With the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government marking its first anniversary on Saturday, the first year is likely to be remembered for the fulfilment of decades-old Hindutva demands as Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the huge majority his party won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls to push through its core agenda.
With mosques shut, workers and daily wage workers are left to fend for themselves, underscoring once again the magnitude of the crisis of unemployment and poverty triggered by the lockdown, which began on March 25 to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
Medical experts feel an aggressive containment strategy in red zones and insulation of green zones is a must while giving relaxations.
'Lifting of lockdown should be very gradual. Some facilities should remain closed through the month of May like schools, colleges, malls, cinema halls, religious places and markets'
Naqvi expressed confidence that Muslims will abide by lockdown guidelines during the holy month of Ramzan.
Many medical experts feel that the nation would have fared far worse without the lockdown.
Suggesting that a relatively young Indian population may be one of the reasons for the low mortality rate due to the pandemic, experts have attributed the high number of fatalities in countries like Italy and Spain to their elderly population which are more susceptible to developing complications after contracting the infection.
Khurshid also asserted that the Congress was going through a "transitional process", but there was no leadership crisis plaguing the party as Sonia Gandhi was there at the helm.
The party is likely to look back at 2019 with more than a touch of satisfaction as the year saw nullification of Article 370, criminalisation of triple talaq, enactment of CAA and a Supreme Court order paving the way for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, issues which have agitated Hindutva cadres for decades.
'We will do a holistic review of the entire act and the policy at the state level and I need to be convinced that not a single Jharkhandi is uprooted from his or her home due to this law'
Bangladesh Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen said any 'uncertainty' over the issue in India is likely to affect its neighbours. The minister asserted that his country trusts India.
'The common Muslim of this country is not in favour of a review petition because he or she does not want that matters which have been settled are again raised and the community gets caught up in such things'
He also alleged that for the Bharatiya Janata Party dispensation and its allies being a Hindu is no different from the team identity loyalty of the 'British football hooligan'.
The minority affairs minister ruled out reconsideration on abrogation of Article 370 provisions, saying there was no going back.
One way forward could be for the CWC to name an interim working president for the party and then ideally dissolve itself, following which the main leadership positions within the party, including the CWC itself, should be opened up to fresh elections
It would be best that Rahul remains party chief, but at the same time, Rahul's own wishes must also be respected, Aiyar said.
Moily asserted that Gandhi continues to be the AICC president and he has not stepped down.
The Congress MP said the party may have underestimated the impact of national security as an electoral topic on the psyche of the voter in North India where the BJP had great success in trying to convert the election into a "khaki' referendum".
Shashi Tharoor also said that it was too premature to write the obituary for the Congress party and that as an organisation it had no time to sit and lick its wounds as it must immediately pick itself up for the upcoming state elections.
Known as an astute strategist whose non-political interests range from playing chess and watching cricket to stage performances and listening to classical music, 54-year-old Shah is often hailed as the BJP's most successful president for crafting its way to power states after states.
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