Daily Briefing: Second phase of Gujarat Assembly polls today; first key meet on G20; and more

As many as 93 seats are up for grabs in the final phase of Gujarat Assembly elections today. Voting is being held in north and central Gujarat regions, which comprise belts with high concentration of the OBCs, tribals and Dalits.

The cash-rich milk cooperatives are likely to have a significant bearing on nearly 50 per cent of the 93 seats. Here’s how.

The second phase of polling also marks a “battle of prestige” of young guns — Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani — who had played a key role in shaping the narrative of the 2017 polls.

The results of the Gujarat elections would be a bellwether for the BJP for the 2023 Assembly polls, leading up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. For the AAP, it will be a test as an emerging third force in national politics. Leena Misra breaks down what’s at stake.

Only in the Express

In the latest edition of Idea Exchange, Minister for Power, New and Renewable Energy R K Singh speaks about meeting global targets for climate action, streamlining power distribution and efficient harnessing of renewable energy.

From the Front Page

Officials from 40 countires converged in Udaipur Sunday to kick off the first Sherpa track under India’s G20 presidency. What’s on agenda? Rising global debt, loss of employment, runaway inflation and the slowdown in growth.

An unpaved segment of the old Kandi road that once connected Haridwar and Ramnagar runs along a high-priority wildlife corridor between the Rajaji and the Corbett tiger landscapes. Upgrading this to an all-weather blacktop road has been a major poll plank for the BJP. The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court, however, has recommended against blacktopping a 4.7-km stretch, The Indian Express has learnt.

Chairing the first meeting of the Congress steering committee, party chief Mallikarjun Kharge delivered a strong message to the organisation’s office-bearers: step up or step aside. Kharge made it clear that “organisational accountability from top to bottom” was key as the party charts its way forward in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

Must Read

The duration of eight former Navy officers’ custody in Qatar has been increased by one more month, family sources told The Indian Express. The men were picked up by Qatari State Security personnel on the night of August 30. They have been held in solitary confinement since then, and there is no public information of the charges against them.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Paris-based writer-director Nadav Lapid, who was a jury chief at the IFFI, reiterated his stand on The Kashmir Files: “While watching it, I found the movie to be a cheap, vulgar, and propaganda movie. I am not against the level of violence in it. However, it annoyed me that the movie doesn’t have any inner contradictions, complexities. It’s totally flat.”

Expenditure on pension has emerged as one of the major components of the Committed Expenditure of the Centre and states in recent years. It was higher than the ‘salary and wages’ expenditure of the Centre and three states during 2019-20, official data shows. 

Consumer price inflation fell from 7.41% year-on-year in September to 6.77% in October — and food inflation fell even more, from 8.60% to 7.01%. But that isn’t the only data point the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee may consider at its next interest-rate action meeting from December 5-7. We explain why there is cause for cautious optimism on food inflation ahead of the meeting.

And Finally…

Express at FIFA: With a torch tower, wall graffiti, drones and a life-size statue, the football world that has converged in Qatar has been praying for their ailing “king” — Pele, who has been battling colon cancer for a year, and is hospitalised for respiratory issues in Sao Paulo.

Delhi Confidential: The BJP roped in chief ministers of five states for its campaign in Gujarat. What stood out is the absentee — Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. A section of party leaders found Bommai’s absence, despite him being a decent Hindi speaker, surprising. 

🎧 In today’s episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the Uttarakhand government’s recommendations for Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the debates and suggestions at the COP-27, and lastly, a quick update about Iran scrapping its Moral Police.

Until tomorrow,

Sonal Gupta and Anandu Suresh