Be democratic, urges the world as 'mother of democracy' heads to polls

As India heads to polls, here is all that happened in this week's politics.

Hello readers,

The world’s largest democracy is headed to polls and apart from the politics surrounding the event, India has seen systemic action being taken against opposition leaders and parties, making it harder for them to actually oppose the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, as Narendra Modi eyes a third term in the PM’s office.

Without much ado, here is all that happened in this week’s politics.

When liquor lands you behind, not in bars

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been trying to evade the long arm of the law, vis a vis the numerous ED summons issued to the AAP leader in the excise policy case. However, things came to a head when the Delhi High Court refused to grant him protection from arrest and the Supreme Court did not agree to take the matter up for urgent hearing.

Kejriwal was taken into ED custody on March 21 and has since then been behind bars, still acting as the CM, with his wife and other AAP leaders like Atishi carrying on the fight outside.

The High Court refused to intervene in the ED arrest and Kejriwal will remain behind bars now till April 1, after the Rouse Avenue Court decided to extend his custody. Meanwhile, the Delhi CM had threatened to bare it all in court and named the Maguntas, but far away from the national capital, father and son, MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and Raghava Magunta Reddy, were busy campaigning for BJP’s ally Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

The AAP Goa chief also finds himself embroiled in the case that has already seen senior party member Manish Sisodia go behind bars.

BRS leader K Kavitha also finds herself caught up in the matter, with the allegation being that AAP received kickbacks from the south group - in which the Telangana leader has been implicated. After the Supreme Court refused to interfere in her case, Kavitha landed in Tihar jail.

In the wake of Kejriwal’s arrest, Delhi saw protests from both AAP - where leaders were detained, and by the BJP, demanding Kejriwal’s resignation from the CM post, where water cannons were used.

The I.N.D.I.A. bloc, which has not very successfully pulled off a united front, managed to come together over the issue and knocked on the Election Commission’s door over the "misuse" of central government agencies.

Now, major leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge will be joining AAP workers in Delhi to protest the CM’s arrest.

A taxing affair

Speaking of central agencies, Congress finds itself in a bit of a spot with the Income Tax department. The party on March 20 claimed to have received notices of over Rs 1,800 crore, a day after the Delhi High Court junked its plea on reassessment.

CPI also reportedly received an I-T department notice over the use of an old PAN card while filing tax returns. TMC leader Saket Gokhale announced receiving 11 I-T notices in 72 hours.

Congress plans to hold nationwide protests against these notices from March 30.

Mahua’s many problems

Mahua Moitra has been receiving ED summons too, in the FEMA case, but the firebrand TMC leader has skipped the latest one to campaign in Krishnanagar instead for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Same, same but different

Amid the immense crackdown on questionable financial transactions and deals, there isn’t much word on the electoral bonds data yet, which has been made public by the Election Commission after the Supreme Court's direction to the SBI.

The Congress has demanded a SC-monitored SIT probe into the donations made to the ruling BJP, who were the biggest benefactors of the scheme.

There has been no word on the matter yet, but elsewhere in Karnataka, BJP saw illegal mining accused G Janardhana Reddy merge his party with the saffron one – a move that drew a sharp jibe from the Congress that the BJP accommodates India’s "most corrupt".

Court-ing trouble?

On the heels of former Congress leader Kapil Sibal telling the Supreme Court that when history is written, this would not be one of the top court’s "golden periods" – during K Kavitha’s hearing – a group of 600 lawyers wrote to CJI D Y Chandrachud about a "vested interest group" trying to defame courts. While the members of the legal fraternity were cautious not to name anyone, PM Narendra Modi was much more unshackled and did not mince words, attacking the Congress for its "culture" of "browbeating and bullying".

Poll politics

With the Lok Sabha polls approaching at a rapid pace, there have been numerous political developments across the nation. Here’s a brief glimpse.

Up north, AAP’s lone MP and Punjab leader Sushil Kumar Rinku joined the BJP, but the saffron party has failed to reach an agreement with SAD, to contest the polls as allies.

Ahead of the general elections, the central government has said it will consider revoking AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir as the Union territory will see its first major elections following the Article 370 abrogation.

In Himachal, BJP has fielded Kangana Ranaut from Mandi and has also decided to field all six Congress turncoats in the assembly by-polls.

To the east, BJP has also struck out with BJD, which will be contesting from Odisha alone. Meanwhile, the Mahagathbandhan has finally seen some progress in Bihar, with RJD to contest 26 seats, Congress 9, and Left 5.

In Bengal, where Mamata plans to wage war alone against the BJP, there have been negative posters against the saffron party’s Basirhat candidate, and Sandeshkhali survivor and activist Rekha Patra. Modi, however, got on a call with her, hailing Patra as ‘Shakti Swaroopa’.

While the posters against Patra were in poor taste, BJP leader Dilip Ghosh’s comments on the CM were in the same vein. His remark over Mamata’s parentage drew ire, and the leader has been hit with an EC notice.

In the west, most of the political action has been centred in Maharashtra where the Pawar family bastion Baramati is likely to see a triangular fight among BJP candidate Shivatre, NCP(SP) leader Supriya Sule, and Sunetra, the wife of Ajit Pawar, who has headed to the NDA fold.

The opposition alliance in Maharashtra was meanwhile dealt a blow when Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray decided to unilaterally announce the list of candidates from his party who would be contesting while seat-sharing talks were still on.

Interestingly, an hour after Sena (UBT) member Amol Kirtikar’s name was announced, he received an ED summons to appear over the alleged ‘khichdi’ scam. If candidature is here, can central agency probes be far behind?

Congress’s Supriya Shrinate found herself in trouble over a derogatory post from her social media account targeted at Kangana Ranaut. While she apologised and took down the post, the furore was nowhere close to being quelled. BJP promised legal action and she too received an EC notice, prompting Congress to drop her as a Lok Sabha candidate amid the controversy.

Down south, in Tamil Nadu M K Stalin’s fight against the Governor continues. In his party – AIADMK’s – manifesto, the fact that governor appointment must require state consultation finds a mention. Some days back, the state had even moved the Supreme Court over Governor R N Ravi’s refusal to induct K Ponmudy into the cabinet. After a rap from the top court, the oath was administered.

On the other hand, the DMK manifesto promising to stop the Mekedatu project has raised eyebrows in Karnataka, with the BJP urging the Siddaramaiah government to make its stance clear about its I.N.D.I.A. ally’s promise.

The saffron party is, however, facing dissidence in the state, with K S Eshwarappa clearly miffed and not willing to back down from his rebellious path. Though state president and B S Yeddiyurappa’s son, Vijayendra, has assured that all is well, KSE has recently alleged that his supporters are getting death threat calls.

There might be trouble brewing in the Mandya seat too, where BJP’s partner JD(S) will have party leader H D Kumaraswamy contesting, which is bound to ruffle Sumalatha’s feathers, but she’s surprisingly gone silent.

In Dharwad, Lingayat seers have demanded that Pralhad Joshi be replaced as the Lok Sabha candidate, setting a March 31 deadline.

Quashing all speculation of contesting from Karnataka, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman – who has assets worth over Rs 2 crore – has said she does not have the money to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

Poison politics

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died due to a cardiac arrest on March 28, as per the hospital, but his family has alleged slow poisoning in prison, a matter that will be subject to a judicial probe. While Owaisi and Tejashwi have both echoed the claims, the BJP has accused the opposition of "emotionally exploiting" the issue.

The wife of a slain BJP MLA, however, claimed that the day of Ansari's death was Holi for the deceased party member’s family.

India vs the world

Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest has landed on the international radar as well with Germany and the US both urging fair proceedings be carried out. India has issued summons to their envoys in this regard while maintaining that its legal and democratic processes remain intact.

The US has even taken note of Congress’s statements about its bank accounts being frozen, and the UN has hoped for ‘"ree and fair" voting in the world’s largest democracy.

India takes on China, Pakistan

Even as Pakistan looks to renew trade agreements with India, EAM S Jaishankar had tough words for the neighbouring country during his visit to Singapore. Pakistan is using terrorism as an instrument of statecraft, Jaishankar said, while maintaining that a terrorist is a terrorist in any language.

While India and China did not make any major breakthrough in their talks about the LAC, China claimed Arunachal as part of its territory, which New Delhi firmly opposed. Xi Jinping and co were ultimately left fuming when the US recognised Arunachal as part of India.

Jaishankar dealt another blow, backing Manila as China and the Philippines witness situations getting tense. The Philippine President even vowed countermeasures in response to China’s ‘attacks’.

Global affairs

Maldives president Muizzu – within the span of a week – went from seeking debt relief from India to alleging that his pro-India predecessor operated on orders of a "foreign ambassador".

PM Modi visited Bhutan, inking several MoUs.

Moscow witnessed a terrorist attack at a concert, which soon translated to global politics, with the US stating that ISIS-K was behind the attack and Kremlin casting doubt on the same.

Russia, which has thus far been officially calling the situation with Ukraine a "special military operation" finally admitted that it is a "state of war".

The UNSC has finally managed to reach a consensus and has demanded the Gaza ceasefire after an earlier resolution moved by the US was vetoed by both Russia and China.

In a year that is peppered with elections, Ireland is poised to get a new PM after Leo Varadkar unexpectedly stepped down. Simon Harris, who has clinched the party leadership, is poised to become Ireland’s youngest PM.

Fresh faces have popped up elsewhere too with Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegal’s president-elect, holding the distinction of becoming Africa’s youngest elected president.

That’s it for now, but the many struggles are far from over, with major political rallies and protests scheduled in India. The poll candidature list might signal the end of the road for Varun Gandhi, while Sitharaman’s decision to sit out the Lok Sabha polls might impact her political career.

Congress too is facing some trouble in Karnataka’s Kolar, and though it has quelled an outcry for now, the party is yet to come up with a solution for the Lok Sabha seat.

Sonam Wangchuk, who broke his 21-day fast this week, has also promised that the fight for Ladakh’s statehood will continue.

So, stay tuned for more as we bring you the latest in politics from India and around the world, in what is shaping up to be a vital and interesting year.

Exit stage left,

DH Newsletters Team