View Articles

Amidst a flurry of speculation and anticipation, the Congress party has made a strategic and significant move by fielding Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi in the by-elections in Wayanad. This seat became available after her brother Rahul Gandhi decided to retain Rae Bareily and step down from the Wayanad, both of which he had won. If successful, it could be a game-changer for Priyanka, her party and Indian politics. It has sparked excitement and scepticism among the public and political class.

In the last 30 days, unemployment in India has risen sharply to 8.9 per cent, at a time when Union Finance Minister has started consultations with various stakeholders for preparing Union Budget 2024-25. Such an unprecedented rise in working-class distress has made the budget making exercise more challenging than expected, necessitating major changes in the Interim Union Budget 2024-25 that was tabled in the Parliament of India on February 1, 2024.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the oath of Member of Parliament on June 24 days after he was sworn in as India’s Prime Minister for the third time. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party doesn’t have a majority but Modi heads the coalition NDA, a pre-poll arrangement which is the Modi government’s claim for legitimacy. Will Modi’s NDA government complete its five-year term? The Opposition is not betting on it, but Sonia Gandhi’s UPA coalition government was run by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for two five-year terms. If Manmohan Singh could do it, so can Narendra Modi even if Modi’s 56” chest has considerably shrunk in the 18th Lok Sabha.

KOLKATA: Roundly defeated by ruling Trinamool Congress in recently held Lok Sabha elections, BJP, Congress and CPI(M) leaderships in West Bengal have gone into brainstorming sessions to find out the cause of their respective electoral reverses. Though all the three parties are seeking to strike deeper roots with a larger section of the people, the game plans to hit the "come back trails" differ.

Patna High Court striking down Bihar government's hike of reservation quota for Dalits, backward castes and tribals to 65% in jobs and education has certainly not come as a surprise nor has been shocking. It was well perceived that like any other affirmative action meant for the upper mobility of the Dalits and poor, this too would have to undergo strict legal scrutiny.

The Enforcement Directorate has managed to throw a spoke into the wheels of Aam Aadmi Party’s celebrations of leader Arvind Kejriwal coming out on bail by approaching the Delhi High Court post-haste even before it could lay hands on the court’s order. And with the high court granting a temporary stay on the ground of certain procedural issues. But it may be a pyrrhic victory as the stay remains in force only until the ED challenge is heard and disposed of by the court in the next 2-3 days.

Ajit Pawar’s waxing and waning is a matter of research. In the battle between two Pawars, Ajit Pawar and Sharad Pawar, Ajit is the loser. His clout in the Mahayuti has been waning. The Ajit Pawar-led NCP performed the worst among the Mahayuti in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, getting only one seat out of the four it contested. Ajit’s wife Sunetra lost from Baramati against Supriya Sule, who is Sharad Pawar’s daughter and Ajit’s cousin. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sunetra and Ajit’s son Parth Pawar got defeated from Maval parliamentary constituency by the Shiv Sena’s Shrirang Barne.

The GST Council meeting on June 22 will be somewhat different from any previous ones because of the changed political situation in the country. Ever since the GST came not effect in the first Modi government, the opposition has been on the back foot. Now with the reinvigorated opposition and there being a coalition government at the centre, the state governments from varying political affiliations could be expected to have a stronger voice.

The one big difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the “wife” factor. Kejriwal’s wife Sunitha Kejriwal appears to be on his side where Modi’s doesn’t appear on Modi’s side. Sunitha Kejriwal was speaking up for Kejriwal when the Enforcement Directorate arrested him on March 21 and speaking for him when he was sent to Tihar. The AAP, which was left to fend for itself, found Sunitha Kejriwal taking charge rather comforting although Kejriwal clarified that he remained Chief Minister and would rule Delhi from Tihar Jail if it came to that.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There is no mistaking the spring in the walk of Congress leaders in Kerala these days and the sparkle in their eyes. The sense of euphoria is understandable. The party has just scored a remarkable victory in the Lok Sabha elections, winning 18 out of the 20 LS constituencies from the State.