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Impervious of the defeat of his JD(U) candidate by the BJP contender in Kurhani assembly by-election, the leader of the seven party Mahagathbandhan, Nitish Kumar in a clarion call to his opposition friends underscored the need for coming together to successfully counter the BJP. After the defeat while the BJP leaders were crying hoarse and demanding his resignation, the JD(U) national meet provided a major boost to his political stature by assigning him with the task to accomplish “Mission 2024” to bring the Opposition on a platform for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

By launching its pre-election campaign in Meghalaya much earlier than other major parties, the West-Bengal based Trinamool Congress (TMC) has highlighted its striking differences in terms of its general political approach and mobilisation programmes. As Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched on Monday the TMC’s state Assembly election campaign in Meghalaya making a rare visit, there is a perceptible stirring of interest among entrenched local party leaders as well as common people.

Now that the voters in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh have given their verdict, what next? Each of the main parties got some gains but also suffered some losses. The immediate challenge before them and the Opposition are to set right things before the final 2024 polls.

Usually things start with a display of offensive banners and end with a flag meeting. Tempers cool followed by the rival “20-year-olds” going back to each their neck of the woods either side of the LAC. This time, it was at Tawang far to the east of Galwan and happened on December 9.

While the Supreme Court and the Union Government are locking horns in matters concerning the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, it has come out in the public domain that at-least on two occasions, the Supreme Court Collegium gave in to the wishes of the Union Government by recalling its recommendations for two names which were already reiterated by it.

The AAP strategy is to make lots of noise and hope that it registers with the voters. It worked in Gujarat where it got 13 percent of the vote share to technically become a national party though in terms of impact it remains “regional” with the distinction of being in the company of the BJP and the Congress in ruling more than one state.

Throwing out BJP from power in Himachal Pradesh by bagging 40 seats in 68-member Vidhan Sabha was indeed a spectacular performance of Congress, but far more remarkable feat achieved by the party leadership was after the results were out. Dexterity of the high-command melted its factionalism giving way for consensus over selection of Chief Minister candidate at a time when there were at least three strong aspirants.

Few manufacturing industries in India have done as consistently well as the drug industry over the last four decades. The Indian drug industry is currently ranked the world’s third largest in pharmaceutical production by volume. The production has been increasing rapidly supported by rising domestic consumption and exports. The industry has been growing at a CAGR of 9.43 percent over the past nine years. Generic drugs, over-the-counter (OTC) medications, bulk drugs, vaccines, contract research & manufacturing, biosimilars, and biologics are some of the major segments of the industry. India also has the most number of pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities that are in compliance with the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

Much was made of the BJP’s, especially Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s, great outreach to Pasmanda Muslims, said to account for up to 80 percent of the Muslim electorate. Talk of this emerging phenomenon started making headlines soon after the BJP won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections earlier this year, with BJP leaders emphasizing that the “double-engine Sarkar” of Modi and Yogi Adityanath with their ‘labarthi schemes’ had made a tremendous impact on Muslim women voters.

LUCKNOW: By-elections results for Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat and two assembly seats Rampur Sadar and Khatauli in western Uttar Pradesh have given clear message to BJP, Samajwadi Party and RLD to work hard and search for good alliance partners for 2024 Lok Sabha polls.