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The time of reckoning has finally come. The Supreme Court of India is to begin final hearing of petitions challenging sedition law on May 5, 2022, as the Apex Court has said on April 27, and would not entertain any request for any further adjournment of the matter. The three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice N V Ramana, which also included Justices Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli, has directed the Centre to file its response by the end of this week after hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of sedition law ie Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Since CJI N V Ramana will be retiring on August 26, 2022, the final outcome of the case is expected before his retirement.

Now that the poll strategist Prashant Kishor has finally dissociated himself from the Congress Party's plans for the next state assembly elections culminating into the Lok Sabha polls in March/April 2024, the Congress Party has to focus fully on how to make optimum use of the strategic planning for defeating the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections in cooperation with other anti-BJP parties.PK has submitted a blueprint many parts of which have the endorsement of the Congress high command. Those can be implemented by the Congress leadership itself provided the state leaders including the present chief ministers are fully utilised to implement the programme in practice.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It is a moral victory of sorts for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) Government. The reference is to the sudden decision of experts who oppose the SilverLine project to boycott the panel debate organized by K-Rail on Thursday, April 28.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his MVA government are getting boxed in by the machinations of the BJP-MNS combine which is busy giving oxygen to the perception that the Shiv Sena is no longer the Hindutva force it used to be during the time of Hindutva icon Balasaheb Thackeray, and that the Shiv Sena stopped being Hindutva the day it tied its future to that of the secular forces led by the NCP-Congress.

From playing a key role in Narendra Modi’s prime ministerial campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, to taking a political plunge four years later by joining the JD(U) and leaving it in a huff, to negotiate the Congress for any entry now, Prashant Kishor has covered a long distance in Indian politics in the last eight years.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court commuted the death sentence of a convict to an imprisonment sentence of 30 years without remission. The court observed that the convict was denied fair opportunity to defend himself during the trial. While justifying the commutation, it observed that there is no evidence to suggest that the prisoner is beyond reformation.

Two decades back Lalu Prasad Yadav had stopped the Rath Yatra of L K Advani and now, once the protégé of Advani, the Bihar chief Minister Nitish Kumar is contemplating to stop the victory chariot of Narendra Modi. But there is vast difference between the two. While Lalu showed his political strength and determination, Nitish is resorting to cunning politicking. Like Lalu he does not possess the political courage of calling a spade a spade and face his enemy head on.

BHOPAL: Barely nine hour visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah has helped to boost Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's prestige in his party and also in the politics of the state. In the course of his speeches at various programmes in Bhopal Shah paid rich tributes to Chouhan. Amit Shah said "Chouhan has made a special contribution in transforming the state into a developing one from a BIMARU state".

Harassment is the name of the game, pure and unalloyed harassment. It is a dangerous game, driven by a vindictive streak. Arrest a person and slap charges on him/her, from the nasty to the draconian, and let life behind bars teach him/her a harsh lesson. Doesn’t matter how humiliating, only the odd prisoner will get a megaphone. And if it’s a woman, it's hardly likely.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has taken a conciliatory step by not confronting the rebels in the party (G 23) by postponing her decision on poll strategist Prashant Kishor's entry into the party. It, however, does not mean that it will not happen, as she is biding time and preparing the ground for the admission of controversial Kishor. In politics, timing is crucial, and Sonia knows better than others when and how Kishor should be brought in.