single minded Voters and Others
Reflecting on the recently concluded state Assembly elections, former Union Minister P Chidambaram, in his column for The Indian Express, writes that the common thread in the election narration in Uttar Pradesh, Goa and Punjab was "Change vs Continuity".
He writes that though there was a desire for a change of government by a majority of voters but how the “No-changers” prevailed in Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Manipur.
“Reading the results, it seems to me that the No-changers had it easy, they had to press one button, and they did so single-mindedly in Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Goa. The Pro-changers were spoilt for choice and pressed different buttons! “
Voting for a ‘new’ India
Tavleen Singh, in her column for The Indian Express, observes that “people are willing to give Modi chance after chance because they see no alternative at all.”
“Modi has proved that in the ‘new’ India, it is he who will decide what the narrative should be, and that this narrative will include hyper-nationalism, Hindutva, self-reliance and massive investment in welfare schemes and infrastructure. He has made it clear that this is what he stands for and shown that even when he makes mistakes, as he did during the second, lethal upsurge of the pandemic last summer, he can rectify them and move on.”
Who held the reins?
In her column 'Inside Track' in The Indian Express, Coomi Kapoor notes that although Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath won by a wide margin in the recent assembly polls, the win was as much Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s as it was Yogi’s.
Kapoor also speaks on the evacuations of Indian students from Ukraine, the Trinamool Congress’ gamble in Goa, and the need for a full-time leader in the Congress.
“For instance, Rahul contracted Covid in April 2021 and was out of action for over a month. This was the crucial period when Gandhi should have been chalking out strategy for potentially winnable states like Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. The problem is that no one in his party is willing to take decisions without the de facto president’s approval. Many of Rahul’s appointees are inexperienced and lack clout or standing. His main aides K C Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala are fairly anonymous. And some of those in charge in the states are complete unknowns such as Devendra Yadav for Uttarakhand, and Harish Chaudhary for Punjab. To put Harish Rawat in charge of Punjab ahead of the Uttarakhand polls was suicidal.”
New low for Battered Cong
On the heels of the Congress’ poor performance in the recent assembly elections, Rashid Kidwai, in his column in The Tribune, writes on the future of the grand old party.
He opines that it is time for the Gandhi family to hand over the reigns to someone else before the "rebels and dissenters in the party question the leadership's authority in the upcoming presidential polls."
In a series of interviews after joining active politics in 1998, Sonia Gandhi had repeatedly stated that her purpose in politics was to revive and restore the glory of the Congress. Having played that role for almost 24 years, Sonia now needs to let someone else, a non-Gandhi, to attempt achieving that task. Timing is invaribly crucial in politics. Sonia should consider passing on the baton before an ordinary party worker musters courage to tell her and her children: “Aapse nahee ho payega”. “
Small Mercies
In his article for The Telegraph, Mukul Kesavan, speaks on the “balance between bigotry and government aid in cash and kind” in light of BJP’s massive win in Uttar Pradesh.
He argues that despite BJP’s election scoreboard, there are still some signs of a break in the road ahead, as evident in the victories of the Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab and the rise of Akhilesh Yadav.
It’s reasonable to hazard the guess that most people opposed to the BJP’s majoritarianism subscribe to the doctrine of the lesser evil. There’s no question that even the most finicking progressive would concede that the AAP fits comfortably into that category. Whether it is our chosen political vehicle or not, it’s obvious that it has invented a new political idiom and parlayed it into electoral success in small states like Delhi, Punjab and now Goa.”
After Victory, Burden of Proof Now on AAP
Political scientist Neera Chandhoke in her article in The Tribune writes on AAP’s landslide victory in Punjab. She writes that while there is a cause for hope, there is still an unease.
She argues that while AAP speaks the language of governance, the party has not yet taken a stand on crucial issues plaguing India.
Shutdown This Misguided Energy Policy
In their article in The Hindu, physicists Suvrat Raju and MV Ramana critique India’s nuclear energy policy in light of the recent fire which broke out near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
The authors note that the Centre’s recent approval for 10 indigenous nuclear reactors is “misguided”. They write that given the vulnerabilities of nuclear reactors and their high cost, India should cancel its plans for nuclear expansion, especially given issues of climate change.
Shutdown This Misguided Energy Policy
In their article in The Hindu, physicists Suvrat Raju and MV Ramana critique India’s nuclear energy policy in light of the recent fire which broke out near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine, Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
The authors note that the Centre’s recent approval for 10 indigenous nuclear reactors is “misguided”. They write that given the vulnerabilities of nuclear reactors and their high cost, India should cancel its plans for nuclear expansion, especially given issues of climate change.