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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A court order refusing to discharge Power Minister M M Mani as an accused in a murder case has put the State CPI(M) leadership in a tight spot.

The opposition has failed to forge unity on the demonetisation move of the Modi government even after 50 days though the people are feeling the cash crunch and continue to stand in queues before the banks. Despite the hardships faced by the common man, who welcomed the demonetisation announced on the night of November 8, people are also confused about how long they have to face the cash crunch. There are reports that the economy is heading for a slide and that the costs of the currency ban may well outweigh its touted benefits. The Modi government is under severe pressure to justify its decision on the currency ban. This is because the Reserve Bank’s remonetisation efforts have been marred by slow delivery of cash. Despite a lot of ammunition to go gunning for the government, the opposition has not been able to capitalise on this issue. Secondly, while almost all the opposition parties have been criticising the demonetisation move, they have not come under one umbrella.

Even as the $46 billion China-sponsored CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) project is about to go functional, with Russia and Iran expressing their interest to participate, India faces a minor setback in developing its regional transport network. Bhutan has expressed its reservations about the India-backed BBIN (Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal) Motor Vehicle Agreement initiative in South Asia. The contrast could not be more embarrassing for the Government of India.

As 2016 goes out to be mere memories in a few days, the Indian economy is at the crossroads, with the Modi Government handling of the economy by injecting investment and promoting entrepreneurial élan and enterprise being a mixed bag. No doubt with its salutary majority in the lower house of Parliament, it got several pieces of crucial economic legislations passed including the Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill 2016 sans debate. In its two and a half years of being on the seat of governance, its track record in Parliament is not much to gloat over even as it may choose to blame the scattered Opposition parties that were made defunct after the 2014 General Election. But if not for anything else, the multiplicity of Opposition parties got their scattered wits together and stonewalled proceedings save a few sessions in both the Houses of Parliament throughout the second coming of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) led by the principal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Narendra Modi government’s decision to demonetise high-value currency notes is purely a political move. He has tried to lace it with ubiquitous economic jargons only to confuse the people of his real intentions.

Manipur, the easternmost State of India, has been on the boil since December 9, when the Congress Government headed by Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh took the fateful decision to create seven new districts out of seven existing districts all of which have a sizeable Naga population. Now the State has sixteen districts.

Having succeeded in moving ahead of the Shiv Sena and the MNS within the Hindutva camp in Maharashtra, the BJP’s next objective is apparently to consolidate its hold on the Marathi manoos so that it cannot easily be dislodged from its present position.

If 2016 goes down as the most miserable year for the largest section of the humanity in the modern history, the coming year holds no promise of better times ahead as the course of hard times and political chaos may have just began. The common Indian’s pain of demonetisation continues. The sudden government action badly affected at least one billion of India’s total population after almost 85 per cent of the total money in the system or close to Rs. 15 lakh crore was junked by a midnight government order. Almost 95 per cent of transactions in India are done in cash. The action was termed “immoral” by top economists and global media.

2016 – the Modi Government in third year – is ending in a state of near-paralysis of India’s financial system with its total failure to discharge mandatory payment obligations for tens of millions of customers, even six weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation of Rs.1000 and Rs.500 Notes. Bulk of what became overnight “worthless paper” the way he put it, had been deposited well before the December-end deadline.

LUCKNOW: BSP supremo Mayawati is working very hard to capture power in Uttar Pradesh where she had been chief minister thrice. For her, mission 2017 is do or die battle and she is not leaving any chance to attack her political rivals. Never before Mayawati was so aggressive in Parliament as she was seen during last session.