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LUCKNOW: Lok Sabha by-elections on March 11 for two seats Gorakhpur and Phulpur will prove to be a testing time for both the Yogi Adityanath government and the Opposition. The outcome will set the tone for Lok Sabha elections next year.

It may sound bizarre but the fact remains that the RSS has put its entire might to weaken and erode the support base of chief minister Nitish Kumar. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat zeroing in on the farmers is the candid example of this strategy. RSS is aware that it would be a tough proposition to win over the OBCs, EBCs and Dalits and persuade them to sever their relations with their mentors. In this backdrop, in order to spread in Bihar, the best choice has been the farmers. It is not that the farmers exist in isolation. They belong to some caste, but a strategic differentiation on the lines of farmers would make their task of reaching out to these people easier.

What is the main challenge before the Congress party which dreams of containing the resurgent BJP? It is reinventing the United Progressive Alliance before the next Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition is not able to take on the government on serious matters beyond the Demonetization and GST and farmers’ issues. It is fractured, divided and directionless and lacks a strong narrative. A classic example was the Presidential elections last year where there was cross voting.

What was Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat thinking on Sunday when he said the RSS could assemble its cadres to fight a war much faster than the Indian army could? Either he was not in his senses or he really believes his words, which is rather dangerous because it implies that the Army should be trained by the RSS. BJP’s mai-baap RSS, it seems, is working overtime to ensure the BJP gets routed in 2019. Does the RSS want to be the BJP’s pallbearer?

BHOPAL: After hectic efforts Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has succeeded in making the two by-elections a contest between the Scindias. While the Congress campaign is led by Jyotiraditya Scindia, the BJP is projecting Yashodhara Raje Scindia as the commander of its campaign. Yashodhara is the sister of the late Madhav Rao Scindia, father of Jyotiraditya. In fact, both Congress and BJP have been using the influence of Scindias since sixties. While the late Vijayaraje was with the BJP, her son Madhav Rao Scindia lent support to Congress. But during the elections they never campaigned against each other. This trend continued between Yashodhara and Jyotiraditya. This is for the first time that they will campaign against each other.

It is an open secret that BJP does not depend on the strength of its allies for survival at the Centre, but it will have to depend on their support during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The politics of partnership is crucial for swaying the mood of the voters. The BJP may succeed in neutralising the anger of its allies, but the rumblings just ahead of the crucial election would certainly have an adverse impact on the psyche of the people. The strains will show on the relationship of the BJP and the allies. One thing is absolutely clear that the BJP has turned vulnerable to the pressures from its allies, who have also come to comprehend this element, which is clearly manifest in some of the less important allies ramping up pressure on the BJP.

“Naqeeb Masud Shaheed: Zwanan Mo Qatal Kege Da Sanga Azadi Da, Pashto Der Khkule Nazam.- a pick from a song in Pashto by Pashtuns has been reverberating in the wide space confronting of the National Press Club, Islamabad, where thousands of Pashtuns began a sit-in protest more than a week ago. A poster near the dais in English, Urdu and Pashto read ‘Justice for Naqeeb Masud. Twentyseven year-old Naqeebullah Mehsud (also known as Naseemullah), employed at a garment mill in Karachi, was a victim of extrajudicial killing in January and an official probe proved that the young man, hailing from Waziristan, was innocent and falsely accused of having been a Taliban activist.. An aspiring male model, Naqeeb ran a facebook page that became popular for pictures of himself, posted modelling clothes and hairstyles. The earning therefrom helped him fund his modeling endeavour.

The imposition of long-term capital gains (LTCG) tax on gains from equity and mutual funds trading is possibly the most sensible thing the government could do in its effort to contain the overheated Indian stock market. Taxes are rarely welcomed by those who are subjected to pay. Investments in equity have long enjoyed dividend tax exemption. That policy was sensible and benefited millions of long-term investors in equity, who want to be a part of a listed company by holding its ordinary shares. However, when market speculators in equities turn a bunch of high stake gamblers, there are reasons to worry for both the market regulators and the government.

Why monitor a problem if you cannot fix it? Why have the Special Forces on standby if you cannot use them to sort out the Maldives problem? It has been a fortnight since the Maldives crisis broke and India is still waiting to strike. If this continues, China will get the islands, and India will get the dog! CNN always has Africa on and China is clearing a watery path to the Dark Continent and the oil via the Indian Ocean.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has attempted to do what he ought to have done long ago, precisely because he cannot ignore the sentiments of people, particularly the farmers, informal sectors and rural folk, who have been hit hard by severe distress, mainly because of one mindless move, demonetisation. Imperfect rollout of GST and demonetisation have rattled the farm and rural sectors, mainly dependent on cash economy. Though there are some positives in the budget for the poor and middle-class, there are several negatives as well.