The 2019 Lok Sabha result was a second consecutive heavy defeat for the Congress, and within weeks there were reports that the party was short of money as well as seats. What was reported In July 2019, reports citing party sources said the Congress had asked several of its organisations to cut spending. The monthly budget of the Congress Seva Dal was said to have been reduced from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh, and the women’s wing, the student wing NSUI and the Youth Congress were asked toRead More

On Saturday, Indian Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said that the surgical strikes after the Uri attack and this year’s Indian Air Force strike on a terror camp in Balakot had shown that India has the political will to hit back against terrorism. He made the remarks at a New Delhi function marking 20 years since the Kargil War. Political will and diplomacy Gen Rawat said success in military matters depended on political will backed by active diplomacy. He said the forces were working in a coordinated way to buildRead More

Jai Shri Ram, a phrase meaning victory to Lord Ram, the Ayodhya prince described in the various versions of the Ramayana, has become one of the most politically charged phrases in India. A recent report argues that chanting it is no longer seen as a purely religious act but as a slogan that advances the BJP’s agenda, and notes that it trends regularly on social media. From temple movement to campaign trail The chant came to be associated with the BJP during the Ram temple movement launched by the VHPRead More

Late on Friday, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that his cabinet was likely to be reshuffled on Saturday, with four ministers to be replaced and the new ministers to be sworn in at 3 pm. The move followed Wednesday’s switch of 10 Congress MLAs to the BJP, which took the ruling party’s strength in the House to 27. Who goes, who comes in Sawant said the three ministers from coalition partner Goa Forward Party and independent MLA Rohan Khaunte would be dropped. He did not name the incoming ministersRead More

The defection of ten Congress MLAs to the BJP in Goa on Wednesday has plunged the Congress into its deepest Goa crisis in recent years, an opinion column has argued. The piece contends that the BJP misread the anti-defection law on purpose and, in doing so, showed contempt for Goa’s voters. The column’s argument The column notes that the Congress, which won 17 seats in 2017, is now down to five MLAs. But it argues that the BJP’s eager welcome to the defectors has also unsettled the party’s own loyalRead More