BJP’s Communal Rhetoric in Uttar Pradesh

THE BJP’s election campaign in Uttar Pradesh is unfolding true to form.

Persecution of Muslim Youth in Terror Cases

THE sordid and shocking record of the targeting and prosecution of Muslim youth being falsely accused in terror related cases has once again been highlighted by the Delhi High Court’s acquittal of all the three accused in the 2005 serial blasts in Delhi.

Stop Misuse of “Money Bill” Route

The government is increasingly resorting to the money bill route to avoid the Rajya Sabha having any say in the legislation making process. Since the BJP-led government has no majority in the Rajya Sabha, it has been resorting to the device of the “Money Bill” to overcome this hurdle. All democratic forces must extend support to the demand that the misuse of the money bill be ended forthwith.The Modi government is systematically downgrading the Rajya Sabha by misusing the definition of “Money Bill” to get legislations passed in parliament by bypassing the upper house.

A New Successor in Tamil Nadu

THE election of VK Sasikala, the aide and confidante of the late J Jayalalithaa, as the leader of the legislative party of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in order to become the chief minister of Tamil Nadu has opened a new chapter in the political game being played out in the post-Jayalalithaa period. After proposing her name for the leadership of the legislative party, O Paneerselvam, the incumbent chief minister, who had resigned, has now come out against the change.

Facing the Realities of the Trump Presidency

THE first ten days of the Trump presidency in the United States, if it has proved anything, it is that Trump will remain faithful to the promises he made during the election campaign. Donald Trump has issued a flurry of executive orders which exemplify his anti-immigrant, Islamophobic and pro-big business agenda.One of the first executive orders was to build a wall along the border with Mexico. This, according to Trump, is required to keep out illegal migrants.

Defend Republican Values

JANUARY 26, this year, is the third Republic Day under the Modi regime. This has been a period when each and every institution of the republic has seen changes which mark the subversion of the founding principles of the republic. Dr BR Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian constitution, remarked “However good a constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad”. The men who are at present entrusted with the running of the republic – Narendra Modi and his cohorts who all belong to the RSS – are those who are committed to re-design the republican co

Modi as Gandhi

THE BJP and the RSS have been trying to appropriate Gandhi for quite some time. After demonising Gandhi and all that he stood for, the outcome of which was the dastardly assassination of Gandhi by the Godse brothers, the BJP-RSS have been systematically striving to appropriate all the national figures from Gandhi to BR Ambedkar.Now the next step has been taken. From appropriation to displacement.

Assembly Elections: Battleground against BJP

ELECTIONS to the five state assemblies in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa have been notified. Of these, in two states, Goa and Punjab, there are governments of the BJP and its allies; in Uttarakhand and Manipur, there are Congress governments; but it is in Uttar Pradesh, where there is a Samajwadi Party government that the most significant electoral battle will be fought. In Punjab, the Akali Dal-BJP coalition government is facing a strong anti-incumbency mood with the acute agrarian crisis, rising unemployment, rampant corruption and drug abuse being the hallmarks of t

One Country, One Election: Profoundly Undemocratic

THE BJP national executive which met last week has called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal for simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures "another path breaking initiative". This is hardly surprising considering that the BJP election manifesto had called for simultaneous elections.Modi has put out this proposal as part of a package for electoral reforms. Last September, President Pranab Mukherjee had endorsed the idea.

An Abstract Judgment for Secularism

THE basic concern of the majority verdict of the seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on the appeal of religion in the election process was to uphold secularism and to assert that religion can have no place in elections and that appeals to voters on the grounds that religion, caste, community or language cannot be allowed.

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