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The Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, has announced the 18th Lok Sabha election schedule, starting on April 19. He has identified four major problems that affect India's free and fair elections. These are the 4Ms: Muscle power, Money power, Misinformation, and violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). They are not new.

Initial disclosure of the names of purchaser of electoral bonds has established beyond doubt that PM Narendra Modi’s Electoral Bonds Scheme was just a conspiracy to sell government favours. Modi government had also a strategy to intimidate people to purchase electoral bonds or else face summons, raids, seizures, and arrests under several laws, especially under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Prosecutions were launched against many who later purchased electoral bonds for huge amounts to buy government protection.

When the INDI-Alliance prepared for the Mumbai Shivaji Park public meeting to congratulate Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for completing the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in the set time, there were folks who said Rahul’s 2nd Yatra was a “flop” going by the standards set by the first Yatra, which had wound its way from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu to Srinagar in Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi couldn’t have cared less for the demeaning word, he was too engrossed in making an assessment of where the NDA and the BJP stood even as the world saw him monkeying around with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at the culmination of the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Notwithstanding the claims of the union government in the Ministry of Railways that Vande Bharat Express trains, also known as Train 18, is first ever India’s indigenously designed and manufactured semi-high speed trains providing a modern and comfortable rail travel experience to passengers with enhanced safety standards and world class services, the high pitched propaganda of Vande Bharat hides many realities. There are several reports of people travelling in Vande Bharat Express facing hardships with the trains running late by eight to ten hours on an average. Its tickets cost 2.5 times higher than inter-city Shatabdi Express trains, with the costs of 48 bogies of Vande Bharat trains equaling the costs of 1000 bogies of Shatabdis.

Among the most unexpected entrants in the BJP’s first list of Lok Sabha nominees is Bansuri Swaraj, the 40-year-old daughter of the BJP's Sushma Swaraj, for whom the late BJP leader was known to leave meetings at times, to rush to be at the bus-stop when Bansuri returned from school.

BJP-hating southerners identify Prime Minister Narendra Modi with everything they believe Indians can live without. With Electoral Bonds. With the Ayodhya Ram Mandir. With the Citizen’s Amendment Rules. With the overbearing nature of BJP leaders. With the breakdown of Rule of Law. With bulldozers running amok. Above all, a substantial number of Indians believe they could do without a third-term for Narendra Modi who talks so casually of “400 paar” that most southerners want to hit the streets with effigies.

As India prepares for its upcoming general election, artificial intelligence has become a battleground for political parties. Experts caution that current regulations are falling behind rapidly advancing technologies like deepfakes. The move from conventional campaigning methods to utilizing AI for gaining votes was evident during the recent local elections in several key Indian states.

An observer on Abdul Kalam Island may have seen a missile launch on March 11, which may have appeared similar to previous launches. If the observer had paid closer attention, she would have noticed it was actually the tenth test of the Agni V missile, India's first intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the heart of China. The true significance of the launch was concealed within the nose cone of the missile and spectators wouldn’t have guessed it.

Three developments in one week – one positive and the other two, negative. The first was the Supreme Court order directing the State Bank of India to submit to the Election Commission by March 12 the details of electoral bonds for the Election Commission to put up on their website by March 15. This order came in the wake of the SBI’s appeal for time until June 30 to submit the details about the electoral bonds.

The worst fears of quid pro quo between purchasers of electoral bonds and beneficiary political parties in power, which the Supreme Court expressed elaborately in its judgment on the electoral bond scheme, have come true. It turns out that some of the largest bond purchases had been preceded by coercive action from enforcement agencies answering to the Modi government.