Today in Politics: PM Modi roadshow in Puri, Amit Shah to campaign in Haryana and Delhi

Shah will address three public meetings in Karnal, Hisar and Rohtak of Haryana and proceed to South Delhi, where he will participate in a public rally. The BJP has fielded former Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar from Karnal. All four seats go to the polls in the sixth phase. Meanwhile, BJP national president J P Nadda will hold a roadshow from Hanuman Mandir to Nirankari Bhavan in the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat. The party has fielded Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of stalwart and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj from the New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, which goes to the polls in the sixth phase on May 26.

Excise policy case: Delhi court to consider ED chargesheet against Kejriwal

The Rouse Avenue Court on Monday will consider the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) supplementary chargesheet against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.

Special Judge Kaveri Baweja on Saturday said that the court will deliberate on the ED’s submissions and arguments concerning the chargesheet. This decision follows the ED’s filing of the chargesheet on Friday by Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) Naveen Kumar Matta and two ED officials at the Rouse Avenue Court.

The Enforcement Directorate had earlier indicated during Manish Sisodia’s bail hearing in the Delhi High Court that the Aam Aadmi Party would be implicated in the case. The ED has also informed the Supreme Court that AAP will be co-accused in the money laundering investigation related to the Delhi excise policy.

The charges stem from Kejriwal’s arrest by the ED on March 21 as part of a broader money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

This is the seventh supplementary chargesheet filed by the ED in the case.

49 seats to go to polls in fifth phase of LS polls

A total of 49 Lok Sabha seats across 8 states and Union Territories will go to the polls in the fifth phase on Monday, leaving 115 seats in the remaining two phases.

In 2019, the parties constituting the Opposition INDIA bloc and the ruling NDA won six and 34 of these 49 seats. The BJP alone won 32 of these constituencies, with the Congress far behind at 1: its traditional Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. The nine remaining seats were won by regional parties: seven by the undivided Shiv Sena and two by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

Over 690 candidates will be in the fray on Monday with the BSP fielding the most candidates at 46, followed by the BJP (40), and the Congress (18).

A few key faces to watch out for in the fifth phase include former former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah (Baramulla), Union Minister Smriti Irani (Amethi), Rahul Gandhi and BJP MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh (Rae Bareli), Locket Chatterjee (Hooghly) and Union minister Piyush Goyal (Mumbai North).

Recommended Reading: Breaking down Lok Sabha polls phase 5: BJP won 32 seats in 2019, Congress only Rae Bareli