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The Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi has gone abroad once again after addressing a successful rally to celebrate the party’s victory over the withdrawal of the Land Acquisition Bill. Eyebrows are raised at this sudden foreign trip when the party is facing a crucial election in Bihar. Although Congress is a minor partner there is a danger of the party drawing blank, which will further demoralize the party workers. A good showing in Bihar polls would send a message to other states where the Congress is facing factionalism and indiscipline. The party leadership has to address this urgently or else things will deteriorate further.

The Bihar assembly elections come as a major political challenge after the unprecedented Lok Sabha elections that veered the direction of Indian politics. Assembly elections were held in five states, Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand, Kashmir and Delhi. But they were clashes between two political thoughts that dominated Indian political scenes for six decades. The electoral battle in Bihar is different in nature and content as the upper castes are seeking to drive out the deprived classes from power corridors that they have been clutching to for two and half continued decades. The Deprived class with the Dalits and the minorities standing by them are seeking to retain their hold. Thus nature of the battle is negative of keeping the other out.

As India and United States went into nitty grittys to push bilateral trade five fold to $500 billion in the next five years, Indian trade and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the steps taken by New Delhi to improve ease of doing business, a major concern voiced by Washington in stepping up US investment for mutual benefit.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A confrontationist ambience is building up in the Congress party in Kerala, with Kerala Pradesh Congress president, V. M. Sudheeran firm on reconstitution of the party before the local bodies elections in November this year and the Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala groups equally determined to frustrate his ‘designs’.

Framing a democratic constitution for Nepal proved to be a difficult and intractable job ever since the monarchy was abolished in 2008. Several draft constitutions were presented to the Constituent Assembly but each effort was aborted because the members of the CA, representing different political interests and ethnic groups, could not come to an agreement that would pave the way for the adoption of an inclusive constitutional charter.

The Prime Minister Narendra Modi is sincere but in a hurry to force the pace for modernization of Indian society. He knows that unless people acquire new aspirations and develop new habits with a change in the traditional approach, they cannot be induced to work hard to fight their circumstances to better their economic conditions. The element of charity imbedded in all social welfare programmes undertaken so far was the main hindrance to the rapid pace of economic development. It tended to make people depend on governments to improve their life standards.

At long last, with only a few months left for the next State Assembly polls in West Bengal, opposition parties are beginning to put their houses in order.

LONDON: Emergence of leftist Jeremy Corbyn on the political scenario of Britain has not only unnerved the social elites, rich and conservative Britons, but it has also invited the ire of the armed forces. The serving army general warned that Corbyn could face a “mutiny” from the military if he became the prime minister. Though the Ministry of Defence has condemned the incident the remark has come as rude shock for the people of Britain as how could a general of a democratic country use this language? A Ministry of Defence source said it was unacceptable for a serving officer to make political comments about a potential “future government”.

The storm raised by the crescendo of demand for a share in reservations for Other Backward Classes has a potential of impacting the prospects in the assembly polls in Bihar due next month. The threat held by the confused but fierce young man of Gujarat to rope in farming communities from other states in demand for a share in reservation can be exploited by leaders to their advantage, that built their political set ups by espousing causes and interests of OBCs. Fears of an adverse impact on the poll prospects, the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have handed over the electoral battle to the care of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The aggressive approach and emphasis on the economic development in his address to the massive election rally at Bhagalpur on Tuesday suggests that he has taken over the command. He had earlier addressed two rallies at Muzffarpur and Saharsa in last week of August but emphasis was only in criticizing the state government for its failure on the economic development. His veiled attack on the chief minister Nitish Kumar did not contain his usual material of building a new dream.

Is Punjab becoming a BIMARU (sick) state like what Bihar was before Nitish Kumar became its chief minister? Perhaps yes, if one goes into the state’s deteriorating economic situation.