Today in Politics: Amit Shah in Tamil Nadu for BJP organisational meetings; Chirag Paswan to launch Bihar campaign with rally

Party sources said Shah will chair a meeting of the core committee, which includes key leaders of the state organisation, and then speak to office-bearers from mandal, districts and the state. He will also offer prayers at the famous Meenakshi Temple in Madurai before his political programmes, they added.

The AIADMK is the senior partner in the alliance, which is likely to include some smaller parties as well, amid the DMK’s sharp campaign to paint the BJP as a party working against the state’s interests, including by allegedly trying to impose Hindi.

The DMK has also been raising the issue of alleged political damage to southern states in a future delimitation exercise due to their success in curbing population growth compared to their northern counterparts.

The BJP has insisted that the DMK has been raising these issues as a diversionary tactic to shift focus from the alleged corruption and misgovernance under the rule of Chief Minister M Stalin. Shah has in the past asserted that any delimitation exercise will protect the interests of southern states.

Chirag Paswan launches Bihar poll campaign

With LJP(RV) chief and Union Minister Chirag Paswan announcing his intention to contest the Bihar Assembly polls, slated for later this year, and forgo politics at the Centre, the party is set to launch its election campaign on Sunday with a rally in Bhojpur district’s Arrah.

As reported by Liz Mathew, in recent weeks, Paswan has publicly spoken of his wish to return to Bihar, seen as a pitch to take up the position of either the kingmaker, if not the king, in state politics. And the message is not lost on the BJP leadership.

While the BJP leadership maintains that Paswan is free to contest from any of the seats his party is allocated as part of a seat-sharing agreement, a section in the ruling party said he was merely trying to take advantage of a sense of confusion in the state unit.

Also read | Amid Bihar’s shifting sands in twilight of Nitish, Chirag Paswan eyes centrestage

Paswan’s public statements come at a time when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s rivals believe that his time at the top of Bihar politics is drawing to a close. The LJP(RV) leader is said to harbour the ambition of being the face that can bring together key electoral forces in the state.

Speculation is rife that Paswan, who his party wants to contest from an unreserved constituency, might choose an Assembly seat in the Shahabad region comprising Bhojpur and adjoining districts.

Cong’s Constitution campaign in Goa

The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is set to launch a statewide “Samvidhan Bachao (Save the Constitution) Yatra” to engage with citizens, listen to their grievances, and highlight the alleged failures and corruption of the BJP government, the party said.

The yatra will cover all 40 constituencies of Goa and will be led by key Congress leaders, including GPCC chief Amit Patkar, Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao, and several MLAs and MPs.

Earlier, the Congress had run a nationwide “Save the Constitution” campaign from April 25 to May 30.

(With PTI inputs)