oppn parties Key State Elections: Opposition To Be Tested

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  • The Indian envoy in Bangladesh was summoned by the country's government over the breach in the Bangladesh mission in Agartala
  • Bank account to soon have 4 nominees each
  • TMC and SP stayed away from the INDIA bloc protest over the Adani issue in the Lok Sabha
  • Delhi HC stops the police from arresting Nadeem Khan over a viral video which the police claimed promoted 'enmity'. Court says 'India's harmony not so fragile'
  • Trafiksol asked to refund IPO money by Sebi on account of alleged fraud
  • Re goes down to 84.76 against the USD but ends flat after RBI intervenes
  • Sin goods like tobacco, cigarettes and soft drinks likely to face 35% GST in the post-compensation cess era
  • Bank credit growth slows to 11% (20.6% last year) with retail oans also showing a slowdown
  • Stock markets continue their winning streak on Tuesday: Sensex jumps 597 points to 80845 and Nifty gains 181 points to 24457
  • Asian junior hockey: Defending champions India enter the finals by beating Malaysia 3-1, to play Pakistan for the title
  • Chess World title match: Ding Liren salvages a sraw in the 7th game which he almost lost
  • Experts speculate whether Ding Liren wants the world title match against D Gukesh to go into tie-break after he let off Gukesh easily in the 5th game
  • Tata Memorial Hospital and AIIMS have severely criticized former cricketer and Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu for claiming that his wife fought back cancer with home remedies like haldi, garlic and neem. The hospitals warned the public for not going for such unproven remedies and not delaying treatment as it could prove fatal
  • 3 persons died and scores of policemen wer injured when a survey of a mosque in Sambhal near Bareilly in UP turned violent
  • Bangladesh to review power pacts with Indian companies, including those of the Adani group
D Gukesh is the new chess world champion at 18, the first teen to wear the crown. Capitalizes on an error by Ding Liren to snatch the crown by winning the final game g
oppn parties
Key State Elections: Opposition To Be Tested

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-04-06 03:21:02

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

Two states, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and one Union territory, Puducherry, will have state elections today in a single phase. Assam will be voting in the third and final phase while the third phase (out of the total eight) of voting will take place in West Bengal.

In Kerala, the LDF and the UDF are engaged in a direct contest with the BJP nowhere in the picture. Despite anti-incumbency and focus by Rahul Gandhi, it seems the LDF is poised to win the state. In Tamil Nadu, the incumbent AIADMK, despite support from the BJP (or maybe because of that) is likely to lose the elections and the DMK might win. In Assam, the BJP alliance is likely to return to power, while in Puducherry, the Congress is likely to taste defeat.

It is West Bengal that is throwing up mixed signals and no one is willing to bet his or her money on the outcome. That the TMC is rattled is clear in the manner Mamata Banerjee is saying that the ISF has taken money from the BJP to split Muslim votes and making repeated to the community not to fall in the trap and divide their votes.

It seems that the BJP charges of taking cut money from beneficiaries before making payments to them under government schemes and the oppression of the syndicate raj have found takers among the voters. On the contrary, the TMC charge of the BJP being a party of 'outsiders' seems not to have found resonance. The state is divided despite the TMC doing good work in the last 6 months.

These elections hold the key which way opposition unity will take. For, if the BJP manages to win Assam and Puducherry, makes a huge dent in the TMC citadel in West Bengal and wins more than expected seats in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the opposition will have to give serious thought to the points enumerated in Mamata Banerjee's recent letter to 14 opposition leaders. 

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