Major organisational reshuffle in the Congress will be undertaken soon. The party is looking forward to a round of fresh appointments at the AICC and state units, particularly where the party performed poorly, like Uttarakhand, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Jammu and Gujarat. Of special concern is the sub-par performance in Karnataka and Telangana, where the party recently came to office in the Assembly polls with a solid performance, and Himachal Pradesh, where the party won a good majority but failed to win any of the four seats in the parliamentary elections. According to sources, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge had already done the groundwork for the reshuffle and it would be taken in to account at an opportune time. The party also wishes to quickly finalise the strategy for Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand, which will go for assembly elections later this year.
RAM TEMPLE LEAK: LALU YADAV CALLS FOR RELOOK INTO CONSTRUCTION
RJD national president Lalu Prasad Yadav has called for a serious look into the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya after reports of rainwater dripping from the roof and severe waterlogging in the premises, including the Rampath. In his post on X, Lalu said despite religious leaders’ objections, “one person hastily inaugurated the temple at Ayodhya for his own publicity and electoral gains”. He quoted the chief priest of the temple, who said: “Where Ram Lalla is seated, water started dripping from the roof in the first rain itself.” Lalu said that the voters have already taught the BJP a lesson, as it lost the Faizabad seat.
MAHARASHTRA: WHO WOULD BE MAHA VIKAS AGHADI’S CM CANDIDATE?
Ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), alliance in Maharashtra, is confused over who would be the alliance’s chief ministerial candidate. On one hand, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar said that the formula that directs to the path ahead is collective leadership. Pawar had told reporters: “Our alliance is our collective face. One individual can’t become our CM-face. Collective leadership is our formula.” While, on the other hand, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut said that it would be risky for the MVA to go to Assembly polls without a chief ministerial face. Raut also indirectly batted for Uddhav Thackeray as MVA’s CM face. Meanwhile, there are also some differences between the Congress party and Shiv Sena (UBT); the reason being the constituencies in Mumbai Metropolitan Region or MMR. Uddhav Thackeray now insists that he wants maximum MMR seats, while the Congress party feels that they have to continue to keep their presence in the Mumbai. The Congress candidate won Mumbai North Central in the Lok Sabha polls. The Congress party wants to retain their base in North Central and North West, which were the party’s stronghold areas previously. In Vidarbha, Congress activists put up posters of state president Nana Patole portraying him as the next CM. It is obvious that the issue of future CM face is causing some fissures and stress in the MVA partners. The alliance, comprising Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) and the Congress — is aiming to dethrone the ruling Mahayuti alliance in the upcoming Assembly polls slated later this year.
POST ODISHA ROUT, BJD JOINS CONG-LED OPPOSITION IN RAJYA SABHA WALKOUT
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which extended its support to the BJP on numerous occasions in Parliament earlier, on 3 July joined the Congress-led Opposition members as they staged a walkout over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reply on the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address. The Opposition MPs expressed anguish and raised slogans during PM Modi’s speech in Rajya Sabha after the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge was not allowed to intervene on Modi’s remarks on the Constitution. This was the second time in a week that the BJD MPs staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha, have also joined the INDIA alliance’s protest in the House on June 28 over their demand for a discussion on NEET and NET. However, the BJP received support from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which condemned the Opposition for disruptions during PM’s speech. Notably, both YSRCP and BJD supported and expressed faith in the ruling BJP on key legislative matters in Parliament during its previous term at the Centre. While the BJD has now changed its position in Parliament and outside after suffering debacle in the recent simultaneous polls in Odisha, which saw BJP storming to power in state. In Lok Sabha polls, BJP won 20 out of 21. The BJD has nine members in the 245-member House, while the YSRCP has 11, where NDA does not have a majority in Rajya Sabha.
RAHUL’S ROOM IN PARLIAMENT BUILDING IS NEW HUB OF OPPOSITION BUZZ
Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi in a major outreach to the media has invited requests for all sorts of interviews and interaction. In a post on X, he said: “Unhindered, unfiltered, undaunted – a free and fair conversation is the strength of our democracy! I am here to speak with you, listen to you, and facilitate the true expression of the idea of India”. On the other hand, Rahul Gandhi bears a new address in Parliament and he sits in room G-41 of the new Parliament building. His room has become the new hub of opposition huddles and activity. NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and some other opposition leaders from Maharashtra interacted with Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday to discuss ways to strengthen the INDIA bloc. Assembly polls are due in Maharashtra later this year in which the Congress-Shiv Sena (UBT)-NCP (SCP) will look to oust the BJP-Shiv Sena combine from power. (IPA Service)
