Today in Politics: Siddaramaiah govt to roll out ‘Gruha Lakshmi’ guarantee, MVA curtain-raiser for INDIA show

“As many as 1.1 crore women heads of households will be given Rs 2,000 every month,” Siddararamaiah told reporters in Mysuru, his home district.

The government has earmarked Rs 17,500 crore for the Gruha Lakshmi scheme in 2023-24. This is one of the five guarantees that the Congress had pledged to the people of Karnataka ahead of the May Assembly polls, in which the party trounced the incumbent BJP.

Asked if implementing the guarantees was a challenge, the CM answered in negative, saying “There should be political will. Our party and government has political will”.

Siddaramaiah said the state Opposition parties were alleging that the government would not be able to implement the guarantees which would lead to financial bankruptcy. “But we have been successfully implementing them,” he said.

Siddaramaiah had on Monday said about one lakh people would gather at the public function to mark the launch of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme. He had stressed that it would be a government event in which Kharge and Rahul would attend, respectively, as the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha MP. “It’s not a party function,” he had said.

The CM said the Congress government has already implemented three of the five guarantees – “Shakti”, “Gruha Jyothi” and “Anna Bhagya” – noting that the Gruha Lakshmi scheme would be the fourth one.

The fifth guarantee, “Yuva Nidhi” scheme, which promises unemployment allowance for youth, would be implemented from December, Shivakumar said Sunday.

Under the Yuva Nidhi scheme, the government will provide Rs 3,000 per month to unemployed graduates, and give Rs 1,500 per month to unemployed diploma holders. They would receive these benefits for a period of two years if they remain unemployed. If they get employment earlier, the benefits will be withdrawn.

In Mumbai, the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – including the Congress, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction – are adding finishing touches on their preparations for the Opposition INDIA bloc’s third conclave to be held in the city during August 31-September 1.

Pawar, Uddhav, and Congress leaders, Nana Patole and Ashok Chavan, would hold a press conference Wednesday to spell out some details about the INDIA grouping’s mega meet. Pawar on Tuesday visited its venue in a luxury hotel in suburban Mumbai to take stock of the preparations.

The INDIA alliance, which has now 26 Opposition parties from across the country, has been formed with the objective to take on the ruling Narendra Modi-led BJP dispensation in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The first meeting of the anti-BJP coalition was held in June in Patna, while its second gathering was held in Bengaluru in July.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) will hold a felicitation event for Rahul Gandhi, who was recently reinstated as an MP, when he arrives in Mumbai for the INDIA bloc meeting, MPCC chief Patole said.

The formation of a coordination committee, appointment of conveners, and a seat-sharing formula for the 2024 polls are on the agenda of the Opposition bloc’s conclave.

Patole claimed, “There is no competition for seats in MVA. Even Uddhav Thackeray has clarified that seat sharing will be done on the basis of merit. Our goal is to defeat the Modi government.”

RJD chief Lalu Prasad and Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Prasad Yadav Tuesday reached Mumbai for the conclave.

Meanwhile, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is set to visit Jharkhand to campaign for his party’s candidate in the Dumri seat bypoll to be held on September 5.

The AIMIM has fielded Md Abdul Mobin Rizvi for the bypoll, which would be mainly a contest between the ruling JMM, supported by its allies like the Congress and RJD, and the BJP-backed AJSU Party.

Owaisi will address a public rally in Dumri in support of the AIMIM candidate Wednesday, the party’s state unit president Md Shakir said.

The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting JMM MLA Jagarnath Mahto, the former education minister, in April. The JMM has fielded Mahto’s wife Bebi Devi as the INDIA bloc’s candidate, while the AJSU Party has nominated Yashoda as the NDA’s nominee.

Shakir, however, exuded confidence about the AIMIM candidate’s prospects, pointing to the significant minority voters in the constituency. “Owaisi’s rally will boost our party workers,” he said, adding “There are about 30 per cent Muslim voters in the constituency, and they are not ready to be used as vote bank only.”

In Haryana, Leader of Opposition (LoP) and ex-CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda would address the media to highlight how the ruling BJP-JJP coalition allegedly blocked a discussion on the Nuh communal violence in the Assembly in the just-concluded monsoon session besides rejecting the Congress’s demand for a judicial inquiry into the violence and subsequent demolitions.

Watch out for

Rajasthan Higher Education Minister Rajendra Singh Yadav’s interview: With the number of student suicides in Kota reaching 23 this year – the highest in the last eight years – Rajasthan Higher Education Minister Rajendra Singh Yadav tells The Indian Express that the state government was working on an umbrella law for the higher education system, including private institutes, to put a check on coaching centres, reports Deep Mukherjee.
The minister also said the government was taking feedback from all stakeholders. “Private colleges or institutes feel that we want to clip their wings or to scare them. We have told them that we will solve their problems, but they also have to improve from their end. At present there are several areas in which the coaching centres are lacking, such as the non-installation of safety nets, and a lack of parking spaces,” he said.