Left, Right & Centre

After the Congress party in their Karnataka election manifesto said that they will ban the Bajrang Dal along the lines of the ban on PFI, the BJP has hit out at the Congress with Prime Minister Modi chanting 'Jai Bajrang Bali' at all three public meetings that he addressed. Watch Left Right and Centre as we decode the politics ahead of the key Karnataka elections.

Eleven people have died in Punjab's Ludhiana after they fell unconscious due to a gas leak at a factory. Reports suggest a gas leak allegedly happened here last year too but no one was adversely affected. A swift probe is needed to establish accountability. If this is proven to be a case of negligence, strict and exemplary action is required - and against whom, not just the obvious owners alone but those who let this pass. Where does the buck stop?

 

Arvind Kejriwal met wrestlers protesting against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh at Jantar Mantar. He called for strict action to be taken against the accused in the sexual harassment case. On Friday, after six days of continued protests by the country's ace wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, the Delhi Police registered two FIRs against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation of female wrestlers by him.

The Chinese Defence Minister is given an extraordinarily strong message - violation of existing agreements has eroded the entire basis of bilateral relations and disengagement at the border will logically be followed with de-escalation. The message may be similar to what India has said in the past but the use of words and emphasis makes this perhaps the strongest statement that we have heard in a while. Is this evidence of a new, more confident India in taking on the China threat?

The late district magistrate of Gopalganj in Bihar who was killed by a mob in violence egged on by Anand Mohan Singh - the former RJD leader - who has now walked out of jail after the Nitish Kumar government tweaked the rules. This has triggered a huge political controversy. Where is the justice?

 

The Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh today that killed 10 policemen and a driver involved the use of a powerful 50-kg improvised explosive device (IED) that left a massive hole on the road and uprooted trees. Is this a sign of Maoist resurgence at a time when the government has wiped them out from several of the areas that they used to operate in?

The Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, has argued that the issue of granting legal sanction for same-sex marriage be left to Parliament and that it was dealing with a "very complex" subject having a very "profound social impact" and about 160 provisions of different laws would have to be gone into. On the show tonight - legalising same-sex marriages who should decide: court or parliament?

Bihar's gangster-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh, whose imminent release from jail has sparked a huge row in Bihar, has made it clear that he is ready to jump back into the arena of active politics. Out on parole for his MLA son Chetan Anand's wedding, Mr Singh spoke to the media amid the heated exchange between the ruling JD(U) and the opposition BJP. Anand Mohan, a former RJD MP facing numerous cases, was found guilty of abetting the murder of district magistrate G Krishnaiah in 1994. His release comes after the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government tweaked the prison rules, allowing remission of jail term for those convicted of murdering a public servant on duty.

At a time when there have been several questions on just how united the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi is in Maharashtra, or for that matter the future of the BJP-Shinde Sena government given that there is a key Supreme Court judgment on the disqualification of MLAs expected, a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray's Sena faction, Sanjay Raut, denied any problems in the MVA. He said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devender Fadnavis are in a depression.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets representatives of eight Christian groups in Kerala's Kochi this evening in what is being seen as the BJP's big push to woo the community ahead of next year's general elections.  This is the Prime Minister's second interaction with the community leaders in less than three weeks - the last occasion was on Easter, when he visited Delhi's Sacred Heart Cathedral, interacted with the community and planted a tree. In the party's last national executive, PM Modi had made a strong case for reaching out to the marginalized sections and the minorities.