About 27 parties will be attending the I.N.D.I.A alliance’s third meeting scheduled on August 31 to September 1 in Mumbai. On agenda of this meet is the formation of several committees for coordination and discussion on drafting a common minimum programme (CMP).In addition, a convener for I.N.D.I.A would also be decided. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, NCP president Sharad Pawar and top Congress leaders have held a review meeting at Suburban Hotel on Wednesday to oversee preparations for the I.N.D.I.A alliance gathering in Mumbai. Thackeray will host a dinner for the visiting dignitaries at the venue on August 31. The next day, the meeting will take place, followed by a press conference. While the Shiv Sena (UBT) is handling most of the logistics for the event, the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP is expected to organise the reception of the dignitaries. The opposition parties have held two back-to-back meetings within a month — first on June 23 in Bihar’s Patna and second on July 18-19 in Karnataka’s Bengaluru — to bring the like-minded parties together ahead of the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections. During the Bengaluru’s meeting, the name of I.N.D.I.A for the opposition bloc was finalised. The Bengaluru meeting was attended by leaders of 26 parties, including leaders like Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, KC Venugopal and others. West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar, Jharkhand Chief Minister and JMM leader Hemant Soren, DMK leader and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and several others.
RAHUL ON HIGH GEAR: BIKING TRIP TO LADAKH MAKES BIG IMPRESSION
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is not only marking a great impression with his return to the Parliament, but also with his stellar snapshots from the biking trip to Ladakh. RaGa also shared a personal anecdote in the caption where he wrote: “On our way to Pangong lake, which my father used to say, is one of the most beautiful places in the world.” What’s interesting about this ride is Rahul’s choice of riding gear. Instead of heavy, all-weather touring gear, Rahul has chosen to sport Enduro riding gear, that too from some of the top motorcycle gear brands in the world, like Shoei, Klim and Leatt — known for their safety. Rahul opted for an off-road helmet from Shoei, the VFX-WR Pinnacle, clubbed with Leatt 6.5 off-road goggles — an extremely light and breezy set-up. Meanwhile, Rahul also held an interaction with a group of youths after he reached Kargil town on Thursday. He was accorded a warm welcome by a massive crowd who chanted slogans in praise of “Bharat Jodo” and the Congress leader. The people of Kargil showed enthusiasm for the efforts of the Congress leader to safeguard democracy and secularism in the country by exposing “divisive forces and hatemongers”. Rahul has been interacting face to face with people and listening to their woes as an extension to his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ that began in Kanyakumari on September 7, 2022 and covered over 4,000 km before concluding in Srinagar on January 30, 2023. On the other hand, the second leg of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is set to initiate from Gujarat and extend to the northeastern state of Meghalaya. The party is chalking out a route plan for the yatra, which is likely to start on 2nd October at Porbandar. According to Congress, the walk was aimed at uniting and strengthening India. It also sought to address unemployment and inflation issues, and what the Congress claimed, was the “politics of hate and division and over-centralization of our political system”.
NITISH DROPS HARIVANSH FROM JD(U)’S NEW NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has dropped Senior JD(U) leader and Rajya Sabha’s deputy chairman Harivansh from the party’s new national executive before visiting Mumbai to attend a meeting of the leaders of the Opposition alliance I.N.D.I.A in Mumbai scheduled to be held on August 31 and September 1. JD (U) president and MP Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh has released the list of the party’s 98-member committee. Harivansh could not find space in the list as released on Wednesday. Harivansh continues to hold the post of Rajya Sabha deputy chairman even as Nitish had snapped his ties with BJP and formed a new government with the grand alliance last August. The national executive also has the name of veteran leader K C Tyagi, who was ignored in earlier rejig but was later made the chief spokesperson and chief advisor. Former MP Magni Lal Mandal continues to be the party vice-president. The party would have 22 general secretaries and seven secretaries.
AKHILESH’S BIG OVERTURE POISED TO WIN NON-YADAV OBCs, DALITS ALIKE
Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav is now carefully weighing every political step and focusing on the PDA (Pichre, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) plank. SP has successfully reached out to non-Yadav OBCs due to Akhilesh addressing a seminar in Lucknow on the relevance of Mauryan empire legends like Chandra Gupta and Ashoka in the present political scenario. Tributes were also paid to social reformers JyotibaPhule and Savitri Bai Phule at the event.The mega event was organised by SP national general secretary Swami Prasad Maurya. On the other hand, directly connecting with the youth of every village and chalking out a strategy for the future, SP has started preparation for Mission 80 in Uttar Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The party is emphasizing more on Azamgarh, Aligarh, Unao, Barabanki, Etawah, Hamirpur, Bulandshahr, Rampur and Kushinagarto prepare the ground to win seats. Senior leader Swami Prasad Maurya will also be visiting every village in the state and do OBC Mahasammelan to unite Saini, Mourya, Kushwaha and Kurmi votes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
BRS RELEASES CANDIDATE LIST FOR COMING TELANGANA ASSEMBLY POLLS
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has released the list of its candidates for 115 out of 119 Assembly constituencies in the State for the next Assembly elections in Telangana with only seven changes. In a surprising decision, party president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced that he would contest from two seats this time — Gajwel and Kamareddy. KCR has also ruled out the possibility of any alliance with the Left parties — CPI and CPI (M) — by stating that announcing the candidates for 115 seats in one move itself signifies that the party had no interest in any poll alliances. Chandrasekhar Rao said the party would release its election manifesto at its ‘simhagarjana’ public meeting to be held at Warangal on October 16. Meanwhile, ruling BRS MLC in Telangana K Kavitha hit back at Union Minister and state BJP president G Kishan Reddy over his attack on the party not following the 33 per cent reservation for women in distribution of tickets for the forthcoming Assembly polls.
BSP DECIDES TO GO SOLO IN UTTAR PRADESHFOR 2024 LOK SABA POLLS
The BSP is working with full swing on Dalit-Muslim formula. Mayawati has announced that her party has decided to contest next year’s Lok Sabha elections on its own in Uttar Pradesh, as according her the past experience, BSP doesn’t gain anything from entering into an alliance. She has claimed that whenever the BSP fights elections in alliance with another party in UP, its votes get transferred to the partner but the reverse does not happen. While BSP has started empowering the organisation by organising small cadre-based meetings at village levels with the sole aim to expand support base among the ‘Sarv Samaj and trying to consolidate its Dalits and Muslim votes. (IPA Service)