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‘Must see Pic! Priyanka with George Clooney’ carried by a news outlet sounds somewhat like ‘Must happen Event! Rahul is Prime Minister’. And Karnataka chief minister-designate of the Congress-JD(S) combine HD Kumaraswamy gives credence to the belief that the Gandhi family is the default page for a united Opposition. To those left of Centre, too, that is a natural point to gravitate to. The Gandhi family controls the narrative and to be recognized as a ‘Family wise-guy’ is coveted.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The new labour policy, which has been approved by the Kerala Cabinet, has a lot to commend itself.

BJP’s only "Hindu Hridaya Samrat" (emperor of Hindu hearts) Lal Krishna Advani whose Rath Yatra blazed a bloody trail across India and who took BJP from a two-MP party to forming the first NDA government, is to be blamed for the current constitutional and democratic crisis India was facing. In his ecstasy to turn India into a Hindu Rashtra, he patronised Narendra Modi overruling the objections of party’s public face Atal Behari Vajpayee.

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

The last week in the Indian politics has witnessed tectonic shifts, in terms of political alliances, increased questioning of the Governor’s independence, and the role of the Courts in ensuring that the legislative institutions do not lose their sanctity, and all happened in the backdrop of the much hyped Karnataka elections. On 15th May, 2018, when the results came in, it became clear that no political party had got a majority, though BJP emerged as the single largest party with 104 seats, followed by Congress (78), and Janata Dal (Secular) at 37 seats. In a dramatic twist, the Congress offered unconditional support to the JD(S) to form a post-poll alliance, and to stake claim as a coalition government headed by JD(S) leader, Shri H.D. Kumaraswamy, and along with two independents, they had the support of 117 MLAs. However, despite not having a majority, the BJP was invited by the Governor, Shri Vajubhai Vala, a long time associate of the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, on the night of 16th May, 2018 and the swearing in was scheduled on 17th May at 9am, apparently to ward off an urgent legal challenge to the Governor’s decision by the Congress-JD(S) alliance. The Governor also gave 15 days to the BJP government to prove their majority in the house, thereby giving rise to huge speculations in terms of horse trading, and bribery to poach MLAs from the opposition.

Apparently, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in command and control of the Centre and most of the States, has been working on ideas of reaching out to the panchayats, rural and urban, as well, with a single electoral roll enabling simultaneous elections at all levels - panchayats to Parliament. That would facilitate BJP under its supreme leader Prime Minister Narendra Modi, currently on power grab everywhere, moving closer to its coveted 'one nation' goal (Hindu Rashtra).

Eleven out of 21 public sector banks are already under the Reserve Bank of India’s prompt corrective action (PCA). Left to the central bank, three to five more banks may join soon the framework. PCA generally restricts lending activities and network expansion of banks. The PCA framework will prevent the size of the loan books of these banks depending on the risk thresholds set in the rules. Banks under PCA are directed to disburse loans only to those companies whose borrowing is above investment grades. In extreme cases, RBI enforces these guidelines to ensure banks do not go bust and follow prompt measures to put their house in order.

Democracy won or not did not matter. But Karnataka CM for a day BS Yeddyruppa decided he has had enough of it. He quit. He resigned Saturday after an emotional speech. Around 4 pm was time for the SC-ordered floor test. But Yeddy was reading out his resignation: “I resign, I resign. I’m going to the Governor now. I thank all. I thank the people of Karnataka. I’m going directly to the Raj Bhavan.”

BHOPAL: Defection is the cancer of Indian politics. It is the brutal murder of our system of parliamentary democracy.

The spectre of Pushpa Lal Shrestha seemed to have been stalking where Khagda Prasad Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka ‘Prachanda’, chairpersons of Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Center) were jointly planting a party unification plant called Ginkgo Biloba at the official residence the Prime Minister in Baluwatar (a plant that survived the massive devastation due to dropping of atom bombs by the US air force in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 during the World War II) on 17 May after the meeting for unification of two parties was over.