By Kajol Singh | INNLIVE Bureau
Just before the 2014 General Election, Rahul Gandhi pushed and conferred special minority status on the Jain community. Reservations and special minority status and their attendant privileges found a place in the Constitution of India thanks to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar and his experiences while growing up.
However, communities and sections of the society were granted special minority status and provided reservations to ensure that eons old prejudices and inequalities were erased giving all citizens of the country an equal chance on a level playing field.
By Anant Narayan | INNLIVE Bureau
ELECTION ANALYSIS Polling ended in the five-phased elections in the south on May 7th, and we would know the results, with a degree of certainty on May 12th, when the exit poll results would be out, and with certainty on the 16th, when the votes are counted. However, you can say with a good deal of accuracy—barring a miracle, like tampering of EVMs on a massive scale—that the Congress is in for a bashing in 2014.
Paradoxically, this bash-up could happen, unlike in the north and the west, without even the so-called Modi-wave touching the shores of the south. And if the wave breaches the seawalls, the Congress’ plight could be worse.
By M H Ahssan | INNLIVE Bureau
POLITICAL ANALYSIS Mamata Banerjee has likened Narendra Modi to Lord Hanuman and has said that he has tied a tail, put it on fire and is touring India burning perceived Lankas. If Banerjee had the time to read up the scriptures, she would not have made this analogy. For, Lord Hanuman’s tail was put on fire by the orders of the hated asura Ravana, and the burning of Lanka took place as punishment for the same. The Lanka that was rebuilt was rid of its vices by Lord Ram’s intervention and was the perfect place for the compassionate rule of Vibhisana.
By Likha Veer | INNLIVE Bureau
FOCUS The vernacular press in West Bengal is all charged up because BJP stalwarts have promised to deport Bangladeshis if the party comes to power at the Centre. Front page articles and editorials have all denounced this as a move to foment trouble in the state and create divisions between communities. Narendra Modi and Rajnath Singh have become villains in the eyes of this section of the media. Those who are indulging in such commentary have either not understood what the BJP wants to do, or are twisting the remarks to create controversy.
By Tareq Aziz | INNLIVE Bureau
SPECIAL REPORT “This is Azamgarh. Anything can happen,” says Tariq Shafique, a social activist from Sanjarpur, talking about Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh’s chances of winning the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat. Sanjarpur village has come to be forever linked in the public mind with the controversial Batla House encounter. The two alleged terrorists that were killed in the 2008 shoot-out in Delhi belonged to this village.
By Sarah Williams | INNLIVE Bureau
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY 2014 President Obama was asked recently about regrets. “I regret not having spent more time with my mother,” he said. The president’s mother, Ann Dunham, died at age 52 when Barack Obama was 34. “I was so busy with my own life that I didn’t always reach out and communicate with her, and ask her how she was doing and tell her about things. You know, I was nice and I’d call and, you know, and write once in a while ... I realize that I didn’t, uh, every single day, or at least more often, just spend time with her and find out what she was thinking and what she was doing because she had been such an important part of my life.”
By Sahil Chaudhury | INNLIVE Bureau
EXCLUSIVE If President Pranab Mukherjee had decided to make a trip to Kolkata on 12 May to vote in South Kolkata, where he is a registered voter, it would have been wonderful. Never mind the expense of a special plane, as all presidents fly by special planes, it would have been a boost to the Election Commission’s campaign to ensure higher voting turnouts to strengthen the democratic process.
Of course there would have been some stretching of the local official machinery to provide him security and all that, including perhaps a lunch, but it would have been certainly worth it. Imagine photographs, still and video, of Mukherjee standing in a queue, amidst even security checked voters to ensure his safety, and then casting his vote.
By Sukanya Mehta | INNLIVE Bureau
SPOTLIGHT Building toilets holds the key to reducing India’s malnutrition burden. Commenting on the Indian elections in his satire show, British humorist John Oliver remarked, “(Narendra) Modi has managed to inspire people with his populist platform including a pledge to put a toilet in every home. That’s a bold move, coming out as pro-toilet.”
Oliver’s wisecrack may have deliberately exaggerated Narendra Modi’s pitch on toilets but the focus on sanitation has been one welcome change in the 2014 election campaign. In a public rally, Modi had exhorted, “pehle shauchalay, phir devalay” (first toilets, then temples).
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