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Narendra Modi has finally conceded the oft repeated opposition charge that he has failed in keeping his promises. Addressing a rally at Amroha in Uttar Pradesh, Modi had made these comments towards the end of his speech, which sounded uninspiring by Modi’s standards.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The passing away of Karingozhakal Mani Mani (KM Mani) has put a big question mark over the future of the Kerala Congress(Mani).

The Bharatiya Janata party is back to its old form with its three controversial ambitions of building the Ram temple, abrogating special status provisions for Kashmir, and imposing uniform civil code. The three projects were also part of the last election manifesto as they are in the Sankalp Patra for the 2019 election but with added emphasis. The change in the spirit and approach of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was no more palpable. Doubts were removed by his brief address to assert the nationalism of the BJP fervor. Missing from his words was any reference to economic growth which was his main theme in the last election.

BHOPAL: Some important developments have taken place in Bhopal which might take the shape of confrontation between the Madhya Pradesh Government and the Central Government. One such development is the letter written by the state Governor Anandi Ben Patel to the Chief Secretary and Director General (DG) of Police.

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

In a significant decision, the Bombay High Court has clarified the law on abortion in India. Abortion is legal in India. Every woman has a fundamental right to her sexual and reproductive autonomy and choose whether to retain her pregnancy or not. But this is not an absolute right, and is subject to certain exceptions in law, as prescribed in The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (‘MTP’ Act).The MTP Act seeks to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners. Section 3 of the Act provides that a registered medical practitioner can terminate a pregnancy up to 12 weeks, or two registered medical practitioners can terminate a pregnancy up to 20 weeks, if they are of the opinion that continued pregnancy would involve a risk to the pregnant woman’s life or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health, or there exists a substantial risk to the child’s health.The MTP Act further allows termination of pregnancy beyond twenty weeks, if the doctor opines that such termination is immediately necessary to save the life of a woman.

Power-hungry and ready to go to any lengths. The lame-duck Modi Government is going after political rivals with IT and CBDT. Modi, in an interview to a TV channel, said he cannot be blamed if there are skeletons in ‘Bhrast Nath’s’ cupboard, the simultaneous IT raids in Bhopal and Delhi is unearthing “cash” and “heads” of endangered wildlife.

Assam Gana Parishad (AGP), which is the state's major regional party born out of the Assam movement and forming state government in 1985 and 1996, is presently battling to stay relevant in state's politics. The party is contesting in three Lok Sabha seats — Dhubri, Barpeta and Kaliabor — in alliance with the BJP. It is to be mentioned that AGP had severed ties with the saffron party this year to register protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill after it was passed in the Lok Sabha.

I am not in the business of predicting who will win and who lose before the elections are even held. The psephologists pore over detailed past data of wins and losses, constituency by constituency, then make sample surveys and probability calculations.

It is now almost certain that the BJP will return to power, but not with a majority of its own, which will make it head a less close-knit coalition than at present.