha elections, giving the main opposition party a boost ahead of state elections.
First Session of the 18th House of Representatives
The first parliamentary session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on Monday with the swearing-in of new members, followed by election of the Lok Sabha Speaker on June 26 and President Draupadi Murmu addressing a joint sitting of both houses on June 27. The session will continue until July 3.
The mood in the Assembly is expected to be different, unlike 2014 and 2019. The revived Opposition is combative and geared up to increase pressure on the NDA government on several fronts, especially regarding the alleged irregularities related to NEET-UG and NET exams. On Monday, the Union Education Ministry’s high-level committee for exam reforms and review of functioning of national testing agencies is scheduled to meet.
Already, the session is expected to be overshadowed by a controversy over the appointment of BJP leader and seven-term MP Bhartruhari Mahatab as interim Speaker, a move that has drawn condemnation from the Opposition, which has alleged that the candidacy of eight-term MP K Suresh for the Speaker post has been overlooked by the government.
The Opposition plans to raise several other issues including the recent train accident in Bengal, the implementation of new penal codes and the issue of stock prices soaring after exit polls and then crashing on the day the election results were announced, the people said.
As reported by Liz Mathew, a senior BJP leader admitted that the government is “on the defensive” heading into the first session. Another senior BJP leader said the cancellation of the UGC-NET exams and police investigations into the alleged leaking of NEET-UG question papers in Bihar and Gujarat have put the government on a backfoot.
Kejriwal seeks listing of bail petition
Embattled Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court’s interim stay on a trial court order granting him bail in a money laundering case linked to the excise scam. One of Kejriwal’s lawyers said they would seek to table the petition on an urgent basis on Monday. The High Court on Friday stayed Kejriwal’s release after the trial court had granted him bail on June 20.
“Pending the pronouncement of this order, the execution of the impugned orders is stayed,” a bench of temporary judges of the high court said, asking both sides to file written arguments by Monday.
– With PTI input
© Indian Express Ltd.
First uploaded: June 24, 2024 7:18 AM
