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LUCKNOW: With Arvind Kejriwal taking over as CM in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav is under tremendous pressure to deliver good governance before 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

It is worth noting that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has dropped Vande Mataram from its list of slogans. At present, these are Bharat Mata ki Jai and Inquilab Zindabad. Behind the exclusion of Vande Mataram is an evident desire to reach out to the Muslims, who are not seen to be present in large numbers in the AAP’s meetings.

A series of positive economic trends in the United States toward the end of 2013 has brightened the outlook for the global economy in 2014 and beyond ,concurrently with emerging signs of improving recovery ahead in major emerging markets and trade volumes are also expected to pick up significantly after a year of slowdown in both world output and trade.

Congress may or may not be prepared to break, but it refuses to bend. The party’s recent election debacle in four states doesn’t seem to have much impact on its style of functioning despite the party’s next prime minister probable, Rahul Gandhi’s post-poll soul-stiring admission that it has lot to learn from Aam Admi Party to improve its people-connect.

It is not Bangladesh alone that is divided over the proposed National elections on January 5, 2014 – the division now extends to major countries which have their diplomatic presence in Dhaka as well. This has led to a unique, unparalleled political impasse in the region.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At long last, Kerala Congress(M) president and Finance Minister K. M. Mani has mustered the courage to ask the Government chief whip and his party’s vice-chairman, P. C. George to mend his irresponsible ways and behave himself.

Believe it or not, the Aam Aadmi Party’s wave is crossing over to other states too. Just peep in Rajasthan or walk into Uttar Pradesh, you will hear people talking in hushed tones about AAP or Arvind Kejriwal. Before the Delhi election, a very few voters had known Kejriwal and his party. Kejriwal has indeed generated a wave. In the run up to general elections the wave may gather further momentum. With the Congress party already on a weak wicket, the APP may pose a challenge to the BJP and its Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and undercut the votes of the saffron party as seen in Delhi State Assembly election.

The last central committee meeting of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was held between 13 and 16 December but the CC document on current political developments, adopted there in Agartala, is yet to be made public and uploaded in the CPI (M) website. This is unmistakably a reflection of growing differences in the party in sync with the unprecedented enveloping identity crisis in the history of India’s largest Leftist party, at least in the open or parliamentary sphere of Indian democracy.

If the year 2012 was bad for India’s corrupt image with several political heavyweights and officials sent to jail on corruption charges, 2013 proved to be even worse. The detection of corruption during the year covered a much wider horizon. Several old cases resurfaced, some due to business and political rivalry, even as the government made an abortive attempt to promulgate a presidential ordinance to protect corrupt politicians, including convicts, from the wrath of a Supreme Court order disqualifying them to contest elections and hold official positions. As such, corruption continued to eat into the vitals of Indian economy, which registered the slowest growth in the last two decades.

Two decades ago when the National Front government led by VP Singh came to power I had an interesting conversation with the then finance minister Madhu Dandavate. He was cribbing about finding finances to waive off the Rs 10,000-crore farmers’ loan promised before the elections. When I asked him why did they promise things they could not deliver, the finance minister sheepishly admitted that they never thought they would come to power.