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BHOPAL: Both the Congress and the BJP have finalised the lists of candidates for the 29 seats of the Lok Sabha. After the final list the BJP is facing rebellion in at least four constituencies The four constituencies are Khajuraho, Balaghat, Shadol and Indore.

The horrific wave of bombings that rocked Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday is a watershed moment in the island’s troubled history. Hundreds have died and many of the victims are still unidentified. There is also a race to understand who was behind the slaughter — and how they were able to carry it out.

She apologized for her remarks against the then Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed by the terrorists in Mumbai blast, but her apology lacked conviction and the element of sincere remorse.

Voting in 116 constituencies made the third phase of polling the largest so far and in fact the largest phase of General Elections 2019. All 20 seats in Kerala and 26 Gujarat seats went to polls including the constituencies of BJP President Amit Shah and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, besides that of several present and former Union ministers. Among the latter, Shashi Tharoor fighting anti-incumbency and Swami Ayyappa in Thiruvananthapuram, which is where he BJP believes it will make its Kerala debut in the Lok Sabha from.

In recent times, the Supreme Court of India has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. But nothing could have prepared the public for what transpired on 20th April, 2019 (Saturday) in the middle of a long weekend of Good Friday and Easter. On Saturday morning, the media published a detailed story of a 35 years old woman, who used to work in the Supreme Court, complaining of alleged sexual harassment at the hands of the current Chief Justice, Ranjan Gogoi, and the consequent victimisation, including termination from job, and severe harassment of her entire family.

Weekly Round-Up of Major Decisions of the Courts in India as also Legal Policy Developments

The BJP seems to have gone back to focus on its Hindutva card in the midst of the current Lok Sabha polls, shifting its gear from development. The two themes are still running parallel but the Hindutva has become more focused after the two phases of the current polls. This is evident from the fact that the party had taken a conscious decision to field the high profile Sadhvi Pragya Thakur in Bhopal against the former Congress chief minister Digvijay Singh. From the BJP’s point of view, Pragya Thakur’s candidacy serves two purposes – first a direct confrontation with a formidable Congress leader Digvijay Singh and second it will have resonance not only in Madhya Pradesh but also in the neighbouring states including Maharashtra. Though the names of two former chief ministers Uma Bharti and Shivraj Singh Chouhan were doing the round for the Bhopal seat the party chose the Sadhvi presumably at the behest of the RSS. The Sangh Parivar is said to have sent messages to sadhus to mobilize electoral support for the BJP in the current polls. Some time back the Sadhus have criticized the Modi government for not building the ram temple in Ayodhya.

This Lok Sabha election has become a Kurukshetra for middle class and rural poor. This election will decide whether India is an inclusive culture or is the exclusive society. Though Narendra Modi uses the term rural poor and poverty but not in the inclusive sense. He is fully devoted to the exclusive society and is the champion of majoritarianism. It is only for getting the votes of the rural people that he maintains the façade of being sensitive to the poor’s need and committed follower of inclusive culture.

Sadhvi Pragya Thakur is all over the media describing her torture at the hands of Hemant Karkare while in ATS custody with the defence that she’s sanyasi and a “sanyasi in bhagwa never lies”. The Bharatiya Janata Party named her candidate from Lok Sabha constituency Bhopal against Congress leader Digvijay Singh who they say is “original politician” who coined “Hindu terror”.

Now that the opening phases of the 2019 elections are over and the vague shape of the new government at the centre is already boxed into the voting machines, it might be time to recall the future shape of policies as promised by the two main formations.