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With the passing of every phase, the anguish gripping the RSS and traditional BJP cadres and supporters is getting more pronounced and discernible, notwithstanding the attempts of the top RSS leaders to make them relent and ensure the victory of the BJP candidates.

BERLIN – It was May 10 in Germany’s terrible year, 1933. Hitler had been in power for hardly three months, when students and staff emptied the university libraries of forbidden books and threw them, an estimated 20,000 books by over a hundred authors, into the flames of a giant bonfire.

On International Workers’ Day, Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, announced that the country would sever diplomatic ties with Israel over its ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza. “Tomorrow we will break diplomatic relations with the state of Israel for having a government, for having a president who is genocidal. . . . If Palestine dies, humanity dies,” Petro said.

RSS Pariwar union government and Sangh Pariwar ruled states have enacted various laws that are anti-people and unconstitutional during the last ten years since 2014. These laws are draconian and have conditioned police, bureaucracy and judiciary to violate people’s fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India with impunity. As a result, country has transformed into an electoral dictatorship.

The role of State Bank of India in suppressing information about the Supreme Court-struck down electoral bonds has been well-exposed. Now more evidence of SBI’s ‘political mandate’ is emerging. For no rhyme or reason, an inhouse economist has debunked what he describes as the myth of voter apathy in the current elections. His study covered only the first two phases of polling, but the turnout in the just-concluded third phase also indicates a decline, compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress will not be able to do a repeat of the November 2023 assembly election victory. KCR’s Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) hasn’t recouped its loss and isn’t in shape despite party head K Chandrashekar Rao’s frequent pep talk to party leaders and party workers. Politics has veered to the communal in the interregnum and “Samajik Nyay” is the key.

This week’s Gazan short-lived celebration of a ceasefire that was not to be, highlights what is at stake in the seven-month-old war and Israel’s refusal to end the carnage. Thousands poured into Gazan streets within minutes of Hamas advising it had accepted a Qatar and Egyptian ceasefire proposal.

Relations have soured since Joe Biden labelled India as 'xenophobic'. Additionally, tensions have been fuelled by criticisms from Washington and a foiled assassination attempt. However, experts believe that Washington will make sure that nothing hinders its strategy to work with New Delhi in order to counter China’s challenge to both.

The suspense is over—it is Rahul Gandhi, not Priyanka Gandhi, who is contesting from Rae Bareli, the seat their mother, Sonia Gandhi represented five times since 2004 until she entered Rajya Sabha a month ago. And party worker Kishori Lal Sharma will face BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi.

In the beginning, Narendra Modi promised “good days”, but it didn’t come even after 10 long years of his rule in India. Then there was opposition’s hue and cry against him. General Election 2024 was knocking at the door. Under his nose, in the capital city, his seat of power, the most vociferous noises against him were being heard, being made by Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi.