News18 Daybreak I A Rahul-Nirmala Showdown Again in Parliament Today and Other Stories You Need to Watch Out For

What to watch out for

Rahul-Nirmala Showdown, Again in Parliament Today

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and Defence Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman are all set to lock horns again in today’s Parliamentary session. This time around however, the issue is government contracts to the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. On Saturday, Gandhi alleged that Sitharaman had lied in the Parliament that the government orders worth Rs. 1 Lakh crore were provided to the HAL. Sitharaman on Sunday posted photos on Twitter of what seemed to be HAL contracts and demanded that the Congress chief apologises in today’s session.

Sabarimala Issue To Be Raised in Zero Hour

BJP MPs will take up the Sabrimala issue in zero hour. BJP vs CPI-M tensions in Kerala on Sabarimala to echo in Parliament today… BJP to raise continuing violence in the state during the zero hour. As CM Pinarayi Vijayan lashes out over what he calls BJP’s two faces on the law of the land. In hartal related violence 5769 people have been arrested so far of which 789 has been remanded to judicial custody.1869 cases have been registered so far.

Mining Raid Politics in UP

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav will be raising the issue of the CBI raids on his party over cases of illegal mining and THE Samajwadi Party expected to raise issue of misuse of investigating agency alleging witch hunt against party and its president Akhilesh Yadav.

The CBI will examine the alleged roles of Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and his former Cabinet colleague Gayatri Prajapati in a case of illegal mining, according to an FIR filed by the agency on January 2. The agency also raided 14 locations in connection with the FIR against 11 persons to probe alleged illegal mining of minor minerals in Hamirpur district during 2012-16.

Exuding confidence, former Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh said he is ready to face the CBI, but people are also ready to answer the BJP.

Anti-Citizenship Bill Protests Grips Assam

Assam is witnessing an unprecedented series of protests with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets against the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016.

Different organisations have launched an anti-Bill movement in Brahmaputra valley, ratcheting up pressure on the government to reconsider its decision of granting Indian citizenship to ‘persecuted’ non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Bill is all set to be tabled in Parliament on January 7 – with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it “an atonement for the wrong done during India’s partition”.

Meanwhile, the Forum Against Citizenship Act (Amendment) Bill plans to hoist a black flag today, observing ‘Condemnation Day’ across Assam.

School and college students have been rallying against the Bill, as have farmers and members of different groups. Despite the state government’s ongoing rhetoric about providing constitutional safeguards to the people of Assam as per Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, protests against the Modi government continued across Assam. Those in Brahmaputra Valley see it as a move to endorse Hindus from Bangladesh who migrated to Assam after 1971.

What You May Have Missed

With the BJP's recent electoral defeats in three states, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) — eyeing a wider political space for the last few years — is looking forward to play a pivotal role to fight against the saffron brigade ahead of the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Banerjee, in her bid to form the 'Federal Front', has requested all the regional party leaders to join TMC's mega public meet at Brigade Parade Ground in Kolkata on January 19.

TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee said that top leaders, including National Conference's (NC) Farooq Abdullah, DMK President MK Stalin, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, noted lawyer Ram Jethmalani and BJP leader Shatrughan Sinha, will attend the event. The samajwadi party has confimed that akhilesh Yadav will be attending the event. However, BSP is yet to take a call on Mamata’s public meet.

‘Sankalp Patra’ Manifesto

BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday named Home Minister Rajnath Singh as the chairman of a 20-member ‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto) committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Members like Union ministers Arun jaitley, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ravi Shankar Prasad have been tasked with preparing a manifesto for the party. The committee will also consist of 17 sub-committees including ‘Mann ki Baat’ and ‘Bike Rally committee’.