Both the Sirsa MP, Kumari Selja, and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Surjewala of the Congress Party have expressed their strong desire to contest the assembly election’s from Haryana but state in-charge Deepak Babaria has gone on record to say that no MP will be taken in consideration for tickets and they need not contest the Haryana polls. If they still want to, they can do so only after seeking the permission of the party president Mallikarjun Kharge According to sources, Randeep Surjewala has now been asking assembly ticket to his son. On the other hand, Kumari Selja supporters have shown strong faith and expressed favour in her as the chief ministerial candidate. Hooda camp has already pitched Bhupinder Singh Hooda as the pre-poll chief ministerial candidate. Selja is a powerful and prominent Dalit woman face in the Congress with proximity to the Gandhis. She can influence over nine assembly seats and if her workers are demoralised and decide to not work, it would end up harming the party. Meanwhile the Congress is unlikely to announce anyone as the chief minister candidate before results, but with Hooda Sr being the front-runner, the Grand Old Party hopes to capitalise on the negative feedback the BJP is receiving in the state.
CONGRESS HIGH COMMAND SOILDLY STANDS BEHIND KARNATAKA CM SIDDARAMAIAH
After the meeting between Karnataka Home Minister and prominent leader from the Dalit community G. Parameshwara and Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on August 23, the speculation is rife that he may be made the Chief Minister in case of the growing legal troubles of CM Siddaramaiah over land scam issue intensifies. However, Parameshwara refuted the speculation saying, “The question of me becoming the Chief Minister does not arise at all.’ . The , Congress high command backed Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in his defence over the allegation of irregularities in the allotment of sites to his wife by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA). Meanwhile the group of 10 seers representing the Federation of Seers from Backward Classes and Oppressed Sections met the Karnataka Chief Minister offering unconditional moral support to him. They also promised to fight the sinister designs of the Raj Bhavan to destabilise the government.
MAHARASHTRA OPPOSITION STARTS AGITATION AGAINST CM OVER SHIVAJI STATUE COLLAPSE
The political temperature is soaring high in state of Maharashtra after the collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurga, Leaders from the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance have announced a protest march on September 1. The leaders, including, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole, will carry out the march from Hutatma Chowk to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue near the Gateway of India in Mumbai. Meanwhile both the party workers of Shiv Sena (UBT) and supporters of BJP leader Narayan Rane clashed on August 28 when the two sides reached the site of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue which collapsed in Sindhudurg district. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray strongly criticised the administration for rushing with the statue’s sub standard construction, and prioritising electoral gains over quality of work and described the collapse as a grave insult to Shivaji Maharaj.
AKHILESH YADAV’S DEFENCE IN FAVOUR OF MAYAWATI CREATES POLITICAL RIPPLES
Before the upcoming assembly by-polls in ten seats in Uttar Pradesh, BJP MLA Rajesh Chaudhary’s recent remark calling former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati the most corrupt CM of the state, has put him in controversy. However, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav surprised everyone by showing great support to Mayawati, even seeking a defamation case against Chaudhary for insulting a woman CM, who belongs to a deprived class of society. Mayawati also expressed thanks to Akhilesh for supporting her, However, SP chief expressed his gratitude and posted that the bonhomie was a good sign for the Pichda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak (PDA) combine. “PDA is the future of the oppressed and deprived. We are united and will remain so,” Akhilesh said. PDA stands for backward classes, Dalits, and minorities who had voted in favour of the SP in Lok Sabha polls helping the party secure 37 seats in UP. Akhilesh has prominently emerged on the national political stage by halting the BJP’s victory march in Uttar Pradesh. The setback of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, where the seat tally declined from 62 in the 2019 Lok Sabha election to 33 in the 2024 parliamentary election, prevented the BJP from gaining a majority on its own in the Lok Sabha. (IPA Service)
Hema Committee Report Follow-Up Gathers Momentum 