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KOLKATA: In any election campaign, it is customary for a candidate to speak of his/her party's past achievements in that constituency. Not so in Hooghly of West Bengal , where Singur is located though the agitation of Trinamool Congress to drive away a small car project from multi crop farm land helped TMC gain a foothold in state politics.

It is good to note that India’s defence manufacturing industry is fast emerging as a major contributor to the country’s economy and quietly supporting the latest stock market surge. Defence manufacturers have never had it so good. The private sector defence manufacturing enterprises are doing extremely well alongside the traditional government-run publicly held armament manufacturers. The country’s 10 defence stocks surged up to 446 percent in the last one year. Among the top performers are: HAL, Mazagon Dock, Bharat Forge, Bharat Dynamics, Paras Defence and Space, Bharat Electronics, ideaForge, MTAR Technologies, Data Patterns, Solar Industries, Goa Shipyard and Taneja Aerospace.

India, a rising military power that proudly avoids alliances, recently showcased a shift in its global perspective. In a low-key manner, despite emphasizing its "strategic autonomy" for years, New Delhi dispatched the INS Talwar, a frigate, to assist a maritime coalition led by the United States.

Like many other countries, political parties in India often claim victory during elections even before official results are announced. It is part of their politics. The ongoing polls are not just another political event; they are of paramount importance, as well to the fate of several political party leaders. They have profound and far-reaching implications.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no time to waste answering pointless questions. After Wayanad, he faces the Raebareli electorate and Raebareli voters are not on the best of terms with the Gandhi family right now. The family, however, cannot leave 'north India' unrepresented. So Rahul Gandhi, who wasn't excited about a second seat, chose to contest from Raebareli, which was represented by Sonia Gandhi in the 17th Lok Sabha, instead of from Amethi.

Never before in the history of Independent India, a prime minister, even BJP stalwart Atal Behari Vajpayee had taken out a road show as part of election campaigning in the city of Patna lasting covering a distance of 15 kms. For Patnaites this was really an amazing show on Sunday of Narendra Modi on the road soliciting vote for his candidate. Modi did not travel from one end of the city to the other end. Instead it was circuitous road show, starting from the heart of the city to literally coming back to the same spot.

Election Commission of India (ECI) has collapsed altogether in conducting free and fair elections in the ongoing General Elections to the Lok Sabha (House of the People) as has been witnessed from its conduct since the announcement of the polls in March 2024. The ECI has lost public credibility for its failure to infuse public confidence in the fairness of country’s electoral processes.

In granting interim relief to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court has shown the willingness to go beyond technicalities and take a ‘political’ stand against what has been widely seen as a political arrest by the Modi government. The decision by the bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta will be remembered for long as a landmark for a holistic approach and being guided by the spirit of the law rather than its letter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top political adversary put behind bar with announcement of Lok Sabha Election is finally out in the electoral battlefield on the closing day of fourth phase of election campaign. Though he will have only few hours to campaign for the fourth phase of election scheduled on May 13, he will have complete campaign period in his hand for the next three phases of election, which poses a strategic challenge to PM Narendra Modi and BJP . With Kejriwal out from detention, the opposition election machinery is auto-reset to best performance mode, which is a new trouble for PM Narendra Modi who has reset his election machinery to optimum performance mode after perceiving significant losses in the first three phases of elections.

For the ‘nth’ time since Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail, it must be said that the Aam Aadmi Party convenor is a ‘khaas aadmi’ and not an ‘aam aadmi’ like ex-Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia or ex-Delhi Jail Minister Satyender Jain, both of whom continue to languish in Tihar. The AAP convenor is very important for the INDI-Alliance's plans to oust the BJP from power.