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The contemporary Indian democracy is at a threshold of its constitutionalism. Amidst the deafening noise of the media and a structured, institutionalised political propaganda of minority marginalisation, every second day, there is a renewed debate regarding what constitutes an exercise of the freedom of speech and expression and what are the reasonable and legitimate restrictions that may be imposed on this exercise of free speech.

“Most people think women don’t make good drivers, but I have proved them wrong”, says Laxmi Jadhav, 42, with a mischievous smile.

The ordeals Rahul Gandhi has been facing in the National Herald money laundering case are yet to dissipate. The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the Congress-promoted Young Indian Private Limited, which owns the National Herald newspaper. The ED probe is more of the nature and intent of insulting Rahul for his audacity to question and put Narendra Modi in tight spot.

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party is under tremendous pressure to retain Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats facing by-elections on June 23. Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav had won from Azamgarh while Rampur was won by senior party leader Mohd Azam Khan who was recently released on bail.

India is leading the switch in the flow of Russian crude oil, hit by sanctions in the wake of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, from its traditional market Europe to Asia.

The NDA’s choice for President of India, a woman, and a tribal — Droupadi Murmu, is a sureshot winner, considering the political situation in the country. And Murmu is no stranger to power, and high office. She was Jharkhand Governor from 2015 to 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the head of the table when the BJP parliamentary board picked her name from a list of 20 potential first citizen candidates. Also, probably this is the first time people are getting to know that an NDA presidential candidate is decided by the BJP alone.

The ruling NDA’s choice of the candidate for the presidential election must be conceded to be a political masterstroke. They have picked up an adivasi candidate now after choosing a scheduled caste candidate earlier. They have thus strayed away from the so-called upper caste elites and espoused the cause of the downtrodden. In a way, this is a conceptual breakthrough and a leap of imagination.

‘Unreachable’ is what mobile phones communicate when the tower can’t connect. But when a bunch of Shiv Sena MLAs went “incommunicado” midnight on Monday, the future looked grim for Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, who couldn’t get through to Eknath Shinde, a key Sena MLA and a strongman of no mean clout within the Shiv Sena. By then, it was no longer news that a bunch of Sena legislators had cross-voted to give arch rival Devendra Fadnavis and the BJP, victory in the Maharashtra MLC elections.

Decrying modern Indian history and accusing the eminent historians of distorting the historical facts has turned into an obsession for the BJP leaders and cadres. Every individual in the party, right from the lower level to the top leaders, is busy finding fault with the history and dictating an infantile discourse about its content and politico- religious contour.

With only two days left for the by-elections for four Tripura assembly seats on June 23, the war of words between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its main challenger Trinamool Congress (TMC) reached a climax of sorts this week.