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Good man Manohar Parrikar left the big bad world last Sunday evening and every one of note appeared on TV to say his/her piece. But the political atmosphere is so vitiated, it did not take long for the discordant to sound. A media bigwig, who in the 1990s was predicted will be the face of the Indian media come the future, buttonholed Farooq Abdullah, and asked him what he thought of Prime Minister Narendra Modi “forcing” an ill to near death Parrikar to continue working? Abdullah being sensitive-savvy told the media personality to give “it a little time.”

With elections round the corner, several important factors come into play for an electoral victory. They often influence voters, but they are not constant as they keep changing according to political situation at that particular time.

It all started in the 1990s, under a tough new chief election commissioner, T N Seshan. He was the first to seek and deploy central paramilitary forces to keep violence in check during an election and, in the process, try seriously to clean up the electoral system. Seshan was credited with effectively implementing the Model Code of Conduct for the first time, trying to rein in muscle and money power in elections, filing cases and arresting candidates for not abiding by polling rules, and suspending officials for aligning with candidates. Later, the Supreme Court also asked the government to ensure the availability of security forces during elections. The legacy continues though the election process has become more expensive, complex and controversial over the years. Some 1,20,000 paramilitary forces were deployed during the 2014 parliamentary election. The movement of such a large number of uniformed personnel through various parts of the country is quite time consuming. The same is in the case of polling staff and machines.

A couple of videos of prime-time shows on Pakistani TV news channels floating around on You-tube show nervous Pakistanis – the anchor, retired generals and politicians – not quite sure how China would vote as the hours built up to a finale on branding JeM terror boss Azhar Masood a global terrorist. The panelists couldn’t come to a consensus on which way Pakistan’s “all-weather friend” would lean.

Barely ten days left for the Brexit dateline to expire— March 29, 2019-- the Theresa May government is yet to evolve the future action; whether the UK will ask for some more time or prefer to continue to be a member of the European Union for some more years. She has no clear path before her for how to exit the EU. During her last two years of rule, May has simply created a political mess through her wavering handling of the issue. She has been not clear whether she should opt for no deal or deal-withdrawal or a second referendum.

As the largest state, the importance of U.P. in the electoral scene is universally acknowledged. While a winner is perceived as being on the road to power in Delhi, a loser is seen as a has-been with little hope.

At the beginning of this month, it appeared that the AIADMK and the BJP had succeeded in putting together a formidable coalition in Tamil Nadu, electorally and socially. Despite having a nearly head start, hardly within a week after the poll dates were announced and the campaign formally began, the alliance is losing steam. An unmistakable anti-incumbency feeling is slowly rearing its head.

The seven phase elections to the Lok Sabha begin on April 11 and in the next 39 days till May 19, it will be a mega celebration of democratic rights by the Indian people. Many political pundits in TV channels and in national media have given their verdict that the national security and the nationalism is the major poll issue before the electorate and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already won his battle against the opposition by sidelining the issue of day to day living which was the focus before the Pulwama attack and the eventual Indian strikes at Pakistan’s Balakote terror camp on February 26.

The United States is pushing for an overthrow of the government of Venezuela. The Trump administration has denounced Nicolas Maduro as a “dictator,” dismissing the 2018 election, which the opposition boycotted. Instead of a good neighbor policy or a policy of non-intervention, the Trump administration has set out intentionally to overthrow the regime.

BHOPAL: The BJP often accuses the Congress of dynastic politics and the party chief Amit Shah has said more than once that the Congress is a family affair. But in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP itself is the worst victim of this malady. Defending the trend of veteran leaders promoting their sons and daughters in politics, leader of opposition in the MP Vidhan Sabha Gopal Bhargava advanced a rather strange argument. He said, “What should the son and daughters of politicians do? Should they become beggars?” Bhargava is lobbying for his son’s candidature from one of the Lok Sabha seats.