The Evening Wrap: Opposition coalition named INDIA

The Opposition alliance that will take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has been named INDIA. Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said INDIA stood for ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’. Top leaders of 26 Opposition parties met in Bengaluru on July 17-18 to discuss a united strategy to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. After the two-day meeting, they announced that they had joined hands to form an alliance called ‘INDIA’ to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They decided to form a coordination committee comprising 11 members. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told media persons, “We’ll fight 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly, and succeed. The first achievement of the alliance is the unanimous agreement on the name. We are calling it ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance -- INDIA’. There is a deep meaning in this...” He tweeted, “I am happy that 26 parties are present in Bengaluru to work unitedly. Together, we are in government in 11 States today. The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power, and then discarded them. The BJP president and their leaders are running from State to State to patch up with their old allies. They are scared that the unity they see here will result in their defeat next year. Every institution is being turned into a weapon against the opposition. Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect democracy, secularism and social justice. Let us resolve to take India to back to the path of progress, welfare and true democracy.” West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “I want to ask BJP and NDA, can they challenge INDIA? INDIA will win, our country will win, and BJP will lose.” Addressing mediapersons, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The name INDIA symbolises our determination to defend idea of India. The idea of India being attacked by ideology of BJP. The country’s wealth is being handed over to a few businessmen. Our fight is against ideology that is attacking our country; it’s not BJP vs opposition fight.” Next meeting of the opposition alliance will be held in Mumbai. Delhi Court grants two-day interim bail to BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in sexual harassment case Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on July 18 granted interim bail to BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Vinod Tomar, who is a co-accused, till Thursday in an alleged case of sexual harassment by female wrestlers. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh granted relief to Singh on a personal bond of ₹25,000. The regular bail pleas have now been listed for July 20. On June 15, the Delhi police had filed a 1,000-page charge sheet against Singh and Tomar, which includes the testimonies of witnesses, victims and other concerned persons. Singh had been summoned before the court after hearing the submissions and considering the police report along with its annexed documents, including the statements of the victims, the court took cognisance of the offences committed under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking), 506 (para 1) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (abetment to offense) of the Indian Penal Code. Several Olympic and World Championship medal-winning wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, protested for months in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor. Supreme Court to hear plea by Rahul Gandhi in criminal defamation case on July 21 The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on July 21 a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to suspend his conviction in a criminal defamation case in which he said a political speech critical of economic offenders and also of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made in the course of democratic political activity, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude. Gandhi has also sought a stay of a Gujarat High Court judgment which according to him “has no parallel or precedent in the jurisprudence of the law of defamation”. Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Prasanna S., for Gandhi, submitted that the case required an urgent hearing. “We will take it up on Friday,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said. Gandhi has argued that the case is unprecedented as a maximum sentence of two years has been imposed. “This has resulted in the inexorable exclusion of the petitioner from all political elective office for a long period of eight years. That too, in the world’s largest democracy where the petitioner has been a former president of the oldest political movement in the country and is also continuously in the vanguard of opposition political activity,” the petition said. The criminal defamation case was related to his “Modi” surname remark allegedly made during a political rally in Karnataka’s Kolar district in 2019. Challenging the July 7 High Court decision, Gandhi contended that he was served a two-year conviction for allegedly defaming an “undefined amorphous group” which, according to the complainant, Gujarat MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, had wronged the reputation of “13 crore people”. Defamation law required the wrong to be done to a well-defined class of people, and not a vague group. The Congress leader said the complaint itself was not sustainable in law as the alleged imputations were perceived as against Prime Minister Narendra Modi individually. “Only Shri Narendra Modi can be considered as the person aggrieved of the offence of defamation and only Shri Narendra Modi can file a complaint for the same and Shri Purnesh Modi, the complainant, has no right to file the complaint on his behalf,” the petition said. Gandhi argued that the defamation complaint was an attempt to muffle political dialogue. “A political speech in the course of democratic political activity, critical of economic offenders, and also of Shri Narendra Modi, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude inviting the harshest punishment. Such a finding is gravely detrimental to democratic free speech in the midst of a political campaign. It is respectfully submitted that the same will set a disastrous precedent wiping out any form of political dialogue or debate which is remotely critical in any manner,” the petition said. Government calls all-party meeting on July 19 ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament The government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday (July 19) to deliberate on a host of issues related to Parliament’s Monsoon Session, which will begin from July 20. It’s a customary get-together on the eve of a Session’s start as various parties put across their issues at the meeting attended by senior government Ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also participated in many such meetings. A similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday (July )by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar has been deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties. While Opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal. While Goyal is the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Joshi is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Sources said it was in connection with the all-party meeting called by the government as they gave final touches to its points of view. With the BJP and Opposition parties sharpening attacks on each-other as they gear up for a host of Assembly polls this year and the Lok Sabha election next year, the Parliament Session is expected to be stormy. The Congress and other opposition parties are seeking to corner the government over the Manipur crisis besides the issues of price rise and alleged misuse of probe agencies. In Brief: Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has passed away. He was 79. The senior Congress leader, who was being treated for cancer, breathed his last at a Bengaluru hospital early July 18 morning. His son Chandy Oommen announced the news through a Facebook post. A long-time legislator representing the Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district and an immensely popular public figure, Chandy was the Chief Minister of Kerala twice. America’s largest reptile bank based in Arizona has applied to the Federal Government to import six gharials and another equal number of mugger crocodiles from Tamil Nadu, which it says would help preserve these endangered species. The Phoenix Herpetological Society has applied for permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to a Federal notification issued on July 17 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Federal Government has asked for public comments on this matter. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 18 July 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Opposition coalition named INDIA — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance The [Opposition alliance that will take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has been named INDIA.]( Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said INDIA stood for ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’. [Top leaders of 26 Opposition parties]( met in Bengaluru on July 17-18 to discuss a united strategy to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. After the two-day meeting, they announced that they had joined hands to form an alliance called ‘INDIA’ to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. They decided to form a coordination committee comprising 11 members. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told media persons, “We’ll fight 2024 Lok Sabha elections unitedly, and succeed. The first achievement of the alliance is the unanimous agreement on the name. We are calling it ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance -- INDIA’. There is a deep meaning in this...” He tweeted, “I am happy that 26 parties are present in Bengaluru to work unitedly. Together, we are in government in 11 States today. The BJP did not get 303 seats by itself. It used the votes of its allies and came to power, and then discarded them. The BJP president and their leaders are running from State to State to patch up with their old allies. They are scared that the unity they see here will result in their defeat next year. Every institution is being turned into a weapon against the opposition. Our intention in this meeting is not to gain power for ourselves. It is to protect democracy, secularism and social justice. Let us resolve to take India to back to the path of progress, welfare and true democracy.” West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said, “I want to ask BJP and NDA, can they challenge INDIA? INDIA will win, our country will win, and BJP will lose.” Addressing mediapersons, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The name INDIA symbolises our determination to defend idea of India. The idea of India being attacked by ideology of BJP. The country’s wealth is being handed over to a few businessmen. Our fight is against ideology that is attacking our country; it’s not BJP vs opposition fight.” Next meeting of the opposition alliance will be held in Mumbai. Delhi Court grants two-day interim bail to BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in sexual harassment case D[elhi’s Rouse Avenue court on July 18 granted interim bail to BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh]( and Vinod Tomar, who is a co-accused, till Thursday in an alleged case of sexual harassment by female wrestlers. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh granted relief to Singh on a personal bond of ₹25,000. The regular bail pleas have now been listed for July 20. On June 15, the Delhi police had filed a 1,000-page charge sheet against Singh and Tomar, which includes the testimonies of witnesses, victims and other concerned persons. Singh had been summoned before the court after hearing the submissions and considering the police report along with its annexed documents, including the statements of the victims, the court took cognisance of the offences committed under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks) and 354D (stalking), 506 (para 1) (criminal intimidation) and 109 (abetment to offense) of the Indian Penal Code. Several Olympic and World Championship medal-winning wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, protested for months in New Delhi demanding the arrest of Singh for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor. Supreme Court to hear plea by Rahul Gandhi in criminal defamation case on July 21 The [Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on July 21 a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi]( suspend his conviction in a criminal defamation case in which he said a political speech critical of economic offenders and also of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made in the course of democratic political activity, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude. Gandhi has also sought a stay of a Gujarat High Court judgment which according to him “has no parallel or precedent in the jurisprudence of the law of defamation”. Appearing before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, senior advocate A.M. Singhvi and advocate Prasanna S., for Gandhi, submitted that the case required an urgent hearing. “We will take it up on Friday,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said. Gandhi has argued that the case is unprecedented as a maximum sentence of two years has been imposed. “This has resulted in the inexorable exclusion of the petitioner from all political elective office for a long period of eight years. That too, in the world’s largest democracy where the petitioner has been a former president of the oldest political movement in the country and is also continuously in the vanguard of opposition political activity,” the petition said. The criminal defamation case was related to his “Modi” surname remark allegedly made during a political rally in Karnataka’s Kolar district in 2019. Challenging the July 7 High Court decision, Gandhi contended that he was served a two-year conviction for allegedly defaming an “undefined amorphous group” which, according to the complainant, Gujarat MLA Purnesh Ishwarbhai Modi, had wronged the reputation of “13 crore people”. Defamation law required the wrong to be done to a well-defined class of people, and not a vague group. The Congress leader said the complaint itself was not sustainable in law as the alleged imputations were perceived as against Prime Minister Narendra Modi individually. “Only Shri Narendra Modi can be considered as the person aggrieved of the offence of defamation and only Shri Narendra Modi can file a complaint for the same and Shri Purnesh Modi, the complainant, has no right to file the complaint on his behalf,” the petition said. Gandhi argued that the defamation complaint was an attempt to muffle political dialogue. “A political speech in the course of democratic political activity, critical of economic offenders, and also of Shri Narendra Modi, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude inviting the harshest punishment. Such a finding is gravely detrimental to democratic free speech in the midst of a political campaign. It is respectfully submitted that the same will set a disastrous precedent wiping out any form of political dialogue or debate which is remotely critical in any manner,” the petition said. Government calls all-party meeting on July 19 ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament The [government has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday (July 19) to deliberate on a host of issues]( related to Parliament’s Monsoon Session, which will begin from July 20. It’s a customary get-together on the eve of a Session’s start as various parties put across their issues at the meeting attended by senior government Ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also participated in many such meetings. A similar all-party meeting called on Tuesday (July )by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar has been deferred due to non-availability of leaders of many parties. While Opposition parties are holding a meeting in Bengaluru, the ruling National Democratic Alliance is meeting in the national capital. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with some of his Cabinet colleagues, including Pralhad Joshi and Piyush Goyal. While Goyal is the Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, Joshi is the Parliamentary Affairs Minister. Sources said it was in connection with the all-party meeting called by the government as they gave final touches to its points of view. With the BJP and Opposition parties sharpening attacks on each-other as they gear up for a host of Assembly polls this year and the Lok Sabha election next year, the Parliament Session is expected to be stormy. The Congress and other opposition parties are seeking to corner the government over the Manipur crisis besides the issues of price rise and alleged misuse of probe agencies. In Brief: [Former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has passed away](. He was 79. The senior Congress leader, who was being treated for cancer, breathed his last at a Bengaluru hospital early July 18 morning. His son Chandy Oommen announced the news through a Facebook post. A [long-time legislator representing the Puthupally constituency]( in Kottayam district and an immensely popular public figure, [Chandy was the Chief Minister of Kerala twice](. America’s largest reptile bank based in Arizona has applied to the Federal Government to import six gharials and another equal number of mugger crocodiles from Tamil Nadu, which it says would help preserve these endangered species. The Phoenix Herpetological Society has applied for permission from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to a Federal notification issued on July 17 under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Federal Government has asked for public comments on this matter. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [Sign up for free]( Today’s Top Picks [[Arrested T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji moves Supreme Court in cash-for-jobs scam case] Arrested T.N. 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