Daily Briefing: BJP vs Arvind Kejriwal; I-T trouble for Congress; and more

With Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issuing “directions” from jail, will the Centre make the first move to seek control of the reins for Delhi’s administration? According to sources, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the office of the Solicitor General and the Ministry of Law & Justice is deliberating on the matter, seeking legal opinion on the way forward. The BJP, on its part, has lodged a formal complaint with the Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena over the “unauthorised use of power and authority” by Kejriwal.

Decision 2024

The ripple effect of the nearly year-long ethnic strife in Manipur is now being felt in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. There is still no member of the Kuki-Zomi community in the fray from the Outer Manipur seat, where a Kuki candidate has always fought the election at least since 2009.

It was but fitting that Kangana Ranaut’s political debut began with a controversy. Ranaut would not be where she is if she didn’t know how to cause a stir. The actor is gearing up for her biggest role yet — one which sympathisers would say she has been pushed into, with the entrenched Bollywood industry turning its back on her, leaving her to look for support where she could.

From the Front Page

The Congress party is bracing itself for another hefty demand from the Income Tax Department for “unaccounted transactions” totalling Rs 523.87 crore covering the period 2014-2021. This will deal another blow to the party, which only recently saw the I-T department withdrawing Rs 135 crore from its bank accounts for previous dues.

Mumbai — maximum city has maximum billionaires in the world. It has overtaken Beijing as Asia’s billionaire capital, according to the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List.

Must Read

At a time when foreign policy is seen as a strong point of the Narendra Modi-led government, C Raja Mohan writes: “There was a time, many moons ago, when the foreign policy resolutions of the annual AICC sessions set the term for domestic discourse on foreign policy. As India’s domestic and external imperatives become more intricately intertwined today, the Congress must rise to the occasion.”

In 2009, developed countries committed to paying $100 bn every year. They have not done so — and with the climate bomb ticking, negotiators are working on a new global climate finance budget ahead of COP29 in Baku this November. We break down how much should developed countries actually pay for climate action.

And Finally…

CSK is doing what CSK does best — win at Chepauk. With a batting template in tune with the demands of T20 cricket, Chennai Super Kings showed their might at home to bury Gujarat Titans by 63 runs for their second successive win. We delve into the winning recipe for the boys in yellow.

Delhi Confidential: From meetings in Delhi to negotiations in Patna. after days of hard bargaining and some amount of muscle flexing, the RJD and the Congress seem to have resolved the tussle over seat sharing in Bihar.

In today’s edition of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, we take a look at what Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest means for the Aam Aadmi Party, the Opposition’s INDIA bloc and the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Until tomorrow

Sonal Gupta and Rounak Bagchi

Business As Usual by EP Unny