WHEN Narendra Modi won the internal battles and was projected as the RSS/BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 general elections, this column had the occasion to state that the RSS had finally decided to discard its “mukhota”. When the prime protagonist of the 2002 Gujarat communal carnage has been assigned this task by the RSS/BJP, it was clear that they no longer required a mukhota to mask the pursuit of their real agenda – the transformation of the modern Indian secular democratic Republic into the RSS vision of a rabidly intolerant fascistic `Hindu Rashtra’.

IT is rare when a chief minister stages a sit-in protest in Delhi. But Delhi’s Jantar Mantar witnessed this rare spectacle when the Tripura Chief Minister, Manik Sarkar led thousands of people from various states and sat on a dharna on November 26.

A CPI(M) delegation from Jharkhand submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission on November 12, requesting the poll panel to ensure strict measures to curb the use of money and muscle power in the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

AN impressive procession of peasants, workers, women and youth was held in Deoria in Uttar Pradesh on November 1 in solidarity with the people of West Bengal who are under serious attack by the ruling party, TMC goons – police – administration combine.

The procession began from Deoria Sadar railway station and marched through the main thoroughfares of the town, raising slogans and distributing handbills, reached the district magistrate’s office where it converted into a rally, dharna and public meeting.

THE draft Road Transport and Safety Bill, 2014 has been formulated and put in the public domain without assessing the ground realities prevailing in the country. It is claimed that the vision of the Bill is to provide a framework for “safer, faster, and cost effective movements of passengers and freight in the country”. Statements from the ministry also suggest that the Bill incorporates the best evidence-based international safety policies.