oppn parties BJPs First List: Mixed Signals

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
BJPs First List: Mixed Signals

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2024-03-05 07:19:16

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator. Author of Cyber Scams in India, Digital Arrest, The Money Trap and The Human Hack

That the BJP is not taking the target of 370 for the party and over 400 for the NDA lightly is evident from the fact that it has released the first list of 196 candidates for the 2024 general elections much ahead of the opposition. This will give the party and the candidates the first mover advantage as well as more time for campaigning. For, while it is true that when elections draw close, the karyakartas get into election mode almost 6 months from the date but in the absence of a face and a candidate, the drive lacks the required momentum. Now, with 196 candidates in place, the campaigning in those constituencies will start in real earnest even before the opposition selects its candidate.

There were many surprises in the first list of the BJP. Several sitting MPs, 42 in all (a staggering 21 percent), were dropped as the party crunched data to gauge their chances of winning again. Some like Gautan Gambhir and Jayant Sinha perhaps got the wind that they might be dropped and asked the party to in advance  As per party sources, 'winnability' has become the buzz word this time as the BJP focuses on leaving nothing to chance. Caste considerations have also weighed in while defectors from other parties have also found place. The list includes PM Modi, who will contest again from Varanasi, and Home minister Amit Shah who will seek reelection from Gandhinagar.

Although the list sends out several signals, the most reassuring one was that loudmouth MPs accused of hate speeches, like Pragya Thakur (Bhopal), Parvesh Verma (West Delhi) and Ramesh Bidhuri (South Delhi), have been denied tickets. But against this, the re-nomination of Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni (whose son Ashish Mishra is the prime accused in the mowing down of four farmers) from Lakhimpur Kheri is not right. The list also includes several prominent names from Rajya Sabha, like IT minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar (to contest from Thiruvananthapuram against Congress' Shashi Tharoor), Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Animal Husbandry Minister Parshottam Rupala, Shipping Minister Sarbanand Sonowal, among others, who have been asked to contest Lok Sabha elections this time.

As Prime Minister Modi is given to shake things up, this correspondent, for one, was waiting for him to consider contesting from another seat in south India, perhaps from Tamil Nadu. As the BJP is targeting the southern states where, except for Karnataka it does not have much sway, if Modi considers contesting from a seat in a southern state like Tamil Nadu, it will create a huge buzz and the party workers there will be highly enthused. Tamil Nadu will serve the purpose given the fact that Udhayanidhi Stalin's intemperate remarks (even the Supreme Court said it was misuse of his right under Article 19 and 25) against Sanatan Dharma had angered Hindus all over India and by contesting from that state, the Prime Minister could send a signal that he is taking the fight to the backyard of those who hate Sanatan Dharma. 

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