Daily Briefing: Delhi Congress chief resigns; troubles for MDH; Virat Kohli hits out at critics; and more

In mounting trouble for Congress, its Delhi chief Arvinder Singh Lovely resigned from the post, citing the party’s alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Lovely’s decision signals at more exits from the Congress. Here’s why Lovely’s decision to quit will likely hurt the Congress and dent its alliance with AAP.

The BJP has hit choppy waters in Bareilly, considered a safe UP seat. Its decision to replace seasoned MP Santosh Gangwar with a former MLA has angered the influential OBC Kurmi community and exposed an internal rift.

In Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg Lok Sabha constituency, it’s not just a fight between BJP’s Narayan Rane and Shiv Sena’s UBT Vinayak Raut. It extends as a battle between Rane family loyalists and Thackeray loyalists and further into BJP versus Shiv Sena UBT — old allies who have turned bitter foes.

Who wants a 370 majority in the Lok Sabha? Not even BJP leaders, writes Sanjaya Baru in our Opinion section today. “No politician would want to empower the PM too much. No business person too would want a PM so powerful that he can continue to hound them through instruments available to a government.”

⚡ Only in Express

In the latest edition of Idea Exchange, National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah talks about fighting the Lok Sabha elections in J&K, the importance of the polls post the abrogation of Article 370, and what explains the calm in the Valley.

📰 From the Front Page

The United States customs authorities refused 31 per cent of all spice-related shipments exported by Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) Pvt Ltd over salmonella contamination in the last six months. This comes at a time when both Singapore and Hong Kong have suspended sales of certain MDH and Everest Food Products Pvt Ltd products after the alleged detection of a carcinogenic pesticide in spice mixes.

Hours after the Karnataka government decided to form a Special Investigation Team to probe the alleged role of JD(S) MP and its Hassan candidate Prajwal Revanna in a sex scandal, a woman, in her complaint to police, also named his father HD Revanna, Holenarasipura MLA and son of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, as an accused. 

👩‍💻 Must Read

The last 10 years — roughly the time the Narendra Modi government has been in office — have seen the rupee fall more against the dollar than during the previous 10 years. But the Indian currency has strengthened in ‘real’ terms when its exchange rate with all major global currencies is taken. We explain.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Sunday arrived in China, barely a week after he cited Tesla-related “obligations” to defer his much-anticipated India visit, in what can be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. 

After a fiery 44-ball 70 not out against Gujarat Titans, Virat Kohli turned fierier with the microphone during a post-match chat, launching a scathing attack on those who had criticised his strike rate as well as his ability to attack spinners. Here’s what the master batsman said.

 ⌛ And Finally…

When Indian gangster Ravi Pujari was arrested from a barber shop in Dakar, Senegal by the local police in January 2019, it had been 25 years since he had gone missing. In our ‘Solving Crime’ column, we report on how the ‘ghost-like’ Mumbai gangster was traced to Africa.

Delhi Confidential: The Samajwadi Party has lately been keeping the campaigning schedule of its Mainpuri candidate Dimple Yadav a secret. A senior leader said this was being done to get rid of uninvited workers who often travel in Dimple’s cavalcade and also try to make it to the stage at her poll events to be in the limelight. 

In the latest episode of our ‘3 things’ podcast, we talk about the Nestle controversy, Maharashtra’s communally sensitive city of Aurangabad, and the indefinite shutdown imposed in Nagaland. Tune in!

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Ayesha Jain

Business As Usual by Unny