Today in Politics: PM Narendra Modi’s southern focus continues, with rallies in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

Shimoga is the home district of BS Yediyurappa, one of the tallest leaders of the BJP in the state. His elder son B Y Raghavendra, who is the current state BJP chief, is the BJP’s candidate for the Shimoga Lok Sabha constituency. Here, the party is also facing disgruntlement within its ranks. Senior party leader and former deputy chief minister K S Eshwarappa, who was denied a ticket, says he will contest as an Independent candidate from the seat.

Karnataka is shaping up to be a decisive battle in the coming polls. The BJP, which has allied with the Janata Dal (Secular), is hoping to repeat its 2019 performance, when it won 25 of the 28 seats. But the Congress, which stormed to power in the Karnataka Assembly elections held in May last year and has a strong organisational base in the state, is likely to pose a challenge to the BJP.

Later in the day, the PM will head to Coimbatore in western Tamil Nadu for a roadshow. Coimbatore is one of the seats the BJP is eyeing to make inroads into the state. The party has never had a presence in Tamil Nadu — it won a seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but drew a blank in 2019 — but has been actively campaigning over the last year. State unit chief Annamalai completed his state-wide En Mann En Makkal (My soil, my people) campaign last month as part of which he travelled the entire state.

The PM’s focus on the state is also visible; he has visited the state five times since January this year and addressed rallies in Chennai, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. The alliance question in Tamil Nadu also remains unclear at the moment. After the AIADMK snapped ties with it, the BJP has opened channels with AIADMK splinter parties led by Palaniswami and T T V Dhinakaran.

SBI’s response on electoral bonds unique code

On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear the State Bank of India (SBI)’s response regarding its failure to disclose the unique alphanumeric code that could help match electoral bond donors to political parties.

On Sunday, a new set of data was published by the ECI in relation to electoral bond donations received between March 2018 and April 2019. This data contains voluntary disclosure of donor details by regional parties such as the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Janata Dal (Secular) and Jammu & Kashmir National Conference (JKNC).

The BJP, Congress, AAP, and TMC, have, however, not disclosed any information about their donors.

The BJP, in its submission to the ECI, has asserted that it is “not obligated by law to maintain records of the names and particulars of electoral bond donors, and therefore, did not possess such details”.

The bonds do not carry the donors names in a bid to protect their identity. Hence, it is a little unclear how the parties that have revealed their donors have done so. However, speaking to The Indian Express, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who had argued the case on behalf of the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in Supreme Court, said the disclosure by parties “only strengthens the argument for the State Bank of India to share the unique alphanumeric code for each bond purchased and redeemed”.

“It’s evident now that parties know the identity of donors. The fact that some parties haven’t revealed the details only strengthens our argument that the State Bank of India must disclose the electoral bond numbers, enabling the public to match the donor with the political party,” Bhushan said.

The first disclosure of electoral bond data came on Thursday, after the SC, in a landmark verdict in February, struck down the electoral bonds scheme that was introduced by the Narendra Modi government in 2018.

The BJP is the top recipient of funds through the bonds, getting a substantial Rs 6,986.5 crore. The TMC (Rs 1,397 crore); Congress (Rs 1,334 crore), Bharat Rashtra Samithi (Rs 1,322 crore), Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) (Rs 944.5 crore); DMK (Rs 656.5 crore) follow.

Summons to Kejriwal

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has summoned Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday in a money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

The AAP supremo is already facing summons and heat for questioning in the Delhi liquor policy case. Kejriwal has skipped eight summons so far. A Delhi court on March 17 granted bail to Kejriwal in a case filed by the ED for not complying with its summons in the case. He has been summoned again on March 21.

The AAP claims that the DJB case “seems to be a backup plan to arrest Kejriwal” and “stop him from campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls.”

The ED says that the DJB probe relates to money laundering charges in a July 2022 case where the board allegedly gave “undue advantages” to a company for the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of electro-magnetic flow metres in connivance with officials of the NBCC (lndia) Limited. The project was valued a little less than Rs 40 crore, the ED claims.

All eyes will be on whether the CM will make an appearance for the probe.

— With PTI inputs