View Articles

Haryana assembly election the result of which came out on Tuesday, has sprung up great surprise belying almost all political projections and analyses predicting Congress to wrest power from the BJP. However, Congress met a serious setback and the BJP spectacularly gained. It marks the reversal of political fortune, which shows strategic excellence of the BJP and its leadership on the one hand, while Congress setback marks the need of the party learning some lesson from it.

The Bharatiya Janata Party lost the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections. The National Conference-Congress alliance romped home victorious. National Conference president Farooq Abdullah announced Omar Abdullah will be the next Chief Minister. The Valley had voted enormously for the NC-Congress alliance. Almost as if there's no tomorrow. Jammu's Hindus gave the BJP a face-saver. But not to the extent the BJP expected. The Congress could have improved the NC-Congress tally in the Jammu region.

KOLKATA: In September every year, when the progress of the south-west monsoon is usually well-established and heavy rains in several districts of West Bengal’s southern part cause floods, chief minister Mamata Banerjee performs her ritual of blaming Damodar Valley Corporation for the “man-made floods” and holds DVC responsible for hurting the state’s interest by its oft-repeated practice of reckless release of excessive water from its dams.

The government’s latest policy to allow the export of non-basmati white rice could not have come at a more appropriate time as farmers are getting ready to harvest the country’s most important autumn crop, rice. In the absence of proper storage facilities in the country, the surplus needs to be either sold at a discount in the domestic market or exported to earn a decent price. India is expected to set a new rice production record during the current year.

The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir conducted its first assembly elections in a decade. It showcased the peaceful embrace of democracy by its people last week after decades of militancy. These polls were held after the bifurcation of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh on August 5, 2019, following the revocation of Article 370. The BJP claimed that the move was necessary to tackle separatism, enhance economic development and fully integrate the region into the country.

S Jaishankar's tenure so far as External Affairs Minister reminds many of us of our fears and failure to do something with our lives. Imagine a Foreign Minister of India and he hasn’t done anything of import to solve the India-Pakistan jigsaw. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tutelage, EAM S. Jaishankar has been mostly preparing the ground for Modi to carry forward his "foreign" agenda. There is no denying that Modi is India’s “Super EAM” and S. Jaishankar, with all his foreign policy wonk experience, did not get the chance to repair India’s ties with Pakistan.

Electoral battles in J&K and Haryana had been really tough for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister of Home Amit Shah and the BJP, but the coming months will be politically even more challenging for them in another three sates – Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. INDIA bloc Maharashtra and Jharkhand have lately been emerging stronger than expected, while AAP in Delhi is now in very upbeat mood especially after its leader Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were released on bail granted by Supreme Court of India with very harsh comment against the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has unmasked Modi-Shah duo in public eye.

Senior Congress leader Ravinder Sharma, a lawyer by training, and a politician by choice, has strongly criticised the powers given to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to nominate five MLAs in Jammu & Kashmir. This will effectively raise the numbers in the legislature to 95 as elections to 90 single member territorial assembly segments were concluded on October 1 evening. These nominated MLAs will have all legislative powers, including the right to vote, in all proceedings of the House.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s decision to remove the controversial Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Law and Order, M. R. Ajit Kumar from the top law enforcement post has taken the wind out of the sails of both the Opposition and Nilambur MLA PV Anvar who has launched a new political movement. ADGP, Intelligence, Manoj Abraham will replace Ajit Kumar.

JAMMU: In something that is happening for the first time in its electoral history, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will soon nominate five members to the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir. These nominated MLAs will have voting rights and can play an equal role as their elected counterparts in the formation of the government. The elections for 90 assembly seats were held in three phases and the results will be declared on October 8. Mr Sinha is likely to make the nominations immediately after the results are declared on the recommendations of the Union Home Ministry.