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The BJP is jubilant after its spectacular success in Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly polls this week. Coming as it does on the heels of the recent impressive Lok Sabha victory, the BJP can claim that the momentum as well as the Modi magic is intact. The Congress on the other hand is demoralized further after its humiliating defeat in both the states. There is already discussion and debate about the future of the 128-year-old Congress party as it is shrinking. Well wishers feel that the Congress has to overcome the leadership crisis and come back with resurgence for after all, in politics, there are always ups and down.

The upcoming G-20 Heads of State meeting in Brisbane, Australia in mid-November is being convened when urgent policy actions from major economies, advanced and emerging, call for coordinated and focused approach to get the world economy out of the anemic recovery. Latest economic data from global financial institutions such as the World Bank, the IMF, OECD and the WTO do not inspire hope that economic growth can pick up pace and verve to allay the jittery nerves of policymakers, planners and political leaders who have a lot of stake in the faster and decisive recovery of the global economy. There is a distinct lack of sustained demand to drive growth the world over that dodges every economy, though massive amounts of countercyclical steps in the form of injection of liquidity through monetary easing with attendant ultra low interest rates in rich countries and fiscal stimulus in emerging economies and tax concessions to stoke demand continue unabated for quite a long time since 2008 when the global financial crisis struck like a tsunami.

What is behind Modi magic BJP sweeping the polls in Haryana and emerging as the single largest party in Maharashtra? Some point to the record voter turnout of 76 per cent in Haryana and high turnout of 64 per cent in Maharashtra as the cause of BJP’s success. It is true that high voter turnout has always favoured the BJP.

The contrast between India’s two recent science and technology (S&T) projects couldn’t have been starker. One, by delivering accurate early warnings about Cyclone Hudhud, saved thousands of human lives, and prevented destruction of property on a monstrous scale. The other put India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) Mangalyaan spacecraft successfully into a distant orbit around the planet—a technological achievement, but without much scientific, leave alone social, consequence.

As always, the electorate has sent a clear message to every party in the just concluded elections.

LUCKNOW: The three-day RSS national conclave, which ended in Lucknow, the city of erstwhile nawabs, on Sunday expressed concerned over decline in people’s participation in RSS shakhas all over the country.

As the slow-grinding economy enters the second half of fiscal 2015, a tinge of optimism pervades policy-making circles in Modi Government that recovery would now begin to gather some steam to hit at least a minimum of 5.5 per cent GDP growth, in a distinctly improving macro-economic environment.

Results in assembly election in Maharashtra are on expected lines: no party got majority and the BJP emerged as the single largest party, having secured only 121 seats in 288-member house, falling short of 22 seats to get majority. But in Haryana it was a real surprise: few expected clear majority for the BJP when in the last election the saffron party could get just four seats. The Congress, which ruled Haryana for 10 years under leadership by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, got worst-ever drubbing, getting only 15 seats in 90-member assembly. It has been seen wherever the Congress gets less than 20 percent of votes it never revives. One wonders if that will be so in Haryana where the Congress, though badly defeated, has still deep roots.

KOLKATA: One of the first priorities of the NDA Government on coming to power was to address the task of speedily narrowing down the asymmetrical gap in India’s defence vis-à-vis China along the entire Himalayan border. In fact, this should have begun in right earnest more than half a century ago, immediately after India’s disastrous military defeat at the hands of the Chinese in 1962. But, for reasons best known to them, successive Central governments chose not to give adequate attention to this vital task. Despite the trauma, India went into hibernation, as it were. It meant a growing asymmetry between China’s offensive capability and India’s defensive capability. This has gone on for over half a century, widening the asymmetry.

Stung by the results of the last Lok Sabha elections and buoyed by the success in some of the by-elections held after that, leaders of some regional parties formed by the splinters of erstwhile Janata Dal have started talking of the unity of Janata Parivar. Janata Dal leader Nitish Kumar is leading this “Unite Parivar” campaign and he has succeeded in Bihar by forging an alliance with RJD of Lalu Yadav and defeating BJP in most of the Assembly Constituencies, where by-elections were held a couple of months ago. After the success Nitish Kumar is eyeing at other states. He has approached Mulayam Singh Yadav and Ajit Singh of Uttar Pradesh, Om Prakash Chautala of Haryana, MP Virendra Kumar of Kerala and HD Deve Gowda of Karnataka. Naveen Patnaiak of Odisha has also been reached, but he is reluctant to join such unification campaign as yet, but had sent one of his party subordinates as his representative in one of meetings held before Lok Sabha elections only to test the depth of water, but he has not shown any interest in joining the present move of leaders from Bihar.