Today in Politics: PM Modi set to begin 10-day whirlwind tour of states, first stop Telangana and TN

In Telangana’s Adilabad, the PM will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of projects worth nearly Rs 56,000 crore at around 10.30 am on Monday. He is also set to address public meetings in Adilabad and Sangareddy. He will visit the Bharatiya Nabhikiya Vidyut Nigam Limited (BHAVINI), a nuclear power facility in Kalpakkam, Tamil Nadu, around 3.30 pm and later address a public meeting in Chennai.

Since January, the PM has been crisscrossing the country and inaugurating projects worth lakhs of crores as he sharpens his government’s development pitch ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The “Modi guarantees” will be an important component of the BJP’s poll messaging.

Not just the Prime Minister. Other top BJP leaders are also in poll mode and holding organisational meetings. BJP president J P Nadda will be on a two-day visit to Belagavi, Karnataka from Monday to address public and organisational events. Nadda is scheduled to arrive in Belagavi at 8.30 pm and chair the core committee meeting of the Chikodi, Belagavi, Bagalkot, and Vijayapura parliamentary constituencies in Kakati around 9 pm.

From the Opposition camp

A day after Rahul Gandhi paused the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to attend an Opposition rally in Patna, the Congress MP will resume the march in Madhya Pradesh. The Opposition will look to carry forward any momentum generated at the Patna event to wrap up seat-sharing agreements and figure out a coherent strategy to take on the BJP. Maharashtra is one of the key states where the Opposition MVA has not yet been able to resolve its differences and announce a seat-sharing agreement.

The Congress yatra, which is scheduled to conclude in Mumbai in the middle of this month, will continue the Madhya Pradesh leg with stops expected in Shivpuri, Guna, Rajgarh, Ujjain, Dhar, and Ratlam.

Meanwhile, in Chandigarh, the INDIA bloc is facing the prospect of a defeat. On Monday, elections for the two deputy mayor posts will be held. This comes weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the mayoral poll result after accusations of electoral tampering. Since then, three AAP councillors have left to join the BJP. Now, while the Congress-AAP combine has 17 councillors, the BJP has 18, including Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher who has voting rights as an ex-officio member. The Shiromani Akali Dal, a former BJP ally, has one councillor.

Crucial SC verdict

The Supreme Court on Monday is set to pronounce its verdict on whether MPs and MLAs enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution for taking bribes to make a speech or cast a vote in the legislature.

A seven-judge Bench is reconsidering the court’s 1998 judgment in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) bribery case, which granted legislators immunity from prosecution in such instances. Shibu Soren, former Jharkhand CM, and four other JMM MPs had accepted bribes to vote against the no-confidence motion threatening the P V Narasimha Rao government in 1993. The government, which was in a minority, survived with their support.

Anti-CAA protests in Assam

The All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and 30 other groups in Assam are set to begin a series of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act on Monday. Last week, sources in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said the rules for the Act would be notified before the polls are announced.

The Act, which was passed in 2019 amid nationwide protests, is seen by some in Assam as contravening the provisions of the Assam Accord on the question of undocumented immigrants. AASU president Utpal Sarma said the agitation would begin with motorcycle rallies in every district headquarters, followed by the burning of CAA Rules once they are notified. He added the protesters would go on a 12-hour hunger strike on March 9, when PM Modi is scheduled to visit the state.

– With PTI inputs