My Opinion

Religious beliefs and rituals are today so deep rooted that it is difficult to raise questions about them. It would take time, people would have to be educated to be able to see with reason or to be able to question beliefs.For that matter both Indresh Kumar and Azam Khan seem to exhibit an error of judgement.

Central telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has been repeatedly hitting out at Nitish and Lalu on various issues. Whether it is about the special status for Bihar, or the low business investment in the state or the rise in crime. Nitish and Lalu instead in their reply have been mockingly asking him when he would succeed in resolving the one issue of massive call drops

The Bihar assembly election is an acid fire test for Lalu this time. Both his sons are in the fray and have been pitched against sitting MLAs in their respective constituencies. Lalu has to go all out to ensure they win otherwise it will be a death knell for their political careers. It would put a further dent to Lalu’s image especially with his wife and daughter having suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha polls

By accusing India of building a wall, Pakistan has put its own foot in its mouth. Pakistan has always tried to raise the issue of Kashmir on international forums thereby trying to deflect attention towards its home grown terrorism. But the very fact that Pakistan’s accusations are based on allegations made by Salahuddin, a global terrorist, proves that it is openly harbouring terrorists in its own soil.

Nothing can be more shameful than perhaps patients dying at a government hospital in Darbhanga due to lack of oxygen. It just lays bare the hollow claims of development made by political parties and their leaders.

Minister Rajendra Rathore has rubbished allegations of any mine scam in the state. He said the matter is already in Court. On technical grounds perhaps there is no foul play but questions are bound to be raised when mines have been allocated on a “first come first serve” basis – a norm that was adopted at the last minute contrary to the central rules of auction.

According to the India TV-C Voter Opinion Poll, one thing is clear about the elections in Bihar that Caste is the most important factor and every party is well aware how each caste will cast its vote. Even tickets have been distributed keeping the caste factor in mind. BJP is likely to get the Mahadalit votes, while the grand alliance could garner the Muslim & EBC votes. However this time there is a sizeable section of the young and the first time voters and almost every political leader is of the opinion that this section of the voters are not swayed by caste issues, rather they seem to be influenced by PM Modi’s charisma. If this is indeed true then outcome of the Bihar Polls could turn out to be quite contrary to all Opinion Poll surveys

The economic package announced by the Gujarat government will not only help the economically backward across all castes, it would also help tone down the ongoing Patidar agitation. This announcement has even had an impact on the Prime Minister’s visit to New York where a section of the Patel Community has decided to call off their agitation and instead welcome Mr Modi

The Gujarat Anti Terror Bill has finally been cleared by Central government and has been sent to the President for his consent. In the past the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi and the then Governor Kamal Beniwal were often at loggerheads over the controversial bill and it was twice returned by the UPA government.

Punjab has always been plagued by the menace of drugs. The entire young generation is at a high risk. The state Akali government is well aware that this issue could snowball into a major embarrassment for them and could even affect their poll performances in the future. However it is often not easy to stem the rot since there is a sizeable nexus between the drug peddlers and political leaders. The Opposition has alleged that the list of accused which the CBI has given to Interpol does not feature those who have clandestine links with the ruling political establishment.

Last year Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had raised the issue of Kashmir at the UN General Assembly but none of the big nations supported him. This year again he will raise the issue. There is no doubt that Pakistan’s foreign policy is primarily governed by Army and the ISI and Nawaz Sharif has no option but tow their line. He cannot afford to commit the same mistake in New York – a mistake that forced him to incur their wrath when he failed to raise the Kashmir issue at the Ufa Summit.

The stampede at Mecca is a very unfortunate incident. Infact more than one lakh Indians are currently on a Haj pilgrimage and naturally their families here at home are worried. We hope they are fine and pray for their safe return. Lakhs of Haj pilgrims visit Mecca from all over the world every year and ironically nearly every year there is some untoward incident. During the ritual of ‘stoning the devil’ hordes of people assemble together and the pushing & jostling triggers even a minor incident into a massive tragedy. Saddest part is that many a lives have been lost in such stampedes which have occurred several times in Mecca but the authorities are yet to undertake preventive measures.