The Supreme Court will consider the Hathras stampede case, and the Delhi High Court will rule on Bibhav’s request for bail in the Swati Maliwal attack case.
Mahayuti vs. MVA competition :
The biennial elections for 11 seats in the Maharashtra Legislative Council, which include Pankaja Munde of the BJP and Milind Narvekar, an adviser to Shiv Sena (UBT) president Uddhav Thackeray, are scheduled for this Friday amid concerns of cross-voting.
In addition to Munde, who was defeated by Beed in the previous Lok Sabha election, the BJP has also nominated Parinay Phuke and put forth Amit Gorkhe, Sadabhau Khot, and Yogesh Tilekar.
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has nominated Shivajirao Garje and Rajesh Vitekar for these MLC elections, while the Shiv Sena, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, has put out former MPs Bhavana Gawli and Krupal Tumane.
The Congress, the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), and the Uddhav Sena make up the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), whereas the BJP, Shinde Sena, and Ajit NCP are the constituents of the ruling Mahayuti.
Congress has nominated sitting MLC Pradnya Satav from the MVA camp, and Jayant Patil of the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP) is running for reelection with support from the NCP (SP).
Preferential voting will be used for the polls, and winning will depend on a candidate receiving 23 votes. The Maharashtra Assembly’s strength has been decreased from 288 to 274 due to several reasons, including MLAs being elected to the Lok Sabha, deaths, and suspensions. As a result, the ruling coalition will need to exercise caution to ensure that its MLAs remain together. Along with the BJP, the Shinde Sena, NCP, Congress, Uddhav Sena, and NCP (SP) each have 38, 42, 37, and 10 MLAs. Thirteen MLAs are Independent. On Friday itself, the findings will also be made public.
With 111 MLAs, the BJP might be strengthened by Independents. This indicates that four more votes would be needed for the party to guarantee the success of each of its five candidates. The Shinde Sena says it has the backing of seven Independents and two Prahar Janashakti Party legislators, bringing its total to 47. That would be sufficient to guarantee its two candidates’ victories. Two Independents have reportedly endorsed the Ajit NCP, meaning it is five votes short of the total needed to win both seats.
The number of Congress members in the MVA bloc is sufficient for the party to win one seat, leaving 14 votes available for Narvekar, whose Sena (UBT) party has 15 MLAs, to cross the finish line. Nonetheless, there are rumors of unhappiness among three members of Congress.
The PWP would need the votes of all 13 MLAs in the NCP (SP); smaller parties like Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (three MLAs), AIMIM and Samajwadi Party (two MLAs apiece), and CPI(M) (one MLA) as well as votes from both sides of the aisle.
Context: The MLC polls from two years ago produced some unexpected findings, one of which was the defeat of Chandrakant Handore of the Congress. As Alok Deshpande recalls, Shinde spearheaded a mutiny against then chief minister Uddhav that resulted in the division of the Sena shortly after, and to the collapse of the MVA administration.
Mahayuti vs. MVA competition :
The shoe seems to be on the other foot this time around, as the Mahayuti is in the hot seat and the MVA is trying to guarantee that all three of its candidates win.
In an attempt to prevent cross-voting, parties began transporting their MLAs to hotels before to the polls. On Wednesday, Shinde and Ajit met with their respective MLAs. Party chief Bhupendra Yadav met with BJP legislators at the party headquarters, while Sena (UBT) legislators convened at Hotel ITC Grand Central. On Thursday, the Congress MLAs convened at Hotel Intercontinental.
With the assembly elections scheduled for the next three months and the ruling party suffering a setback in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, the resurgent MVA alliance is hoping to secure an additional third seat with a little assistance from some Mahayuti MLAs who might decide to rejoin the Uddhav Sena or the Sharad Pawar NCP.
The creation of a five-member expert team to investigate the Hathras stampede event, which claimed 121 lives, is being requested in a petition that the Supreme Court will hear on Friday. The committee will be overseen by a retired high court judge.
In addition to requesting a directive to the Uttar Pradesh government to produce a status report on the July 2 event and to take legal action against officials and others for their careless behavior, counsel Vishal Tiwari filed the motion.
In order to address stampede occurrences, the petition has also asked for a directive to be sent to all state governments listing the medical facilities that are available at every level, from block/tehsil to district.
After more than 2.5 lakh devotees arrived in Phulrai village, district, for the “satsang” led by Baba Narayan Hari, also known as Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba, there was a rush in Hathras.
HC ruling on Bibhav’s bail request
In the case involving the alleged assault on AAP MP Swati Maliwal, the Delhi High Court is scheduled to make a ruling on Friday about the bail request made by Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal’s aide, Bibhav Kumar.
The police’s senior attorney had resisted the bail request, stating that an investigation was still underway and that charges will be brought on or before July 16. “The charge sheet will be filed by July 16 at the latest. We are currently conducting an investigation,” police attorney Sanjay Jain, a senior member, stated.
Allegedly, on May 13, in Kejriwal’s official residence, Kumar assaulted Maliwal. He was apprehended on May 18 and is still in judicial prison. On May 16, a First Information Report (FIR) was filed against him under many sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), pertaining to criminal intimidation, assault or use of force on a lady with the purpose of disrobing, and attempt to commit culpable homicide.
On June 7, the Tis Hazari court denied Kumar’s request for bail, citing his “grave and serious” allegations and the concern that he would sway witnesses.
State BJP president B Y Vijayendra announced that the Karnataka BJP will stage a “mega” rally in Mysuru on Friday to protest the alleged fraudulent site allocation by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), which includes plots granted to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi.
“As the allegations are against the Chief Minister and his family, we will demand a CBI probe into the ‘scam’ and the allocation of sites to the poor by withdrawing those distributed illegally,” he declared.
According to the allegations, Siddaramaiah’s wife was given compensation sites in a posh neighborhood in Mysuru that were worth more than the land that the MUDA had “acquired.”
