- Wednesday, March 12, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
Here are some news in brief related to Indian politics on Thursday, August 4, 2022:
Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “horrified” by the AAP’s rapid growth in Gujarat and wondered if it is planning to declare Indian home minister Amit Shah as its chief ministerial candidate in the upcoming state elections. In a cryptic tweet, the AAP’s national convenor also wondered if the BJP is not happy with the work of current Gujarat chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel. “Is it true that the BJP is going to declare Amit Shah ji as the chief ministerial face in the Gujarat Assembly polls?” Kejriwal asked in a tweet in Hindi. “Is the BJP angry with Bhupendrabhai Patel’s work?” he also asked.
Ahead of the August 6 vice presidential election, Opposition’s joint candidate Margaret Alva on Thursday appealed to all parliamentarians to vote without fear or political pressure for the “best suited” candidate. In a video appeal, she claimed she is the “best candidate” as she has the experience and will work impartially from the chair, besides committing herself to forge consensus on issues of national importance. “I appeal to each member of Parliament to vote for me in the election on August 6 without any fear. For, truly there is nothing to fear but fear itself.
Former Haryana Congress leader Kuldeep Bishnoi joined the BJP on Thursday along with his wife Renuka Bishnoi in New Delhi in the presence of senior party leaders, including state chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar. Bishnoi, son of former Haryana chief minister Bhajan Lal, has been a state legislator for four terms and member of parliament for two terms. His wife is also a former state legislator. Khattar welcomed him into the party at a ceremony at the BJP headquarters and said his induction will help the organisation.
The opposition Indian National Congress on Thursday raised the issue of Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) action and police deployment at its party office and the residences of top leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, with the leader of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge, saying in the Rajya Sabha or Upper House of the parliament that he has been summoned by the ED at a time when parliament is in session. Leader of the House Piyush Goyal, however, claimed that the government does not interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies and said the Congress leaders should face the law and not run away from it and allow the parliament to function.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a four-day visit and is scheduled to meet prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday (5) to discuss multiple issues, including Goods and Services Tax (GST) dues for her state. Banerjee, who is also the leader of the Trinamool Congress, met her party’s parliamentarians and discussed with them the current session of parliament and the road to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources said.
Noting that the ED has made “remarkable progress” in the probe of a money-laundering case allegedly involving Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, a special court in Mumbai on Thursday extended his ED custody till August 8. During arguments seeking his further remand, the ED told the court that a fresh money trail had come to light. Raut, a Rajya Sabha member, was found to be beneficiary of Rs 1.17 crore (£121,840) of proceeds of crime in addition to Rs 1.06 crore (£110,386) that had come to light earlier, it claimed.
The ED has summoned Varsha Raut, wife of arrested Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, for questioning in a money-laundering investigation linked to alleged irregularities in the redevelopment of a local ‘chawl’ and linked transactions, officials said on Thursday. Varsha Raut is expected to be confronted with her husband and some other accused involved in the case once she deposes before the central agency at its office in Ballard Estate later this week.
