THE BJP and its affiliates in Bihar have turned to their usual strategy of creating communal tensions to polarise people along religious lines, following a setback in Bihar politics and feeling isolated. This is all in preparation for the 2024 parliamentary elections.The central home minister, Amit Shah, has made frequent visits and delivered provocative speeches targeting minorities, emboldening Bihar BJP leaders to make hate speeches on various pretexts.

THE first central executive committee (CEC) meeting of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) after the 13thall India conference at Thiruvananthapuram was held onApril 7-9, in Jaipur. It was well attended, with 86 out of 100 CEC members and three out of three invitees from 23 states being present. A central secretariat meeting was held prior to the CEC on April 7which was attended by 30 out of 34 members.

WITHIN hours after the Tamil Nadu Assembly adopted a resolution moved by the Chief Minister MK Stalin urging the union government and the president to immediately issue appropriate instructions to Governor RN Ravi to give assent to the bills passed by the assembly “within a specific period”, the Tamil Nadu governor granted assent to the re-adopted ‘Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Bill, 2022.’It is interesting to note that only last Thursday (April 6), Governor RN Ravi said during an interaction with civil service aspirants at Raj Bhavan that, “if a g

The BJP high command finally announced the first list of 189 candidates on April 11th late at night, after being subjected to hectic lobbying, threats, pressure tactics by candidates, and even senior leaders, as well as endless consultations, discussions, and postponements for several days. Eight sitting MLAs have been denied tickets, and most of them are unhappy, with some, including Minister S Angara, expressing their discontent openly.

THE observance of the centenary of Vaikom Satyagraha, one of the landmark social protest movements in Kerala, began on March 30. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin kick-started the centenary observance on April 1. Several other organisations also marked the occasion. They included the Indian National Congress, SNDP and some Hindu organisations. Almost all the Malayalam dailies carried articles and comments by eminent intellectuals and activists on the Satyagraha.