The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that the upcoming Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly election will be held in two phases beginning from November 13. Maharashtra will vote in one phase on November 20, while Jharkhand will vote in two phases on November 13 and November 20. The counting of the votes will take place on November 23. 

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said that the date of issue of Gazette notification for Maharashtra Assembly Election is October 22, and the last date of filing nominations is October 29. He added that the date for scrutiny of nominations will be October 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidates is November 4. 

The 2024 Maharashtra election will see a key contest between the Maha Vikas Aghadi (Shiv Sena-UBT, NCP-Sharad Pawar faction, Congress) and the ruling Mahayuti Alliance (BJP, Shiv Sena-Eknath Shinde faction, NCP-Ajit Pawar faction). 

In the previous assembly election held in 2019, the BJP won 105 seats, while the Congress secured 44. However, the BJP’s performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections saw a drop, winning only nine seats out of 48, compared to 23 in the previous term, while Maha Vikas Aghadi won 30 seats. The term of the 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 26.

In Jharkhand much of the election rhetoric is expected to focus on the money laundering allegations surrounding Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on January 31. The Chief Minister secured bail in June after the Supreme Court said he was not, prima facie, guilty.

Hemant Soren has repeatedly denied charges against him, and has accused the ruling BJP of framing his arrest, weeks before the Lok Sabha election in an attempt to derail the opposition.

The Jharkhand assembly’s term ends on January 5. Notably, these are the final round of state elections for the year.

India has recently signed a deal with the United States for the procurement of 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance UAV manufactured by General Atomics. This follows less than a month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden held a meeting about the acquisition of the drones on the sidelines of the Quad Leaders’ Summit held in Delaware.

Both the countries signed a deal worth Rs 32,000 crore for the acquisition of 31 predator drones, along with the establishment of a maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) facility in India.

The Predator drones deal will enhance the surveillance capabilities of the Indian armed forces. Reports said, the total value of the deal could increase to Rs 34,500 crore. The project was cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) past week under which 15 birds will go to the Indian Navy while the rest would be divided equally between the Air Force and the Army.

India has been discussing the deal with the United States for many years, but the final hurdles were cleared a few weeks ago at the Defence Acquisition Council meeting as it had to be cleared before October 31 as the validity of the American proposal was till that time only.

Reportedly, India would be basing the drones at four possible locations, including INS Rajali near Chennai, Porbandar in Gujarat, Sarsawa and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The United States had approved the sale of 31 MQ-9B drones to the Indian military at an estimated cost of $3.99 billion in February.

The major characteristic of the MQ-9B Predator is its whisper-quiet operation. The drone stands out from the rest because of its stealth feature. The predator drone can fly as close to 250 metres from the ground without the target even having an inkling it is there unless spotted.

The drone with a maximum speed of 442 km/h, can soar at an altitude of around 50,000 feet, higher than that of a commercial airplane. Its capacity to send on extended missions in any kind of weather is another noteworthy feature. It also has the option to be fitted with air-to-ground missiles in addition to air-to-air missiles.

Furthermore, the MQ-9B drone can fly 2,000 miles without refueling and carry up to 1,700 kg of cargo, which includes four missiles and about 450 kg of bombs. General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, the drone manufacturer claims that it can fly nonstop or hover over targets for up to 35 hours.

In a massive escalation of diplomatic row, India has summoned Canadian diplomat Stewart Wheeler after Ottawa charged the Indian High Commissioner and other diplomats as persons of interest in the murder investigation of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner to India, Stewart Wheeler has been summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs to offer explanation over Canada’s move. The North American country named Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma as a person of interest in its investigation into Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing.

Following the claims, the MEA issued a strongly-worded statement, where it accused Prime Minister Justine Trudeau of doing vote bank politics and not doing enough to tackle separatist elements on Canadian soil. The MEA asserted that the Canadian government did not share a shred of evidence of India’s involvement in Nijjar’s killing despite repeated requests.

The statement remarked that since Prime Minister Trudeau made certain allegations in September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared a shred of evidence with the Government of India, despite many requests from our side. It added that this latest step follows interactions that have again witnessed assertions without any facts, and leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains.

The Ministry in its statement also clarified that the Indian government strongly rejects these preposterous imputations and ascribes them to the political agenda of the Trudeau Government that is centered around vote bank politics. The government further stated that it took note of the activities of the Canadian High Commission in India, which it said served as the political agenda of the Trudeau government. Furthermore, it mentioned that India now reserves the right to take further steps in response to these recent efforts of the Canadian Government to concoct allegations against Indian diplomats.

India and Canada ties fell off in September last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged Indian government agents involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil. India had rejected those charges as motivated and absurd.