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  • India beat Japan 4-1 to win a record sixth Asian Champions Trophy. India recovered from an early deficit to defeat Japan in the final at Mohali, extending its record as the tournament's most successful men's team
  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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oppn parties
President Droupadi Murmu

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-07-22 07:01:34

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

It was evident from the day the NDA announced the name of Droupadi Murmu as its nominee for the presidential elections that her candidature would further split an already fractured opposition. Although the opposition had put up a joint candidate in Yashwant Sinha, Murmu's credentials as a tribal woman politician who had fought against several odds to champion the cause of the marginalized and downtrodden communities all her life were enough to make some opposition parties support her. That is exactly what happened. As she was a tribal and had been the governor of Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which rules Jharkhand in alliance with the Congress and the RJD, broke rank and announced its support for Murmu. As she hails from Odisha, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) also decided to support her. In the end, a huge number of MPs and MLAs from the opposition parties cross-voted in her favour and she won the elections with a handsome margin to become the 15th President of India.

Although the Indian Presidency is just a Constitutional post without any executive or legislative powers, the President is the custodian of the Constitution and every executive action is done in his or her name. The very fact that India has elected a tribal woman as its President shows that democracy, despite obvious and deep flaws, has deep roots in the country and even a person from marginalized sections of society can reach the top. President Murmu will give hope to the 100 million strong tribal community and all other marginalized sections of Indian society. She assumes office at a time when the nation is divided over many issues and many democratic institutions are under threat. She will also be in office when the nation is likely to have its most hotly-contested elections in 2024. It will be keenly watched how she upholds the dignity of the office in these troubled times when the government and the opposition are constantly at war with each other over the pettiest of issues. 

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