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The Delhi Police filing the charge sheet in the sedition case of 2016 against former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) president Kanhaiya Kumar has not come as a surprise.

Even by the Congress’s standards, two false steps in a single day can be considered odd. The party usually misses its footing once in a while. But perhaps the proximity of the elections has blurred its focus. Hence, the mistakes.

With election campaigns moving to second and third gears, clarity and confusion on issues and positions prevails. The Bharatiya Janata is working to polarize along communal lines. Prime Minister Narendra Modi raises ‘Hindu terror’ at his rallies. Lesser BJP leaders justify “no party tickets to Muslim candidates” with “unless they show they vote BJP.”

Andhra Pradesh, with its 25 Lok Sabha seats, is important in the event of a hung Parliament after the current polls. The State is also going for simultaneous Assembly elections, the first since the bifurcation in 2014.

BHOPAL: Both the Congress and BJP are yet to complete the process of selecting their candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. While the BJP has already selected about half of its candidates Congress, besides Digvijaya Singh has yet to announce complete list of its candidates. Digvijaya Singh has already launched his campaign. Besides visiting temples and other religious places every day he is attending small meetings of various organisations. The first such meeting was that of Government employees. Addressing the meeting attended by class three and four employees he offered apology for his acts of commission and omission in his capacity of Chief Minister of the state.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s decision to choose Wayanad as his second seat has come as a shot in the arm for the Congress and the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF). True, the decision came after much fretting and fuming and humming and hawing. Better late than never. That seems to be the dominant feeling in Congress now.

Everyone is anxious to know which side the electoral camel recline. Politicians as a class as they have a self interest involved, political analysts to testify their ability and commoners for they will directly benefit or not, they want to anticipate the final count of votes in the election 2019. No one can predict with perfect assurance whether any contesting side will emerge with a clear mandate or the country would again relapse into a coalition politics. The Sangh Parivar proclaims its disinterest in political drama as its interest and activities are confined to social services. Yet it was interested to know beforehand how its political wing may perform. It got a private survey of public opinion.

Events unfolded in ways that I didn’t realise when I became an ‘accidental politician.’ I have always been political, but just a few years ago me and my friends would have laughed at any suggestion of contesting an election for parliament.

In the matter of seat sharing Rahul Gandhi has undoubtedly behaved like an astute politician. The manner in which some regional political parties like RJD and Samajwadi party, treated Congress had sent a shock wave in the rank of the party. Even voices of protest were raised by the supporters in some states. In Bihar alone a significant number of party leaders condemned the high handedness of the RJD in denying seats. For a common man this implied the Congress licking the boot of the regional satraps.

Foreign investors (FPIs) in the Indian stock market seem to be heavily betting on the return of a BJP-led political alliance to power. In a surprise move, Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s top investment banking, securities and investment management firm, has changed its India outlook overnight — from “marketweight” in September to “overweight”, now. The change in the India rating by the investment banking giant came after the Election Commission announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule. What changed in the last six months? In September, Goldman Sachs downgraded India amid rising oil prices and a falling Rupee. Goldman Sachs sees a high possibility of a NDA victory due to low inflation, monetary easing by the Reserve Bank and growing FPI inflows, driving Rupee’s exchange valuation to a seven-month high. Fiscal year 2019 will be remembered as the year when FPIs concentrated their buying in blue chips. As a result, the Sensex gained a little over 17 percent during the year and Nifty gained a little over 14 percent.