AICC teams to start conducting review of party’s below par performance in LS polls in Karnataka, Telangana; V-P Dhankhar to address joint sitting of Maharashtra Legislature.
Back from his visit to Russia and Austria, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is holding a meeting with leading economists Thursday to discuss the Union Budget 2024-25 that will be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on July 23.
This will be the first Budget of the Modi-led government in its third term.
According to a senior government official, economists, industry experts and Niti Aayog vice-chairman Suman Bery will discuss fiscal strategies and present their views and recommendations to the PM at the meeting.
BIMSTEC foreign ministers’ retreat
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will host his counterparts from member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) at a two-day retreat beginning Thursday in the national capital.
Besides India, the BIMSTEC comprises Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
Myanmar’s Deputy Prime Minister U Than Swe has already arrived in Delhi to attend the retreat. Than Swe’s visit to India comes against the backdrop of Myanmar witnessing intense fighting between the military junta and resistance forces. The resistance forces have already captured several towns.
India has been making concerted efforts to make the BIMSTEC a vibrant forum for regional cooperation as initiatives under SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) were not moving forward for a variety of reasons.
AICC review panels on LS polls
A three-member Congress fact-finding committee will start a three-day visit of Karnataka Thursday to analyse what went wrong in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, where the party won only nine out of 28 seats, despite winning the Assembly polls in May 2023 with a thumping majority.
The panel comprising Madhusudan Mistry, Gaurav Gogoi and Hibi Eden, constituted by All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge, will meet state leaders to elicit their views on the party’s below par poll performance.
Sources said one of the things the committee will look in detail is whether candidate selection 16 candidates were from political families – impacted the results. It will also study how the state government’s guarantee schemes worked electorally.
A similar AICC fact-finding panel, comprising PJ Kurien, Rakibul Hussain and Pargat Singh arrived in Hyderabad on Wednesday night. It will begin its assessment of the Lok Sabha results in Telangana from Thursday, by meeting elected MPs and defeated candidates at the party office.
The Congress could win only eight of the 17 seats in the Lok Sabha elections in Telangana months after winning the state Assembly polls convincingly in December 2023.
Maharashtra MLC polls
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, has organised a dinner for his party MLAs in a Mumbai hotel on Thursday. It is understood as part of a slew of such dinner meetings and hotel stays being arranged by political parties in the state in their bids to keep their MLAs together ahead of the July 12 biennial polls to the Legislative Council, where 12 candidates are in the fray for 11 seats.
Eleven MLCs in the state are retiring on July 27 and these high-stakes polls, where MLAs form the electoral college, are being held to fill the vacancies. The threat of cross-voting looms large over these polls.
V-P address to Maharashtra Legislature
Meanwhile, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar will address the Maharashtra Legislature Thursday on “enhancement of democratic values and ethics in the country”.
Dhankhar, who is also the Rajya Sabha Chairperson, was invited by the presiding officers of both Houses of the Legislature to address their members in a joint session.
FAQ’s:
Who are the members of the AICC fact-finding committees?
The Karnataka committee comprises Madhusudan Mistry, Gaurav Gogoi, and Hibi Eden. The Telangana committee includes PJ Kurien, Rakibul Hussain, and Pargat Singh.
What specific aspects will the committees investigate?
They will look into candidate selection, the impact of political family backgrounds, and the effectiveness of state government guarantee schemes on electoral outcomes.
Who is addressing the Maharashtra Legislature?
Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar.
What is BIMSTEC?
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Why are political parties arranging dinner meetings for MLAs?
To keep their MLAs together and prevent cross-voting ahead of the elections.
