NATIONAL NEWS
A) Change of guard in Karnataka only after July 26, say sources
It was a day marked with high-profile political meetings held amid speculations of will-he won’t-he? Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyyurappa, facing a rebellion in the state BJP unit, has offered to resign citing ill health, sources said. The 78-year-old Chief Minister met Prime Minister Narendra Modi last evening and followed it with three other meetings held with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J.P. Nadda. When asked if had discussed the prospect of stepping down, Yeddiyurappa quipped, I don’t know of any rumour about a leadership change. You tell me? The BJP high command is likely to decide on a future course of action in the state with sources hinting at July 26, as a possible date of change of guard, if any. The date also marks two years of Yeddiyurappa’s term. Several names have cropped up as possible contenders, namely state home minister Basavaraj Bommai, mines minister Murugesh Nirani and parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi. Though there was no independent way of corroborating what exactly transpired in the meetings with the leaders, sources in the party added that Yeddyurappa had offered to resign on the one condition that his son Vijayendra should get a good position in the state party unit. The state unit of the BJP has been riven by dissent with several senior leaders openly questioning Yeddyurappa’s leadership; particularly, his son’s interference in the state administration. Senior party leaders Vijayapura City MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal, Tourism Minister CP Yogeshwar and legislative council member AH Vishwanath have even accused the CM of corruption. To put a lid on dissent, the party had even explored the possibility of a cabinet expansion to rein in the dissenters. Yediyurappa, had arrived in on a chartered flight to Delhi on Friday with his son for the series of meetings with the BJP leadership at the Centre.
B) Dissent refuses to die down in Punjab Congress
It’s not just the BJP state unit of Karnataka which is in turmoil. There are rumblings in the Punjab Congress unit over the elevation of MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu to head the party unit and his uneasy equation with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who has aired his concern against the move in a letter to the party high command. Even as this mail finds you dear reader, Sidhu’s elevation appears certain. Sidhu met with Punjab unit chief Sunil Jakhar even as the AICC state affairs incharge Harish Rawat had arrived in Chandigarh for a meeting with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to iron out differences. Through the day Sidhu also met with Minister Sukhjinder Randhawa’s house in Chandigarh. Apart from Randhawa, Sidhu also met minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, senior leader Lal Singh, MLAs Raja Warring, Kulbir Zira, Darshan Brar and Barindermeet Singh Pahra who have in the past spoken against the CM. The Punjab Congress is battling some serious infighting and the open rebellion of Sidhu against the CM. The high command has also failed so far to implement its peace formula, which seems to centre around Sidhu’s elevation as the PCC chief. Talks of Sidhu’s proposed elevation have not gone down well with the Chief Minister who has reportedly written a letter to the party president Sonia Gandhi claiming that the move would split the party in Punjab. While Singh has demanded that Sidhu delete his tweets which were seen as a direct attack on the chief minister, he has also said that he will abide by the high command’s decision on the matter. Watch this space.
C) Sharad Pawar meets Prime Minister Modi
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter’s residence in a meeting that lasted for over 40 minutes. It is learnt that Pawar had flagged off his concern at the newly-formed Ministry of Cooperation under Amit Shah, reminding the prime minister that cooperative banking is a state subject. Pawar, it is learnt, has also raised several issues concerning farmers. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister’s Office had tweeted Rajya Sabha MP Shri Sharad Pawar met PM Narendra Modi, on Twitter along with a photo of the two leaders meeting. Earlier this week, the Rajya Sabha member sought to draw attention on the formation of the new Ministry of Cooperation a day before the mega reshuffle of PM Modi’s cabinet. Pawar had said laws for the cooperation sector had been framed in the Maharashtra assembly and that the centre has no right to interfere with legislation drafted by the state. The meeting with Prime Minister Modi two days ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, assumes importance amid reports of strains in the Shiv Sena-led alliance in Maharashtra, of which Pawar’s NCP is a constituent. Pawar who was seen as instrumental in cobbling up an opposition ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, also said no decision has been taken about the 2024 elections. The political situation keeps changing, he added. Pawar was part of a meeting held by the newly-appointed leader of Rajya Sabha and Union Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday, ahead of the Parliament session. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior Congress leader Anand Sharma were present in the meeting.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) First Covid case in Tokyo
The Organisers of the Tokyo Olympic Games have revealed the first Covid-19 case in the Games Village, sending ripples of concern in the city which is currently battling a surge in COVID cases. With six days to go for the inaugural ceremony, organisers said an unnamed person had tested positive for coronavirus in the Games Village. There was one person in the Village. That was the very first case in the Village that was reported during the screening test, Masa Takaya, spokesman for the Tokyo organising committee, told a press conference. Japanese media had alluded to the person as a foreign national. The Games are being held despite a fierce backlash. Japanese media reported Seiko Hashimoto, the chief organiser of the Tokyo 2020 Games, as having said that, We are doing everything to prevent any Covid outbreaks. If we end up with an outbreak we will make sure we have a plan in place to respond. The organisers of the Games which were postponed for a year because of the pandemic, will be hoping that this would be the first and the last instance of COVID.
B) Disturbance of foundation of the bilateral relationship between India and China.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said there has been a lot of concern about the India-China relationship since the past one year because Beijing has not observed agreements on the border issue which has disturbed the foundation of the bilateral relationship. Chinese nationals displayed banners in protest from across the Indus river, close to the Line of Actual Control, when Indian villagers were celebrating the birthday of the Dalai Lama in Demchok in eastern Ladakh. According to Urgain Tsewang, village head of Koyul (Kakjung), one of the last settlements in the Demchok sector, the Chinese, comprising of Army personnel and civilians, came in five vehicles down unpaved roads and raised the banners 200 metres from a community centre where the Dalai Lama’s birthday was being celebrated. We look at the rise and fall of the Chinese ride-hailing app Didi, the latest casualty of a tug-of-war between big tech and Communist Party regulators. Former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale speaks about his new book which examines how China negotiates with India, drawing on six significant events in the relationship.
