-The Hindu Contrary to expectations, the BJP’s appeal among backward classes and the rural poor has petered out The phrase ‘subaltern Hindutva’ was bandied about quite a lot in academic and journalistic circles during the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly election. Many journalists and scholars covering stories from the field had a common account, that a large section of rural poor, backward classes, Dalits and Adivasis had firmly shifted towards the Bharatiya...

-Press communiqué by Association for Democratic Reforms, dated 5th May, 2021 In a letter sent to Shri Sushil Chandra, Chief Election Commissioner and Shri Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner on 5th May, 2021, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) has requested for extending facilities allowing migrant workers to vote from their current residences away from home constituencies, at a time when similar facility is being worked out for the Non-resident Indians (NRIs) by...

-The Indian Express Have people been denied foodgrains due to non-possession of an Aadhaar ID or because their Aadhaar biometric details didn't match? Here's data from a Lokniti-CSDS study The Supreme Court recently asked the Centre to respond to allegations made in a PIL by a Dalit woman from Jharkhand that 3 crore ration cards have been cancelled in the country because of the insistence on Aadhaar linkage and biometric authentication, and...

-The Indian Express With 2.5 crore metric tonnes of paddy a year, and almost every family engaged in farming, East Burdwan district is the rice bowl of West Bengal. Burdwan: AMID much fanfare, in January this year, BJP president J P Nadda visited Mushali here to have lunch at the house of a marginal farmer. Following the meal, he announced the launch of the BJP’s ‘Krishak Suraksha Abhiyan’ and ‘Ek Mutho Chal’...

-The Hindu The gradual deterioration in Parliament’s functioning has to be stopped if it is to fulfil its constitutional mandate The Budget session of Parliament ended on Thursday, two weeks ahead of the original plan, as many political leaders are busy with campaigning for the forthcoming State Assembly elections. This follows the trend of the last few sessions: the Budget session of 2020 was curtailed ahead of the lockdown imposed following the...