View Articles

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s obsession with the Nehru-Gandhi family seems to be pathological. A Malayalam news outlet says if Rahul Gandhi contests from Wayanad, BJP candidate from Amethi Smriti Irani will also file papers from Wayanad. While this will be carrying things too far, it has the potential to make it even-sevens for Rahul Gandhi.

Former home minister and deputy prime minister Lal Krishna Advani, whose name was missing from the candidates’ list of the ruling party, was once called as the “Iron Man” of the Bharatiya Janata Party. It was Advani who steered the Rathyatra demanding for the Temple of Lord Ram on the site of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya. It was the Ram Temple movement which politically benefitted the saffron party which tasted power for the first time after the 1996 parliamentary elections — although for a short 14 days. Nevertheless, BJP won the 1998 and 1999 parliamentary elections and Atal Bihari Vajpayee — Advani's close ally — became the prime minister of India. It was Advani himself who had announced Vajpayee as the face of the BJP in the party convention of Mumbai held in 1995.

Politics is never in a static form. It continues to get evolved with the social and economic developments as it is the cause of transformation of aspirations, needs and demands of people. But the Congress is unable to or unwilling to get out of the strait Jacket of politics it adorned since the grand success of the 1971 massive mandate. It continues to believe, despite an addition of a clear majority of two generations of voters in the current electorate, that the electorate can be enticed with the promise of welfare measures and cheap goodies.

Coinciding with the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh an US intelligence report presented to the US senate select committee by Dan Coats, director of national intelligence had cautioned that India could see a spike in religious violence ahead of the general elections. Fortunately no major religious violence took place, but Pulwama massacre of the security personnel definitely took place and it provided sufficient opportunity to Narendra Modi to systematically harp on Hindu nationalist themes.

BHOPAL: After the declaration of partial list of candidates for Lok Sabha polls both Congress and BJP are facing tough opposition from rank and file.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ‘Congressisation’ of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Kerala is complete! That is the unmistakable conclusion emerging from the fierce factional fleud that marred the finalisation of the list of party candidates for the Lok Sabha elections. Such infighting is unheard of in a cadre-party like the BJP. Needless to say, the internecine group rivalry has left a trail of bitterness.

During the current elections there is neither a pro-Modi wave as in 2014 nor a strong anti-incumbency against the Modi Government. While drawing overall balance-sheet, everyone, including many sober BJP organisers, agrees that Modi’s 2014 tally would come down but by what number is the billion dollar question. So, in a scenario of wave-less impasse, secondary factors like vote-banks, index of opposition unity, strength of the booth-level election machinery of the parties and even choice of candidates etc., might play proportionately a greater role compared to a wave-situation.

It is good to note that for the first time the civil society, professional bodies, human rights activists and, even, school children are actively taking up with political parties and aspiring MPs to include people’s rights, healthcare, education and climate protection as part of their election manifestos. One of the groups — Civil Society Forum (CSF) — has prepared a draft manifesto for consideration of all major political parties. It demands include abolition of a host of antiquated and draconian laws that have been widely misused to curtail personal liberty and intimidate political activists. The Forum has sought reforms to repair the damage done to anti-corruption institutions, putting in place institutions to deal with the grievances of the public.

The unhappy Indians voted for a change in 2014 hoping for good days to come with Narendra Modi ascending to the throne. However, it was destined otherwise. The country which ranked 117th in World Happiness Index that year, started becoming unhappier day by day, year by year. After five years of his rule, World Happiness Index shows a steep fall pushing India to the rank of 140th among the 156 countries surveyed. The decline was primarily due to declines in average life evaluations typically suffered from some combination of economic, political, and social stresses.

BHOPAL: Both the Congress and BJP are yet to decide their candidates for the Lok Sabha seats in Madhya Pradesh. However, informal discussion on the likely choices continues. The most difficult task is to decide the fate of former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. Both Chief Minister Kamal Nath and AICC General Secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia have suggested that Singh should contest from the toughest seat.