QBullet: Aaditya is Sena’s Choice for CM; EAM Jaishankar in US

Catch the top headlines across newspapers here.

With this, Aaditya has become the first member of the Thackeray clan ever to contest an election.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Aaditya Thackeray)

1. Aaditya, 1st Thackeray to Fight Polls, is Sena’s Choice for CM

Fifty-three years after the Shiv Sena’s birth, party founder Bal Thackeray’s grandson and Uddhav’s son Aaditya will be the first member of the Thackeray family to enter the electoral arena. Aaditya, 29, announced on Monday that he would contest the state assembly elections from Mumbai’s Worli constituency.

Sena leader Sanjay Raut immediately made a pitch for the CM’s post for the Thackeray scion. “Chandrayaan 2 couldn’t land on the moon but we will ensure that this Suryavan (Aaditya Thackeray) reaches the sixth floor of Mantralaya (the chief minister’s office) on October 24 (the day of the poll results),” he said.

Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had said on Saturday at a party conclave that he had promised his father he would make a Sainik the CM of Maharashtra. The announcement of Aaditya’s candidature interestingly comes before a formal announcement of the BJP-Sena’s seat-sharing formula.

(Source: The Times of India)

2. Jaishankar Storms Washington DC With Confidence About India-US Ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar kicked off his first visit to the US capital in his new avatar on Monday, 30 September, saying it is his expectation that the protracted trade dispute with the United States is “resolvable in the fairly near term,” joining a new and growing chorus of positive prognoses on the issue.

India and the United States are in advanced stages of trade discussions with prospects of an early resolution of an issue that has been the most contentious, spanning several governments, but more so since President Donald Trump took office and made trade a top-priority for his administration.

“My sense of it is that most of these are resolvable,” Jaishankar said in his first of a series of back-to-back public and private events, referring to the trade issues under discussion. “In fact, my expectation is that much of it is resolvable in the fairly near term.”

(Source: Hindustan Times)

3. Ayodhya Hearing: As SC Deadline Nears, Ramlalla Counsel Says No to Mediation

As the Supreme Court looks at 18 October to wrap up hearings in the appeals against the 2010 order on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit, hopes of arriving at a negotiated settlement to the Ayodhya dispute via a parallel mediation process faded after Ramlalla Virajman, one of the three main parties to the suit, said no to further mediation.

Senior advocate C S Vaidyanathan, representing the deity in Ayodhya, conveyed this to a five-judge Constitution Bench which is hearing appeals against the 30 September, 2010 verdict of the Allahabad High Court ordering a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres between the Nirmohi Akhara, the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and Ramlalla Virajman.

(Source: The Indian Express)

4. Floods in Many Parts of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh

Several parts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were reeling from floods on Monday, 30 September, following incessant showers over the past few days.

The death toll in rain-related incidents has mounted to 145 across the country. Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of deaths — 111 since last week. Twenty-five have died in Bihar.

The weather department has forecast a long delayed withdrawal of monsoon and more rains for Patna, where several areas still remain submerged due to heavy rainfall over the past three days.

(Source: The Hindu)

5. FIR Against PMCB Top Execs; HC Moved

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) filed an FIR on Monday, 30 September against the top brass of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank  (PMCB) and realty firm HDIL for fraudulently causing losses of Rs 4,355.43 crore to the bank. The same day, a writ petition and a PIL were filed in the Bombay High Court seeking protection of the depositors’ money and action against several officials.

The FIR, lodged under sections 401, 420, 465, 466, 471, 120B of Indian Penal Code, names the bank’s now-suspended managing director Joy Thomas, chairman Waryam Singh and other senior executive. It also mentions involvement of HDIL MD and vice-chairman Sarang Wadhawan.

The EOW has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.

(Source: DNA)

6. BS Yediyurappa’s Ticket to Rebel Hearts: All 15 in By-Election Fray

Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa made it clear on Monday, 30 September that the BJP would not entertain any opposition from its leaders to the party fielding the 15 disqualified MLAs of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Congress for the 5 December assembly bypolls.

Speaking to reporters in Shikaripura before laying the foundation stone for various developmental works, Mr Yediyurappa said BJP national president and Union home minister, Amit Shah had promised the disqualified MLAs tickets, as it was the party's responsibility to field them in the bypolls.

“There is no scope for any dissent on giving party tickets to them,  including in Rannebennur,” he asserted in clear reference to the opposition from BJP leader, U.B. Banakar, who was defeated from the constituency in 2018,  to the party fielding disqualified MLA, BC Patil  in the bypoll.

(Source: Deccan Chronicle)

7. Ghulam Nabi Azad: All is Not Well in Kashmir

Former Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday, 30 September asked that if all is well in the state and restrictions are only in certain minds, as Union home minister Amit Shah has said, then why was he not allowed to visit his home unhindered.

Azad, whose three attempts to visit the state since August 5 were thwarted by the administration, finally managed to enter the Valley with Supreme Court permission and has just returned from the trip.

The resentment and sense of alienation in Kashmir is of a level never seen before and is alarming, Azad told a news conference. Describing the situation as a government-made disaster, the Congress leader said Kashmiris were registering their view on the change in the constitutional arrangement and the state’s bifurcation with a Gandhian-style civil disobedience.

(Source: The Telegraph)

8. Haryana Polls: BJP Out With First List of 78, Drops 8 Sitting MLAs

A day after BJP’s Central Election Committee held final discussions on its nominees for forthcoming elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly, the party on Monday, 30 September released its first list of 78 candidates which included nine women and also several turncoats.

Repeating 38 and dropping eight sitting legislators, including two ministers, and the Deputy Speaker of the present House Santosh Yadav in its bid to retain power in the state, the saffron party fielded Zakir Hussain and Naseem Ahmed from Nuh and Ferozepur Jhirka, respectively.

The two former INLD MLAs had crossed over to the BJP “impressed” by the style of functioning of the Manohar Lal Khattar government and its observance of the slogan “Sab Ka Saath Sabka Vikas”.

(Source: The Tribune)

9. Manmohan Singh Gets Kartarpur Invite

Amid tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad over Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan on Monday, 30 September invited former prime minister Manmohan Singh to the inauguration of the Kartarpur Corridor ahead of the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

Singh led the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2004 to 2014. He is unlikely to accept the invitation from the Pakistan government though, according to sources in the Congress.

“Kartarpur Corridor is an important project, Prime Minister (Imran Khan) has a personal interest in it,” Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said in a video message posted on Twitter. “After consultations, Pakistan Government has decided to invite former Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, to the inauguration (of Kartarpur Corridor) whom we hold in high regard. He will also represent the Sikhs.”

(Source: Deccan Herald)