View Articles

People on the march are a common sight in Berlin here lately. On March 8 it was mostly (but not only) women demanding women’s rights and an end to the 20 percent wage gap with men. A big majority were young.

BHOPAL: After filing nomination for the Bhopal Lok Sabha seat Pragya Thakur is creating controversies which not only polarise voters but also causes embarrassment for the BJP and also RSS. Almost at every public programme she speaks with the objective of provoking Muslims. For instance she has been claiming that she took active part in the demolition of Babri Mosque and by doing so she succeeded in erasing the blackest chapter of Indian history.

Narendra Modi has a special knack of making decisive moves at crucial times. Whether the results would be entirely positive or negative, one can’t say.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has made a prophetic announcement; no national party will get a majority in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. From all indication it appears so; neither the Congress nor the BJP is likely to get a majority. What has to be seen is that which party emerges as single largest party. That means horse trading and unfair means to form a coalition or a multi-party government. Such a dispensation will inevitably lack stability. Pollsters predict that such a government may not last for more than two years and a mid-term poll is inevitable.

Now we know ‘winning the polling booth’ is not BJP President Amit Shah’s coinage, it is that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. ‘Majboot Booth’ rings with ‘Majboot Desh’ and ‘Majboot Sarkar’ and Modi, with vanity in every cell of him, wants to win with an all-time record number of votes. He has set that goal in every Kashi BJP karyakarta’s head and heart, asking them to conquer every polling booth in the Varanasi Lok Sabha constituency.

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.