-The Hindu It asks him to explain his stand within 24 hours. The Election Commission on Thursday sent a notice to BJP candidate from Nandigram Suvendu Adhikari in connection with a “hate speech” complaint against him. The EC said it received a complaint from CPI(ML) Politburo member Kavita Krishnan alleging that Mr. Adhikari had delivered a hate speech in Nandigram on March 29. The EC quoted Mr. Adhikari as saying: “You are not giving...

-The Hindu Mamata Banerjee’s assumption that Bengali nationalism could block anti-incumbency and Hindutva may be optimistic The Trinamool Congress (TMC) government in West Bengal is a unique specimen in understanding anti-incumbency. Welfare schemes that usually make incumbents popular have added to the anti-incumbency woes of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as the workers of her party made those the easy and only option for rent-seeking. ‘Cut money’, or the cut for TMC local...

-The Hindu There seems to be a shift from prioritising expressways and megaports to agriculture and forests Environmental promises have made a visible entry into Tamil Nadu’s politics, along with a guarded valourisation of farmer and fisher rights over big-ticket infrastructure and industrial projects. All key parties in the 2021 Assembly polls barring the AIADMK dedicated a section for “environmental protection” in their manifestos. Setting aside the justified cynicism about fulfillment of...

-The Hindu The role of planning and social oversight in the economic development of the State needs to expand further Will the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) be re-elected in the upcoming polls in Kerala, or will the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) return to lead the government? The election results will have a major bearing on the path of development that the State would take in the coming years. While Kerala’s achievements...

-The Indian Express The final election manifesto will be released jointly with its alliance partners Congress and newly-formed Indian Secular Front (ISF). Kolkata: The Left Front in its draft election manifesto for the Assembly polls on Thursday promised to set up a separate ministry for migrant workers, acquire land for projects after consensus and safeguard minority rights among other promises. The CPI (M)-led Left Front, which ruled the state for a record 34...