-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...

-Hindustan Times Studies that measure the contribution of MGNREGS towards improving the adaptive capacity of the beneficiary households have remained few and far between. While the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) has been a valuable employment tool and safety net, as seen in the migrant crisis, its role in building ecosystems resilient to the climate crisis is being increasingly recognised. There is now an urgent need to bring upfront...

-The Indian Express The anti-incumbency Banerjee faces is as much about local-level corruption and competing ideologies as it is about stalled industrialisation, weak credit growth, a near-freeze in new jobs, low infrastructure development and agriculture spend. AS West Bengal Chief Minister MAMata Banerjee fights perhaps her most significant electoral battle, framing her contest is not just BJP vs Trinamool politics — but the state’s economics as well. The anti-incumbency Banerjee faces is as...

-The Indian Express Greater push towards privatisation has implications for academic freedom and diversity in education institutions. For a more just, equal educational system, the state must have a role The resignations of Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian from Ashoka University have created ripples in the world of academia, not just in India but across the globe. While the immediate cause for the resignation is not known, it is surmised that...