Your Daily Wrap: Singer KK dies, ED summons Sonia, Rahul Gandhi in money laundering case; and more

◾ The news of the death of singer KK on Tuesday night has left the nation in mourning. At Kolkata’s Rabindra Bhavan, the late singer was accorded a gun salute in presence of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. KK’s mortal remains will reach his home in Mumbai tonight and he will be cremated tomorrow. KK’s songs spoke for him, which were mostly paced out. For those of us who listened to him, the voice will remain etched as a salve for the soul, the kind that taught one to be kinder to those around us, Suanshu Khurana writes.

◾ Covid cases are on a rise again, with Mumbai reporting over 700 cases today. The surge in infections has prompted Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal asking its staff to ramp up testing and vaccination. “Better to plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Chahal said.

◾ Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu health minister has blamed the rise in Covid clusters on students from other states. Ma Subramanian said educational institutes in Chennai are witnessing a surge in infections. “The reason is that in several states the Covid-19 spread has not been brought under control; particularly in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. When students from these states reach the institutions, a cluster emerges.”

◾ Moving to the big political story of the day, the Bihar government has announced that the state would conduct its own caste census after the Centre made it clear that it cannot go ahead with a nationwide exercise in this regard. After the all-party meeting, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said: “All nine parties unanimously decided to go ahead with caste census. We would soon get it approved by cabinet and also allocate fund for the purpose. We would duly advertise the process and set a deadline to complete the process.”

◾ The Enforcement Directorate (ED) today summoned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi in the money laundering probe in the National Herald case. The agency had last month questioned Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Pawan Bansal in connection with the case it filed six months ago.

◾ A cryptic tweet by the former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly sparked intense speculation over his future. The BCCI has, however, quashed the speculation that Ganguly will be stepping down from his role as the board president.

Political Pulse

◾ Though the BJP, the Congress, and the Janata Dal (Secular) have filed nominations for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat available from Karnataka, none of the parties has clear numbers to win it, and the state Congress’s decision to not ally with the JD(S) has added a twist in the plot for the June 10 election and is expected to favour the BJP. The fate of the fourth seat is now dependent on cross-voting by MLAs from the three parties or tacit agreements between two of the parties for second-preference votes. Johnson TA reports.

◾ The resignation of Ashish Deshmukh as the Maharashtra Congress general secretary was perhaps the most extreme step in the wake of the party’s Rajya Sabha nominations which have left disgruntled leaders across states. It was also reflective of the deep discontent within the state unit over the way the party is being run. From leaders who have been with the Congress for years, to those in the junior-most ranks like youth activists, everybody talks of the “terrible gaps” in party functioning. Read Shubhangi Khapre’s report on all that’s not well with the state Congress unit.

Express Explained

◾ Gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections rose 44 per cent year-on-year to Rs 1,40,885 crore in May (for sales in April), reflecting improved economic activity, enforcement actions and higher inflation, data released by the Finance Ministry showed. Why is this encouraging and what experts have to say? Read here.

◾ The Mumbai Police have booked BJP leader Mohit Kamboj in a case of alleged bank fraud. While Kamboj has dismissed the charges calling the matter ‘long settled’, the issue has come as an embarrassment for the state BJP which has been gunning for the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi government on the issue of corruption. Who is Kamboj and what is the case against him? Read here.

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