PoliticsWeek ahead
Week ahead: rebel TMC MPs' deadline, anti-SIR protests and council polls as Supreme Court breaks
The Speaker's deadline for 20 Trinamool rebels falls on Tuesday, district protests against the roll revision are set for Friday, and the big court cases return only after the Dussehra break.
Key points
- Twenty rebel Trinamool MPs must answer disqualification petitions by Tuesday, 20 October.
- Farmer, worker and student groups hold nationwide protests against the SIR on 23 October.
- The Supreme Court is on its Dussehra break; several political cases are due from 26 October.
The coming week brings a string of deadlines for the opposition and the government, with the Supreme Court on its Dussehra break and the fight over the electoral roll revision moving back to the streets.
Tuesday: the Trinamool rebels’ deadline
The 20 Trinamool Congress MPs who broke away in June to join the Nationalist Citizens Party of India must reply by Tuesday, 20 October, to the petitions seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla’s office has already extended the deadline three times. Abhishek Banerjee, who filed the petitions, has asked the Supreme Court to push the Speaker to decide.
The same day, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gives his Vijayadashami address in Nagpur, closing the Sangh’s centenary year. Former Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar is on the guest list, which the Congress has read as a sign of strain within the Sangh Parivar. Dhankhar has not said whether he will go.
In Mumbai, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar holds talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is in India until 22 October with energy at the top of his agenda.
Friday: protests across the country
On Friday, 23 October, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, the All India Kisan Sabha, trade unions and student, youth and women’s groups plan district-level protests demanding that the Special Intensive Revision be scrapped and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar removed.
Graduates and teachers in Maharashtra vote the same day for five Legislative Council seats in Pune, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Amravati, which Eknath Shinde has predicted the ruling Mahayuti will sweep. In Uttar Pradesh, the Varanasi division seat votes on 24 October. The Maharashtra count is on 27 October.
The courts
The Supreme Court’s regular benches are off for the Dussehra break. Chief Justice Surya Kant said on Friday he would try to list former Keralam chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s plea against an FIR order before a vacation bench, failing which it would come up on 26 October. The court has said it will take up the application alleging that Rahul Gandhi pushed a pregnant journalist during the 12 October march on 26 or 27 October.
No date has been announced for the next hearing of the INDIA bloc leaders’ petition against the SIR, in which the court issued notice to the Election Commission on 15 October.
Looking further ahead
Delhi Police have issued the Congress a no-objection certificate covering 25 October to 3 November for its rally at Ramlila Maidan on 1 November. The Election Commission hears the battle between the Mamata Banerjee and Ritabrata Banerjee factions over the Trinamool’s name and symbol on 30 October, and a Delhi court takes up the defamation case against Dhruv Rathee on 31 October.
Dates to watch
- 20 OctRebel TMC MPs' reply deadline; RSS Vijayadashami address in Nagpur; Jaishankar-Rubio talks in Mumbai
- 23 OctNationwide district-level protests against the SIR; Maharashtra council polls
- 24 OctVaranasi division council poll in Uttar Pradesh
- 26-27 OctSupreme Court benches return; Rahul Gandhi journalist application due
- 30 OctElection Commission hears Trinamool ownership dispute
- 1 NovCongress rally at Ramlila Maidan