As the Opposition BJP looks to corner the Siddaramaiah government in the Karnataka Assembly session that begins on Monday on the alleged MUDA scam, the Chief Minister on Sunday directed Ministers and senior officials to come prepared for the nine-day session. The CM held the pre-session meeting with key officials where he emphasised on the importance of ministers being well-prepared to address departmental issues and to attend the session in person, a statement issued by the CMO said. During the meeting at the Home Office Krishna, Siddaramaiah gathered details from department secretaries on possible discussion topics and instructed them to compile relevant supportive data, the statement read. He stressed that all secretaries and heads of departments must attend the session, without fail and assist the Ministers in replying during the discussions. In context: The BJP has alleged fraudulent allotment of sites to land losers by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority, which involves plots given to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s wife Parvathi. They demanded allocation of sites to the poor by withdrawing from those who were distributed “illegally”, a CBI probe into the “scam”, and Siddaramaiah’s resignation as the allegations are against the chief minister and his family. The BJP workers attempted to lay siege to the MUDA office but were detained and whisked away by the police in a bus. Haryana Congress to launch ‘accountability’ campaign With assembly polls scheduled later this year, the Haryana Congress on Monday will launch 'Haryana Maange Hisab Abhiyan' on July 15. The campaign will highlight the failures of the state government, state Congress chief Udai Bhan, who along with former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda addressed a press conference here, said. "Through this statewide drive from July 15, we will not only highlight and expose the failures of the government, but our workers and leaders will also seek suggestions from the public which we will incorporate in our poll manifesto," Bhupinder Hooda said. Several other senior Congress leaders, including former Union minister Birender Singh, Lok Sabha MPs Deepender Singh Hooda, Varun Chaudhary and Satpal Brahmachari also attended the event. "Through this statewide drive from July 15, we will not only highlight and expose the failures of the government, but our workers and leaders will also seek suggestions from the public which we will incorporate in our poll manifesto," Bhupinder Hooda said. New SC bench to hear Sisodia bail pleas A new Supreme Court Bench on Monday will hear former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia’s pleas for reviving his bail petitions related to the alleged excise policy scam. Last week, Justice Sanjay Kumar had recused himself from hearing following which a Bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna, Sanjay Karol and Sanjay Kumar said another Bench will take up Sisodia's two separate pleas in cases filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Justice Khanna had said, "Our brother has some difficulty. He will not like to hear this matter for personal reasons." Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Sisodia, requested the bench to list the matter urgently, saying time is of essence. On July 8, the top court agreed to list Sisodia's plea after Singhvi said an application has been filed for revival of a disposed of petition which was filed seeking bail in the cases. In context: On June 4, the top court refused to entertain Sisodia’s bail pleas. While declining the bail, the Bench said Sisodia can revive his petitions for bail after the ED and the CBI file their final prosecution complaint and charge sheet respectively in the cases involving alleged corruption and money laundering. A vacation Bench of justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta had noted the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED and the CBI, that the central probe agencies would file their final prosecution complaint and charge sheet by July 3. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI on February 26, 2023 for his alleged role in the liquor policy case. The ED arrested him in the money laundering case stemming from the CBI FIR on March 9 last year. Top court to hear KCR’s plea The Supreme Court on Monday will hear a plea of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) supremo K Chandrasekhar Rao challenging a Telangana High Court order dismissing his plea to declare the constitution of a commission to inquire into the alleged irregularities in the power sector during his tenure as chief minister as "illegal". The plea is listed to be heard by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. In his petition, Rao has sought to declare as "illegal" the Telangana government's order constituting the Commission of Inquiry to conduct a judicial inquiry into the correctness and propriety of the decisions taken by his government on procurement of power from Chhattisgarh by Telangana power distribution companies and construction of the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant at Manuguru and the Yadadri Thermal Plant at Damarcherla by TSGENCO. Rao had also dubbed as arbitrary the issuance of a letter directing him to appear before the commission to produce evidence against the witnesses. Responding to the letter issued to him and on a media interaction held by Justice (retd) Reddy, Rao on June 15 alleged that the panel chairman's functioning has not been fair. In a 12-page open letter, Rao said Reddy who is heading the commission should step down from his post. Stalin to launch expanded breakfast scheme Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Monday will launch the expansion of the government's breakfast scheme for primary school children to state-aided schools to mark the birth anniversary of iconic leader and former chief minister K Kamaraj. The move will benefit 2,23,536 children in 3,995 government-aided primary schools across the state, the government said. Stalin will launch the breakfast scheme at St Anne's school at Keelacheri village under Kadambathur union in Tiruvallur district. July 15 is observed as “Kalvi Valarchi Naal,” (Education Development Day) by the state government. In the state budget this year, the government announced expanding the scheme to state-aided primary. –With PTI inputs
