Ahead of seat-sharing pact, candidate lists, Rahul Gandhi to visit poll-bound Jharkhand

The ruling INDIA bloc – comprising the Chief Minister Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) – is in discussions on its manifesto and the seat-sharing agreement, with party sources saying the candidate lists will be announced after Rahul’s visit.

Already, the Opposition BJP-led NDA has announced its seat-sharing pact. The BJP will contest 68 seats, the All-Jharkhand Students’ Union (AJSU) 10, the Janata Dal (United) two and the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) one.

The BJP’s Jharkhand in-charge Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday announced the deal despite reports of disagreements with AJSU, which is reportedly unhappy over not getting the Barkagaon seat, where its leader quit the party as a result of the deal, as reported by Abhishek Angad.

Opposition on India-Canada row

Ahead of the Saturday deadline for Canadian diplomats to leave India after the government expelled them in the ongoing row over the assassination of a Khalistani separatist in Canada, the Opposition had called for the PM to take “the Leader of Opposition in both Houses of Parliament, and the leaders of other political parties into confidence” on the issue.

On Friday, Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari said that Indian intelligence needed to be brought under “parliamentary oversight”, as reported by Manoj C G. TMC Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghose said the charges were serious and the government must inform Parliament about it. As the diplomatic stand-off continues, it remains to be seen how the Opposition will react to the government’s next steps.

PM to launch National Learning Week

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday launch the ‘Karmayogi Saptah’ or National Learning Week, an exercise seeking to impart fresh impetus towards individual and organisational capacity development for civil servants, his office said. The week-long programme is a continuation of the government’s ‘Mission Karmayogi’, which was launched in September 2020 to support the civil service.

– With PTI inputs