Express News Service
G20 SummitSherpa seeks extension of term for secretaries
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider giving six-month extension to the secretaries of the Government of India who are engaged in preparations for the summit. Twenty-one ministries of the Union government are engaged in the G20 work. Officials from these ministries are part of the working groups through the Sherpa Track and are busy preparing the agenda for the summit. Secretaries in these ministries play a pivotal role in putting together the G20 agenda in consultation with other members. But some of the key secretaries, including those from the departments of health and family welfare, tourism, etc, are set to retire before the head of states arrive for the summit in September. Sources said that the Prime Minister would most likely approve the Sherpa’s request. India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022 and will steer this international body until November 30, 2023.
Election 2024BJP not to join hands with Akalis, open to TDP
Buoyed by its unexpected performance in the Jallandhar Lok Sabha bye-election, the BJP leadership has decided to accept the demand by its Punjab unit and the new entrants into the party, Captain Amarinder Singh and others, to fight the next election without joining hands with its old ally, the Akali Dal. The party contested the Lok Sabha bye-election without alliance and polled 1.37 lakh votes, which is much more than what the leadership had expected. This has strengthened the go-it-alone lobby in the party. Besides, Amarinder and others have been asking the party to build its base across the state rather than depending on an ally. A top leader of the party said that so long as the party contested the state elections in alliance with the Akalis it remained confined to 23 seats. But in the last election, it was able to contest in 73 assembly constituencies. It now wants to improve its presence in the state where the Congress rout provides it space for expansion. The party is, however, keen to tie up with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. Sources said that the two parties are already in touch.
Battle of RajasthanGehlot cold to high command’s truce formula
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is reluctant to accept the party high command’s formula to settle his dispute with his former deputy Sachin Pilot. The party leadership had proposed appointment of Pilot as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president in place of Govind Singh Dotasra, and a deputy chief minister from the Jat community. Sources said Gehlot is not ready to give the important post of PCC chief to Pilot. He has argued that as the PCC chief, Pilot may create trouble in allotment of tickets to party loyalists who had refused to side with him when he had walked out with a bunch of party MLAs seeking change of chief minister. The chief minister also did not attend a meeting in Delhi called by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Sources said the party leadership is in touch with Gehlot and Pilot and is keen to bring them together before the assembly elections due in December this year.
G20 Summit
Sherpa seeks extension of term for secretaries
G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider giving six-month extension to the secretaries of the Government of India who are engaged in preparations for the summit. Twenty-one ministries of the Union government are engaged in the G20 work. Officials from these ministries are part of the working groups through the Sherpa Track and are busy preparing the agenda for the summit. Secretaries in these ministries play a pivotal role in putting together the G20 agenda in consultation with other members. But some of the key secretaries, including those from the departments of health and family welfare, tourism, etc, are set to retire before the head of states arrive for the summit in September. Sources said that the Prime Minister would most likely approve the Sherpa’s request. India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2022 and will steer this international body until November 30, 2023.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Election 2024
BJP not to join hands with Akalis, open to TDP
Buoyed by its unexpected performance in the Jallandhar Lok Sabha bye-election, the BJP leadership has decided to accept the demand by its Punjab unit and the new entrants into the party, Captain Amarinder Singh and others, to fight the next election without joining hands with its old ally, the Akali Dal. The party contested the Lok Sabha bye-election without alliance and polled 1.37 lakh votes, which is much more than what the leadership had expected. This has strengthened the go-it-alone lobby in the party. Besides, Amarinder and others have been asking the party to build its base across the state rather than depending on an ally. A top leader of the party said that so long as the party contested the state elections in alliance with the Akalis it remained confined to 23 seats. But in the last election, it was able to contest in 73 assembly constituencies. It now wants to improve its presence in the state where the Congress rout provides it space for expansion. The party is, however, keen to tie up with Chandrababu Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh. Sources said that the two parties are already in touch.
Battle of Rajasthan
Gehlot cold to high command’s truce formula
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot is reluctant to accept the party high command’s formula to settle his dispute with his former deputy Sachin Pilot. The party leadership had proposed appointment of Pilot as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president in place of Govind Singh Dotasra, and a deputy chief minister from the Jat community. Sources said Gehlot is not ready to give the important post of PCC chief to Pilot. He has argued that as the PCC chief, Pilot may create trouble in allotment of tickets to party loyalists who had refused to side with him when he had walked out with a bunch of party MLAs seeking change of chief minister. The chief minister also did not attend a meeting in Delhi called by party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Sources said the party leadership is in touch with Gehlot and Pilot and is keen to bring them together before the assembly elections due in December this year.
