Your Daily Wrap: Maharashtra crisis shows no signs of abating, ED accepts Sonia’s request in National Herald case; and more

Earlier in the day, Raut had said that at least 17-20 party MLAs have been on the radar of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and want to “get out of their predicament” by jumping ship. Some of these rebels have, however, mentioned “tremendous harassment and distress” faced by the Sena cadre on “political as well as personal grounds” from the “opposition ideological parties” among the reasons why they wanted to chart a new political trajectory for the party in Maharashtra.

If there are rebels, there are also leaders who are standing tall behind Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. A look at who these MLAs are and where they hail from. As the political crisis intensifies, track our live coverage here.

Moving to Delhi, where Basavaraj Bommai landed for his eleventh visit since taking over as the Karnataka Chief Minister less than a year ago. The sudden, one-day visit following summons issued by the BJP leadership on Wednesday afternoon has given rise to fresh speculation of changes in the state Cabinet. While the official travel plan has meetings scheduled with Union ministers, Bommai himself did not comment on the purpose of the visit, unlike in the past.

The Enforcement Directorate has asked Congress president Sonia Gandhi to record her statement with the agency sometime in late July after it accepted her plea to postpone her deposition in a money-laundering case linked to the National Herald newspaper. She had sought more time from the probe agency “since she has been strictly advised rest at home following her hospitalisation on account of Covid and lung infection.”

In other news, Tata Motors today said it is investigating the incident of a Nexon electric vehicle catching fire in Mumbai. Responding to the incident that has been widely shared on social media, Tata Motors in a statement said, “A detailed investigation is currently being conducted to ascertain the facts of the recent isolated thermal incident that is doing the rounds on social media.” There have been several incidents of vehicles catching fire in the recent past, prompting the government to issue a warning to the defaulting companies.

Political Pulse

From a court intervention in the early hours to the disintegration of one of its top leaders in full public view, the AIADMK leadership drama lived up to the full promise of expected fireworks on Thursday. The man standing tall as the dust settled was Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS); the one whose defeat was total was rival O Panneerselvam (OPS). Till the end, OPS kept fighting, and must have hoped that a court order, halting the selection of a unitary leadership in the party, as pressed by EPS gave him some reprieve. However, any such hopes were dashed at the AIADMK General Council meeting, where the party rallied behind EPS and announced that the only demand of the Council was to bring in a single-leadership system for the party – or make Joint Coordinator EPS the AIADMK chief. Arun Janardhanan reports.

The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), led by its executive president and Chief Minister Hemant Soren, may be among the 17 Opposition parties, which nominated Yashwant Sinha on June 21 as their joint candidate for the Presidential election, but the tribal party seems all set to review its position and back the ruling BJP-led NDA’s Presidential nominee, Droupadi Murmu. The NDA’s move to name Murmu as its Presidential candidate has put the JMM in a spot. It clearly does not want to be seen as a party which despite its tribal credentials did not back the “historic move” to send the first tribal to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Abhishek Angad reports.

Express Explained

Ilhan Omar, a representative from the US Congress, introduced a resolution to condemn human rights violations in India, specifically those targeting Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Dalits, Adivasis, and “other religious and cultural minorities”, as per a press release by her office. Who is Ilhan Omar? What has she said about India? Read here.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued detailed guidelines on the tax deducted at source (TDS) rule for virtual digital assets (VDAs) such as cryptocurrencies, and laid down the various scenarios under which tax would be applicable and on whom the onus of deduction would lie. On whom does the onus to pay TDS on crypto lie? How will TDS be levied?  explains.

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