Hammer, Chimney and Smartphone: Changing context of May Day

May Day, the International Workers' Day, is celebrated on May 1, to commemorate the working class struggle for an eight-hour workday, immortalised by the conflicts from the 1886 Haymarket affair in Chicago. It was established by an international federation in 1889, now recognised globally to promote worker solidarity and rights. On May 1, Chicago witnessed a great outpouring of workers, who laid down tools at the call of the organised labour movement of the city.

BJP’s electoral discourse: threatening, hateful and devoid of accountability

THE assembly elections in the five states of Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Puducherry are extremely important. But the context and the objective which the BJP is trying to pursue is unique in many ways. For the neo-fascist characteristics it has come to assume, for securing a stronger grip across the country, the impulse to draw them into the vortex of a Hindutva straitjacket is even more compelling. This is time and again reflected in the slogan for ushering in a double engine government.

Pushing Delimitation in the Garb of Women’s Reservation

Slogan mongering and inventing fake narratives has been the main forte of Narendra Modi and his government. An extremely severe and obnoxious example is its latest act. The convening of the two day special session of Parliament is a glaring example of that very same trait.

The Constitutional Right of the Citizen is Dispensable

For anyone who has avidly studied the Indian Constitution and the role of judiciary in the constitutional scheme to translate the spirit of the freedom struggle, what has come from the Supreme Court is shocking.

Perceptions, Narratives and Reality

A REPORT by the Kerala correspondent of The Indian Express, datelined Thiruvananthapuram, March 7, 2026, observed: “Unlike previous assembly elections that were dominated by allegations and counter-allegations over various corruption scandals, the LDF Government 2.0 is seen to have avoided any such major rows, around which the Congress could have built its poll plank.

Unravelling of US Military War Machine, For Now

All across the world, a million-dollar question is being asked: what will be the final outcome of the war of aggression the US and Israel jointly initiated with the elimination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28? Subsequently, there were ferocious attacks on Iran’s facilities, both military and civilian. As late as March 21, Donald Trump had issued a unilateral threat to Iran, through his most favoured line of communication.

24 March-Delhi Chalo

Election Commission of India has announced the election schedule for the five Assemblies of Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. Normally, this would be a routine exercise. But the extraordinary backdrop makes it unprecedented. The announcement was made when the two houses of Parliament are going to discuss the impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar. Perhaps, for the first time, an impeachment motion against the incumbent CEC is being discussed by the Parliament.

The Idea of India is facing its Worst Threat

THE idea of India was not forged in the fiction woven by Savarkar’s Hindutva ideology. It was shaped by the blood and sweat spilled in the national freedom struggle to dislodge British colonial rule. Obviously, the idea set out a different playbook which contributed to the foundational pillars of the Constitution solemnised on January 26, 1950.

Ill Timed Israel Visit and Outbreak of Military Conflict in West Asia

IT is now clear that Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Israel was most ill-advised, ill timed. It is not merely a moral question but goes far beyond, into the realm of geopolitics and national strategy. The monstrosity of the Gaza genocide has not ended in the complete extinguishing of the embers and ruins that struck Palestinian people and the Gaza strip. Further, the rapidity of expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank systematically undermines the possibility of a two-state solution.

Hindutva is Running Roughshod over Constitutional Scheme

Recently, a sharp and categorical statement by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to the effect that cash transfers to certain sections of beneficiaries have to be foregone, has rightfully drawn sharp criticism. He opined that governments should instead focus on creating permanent assets. One would like to recall that the very idea of welfare state emerged as a post war response of capitalist democracies to take on the initiatives of socialist governments for people’s welfare.

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