Periscope: Rahul first to visit Gujarat after note ban

Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally in Mehsana, Gujarat, on Wednesday where the party enjoys a majority in both district and taluka panchayats. This will be his first visit to the state after demonetisation.

The visit holds significance with Assembly polls expected to be held in 2017. He had visited Gujarat in July to meet four dalit youths, who were allegedly thrashed by cow vigilantes in Una town. According to party leaders in the state, around 200,000 people are likely to attend the meeting.

Modi to address party workers in Varanasi 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Varanasi on Thursday to address party workers.

Insiders say it will be the first organisational meeting being held by Modi in Uttar Pradesh, where he will be interacting directly with workers of the party's 1,700 booth-level committees in five Assembly segments - Varanasi North, Varanasi South, Varanasi Cantonment, Sevapuri and Rohaniya. The programme is tentatively scheduled to be held at the DLW ground.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, in the 2012 Assembly elections, had lost Sevapuri to the Samajwadi Party and Rohaniya to the Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel. Anupriya fielded her mother, Krishna Patel, in the 2014 by-election after she got elected to the Lok Sabha from Mirzapur in alliance with the BJP, but the SP won Rohaniya, too, in the by-poll.

GST Council meeting to be held on Dec 22-23 

The next meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council is scheduled for Thursday and Friday. The meeting will take another look at the contentious issue of sharing power between the Centre and the states. The states have stood by their position that businesses with annual turnover up to Rs 15 million should be under their exclusive control. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said he saw no possibility of GST hitting the road before September 2017. However, GST must be implemented latest by September 16, 2017, as defined by the Constitution.

As the winter session ended on December 16, GST laws will have to be taken up by Parliament in the Budget session in January.

Kyrgyzstan President visits India

Kyrgyzstan President Almazbek Sharshenovich Atambayev is on a four-day state visit to India. He arrived on Sunday and this is his first visit here as President. He is leading a delegation comprising ministers, senior officials and business leaders.

President Pranab Mukherjee will receive his counterpart and host a dinner banquet. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold discussions with Atambayev and host a lunch. Atambayev is expected to attend a joint business forum.

"The visit coming right after Modi's visit to Kyrgyzstan in July 2015 will further cement the traditionally cordial and close ties between the two countries," a government statement said.