Today in Politics: Amit Shah kicks off BJP’s Assembly poll preparations with Haryana meeting
On Saturday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to begin a series of meetings as part of the BJP’s preparations for the coming Assembly elections in Haryana, Jharkhand and Maharashtra, expected to be held at the end of the year.
First, Shah is set to chair an organisational meeting in Haryana’s Panchkula to discuss the Assembly polls and the party’s strategy. “The BJP is moving forward strongly with the goal of forming the government for the third time in Haryana. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is coming to Panchkula on June 29 to hold a state executive meeting,” a party statement said.
In 2019, months after the BJP won the Lok Sabha elections in a landslide, the party struggled in the Assembly polls and fell short of the majority mark in the 90-member House. The party had then needed the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) to form the government.
However, there has since been more upheaval in the state for the BJP – ahead of these Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and JJP broke ties and the saffron party replaced Manohar Lal Khattar as the Chief Minister with Nayab Singh Saini, keeping caste equations in mind. Moreover, the Lok Sabha polls saw the BJP’s tally get halved – the party had swept the state’s 10 parliamentary seats in 2019 and fell to five seats this year, with the Congress winning the remaining five.
After Haryana, Shah is expected to hold similar meetings in Maharashtra and Jharkhand following the conclusion of the ongoing Parliament session on July 4.
Meanwhile, CM Nitish Kumar is set to chair a national executive meeting of the Janata Dal (United), which recently returned to the NDA fold ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, in New Delhi on Saturday. Party insiders said during the meeting, various topics including an analysis of the Lok Sabha elections, strategies for the Assembly polls in 2025, and the party’s demand for Bihar to get special category status will be discussed.
All-party meet in Maharashtra on reservation
With the Assembly’s Monsoon Session underway, an all-party meeting has been scheduled at the Vidhan Bhavan on Saturday to discuss the ongoing Maratha and Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation issue. The controversial draft notification on the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas and their blood relations had been aggressively opposed by OBC leaders, two of whom went on a hunger strike for 10 days before meeting government officials.
Reservation politics has led to a sharp polarisation between Marathas and OBCs in the state, especially in the Marathwada region. Amid the Marathas’ call for a reservation within the OBC category, the OBC agitation against it has been gaining momentum in the state recently.
AAP nationwide protests
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will hold a protest across the country on Saturday against the arrest of party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by the CBI in connection with the excise policy case. Kejriwal was arrested on Wednesday.
“The AAP workers across the country will hold massive ‘dharna’ against the BJP for misuse of investigation agencies and Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest on Saturday,” said AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, adding that the CBI arrest was a “ploy” to keep Kerjiwal in jail at a time when the BJP “felt that Kejriwal was going to get bail from the Supreme Court”.
Karnataka CM to meeting PM
On Saturday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi during his three-day visit to the national capital to discuss state projects pending approval from the Centre with Union ministers.
“I will be meeting the Road Transport Minister (Nitin Gadkari), also Prime Minister and the Home Minister (Amit Shah). Will also try to meet the Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman). The Home Minister has still not given the time and he might give today. Will also try to meet Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) and Jal Shakti Minister (C R Paatil),” Siddaramaiah told reporters on Thursday.
Nagaland civic poll results
After voting for 25 urban local bodies (ULBs) in 10 Nagaland districts saw a turnout of 83% on Wednesday, the results are expected to be announced on Saturday. These civic polls were held after a gap of 20 years. The polls were also held for the first time with 33% women’s reservation
– With PTI inputs
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