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LUCKNOW: Muslim community which constitute more than 18 per cent votes in Uttar Pradesh is unhappy with Samjwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party when they failed to include even a single person from minority community in their list of candidates for Rajya Sabha biennial polls.

LONDON: Leader of opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has set out party’s path to reach to the Downing street. The Westminster bubble and particularly the Labour detractors owing allegiance to Tony Blair had questioned his leadership and expressed apprehensions about his calibre to rejuvenate the party and present it as a ruling alternative. Corbyn has however shown that it is the left in the party, not the right that can show a path to Labour’s return to power. He believes it is the principle and the strategy that works.

An almost audible sigh of relief escaped the CPI(M) central and state leaders when V S Achuthanandan avoided making any controversial remarks at the first press conference he addressed after being denied the Chief Minister’s post.

That the Congress has a number of admirable qualities is undeniable. For one, its stoicism in the face of repeated defeats borders on the heroic. For another, the devotion of the foot soldiers towards the feudal overlords of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty can be the envy of a monastic order. For a third, the discipline which the rank and file displays in the face of a situation which is progressively becoming worse is worthy of a resolute army.

Weather-wise, May-June makes life little pleasant in India with heat waves sizzling most of its parts. Educational institutions, judiciary and even parliament observe summer vacation or recess during this period. Rich Indians and business leaders organize holidays and business meets in climate-friendly Europe partly to beat the heat. Ministers, top government officials and legislators too look for opportunities to stay out of the country as long as possible. The less fortunate ones look for a break in the cooler chimes of local hill resorts like Darjeeling, Shillong, Gangtok, in the north-east, Srinagar, Shimla, Mussourie, Dharmashala, Nainital and Manali in the north and Ooty, Kodaikanal, Coonnoor and Munnar in the south. Few business satraps and political heavyweights from western countries and Japan ever come to India during this season. If the summer of 2016, which has already recorded the highest temperature in memory topping 51 Degree C in parts of North India, is making an exception for the likes of Apple’s head honcho Tim Cook and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to visit the country, it has to be on the most important business call that can’t wait until the winter.

While domestic investors are sulking, foreign investors are upbeat. During the second year of Modi government, domestic investment plummeted. New investment dropped sharply from Rs 10.4 trillion in 2014-15 to Rs 8 trillion in 2015-16, according to CMIE. But, this could not dismay the foreign investors. Despite global crisis, foreign investors continued to be euphoric to invest in India, reposing confidence in Modi’s charismatic image of investment friendly leader.

Elections results of five state assembly elections are on expected lines. It was known that the Congress was on weak wicket in Assam, having been ruled by Tarun Gogoi for 15 years continuously. There is bound to be heavy anti-incumbency. Also Gogoi went to poll without any ally. Chief Minister’s right hand man Hemant Biswa Sarma left the Congress to join the BJP and no attempt was made to prevent him. He would have been a great asset to the party. Gogoi had opportunity to forge alliance with the AGP and other regional party but he was so confident of victory that he decided to go alone and paid the price.

The Red Star shone brightly and luminously in Kerala’s political sky as the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front(LDF) staged a spectacular comeback to power, inflicting a debilitating defeat on the Corruption-tainted and controversy-ridden United Democratic Front(UDF) Government.

In contrast with the electoral performance of the Congress in neighbouring West Bengal, the party has come a cropper in Assam. The main reason for this is said to be the inability of the aging leadership of the Assam Congress to keep in touch with the hopes and aspirations of the younger generation. They want job, they want better education facilities, including technical education. The Congress got alienated from the youth who believed, even after seeing two years of the BJP rule at the Centre, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be able to deliver. This shows the extent of disillusionment of the youth with the Congress.

Defying a combined opposition onslaught on her allegedly corrupt rule, the 68-year old AIDMK Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu,Ms. Jayalalithaa historically sailed into a second successive term, turning on its head the exit polls projecting her political exit with a triumphant return of arch-rival, 93-year old Mr Karunanidhi, at the head of DMK-Congress alliance.