Today in politics: ‘Can I see bodies of my son, husband?’ Oppn team in Manipur to take this request to Governor – The Indian Express

Manipur also weighs heavy on a four-day conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, India Region, which began at the Meghalaya Assembly building on Saturday. Asked about the situation in Manipur, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said the incidents the state had witnessed since the outbreak of violence on May 3 were “painful”, and called for peace.

On July 26, Birla accepted a no-confidence moved by the Opposition against the Modi government, primarily to get him to speak in Parliament over the Manipur issue.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Speakers and MLAs of other Assemblies in the region as well as MPs are attending the conference.

Birla said: “I have been pained by whatever inhumane incidents have happened in the recent past. We are all hurt by them. The whole society, states and the entire country should tread the path of peace.”

Speaking to reporters later, the Lok Sabha Speaker said the delegates had expressed concern over the situation in Manipur and called for making a joint effort to restore peace.

The conference will continue on Sunday, and has on its agenda, measures to mitigate disasters as well as to improve connectivity in the region.

Away from Manipur, election season has well and truly begun in the states headed for polls, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah landing in Madhya Pradesh and set to head to Indore on Sunday. Ahead of Shah’s visit, BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya, who belongs to Indore, said the BJP will win more than 160 seats in the 230-member Assembly in the year-end polls.

He added that 50,000 BJP workers from Indore division will attend the ‘Vijay Sankalp Sammelan’ to be addressed by Shah on Sunday. As reported by Liz Mathew, Shah, who remains the BJP’s key poll strategist, has taken charge of the MP and Chhattisgarh elections for the party.

Indore is the main political centre of the crucial Malwa-Nimar region in MP, accounting for 66 of the 230 Assembly seats in the state.

In Haryana, CM Manohar Lal Khattar will be in Rewari on Sunday for the conclusion of the last leg of his ongoing Jan Samvad programme. He shall also chair an important meeting to resolve the issue of “contaminated water coming into Dharuhera from Bhiwadi, Rajasthan”. On Saturday, Khattar said he had put Rajasthan on “seven-day notice” over the issue.

The war of words between the Aam Aadmi Party government and bureaucrats in Delhi may hit a new low, after a government statement saying Revenue Minister Atishi had “pulled up” Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar over alleged delay in the disbursal of flood relief amount.

The minister also directed Kumar to ensure all officers are deployed on Saturday and Sunday to process the ex-gratia sum promised to the flood-affected people so that the money could be transferred to their bank accounts by Monday, the statement said.

Earlier on Friday, Principal Secretary (Home) Ashwini Kumar officially recorded his reservations against postponement of the National Capital Civil Services Authority meeting by Chief Minister Kejriwal. Before that, Atishi and another AAP minister, Saurabh Bharadwaj, took on the Principal Secretary (Home) over the deployment of the Army and NDRF to control a breach in a drain regulator.

The new string of episodes coincide with the Centre introducing in Parliament a Bill to replace the ordinance by which it had taken over most of the powers of the Delhi government regarding officers.

Sunday starts with The Indian Express sharing excerpts from the book of its Contributing Editor and Columnist Neerja Chowdhury, How Prime Ministers Decide, of rare and unknown details from the life and times of six Pms – Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, V P Singh, P V Narasimha Rao, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh.

Chowdhury has covered the 10 last general elections in the country, and brings to the book, which will hit the stands on August 3 and is published by Aleph Book Company, the wealth and invaluable access of that experience.

It’s the last Sunday of the month, and hence time for another episode of PM Modi’s radio show Mann ki Baat. Come Monday, the no-confidence motion against him will again take over the ongoing Parliament Session’s agenda. So, what’s playing on the PM’s mind? Watch out for pointers.

(with inputs from PTI)