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Election manifestos have become a ritual: political parties release them on the eve of poll, both at national level and in state election. So it was in the present general elections in which BJP and the Congress are main contenders. There are also alliances which make their own promises if elected to rule. A galore of attractive promises are made; some practical, some controversial and some difficult to implement. At the end of their tenures, from governments at the centre or states, few promises were fulfilled.

LUCKNOW: Desperation for Crucial muslim support forced BSP national President Mayawati to issue the appeal to community before polling of first phase for eight Lok Sabha seats. It would be worth mentioning that BSP national President Mayawati issued appeal to muslim community to support alliance of BSP-SP-RLD at first and then categorically said to muslim community not to waste their vote to Congress Party which was very weak as compared to her alliance.

Jharkhand is one of the highly rich states in terms of natural resources. Coal mining is a major trade in the state. More than one lakh workers and officers work in various coalfield areas of Jharkhand.

When in a rather unusual move the Madras High Court stayed on 6 March 2019 the dismissal of 294 workers by Pricol Industries of Coimbatore it attracted widespread attention. It might not be a landmark judgement in the sense breaking new grounds in labour jurisprudence. But it is significant enough in the backdrop of a scenario where malafide transfers, suspensions and outright dismissals—the time-tested methods of employers to break the workers’ morale and to disrupt their unity whenever they form a trade union or go on a strike even over their statutory rights—have become rampant of late across the country.

The first-time voter is 21st Century born. These are first general elections for them. And some have already voted. Those whose names figured in the voters-list of the 91 constituencies that went to polls in the first phase. And how have the experiences been? EVM-glitches confused many. In Andhra Pradesh, EVM for the Lok Sabha worked fine. But those for the Assembly acted funny! In Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana, a BSF soldier lost his head and fired in the air. Why?

This is unprecedented. This has never happened before in the last 72 years after Independence. More than one hundred and fifty retired officers of the three services including three former army chiefs, four navy chiefs and one air force chief, have sent a joint letter to the President of India complaining the manner in which the ruling party BJP is taking credit for military operations like cross border strikes and even going so far as to claim the armed forces as “Modiji ki sena”.

Doubts persist about the return of Narendra Modi to the saddle after the Lok Sabha elections in several quarters though his ardent followers are convinced of his return with larger numbers. It is only speculation based on indicators that are read differently and are invariably coloured by their personal likes, dislikes, preferences for and against. But it is beyond dispute that several leaders are nursing ambitions to fill in the slot and some of them are even convinced of their ability.

After decades of long slugfest to tide over the labour shortages, Japan – a country known for its antipathy to foreign workers – opened the nation to the foreign workers with mega reforms in immigration. On 7th December, 2018, Japanese parliament made a bold reform by passing an immigration law to attract 345,000 foreign workers over a period of five years.

General elections 2019 got going April 11, with polling in 91 Lok Sabha constituencies. A potential 900 million voters will cast votes over a span of five weeks. There are those who say these elections are a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his performance. Main opposition party, the Congress, sees it as chance to return to power for the UPA led by the Congress. The Nehru-Gandhi family’s stakes in the elections are very high. Congress President Rahul Gandhi is contesting from two constituencies, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala.

As the historic elections for the 17th Lok Sabha constitution began on April 11, the focus has shifted on the functioning of the Election Commission in the next six weeks till the counting of the votes on May 23. The contending parties will make claims and counterclaims during this period and for ensuring fair and impartial polling, it is the EC who is the supreme authority during this crucial period. The sad part is that the present EC members have failed in discharging their responsibility as per the Constitution. Therein lies the danger to the Indian democracy.