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Interim Union Budget 2024-25 for railways neither generated much hope for betterment of railways operations nor services to its commuters, though Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced three major economic railway corridor programmes to be implemented, and 40,000 normal bogies to be converted to the Vande Bharat standard.

The interim budget 2024-25 presented ahead of the General elections in April-May is slightly different from previous interim budgets in the sense it made no major tax announcements keeping in line with the convention. What is significant is that the budget speech was short, less than an hour, and that it avoided populism as usually is the practice in the foreseeable past to get some political mileage to the ruling dispensation in the ensuing elections. But this time Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has done well to avoid such indulgence. It also perhaps reflects the confidence of the Modi government to come back to power for the third consecutive term. There was smacking of this arrogance when Sitharaman said that the government will announce its detailed development agenda when the full budget is presented in July after returning to power.

There has been suspicion of rigging elections by BJP government led by PM Narendra Modi, which just gained credence the way mayoral election in the Union Territory of Chandigarh was finally conducted and result declared on January 30. Votes polled for INDIA bloc’s candidates were invalidated and BJP’s candidate declared winner. The Punjab and Haryana High Court has allowed urgent listing of a plea challenging it over alleged tampering of ballot paper and other violations of the very election process.

If you’ve noticed that more often than not your Ola or Uber driver has a Muslim name, you are not alone. Technology is a big leveller and it empowers people irrespective of who the user is. Keeping a portion of the population whether women or a minority community out of economic activity impacts the country’s progress.

It is again January 30, the day Gandhiji, the architect of our freedom that was achieved with his non-violence and truth, was killed. He was killed because he fought for Hindu and Muslim unity. He was killed because he opposed the partition. It was a deeply agonized acceptance that he extended towards the decision. The nation he was the creator of was to be one with many. It was not to the liking of those who were keen to keep India fragmented. They were one with British rulers and their loyalty was threatened by Bapu, the man who led the freedom struggle. It was Gandhiji who identified the spreading gloom in the entire world economy. Stagnation was leading to collapse of colonialism. Bapu seized the moment and used it to serve his own purpose. We attained freedom. With great love for his people, till the last, he accepted the end, in harness.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Is the Congress party in Kerala mortally scared of the Narendra Modi Government? The answer to that question is a resonant No if the party’s stand on various issues is any indication.

Take the police away for 15 minutes and… Similarly, take the CBI, ED and the Income Tax Department out of the Centre's equation and people will see through the hollowness of the Modi regime's allegations of corruption against INDI-Alliance leaders in no time at all. It is long alleged that the Modi-led BJP government uses central investigating agencies to enforce the Bharatiya Janata Party’s "nefarious designs" and the main purpose is to keep opposition leaders embroiled in "corruption cases", essentially when elections are approaching or when government formation in a state is at hand. Toppling duly-elected governments also gets easier with central probe agencies tied to the effort. Forcing defections is yet another objective.

Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s latest masterstroke might have gone awry, as their operation “destroy INDIA bloc” seems to have caused blowback and impaired their own interest. In their quest to project themselves as adroit political Svengalis, they have harmed their own cause more than inflicting damage to the Congress.

INDIA bloc was ‘betrayed’ in Bihar by JD(U) leader and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the very person who initiated for its formation to take on PM Narendra Modi and the BJP. Nitish Kumar gave justification in Patna for his action saying that “not everything was alright" and he “tried to make it work, couldn’t”. JD(U) spokesman and senior leader K C Tyagi went a step ahead alleging “Congress wanted to steal the leadership of INDIA alliance”. As against this Rahul Gandhi kept calm and behaved with dignity, and so the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.

Hazarding a guess about a forthcoming budget is always tricky. A budget is prepared after ingesting mountain loads of inputs from all departments of the government, the finance minister’s strategic economic thinking under the overall guidance of prime minister’s directions. The end product is always a [precarious compromise on all fronts.