-The Indian Express Indian farmers are facing multiple crises. Punjab’s case highlights their problems. THE ANSWER TO who will form the next government in Punjab is currently sealed in the ballot boxes. Meanwhile, there are reports that the Election Commission has written to the home minister, reinforcing its demand to make electoral bribery a cognisable offence. But what about the assurances made in election manifestos which promise voters the moon before the...

-The Hindu Business Line They rue voting for BJP in the 2014 LS polls, and swear by Mayawati’s BSP now Jalaun (Uttar Pradesh): The reverse migration triggered by demonetisation has possibly reversed the BJP’s political fortunes in this backward and poverty-stricken region of Bundelkhand. Coupled with agrarian distress, demonetisation-induced reverse migration is pushing voters away from the BJP in the ongoing elections. While the SP-Congress alliance is the frontrunner for upper caste voters,...

-The Hindu The newspaper published the “public feedback” on the first phase of Uttar Pradesh elections. The Election Commission on Monday issued orders to election officers of 15 Uttar Pradesh districts, in which the first phase of Assembly elections were held on February 11, to lodge separate criminal cases against the managing director of Resource Development International and the Chief Editor of Hindi daily Dainik Jagran on charges of conducting and publishing...

-The Hindu As Parliament prepares to convene again after a winter session washed out due to the Opposition’s protest on demonetisation, it is worth asking why political mobilisation against the exercise is proving to be so difficult Demonetisation has been the most hotly debated topic since November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the high-denomination notes then in circulation would cease to be legal tender. In a single stroke, nearly...

-The Hindu ‘Merchants say they have no cash. They offer low prices [for the paddy crop], which is unviable.’ BARABANKI (Uttar Pradesh): The little makeshift kiosks that dot Baruwanarendrapur’s rustic landscape, supplying it rations and other daily items, have not opened since November 9. The next nearest supply point is at Ramnagar Kasba, a good 10 km away, entailing an excruciating wait at the railway crossing on the route. Holi Gautam, a Dalit...