View Articles

As expected, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in the national elections in South Africa held on May 29 paving the way for the formation of a coalition government as the leading partner after its uninterrupted rule for thirty years since the holding of first elections in 1994 after the abolition of apartheid.

By winning 46 Vidhan Sabha Constituencies out of 60 in the state, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has just upgraded its strategic political citadel Arunachal Pradesh. In terms of seat, it is 5 more than it had won in 2019 Vidhan Sabha election. In terms of vote share, it bagged 54.57 per cent of votes which is an increase of 3.71 per cent during this period. It is shocking for the Indian National Congress (INC), since it was the only major party in the fray that lost both in number of seats and share of votes, thanks to the strategic faults they have committed in the state in particular and in the North East in general, which is a glaring example of how the INC has politically handed the region over to the BJP in the last ten years.

A third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, or a first term for Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge’s choice for Prime Minister of an INDI-Alliance government in case the June 4 result upsets the one predicted by the exit polls and throws up an “expect the unexpected” outcome. The INDI-Alliance says the exit polls were “rigged” and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called them “Modi Media Poll”, adding that the INDI-Alliance will tally ‘295’, more than enough seats to unseat Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Both the CPI(M)-headed Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) have rejected the exit poll reports ‘with the contempt they deserve’. These reports are politically motivated and highly biased, say both the fronts which are the main contenders from Kerala.

Last month, Afghanistan faced another major natural disaster with severe flooding in the northern provinces of Badakhshan, Baghlan, and Takhar. It is estimated that hundreds of people lost their lives and thousands were forced to leave their homes. This recent disaster follows a series of earthquakes in the western parts of Afghanistan late last year, which resulted in at least 2,000 deaths and left 150,000 people in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

The news that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, has been invited to address joint session of US Congress has come at a time when the International Criminal Court (ICC) is seeking warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli and Hamas leaders for "war crimes." This invitation gives him the status of an honoured guest for which he is very excited as per the reports. As head of the government of Israel he is responsible for the death and misery of thousands of hapless children and women. Inviting him to address the Congress session has exposed the hypocrisy of the US administration that has been talking of humanitarian assistance to the war affected people on one side and supplying huge cache of arms to Israel in the name of self-defence from Hamas.

PARIS: It seems almost a lifetime ago. France’s elections in spring 2022 saw the rise of a united-left slate, the New Ecological and Social Popular Union (NUPES), which not only repeatedly topped polls but denied Emmanuel Macron a majority in the National Assembly. Last year, his government seemed to be on the ropes, faced with a mass movement against a rise in the pension age. But as France again heads to the polls for the European elections this June 9, the Left is in a precarious condition.

India witnessed rising contractualisation, privatization and wage deceleration in the public and private sectors during the last ten years from 2014 to 2024. In 2014, during the last year of the UPA government, the top one percent of Indians had 21.4 percent income share, which went up to 22.6 percent in 2022 and their wealth share increased from 30.4 percent to 40.1 percent over the ten years of RSS Pariwar union government. The greater rise in the wealth, compared with the income share of the top one percent reflects acceleration of accumulation of capital under the current fascist dispensation.

It may be time for an Anna Hazare-type agitation to reclaim the integrity and independence of the Election Commission, completely compromised by the incumbent commission like never before.

Apprehensions and expectations of India’s Central Trade Unions (CTUs) have reached their climax at the completion of the Lok Sabha elections on June 1, 2024. Since the fate of trade unionism and the workers’ rights amidst the rising working poverty in the country much depends on the outcome of the election result on June 4, CTUs have reiterated their demands, especially withdrawal of the four controversial labour codes, and asked the workers to be ready to continue their struggle, if the newly constituted government does not meet their demands.