Weekly political wrap

New Delhi: The Karnataka government is set for a re-shuffle as chief minister Siddaramaiah will announce names of new cabinet ministers on Sunday.

On Sunday , Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi turned 46 years old. (click here)

Narendra Modi on Twitter: twitter.com

“Birthday wishes to the Congress VP, Shri Rahul Gandhi. May he be blessed with a long and healthy life. @OfficeOfRG”

The day is also special for the Shiv Sena as they complete 50 years on Sunday. The party is holding a celebration in Mumbai to celebrate the occasion.

This week, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi continued its scathing attack on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-led government at the centre after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the centre was attempting to block development in the national capital. This comes after President Pranab Mukherjee refrained from giving his assent to a bill passed by the Delhi government which backed their parliamentary secretaries.

With the continuing political tussle in the capital, the run up to the Uttar Pradesh polls is far from taking a backseat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Allahbad on Monday saw the official launch of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s campaign in the crucial state while the Congress is still to decide on its electoral face. In Gujarat, the quantum of sentence for the Gulberg society convicts was announced on Friday by the verdict of the special SIT court.

On the GST front, in a bid to arrive at a consensus on the Bill, the Centre continued to woo the states while the Congress and AIADMK steadily maintain their respective oppositions.

Karnataka cabinet re-shuffle on Sunday

The Karnataka government led by chief minister Siddaramaiah is set to appoint new cabinet ministers today. The swearing in of the new ministers will take place later today in Bengaluru. Read more

The twists and turns in Shiv Sena’s 50-year journey

The Shiv Sena turns 50 on 19 June. In its 50-year journey, the Shiv Sena has often justified its title by making violence, threatened or carried out, the centrepiece of its working ideology. On 19 June, the Sena will hold a big show in Mumbai’s suburb of Goregaon to celebrate its golden jubilee. Uddhav Thackeray and his 26-year-old son Aditya will address party cadre gathered from all over the state. Read more:

UP election fight gets tougher as BJP launches election campaign

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) formally launched its election campaign in Uttar Pradesh with Prime minister Narendra Modi’s development-centered speech in Allahabad on Monday. Though the Congress party has not yet made a formal announcement about the face of its election campaign in the state, speculations are rife that the party is planning to make three-time Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit (read more) its chief ministerial nominee for Uttar Pradesh, once considered its stronghold. Read here

NSG membership: India likely to woo China at Tashkent

With India’s membership of the exclusive Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) set to come up before the bloc’s plenary meeting in Seoul later this month, India may have one more chance to persuade China to give up its opposition to India’s candidature. This is expected to be at the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meeting in Tashkent where both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping are expected to be present. Read more

Pranab Mukherjee refuses assent to Delhi govt bill, AAP alleges centres involvement

A day after President Pranab Mukherjee refused to give his assent (read more) to a bill passed by the Delhi government, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday blamed PM Modi of attempting to block development in the national capital through such a move. The bill aims to protect 21 party legislators who were appointed as parliamentary secretaries from the prospect of disqualification. Read more

Kamal Nath resignation adds to confusion within Congress

Veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath has resigned from the post of general secretary to relieve himself from the charge of the Punjab assembly elections after he came under fire for his alleged role in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The development came barely three days after he was given the charge of Punjab, which goes to polls next year, but the move was criticized by opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). Read more

GST Bill: NDA govt in do-or-die mode, met with opposition from AIADMK and Congress

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is making its most determined bid to ensure fruition of the country’s biggest tax reform, the goods and services tax (GST). (read more) Political opposition has narrowed down to the Congress and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). Read more

Gulbarg massacre case: Gujarat court sentences 11 to lifetime imprisonment

A special trial court on Friday sentenced 11 of the 24 convicted to lifetime imprisonment in connection to the Gulbarg massacre case in which 69 people, including a former parliamentarian, were killed in 2002. The 11 were convicted for murder charges. While 12 others were sentenced to seven years of imprisonment after being held guilty of murder along with other charges like unlawful assembly, rioting, arson, trespass, inciting communal hatred, damaging place of worship, the court sentenced Mangilal Jain to 10 years who was convicted for attempt to murder. Read more

SC refuses to stay release of ‘Udta Punjab’

A day before the scheduled release of Udta Punjab, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the order of the Bombay high court allowing it with just one cut. Refusing to stay the release, justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Nageswara Rao directed the petitioner to approach the Punjab and Haryana high court. Read more

PM Modi tells income-tax dept to double taxpayer base to 100 million

The income-tax department has a new target: doubling its taxpayer base to 100 million. Handing down the target to the department, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this has to be achieved with a soft touch by creating an enabling environment for voluntary compliance. In his address to senior officers of both the direct and indirect tax departments at the inaugural session of Rajasva Gyan Sangam, a conference of tax administrators, the PM said there need not to be a trade-off between tax enforcement and taxpayer-friendly steps. Read more