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The fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections to be held on April 29 has lately been emanating ominous signs for NDA in general and the BJP in particular. Several of their candidates seem to be checkmated by opposition and several others struggling to retain their seats. There is no sign of gaining anywhere and therefore their making up the losses elsewhere will be just hoping against hope. Moreover, with election in 71 constituencies spread over 9 states in this phase, election in 374 seats will be over leaving only 169 seats for the next three phases further narrowing the scope of Modi’s becoming prime minister again on the strength of BJP in new Lok Sabha.

Nuclear rhetoric by the prime minister in his election speech at Barmer on April 21 that India does not have nuclear weapons for Diwali is irresponsible, dangerous and provocative. Counter statement by Mehbooba Mufti that Pakistan does not have these weapons for Eid have brought to the fore how vulnerable situation in our region could be. Prime Minister’s statement may fetch him some votes and applaud from innocent followers and admirers, but it shows complete lack of statesmanship that his utterances could have far flung impact.

Subramaniam Swamy, the self-appointed conscience-keeper of the RSS who simultaneously maintains very powerful American connections and corporate links, has a remarkable knack for dropping unexpected bombshells at the right moments. He exploded one on 21 April 2019 in the context of the ongoing Jet Airways crisis when he tweeted: "Government better be careful: Two Ministers are manipulating sale of Jet Airways spoils to SpiceJet whose real owners I will reveal later. Only above board option GoI has is amalgam of Jet with Air India since Bilaterals on airspace involves Govt". It is well-known in media circles that Swamy was referring to the takeover attempt of the SpiceJet man Ajay Singh who coined the slogan Abki baar Modi Sarkar in 2014!

Chinese President Xi Jinping will have to hard - sell BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) in the 2nd Forum, being now held at Beijing. BRI envisages massive investment in infrastructure, encompassing marine, rail and road projects across 65 countries from Asian to Europe and Africa, that collectively account for 30 percent of global GDP.

Afghan peace effort has hit a strange speed breaker over the composition and size of representation, especially the insistence of the Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of a list of 250 participants including around 50 women, according to a senior government official. This is in contrast to the list of 243 people announced by Qatar. All this caused a postponement of the dialogue which was scheduled to begin in the Qatari capital Doha. A disgusted Sultan Barakat, director of Qatar's Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies, tweeted "this is unfortunately necessary to further build consensus as to who should participate in the conference". The Center has been sponsoring the dialogue that began in the tail end of 2018.

As social scientists, we are trained to assume every individual are smart. He takes all available information into account to maximize his objectives. For a consumer, the objective is to maximize benefit from consuming goods and services, for business, it is to maximize profits, for politicians, it is to win elections, and for the voters: Oh well, let’s see.

The highest polling in a Lok Sabha election in the State in 30 years – 77.68 per cent – seems to have upset the calculations of the three main contenders in Kerala: the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front(LDF), the Congress-headed United Democratic Front(UDF) and the National Democratic Alliance led by the BJP.

What is most sinister about the serial blasts in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday is their subterranean ramifications. There is not an iota of doubt that the Colombo authorities had been informed by New Delhi that the ISIS was planning a terror attack on big hotels and the Indian High Commission in Colombo. Despite this advance intelligence, those entrusted with the responsibility of security in that country, did nothing to foil it. They were guilty of dereliction of duty. The obvious question is, why did they ignore the specific warnings and sat over them? The result was that at least 359 innocent men, women and children lost their lives in a gruesome attack.

Priyanka Gandhi will not contest from Varanasi. Some media-persons like in the republic are sighing in relief at the ‘close shave’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Others like in the times of here are now are disappointed, for them a juicy opportunity to pile on TRP has been lost; they are regretting the “fact” that it will be not be a “fun contest”, meaning it will not be that much more money in the kitty.

Through the looking glass, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley at times gives the impression he is like ‘Alice in Wonderland!’ You know Lewis Carroll’s fantasy? Jaitley, of the incarcerated-during-Emergency-fame, is cross with media reporting on an allegation made against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi by a junior assistant of the apex court.