Today in Politics: Third deportation flight arrives in Amritsar amid political row; voting for Gujarat local polls, one-tenth of seats uncontested

Pointing to the Centre’s decision to choose Amritsar as the landing site of these planes, CM Mann alleged a “smear campaign” against Punjab over the issue, saying that “Punjabis have always stood against the Centre’s regressive policies, which is why the BJP harbours resentment against them and continues to conspire to tarnish their image.” Sections of farmers and civil society organisations have also targeted the BJP for being allegedly “biased” against Punjab over various issues.

BJP leaders, however, dismissed the AAP’s claims, accusing the party of deflecting attention from real issues. “Rather than focusing on where the flight is landing, the Punjab CM should address the root cause – why illegal migration is happening in the first place. Would the facts change if the flight landed elsewhere?” said Punjab BJP vice-president Subhash Sharma. BJP leaders have also argued that their party, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has done significant work for Punjab.

In Parliament, Opposition parties including the Congress and the AAP had also pointed out that the Indian deportees were flown in a US military plane and were “handcuffed and shackled”.

Gujarat local polls

Voting for 170 local self-government body elections is scheduled for Sunday, with results expected on February 18. However, in a state where a Lok Sabha seat has been won uncontested, one-tenth of the over 2,000 seats have already fallen in the BJP’s kitty, as reported by Aditi Raja and Kamal Saiyed.

In all 215 of the seats won uncontested by the BJP, the Congress candidates withdrew. There are a total 2,178 seats across the 170 civic bodies.

Of the 215 seats which the BJP has won uncontested, 196 are in municipalities, 10 in district and taluka panchayats, and nine in the Junagadh Municipal Corporation, the only corporation where elections are being held. The 60 seats in the Junagadh corporation are spread over 15 wards, and in two of these now, the Congress has no candidate in the fray.

The Congress, however, claims the BJP has used “pressure tactics” and inducements ranging from money to threats to ensure no other candidates are in the fray.

The BJP had swept the last elections, held in 2021, recovering quickly from the setback it suffered in the 2017 Assembly polls due to the Patidar quota stir.

RSS chief in Bengal

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s 10-day visit to West Bengal is going to culminate with a rally on Sunday, when he will address a gathering of swayamsevaks and others at an auditorium of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) in Purba Bardhaman district in the state, as reported by Ravik Bhattacharya and Atri Mitra.

Bhagwat’s stay in Bengal was marked with a range of crucial engagements – from closed-door meetings with the RSS’ regional functionaries that decided to focus on strengthening the organisation at the grassroots level, to inaugurating a new Sangh office, to meeting the parents of R G Kar rape-murder victim.

Although the Sangh functionaries called Bhagwat’s visit “routine”, it holds significance given the turmoil in the neighbouring country Bangladesh and rising tensions along the border as the RSS looks to expand its presence in the state. Bengal is also due for the Assembly elections in March-April 2026.

Second round of Telangana caste survey

The Congress government in Telangana is set to begin the second round of its caste survey from February 16 to 28. The first round of the socio-economic, employment, political and caste survey, an election promise, was conducted for 50 days from November 6 last year.

The state government had said the first round of the survey covered 3.55 crore individuals and that 16 lakh people, or 3.1 per cent of the population, were left out of the exercise as they were either not available or did not show interest in participating in it.

– With PTI inputs