From the Supreme Court’s hearing of petitions filed against the electoral bond scheme, to Punjab and Haryana’s discussion on the Sutlej-Yamuna canal issue, here are political developments to watch out for today. SC to hear pleas challenging electoral bond scheme: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a batch of pleas that challenge laws permitting funding of political parties through the electoral bond scheme. A bench constituting Justice B R Gavai and Justice B V Nagarathna will take up the public interest litigation filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), the CPI(M) and other petitioners. On April 5, Advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represents ADR, had mentioned the matter before then CJI N V Ramana saying the issue was “critical and needed an urgent hearing”. The top court agreed to list the plea for hearing, but it did not come up before any court. As per the electoral bonds scheme, notified on January 2, 2018, electoral bonds are an instrument through which anyone can donate money to political parties. Such bonds, which are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore, can be bought from authorised branches of the State Bank of India and are meant to be anonymous. While the scheme was introduced to promote transparency in political funding, critics argue that anonymity principle of electoral bonds would apply only to the broader public and the Opposition. They say that the bonds – sold through the government-owned SBI – can provide the ruling party an opportunity to know who exactly is funding its opponents. Some have also argued that the majority of such bonds have gone to the BJP. CPI national Congress: The 24th national congress of the CPI will begin Friday in Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh. The party has given a call to provide an “alternative” to the BJP. "Presenting an alternative to the BJP will be the main agenda of our discussions at the party congress. We need to save the country from the BJP and unless we dislodge the Modi regime, there is no salvation," CPI general secretary D Raja told PTI. Once a bastion of left politics, Vijawada will play host to the 97-year-old party after five decades. The five-day congress will begin with a mass rally and meeting on October 14, followed by the national executive and the national council meetings. Besides CPI leaders from India, Communist delegates from at least 17 foreign nations will attend the national congress, as per the party. The inaugural session of the Congress will be held at 11 AM on October 15.Top leaders like Sitaram Yechuri (CPI(M)), Dipankar Bhattacharya (CPI-ML) and G Devarajan (All India Forward Bloc) will take part, along with their hosts. The new national council will then elect the national executive and also the party general secretary. Mann and Khattar discussion of SYL canal issue: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann will meet on Friday to discuss the Sutlej-Yamuna link canal issue, which has been a bone of contention between the two states for decades now. The discussion comes in the wake of the Supreme Court asking the two states to find an amicable solution in the matter. Under the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966 and an order of the Union government, 3.5 million acre feet (MAF) of surplus water from the Ravi and Beas rivers was allocated to Haryana. Punjab has been demanding a reassessment of the Ravi-Beas waters volume, while Haryana seeks the completion of the SYL canal that was stopped in the 90s to get its share. On Thursday, Khattar said “his state has full rights over the surplus Ravi and Beas waters”. Meanwhile, Mann spent time studying the issue, with Principal Secretary (water resources) Krishan Kumar giving a presentation on developments pertaining to the SYL canal issue so far, the state’s stand in the Supreme Court and various legislations passed in the Vidhan Sabha from time to time to protect state’s water. Opposition parties in Punjab urged Mann, who had earlier stated that he will protect state’s rights at all costs, to stand firm on his ground on the issue. BJP leader and former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh, under whose tenure Punjab had enacted ‘The Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004’ to terminate all inter-state agreements relating to the waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas, told Mann to ensure that “there is no ambiguity in your stance, which may prove costly for the state” in future. “You have to be clear and categorical that Punjab has not a drop of water to spare for anyone. There is no question of providing any water (to Haryana),” said Amarinder. Priyanka Gandhi in Himachal Pradesh: With a rally in Solan district of the state, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will launch a Parivartan Pratigya Rally' to kickstart the party's election campaign in Himachal Pradesh on Friday. Vadra's rally comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the hill state, where he launched a slew of development projects in Una and Chamba. (With inputs from PTI)
