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Twenty opposition parties will boycott the new Parliament building unveiling. They don't want the honourable Prime Minister act the 'Inauguration Minister', which is a boringly familiar sight ever since 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji's appetite for cutting ribbons and laying foundation stones is inelegantly voracious. It does not upset the Prime Minister's stomach, but it definitely gives a whole of Indians a case of the worst kind of unfettered Modi-rrhoea!

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government headed by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, which has just completed two years of its tenure, has taken big strides on the development front.

Nineteen Opposition political parties – the Indian National Congress, the All India Trinamool Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Janata Dal (United), the Nationalist Congress Party, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India, the All India Muslim League, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, the Kerala Congress (M), the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, and the Rashtriya Lok Dal – in a joint statement issued earlier today stated that they would boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 28.

On May 28, 2023, the new building for our Parliament would be inaugurated. It is the icon of our sovereign democratic Republic, the status achieved after a long arduous struggle for independence from the British colonialism. Those who took part in the struggle for our independence had to undergo extreme torture and long phases of incarceration. They accepted the ordeal and never relented from their path. They were one in their commitment to the cause, and many in their representation of our composite culture.

In a brazen authoritarian move, the Modi government has promulgated an ordinance to nullify the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on the Delhi government’s control over administrative officers under its jurisdiction.

Promises made by BJP to come to power in 2014, such as, 20 million (2 crore) jobs every year, Rs.15, 00,000 in every bank account, a US $5 trillion economy by 2024, doubling of farming income by 2022, cooperative federalism, a Congress-free (mukt) Bharat, evaporated in thin year in the last nine years of RSS Pariwar union government. People scurrying around looking for fulfillment of such promises, found so far were a big jumla. On the contrary, RSS Pariwar has been trying its best to gain power by raising people’s expectations sky high on emotive issues intoxicating their minds on Hindutva opium of religious polarization, communalism, divisive politics, minority lynching, bashings, Dalit, tribal bashings, attacking their livelihood, majoritarian politics, patriarchal suppression of women, gaining power somehow by false promises, regaining power, not addressing the main problems facing the people, unemployment, inflation, education and their basic problems of health and livelihood, above all, diverting people’s attention on a sustained basis through mainstream captive media.

About a dozen Ministers of BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh and ruling party MLAs have threatened to resign if their demand of restraining a Minister is not met immediately. A delegation of Ministers and MLAs, mostly belonging to Sagar district, sought emergency appointment from the Chief Minister Shiv Raj Singh Chouhan to seek his intervention to restrain Minister Bhupendra Singh whose activities are causing difficulties.

India is at a cross-road. The country needs to ensure the administration to be more sensitive and humane for which women’s spectacular success in UPSC is a good signal. The UPSC results show women at the top 4 ranks, while they grabbed 6 in top 10, and 14 in top 25 ranks. The number of successful women is highest this year making a history who are set to enter the civil services. However, overemphasizing on this remarkable success of women candidates must not be allowed to hide the grim reality that only 320 selected candidates are women among 933, which comes to just 34.29 per cent.

So, our Pradhan Sewak is the Australian Prime Minister’s ‘Boss’, just like Bruce Springsteen, who was ‘Born in America’. Narendra Damodardas Modi was born in Gujarat and Gujarat is no less full of business magnates as America is. But the question currently roiling minds is why is it that Prime Minister Narendra Modi isn’t the apple of the eye of large chunks of India’s electorate as he is ragingly popular among overseas Indians?

The abrupt announcement by RBI, withdrawing all Rs 2,000 notes from circulation, seems to have much more than what meets the eye. Going by the explanations provided so far, it is increasingly clear that there is plenty of room for the regulator to be more forthcoming on the decision.