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New Delhi: The two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen, will not face death penalty if found guilty.

The decision of the Aam Aadmi Party to field at least nine candidates in the 16th Lok Sabha polls from West Bengal and the fulsome praise, showered on the All India Trinamool Congress chairperson and WB chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the socio-political activist Anna Hazare have unnerved the Bharatiya Janata Party. Maybe, the AAP will not bag any seat and will forfeit security deposits. Nonetheless, its entry into electoral field is of concern for the AITC, the BJP and also the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for two reasons.

The 15th Lok Sabha was consigned to history after so much of disgrace was embedded in parliamentary annals and the combatants - a weak government surviving on sufferance and a disruptive opposition - struck platitudinous notes for last rites before bringing down the curtain. There is still some hope left for Parliamentary democracy in India but much would depend on the character of the new government and the elected representatives.

Isn’t it absolutely absurd, if not totally ridiculous, that the outgoing election-bound UPA government, branded as the most corrupt ever since India’s independence, should force a series of ordinances on anti-corruption legislations in its dying hours? The proponent of this grotesque idea is no other than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi. The suggested ordinances are meaningless as they can’t be converted into laws by this government. The life of the 15th Lok Sabha had already ended. The next Lok Sabha is only after the coming election. Moving half a dozen ordinances at this stage could even embarrass the President of India, whose stamp of approval is needed to see them through.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the appointment of senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran as the new Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, the Congress politics is set to undergo a paradigm shift.

Just bifurcated Andhra Pradesh has always been a stronghold of the Congress. When the entire north India rejected the Congress in post-emergency election and, even a mighty leader like Indira Gandhi, was defeated by a clown looking Raj Naraian, Andhra Pradesh brought her back to Lok Sabha from Medak constituency, falling in Telangana Region. Andhra stood by Mrs. Gandhi in her darkest days. It was because of the voters of Andhra that the UPA-I government could be formed in 2004 when every one thought that the BJP would return to power. Come 2009 general election, the Congress romped home with a convincing victory because of Andhra people and formed UPA-II.

If budget is an economic expression of a political agenda, outgoing Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram’s ‘vote on account’ or interim budget until the next elected government comes to power towards May-end has more than achieved that purpose. He wants the next government, no matter which group forms it, follow his, albeit the UPA’s economic policy. A tall order, indeed. Maybe, also his usual exhibition of arrogance. The finance minister was in his acrobatic best no matter how his unsolicited advices tasted to his target audience in the opposition.

Even as the country is yet to fully grasp the dimensions of the deleterious impact of the UPA II Government’s interim budget arithmetic as well as growth-slowing supply constraints, IMF has added a chill note on the overall state of economy and projected growth at 5.4 per cent in 2014-15 as against the 6 per cent budget estimate. It has also warned of near double-digit CPI inflation through the year.

LUCKNOW: AICC vice-president Rahul Gandhi has directed UP Congress committee to involve youth Congress and NSUI to involve in preparations for 2014 Lok Sabha polls in a big way.

With the arrival of the AAP party chief Arvind Kejriwal in the national scene, after he quit his post as Delhi chief minister, the ensuing Lok Sabha elections seem to be interesting with one more player added to the confusing poll scene. The AAP is planning to contest more than 350 of the 542 seats.