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Labour’s relentless focus on forcing a general election to break the Brexit deadlock has been paying off. Revelations last week that nine government ministers had instructed their constituency associations to prepare for an early election — four of them naming February 28 as the day — show that Labour’s strategy has been working.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi shows no hesitation in using abusive language and making accusations against those who criticise him. His description of mahagathbandhan as a collective of the rich and corrupt people can be seen only as part of this strategy.

Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the government for doing away with revenue deficit targets from this financial year, which did not augur well for macro-economic stability and fiscal situation as it could lead to revenue expenditure like subsidies being met through debt.

The labour arena in India has suddenly become a happening place. After a successful telecom strike by 2 lakh BSNL workers on 3 December 2018 and two successive bank strikes on 21 and 26 December 2018 involving a million bank employees, 4 lakh defence sector civilian workers are now on a 3-day strike on 23–25 January 2019.

Can the Opposition unite and pose a challenge to the BJP in the coming months? There are so many ifs and buts. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had organised a mammoth rally in Kolkata’s Brigade grounds on Saturday. A who’s who of the opposition had gathered to prepare a roadmap for a coalition against the ruling BJP. Addressing the ‘United India rally’, Mamata predicted that BJP’s days are numbered and that the “expiry date” of the Modi-led government is over.

The way it is made, EVM is electing victors machine, not electronic voting machine: Sit in a cave and hack into the EVM and deliver votes to elect the government of the cave-hack’s choice. The guy obviously is hacking for a party, definitely the party ruling which is in danger of losing hold on power because of umpteen screw-ups.

Bernie Sanders has a sexism problem. Bernie Sanders doesn’t get black voters. Bernie Sanders is becoming unlikable. Bernie Sanders is too old. Bernie Sanders is too white.

Demands that President Donald Trump be impeached grew after revelations Thursday that he ordered his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress. The deceptions Trump allegedly ordered were designed to hide talks Trump and his family held with people in Moscow regarding the building of a Trump Tower in that city.

It is too premature to predict that Theresa May’s career is over. Nothing is impossible in the game of politics. The latest development has not come as surprise. Things followed the dotted line. May’s friends had warned of the disastrous effect on her moves, but she did not listen to their advice as she was firm that she would succeed in her mission.

Even if the rally of the national opposition leaders in Kolkata last Saturday was a fairly impressive affair, it was nowhere near what the people of the city had seen earlier, notably during the Left Front’s heyday.