Dhankhar raises eyebrows as he leaves office; Trump slaps 'friend' Modi's India with 25% tariffs

Deccan Herald

5 days ago

Hello readers! We are back with a new edition of DH Political Theatre. The previous week witnessed debates and chaos in the Parliament as the Monsoon Session kickstarted with the much awaited discussion on Operation Sindoor, giving a chance to the Opposition to bombard the government with even more questions. The Opposition also took on the Modi govt on the US tariff row, indicating it to be the start of "bure din" as 25 per cent US tariffs came into effect for India. Let's dive in deeper and see what else happened in India this week..Debate on Operation Sindoor, and the unanswered questions .Home Minister Amit Shah announced in Lok Sabha the killings of three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) 'A-category' terrorists who carried out the Pahalgam attack. In the House, questions were raised by the Opposition regarding the silence on why Operation Sindoor was stopped midway. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the government for the violence in Manipur, Delhi riots, and Pahalgam, all of which happened under Shah's watch. In his 100-minute reply during the special discussion, the PM put up a brave front by saying India "taught" a lesson to those behind the Pahalgam attack, and stated that no country stopped India from carrying out the operation, hinting at Donald Trump's claims of having brokered the ceasefire. Trump has repeated his claim of ending the conflict between India and Pakistan nearly thirty times by saying he 'helped settle' the tensions using trade as leverage.Mounting a sharp attack, Rahul Gandhi accused Modi for carrying out Operation Sindoor to protect his "image". He also took a dig at him vis-a-vis Trump, saying, "We can't have a PM who doesn't have the courage to call Trump a liar, who can't use the Army as it is supposed to be."Amid all this, the silence of certain leaders made loud statements. "Maun vrat, maun vrat": Shashi Tharoor said outside the Parliament when asked about participating in the 16-hour special discussion. Tharoor has publicly praised Modi on Operation Sindoor, and participating in the debate would have meant 'attacking the government'. .'Kaun banega next VP?'.After the sudden resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar, the question on who will be the frontrunners for becoming the next Vice President has become crucial.The Election Commission has informed that polls to pick the VP will take place on September 9. With that, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will be exploring a consensus candidate. Dhankhar cited health concerns as the reason for his exit, but Congress senses there is "far more to his totally unexpected resignation than meets the eye", and that there are "deeper reasons" behind the decision.With the ruling BJP-led NDA enjoying a majority in the electorate, it is likely to consider probable names soon. The BJP has a large pool of leaders to choose from for the position.There were even speculations among politicians in Kerala that Shashi Tharoor may be chosen by the BJP. However, time will tell if BJP will choose an "outsider" for the crucial Constitutional post..'SIR: Attack on Democracy'.Several Opposition leaders demanded the rollback of Election Commission's voter roll revision in Bihar. The MPs raised slogans and protested against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.Terming SIR as "vote chori", the Opposition protested in both Houses of Parliament against the exercise, alleging that the EC's initiative was aimed at "disenfranchising voters" in Bihar ahead of the Assembly polls. Following this, the Supreme Court said it was overviewing the process of SIR as judicial authority, and would immediately step in if there was mass exclusion of voters.Alongside all this, a bizarre event has rattled Bihar's administrative machinery, as a residence certificate was issued to a dog named "Dog Babu".Independent MP Pappu Yadav slammed the administration, and called out on how a dog is getting a residence certificate, while ordinary people cannot get one..US-tariff row: 'Bure din for India?'.The United States announced 25 per cent tariff on Indian exports, and signed a trade deal with Pakistan. Trump called India a "friend", however mounted a sharp attack, and discontent over India's ties with Russia. The two countries can can take their "dead economies down together," Trump said. Following the tariff deal, Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at PM Modi and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and claimed everybody except them knows that the Indian economy is "dead". Rahul had said a trade deal with the US will happen and Trump will define it, while "Modi will do what Trump tells him to do".Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav too noted that this is the beginning of "bure din" for India. In the midst of the tariff talks, the White House believes Trump should be awarded the Nobel Prize, as he "ended several conflicts around the world", saying it is well past time..Karnataka rekindles 'Dalit CM' debateCongress President Mallikarjun Kharge recalled how he lost the CM's post in 1999 to S M Krishna, which seems to have rekindled the 'Dalit CM' debate within the party's state unit. Deputy CM D K Shivakumar backed Kharge and said that there is nothing wrong if a senior leader like him is expressing his emotions. Kharge's remark sparked a fresh debate on the long-standing demand for a Dalit CM in Karnataka, a hotly debated matter within the Congress party, an issue on which senior leaders and Ministers Parameshwara and H C Mahadevappa have openly spoken in the past. The BJP took no time in picking on Kharge's statement. Attacking the Congress for "tokenism" when it comes to "Dalit empowerment", Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said, "Every time a Dalit rises in Congress, the Gandhi family ensures he is pulled down."More from KarnatakaRahul Gandhi has the evidence regarding the modus operandi for "vote theft" during last years LS polls, claimed CM Siddaramaiah, adding that Rahul will be in Bengaluru on August 5 to participate in a protest and submit a representation to the EC officials in Karnataka. Deputy CM D K Shivakumar too cited two instance of voter additions during the 2023 Assembly polls. He claimed that Congress wants to "save democracy" and does not want the EC to be a part of the political process. .What happened elsewhere?In a development that took Maharashtra politics by surprise, the Thackeray cousins were seen together at the iconic Matoshree, the home of former Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. This was a second meet up of Raj and Uddhav in a fortnight's time, intensifying the alliance buzz. Meanwhile in West Bengal, CM Mamata Banerjee led her party to launch a second "Bhasha Andolan" to protest the "linguistic terror" she accused the BJP of unleashing on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states. .These were all the political updates of the week. Stay tuned to DH for all the latest news and we will be back with Political Theater next week.Exit Stage Left,DH Newsletters Team