-The Indian Express In his second term, Prime Minister Modi can ensure better urbanisation through greater devolution of Power, and finances, to urban local bodies. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins his second term with an even larger political mandate, it is time to reflect on what should be the priorities in fixing our cities. The scale of the challenge is massive whether we look at the availability of clean drinking...

-Economic and Political Weekly The introduction of electoral bonds is a retrograde measure that radically alters the transparency regime of electoral funding. By obscuring the identities of a bond’s purchaser and recipient from everyone but the State Bank of India, they give an unfair advantage to the party in Power at the centre, undermine the Election Commission’s oversight role, and deprive the voters of their right to determine if the ruling...

-IndiaSpend.com Bengaluru: Indian voters do not vote on the basis of  development or policies, according to a recent study, confirming the results of the 2019 general elections. Despite a raft of economic woes afflicting the country, ranging from joblessness to farm distress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has swept to Power in India, winning 56% of seats. The study, ‘Do Citizens Enforce Accountability For Public Goods Provision?’, by Oxford University scholar Tanushree Goyal...

-Newsclick.in Like always, several myths are being propagated like – the irrelevance of economic issues or the supremacy of nationalism. But what is the truth? Like all elections everywhere in the world, India’s general election this year too has created its own mythology. Some of it was – understandably – created during the election campaign while some have been generated after the results were out and the BJP-led alliance emerged as a...

-Livemint.com * Voters posed trust in Modi’s leadership for his welfare schemes like Jan Dhan Yojana * The Modi govt took a few policy missteps but came back strongly with focus on social sector schemes Parkash, 30, a tractor driver from Banswara, one of the poorest regions of southern Rajasthan, is happy that his family has received cooking gas and electricity connections during the five-year tenure of the Narendra Modi government. “Our name is...