The Uttarakhand government, headed by Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, has decided to initiate further action on a uniform civil code in the state after the draught code proposal is received before June 30. CM Dhami has been keen on Uttarakhand getting the distinction of being the first state to do so, and such a promise had been made about a year ago after his government took office. The term of the panel entrusted with preparing the draught ends on May 27 after a six-month extension granted last December. Incidentally, urban civic body elections are proposed to be held in this hill state within the next five months, and the state BJP unit is keen to repeat the party’s UP performance.
BJP expedites LS elections PREPARATIONS
The UP BJP has fast-tracked its preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, and regional preparatory meetings have already started. The first such meeting for west UP was held in Noida and for the Kashi region in Varanasi. Meetings for other regions are scheduled for May 18 and 19 in Gorakhpur and Kanpur, followed by district and divisional meetings up to May 24. The swift action against rebel ticket-seekers prior to the recently concluded urban local bodies’ election is learned to have enthused the state leadership. The BSP has called a meeting on May 18 to review civic poll results, while the Samajwadi Party is expecting the formation of an all-India anti-BJP front wherein the SP will have the state to itself minus the Congress.
CONGRESS rise in Karnataka ALERTS TELANGANA
A resurgent Congress in neighbouring Karnataka has alerted Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao in his efforts towards an all-India non-BJP front, as he has been excluding the Congress from such a front in his initiatives so far. In a rally in Khammam in January, he invited leaders from the AAP, CPM, CPI, and Samajwadi Party but excluded Nitish Kumar, who favours Congress, to be a part of the front. KCR joins Mamata Banerjee in seeking the exclusion of the Congress. In a party meeting, KCR is said to have asked party workers to be wary of both the Congress and the BJP in preparing for state assembly elections due in December this year.