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1) More unions join stir, up ante over farmer’s death
The death of a 21-year-old protester at the Punjab-Haryana border appeared to galvanise disparate farm unions on Thursday as cultivator groups upped the ante of their two-week-long protests, demanding murder charges against the police, chief minister and home minister of Haryana, and announcing a slew of new joint programmes. The call for intensified protests – including a “Jan Aakrosh” rally on Friday, a nationwide tractor rally on highways on February 26, and a mahapanchayat in Delhi’s Ramlila Ground on March 14 – was given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) which had till Thursday stayed away from the stir.
2) What is the seat sharing pact between AAP and Congress for Delhi?
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to contest four of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi and leave the remaining three to its ally, the Congress, as part of a seat-sharing agreement between the two Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc partners, people aware of the matter said on Thursday. The pact – which is likely to be formally announced on Friday – will be the first such alliance between the two erstwhile rivals and the second big agreement clinched in the beleaguered INDIA after an arrangement between the Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
3) Manipur HC deletes part of earlier order on inclusion of Meiteis in ST list
The Manipur high court on Wednesday deleted a portion of an earlier order passed by it in March last year directing the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the scheduled tribe (ST) list. The order passed on March 27, 2023, is believed to be one of the main triggers for the ethnic conflict between the Meitei and tribal Kuki communities which broke out in May in which at least 215 lives have been lost to date and over 50,000 displaced.
4) ‘Congress govt was worthless, got involved in scams’, says Amit Shah in Chhattisgarh
Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday lashed out at the previous Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress dispensation in Chhattisgarh, calling it a ‘worthless government’. Addressing the ‘Vijay Sankalp Shankhnad’ rally in Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir, Shah said, “The Congress government was a worthless government that never worked to end Naxalism, never worked to give justice to the people of Chhattisgarh but got involved in scams worth rupees lakhs of crores and inflicted injustice upon them.” He thanked the voters of the state for electing a BJP government, thereby appealing to them to make saffron party candidates the winners in the Lok Sabha elections.
5) ED issues 7th summons to CM Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi excise policy probe
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to the Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in its excise policy money laundering probe asking him to appear before it on February 26, people familiar with the development said on Thursday. The latest (seventh) summons were issued after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener continued to skip interrogation by the financial crimes probe agency since November 2 last year.
