General Elections-2024: The Bonds of the Indian Electorate!

By all available indicators, trends and analysis the Bhartiya Janata Party(BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA)—more precisely the Modi Government—is all set to perform a rare hattrick of coming-back-to-power in the 18^th Lok Sabha or General Elecitons-2024 that starts on 19^th April and stretches like IPL all the way to 1^st June when the 7^th phase of voting is scheduled with the counting of results scheduled on 4^th June. A host of media reports/opinion polls, analysis by poll experts/psephologists, the confidence of the ruling BJP in achieving a 400+ tally of seats for its alliance, the NDA’s already achieved hattrick of winning three Assembly Elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in 2023, a divided opposition despite the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance or the INDIA bloc of 27 political parties, and of course, the bonds of an endearing Indian electorate all point to this prediction which is fast becoming a certainty like a walkover before the match even began. The BJP on its own won 282 in 2014, 303 in 2019 and now they predict a tally of 350 seats. Even if they fail to reach 350, they seem almost sure to secure something around 300, and if they do so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the first ever political leader of India to have achieved a single-party-majority three times in a row—meaning a resounding hattrick on all possible fronts.

The bonds of the Indian electorate seem to be growing warmer and warmer for their beloved leaders and the party, despite the Supreme Court striking down the Electoral Bonds Scheme. Some cynics point out that the vote shares in the previous two General Elections don’t quite bring out the maturing of the bonds of the electorate, because they say that the BJP’s vote share was just around 31% in 2014 and although it increased significantly to nearly 38% in 2019 it’s still lowly in view of the nearly 48% vote share achieved by the Indian National Congress or simply the Congress in 1957 under Jawaharlal Nehru. However, they miss on two points: first, the NDA has been marching along well securing about 45% vote share in the last elections and that since the beginning of ‘coalition politics’ from 1989 onwards the BJP’s achievement of 38% vote share is phenomenal.

The second point needs a little more elaboration. Vote shares are never a sound indicator if the bonds were warm or warmer. Vote shares don’t straightaway translate into winning more and more seats simply thanks to the fact that many candidates of both ruling and opposition parties have been winning seats by the slightest of vote margins which is a confirmed trend of modern poll and political times and that with the emergence of the regional parties there have been too many parties in the fray, sharing/splitting the pie. But on the other hand, the BJP candidates that won by large margins securing more than 50% vote shares of the constituencies concerned have increased from 136 in 2014 to 224 in 2019, and as per the available indicators this figure is set to get bigger this time. Cynics again counter this by saying that in the case of opposition candidates too, the number of wins securing more than 50% of the votes has increased from 64 in 2014 to 117 in 2019 which is more than that of the BJP in percentage terms. However, with the ruling alliance winning over many candidates/factions/parties across the Indian states to its fold quite a few of the erstwhile popular opposition candidates can turn to popular ruling candidates this time.

How big a challenge is the INDIA bloc? Well, even as the marginalization of Congress continues unabated and many parties having expressed their unwillingness either to partner with to share seats with it, the Bloc has been finding it hard to weather the storm keeping its flock together. Besides, most of the parties in the Bloc are extremely self-interested with the big few among them trying to promote their own prime ministerial candidates. And most significantly, they say an absolute ‘no’ to any leader from the Congress, particularly, Rahul Gandhi, emerging as a PM candidate. This is only natural: how could anyone earthily expect leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Akhilesh Yadav among others agree to having Rahul Gandhi or even Mallikarjun Kharge as their leader should they make it to the Lok Sabha? Then the exodus from the Congress, including very senior leaders continues unabated too. Thus the possibility of the Bloc having a unanimous PM candidate remains a mirage. And, to counter a basically personality-driven party the challengers will have to find a unanimous leader—sooner than later. Not to speak of the ideologies involved. The opposition parties are united only in one issue: that the central agencies have been let loose on them with the express political aim of demoralizing or deactivating them. However, the point remains as to why such ‘vindicated’ leaders like Kejriwal are not facing up to the challenge by confronting the agencies and proving their innocence! To be on a little positive side, the Bloc of late has indeed been making some headway in the South and parts of the East and the West.

Having said all this it must be taken into consideration that the sense of overconfidence is not at all healthy under any circumstances. It would be an insult to the elections of the biggest democracy of the world by presuming it to be a foregone conclusion. One particularly should not forget the surprise loss of the visionary leader-statesman-poet-former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2004 when his BJP’s victory was almost a foregone conclusion. The Indian elections are still immensely capable of throwing up surprises, despite all the odds. No doubt, the development story, the growth of Hindu nationalistic patriotism or jingoism, the scintillating Ram Mandir & the dream of Ram Rajya, successes in foreign policy and so on are definitely making the bonds of the electorate get warmer. But on the other hand, some of the bonds could get somewhat adversely affected too by the termination of the Electoral Bonds, the handling of the farmers’ agitation, the promulgation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) just before the elections, taking the celebrated corrupt leaders of all time liberally into the party fold, the unabashed use of the central agencies and other issues. Besides, the BJP or the NDA still remains entirely Modi-centric. A personality-driven wave need not be repetitive all the time. So then, General Elections-2024 could still be no less than a cricket thriller! Get set and Vote!

Assembly Elections-2022 Results: BJP Set To Win The Semi-Finals 4-1, A Decimated Congress Confirmed As The Cause Of Split Opposition!

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has created history in the volatile state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), interspersed with President’s Rule on many an occasion over the past decades, by overriding the anti-incumbency factor that has been in operation in the last 25 years to retain power, and Yogi Adityanath is set to become the first ever Chief Minister of UP to have two consecutive terms. Although the election battle in the state had been fought with open polarization tactics with the Hindutva campaign in full flow the victory with a comfortable majority is still an unprecedented achievement in light of the hurdles of the last two years—the woes of the migrant workers in the COVID-19 pandemic first wave; the abysmal management in the COVID-19 second wave with the rain of deaths and bodies floating the river Ganga; the farmers’ agitation and violence; the uncontrollably high unemployment rate; and the palpable anger of the citizens felt on almost every locality of the state.

 

As per the latest figures the BJP is heading for around 270 seats out of a total of 403 even as the counting for the assembly elections in 5 Indian states continue, although not able to accomplish the 300+ seats target this time as achieved in the last elections. Now the BJP has two paramount winners—PM Modi and Yogi—and the future is surely going to hang on the performances and the magnetism of these leaders. It is believed that the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections always have a direct impact on the outcome of the General Elections thanks to its 80 Lok Sabha (lower house of the Indian Parliament) seats as the largest state of India. Therefore, as per that belief the ruling BJP seems set to perform a hat-trick in the 2024 General Elections.

 

The other major highlight of the Assembly Elections-2022 results is the landslide victory for the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) winning an overwhelming 92 seats out of 117 seats in the Punjab assembly elections as per the latest reports. This is like a dream-come-true for the Delhi CM Kejriwal who has been trying extremely hard to build a national presence of his party AAP, and now he has been able to extend it beyond Delhi, to an important state of Punjab. He had announced Bhagwant Singh Mann, AAP’s sitting Lok Sabha MP as the CM-face well before the polls, and the popular actor-comedian has won hands down with a victory margin of over 58000 votes.

 

The people of Punjab, bearing the brunt of the farmers’ agitation and the consequent wrath of the central government, were left clueless by the classic personal feud between the two Congress Sardars—the erstwhile CM Capt. Amrinder Singh and the cricketer-comedian-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu and the spineless conduct of their regional parties—and have wholeheartedly welcomed the populist model of Kejriwal already tried successfully in Delhi despite the ruling BJP breathing heavily over his shoulders. The captain, dismayed at the betrayal by the Congress high command, formed a new party and fought the elections in alliance with the BJP; but he failed miserably to create an impact. Both Amrinder and Sidhu lost their seats among many other stalwarts, such is the sweeping wave for change.

 

The BJP has eliminated the Congress in the states of Uttarakhand and Manipur retaining power clear majority apart from Uttar Pradesh; in Manipur the BJP is going to form the government on its own for the first time. The situation in Goa is still tricky even though BJP seems to inching its way to a simple majority. In light of its previous stunt of grabbing power despite Congress being the single largest party in 2017, it is almost certain that BJP would retain power again having 20 seats out of 40 already. The results are so far based on leads/trends; nevertheless, the leads seem to be conclusive as victory marches in various cities hit the streets.

 

The BJP thinktank’s much-touted slogan of a ‘Congress mukt Bharat’ (Congress-free India) comes as a political masterstroke at this juncture. The thinktank knew very well that Congress being the oldest and the longest-ruling political party of India no united opposition can be viable without its inclusion. And in every election the party has been decimated and demoralized to such an extent that it has now become a clear liability for any aspiring opposition to stop the BJP, the Maharashtra model being the only exception. The dynastic pattern of the Congress has also been targeted repeatedly with a clear objective. Slowly over time, dissidence and defections grew within Congress with many of its promising leaders leaving the party and all other opposition parties became wary of the fact that once an alliance is formed with Congress, the latter’s dynastic leaders would have to made CM or PM faces which the ambitious regional leaders like Mamata Banerjee and Kejriwal cannot ever agree to. Add to that the BJP’s tireless wooing of the regional parties in various states.  

 

So, we’ve seen split oppositions in all the five states that made the BJP retain power in 4 and the AAP in 1 state. This way, the road is very clear indeed to another landslide by BJP in the General Elections-2024. By continuously decimating the Congress the BJP seems to have succeeded in eliminating a united opposition in the largest democracy of the world. Unfortunately, the process thus unfolded has sort of legitimatized the use of polarization and mixing religion with politics, the increasing loss of the true values of secularism, growing assaults on the democratic institutions and constitutional authority, and the spewing of venom and hatred between communities all over the country that is set to go on infecting us nobody knows for how long.

 

A few Congress spokespersons have no other option but to admit in television interviews that their party’s antics in Punjab just four-five months before the elections were extremely uncalled for. The party High Command has, for reasons unknown, totally yielded to the comedian’s never-ending demands making him party president, ousting a performing CM Captain Amrinder Singh, installing the comedian’s protégé as the new CM Charanjit Singh Channi who incidentally has lost both the seats he contested as per the latest reports and giving the comedian all the power as he feels like in running the government or the election campaign. Other dissident but very experienced Congress veterans have also said that the Gandhi (read dynastic) leadership has outlived its relevance. It is also a quirk of nature that another actor-comedian has come in to replace the black comedian to make the people of Punjab feel better, hopefully!

PM Modi Announces Booster Doses And Jabs For Kids Even As DCGI Approves Covaxin For 15-18 Age Group!

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced, in another unexpected national address late evening yesterday perhaps as a Christmas gift like he did recently on the occasion of Prakash Parv  (an annual festival of the Sikhs in Punjab and Haryana) to repeal the Three Farm Laws, booster doses or precautionary doses for the healthcare and frontline workers and all citizens above 60 years of age with comorbidities, to start from the 10th of January 2022, amid the rising Omicron scare in India. In a bid to make the parents confident enough to send their children to the schools the Prime Minister further announced vaccines jabs for children between 15 and 18 years of age to start from January 3, 2022. He also appealed to the people to not panic and follow COVID appropriate behavior strictly while cautioning them against rumors, fear mongering and misinformation. This announcement of the PM has been hailed all over as the most welcome move considering the global Omicron crisis—by the medical fraternity and others including even the opposition political parties. The ‘Booster Dose’ debate has been raging in India since the last few months. 

PM Modi has also presented a positive scenario with the logistics of preparation across the country. He hailed India’s vaccination drive started on January 16, 2021 which has now covered 61% of the population with double vaccine jabs and 91% of the population having at least one jab. The Prime Minister informed the nation that at the moment the country has 1.8 million isolation beds, 0.5 million oxygen supported beds, 1,40,000 ICU beds, 90,00 ICU and non-ICU beds specially for the children, more than 3 thousand PSA or Pressure Swing Adsorption oxygen plants, 0.4 million oxygen cylinders and more support to the states is being ensured for buffer stocks of vaccines and facilities for testing. While praising the efforts of the medical doctors, scientists and experts Modi said that India’s pandemic fight has been based on scientific principles, active consultations and methods throughout the period. 

There is some uncertainty about which of the two main vaccines being administered in India—Covishield and Covaxin—would be used for the booster doses. It is being speculated, with some medical logic behind it, that the doubly-vaccinated with Covishield would get Covaxin as the booster dose and the doubly-vaccinated with Covaxin would get Covishield jab as the booster dose. The priority of fully vaccinating about 40% of the Indian population who have either got one dose and not vaccinated at all, remains still. To make it happen as soon as possible experts across different fields and state governments have been asking the Government of India to reduce the gap of 12-16 weeks to a month for Covishield jabs. The gap between Covaxin jabs is 28 days, but Bharat Biotech has not been able to manufacture and supply enough doses in comparison to Covishield. 

It is also to be noted that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children of the 2-18 age group had been approved on October 12 this year by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and since then the regulatory body’s final seal has been awaited. It has been reported that, to make very sure of the safety issues, the DCGI had appointed another SEC to go through all aspects and finally approved the vaccine yesterday; but only for the 12-18 age group which is a disappointment. The delay has been more frustrating considering the fact that world’s first DNA-based 3-dose non-injectable vaccine for children above 12 years of age Zydus Cadila’s Zycov-D, was approved by the DCGI as far back as in August this year. Anyway, better late than never, and we hope for the best now. Many experts have commented about children having strong immunity against severe disease after infection; but our concern has always been that children may take the virus home where elders also live. 

There is also the issue of the efficacy of the existing vaccines and even the booster doses against Omicron and even the World Health Organization (WHO) is not able to make up its mind yet to suggest or to not suggest the booster doses even as many countries have already gone ahead with that. However, it is more or less accepted that even though the vaccines and the booster doses may not be very effective in preventing COVID-19 and Omicron infections or re-infections the full doses can certainly reduce the severe type of the disease, thus reducing hospitalization and deaths. We further hope that the PM’s steps and the level of preparedness is not used as a justification for going ahead with the assembly elections in 5 states. 

Prime Minister Speaks: And Then The Three Farm Laws To Be Repealed!

In a totally unexpected development, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi in an address to the nation early morning today has, on the occasion of Guru Nanak Birth anniversary called Guru Purab or Prakash Parv (a holy festival observed by the Sikhs on the birth/demise anniversaries of the their Saints/Gurus), announced the Government’s decision to repeal the three controversial Farm Laws the constitutional formalities of which are going to be completed in the winter session of the Indian Parliament starting from 29^th November 2021. The Prime Minister, though, stoutly defended the Farm Laws saying that these reforms were brought in favor of the farmers, particularly the small and marginal farmers; however, he admitted that the laws could not convince sections of the farmers and dissatisfied cultivators cannot be left behind. Narendra Modi added that perhaps the government’s ‘dedication’ to uplift the cultivators of the country was not enough. The Prime Minister also promised to revamp and strengthen the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) of crops mechanism by appointing a committee of state representatives, farmers, agricultural experts and economists, and this step was also to be decided in the Parliament session.

 

The Farmers’ Movement has been going on for nearly a year with thousands of them camping in the outskirts of capital Delhi and suffering through all four seasons, many of them perishing in the camps. They have been observing various programs of highway blockades; rail blockades; Delhi marches during one of which on the Republic Day of 26^th January this year there was a burst of unprecedented, arguably unintended, violence in the capital; marches to the Parliament; Bharat Bandhs; and so on. Around 11 rounds of talks with the Modi government failed to resolve the issue and the government allegedly tried to repress the movement in various ways like trying to win over factions to support the laws or taking tough measures in the areas of the camps and so on. The trust-deficit of the farmers in the Government of India has worsened so much that even now, at this welcome announcement, the top leadership of the farmers says that the movement will continue till the last nail on the cancelation of the three laws gets hammered in during the Parliament as promised.

 

Be it for the forthcoming assembly elections in five states including the crucial states of the definitive (for General Elections) Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where the BJP is still a minor player even after the Amarinder Singh defection from the Congress, or be it the final realization of the Prime Minister about the intrinsic fears lurking in the provisions of the laws this huge announcement is indeed very welcome—basically because no nation can survive for long keeping the food-givers unhappy and agitating; for the farmers it comes as the final victory; the success of democratic movements; and for the BJP a favorable factor to seal the assembly elections. As has been hailed all around the decision is indeed a political ‘masterstroke’ on the eve of the assembly elections early next year, suddenly taking away the main vote plank from the opposition political parties, particularly for the Congress tactics in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. The opposition has largely welcomed the step calling it a victory for the farmers and that it marks the end of the ruling party’s ‘arrogance’.

 

Agrarian reforms have always been a contentious issue in most of the nations of the world, particularly India where agriculture is still the mainstay of the country’s economy. Attempts at reforming the farming sector have been going on since the British period and the post-independence era in India where many of the reforms proved to be big blunders while some of these seemed to have benefited the farmers. Most of the nations of the world have been following a capitalist form of agriculture with a regular mechanism of giving subsidies to help the land-holding phenomena of farming survive, and the concept of ‘cooperative farming’ in the most inclusive sense still remains a dream.

 

The Prime Minister while stoutly defending the three Farm Laws failed to mention the fact that many of the top Indian economists and agriculturists were bitterly divided over the issue—the main fear being the big capitalists taking over farming putting the farmers at their mercy for the MSPs or guaranteed prices and ending the land ownership cultivation of the small and marginal farmers. Yet, inequalities in the farming community continue to exist with some of them being affluent enjoying the benefits of technology while most of the small and marginal farmers continue to struggle at a subsistence level. Therefore, truly convincing and inclusive reforms are always welcome.

 

In any case, we heartily welcome this big announcement by the Prime Minister largely for the fact that one of the longest ever agitations, particularly by the food-givers, is finally going to end. Debates must go on for reforms and one of the main allegations of the opposition parties and other experts and leaders had been the fact that there was no debate before passing these crucial Farm Laws in Parliament. The target or the task is extremely difficult no doubt, because in a democracy it is well-nigh impossible to satisfy all stakeholders with a particular policy; however as we have said the efforts must be intensified democratically taking all into consideration.

COVID And Amphan: Indian Contrasts In Crisis Times!

When the extremely severe cyclonic storm Amphan hit Kolkata and adjoining districts of West Bengal in the evening of 20^th May, 2020, with a speed ranging from 110 to 133 km per hour the damage could very well be anticipated. West Bengal is not new to cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal, in fact, three cyclones namely ‘Fani’, ‘Bulbul’ and ‘Amphan’ swept over the state within a span of one year only—from May 2019 to May 2020. However, the force and speed of Amphan was unprecedented in the state as some point out that the areas had not seen such a severe cyclone in 283 years. By late night that fateful day, closeted in the control room of her secretariat in Howrah, Chief Minister Mamata Bannerji, distressed and sad, said while briefing the media online that a few districts of her state and Kolkata were totally destroyed and it would take days to assess the damage apart from the loss of lives. She desperately hoped that the central government would come in with some help as her state was already drained of resources with the battle against COVID-19 raging on. Didi, as she is popularly known, also hoped Prime Minister Modi would come and see the damage for himself. And, the Indian Prime Minister responded magnanimously, announcing the very next morning his decision to visit the state on 22^ndMay.

Political differences between BJP-ruled central government and TMC-ruled West Bengal state government are only too well known with both parties not stopping the rivalries and the parleys even during COVID times, in fact, fighting over COVID issues in recent days. Therefore, Mamata wishing for Modi’s presence and Modi’s gesture in coming immediately is being viewed in a new light: that they have come together in a spirit of cooperation in the time of crisis, setting aside politics for the moment. The Prime Minister expressed full solidarity with the state government—hit by twin-tragedies, and praised its efforts in tackling both the catastrophes. He assured full help at every step of the way ahead—restoration, reconstruction, rehabilitation and the like, and announced a preliminary financial package for immediate expenses.  Later in her media brief at the airport after seeing off the Prime Minister, Mamata Bannerji appreciated Modi’s visit and his promise of joint efforts, not saying anything against the offer of help as claimed by a ‘national’ news channel that started carrying supers ‘Mamata Slams Aid’.

Unfortunately, Maharashtra wing of the BJP failed to learn any lesson from its central leadership bonhomie, and selected this same say to stage public protests all over the state claiming the state government’s mishandling of the COVID fight, perhaps the very first instance of such kind in the worldwide war against the killer virus. One of their allegations, as puerile as it sounded, was that why Maharashtra has witnessed such a spike in cases while Kerala handled it so competently. Well, ‘serving’ the interests of the local people for decades they still don’t understand why Mumbai is Mumbai, and why it should have the largest number of COVID-19 infections, like, in a similar way, why the virus should select New York for its special treatment. In totality, they must understand that COVID is not a political phenomenon and doesn’t go by who ruled which state. At this hour of crisis for the state the best option for them is to inspire the people to follow the precautions religiously and to jump in the fray for total cooperation. Perhaps, in India, political parties need multiple tragedies strike in unison to make them lose their political rivalries and power-hungry politics, even if for the time being.  

The Siachen Miracle: Indian Soldier Buried Under 25 Feet of Snow For 6 Days Rescued Alive!

Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, a soldier of the Indian Army, along with 9 of his colleagues was buried under 25 feet of snow on Wednesday, the 3^rd of February 2016 when an avalanche swept away their post in Siachen Glacier. Within days the soldiers were presumed dead and tributes offered. However, the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force carried on with their rescue operations in extremely difficult conditions. Today, miraculously, Hanumanthappa was found alive—with weak pulse and disoriented—and was flown immediately to an Army hospital in New Delhi in an air ambulance. His condition is said to be extremely critical and next 24 to 48 hours will be crucial. The news of this miracle spread like wild fire and the whole nation has joined in prayers for the brave soldier’s final recovery.

Siachen Glacier is called the highest battleground. Situated in the eastern Karakoram Range in the Himalayas this is one of the disputed territories between India and Pakistan near the Line of Control. The Indian Army maintains the Siachen post rotating soldiers every one to three months. With an altitude of over 19,000 feet and temperatures dipping to -50 Degree Celsius during winter Siachen sector is known for its extremely harsh weather conditions. Nearly a thousand India soldiers have died here since 1984 due to weather and environmental conditions. Hanumanthappa’s survival for 6 days buried under 25 feet of snow and ice in this chillingly harsh climate presents the story of human endurance and the triumph of sheer willpower.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the quickest to react to this news of immense proportion. Ignoring protocol, without informing traffic police for clearing of roads and without even his normal accompanying convoy the Prime Minister rushed to the Army hospital. He met the Army Chief, other top officials and the doctors there to take stock of the line of treatment given to the brave soldier and to stress that no efforts should be spared to revive him. The nation appreciated the Prime Minister’s gesture as one of his finest and most sensitive. Narendra Modi becomes the first Indian Prime Minister ever to call upon a soldier and no other instance of such a surprise or impromptu programme by a Prime Minister ever comes to mind. Modi is known to be a down-to-earth person always giving his time to talk or communicate to the common people and he has been always vocal about the ultimate sacrifice of the Indian soldiers for the protection of the country. We had mentioned his sudden decision to go to Lahore to meet his Pakistan counterpart recently in an earlier post. The humanitarian warmth of his gesture has added a refreshing dimension to this immense miracle. In today’s conflicting times we need more of such miracles—to bring human values back to humans.

Members of Hanumanthappa’s family are the happiest souls at the moment and they are being flown to Delhi from Karnataka. His wife, all others and the nation are praying for his final recovery. We join in the prayers. The Braveheart must live.

Narendra Modi Vs Nawaz Sharif: New Hope On The India-Pakistan Horizon?

Prime Minster Narendra Modi is never predictable and that is a huge positive quality in his leadership. Today, the 25th of December, 2015, he made media persons go tizzy and hyperactive all on a sudden. On 23rd December PM Modi left for a two-day visit to Russia and Afghanistan. Today he was to return home and pay a visit to former Prime Minister and legendary BJP leader Atal  Bihari Bajpayee on the latter's 91st birthday observed as Good Governance in the evening. 

However, while in Afghanistan PM Modi tweeted that he would go to Lahore to meet and wish happy birthday to Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the latter's invitation. Action followed quickly. The Indian Prime Minister arrived in Lahore to be greeted by Sharif at the airport. Both the leaders exchanged warm greetings and later proceeded to one to one talks. 

A lot of positive developments have been happening of late between the two neighboring countries which rather defied protocol and age-old practices relating to war of words, ceasefire violations and a constant sense of betrayal. As far as the people of the countries are concerned this rejuvenated and inventive bilateral diplomacy is generating lot of hope for the most sought-after understanding and achieving the mirage of a lasting friendship. Whatever the opposition, particularly the Congress says, people of both countries must welcome such positive initiatives. Let us hope for the best. Let best sense prevail in both countries.   

India Against Terror: A Strong Prime Minister Makes The Difference!

It was just another attack on the Indian security forces in the terror ridden North Eastern region of the country. Only that it was one of the worst attacks in decades. On 4^th of June, 2015 terrorists ambushed an army convoy in Manipur and butchered 18 soldiers and injured 11 more. The heinous terror attack seemed, as usual, to figure only in the book of records with some observations made about the folly of a supposedly vulnerable army movement on that fateful day. However, things took a dramatic turn this time.

Within five days of the terror attack the Indian Army embarked upon a surgical strike on the India-Myanmar border, reportedly going into the Myanmar territory, and hunted down and killed the perpetrators of the Manipur ambush. Equipped with accurate intelligence feeds the Army successfully launched a clinically precise and ruthless assault on the terrorists in an operation lasting only 40 minutes not having time even to count the number of terrorists gunned down. So far we have been used to hearing stories of the US Commandos, Marshall or Military or Navy Seals carrying out such strikes inside enemy territories and eliminating dreaded terrorists and their hideouts. Refreshingly this time this happens in our own country India and what an effective message it sends out to the enemies of humanity.

Normally a country with adorable levels of tolerance and goodwill, always waiting for others to respond positively to all such tragedies, suddenly transforms its ‘soft response’ into ‘hot pursuit’ and for the first time conducts a joint operation with a neighbouring country on a Mission Counter-Terrorism. How did it come about? Well, precisely because post May-2014 India have had a strong government installed at the centre with a strong Prime Minister whose sterling qualities and innovative approach have already established him a visionary cum leader.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had just returned from a visit to Bangladesh—a strategic neighbouring country whose cooperation in crucial areas can always be game changing. Immediately thereafter into the late night hours he okayed the ‘hot pursuit’ and allowed the Indian Army to strike back. Zero Tolerance against terrorism was announced with a lot of meaningfulness and effectiveness now. The earlier government too pursued a policy of zero tolerance against so many evils, but that was mere policy with the so-called ‘coalition politics’ dominating and making the government bite the dust so often. To be precise, India did not have a strong Prime Minister or a strong government that time.

Since taking over the helms on 26^th May, 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been leading from the front with innovative schemes-projects and a fresh interactive approach taking even the common people into confidence. ‘Policy Paralysis’ of the earlier government is long past and gone. His people-oriented economic-financial-social schemes have been welcomed all over and are benefiting millions. He has been cheered as hero whatever foreign country he has visited in the past one year—from America-Europe to China-Japan-Mongolia-Myanmar-Bangladesh. His fan following all over the globe is getting bigger and bigger threatening that of the mega film stars. What is important, Narendra Modi has been doing the right things in the right places—understanding perfectly what is required to be done in what areas as far as a particular foreign nation is concerned. The Indian Prime Minister is ushering in a unique kind of diplomacy be it with President Obama or Sheikh Hasina. If the fringe elements of his political party and associated organizations finally see reason and understand the Indian realities the Narendra Modi government would be the best option for India in the years to come.

The Indian Army operation has been hailed all over the nation with even rival political parties unable to politicize the development. The Indian Government has made it loud and clear that this operation is intended to convey a message to all aggressors or terrorists and the countries supposedly assisting and abetting them. The era of ‘tolerance and softness’ is over and from now onwards any act of aggression or any terror attack or sponsored terror attack on Indian territory or on Indian civilians would not be tolerated and would be retaliated with dire consequences inside or outside India. Although the Government did not specifically point out the crucial neighbour for this message is indeed Pakistan—a nation ravaged by terror and forced to comply with terror. Pakistan must understand better now and must make an effort to put an end to its state of eternal denial. The final target is lasting peace only.

Politics: Election Commission Announces Maharashtra Assembly Election Schedule!

Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath

The Election Commission of India (EC) on Friday, the 12^th of September 13, 2014, has announced the poll schedule for Maharashtra Assembly Elections. It is a single-phase polling on Wednesday, the 15^thOctober covering whole of Maharashtra including the Naxal affected Gadchiroli region. This means more than 80 million voters will exercise their democratic right in more than 90,000 polling booths spread across 288 constituencies of the state on a single day which reminds us of the single day polling done in the long past when the whole nation voted. With a gap of just 3 days the counting will be taken up on Sunday, the 19^th of October which is set to reveal if the opposition alliance of Mahayuti (BJP+Shiv Sena+others)  could finally end the 15-year-old rule of the Democratic Front (Congress+NCP). This will be the first major election for the new Modi Government formed on 26^th May, 2014 after BJP thundered to victory in the Lok Sabha General Elections-2014 reducing Congress to its worst ever performance in history. In Maharashtra too the Mahayuti made a clear sweep and it is eagerly awaited if the General Election anti-incumbency trend and the Modi wave would continue to impact the Maharashtra Assembly Elections. The EC also announced a single phase polling and counting for the state of Haryana on the same dates.

The EC notification will be on 20^thSeptember and the last date of filing nominations for candidates is 27^thwhile the last date for withdrawal of candidature is 1^st of October. This effectively means that the number of days for registration of new voters is greatly reduced. The electoral rolls close 10 days before the last date of filing nominations and therefore in Maharashtra new registration will be over on 17^th September. Potential voters thus have just 5 more days to register themselves. The NOTA option will be available on all EVMs and a new experiment called VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) system is to be tried this time in some selected constituencies where the voters can confirm if their votes have been cast correctly. This system thus could also detect and eliminate possible election fraud or malfunction.

This Maharashtra Election has been the much awaited one both in terms of ultimate winners and announcement of dates. The ruling alliance here has a scam infested background of 15 years like their counterpart UPA alliance at the centre which was finally thrown out of power after its rule for 10 years. Analysts rate this election as a golden chance for the Mahayuti to come into power. On the flip side both alliances irrespective of their chances are still fighting for an elusive seat sharing formula. The Congress-NCP fight over seats has led to a few of their leaders and former ministers shifting loyalty by joining the opposition alliance. The ruling alliance rates their chances high sticking to the development agenda and also has several Chief Ministerial aspirants.  

The BJP-Shiv Sena bickering over seats has several basic reasons: Shiv Sena has been the main regional party in Maharashtra and so it wants to be treated like the major partner; however the results in General Elections-2014 and Maharashtra Assembly Elections-2009 show that the surging BJP had won more seats than the Sena by contesting less number of seats; Shiv Sena was considerably weakened by the formation of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) by Raj Thackeray prior to 2009 and was almost marginalized before sort of being rescued by the BJP in 2014 riding on the Modi wave with the MNS now getting marginalized due to confused stands; so BJP wants more or at least equal number of seats; both parties have Chief Ministerial aspirants and therefore  have to have more seats than the other so that their respective aspirants could eventually   become the Chief Minister.

The EC announcements had been expected since the last week of August. Maybe due to the festive season with the biggest event of the state—the 11-day Ganesh Festival—concluding only on 8^th September or maybe due to more festivals coming up in the near future or maybe due to the political indecisiveness regarding declaration of candidates the EC perhaps had a tough time scheduling the most important event. At the moment there are still no official lists of candidates declared by any of the major political parties. Interestingly it is also speculated widely that the on-going fortnight of Pitru Paksha  when funeral rites are performed for the souls of ancestors and which is considered inauspicious for any new initiative is playing its part in confounding the indecisiveness of the political parties.

Finally, the winners would emerge before Diwali festival and if there is a clear majority the new government could even be formed before the big festival of lights. In all eventuality this Diwali is all set to illuminate a whole lot of people.