THE Karnataka assembly election has a special importance in the present conjuncture.  For the BJP, in its quest for overall political dominance, retaining this southern state is vital for its ambition to spread its influence in other southern states.With the election campaign at its peak, by all accounts, the BJP is facing rough weather with widespread anti-incumbency and popular discontent over rampant corruption, price rise, unemployment and farmers’ distress.The BJP had formed the government in July 2019 after toppling the Congress-JD(S) coalition government by organising defections thro

THERE is much talk about opposition unity these days.  Such talk has gathered momentum after a series of meetings of various leaders of opposition parties.  This comes in the background of the united stand of eighteen opposition parties in parliament during the second half of the budget session, where they all demanded a joint parliamentary committee on the Hindenburg report on the Adani group and also unitedly opposed the ED-CBI targeting of leaders of the opposition. This united stand was also expressed when Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha membership after his conviction

THE violence and clashes that erupted in various places during Ram Navami observance on March 30 was an event foretold.  Over the years, the Hindutva forces have shaped the Ram Navami processions into an instrument for aggression and attacks on Muslims.  Last year, in 2022, the Ram Navami processions led to widespread attacks and clashes in Khargone in Madhya Pradesh, in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Jharkhand and in Shibpur area of Howrah, West Bengal. This year too, the Ram Navami festival occurred during the period of Ramzan and provided the backdrop for provocations in areas where Muslims

AFTER seven days of disruption of parliamentary proceedings, the government is now planning to cut short the second half of the budget session by guillotining the demands for grants and passing the finance bill without any discussion.The peculiarity of this decision stems from the fact that it is the ruling party which has been holding up the proceedings in both houses since March 13 with the demand that Rahul Gandhi apologise for certain remarks he made about the state of democracy in India while he was abroad. That this is just a pretext for disrupting the house and preventing any discuss

THE orgy of violence unleashed in Tripura after the assembly election results were announced on March 2 was an act foretold once the BJP got a majority, albeit a narrow one.  As of March 6, around a thousand incidents of attacks and violence by the BJP gangs took place all over the state. These were in the form of physical attacks on CPI(M), Left Front and Congress workers and supporters, ransacking or burning of their houses and demolition of party offices.