Indian Politics Round-up: January 2019

Former Cabinet Minister, George Fernandes, passes away at 88

An important figure in the history of Indian politics, George Fernandes, passed away on January 29 at the age of 88. He was an Alzheimer’s patient and, most recently, had been suffering from swine flu. During his political career, he served as the Union Minister multiple times and was part of the first party (Janata Party) to beat Indian National Congress in General Elections.

 

Priyanka Gandhi makes her official entry in Indian Politics

Following in the footsteps of her family, Priyanka Gandhi—the sister of Congress President Rahul Gandhi—has finally made her debut in Indian Politics. At the onset, she has assumed the role of All-India Congress Committee’s General Secretary.

 

Rahul Gandhi promises “basic minimum wage” to the poor, if Congress wins

Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, has announced that a “basic minimum wage” for the poor is on the cards. The leader has called it his “promise” to the people of India, which he would fulfill if his party comes to power in 2019.

 

Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav unite for a concentrated SP-BSP effort in UP elections

BSP’s Mayawati and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav have joined hands in a surprising turn of events to contest UP elections together. This is a huge alarm for BJP who would look to retain the politically-important state in 2019.

 

India’s first all-woman party launched in Mumbai, will contest Lok Sabha elections

National Women’s Party (NWP) was launched in Mumbai on January 22. The party led by Dr. Shwetha Shetty has announced that it will contest 283 Lok Sabha seats in this year’s election. As a party, one of their main agendas is to get 50% quota for women in the Lok Sabha.

 

Citizenship Bill passes in Lok Sabha in spite of protests

The lower house of the Government of India has shown the green flag to the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016, infuriating people in the North-east. If the bill is passed in Rajya Sabha, it will grant citizenship to non-Muslim immigrants from Bangladesh, Pakistan, or Afghanistan, who had left their home country for India in order to escape from persecution. Assam is one such state which has seen a constant advent of illegal immigrants in the past few decades and, thus, are unwelcoming of changes the proposed amendment would bring.