View Articles

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has played a gamble with his Government’s last full budget for 2018-19 by staking the BJP’s political future with the response from the country’s distressed farming community to his budget proposals for reviving the rural sector. The Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has given no sops to the middle classes by offering any concessions in the income tax rates. The industrial sector has been assured of a big push through massive investment in the infra sector but the focus is solely on the rural areas including the announcement of the ambitious government funded medicare for the poor.

First the press should stop calling a stone-pelter ‘civilian’. Second, J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti should correct herself; the soldiers who were forced to fire on the lynching mob of stone-throwers are not ‘black sheep’. Third, the FIR against 10 Garhwal unit should be withdrawn immediately and an FIR be lodged ASAP against the stone-pelters, including those who were killed in the Army firing.

It was extremely shocking to read Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh’s thought on Karni Sena and the Rajput members’ protests against 'Padmavat'. Singh is not known to possess a high degree of intellect. But his opinion that ‘protests are inevitable if anything is not done without consensus’ is really astonishing if not ridiculous. While he did not condemn the outrageous violence let loose by Sena goons, ironically, he counselled that a film producer must have his creative venture approved. But who will approve? Obviously they will be some semi-literates who only know the art of perpetrating violence.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The efforts of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) to woo the Kerala Congress(M) back to the UDF camp have come a cropper.

The performance anxiety stemming from the four years of dismal performance of the Indian economy will continue to haunt the government and the people of the country, irrespective of the rosy picture portrayed for 2018-19 by the Economic Survey, the Modi government’s fifth and final. Even the authors of the document have noted a heightened performance anxiety relative to expectations.

When in 2008 the CPI(M)’s general secretary of the time, Prakash Karat, was opposing the nuclear deal with the US, it used to be said jocularly that if Manmohan Singh was batting for India, Karat was doing so for China.

BHOPAL: With the announcement of polling dates for the Kolaras and Mungawali Assembly by-elections, hectic activity has started in both the Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party. The byelections were necessitated by the death of sitting members. Both the seats were held by Congress. Mungawali was represented by Mahendra Singh Kalukheda, a committed loyalist of Jyotiraditya Scindia. Congress seems to be ahead of BJP in terms of preparations and has announced its candidates. The delay in BJP’s selection is ascribed to differences between state and local leadership. Congress is boosted by the victory in the local body elections. While BJP candidates won in nine seats of chairpersons, Congress equalled the tally and one seat went to a Congress rebel, who contested as independent.

Economic Survey, presented to Parliament ahead of budget every year is seen as a report card of Government’s performance on the Indian economy. This year too it is no different but there is one change: its presentation and production have improved. As Economic Survey is prepared by economists, it is not taken very seriously while preparing the General Budget, which is made by politicians with the help of bureaucrats. Politicians see the budget as yet another tool to tweak the economy to suit their constituency and win elections and certainly not as an instrument to rapidly achieve socio-economic development of the country. Indian economy has certainly progressed well since Independence but unfortunately big ticket growth and development have not happened barring when major reforms were initiated in 1991, compelled by the economic crisis at that point of time.

Veteran author Nayantara Sahgal saying she’s half-Muslim and then claiming “I’m Hindu myself” is the height of confusion. At the Jaipur Literature Festival, Sahgal confirmed her half-Muslim identity and then confused with “We refused a religious identity when we attained Independence because we’re a deeply religious country with many religions. My problem is with Hindutva because I’m a Hindu myself and it makes me sad that the Hindutva mentality has divided us into Hindus and others.”

There are valid reasons at this time to guess options before the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a snap poll to Lok Sabha ahead of May 2019, when the five-year term of the current House ends.Firstly, there is emerging anti-incumbency factor, though limited to isolated areas yet, underlining the changing dynamics of the political scene. Any sagacious leader like Mr Modi would not let it grow beyond harmless limits.