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Punjab with a population of 27 million, the majority of which is Sikh, has in recent times, has given rise to an important movement that seeks to organize the Dalits, who comprise the poorest and most downtrodden section of rural society in the state.

The economic liberalisation of the 1990s brought with it malls and shopping arcades. However, the timeless allure of traditional marketplaces, deeply ingrained in the collective consciousness of Indian society, persists. A significant part of that allure is individuals who earn a living vending goods, spices, vegetables, clothing, toys and more from movable wooden carts or from pavements, commonly known as ‘street-vendors’ or ‘hawkers’ in India.

The coming week or two could determine Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s political fate and reshape the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s Gaza war. That is, if Netanyahu fails to comply with war cabinet member Benny Gantz’s demand that the prime minister produce a plan for the post-war administration of GaIf Gantz resigns, he will likely be joined by fellow war cabinet member and former Israel Defence Forces (IDF) chief of staff Gabi Eisenkot.

Fuel consumers would do well to be ready to loosen their purse strings and face the post-election nuanced reality after they enjoyed a Rs 2 per litre cut in prices before the Lok Sabha elections. There has been a pattern in the price behaviour during and after every election. The most curious part is that while the pre-election price cuts are credited to the government account, subsequent price increases are invariably attributed to market forces.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has now decided to go ahead alone and has started reviewing relationship with INDIA bloc. The party’s path ahead is already embattled with legal battles, with its three key leaders – CM Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, and Satyendra Kumar Jain – put behind the bar. The Enforcement Directorate has made the party an accused in a money laundering case, and the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi has recommended investigation in allegations of receiving funds from a terrorist organization. Apart from that, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said during election campaign that there were other 7 cases of corruption against AAP Supremo Kejriwal. Moreover, AAP could gain only a lacklustre public support during the Lok Sabha Election 2024. All these show AAP’s political path ahead is uncertain and rocky.

It is the same old story. The boringly repetitive drama of Congress leaders imploring Rahul Gandhi to take on a plum post – this time that of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The two sides never tire of the game. On one side, Congress leaders and on the other side, the Gandhi scion. The last time Rahul Gandhi played hard to get was for the Congress President's post, which finally went to Mallikarjun Kharge.

It might have been far-fetched, but even then the Trinamool Congress’s Young Turk Abhishek Banerjee took pains to fly to Mumbai to meet the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and his son Aditya Thackeray, for exploring opportunity for a third front government to take over in Delhi. What compelled TMC’s Abhishek to call on Uddhav was the latter’s decision to skip the Delhi meet of the INDIA leaders. Keen to grab the opportunity and form INDIA government, Uddhav had nevertheless come to know that the Congress leadership was reluctant to form the government. Obviously, as a mark of protest against the Congress-led decision, he did not go to Delhi.

Influence of Indian Secular Front (ISF), the "one legislator party" in the West Bengal Assembly is not to be judged by its representation. It contested on its own in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and cut into the support bases of Congress and several Left Front partners triggering them to slide below the ISF in some of the constituencies after votes were counted.

Forty-four seat and 19.3% of the votes in 2014; 52 seat and 19.49% of the votes in 2019; and 99 seats and 21.26% of the vote in 2024. One of the stories of these elections has been turnaround of the Indian National Congress, one made all the more remarkable by its improved overall strike rate (defined as seats won to seats contested expressed in percentage) of 30 per cent compared to 8.3 per cent in 2019 and 9.4% in 2014. Further, as against the BJP in head on head fight, the Congress strike rate was 29 per cent in 2024 as against 8 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

PARIS: As the European Parliament elections are on from June 6 to June 9, the bourgeois party Les Republicains, founded by Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president and adviser to current President Emmanuel Macron, is plummeting, as is the latter’s Renaissance formation. So far, Le Penʼs Rassemblement National, with its top candidate and new leader Jordan Bardella, is far ahead in all polls, with more than 31%.