News18 Daybreak I Congress' Mission UP Begins Today With Mega Road Show and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is being hailed by many as the Congress' big hope in the make-or- break state of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, will finally arrive in Lucknow this morning. Rahul Gandhi, brother and Congress president, had announced her entry into politics as the party's general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh two weeks ago.

Priyanka Gandhi will be accompanied by Jyotiraditya Scindia, the party's western Uttar Pradesh in-charge, and the Congress chief on the occasion. "Tomorrow, I hope that we can all come together to bring about a new kind of politics. A kind of politics in which all of you will be stakeholders. A kind of politics in which the voice of my youth friends, my sisters and the poorest of the poor will be heard," she told supporters through the party's Shakti App on Sunday.

The Congress has drawn up grand plans to publicise Priyanka Gandhi's Lucknow visit. From Lucknow airport, all three leaders will proceed to the city's Congress office in a roadshow running well over 30 kilometres through some of the most congested areas of the city - garlanding statues of Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar along the way. Congress leaders and workers will gather to welcome her and the others at 14 different points on the route, and party workers from neighbouring districts have been called in to ensure good public presence.

Gearing up: The four-day visit will see Gandhi meeting and addressing party workers from 38 constituencies including Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kaushambhi, Phoolpur and Prayagraj(Allahabad).

Naidu

Stepping up his demand of special status for Andhra Pradesh, CM N Chandrababu Naidu will sit on a daylong dharna in Delhi on Monday. The protest comes a day after a political slugfest erupted between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the TDP chief over comments the former made during his visit to the state. During a rally, Modi made remarks about Naidu “backstabbing” his father-in-law NT Rama Rao by forming an alliance with Congress. “Naidu had said he would follow NTR’s footsteps, but is he really doing so. NTR had fought for a Congress-free India. Mukt-Congress has now become dost-Congress [friend of Congress] for Naidu,” the Prime Minister said. Rejecting the backstabbing jibe, Naidu said he need not learn morality from someone who has not shown any respect to his political guru, LK Advani, adding his entire family was together in the fight for democracy.

This was Modi’s first visit to the state after TDP snapped ties with the BJP at the Centre in protest against the Centre’s step-motherly treatment towards Andhra Pradesh after the bifurcation. Prior to the visit, anti-Modi posters were seen in hoardings in Guntur and protests were held in 13 districts in AP.

Rafale

With the Comptroller and Auditor General report due for tabling in Parliament on Monday, a major showdown is expected between the BJP-led Centre and the Congress. The Opposition party on Sunday citing conflict of interest had demanded that CAG Rajiv Mehrishi recuse himself from Rafale Audit since he was the Finance Secretary when the deal was struck. The CAG report will come only two days after a report in The Hindu said that the Prime Minister’s Office ran parallel negotiations with France even as the Defence Ministry was working out the Rafale fighter jets deal, ultimately weakening India’s position on the negotiating table.

 Gujjar

The Gujjar quota agitation will enter its fourth day on Monday. Protests on Sunday turned violent after scores of protesters threw stones at police teams, prompting officers to open fire. A News18 reporter was also injured in the crossfire. The protesters have refused to back off from their quota demand even after a government delegation met them there. The Gujjars say if 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward can be passed, then why not for them.

What You May Have Missed

Bengal developments

 With BJP trying to make inroads into Bengal, tensions between the BJP and the rulling party in the state- the Trinamool Congress has heightened. The conflict really came to a head on Sunday over the murder of TMC MLA Satyajit Biswas.

 What happened: Biswas was shot dead during a Saraswati Puja celebration in West Bengal’s Nadia district. The assailants pumped bullets into Biswas after he disembarked from the stage where a cultural programme was taking place. State minister Ratna Ghosh and Gourishankar Dutta, president of Nadia Trinamool Congress unit, survived the attack as they left the spot minutes before the firing.

BJP leader Mukul Roy was named as one of the accused in the FIR which was booked following the incident and the police has arrested 2 out of the 4 accused. The arrested have been identified as Kartik Mondal and Sujit Mondal. While Kartik works for a hosiery factory, Sujit is an active BJP worker in Nadia district.

CBI vs Mamata Banerjee: The incident comes days after the conflict between TMC chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and the BJP-led Centre over the CBI probe into Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s involvement in the Saradha Chit Fund scam. Last week saw the CM embarking on a sit-in protest against the government after CBI officials attempted to raid Kumar’s house. Mamata along with several allied party members including Aam Admi Party’s Arvind Kejriwal and Telugu Desam Party’s Chandrababu Naidu criticising the Centre over “unconstitutional” probe.

The Commissioner was interrogated by the CBI for a second time on Sunday after the Supreme Court, in an urgent hearing, directed him to cooperate in the investigations. The intelligence agency made Rajeev Kumar and former TMC MP Kunal Ghosh sit face-to-face in the interrogation which lasted for nearly nine hours.

BJP bats for Bengal: Senior BJP leaders, including its president Amit Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have held several rallies in West Bengal over the past couple of months. The party, which tried and failed to take out a rath yatra, is now pushing hard to win over Bengal’s electorate by promising to bring in the Citizenship Bill in the state. Read Fazil Khan’s report on What Makes West Bengal So Important For the BJP.

Hooch Tragedy

 In a shocking incident, over 90 people lost their lives in UP & Uttarakhand after consuming adulterated liquor in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring Uttarkhand in the last four days. The police in Sahranpur, one of worst hit in the hooch tragedy, has arrested 30 people involved in the production of the liquor. Three inspectors and two constables were also suspended. The UP government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each of those who died and Rs 50,000 for those undergoing treatment.

Meanwhile, AICC Gen Sec of UP East, Priyanka Gandhi expressed strong concern at the rising death toll. “It couldn't have been imagined that the trade of illicit liquor flourished at such a large scale in these two states. I am extremely upset and offer my deepest condolences to the victims of this incident,” she said. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath however, blamed the Samajwadi Party for “such mischievous acts” prompting SP ally - Bahujan Samaj Party to call for a CBI probe into the matter.