India Commentary

10/06/2024

India comeback strongly after being bowled out for just 119................

It was a sensational match in which both teams had their chances on a tricky pitch but India prevailed in the end. Pakistan played like champions in the first half when the Indian batting collapsed like a house of cards after a small resistance by Rishabh Pant (in partnership with Axar Patel and Sur...

09/06/2024

A different situation for Narendra Modi....................

Narendra Modi will take oath today as Prime Minister for the third time. Sources have reported that 30 ministers will also take oath today, with the TDP getting four berths and the JD(U) 2. For the first time in 10 years, Modi will be heading a NDA government in which the BJP does not have absolute....

05/06/2024

India Commentary editorial - NDA 3.0 will have unreliable allies and strong opposition breathing down its neck.................

In an surprising verdict, India's voters showed immense maturity to rubbish claims of 400 paar and exit poll calculations to end BJPs (and NDAs) brute majority of two successive Lok Sabha elections and gave the INDIA alliance a lot of clout by voting in a strong opposition to keep a check on the rul...

05/06/2024

Voters deny majority to BJP and provide a thin majority for NDA.................https://indiacommentary.com/article/2024-elections--bjps-wings-clipped

04/06/2024

Bloodbath on Dalal Street as BJP loses majority and N|DA secures a wafer-thin endorsement from voters..................

From the highest single day gain to the highest single day loss in 24 hours, the stock markets witnessed a flip-flop of epic proportions mirroring the glee on exit poll predictions and the gloom of the actual results. While the Sensex had jumped by nearly 2800 points intra-day on Monday in the exit....

04/06/2024

Stellar show by the Congress.....................

The Congress party needs to be congratulated for putting up a stellar show in direct fights with the BJP. It has more than doubled its tally from 2019. In states like Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana, it has snatched many seats from the BJP. It has only failed in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. As pa...

04/06/2024

Despite chest-thumping, BJP loses majority on its own and NDA fighting for simple majority.........................

The exit polls have gone wrong. Opposition INDIA alliance has put up a very strong show to ensure that it is not a walkover for the NDA. Although the NDA has raced past the majority mark, it has fallen way behind predictions and BJP chest-thumping. There is no sign of breaching the 400 mark. The all...

03/06/2024

Scaling new peaks.....................

Unlike politicians (on the losing side), the media, political commentators and the general public, it seems that the stock market does not take the exit polls with a pinch of salt. Hence, despite the 'health' warning that such polls are not always correct and may even go horribly wrong at times, the...

03/06/2024

Who has the upper hand in Bengal?..............

If what the exit polls predict turns out to be true, the Trinamool Congress is in for a huge surprise on June 4. With almost all exit polls predicting a hugely improved performance by the BJP in the state, with India Today-Axis My India giving it 26-31 seats and ABP-CVoter 23-27 and all others sayin...

02/06/2024

Opposition fails again..............

The exit polls predict a similar or slightly better performance by the BJP-led NDA in 2024. It is expected to cross the 353 seats it got in 2019 but except three polls, none of the others show that 400 paar is going to be achieved. The poll of polls shows that the NDA is expected to get between 365....

24/05/2024

India Commentary editorial - windfall for the Centre...................

The Centre received an unexpected bonanza - the RBI approved the transfer of Rs 2.1L cr as surplus to it. This is 140% more than what was transferred in 2023 and much higher than what the government was expecting. This has provided the government a lot of breathing space in managing the budgetary ac...

17/05/2024

India Commentary editorial - Bail to Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha. Supreme Court says due process and legal procedures must be strictly followed at all times..............

The Supreme Court order granting bail to Newsclick founder Prabir Purkayastha is welcome. The court has stressed upon two things in its order. It has said that the grant of bail does not in any way affect the ongoing trial and the court has not commented on the merits of the case. But more important...

17/05/2024

India has just coverted a short-term, yearly-renewable deal for Chahabar port into a long-term one...................

The US has taken cognizance of the long-term deal India has signed with Iran for managing the Chabahar port. The US state department has said that anyone dealing with Iran must be ready to face consequences. The US had advised other countries in the past against dealing with Iran over its alleged at...

15/05/2024

Rampant corruption in municipal corporations.............

The Mumbai hoarding tragedy is another instance of the authorities turning a blind eye to gross violations of rules even if the proof of the same is right there in front of them. It is unthinkable that a huge hoarding at a prominent place could come up and remain in place for more than two years wit...

14/05/2024

PA to Delhi chief minister behaves like a criminal..................

That Bibhav Kumar, the personal assistant of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, misbehaved and allegedly assaulted AAP MP Swati Mailwal at the Delhi chief minister's residence has now been confirmed by party MP Sanjay Singh. Singh said Kejriwal has taken cognizance of the matter and has said that strict a...

14/05/2024

Low voter turnout is a cause for worrty. But for whom?............................

After the 4th phase of voting in the 2024 general elections on Monday 13th May, concerns over low voter turnout have started causing jitters across the political spectrum. Voting has been completed for 381 Lok Sabha seats till now. The turnout was 66.14% (102 seats) in phase 1, 66.71% (89 seats) in....

11/05/2024

Questioning the authenticity of the Balakot air strike didn't work for the opposition in 2019. So, will raking up the old issue work now?................

Congress leaders do not give up, do they? After having lost the 2019 elections despite casting doubts on the Balakot air strike and claiming that the BJP cooked it up to brighten its election prospects, at least one of them is bent of flogging dead horses and is raking up the issue again.

11/05/2024

Brilliant campaign strategy by Kejriwal - creating doubts in the minds of the people and the rank and file of the BJP........

Trust Arvind Kejriwal to spice up the election campaign. Out of jail on bail, the AAP supremo was in great form as he tore into the BJP after his first comment yesterday that there was a need to fight dictatorship. Kejriwal warned people that if they vote for the BJP in these elections, they are not...

11/05/2024

It seems no one cares about the Supreme Court order not to disclose the identity of a r**e/molestation or sexual harassment victim.........

Upon his return to Kolkata from Kochi West Bengal governor V Ananda Bose, who has been accused of molestation by a Raj Bhavan staffer, chose to play the CCTV footage of the period when he has been accused of molesting the woman for a select group of people. In an attempt to dismiss the charges again...

10/05/2024

The prosecution must ensure that wrestlers get justice...............

Finally, the trial against former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh can begin. The Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Delhi's Rouse Avenue court complex, Priyanka Rajpoot, ordered framing of charges against Singh after the court found....

10/05/2024

Boost for AAP and the opposition.........................

In a huge relief for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha elections, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to party chief Arvind Kejriwal who was arrested by the Enforcement Department (ED) on March 21 in the liquor excise scam case after he ignored multiple summ...

10/05/2024

Are the numbers in BJPs favour?.........

The Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana is indulging in fire fighting to save itself after three Independents, who were supporting the BJP, suddenly withdrew their support this week. The Congress and the JPP are gunning for the BJP government with both saying that it has been reduced to a minori...

10/05/2024

With consumers looking for complete, top grade shopping, dining and entertainment options from malls, Grade C malls are looking at a bleak future............

Are many malls in India, following the worldwide trend, going to seed? A report by real estate consulting firm Knight Frank, titled "Think India, Think Retail 2024" found that although there was marked improvement in leased space in Grade A and some improvement in the same in Grade B malls, Grade C....

10/05/2024

Freefall in stock markets on Thursday...................

After volatility and general weakness in the last few trading sessions, the stock markets crashed hugely on Thursday. The Sensex lost 1062 points or 1.45% and the Nifty was down by 345 points or 1.55%. Investor wealth worth Rs 760000cr was wiped out. A sense of uncertainty prevailed in the broader m...

10/05/2024

Disgusting sight.........................

The IPL is played on a team ownership system. This means that persons or organizations that buy a franchise often shell out big bucks. They do not do it as charity. They expect returns. For the returns to come in, the franchise (team) needs to perform well. Hence, team owners monitor performance wit...

10/05/2024

Pitroda goes after embarrassing the Congress....................

So now we have it - a racist profile of Indians by none other than the 'great' Sam Pitroda. Close on the heels of his US-type inheritance tax remarks which raised a huge controversy, Pitroda this time tried disgusting analogies to prove how diverse India is. His sweeping remarks smacked of racism an...

07/05/2024

Undemocratic........................................

A woman staffer at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata has filed a complaint against Bengal governor V Ananda Bose for 'touching her inappropriately'. That is a serious offence. But instead of offering to clear his name (disregarding the immunity granted by Article 361 of the Constitution) by allowing a fair and....

07/05/2024

Double standards and dangerous bow down before a person charged in multiple sexual harassment cases.........................

A party which is against dynasties and parivarvad and believes in giving samman to women goes weak at its knees when the issue is about a person who wields immense clout in an area. The BJP has treated Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh with kid gloves right from the beginning of the episode when charges of....

07/05/2024

For the victims in the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case, the suffering of the victims continues as their identities are revealed in the videos that were leaked..............................

The most important and disastrous fallout of the leaking of the videos of Prajwal Revanna's sexual offences has been the disclosure of the identities of the victims. In the case Nipun Saxena vs Union of India, the Supreme Court had ruled that the identities of victims of r**e and sexual molestation/...

07/05/2024

India Commentary editorial - The probe must be efficient, fast and transparent and Revanna must be handed exemplary punishment if found guilty...............

Even before the Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh affair could find a closure, the BJP finds itself embroiled in a huge controversy regarding the sexual molestation charges against Prajwal Revanna, grandson of H D Deve Gowda, whose party JD(S) is a BJP ally in Karnataka. Unlike in Singh's case, in Revanna's...