Days before the national election, Rahul Gandhi today announced what he called a "historic" minimum income guarantee scheme assuring Rs. 72,000 a year for India's poorest families if the Congress came to power.

The money will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of 20 percent of the poorest in the country. The scheme, said the Congress president, would lift five crore families or 25 crore people out of poverty.

"It is not acceptable to the Congress that there is poverty in India in the 21st century. The final assault on poverty has begun," he said of the scheme named Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The acronym NYAY means "justice" in Hindi; Priyanka Gandhi suggested the name in Ahmedabad when she attended a Congress leadership meet for the first time.

He also described it as an "extremely powerful, dynamic, well-thought-through idea."

Rahul Gandhi announced the scheme on a day the poll process formally took off as candidates for the first round of polling filed their papers. Minutes before the press conference, the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party's top policy-making body had met to finalize its manifesto.

NYAY will be the headliner in the Congress campaign for the elections. The party has been attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government over demonetization and the lack of jobs, which, Rahul Gandhi says, has left millions of Indians struggling.

The Supreme Court today sought the CBI's response on Lalu Yadav's bail plea in connection with the multi-crore fodder scam. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi asked the central probe agency to respond within two weeks on the RJD supremo's plea, challenging the Jharkhand High Court's order, rejecting his bail in three cases.

Lalu Yadav in his plea in High Court on January 10, had cited old age and said that he was suffering from diabetes, blood pressure, and other ailments. He has been undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi.

The RJD chief is serving a 14-year jail term after being convicted in the 900-crore fodder scam, which relates to fraudulent withdrawal of money from treasuries in the animal husbandry department in the early 1990s when Lalu Yadav was the chief minister.

He was convicted of embezzlement of funds from Deoghar, Dumka and two Chaibasa treasuries. While he got bail in one of the two Chaibasa-treasury related cases, he is currently facing a fifth case linked to the Doranda treasury.

Meanwhile, the Bihar party chief, Ramchander Purbe said that Lalu Yadav will select seats and candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. The decision was taken at the state and central parliamentary board meeting of the RJD held at the residence of Lalu Yadav's wife and former Bihar chief minister Rabri Devi.

Congress has paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, in Sabarmati Ashram on Tuesday before blowing up the campaign of Lok Sabha election. Party leaders, Rahul Gandhi, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, under the leadership of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, remembering the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violence and tolerance, giving a symbolic message to the people of the country before the general elections. 

Rahul Gandhi, while addressing booth level workers in Delhi on Monday, said that the general elections are a fight between the ideologies of Mahatma Gandhi and Nathuram Godse, which will have love on one side and hatred on the other.

On Tuesday, there is also the Anniversary of the historic 'Dandi March', Mahatma Gandhi started the Dandi March with the Satyagrahis on March 12, 1930, with the Sabarmati Ashram.

In the meeting of the Congress Working Committee, the final layout of the general election strategy will be prepared. The Congress Working Committee meeting is being organized here at 'Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial', which is joining the party's top leaders including former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and newly-appointed Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

After assuming a political role in the Congress party, Priyanka is attending the official meeting for the first time. After 58 years of Congress, the Congress CWC is going to meet, the last meeting of the CWC in the state was held in 1961.

After the CWC meeting, the party will also hold a public meeting with 'Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogan in Adalaj of Gandhinagar. Patid leader Hardik Patel will also join the Congress during this meeting.

There are many special reasons for meeting in Gujarat. One of the important things is that Gujarat is the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from this, BJP President Amit Shah also comes from Gujarat. In such a scenario, the Congress strategy is preparing to surround the two top leaders in the house. Since the Gujarat assembly elections, the Congress is in jeopardy, they want to take advantage of this in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition filed against the Ordinance brought on by the Central Government regarding the Triple Talaq Bill. The Supreme Court has refused to accept the petition filed on Monday.

In February last year, the Modi Cabinet had approved the increase of the ordinance brought to Triple Talaq. This new Ordinance will continue till June, after which if the law has to be continued then the ordinance will again be brought. Otherwise, it has to be passed from Parliament.

It is worth noting that the Triple Talaq customs have been released three times so far, to the ordinance making criminal offenses for Muslim men. President Ramnath Kovind had signed the Second Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) in February 2019.

The bill which prohibits the practice of Triple Talaq has been passed from the Lok Sabha, this bill is currently pending in the Rajya Sabha. With the dissolution of the current Lok Sabha, the bill will also end on June 3. In less than a year, this Ordinance has been reissued for the third time.

Many opposition parties and community leaders have objected to the Triple Talaq bill and have said that the jail term for a person is legally unstable after giving Triple Talaq to his wife immediately. But the government claims that this bill provides justice and equality to Muslim women. This will give Muslim women the right to equal justice and equal rights. Ordinance has been issued for the third time in less than a year. This bill was missed on June 3 with the dissolution of the current Lok Sabha.

After the Pulwama terror attack, there is a political dispute about the airstrike that was launched in Pakistan. Projections are being sought by many opposition parties including the Congress. In the list of evidence-seeking parties, the name of the Bharatiya Janata Party's partner Shiv Sena has also been added. Shiv Sena has said that the countrymen have the right to know the truth about this.

The statement issued by the Shiv Sena said that the countrymen have a right to know how much harm we have inflicted on the enemy's house. We do not believe that asking this type of question will weaken the morale of the army personnel.

Shiv Sena has written that the Prime Minister becomes emotional on many issues, but this time the Prime Minister's eyes do not show tears. This time he looks more happy. On one hand, while there was an atmosphere of war with Pakistan, on the other hand Modi rallies were addressing.

It says that before the Pulwama, the opposition had many issues, including inflation, unemployed, and Rafael Deal. But now it seems that all types of issues have ended after air strikes, and everyone is talking about the airstrike.

Congress leaders such as Digvijay Singh, Manish Tewari, Kapil Sibal, and TMC leaders and many other big opposition leaders have questioned the airstrike. Some leaders have demanded that the government should present convincing evidence.

Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah has consistently said that those who are raising questions on airstrikes are reducing the morale of the country's army. Apart from Amit Shah, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also targeted the people who questioned the air strikes.

Even before this, Shiv Sena has already questioned many big decisions of the Modi government. In the last four years, the Shiv Sena has targeted the BJP continuously. However, Amit Shah had stamped the alliance with the Shiv Sena in Mumbai a few days ago. Both parties have decided that the Bharatiya Janata Party will contest 25 of the 48 seats of the state, while the Shiv Sena will contest the 23 seats.