Farmers Movement Archive

The Week Ahead: Union cabinet to meet, farm laws withdrawal on table

It just does not end when it comes to Sameer Wankhede, the controversial western zone chief of the Narcotics Control Bureau. This week, the Bombay high court will hear a petition regarding a caste certificate. A petition was filed in the Bombay high court seeking directions to the caste scrutiny committee to verify Wankhede’s caste certificate. It also asks the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) to terminate his services if the scrutiny committee finds that he has misused his father’s scheduled caste (SC) certificate. The petition claims that the SC status was relinquished after Dnyandev Wankhede, Sameer’s father, got married to a Muslim woman. In essence, the petition states that Wankhede entered the civil service by hiding the fact that he was a Muslim and by misrepresenting his caste/religion. Perhaps the biggest story this week will be the Union cabinet meeting on Wednesday when it is likely to discuss the repealing of the three controversial farm laws that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced last week in a nationally televised speech. On Monday, farmers will gather for the mahapanchayat called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a coalition of more than 40 organisations from across the country, ahead of the cabinet meeting. Farmers are demanding the formal decision to repeal should come early and that should be accompanied by a new minimum support price regulation. In Kerala, a local court in the state capital Thiruvananathapuram will start hearing on Monday a charge sheet filed against education minister V Sivankuty and five former legislators in a case related to destroying assembly property in a fracas in 2016. All courts, including the Supreme Court, had dismissed their pleas to discharge the accused. The child welfare commission is expected to take a final decision on former SFI leader Anupma S Chandran’s plea by Wednesday. Hectic political activity is likely to be witnessed this week in Rajasthan after a new cabinet was sworn in on Sunday under chief minister Ashok Gehlot. The CM on Monday is likely to allot departments to ministers, appoint parliamentary secretaries and advisors. The process to make political appointments in corporations and commissions will also begin this week. Assam will embark on a door-to-door campaign to ensure 100% coverage of the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine among all eligible beneficiaries. The campaign will continue till November 27. In Karnataka, political parties will switch gear ahead of the MLC polls as the deadline for nominations ends on Tuesday. Next week will see the Karnataka government publish an estimate on loss to crops and infrastructure due to rains since November 11. Karnataka high court is also expected to take up a case against a ban on gambling. In West Bengal, the schedule of the upcoming civic body polls in Kolkata and Howrah will be decided this week. The government wanted to hold the polls on December 19, but the BJP moved the Calcutta high court demanding simultaneous polls in all 120-odd civic bodies across Bengal. The hearing is on November 24. Meanwhile, in Tamil Nadu, restoration of damaged roads and other infrastructure touch points will begin this week after torrential rain disrupted life last week. A Central team of six members is likely to visit the state to assess the damage and provide aid for restoration work. BJP national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh will reach Dehradun, Uttarakhand’s capital, on a three day visit from November 24 during which he will hold meetings ahead of the upcoming polls. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to visit Delhi on Monday and is likely to meet PM Narendra Modi. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will visit Punjab for what he termed as the ‘Mission Punjab’ tour. Also, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will visit Jammu & Kashmir on Tuesday, while BJP chief JP Nadda will launch the party’s Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Kanpur.

Hindustan Times

22-11-2021

India