News and Views

I am no admirer of Mr Modi, but I think that former BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav was not the ideal opponent to the prime minister, notwithstanding the media going ballistic over the rejection of his (Yadav’s) nomination papers.

Yadav, in a surprise move, was made a joint candidate of the Mahagathbandhan, to fight the PM from Varanasi. Allotted the symbol of the Samajwadi Party, the fight is unlikely to happen, unless the Supreme Court – which Yadav has threatened to approach, alleging bias – overturns the decision of the Returning Officer.

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If Narendra Modi has largely usurped the centre-stage of India's parliamentary election this summer, his bitter battle with West Bengal's chief minister Mamata Banerjee has hogged the limelight, with every passing round in this long seven-phase election. After it emerged that a seemingly formidable Priyanka Gandhi wasn’t going to contest from Varanasi, BJP cried ‘cowardly retreat’.

The real ‘Jhansi ki Rani’ now seems to be Mamata Banerjee, who is leading a do-or-die charge against a far more formidable adversary, matching its money power with raw muscle and mobilisation.

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After four phases of polling in Uttar Pradesh, BSP supremo Mayawati’s bold move to accept a pre-poll alliance with arch rival Samajwadi Party (SP), appears to be working smoothly. Reports from the ground suggest that the BSP’s core support base of Jatavs has collaborated surprisingly well with the SP’s Yadavs, who were not so long ago seen as oppressors.

Supported in Western UP by a sizeable section of Jats – another previous oppressor of Jatavs – and backed by a consolidated bloc of Muslim voters – this extraordinary coalition of social groups in the country’s most populous and politically crucial state, could halt the mighty Modi juggernaut, and be the game-changer in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

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The United States has announced that it will no longer waive sanctions for nations buying crude oil from Iran. The waivers are due to expire in May. The announcement has elicited knee-jerk reactions from the nations affected, not least India, which imports more than 80% of its oil needs.

Why is the US trying to cut off Iran’s oil revenue? What are the reasons behind this move and what is India planning to do?

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Nearly half of Uttar Pradesh - 39 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats to be precise - has already voted. In 2014, the BJP won 35 of these seats and Samajwadi Party won four. Both the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress failed to win even one of these 39 constituencies.

According to conservative estimates, this time the BJP could be down by around 15 seats in the first four phases alone. However, many other analysts say that the party could lose over 20 of the 35 seats that it had won from the first four phases.

The bad news for the National Democratic Alliance is that the subsequent phases might actually be worse for it.

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