Karnataka Assembly polls: Congress may finalise 150 candidates on Monday

The state election committee of the Congress in Karnataka is likely to finalise candidates for 130-150 constituencies out of 224 during a meeting on tomorrow.  It has already conducted one round of meeting and discussed probable names in a possible joint opposition fight. By tomorrow, the party expects to get directions from the central leadership on the guidelines for selecting candidates, based on which the meeting will finalise candidates.  Besides 123 sitting MLAs, the party is likely to recommend names of those who lost the 2013 Assembly elections narrowly. 

Traders’ ire

Over 3,000 trade associations are expected to hold a rally at Delhi’s Ramlila ground on March 28 to demand they be protected from the sealing drive. The drive is being carried out at the instance of a Supreme Court-appointed panel. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT)  in a statement said the rally would be non-political and no political party would be invited. CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said instead of using force and resources to seal or destroy already constructed buildings, action should be taken against "current unauthorised constructions or usages". BS Reporter

Khandelwal demanded that the government set up a high level committee, including representatives of traders, under the Lt Governor to discuss the next Master Plan 2021-2041. 

The apex court had on March 6 stayed any further progress by the authorities to amend the Delhi Master Plan 2021, which is aimed at granting protection from the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital.  It had also observed that the rule of law over sanction to construct buildings had "completely broken down" and expressed concern over illegal construction. It had ordered restoration of its monitoring panel to identify and seal offending structures.