POLITICS

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who is reaching New Delhi on Tuesday, is expected to take final instructions from the high command. The aspirants of cabinet positions from the state have also reached the national capital to rally support for space in the cabinet. According to sources in the BJP, the party is contemplating to fill four vacant cabinet berths as well as drop more than five cabinet ministers.

Last week, the Lok Sabha passed the The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 to unify three municipal corporations in the national capital. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will move the Bill further to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, as passed by the Lok Sabha, and be taken into consideration and to be passed.

In fact, Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself is keen to see the party win the seat in the crucial industrial and coal belt of the state, which has a sizeable Hindi-speaking population. During the closing hours of campaigning for the bypolls, Banerjee will conduct a mega rally in Asansol on April 10. A day before that, her nephew and national general secretary of Trinamool Congress, Abhishek Banerjee, will participate in a 3-km road show in Asansol.

Sharing a short clip of Sule speaking in the Lok Sabha last week, Rijiju tweeted, "I am very much alive and performing my duty @supriya_sule Ji... Lighter note apart, thank you for the pleasant words because the spirit of sports transcends beyond politics and ideology to make one #TeamIndia."

On Monday, RJD national General Secretary Shyam Rajak met Chirag Paswan and discussed the current political situation of Bihar. The move came a day after an audio conversation of Chirag Paswan went viral on the social media in which he was heard asking a Panchayat member in Vaishali district to cast his vote in the MLC election in favour of the RJD.

"Today I met the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India Sh. @narendramodi ji and discussed issues of Punjab," Bittu tweeted. While Congress leaders restrained from commenting on the meeting, sources close to Bittu said that there was nothing much in the meeting which was a courtesy call. However, recent instances of Congress leaders leaving the party have triggered speculation of another Congressman desetring the party.

In his address at a crucial consultative meeting with tribal Hohos and organisations on AFSPA, he said that all stakeholders had appealed for abolition of the draconian law and the Central government has finally heard the appeals of the people. He appealed for co-operation with the government to ensure that no untoward incidents occur and urged all the stakeholders to seriously ponder how to properly maintain law and order in the state.

Sources in the party said that during the two-hour-long meeting, Congress leaders discussed various issues and unanimously decided that they should hold such meetings at least twice in month, which all senior leaders should present. During the discussion, senior Congress leaders expressed their views on how to take on Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP government and sources said that the party has decided to continue its campaign to expose the state government.

On Monday, Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana, Depender Singh Hooda, submitted a notice in the Upper House highlighting Haryana's claim over Chandigarh. Hooda's notice under Rule 267 said, "The claim that Chandigarh was created as capital of Punjab is misleading. It's a violation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966." Not only the Congress, but the BJP too has opposed the move by AAP.

The bureaucrats shared their concerns during a nearly four-hour-long meeting with PM Modi that was held at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, news agency PTI reported. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra and Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba also attended this meeting along with other top bureaucrats of the Union government.