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THIRUVANTHPURAM: The result of the assembly elections in four States, billed as the ‘semi-final’ before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, has come as a rude wake-up call to the Congress in Kerala, struggling to shake off the aftermath of a slew of scams.

BHOPAL: The Bharatiya Janata Party's third consecutive victory in the assembly polls in the State has added a unique chapter to the electoral history of Madhya Pradesh. Though Congress, after the formation of the present Madhya Pradesh in 1956, registered three consecutive victories (It won elections in 1957, 1962, and 1967) but every time, the government was led by a new Chief Minister.

Pleased as the BJP will be with its 4-0 drubbing of the Congress in the assembly polls in north and central India, the party cannot but have failed to notice that the outcome provides no clear indication of a Narendra Modi effect, let alone a wave. Arguably, the party would have fared as well even if it had not appointed a prime ministerial candidate because if there was any wave at all, it was an anti-Congress one.

New Delhi: President of India Pranab Mukherjee left for South Africa on Tuesday with a five-member delegation to the memorial service of former South African President Nelson Mandela.

No one, except those public insensitive Congress satraps, believed that Congress will fare well in this month’s state elections even in states such as Delhi and Rajasthan where the party had been in power. Even Delhi chief minister Sheila Dixit failed to fix it in her own constituency, where she was mauled and swept away by new comer Aam Aadmi party promoter Arvind Kejriwal’s ‘broom’ sticks.

The major victory that Commerce Minister Anand Sharma claimed and celebrated at Bali, after almost single-handedly forcing WTO to compromise on the issue of food security, would undoubtedly cause jubilation for UPA Government, which gets ready for the 2014 battle in a somber mood.

The Congress faces a grim situation following its rout in the four northern states. With its humiliating defeats in Delhi and Rajasthan and the BJP retaining Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh, the Congress has been routed in entire north India except tiny Haryana. This has indeed been a convincing three time win for Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh. In Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Admi Party stopped the saffron surge, making a stunning debut, winning 28 seats. Ruled uninterrupted by Sheila Dikshit for 15 years, the poll verdict has thrown a hung assembly and Delhi is heading for a spell of centre’s rule and re-elections.

This year’s midnight of December 6/7 will be remembered as an historic day of India’s success in trade diplomacy. Also the world leaders have paid the best tribute to the leader of the anti-apartheid movement and the former South African President Nelson Mandela who passed away on December 6 by reaching an accord at the 9th WTO Ministerial in Bali allowing developing countries to continue with food security programmes for the poor.

India has finally won. It has shown the way how trade diplomacy can work to its final conclusion. After five days of hectic parleys, running beyond the original schedule, the trade negotiators could eventually come out with the historic Bali Package defending the inalienable rights of the developing countries to food security and related public stockholding of food.

New Delhi : Shortly after the two day India-US Homeland Security dialogue, the Indian Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh is slated to visit US on a 4-day trip beginning from Sunday as part of Foreign Office Consultations.