'Affidavit Or Apology': ECI's Stern Response To Rahul Gandhi; Trump's Latest Signals On Tariffs; And More

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C.P. Radhakrishnan Is NDA Vice-Presidential Candidate

Maharashtra Governor, C.P. Radhakrishnan's name has been announced as the vice-presidential candidate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Chandrapuram Ponnusamy Radhakrishnan, a former senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Tamil Nadu, has been serving as the Governor of Maharashtra since 31 July 2024.

Prior to this, he was the Governor of Jharkhand from February 2023 to July 2024, and also held additional charge as the Governor of Telangana and the Lieutenant Governor of Puducherry between March and July 2024.

Radhakrishnan has been elected to the Lok Sabha twice from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and has also served as the state president of the Tamil Nadu unit of the BJP between 2003-2006.

The election for a new Vice President is being held because the previous incumbent, Jagdeep Dhankhar, resigned on 21 July citing health reasons.

The election will be conducted on 9 September. Only members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha vote in the Vice President's election.

Affidavit Or Apology, No Third Option: ECI To Rahul Gandhi

Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar delivered an ultimatum to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday, demanding either a sworn affidavit substantiating his "vote theft" allegations or a public apology within seven days.

The escalation comes amid Gandhi's campaign alleging electoral malpractices.

"An affidavit will have to be given or an apology will have to be made to the country," Kumar stated in a press conference, Sunday. "There is no third option. If the affidavit is not received within seven days, it means that all these allegations are baseless."

Rahul Gandhi has alleged widespread electoral fraud, claiming the Election Commission actively assists the BJP by manipulating voter rolls.

The Congress leader launched a 1,300-km 'Voter Adhikar Yatra' from Bihar's Sasaram on Sunday, intensifying the Opposition INDIA bloc's campaign against alleged "vote theft."

During the campaign, Gandhi claimed there is a "new conspiracy" to "steal" polls by manipulating voter lists through special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The Election Commission has consistently rejected Gandhi's allegations, demanding evidence through legal affidavits. Officials have also fact-checked Congress content, alleging some materials were AI-generated to "mislead the voters of Bihar."

"Electoral Rolls for each Assembly Constituency of Bihar are being prepared as per law and with full transparency," the Commission stated on social media.

The Commission has removed 65 lakh names from draft voter lists, citing deaths, relocations, and duplicate registrations as justification for the deletions.

Kumar also criticised the release of voters’ photographs to the media without consent, saying, “We saw recently, that some voters' photos were shown to the media without their consent; and allegations were made using them.”

He also dismissed the demand for CCTV footage, asking, “Should the Election Commission share CCTV videos of anyone's mother, daughter-in-law, sister, or of anyone else?”.

Other developments

Trump Hints at Possible Relief from Secondary Tariffs on Russian Oil Buyers

U.S. President Donald Trump suggested Friday that the United States may not impose additional secondary tariffs on countries purchasing Russian crude oil, potentially offering relief to India amid concerns about escalating trade penalties.

Trump's comments came after his Alaska summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin ended without a breakthrough on ending the Ukraine war.

Speaking to reporters, Trump acknowledged the impact of existing measures while hinting at possible restraint on future sanctions: "Well, he (Russian President Vladimir Putin) lost an oil client, so to speak, which is India, which was doing about 40 per cent of the oil. China, as you know, is doing a lot. And if I did what's called a secondary sanction, or a secondary tariff, it would be very devastating from their standpoint. If I have to do it, I'll do it. Maybe I won't have to do it," Trump stated.

The high-profile Trump-Putin meeting concluded without agreement on ending the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"We had a very productive meeting, and there were many points that we agreed on. A couple of big ones that we haven't quite gotten there, but we made some headway. There's no deal until there's a deal," Trump told reporters at the joint press conference.

Prior to the talks, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had warned of potential escalation of tariffs if negotiations failed.

Meanwhile, a report in a national daily in India claimed that India-U.S. trade deal talks are stuck after the visit of the American delegation, scheduled for late-August, has been put on hold.

Piyush Goyal to Table Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Bill 2.0 in Lok Sabha Today

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will introduce the Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Bill, 2025 (2.0) in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The legislation is aimed at scrapping imprisonment provisions for minor offences. The bill proposes amendments to over 350 provisions across multiple laws.

According to Lok Sabha’s agenda, the bill seeks to rationalise punitive measures and decriminalise small violations. It builds on the earlier Jan Vishwas (Amendment) Act, 2023, under which 183 provisions administered by 19 ministries and departments across 42 central laws were decriminalised. In several laws, imprisonment was removed while monetary penalties were retained. In others, prison terms and fines were replaced with civil penalties.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had signalled this move in his Independence Day address on 15 August: “I have taken it upon myself to ensure that unnecessary laws that imprison Indian citizens are abolished".

So far, the government claims to have scrapped more than 40,000 redundant compliances and repealed over 1,500 obsolete laws.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Meet PM Modi During Three-Day India Visit

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will arrive in New Delhi on Monday for a three-day visit, during which he will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence, 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, according to a schedule released by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Wang, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and China’s Special Representative on the boundary question, is scheduled to land at IGI Airport on Monday evening. He will then hold talks with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House.

On Tuesday, Wang will participate in the 24th Meeting of the Special Representatives on the India-China Boundary Question and is also expected to meet National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, his counterpart in the mechanism. He will depart from Delhi at 9 am on Wednesday.

The visit comes amid continuing military and diplomatic talks to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the 2020 standoff in eastern Ladakh, which severely strained bilateral relations.

Wang's visit also comes at the same day that Ukraine President Zelenskyy is heading to Washington along with few other European leaders to discuss a possible end to the Ukraine war.

You’re all caught up. Until next time.