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In his column for Deccan Chronicle, political risk analyst Indranil Banerjie points out that in this year's Lok Sabha elections, which began on 19 April, it is Narendra Modi government’s economic performance that will be "put to test."
Banerjie argues that all that the Modi government has achieved over the past 10 years, including great strides in infrastructural development, might be "eclipsed by the distressingly high levels of inequality in consumption, child malnutrition, rural distress, low levels of women’s participation in the labour force and related issues." He states that the Modi government has not really undertaken "bold structural reforms necessary to change the economic fundamentals".
In his 'Swaminomics' column in The Times of India, Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar argues that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is highly unlikely to change the Constitution in order to abandon secularism if it wins a massive Lok Sabha victory.
"It already has what many call a de facto Hindu state, while formally sticking to secularism. Why abandon a formula that has succeeded in practical politics and is an internationally workable fudge?" he writes.
He argues since the BJP has not amended its own party constitution to disavow secularism and create a Hindu state, it will not necessarily amend the Indian Constitution. "BJP manifesto promises more of the same strategies that have served the party so well. That includes fudge on secularism," he states.
In his column for The New Indian Express, senior journalist Prabhu Chawla highlights the Congress' shrinking footprint and its wider implications.
Prabhu argues that the Grand Old Party's new strategy of naming candidates in "easy, politically correct tranches" stems from the fact that the party has gotten the message clear that it is no longer a pan-India player.
Analysing the reasons behind the Congress' diminished status, he writes that the party has "been corrupted by dynasty, defeats, defections and denial. The consequence is a talent famine, and organisational paralysis and ideological infirmity."
Taking a dig at the Grand Old Party, he states that it (the Congress) "waxes pompously about saving democracy" but its pathetic performance has instead done just the opposite: weakened democracy.
In this piece for The New Indian Express, former bureaucrat and author Geetha Ravichandran draws our attention to the problematic issue of the existence of deep-rooted prejudice in our country against dark skin. This she writes has given rise to a "flourishing and exploitative cosmetic industry."
She then goes on to elaborate on how the history of colourism in India is often linked to caste. "There is a theory that the light-skinned Aryan invaders subjugated the dark-skinned indigenous population and introduced the Varna or caste system based on colour, " she writes.
She argues that it is necessary to "educate children at homes and schools against colourism, bullying and body shaming."
In her column for The Indian Express, Tavleen Singh highlights how ever since Narendra Modi came to power, there has been a rapid decolonisation as a result of which the "old, colonised ruling class has been swept away."
Singh goes on to write about how Narendra Modi has been at the center of this political change sweeping the country.
Singh argues that what has really helped the 'autocratic' and 'dictatorial' Modi garner votes, especially in rural areas, is the 'small changes' that people have witnessed as a result of him coming to power.
"...They believe that these changes have happened because of Modi. These are not remarkable changes. They are simple things like roads, drinking water, electricity, and Internet services but because they were not there before, they seem remarkable, " she writes.
In his column for The Indian Express, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram argues about how the BJP is no longer a political party but is rather the name of a cult.
He writes that with the release of the saffron party's Modi Ki Gurantee (the BJP's manifesto) last week, "cult worship has been entrenched as the ‘core’ principle of the erstwhile political party."
He argues that the saffron party is determined to press ahead with UCC and ONOE because after the construction of the Temple at Ayodhya, the BJP is in search of issues that have the "potential to satisfy the majoritarian aspirations of the Hindi-speaking, conservative, tradition-bound, caste-conscious and hierarchical Hindu community in the states of Northern India. These states are the source of the political support that the RSS and BJP have gained in the last 30 years. UCC and ONOE are strategies to consolidate that political base."
In his column for The Telegraph, former Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi highlights how climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's recently-concluded 21-day fast has been about more than demanding just statehood for Ladakh.
"Wangchuk has become an indistinguishable part of Ladakh’s geophysical heartbeat, " he writes.
Gandhi writes that while it is hard to say that statehood will necessarily mean Ladakhis will have a greater say over their destinies, it will at least give "questioning a chance, interrogation a platform".
He argues that there is no denying that Sonam Wangchuk "has shown a great mailed fist, a human and very Ladakhi fist, to what may be called the assumptions and presumptions of progress."
In her column for The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor writes that the BJP, which is fighting to win a third consecutive general election, is battling both anti-incumbency and voter apathy.
Kapoor argues that the saffron party is relying on the Modi factor and Opposition goof-ups to ensure that it emerges victorious this time around as well.
Kapoor writes that in Maharashtra as well, the saffron party is likely to do better than its allies, Shinde’s Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.
There is unease in Maharashtra at the BJP’s efforts to gobble up regional parties, she adds.
In their column in Hindustan Times, Janmejaya Sinha and Rajiv Gupta write that the Information Technology enabled Services (ITeS) industry, which is likely to take a hit from generative AI, thereby potentially threatening long-term trend is geopolitics and how India must be hence be prepared.
The potentially more threatening, long-term trend for the ITeS industry is geopolitics, they argue.
Sinha and Gupta write that among other things India must build on its "current geopolitical advantage and retain its strategic autonomy to pursue its interests while ensuring strong relations with the US to prevent any potential US backlash, reassure western companies of the integrity of its data standards and the ability to find legal recourse with speed in case of conflict".
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