Delhiites struggle with vision but politics firmly in sight; tensions & taunts mount around state polls

Bans on firecrackers do little to contain the firebrand politics across the nation.

Good morning dear readers!

If you are looking for a quiet Diwali weekend, we suggest you stop reading this newsletter right away. However, if you are someone who wants to experience the furore of the festive season, you have come to the right place because it is safe to say that this week, political parties were on fire. 

Tension and taunts mount around 5-state polling

As Mizoram and Chhattisgarh (phase-1) saw its citizens practice their fundamental right to vote on November 7, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (phase-2) are set to elect their candidates on November 17. 

Mizoram registered 80.43 per cent polling on Tuesday and 71.10 per cent average voting turnout was recorded in Chhattisgarh. 

As Chhattisgarh gets ready to vote again, political parties have left no stones unturned to ensure that they get maximum support. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said if the BJP comes to power in Chhattisgarh, Naxalism will be eliminated from the state in five years. Even PM Modi on Tuesday hit out at the Congress for failing to contain Naxalism in Chhattisgarh and said whenever the party comes to power at the Centre, Naxalites and terrorists get emboldened.

On the other hand, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the saffron party calls the tribals 'vanvasi' instead of `adivasi' as it does not want them to "dream big".

In Madhya Pradesh, PM Modi took potshots at Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge calling him remote-controlled. "He can’t do much. When the remote works, he abuses Sanatan (dharma). Yesterday, when the remote was not working, he spoke about Pandavas and said there are five Pandavas in the BJP. We are proud that we are walking on the path laid by the Pandavas,” Modi said in a rally.

Even the AAP national supremo Arvind Kejriwal upped his campaign game in MP as he called AAP an honest party that has done in ten years in Delhi the development work that other parties could not do in 75 years.

As Delhiites struggle with vision, politics is the only thing in sight

Cartoon on Delhi air.

As Delhi chokes due to the rising pollution, political parties have been treating the issue at hand as a 2024 Lok Sabha agenda rather than a matter of life and death. Noting that air pollution leads to health problems of the people in Delhi, the Supreme Court has said, "It can't be a political battle all the time and blame game...we want it to be stopped." However, this entire week saw a blame game between AAP and the BJP as they blamed the stubble burning in each other’s states (Punjab and Haryana) as the main reason for the pollution in the national capital.

Mahua Moitra: Optimistic or delusional?

Mahua Moitra

The Lok Sabha Ethics Committee on Thursday recommended the expulsion of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, a vocal Modi critic, from the Parliament, accusing her of “unethical conduct” that impacted national security after its examination of allegations of ‘cash for query’ against her. Sources said the panel also recommended an “intense, legal, institutional inquiry” against her “criminal” conduct of sharing Lok Sabha login credentials to unauthorised persons. The TMC MP on Friday said she will be back with a bigger mandate in 2024.

In a post on X, the TMC MP said, "Proud to go down in parliamentary history as 1st person to be unethically expelled by the Ethics Comm whose mandate doesn't include expulsion. 1st expel & THEN ask govt to ask CBI to find evidence. Kangaroo court, monkey business from start to finish". "Never Waste a Good Crisis they say... - this just helped me double my 2024 winning margin," Moitra said.

While the rest of the TMC seems to have turned a blind eye to Moitra, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Sunday alleged that the summoning of TMC MP Mahua Moitra by the Ethics Committee of Parliament over the cash-for-query row and no strict action against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for the objectionable remark in Lok Sabha show ‘double standards’ on part of the Centre.

Mahadev Betting App controversy lowers bets on Bhupesh Baghel’s leadership

The illegal betting app that shook B-town earlier has cause quite a turmoil in politics this week as the BJP released a video of Shubham Soni, an accused in the Mahadev Book betting app case, saying he is its owner and has 'proof' of paying Rs 508 crore so far to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

The PM last week also attacked the Baghel and said the Congress leader should tell what links he has with the accused in the case. "The Congress government in Chhattisgarh has not spared any chance to loot you. They have not even spared the name of 'Mahadev'," the PM had said.

Moreover, the Congress on Wednesday knocked on the doors of the Election Commission urging it to ensure that the central agencies conduct their probes with “strict impartiality” and demanded the withdrawal of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) press release that claimed Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel took Rs 508 crore from betting app promoters.

Manoj Jarange Patil is not nearly done

Mounting pressure on the Maharashtra government, Manoj Jarange-Patil - who had undertaken two back-to-back hunger strikes - is set to embark on yet another state-wide tour for the long-pending demand for reservation to the Maratha community, which accounts for 33 per cent of the population of the state. “I would start a tour of the state soon,” said Jarange-Patil. Besides, he has also urged the Maratha community members to launch a relay hunger strike from December 1. Incidentally, the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature commences on December 7, and the issue of the Maratha reservation will be discussed in this crucial sitting in Nagpur.

Enemy of an enemy is a friend

Regardless of their own differences, opposition parties this week stood their ground against the Modi government and its alleged 'misuse' of the CBI, ED and I-T department. 

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said the three central agencies of the ED, CBI and Income Tax along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan were 'panch Pandav' against whom his party was fighting. The central agencies were in the fray on the Bharatiya Janata Party's behalf, he said at a public meeting while campaigning for the November 17 elections in Madhya Pradesh. Kharge also added that the ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department were the 'jawans' of Narendra Modi, and said before the prime minister hits the campaign trail he sends the central agencies to target the opposition.

Echoing the same sentiments, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday said the Congress's fight in the upcoming Rajasthan assembly elections is against the ED and the CBI instead of the BJP, which is unable to compete and is using central probe agencies to 'harass' other parties.

The Trinamool Congress also lashed out at the BJP for 'politically manipulating' the central agencies for political witch-hunting and accused it of suffering from 'Abhishek-phobia' in the backdrop of the ED summoning its national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday dubbed the Narendra Modi government's fight against corruption a 'nautanki', saying those whom the BJP accuses of wrongdoing are rewarded with ministerial berths upon joining the party.

What’s next, a party meeting in jail?

Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. 

Evidently shaken by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's ED summon, the Aam Aadmi Party has been hinting hard that the next to go behind the bars will be Kejriwal. AAP MLAs on Monday asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal not to resign if he is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and continue to run the Delhi government from jail. On Tuesday, the party even said that it will hold a 'referendum' in Delhi and other parts of the country on whether Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal should resign if he is arrested by the Enforcement Directorate or continue to run the government from jail.

The never-ending Govt-Guv tussle

The Supreme Court has been quite vocal about its disappointment in the state governors this week. In a stern message, the SC on Monday said Governors should not forget that they are not elected authorities, as it expressed displeasure over state governments approaching the top court over the failure of the constitutional body to deal with pending bills passed by state legislatures. Even with respect to the Punjab Assembly sessions held on June 19 and 20, the SC declared them to be constitutionally valid. Taking up a plea by the Punjab government against the delay by the Governor, the bench, in strong observations, told his counsel Satyapal Jain, “Do you realise the gravity of the situation? You're playing with fire."

The Supreme Court on the same day also said that it was a matter of serious concern that the Tamil Nadu Governor has not acted upon 12 bills, 54 proposals of premature release, 10 appointments in the Public Service Commission and other proposals for sanctions for the prosecution of public servants.

Even in Kerala, amid a growing tussle between the Left government and the Raj Bhavan on the issue of not signing certain bills, Governor Arif Mohammed Khan asserted on Friday that he was acting in accordance with the Constitution and questioned whether there was any evidence suggesting that he had caused a crisis in the state. "Show me one instance where I have crossed the line. And how many times my own government has crossed the line, there is a long list. So who is creating the crisis?," Khan said.

Following father's footsteps

Vijayendra Yediyurappa.

The Yediyurappa family has been all over the news this week with the BJP MLA Vijayendra Yediyurappa, party veteran B S Yediyurappa's son getting appointed as the party's Karnataka president.

Moreover, BSY had also made headlines when he alleged earlier this week that the Congress administration in Karnataka has completely failed in all sectors and it is totally bankrupt, adding that this government is 'as good as dead.' 

Sex education gone wrong

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kuma.

The BJP on Tuesday flayed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his remarks on the importance of women's education to control the population calling them 'most misogynistic, vulgar and patriarchal', and demanded his resignation.

The Bihar chief minister, while emphasising the importance of education among women to control the population, put forward a vivid description in the state assembly of how an educated woman can restrain her husband during sexual intercourse. Kumar on Wednesday apologised for his comments and said that he takes them back.

In other news, US President Joe Biden will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping face-to-face for the first time in a year on Wednesday, the White House said, in high-stakes diplomacy aimed at curbing tensions between the world's two superpowers.

As the Israel-Hamas war is under way, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday his country does not seek to conquer, occupy or govern Gaza after its war against Hamas but a "credible force" would be needed to enter the Palestinian enclave if necessary to prevent the emergence of militant threats.

That is all for this week folks! Wait, is there something missing in the newsletter? Oh right, news from the I.N.D.I.A bloc, but then again, we wouldn't want to bother you with all the cracks and dirt ahead of Diwali. So here’s to a safe Diwali and always remember, you need not always burst crackers, sometimes tuning into Indian politics may just do the trick, and with the Parliament Winter Session likely to start in the second week of December, winter will heat up in India again ahead of the 2024 LS polls!

Exit stage Left,

DH Newsletters Team