Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in New Delhi on Friday, emphasizing the importance of collective action in addressing climate change. The event follows Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s assertion that addressing climate change requires more than enacting policies and laws; it demands a collective effort to change lifestyles.
However, the event has been marred by the diplomatic standoff over the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. The Speaker of the Canadian Senate, Raymonde Gagne, is skipping the Summit, with no official reason provided. The United States is also absent due to its ongoing search for a new Speaker after Kevin McCarthy’s removal, while New Zealand was not among the invitees. Nevertheless, the UK and Australia will be present.
In the poll-bound state of Chhattisgarh, BJP MP and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad is leading the party’s election efforts with a meeting of BJP workers in Raipur Rural constituency. The BJP’s campaign in the state has a distinctive Hindutva tone.
Meanwhile, in Rajasthan, Haryana’s Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala is touring the state to bolster the Jannayak Janata Party’s presence, which is set to contest 30 Assembly seats in Rajasthan. Chautala’s campaign includes a series of roadshows and village visits, a strategy adopted by other Haryana leaders to gain an edge in Rajasthan’s border districts.
Despite fighting separately for all 10 Haryana Lok Sabha seats, the BJP’s national leadership is facing calls to break ties with the JJP. However, the party must tread carefully as its former ally could influence the outcome in certain Rajasthan constituencies.
In Chandigarh, the Congress Haryana Leader of Opposition and former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda is holding a meeting with MLAs and party workers to formulate campaign strategies for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In Gujarat, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is launching the ‘Yuva Adhikar Yatra,’ a foot march retracing Mahatma Gandhi’s historic salt march route in 1930 from Dandi to Sabarmati Ashram. The yatra protests against the state BJP government’s plan to hire teachers for government schools on a contractual and fixed-pay basis.
The ongoing dispute within the Nationalist Congress Party will continue in the Supreme Court. The Sharad Pawar-led faction has sought a directive for the speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly to consider the disqualification petitions against Deputy CM Ajit Pawar and other rebel MLAs.
Additionally, the Speaker of the Assembly will initiate official hearings on disqualification petitions against the CM Eknath Shinde-led faction of the Shiv Sena more than a year after the party’s split, following the dissolution of the Thackeray government.