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Sonia Gandhi rejigs Congress parliamentary groups, rebels get key roles

Congress president Sonia Gandhi reconstituted the parliamentary groups in which she inducted G-23 dissenters such as former Union ministers P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Ambika Soni and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.

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Sonia Gandhi

Ahead of parliament’s monsoon session, Congress president Sonia Gandhi reconstituted the parliamentary groups inducting G-23 dissenters such as former Union ministers P Chidambaram, Manish Tewari, Ambika Soni and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh.

This development saw a section of G-23 leaders – authors of last year’s explosive dissent letter who ended up losing the various party positions – inducted in some key positions.

Among those G-23 dissenters, Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tiwari will be the part of the seven-member group in the Lok Sabha, Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will remain the Loksabha leader and Gaurav Gogoi, son of late Tarun Gogoi, will be retained his position as deputy leader of the house.

However, the inclusion of Tiwari and Tharoor in the group underlines that Gandhi wants more heads in the party’s parliamentary decision-making process. A section of party leaders had earlier said that Chowdhury might be replaced and both Tiwari and Tharoor were perceived as a possible replacements for Chowdhury.

In a letter, Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party have decided to reconstitute the following groups to facilitate and ensure the effective functioning of the party in both houses of Parliament. These groups will meet daily during the session and can meet during the inter-session periods as well where Parliament issues are concerned.

Amongst other leaders, K Suresh retained his position as chief whip in the Lok Sabha, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Manickam Tagore held on to their positions as party whips in the reconstituted seven-member Lok Sabha group.

The letter makes it official that Bengal MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will continue as the party leader in Lok Sabha. However, the inclusion of Manish Tiwari and Shashi Tharoor in the group underlines that Gandhi wants more heads in the party’s parliamentary decision-making process. Interestingly, both Tiwari and Tharoor were perceived as a possible replacements for Chowdhury.

In the Rajya Sabha hierarchy, which earlier had Mallikarjun Kharge as the Leader of the Opposition, Anand Sharma and Jairam Ramesh will now include Chidambaram, Soni and Singh—the three senior leaders with years of experience in parliament as well as the party.

The groups will have various roles including mustering numbers, coordinating with various political parties and deciding on key floor issues such as support for a bill or the extent of cooperation with the government. The groups are also responsible to decide which issue needs to be raised and how Congress will manoeuvre on issues raised by other parties.

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The reshuffle comes a day before the monsoon session of the Parliament is set to begin after two curtailed sessions due to the ongoing pandemic. In Parliament, the Congress is set to corner the government over the ongoing price rise, economy, Centre’s Covid handling and slow pace of vaccination and there is also indication that the party will raise the issue of scam in Rafale deal in which the French court has recently ordered an investigation.

In other India News, 22 people have been killed in two different incidents of landslide and house collapse in New Bharat Nagar in Mahul, Chembur and Surya Nagar in Panchsheel Chawl in Vikhroli.

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To browbeat, bully others is vintage Congress, says PM Modi after lawyers express concern over attempts to undermine judiciary

Lawyers, including Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote to CJI DY Chandrachud, alleging that a vested interest group is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts, particularly in cases of corruption involving politicians.

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PM Narendra Modi on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress party after more than 600 lawyers and some bar associations across the country wrote to the Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, expressing concerns over attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity using political and professional pressure.

Taking to social media platform X, PM Modi wrote that to browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. He recalled that five decades ago, the party itself had called for a committed judiciary, adding that they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests, but desist from any commitment towards the nation. He concluded that no wonder, 140 crore Indians are rejecting them.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments followed after lawyers, including Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote to CJI DY Chandrachud, alleging that a vested interest group is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts, particularly in cases of corruption involving politicians.

The lawyers said the tactics used by the vested interest group are damaging the courts and threatening democratic fabric. They stated that Chief Justice Chandrachud’s leadership is crucial in these tough times and the Supreme Court should stand strong, adding it is not the time to maintain dignified silence.

Without naming, the letter also targeted a section of lawyers and alleged they defend politicians by day and then try to influence judges through the media at night. Furthermore, they claimed that some elements are trying to influence who the judges are in their cases and spread lies on social media to put pressure on the judges to decide in a particular way.

In addition, the All Manipur Bar Association had also written to CJI DY Chandrachud highlighting the need to speak out against underhanded attacks on the judiciary on Wednesday. In its letter, the bar association said that it was extremely concerned about recent trends where vested interest groups were trying to defame the courts with frivolous logic and stale political agendas.

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Delhi Court extends ED custody of CM Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

CM Kejriwal made a submission in front of the court, where he said that in the 31,000 page document prepared by the ED, there is no concrete proof or allegations against him on the basis of which he has been arrested.

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The Delhi Rouse Avenue Court on Thursday has extended the Enforcement Directorate (ED) remand of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1. The Chief Minister will remain in custody till Monday, after which he will be presented in front of the court bench for further proceedings in the case.

The court has passed its order for the extension of the remand in the money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy, being investigated by the ED for the last two years. Arvind Kejriwal is the fourth Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to be arrested in this case. Previously, Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh were arrested in the same case. 

During the hearing today, the ED argued that Arvind Kejriwal needs to be brought face to face with some of the accused in the excise policy case. The ED further said that the data in one of the mobile phones, belonging to Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita, was extracted and is being analyzed.

Nonetheless, data from the other 4 digital devices seized during search at Arvind Kejriwal’s premises on March 21 are yet to be extracted as the arrestee has sought time to provide password/login credentials after consulting with his lawyers.

In its fresh remand plea, the investigation agency said that during Arvind Kejriwal’s custodial interrogation, his statements were recorded on five days and that he was giving evasive replies. It further said the statements of three other persons have also been recorded during the remand.

CM Kejriwal made a submission in front of the court on Thursday, where he said that in the 31,000 page document prepared by the ED, there is no concrete proof or allegations against him on the basis of which he has been arrested.

Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal said on March 28 that the AAP national convener is not keeping well and is being harassed a lot while in ED custody over the past week. She asserted that the Chief Minister is being harassed a lot and his sugar levels are fluctuating.

CM Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 and was sent to 7-days of custody. His arrest has triggered protests in the national capital and the nearby northern state of Punjab, which is also governed by AAP, over the last few days.

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Lok Sabha elections: Priyanka Gandhi questions Centre on inflation, unemployment, farmers income under Congress media campaign

She questioned about no participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

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Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioned the BJP led government at the Centre on several developmental issues under the party’s media campaign for Lok Sabha elections, Mere Vikas ka Do Hisaab.

Priyanka Gandhi asked the BJP government to give it an account of development during its tenure of 10 years. Slamming the government on youth issues, the congress leader questioned why 83 per cent of the total unemployed in the country are youth and where are the 2 crore jobs annually? She further asked about vacancy in 30 lakh government posts and exam paper being leaked.

Alleging that corporates Rs 16 lakh crore has been waived off, Priyanka Gandhi asked why are farmers committing suicide due to debt. She also asked when will the farmers’ income double and when will they get MSP? She also enquired about no proper participation of Dalits, backward classes, tribals, minorities and poor upper castes in the posts and resources of the country.

The Congress General Secretary also raised questions on the increasing number of atrocities on women. Her remarks on social media  platform, X came on a day Congress ran a media campaign with the tagline ‘Mere Vikas Ka Do Hisaab’ and ‘Haath badlega halaat’, posing questions to the Modi government.

Earlier, Congress Parliamentary Chairperson Sonia Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making a systematic effort to cripple the Congress financially and deny a level playing field in the Lok Sabha election. The Income Tax Department reportedly restricted the operations of the bank accounts following a tax dispute.

Meanwhile, the Income Tax Department asserted that it has not frozen the party’s bank account, but has made a recovery of Rs 135 crore because of its violation of the law that grants political parties tax exemptions. It added that the party is free to operate these accounts beyond the money recovered by the department.

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