🎭 Political Theatre | 'Vote chori' protests dominate Parl Monsoon Session; Old or new, attacks on Delhi CMs continue

Hello readers! We are back with a new edition of DH Political Theatre. Last week as the nation celebrated the 79th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the longest speech ever by any PM from the Red Fort. Also, the Monsoon Session in the Parliament concluded this week. Amid chaos, adjournments and walkouts, 12 bills were passed by the Lok Sabha and 14 by the Rajya Sabha. Meanwhile, in a shocking incident, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta was attacked by a man during a public hearing, which drew similarities to previous such cases with her predecessors.

Let's dive in deeper and see what else happened in India this week.

Parliament Houses adjourned sine die

The month-long Monsoon session in the Parliament was adjourned sine die on Thursday. Amid repeated disruptions, and walkouts, 12 bills were passed in Lok Sabha, while 14 were passed in the Rajya Sabha.

The topic of 'space' found some room in the House, when Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju urged opposition parties to participate in a discussion in the Lok Sabha on astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla's successful mission to the International Space Station and India's strides in the space sector.

However, the decision remained inconclusive as the House was adjourned due to protests by the opposition as they demanded discussion on the issue of Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls by the Election Commission in Bihar.

During the same time, PM Modi met Shubhanshu Shukla. Shukla gifted PM Modi the mission patch of the Axiom-4 mission.

PM praising RSS draws criticism from Oppn

Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a 103-minute Independence Day speech last week, which became the longest ever by any Prime Minister.

In his speech, Modi heaped praises on the RSS, and called it an "NGO with a century of dedicated service to the nation", which triggered reactions from the opposition, that said it is a "desperate attempt" to cling to power while "dishonouring" the memory of martyrs and the spirit of our freedom movement, and labelled it as "most troubling element" of his speech from the Red Fort.

Attack on CM, the same old story

Last year, ex-CM of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal was attacked by a man, who splashed some liquid on him during a 'padayatra', with the party accusing BJP for the same. In a similar scene now, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta was attacked during a 'Jan Sunwai' programme at her Civil Lines Camp Office.

The man who attacked the CM has been identified as 41-year-old Sakriya Rajeshbhai Khimjibhai from Gujarat who allegedly pulled the CM's hair and attacked her, following which the Union government provided a 'Z' category VIP security cover to Gupta.

Following the attack on the CM, AAP and Congress condemned the attack.

Kejriwal noted that it is acceptable to have differences of opinion and opposition in a democratic system, but there can be no place for violence.

'Defence well done'

The Monsoon Session of Parliament proved to be a point of unity for the opposition as they stressed on the issue of "vote chori". Their claims gained momentum with reports of glitches in the voter lists in Maharashtra's Nalasopara and Chandrapur.

As Bihar is slated to hold assembly elections soon, the EC informed the Supreme Court that the booth-wise list of about 65 lakh people missing from the draft electoral roll has been uploaded on all 38 district election officers' websites, while stating reasons for their non-inclusion.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged a "partnership" between the EC and the BJP to "steal votes", asserting that the 'Mahagathbandhan' will not allow even one vote to be stolen in Bihar.

Last week, the Opposition parties also threatened to impeach Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and take action against the two election commissioners if the I.N.D.I.A. bloc comes to power.

All eyes on VP pick

Following the sudden resignation of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, both I.N.D.I.A. bloc and the NDA announced their vice-presidential candidates last week for the elections supposed to be held on September 9. NDA named Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan as the vice-presidential candidate, while the Opposition has named former Supreme Court judge B Sudershan Reddy.

After the candidates were announced, a political storm can be seen approaching Tamil Nadu as Radhakrishnan, the "son of the soil" has represented Coimbatore twice in the Lok Sabha. This comes at a time when the DMK has been attacking the BJP for being "anti-Tamil" and now the party has to walk a tightrope between state's pride and its opposition to BJP-RSS ideology.

After the nomination was made, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, seeking support for Radhakrishnan. However, the call did not end on a positive note.

'Political play' in Dharmasthala case

The 'mass burial' case in Karnataka's Dharmasthala continues to be in the headlines, with the BJP slamming Congress and demanding to submit the interim report.

BJP's Karkala MLA V Sunil Kumar during a discussion in the Legislative Assembly spoke of a "smear campaign that has been happening for a few months to malign Dharmasthala".

"It looks like the government is sympathising. A group is conducting an organised conspiracy," he said. However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar accused the BJP of "playing politics" over the case.

Meanwhile, BJP MLA and former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy alleged the entire case is being orchestrated through Tamil Nadu Congress MP and former Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Sasikanth Senthil.

In his response, Senthil called the allegations "baseless" and accused Reddy of defaming him.

The case took a new turn when the complainant was himself arrested by the SIT probing the matter on Saturday.

More from Karnataka

Debates, ruckus and walkouts are some of the common scenes inside an Assembly. A political leader singing is a rare sight. However, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar took everyone by surprise when he sang the RSS anthem during a discussion in the state Assembly on the stampede near Chinnaswamy stadium, which claimed the lives of 11 people.

'Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome...' DKS' sudden musical note caught everyone by surprise. This comes when the BJP legislators accused Shivakumar of being an 'abettor' of the stampede, accusing him of creating mass frenzy.

The Opposition in the Assembly was seen thumping the table, but the Congress was in absolute silence.

Vijay flayed for targeting Oppn

Actor-politician Vijay's party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam held its second state-level conference on Thursday, where hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters gathered.

As Tamil Nadu is set to go to polls next year, Vijay dropped hints that his party will be contesting for the same without entering into any alliance, which he said will be a "turning point" for the state that would end the "poisonous" rule of DMK.

DMK, along with the opposition, soon reacted and called out Vijay for targeted their leaders, as he addressed CM Stalin as "uncle", which according to the Opposition shows "low political standards".

"He has stooped to a low standard in addressing a tall political leader who has been in politics for four decades and is the sitting CM as 'uncle'. The DMK backed by the people will give Vijay a fitting reply in the 2026 Assembly election," State Municipal Administration Minister K N Nehru said.

These were all the political updates of the week. Stay tuned to DH for all the latest news and we will be back with Political Theater next week.

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DH Newsletters Team