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The BJP’s success in Assam, though expected, represents the breakthrough for which the party has been waiting for quite some time. It had been kept at bay by outgoing chief minister Tarun Gogoi for the last 15 years till he mishandled the Himanta Biswa Sarma affair. The inability of Gogoi and the Congress high command to assess how Sarma might accentuate the anti-incumbency swing against the state government by switching sides is largely responsible for the Congress’s defeat. Had the party been more sensitive to the demands of the ambitious young man, it might have survived. But reports that Rahul Gandhi refused to listen to Sarma’s grievances till he resigned and decided to join the BJP show how the party can be hurt by its tendency to be aloof.

There are many assessments – some flattering and some not so flattering -about Prime Minister Narendra Modi completing two years in office next week. While his supporters admire him, his critics and the opposition bash him for not fulfilling his poll promises. His voters are waiting patiently for the “ achche din” he had promised during the campaign, but the problem confronting the prime minister is how to deliver his promises. Nobody knows this better than Modi himself that the election rhetoric cannot be delivered in five years.

BHOPAL: Realising the gravity of the massive protest, bordering mass frenzy, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced change in the location of smart city project in Bhopal.

The Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said in an interview to a financial daily in the capital that he had a meeting with the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on the need to plan ahead on expenditure. He said pointblank that the Finance Ministry will be willing to give the Railways more money so that “the whole plan of redevelopment of 400 railway stations, track modernization, the setting up of locomotive factories, a cleaner and globally comparable railway system could all be carried out”.

Myanmar’s transition from army rule to full-fledged democracy is going on. The undisputed leader of the country, Aung San Suu Kyi, is the chairman of Myanmar’s National Democratic League which swept the polls in the general elections six months ago, But a provision deliberately inserted in the army-drafted constitution prevents her from becoming the president of the country. Amending the constitution will take some time. But she is already the de facto head of State in her capacity as State Counsellor – a post specially created for her. She also holds the portfolios of foreign affairs, education, power and energy and the president’s office. The President, Htin Kyaw is one of her most trusted colleagues.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The predictions by more poll surveys and exit polls of a comfortable victory for Left Demo critic the in kerala have added to the FDF’S feel good factor, with just two days left for counting.

Adversities teach lessons but only to those willing to learn. Will the BJP/RSS and the Modi government learn any lesson from their Uttarakhand debacle?

LUCKNOW: Fight for backward votes has been intensified with the entry of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who launched campaign for Mission 2017 from Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Another icon is failing. Up until Nitish Kumar’s success as leader of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar last year, his stars were on the ascendant.

Even 66 years after the Constitution of India opted for a multiparty democratic system and adult franchise, the country is showing practically no sign of turning into a matured democracy offering good governance to its people. Instead, the political parties, run mostly like family-owned business, are turning into more and more power hungry and financially greedy. And, elections – for both assembly and parliament – are exposing the worst of them, before and after the franchise.