Today in Politics: PM set to resume ‘Mann Ki Baat’, his first in Modi 3.0; Congress post-mortem on MP debacle

The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) guidelines of the Election Commission asks governments not to use official events or public-funded platforms in a way that gives the ruling party publicity or an electoral advantage.

PM Modi’s last ‘Mann Ki Baat’ broadcast was aired on February 25, before the poll schedule was announced.

During the day, the PM would also launch three books on BJP stalwart and former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on the occasion of Naidu’s 75th birthday.

The event is scheduled to take place at the Anvaya Convention Centre in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, and Modi will release the books via video conferencing, a statement said.

Among the books the PM will release are two biographies and a photo chronicle on Venkaiah Naidu.

Cong review panel in MP

The Congress party’s three-member fact-finding committee, headed by former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan, has landed in Bhopal Saturday on a two-day visit to review the party’s rout in the Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh.

The Congress failed to win any of the 29 parliamentary seats in Madhya Pradesh, all of which were bagged by the BJP. In 2019 and 2014, the party won just one and two seats, respectively.

The committee, which comprises leaders Saptagiri Ulaka and Jignesh Mevani besides Chavan, is holding the first round of meetings during Saturday-Sunday. In the course of the review meeting, the panel will hold interactions with the Congress’s Lok Sabha candidates.

Jitu Patwari, the Congress’s state unit chief, said the party’s “poor performance” in the 2024 Lok Sabha and 2023 Assembly polls “cannot be cured” until the “disease is diagnosed and accepted”. He said there will be changes in the party on the basis of the committee’s findings to strengthen the organisation in the state.

After the meeting on Sunday, the committee will reconvene meetings on July 5 and 6 to meet the Congress’s candidates and MLAs of the state Assembly polls. Later, the party’s district and block presidents will also be called for interactions with the panel.

– With PTI inputs