The Evening Wrap: INDIA parties win 4 seats, BJP bags 3 in Assembly bypolls

The results for the bypolls to seven Assembly seats across six States were declared on September 8. The seven seats — Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura — went to poll on September 5. The BJP won Tripura’s Dhanpur and Boxanagar seats by huge margins. BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain won Boxanagar by a margin of 30,237 votes and Bindu Debnath bagged Dhanpur by a margin of 18,871 votes. In Kerala, the Opposition Congress-led UDF retained the Puthuppally Assembly constituency as its candidate Chandy Oommen won by a margin of more than 36,000 votes. The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal wrested Dhupguri from the BJP, while the BJP retained the Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand with its candidate Parwati Dass defeating Congress’ Basant Kumar by more than 2,400 votes. JMM candidate Bebi Devi won Dumri bypoll in Jharkhand’s Giridih district by defeating AJSU nominee Yashoda Devi by more than 17,000 votes. Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh defeated his BJP rival Dara Singh Chauhan in Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh with a margin of 42,759 votes. G-20 Summit | Joe Biden arrives in Delhi, holds talks with PM Modi U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in New Delhi on September 8 to participate in the G-20 Summit. He was received by Union Minister V.K. Singh. PM Modi’s official residence was Biden’s first stop after he arrived, where the two leaders held bilateral talks. Biden is also expected to speak with other leaders on the “margins”, the White House said. During the day, several foreign heads of state and dignitaries landed in New Delhi, ahead of the summit to be held at the ‘Bharat Mandapam’ in Delhi. The summit is expected to be attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview to The Hindu, African Union Chairperson Azali Assoumani said,“We are confident of becoming a full member of G-20 in the summit being held under Indian Presidency.” He added that G-20 should invest in industrialisation of Africa so that “our resources are used to produce goods in the continent and our youth can find employment”. PM Modi will be holding more than 15 bilateral meetings over the next three days. On the day, he held talks with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth apart from the talks with Biden. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast One Nation, One Election: How feasible is it and what would be its impact? The Union government has set up a committee headed by President Ramnath Kovind to look at various aspects of implementing the ‘one nation, one election’ plan. The broad idea is to synchronise the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States. The proposal for simultaneous elections has raised many concerns. Foremost among them is the impact it will have on federalism. Then there is the question of feasibility – what happens if a state government falls, for instance? Then there are the legal aspects – what are the various constitutional amendments that would be needed, and would the states have to ratify it as well? G-20 gala dinner | Government doesn’t value leader of 60% of India, says Rahul Gandhi Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that not inviting the Leader of the Opposition showed that the Narendra Modi government does not value the leader of 60% population. He made the remarks on the government not extending an invitation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for the G-20 gala dinner being hosted by the President Droupadi Murmu Kharge is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, which is a Cabinet rank position. This is the first reaction from Congress on his exclusion. “They have decided not to invite the Leader of Opposition. It tells you that they don’t value the leader of 60% of India’s population. Why are they feeling the need to do that and what is the type of thinking goes behind that,” Gandhi asked during a press interaction at Brussels Press Club, in Belgium. He is in Europe for a week-long tour. Recently, Gandhi claimed that the Opposition INDIA parties together represented 60% of the country’s population. Gandhi reiterated his statements on “attacks on Indian institutions and democratic framework” that he has made both within the country and in his interactions outside of it. There is an attempt to change the nature of our country, Gandhi said, to a question on discrimination against minorities. Not only minorities, the tribals, Dalits and those from backward classes are also facing discrimination, he added. BJP will forge pre-poll alliance with JD(S) in Karnataka for 2024 Lok Sabha elections, says B.S. Yediyurappa Clearing the air over intense political speculation in Karnataka, BJP Parliamentary Board member and veteran leader B.S. Yediyurappa confirmed that his party will forge a pre-poll alliance with Janata Dal (S) for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “BJP and JD(S) are about to forge an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has agreed to give four seats to the JD(S),” Yediyurappa said on September 8. He expects the alliance to win 25 to 26 Lok Sabha seats of the total 28 in Karnataka. BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel and former CM Basavaraj Bommai also expressed their support. Both the parties worked in co-ordination during the recent legislature session of the Karnataka Assembly. The JD(S) is yet to make any statement on the proposed alliance. State BJP leaders too are not in the know of these developments, as the discussions are believed to be happening at the level of the BJP high command. However, there was no clarity on the constituencies that are being offered to the JD(S). BJP sources believe that the JD(S) may be offered Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Hassan seats. A BJP State functionary said the party is unlikely to give Mandya to JD(S). Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah sought to downplay the proposed alliance. “We are not bothered who will enter into an alliance and who will fight on their own. We will seek votes from people. People are in our favour, and they will vote for us,” he said. Ladakh issues fresh dates for hill council polls as Supreme Court allows National Conference to retain party symbol The Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh on September 8 re-notified the dates for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) elections for October 4, two days after the Supreme Court allowed the National Conference (NC) to retain its party symbol, ‘Plough’. Referring to the Supreme Court order on September 6, 2023, the Ladakh administration, in a fresh order, said, “The symbol “Plough” is hereby reserved for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Party for the ensuing elections to the 5th LAHDC-K.” Earlier, the elections were scheduled for September 10, 2023. However, the Ladakh administration denied the NC its party symbol to be used for the polls, leading to a prolonged legal battle between the two since the first week of August. The UT administration argued that Ladakh has an election authority and not a State Election Commission, which has the rights to issue symbols for the elections. However, the NC pleaded before the court that the same authority issued a symbol to the Aam Aadmi Party for the 2020 LAHDC-Leh elections. The Ladakh administration could not justify its position on the NC symbol before the top court. Apparently, the move was aimed to disallow the regional mainstream to make a comeback in Kargil, which has a huge symbolic value for the NC in the backdrop of the Centre’s steps made following the 2019 decision to end J&K’s special constitutional position. The NC has asked its leaders to prepare filing nominations for the polls. NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said the fact that the Supreme Court deemed fit to impose a sum of one lakh rupees on the Ladakh administration is in itself an indication of how seriously the court viewed the conduct of the administration. The NC and Congress have already decided to fight these polls together. The polls will see 26 members elected to the council. Russian missile attack kills policeman, injures 52 others in Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine A Russian missile attack September 8 on Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine, killed one policeman and injured at least 52 others, emergency officials said, while another attack in the southern Kherson region killed three people. The strikes were among multiple Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said. Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen its position politically with local elections in areas it has illegally annexed, including some it still does not control. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it does not recognize the “fake elections.” Ten buildings were damaged in the attack and three people pulled from the rubble were in serious condition, according to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. Pictures posted by Klymenko on Telegram showed a building on fire, burnt timbers and emergency services evacuating the injured. Three people were also killed September 8 after a Russian bomb struck the village of Odradokamianka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, Klymenko said. Also on September 8, a funeral was held for an 18-year-old who was among the 16 people killed on September 6 in a Russian attack on a market in Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Russia is holding local elections in the part of the Kherson region it controls. Local elections are also being held in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kherson, local residents and Ukrainian activists say election poll workers have made house calls accompanied by armed soldiers. Ukraine has dismissed the elections, calling on its allies to condemn Russia’s actions and urging them not to recognize any administration created as a result of the votes. Meanwhile, Britain announced it will host a global food security summit in November in response to Russia’s withdrawal of a Black Sea grain deal and attacks on Ukraine’s grain supply. The British government also said Royal Air Force aircraft will fly over the Black Sea as part of efforts to deter Russia from striking cargo ships transporting grain from Ukraine. In Brief: A Varanasi court on September 8 granted additional time of eight weeks to the Archaeological Survey of India to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex and submit its report. District Judge A.K. Vishvesh dismissed the mosque management committee’s objection and provided the additional time to the ASI, government counsel Rajesh Mishra said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 08 September 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]( Assembly bypolls | INDIA parties win 4 seats against BJP’s 3 The [results for the bypolls to seven Assembly seats across six States were declared on September 8](. The seven seats — Bageshwar in Uttarakhand, Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Puthuppally in Kerala, Dhupguri in West Bengal, Dumri in Jharkhand, and Boxanagar and Dhanpur in Tripura — went to poll on September 5. The [BJP won Tripura’s Dhanpur and Boxanagar]( seats by huge margins. BJP’s Tafajjal Hossain won Boxanagar by a margin of 30,237 votes and Bindu Debnath bagged Dhanpur by a margin of 18,871 votes. In Kerala, the Opposition [Congress-led UDF retained the Puthuppally Assembly constituency]( as its candidate Chandy Oommen won by a margin of more than 36,000 votes. The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal wrested Dhupguri from the BJP, while the BJP retained the Bageshwar seat in Uttarakhand with its candidate Parwati Dass defeating Congress’ Basant Kumar by more than 2,400 votes. JMM candidate Bebi Devi won Dumri bypoll in Jharkhand’s Giridih district by defeating AJSU nominee Yashoda Devi by more than 17,000 votes. Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh defeated his BJP rival Dara Singh Chauhan in Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh with a margin of 42,759 votes. G-20 Summit | Joe Biden arrives in Delhi, holds talks with PM Modi [U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in New Delhi on September 8 to participate in the G-20 Summit](. He was received by Union Minister V.K. Singh. PM Modi’s official residence was Biden’s first stop after he arrived, where the two leaders held bilateral talks. Biden is also expected to speak with other leaders on the “margins”, the White House said. During the day, several foreign heads of state and dignitaries landed in New Delhi, ahead of the summit to be held at the ‘Bharat Mandapam’ in Delhi. The summit is expected to be attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations. Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview to The Hindu, African Union Chairperson Azali Assoumani said,“We are confident of becoming a full member of G-20 in the summit being held under Indian Presidency.” He added that G-20 should invest in industrialisation of Africa so that “our resources are used to produce goods in the continent and our youth can find employment”. PM Modi will be holding more than 15 bilateral meetings over the next three days. On the day, he held talks with Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Mauritius PM Pravind Jugnauth apart from the talks with Biden. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast One Nation, One Election: How feasible is it and what would be its impact? The [Union government has set up a committee headed by President Ramnath Kovind to look at various aspects of implementing the ‘one nation, one election’ plan](. The broad idea is to synchronise the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States. The proposal for simultaneous elections has raised many concerns. Foremost among them is the impact it will have on federalism. Then there is the question of feasibility – what happens if a state government falls, for instance? Then there are the legal aspects – what are the various constitutional amendments that would be needed, and would the states have to ratify it as well? G-20 gala dinner | Government doesn’t value leader of 60% of India, says Rahul Gandhi Congress leader [Rahul Gandhi said that not inviting the Leader of the Opposition showed that the Narendra Modi government does not value the leader of 60% population](. He made the remarks on the government not extending an invitation to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge for the G-20 gala dinner being hosted by the President Droupadi Murmu Kharge is the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, which is a Cabinet rank position. This is the first reaction from Congress on his exclusion. “They have decided not to invite the Leader of Opposition. It tells you that they don’t value the leader of 60% of India’s population. Why are they feeling the need to do that and what is the type of thinking goes behind that,” Gandhi asked during a press interaction at Brussels Press Club, in Belgium. He is in Europe for a week-long tour. Recently, Gandhi claimed that the Opposition INDIA parties together represented 60% of the country’s population. Gandhi reiterated his statements on “attacks on Indian institutions and democratic framework” that he has made both within the country and in his interactions outside of it. There is an attempt to change the nature of our country, Gandhi said, to a question on discrimination against minorities. Not only minorities, the tribals, Dalits and those from backward classes are also facing discrimination, he added. BJP will forge pre-poll alliance with JD(S) in Karnataka for 2024 Lok Sabha elections, says B.S. Yediyurappa Clearing the air over intense political speculation in Karnataka, BJP Parliamentary Board member and veteran leader [B.S. Yediyurappa confirmed that his party will forge a pre-poll alliance with Janata Dal (S)]( for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. “BJP and JD(S) are about to forge an alliance for the Lok Sabha polls. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has agreed to give four seats to the JD(S),” Yediyurappa said on September 8. He expects the alliance to win 25 to 26 Lok Sabha seats of the total 28 in Karnataka. BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel and former CM Basavaraj Bommai also expressed their support. Both the parties worked in co-ordination during the recent legislature session of the Karnataka Assembly. The [JD(S) is yet to make any statement]( on the proposed alliance. State BJP leaders too are not in the know of these developments, as the discussions are believed to be happening at the level of the BJP high command. However, there was no clarity on the constituencies that are being offered to the JD(S). BJP sources believe that the JD(S) may be offered Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapura and Hassan seats. A BJP State functionary said the party is unlikely to give Mandya to JD(S). Meanwhile, CM Siddaramaiah sought to downplay the proposed alliance. “We are not bothered who will enter into an alliance and who will fight on their own. We will seek votes from people. People are in our favour, and they will vote for us,” he said. Ladakh issues fresh dates for hill council polls as Supreme Court allows National Conference to retain party symbol The Union Territory (UT) of [Ladakh on September 8 re-notified the dates for the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council-Kargil (LAHDC-K) elections for October 4]( two days after the Supreme Court allowed the National Conference (NC) to retain its party symbol, ‘Plough’. Referring to the Supreme Court order on September 6, 2023, the Ladakh administration, in a fresh order, said, “The symbol “Plough” is hereby reserved for the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference Party for the ensuing elections to the 5th LAHDC-K.” Earlier, the elections were scheduled for September 10, 2023. However, the Ladakh administration denied the NC its party symbol to be used for the polls, leading to a prolonged legal battle between the two since the first week of August. The UT administration argued that Ladakh has an election authority and not a State Election Commission, which has the rights to issue symbols for the elections. However, the NC pleaded before the court that the same authority issued a symbol to the Aam Aadmi Party for the 2020 LAHDC-Leh elections. The Ladakh administration could not justify its position on the NC symbol before the top court. Apparently, the move was aimed to disallow the regional mainstream to make a comeback in Kargil, which has a huge symbolic value for the NC in the backdrop of the Centre’s steps made following the 2019 decision to end J&K’s special constitutional position. The NC has asked its leaders to prepare filing nominations for the polls. NC vice-president Omar Abdullah said the fact that the Supreme Court deemed fit to impose a sum of one lakh rupees on the Ladakh administration is in itself an indication of how seriously the court viewed the conduct of the administration. The NC and Congress have already decided to fight these polls together. The polls will see 26 members elected to the council. Russian missile attack kills policeman, injures 52 others in Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine A [Russian missile attack September 8 on Kryvyi Rih, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown in central Ukraine, killed one policeman and injured at least 52 others]( emergency officials said, while another attack in the southern Kherson region killed three people. The strikes were among multiple Russian attacks across the country overnight, officials said. Meanwhile, Moscow is trying to strengthen its position politically with local elections in areas it has illegally annexed, including some it still does not control. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it does not recognize the “fake elections.” Ten buildings were damaged in the attack and three people pulled from the rubble were in serious condition, according to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko. Pictures posted by Klymenko on Telegram showed a building on fire, burnt timbers and emergency services evacuating the injured. Three people were also killed September 8 after a Russian bomb struck the village of Odradokamianka in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine, Klymenko said. Also on September 8, a funeral was held for an 18-year-old who was among the 16 people killed on September 6 in a Russian attack on a market in Kostiantynivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region. Russia is holding local elections in the part of the Kherson region it controls. Local elections are also being held in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions. In Kherson, local residents and Ukrainian activists say election poll workers have made house calls accompanied by armed soldiers. Ukraine has dismissed the elections, calling on its allies to condemn Russia’s actions and urging them not to recognize any administration created as a result of the votes. Meanwhile, Britain announced it will host a global food security summit in November in response to Russia’s withdrawal of a Black Sea grain deal and attacks on Ukraine’s grain supply. The British government also said Royal Air Force aircraft will fly over the Black Sea as part of efforts to deter Russia from striking cargo ships transporting grain from Ukraine. In Brief: A [Varanasi court on September 8 granted additional time of eight weeks to the Archaeological Survey of India to complete the scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex]( and submit its report. District Judge A.K. Vishvesh dismissed the mosque management committee’s objection and provided the additional time to the ASI, government counsel Rajesh Mishra said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[Chinese Premier Li Qiang lands in India facing first international test] Chinese Premier Li Qiang lands in India facing first international test]( [[White House journalists press U.S. officials on lack of access during Modi-Biden bilateral and G-20] White House journalists press U.S. officials on lack of access during Modi-Biden bilateral and G-20]( [[The Lones: popular in their constituency but disliked outside] The Lones: popular in their constituency but disliked outside]( [[Tata Steel Chess | Praggnanandhaa in sole lead after a wild day of blitz] Tata Steel Chess | Praggnanandhaa in sole lead after a wild day of blitz]( Copyright @ 2023, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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