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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A unique feature of the functioning of the Communist parties, the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) in particular, is their readiness to admit lapses, punish the errant leaders and apply the correctives. The CPI has done it on a number of occasions; so has the CPI(M).

Astrologers are unlikely to dismiss as a coincidence the fact that ill-fortune is currently dogging the two relatively young members of the Nehru-Gandhi family, albeit from different lines of descent, viz. Rahul and Varun.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be out to wash the sins of three former prime ministers – BJP’s Atal Behari Vajpayee, Congress satraps Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh. Modi’s avowed policy to protect the strategic public sector assets from falling into the jaws of private corporate sharks, modernize and rebuild curable sick companies, make their idle immovable assets productive and turn them globally competitive, runs counter to the policies of all the three previous prime ministers.

LUCKNOW: Bharatiya Janata Party got a rude shock in Uttar Pradesh as it could win only three seats out of the eleven assembly seats which went to the polls while the ruling Samajwadi Party won eight seats. The SP also won comfortably the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat.

The goras or firingis who ruled over large parts of the subcontinent for centuries often appear to browns as an undifferentiated mass. That there are different shades of goras too should have been apparent from Ireland, long a part of the ‘United’ Kingdom and yearning equally long to be free from being ruled from London. The Irish proclaimed a Republic in 1916, carried on an armed struggle against the London government from 1919 to 1921 that ended with the British government forced to sign a treaty leading to the formation of the Irish Free State. A new constitution was put to a public referendum and was ratified by the people. Those Irish who were London loyalists managed to secede from the Irish Free State and continue to remain a part of the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland.

From Uttarakhand in July to Bihar in August and now in the assembly by-elections across several states, the results show that the high tide of the much-vaunted Modi wave has passed.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The hastily-formulated excise policy of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government received a stinging judicial snub when the Supreme Court stayed the Kerala Government’s move to shut down all bars in the State except the five-star ones.

Burying all speculations, Mr Narendra Modi –granted accolade for reforms and predicted to reboot radical economic reforms – unpredictably gave thrust on social and socio-economic reforms after becoming the Prime Minster. He triggered the necessity for toilets for every school within one year, emphasizing the priority for ladies, development of one model village initiative in every constituency by its representatives of Parliament by 2016 and left no stone unturned in launching the opening of bank account for every villager, which he committed from the rampart of Red Fort in Independence Day speech. Mr Modi disappointed anticipators, who were hoping for big ticket economic reforms.

In West Bengal, ruling Trinamool Congress leaders are re-learning the old adage, bad news never comes alone. Already under intense political pressure over the highly damaging Saradha chit fund scam disclosures involving its top leaders, the party now faces an ever more serious charge: involvement in anti-national activities!

Next month – October – will be crucial both for the Congress and the BJP when Haryana and Maharashtra go to polls to elect their respective assemblies. The assembly elections in the two states will be crucial as they will show if the Modi wave is as strong as it was in April-May this year when the BJP swept the Lok Sabha election or its momentum slowed down. The October polls will also demonstrate if peoples’ wrath against the Congress has abated or the fury still continues. The fate of Delhi assembly still hangs in balance. The question that is agitating minds of Delhiites is – whether there will be a BJP-led government or the state will go for fresh elections within a year? Polls in Jammu and Kashmir are also due but they are likely to be postponed because of unprecedented floods and disruption of life in the state.