Clockwise from top left: Liz Truss; Anna May Wong; J P Nadda's 'grave'; Shashi Tharoor with Mallikarjun Kharge.The big story of the day is from the UK where Liz Truss resigned as the prime minister just six weeks after she was appointed, brought down by an economic programme that sent shockwaves through financial markets last month and divided her Conservative Party. Speaking outside the door of her Number 10 Downing Street office, Truss said she could not deliver the promises she made when she was running for Conservative leader, having lost the faith of her party. A leadership election will be completed within the next week to replace Truss, who is the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. Given the divisions in the party there is no obvious candidate and any replacement would face a country likely heading into a recession. A look at the people likely to replace Truss.
A day after the results of Congress president election were announced, central election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry today hit out at Shashi Tharoor over his allegations of “irregularities” in the conduct of the poll in Uttar Pradesh. “We accommodated your request and despite that, you went to the media alleging the Central Election Authority was conspiring against you,” Mistry was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Mistry said that while Tharoor told him that he was satisfied with the authority’s answers to his questions on irregularities, he made different allegations while speaking to the media.
A video on social media, showing what appears to be a freshly covered grave at Malkapur in Choutuppal division of Telangana, with a poster of BJP national president JP Nadda on the headstone at one end, has drawn the ire of BJP leaders. BJP general secretary of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Vishnu Vardhan Reddy, was the first to share the video and condemn it. Reddy alleged it was the handiwork of TRS workers. TRS leaders have, however, denied culpability, saying there is no proof that its party workers were behind it.
Political Pulse
On Wednesday, the Aam Aadmi Party nominated another leader to take the place of its minister and Dalit face, Rajendra Pal Gautam, in the Arvind Kejriwal government. In Gujarat, where BJP posters following a conversion event in which Gautam participated led to his exit, there is anger towards both the BJP and AAP over the sequence of events. Jignesh Mevani, Vadgam MLA and working president of the Gujarat Congress says he can’t understand what wrong Gautam did by repeating the vows at the event held in Delhi, adding that the AAP puts political exigency first. AAP national joint general secretary Isudan Gadhvi, however, argues that rather than the party, the Dalits were unhappy with the BJP over what had happened with Gautam. Parimal A Dabhi and Rashi Mishra report.
Express Explained
Late Hollywood actress and fashion icon Anna May Wong (1905-1961) is set to become the first Asian American to feature on US currency. A quarter-dollar coin featuring a close-up image of Wong’s face chin resting on her hand will begin circulating from Monday (October 24), the US Mint said, as the fifth coin in the American Women Quarters (AWQ) Program. Who was Anna May Wong? A look at her legacy.
In Express Opinion today
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