New Delhi : A special Delhi court today convicted former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and ex-coal secretary H C Gupta in a coal scam case. Special CBI Judge Bharat Parashar also convicted ex-Jharkhand chief secretary A K Basu and private company Vini Iron and Steel Udyog Ltd (VISUL) in the case.

They have been found guilty of varying offences including criminal conspiracy in the case pertaining to irregularities in allocation of Rajhara North coal block in Jharkhand to the Kolkata-based VISUL. The Special Court however, acquitted four other accused including VISUL’s Director of all charges.

The court will hear argument on quantum of punishment tomorrow.

While speaking to The India Saga Jharkhand CM Raghubar Das on the conviction of Former CM Madhu Koda he said – “ Law has taken its course.”

The CBI alleged that the firm had applied for allocation of Rajhara North coal block on January 8, 2007. It said although the Jharkhand government and Steel Ministry did not recommend VISUL’s case for coal block allocation, the 36th Screening Committee recommended the block to the accused firm.

The CBI said that Gupta, who was chairman of the screening committee, had allegedly concealed facts from then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, that Jharkhand had not recommended VISUL for allocation of a coal block. Dr Singh was then heading the Coal Ministry too.

The coal scam had hit the headlines in 2012 after an audit by the national auditor revealed that the country has lost up to Rs. 1.86 lakh crore due to inefficient allocation of coal blocks. The auditor said for over a decade, mining rights were allotted to private firms at low prices. In 2014, the Supreme Court cancelled the allocations.

A case against 46-year-old Madhu Koda — who was the Chief Minister of Jharkhand from September 2006 to August 2008 — was filed in December 2014.  

HC Gupta, before retiring in 2008, was the Coal Secretary for two years under the Congress-led UPA government. With the screening committee he headed allocating at least 40 coal mining rights, he was accused of playing a leading role in the massive swindle.

He is accused in eight cases. In May, he was convicted along with two other former bureaucrats in a case related to the allocation of a coal mining block in Madhya Pradesh to a private company. It was the first coal scam case in which senior government officials were held guilty.

NEW DELHI : The Centre has told the Supreme Court that at least 12 special courts will be set up to decide cases involving politicians as accused. 

The Ministry of Law and Justice said this in an affidavit filed in pursuance of an order asking it to come up with a scheme for the purpose. 

It said, 12 such courts for a period of one year will be set up at a cost of 8 crore rupees. The Centre also sought more time to collect and collate data of pending cases against lawmakers across the country.

The apex court had, last month, directed the Centre to place before it the details regarding 1,581 cases involving MPs and MLAs, as declared by the politicians at the time of filing their nominations during the 2014 general elections. 

It had asked the government to apprise it of how many among these cases have been disposed of within one year and how many have ended either in conviction or acquittal.

Contrary to the assumptions that nearly half the abortions in India were unsafe, the first national study of the incidence of abortion and unintended pregnancy now suggests that only 5% of the abortions are unsafe.

Safety has been enhanced, primarily, due to safe medical and surgical procedures available now. Safety is an issue where there is lack of availability of services or information. 

An estimated 15.6 million abortions were performed in India in 2015. The vast majority of abortions (81%) were achieved using medication abortion (which, in India, is commonly referred to as medical methods of abortion, or MMA) that was obtained either from a health facility or another source while 14% were performed surgically in health facilities, and the remaining 5% were performed outside of health facilities using other, typically unsafe, methods, according to the National Estimate of Abortion and Unintended Pregnancies in India.

Almost half of the 48.1 million pregnancies that occur in India each year are unintended. Two-thirds of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion. Close to one in four abortions in India (22%) are provided in health facilities. Almost three in four abortions (73%) are obtained independently through purchasing medical methods of abortion from a chemist or informal vendor. The remaining 5% are obtained using various methods that are often dangerous and account for 0.8 million abortions, the report says.

Medical methods of abortion (MMA)—using a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol—account for four in five abortions in India. Medical methods of abortion are safe and effective when used in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines.

Only 5% of abortions in India occur in public health facilities, which are a key source of health care for poor and rural women.  The majority of primary health centers and substantial proportions of community health centers, the most common types of public health facilities in India, do not offer abortion services. The most common reasons reported for not providing abortion services are lack of trained staff and lack of necessary equipment or supplies.

As many as 47 per 1,000 women aged 15-49 got an abortion done in 2015, according to the National Estimate of Abortion and Unintended Pregnancies in India that also said that of the total 48.1 million pregnancies in 2015, about half were unintended—meaning they were wanted later or not at all. The estimated unintended pregnancy rate was 70 per 1,000 women aged 15–49 in 2015, which is similar to the rates in neighbouring Bangladesh (67) and Nepal (68), and much lower than the rate in Pakistan (93).

The study published in The Lancet Global Health—was conducted jointly by researchers at the International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai; the Population Council, New Delhi; and the New York– based Guttmacher Institute.

“Although abortion has been legal under a broad range of criteria in India since 1971, we have never had a reliable estimate of the number occurring until now,” says Dr. Chander Shekhar, professor in the Department of Fertility Studies at IIPS and co–principal investigator of the study. “This new evidence provides policymakers with information that is essential for designing and implementing effective reproductive health care programs.”

Unlike previous research on this topic, this study is the first specifically designed to measure the national incidence of abortion in India. The researchers used two direct methods for measuring incidence. One was compiling national sales and distribution data on MMA (mifepristone and mifepristone-misoprostol combipacks), which represents the vast majority of all abortions in India. The second was implementing a large-scale survey of public and private health facilities in six states—Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh—where close to half of Indian women of reproductive age live. The number of abortions to women who used traditional methods was calculated using indirect measures.

Currently, slightly fewer than one in four abortions are provided in health facilities. The public sector—which is the main source of health care for rural and poor women—accounts for only one-quarter of facility-based abortion provision, in part because many public facilities do not offer abortion services. Close to three in four abortions are achieved using MMA drugs from chemists and informal vendors, rather than from health facilities. MMA is safe and effective when used in accordance with World Health Organization guidelines. For example, according to clinical studies, an MMA regimen that combines misoprostol and mifepristone is 95–98% effective when used correctly and within a nine-week gestational limit.

“Women in India face considerable challenges trying to obtain abortion care, including the limited availability of abortion services in public health facilities,” says Dr. Susheela Singh, vice president for international research at the Guttmacher Institute and co–principal investigator of the study. “Our findings suggest that a shortage of trained staff and inadequate supplies and equipment are the primary reasons many public facilities don’t provide abortion care.”

The study proposes a number of steps to improve the availability and quality of abortion services in health facilities, including training and certifying more doctors to provide abortion care. The study also recommends permitting nurses, AYUSH doctors (practitioners of indigenous medicine) and auxiliary nurse midwives to provide MMA. This would substantially expand the number of providers—and facilities—qualified to offer safe abortion services. The authors also note the importance of ensuring that public health facilities have the equipment and drug supplies necessary to provide surgical abortion care and MMA.

To address the needs of the millions of women choosing to obtain MMA from sources other than health facilities, the authors urge the implementation of strategies that will provide women with accurate information about how to use the method safely. Finally, the study recommends improving the quality of contraceptive services, including by offering a wide range of contraceptive methods and providing counselling to help individuals prevent the pregnancies they do not want and achieve their reproductive goals.

Every 1 in 3 internet users globally is a child but not much is being done to protect them from the perils of the digital world and to increase their access to safe online content, according to a latest report by the UNICEF. 

The latest edition of “The State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a digital world’’ says young people are the most connected age group with 71% being online now with 48% of the total population. While just 1 in 25 young persons in Europe is not connected, 3 out of 5 youth in Africa still continue to be offline.   

Approximately 56% of all website are in English and many children cannot find the content they understand or that is culturally relevant, and more than 9 in 10 child sex abuse URLs identified globally are hosted in Canada, France, the Netherlands, the Russian federation and the United States. 

The report presents UNICEF’s first comprehensive look at the different ways digital technology is affecting children’s lives and life chances, identifying dangers as well as opportunities.  It argues that governments and the private sector have not kept up with the pace of change, exposing children to new risks and harms and leaving millions of the most disadvantaged children behind.  

“For better and for worse, digital technology is now an irreversible fact of our lives,” says UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. “In a digital world, our dual challenge is how to mitigate the harms while maximizing the benefits of the internet for every child.” 

The report explores the benefits digital technology can offer the most disadvantaged children, including those growing up in poverty or affected by humanitarian emergencies. These include increasing their access to information, building skills for the digital workplace, and giving them a platform to connect and communicate their views.

But the report shows that millions of children are missing out. Around one third of the world’s youth – 346 million – are not online, exacerbating inequities and reducing children’s ability to participate in an increasingly digital economy. 

The report also examines how the internet increases children’s vulnerability to risks and harms, including misuse of their private information, access to harmful content, and cyberbullying. The ubiquitous presence of mobile devices, the report notes, has made online access for many children less supervised – and potentially more dangerous. 

And digital networks like the Dark Web and cryptocurrencies are enabling the worst forms of exploitation and abuse, including trafficking and ‘made to order’ online child sexual abuse. 

Only collective action – by governments, the private sector, children’s organizations, academia, families and children themselves – can help level the digital playing field and make the internet safer and more accessible for children, the report says while recommending provision of affordable access to high quality online resources for all children. 

The report also calls for protecting children from harm online – including abuse, exploitation, trafficking, cyberbullying and exposure to unsuitable materials, safeguarding children’s privacy and identities online, as well as teaching digital literacy to keep children informed, engaged and safe online.

“Girls and boys in India have the unique opportunity to benefit from the connectivity that the digital world can provide. India is famous as an IT Hub and no matter where they live, every girl or boy should have a digital advantage,” said UNICEF Representative in India, Dr Yasmin Ali Haque at the launch in Delhi. 

“UNICEF is working with the Government in developing a comprehensive plan on digital safety for children. The Internet and social media provide incredible opportunities for children to learn, participate and socialize but it also brings significant risks of online abuse and violence. Digital literacy is, therefore, key to ensure that all girls and all boys can stay informed, engaged and safe online,” says Dr Haque.

NEW DELHI: Marking a generational shift in the Congress, 47-year-old scion of the Gandhi family Rahul Gandhi, who represents Amethi in the Lok Sabha, was on Monday announced as the new President of the party. 

Addressing a press conference, Mullappally Ramachandran, the chairman of the Congress central election authority, announced: “Rahul Gandhi has been elected Congress president unopposed.”

The baton will be formally handed over on December 16 to the newly-elected President by Sonia Gandhi, his mother who has earned the distinction of longest serving chief of the party. Rahul Gandhi will be the sixth scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family to preside over the affairs of the grand old party. 

A total of  90 sets of nominations were said to have been filed supporting Rahul Gandhi before the deadline expired on December 4. Since there was no other nomination, Rahul Gandhi was declared elected on Monday. 

NEW DELHI: In a sharp counter to the controversy over Pakistan conspiracy regarding Gujarat assembly polls, former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Monday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

Here is the full text of Dr. Singh’s statement: 

“I am deeply pained and anguished by the falsehood and canards being spread to score political points in a lost cause by none less than Prime Minister, Sh. Narendra Modi. Fearing imminent defeat in Gujarat, desperation of Prime Minister to hurl every abuse and latch on to every straw is palpable. Sadly & regrettably, Sh. Modi is setting a dangerous precedent by his insatiable desire to tarnish every constitutional office, including that of a Former Prime Minister and Army Chief.

The Congress Party needs no sermons on “Nationalism” from a party and Prime Minister, whose compromised track record on fighting terrorism is well known. Let me remind Sh. Narendra Modi that he had gone to Pakistan uninvited after the terrorist attacks in Udhampur and Gurdaspur. Let him also tell the country the reason for inviting the infamous ISI of Pakistan to our strategic Air Base in Pathankot to investigate a terror attack that emanated from Pakistan.

I reject the innuendos and falsehoods as I did not discuss Gujarat elections with anyone else at the dinner hosted by Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar as alleged by Shri Modi. Nor was the Gujarat issue raised by anyone else present at the dinner. The discussion was confined to India-Pakistan relations. Names of the distinguished Indian public servants and journalists present at the dinner are enclosed to this statement. None of them could be accused of indulging in any anti-national activities.

I sincerely hope that he will apologize to the Nation for his ill thought transgression to restore the dignity of the office he occupies.”

Victims of Bhopal gas tragedy continue to suffer damage in their DNA, a new study has revealed. Methyl isocyanate, which released from the Union Carbide plant in December 1984, is known to damage human DNA by interacting with proteins. Such damage was recorded in studies done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in years following the gas leak.  

Now a team of scientists from MGM New Bombay Hospital has performed fresh tests on people who were exposed to MIC and found that the damage continues. Researchers used the same categorization that was used by ICMR – people were grouped as severely exposed, moderately exposed or unexposed. Blood samples of 156 persons were collected for this study. Of this, 130 samples gave readable data and anomalies detected were classified, and results compared with ICMR screening performed between 1985- 1988. 

The study has shown two trends. Even though people who were severely exposed to the gas now possess fewer abnormal cells, the frequency of aberrations within such cells has increased with time. Another finding was increase in chromosomal aberrations even in people who were not exposed or moderately exposed to the gas.

The researchers explain it could be due to several reasons. “A number of confounders, including lifestyle, environment, nutritional factors, drinking water, occupational exposures, and inherent genetic conditions interact. Additionally, continuous soil contamination by chemical wastes dumped in the Union Carbide India limited site might have augmented the genetic changes through interaction with other biologic and abiologic factors,” the study says.

Dr Hit Kishore Goswami, former founder chairman of Department of Genetics at Bhopal University (Now Barkatullah University) who was involved in Bhopal studies, commented that “many follow up studies have been performed by individual groups, each differing slightly in their approach. This study also does the same. It manages to expose the complications of chemical contact with better techniques”.

However, Dr V Ramana Dhara, Adjunct Clinical Professor at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory, commented that “given problems with the study design and a lack of clear exposure-response, it does little to advance the knowledge of methyl isocyanate toxicity.” 

The study was conducted by Bani B Ganguly and Shaouvik Mandal from the MGM Centre for Genetic Research and Diagnosis, MGM New Bombay Hospital. It has been published recently in journal Mutation Research-Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis.  (India Science Wire)

The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha during Monsoon Session 2017.  The Bill is currently being examined by a Joint Committee of the two Houses of Parliament.  It seeks to establish a Resolution Corporation which will monitor the risk faced by financial firms such as banks and insurance companies, and resolve them in case of failure.  

Over the last few days, there has been some discussion around provisions of the Bill which allow for cancellation or writing down of liabilities of a financial firm (known as bail-in). There are concerns that these provisions may put depositors in an unfavourable position in case a bank fails. In this context, we explain the bail-in process below.

What is bail-in?

The Bill specifies various tools to resolve a failing financial firm which include transferring its assets and liabilities, merging it with another firm, or liquidating it.  One of these methods allows for a financial firm on the verge of failure to be rescued by internally restructuring its debt.  This method is known as bail-in.

Bail-in differs from a bail-out which involves funds being infused by external sources to resolve a firm.  This includes a failing firm being rescued by the government.

How does it work?

Under bail-in, the Resolution Corporation can internally restructure the firm’s debt by: (i) cancelling liabilities that the firm owes to its creditors, or (ii) converting its liabilities into any other instrument (e.g., converting debt into equity), among others.

Bail-in may be used in cases where it is necessary to continue the services of the firm, but the option of selling it is not feasible. This method allows for losses to be absorbed and consequently enables the firm to carry on business for a reasonable time period while maintaining market confidence. The Bill allows the Resolution Corporation to either resolve a firm by only using bail-in, or use bail-in as part of a larger resolution scheme in combination with other resolution methods like a merger or acquisition.

Do the current laws in India allow for bail-in? What happens to bank deposits in case of failure?

Current laws governing resolution of financial firms do not contain provisions for a bail in. If a bank fails, it may either be merged with another bank or liquidated.

In case of bank deposits, amounts up to one lakh rupees are insured by the Bail-in differs from a bail-out.  In the absence of the bank having sufficient resources to repay deposits above this amount, depositors will lose their money.  The DICGC Act, 1961 originally insured deposits up to Rs 1,500 and permitted the DICGC to increase this amount with the approval of the central government.  The current insured amount of one lakh rupees was fixed in May 1993. The Bill has a similar provision which allows the Resolution Corporation to set the insured amount in consultation with the RBI.

Does the Bill specify safeguards for creditors, including depositors?

The Bill specifies that the power of the Corporation while using bail-in to resolve a firm will be limited.  There are certain safeguards which seek to protect creditors and ensure continuity of critical functions of the firm. 

When resolving a firm through bail-in, the Corporation will have to ensure that none of the creditors (including bank depositors) receive less than what they would have been entitled to receive if the firm was to be liquidated.

Further, the Bill allows a liability to be cancelled or converted under bail-in only if the creditor has given his consent to do so in the contract governing such debt.  The terms and conditions of bank deposits will determine whether the bail-in clause can be applied to them.

Do other countries contain similar provisions?

After the global financial crisis in 2008, several countries such as the US and those across Europe developed specialised resolution capabilities.  This was aimed at preventing another crisis and sought to strengthen mechanisms for monitoring and resolving sick financial firms.

The Financial Stability Board, an international body comprising G20 countries (including India), recommended that countries should allow resolution of firms by bail-in under their jurisdiction.  The European Union also issued a directive proposing a structure for member countries to follow while framing their respective resolution laws.  This directive suggested that countries should include bail-in among their resolution tools. 

Countries such as UK and Germany have provided for bail-in under their laws.  However, this method has rarely been used.One of the rare instances was in 2013, when bail-in was used to resolve a bank in Cyprus.

The annual ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival announced its second list of speakers at a preview event at the iconic Royal Opera House in Mumbai. Billed as the “greatest literary show on earth”, the 11^th edition of the Festival is slated from January 25 to 29, 2018.

A number of Mumbai-based speakers will feature at the upcoming event, including bestselling novelist Amish who will discuss his reinterpretations of ancient mythology, including the enigmatic Sita and the complex divinity in Ram while Ashwin Sanghi — whose work straddles history, philosophy, fantasy and science– will shed light on his new book `Keepers of the Kalchakra’.

Legendary couple Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi will discuss their poetic heritage through their respective fathers, Jan Nisar Akhtar and Kaifi Azmi, in a session on the  traditions of Urdu literature and author Kiran Nagarkar will speak about the ceaselessness of languages and the art of crisscrossing cultural and linguistic landscapes while actor  Soha Ali Khan will reveal all about her disarmingly frank memoir; and director, writer, producer and actor Anurag Kashyap will speak on his cinematic sensibility and consciousness.

Young readers are set for a treat with the unparalleled Anthony Horowitz, creator of the multi-million selling Alex Rider series, and the refreshing Julia Donaldson whose modern classics, The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child, have taken countless children on a splendid journey. The brilliant theoretical physicist Lisa Randall will also feature as part of the programming with a fascinating discussion that challenges the stereotypes of gender; historian, Harvard professor and author of The Dawn Watch: Joseph Conrad in a Global World, Maya Jasanoff, discusses the journey of one of the most riveting figures in literary history; writers and journalists such as Peter Bergen, the author of Manhunt, one of the few to have interviewed Osama bin Laden and the first journalist to gain access into Abbottabad as well as Suki Kim, the only writer ever to have lived undercover in North Korea and the author of New York Times bestselling literary nonfiction Without You, There Is No Us: Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea’s Elite.

The list also features a number of names from the world of Indian literature, culture and media. Makarand Paranjape will discuss ritual and identity in a dizzyingly pluralistic world; film-maker Mira Nair will speak of her incredible cross-cultural journey as well as the rigours of adapting the novel into a dynamic screenplay; journalist Rajdeep Sardesai discusses his recent book on cricket; new age archivist Rohan Murty, who with his visionary The Murty Classical Library, attempts to make India’s magnificent literary legacy accessible to the world; poet Tishani Doshi will talk about her latest anthology, Girls are Coming out of the Woods; and Kannada author and playwright Vivek Shanbhag explores the diverse range of regional Indian literature.

For the first time, the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival kicked off its preview tour in Mumbai, bringing together Festival Co-Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple and Producer Sanjoy K. Roy as they walked down memory lane and gave the audience a glimpse of the making of the world’s largest free literature festival. It was followed by a reading from Dalrymple’s The White Mughals with renditions by vocalist Vidya Shah.

The Getty Foundation, the British Council, the Aga Khan Foundation and Nordic countries too have come together to support and strengthen the Festival. Harvard University Press, The Murty Classical Library, Westland, Kindle Direct Publishing, Avid Learning and Kingfisher (as Good Times Partner) have also partnered with the Festival.

The BJP faces a big challenge in Gujarat having lost its significant advantage of being ahead of its main rival by at least 10 per cent in terms of votes polled. Their chances of going into minus appears doubtful but cannot be ruled out. That might well be cliffhanger on which there are no wagers.
An analysis of the latest Lokniti-CSDS-ABP poll indicates possible trouble brewing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lotus party president Amit Shah in their home state. This gets compounded in the wake of saffron brigade’s poor performance in the recent three-tiered civic elections in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh. The only saving grace for the BJP pertains to winning 14 of the 16 contests for the post of Mayor. Otherwise it was a dismal performance. The ruling party in Lucknow managed just 18.7 per cent of the seats while the non-BJP opposition secured a mammoth 81.3 per cent. 
The prestige of the two-phase assembly election in Gujarat beginning on December 9 and second scheduled for December 14 with the counting fixed four days later on December 18 cannot be undermined. 
It is understandable why Yogi Adityanath had to keep up the facade of having done well in the civic polls. He was in the forefront of campaigning for the municipal elections after the saffron brigade’s stunning three-fourths victory in the 403-member assembly elections in UP barely eight months back.  
Out of the 12,644 seats contested in all the tiers of the municipal elections, the BJP won only 2,366 with 10,278 seats being garnered by the opposition. This is not only debilitating but shocking and far from the rosy picture painted by the BJP and its supporters. Earlier this year in March, the people had backed the Lotus party in 33 districts in UP but chose not to vote for them in the civic elections this time. 
Of the 60 wards under the Ayodhya-Faizabad municipal corporation, the BJP won 30, SP 18, BSP two and Congress one. Nine went to independents. In the three nagar panchayats in Faizabad district collectively having 34 seats, the Lotus came a cropper. The Samajwadi party which had not evinced any interest in the civic polls this time swept all the 11 seats in Bhadarsa panchayat. The SP did not want to suffer another setback after its humiliating defeat in the assembly elections earlier this year. They preferred biding their time with an eye on the 2019 general elections.   
The BJP won 596 seats of corporators while the opposition and independents bagged 703 seats. In the next tier, the BJP won 70 of the 198 posts of chairpersons of Nagar Palika and the opposition 128. The SP won 45 seats, BSP 29 and Independents 43. The story was no different in the case of councillors of Nagar Palikas. The BJP won 922 seats and the opposition along with the independents bagged a massive 4,338 seats. Again, the SP won 477 seats, the BSP 262 and AAP 17. An overwhelming number of 3,380 Independents also registered a win. 
In the elections for Nagar Panchayat chiefs, the BJP won 100 posts and non-BJP parties and Independents 338. The SP won 83 seats, BSP 45, AAP and Congress two each and AIMIM one. The Independents triumphed in 182 seats. 
The Nagar Panchayat elections saw the BJP win 664 seats and the opposition a whopping 4,769. A majority of 3,875 seats went to Independents. The SP tally was 453 seats, BSP 218, Congress 126, AAP 19, AIMIM six and Janata Dal (Secular) 13. 
The grassroots electorate expressed its firm resentment of the BJP. This is a huge wake up call for the central leadership of the BJP coupled with Yogi Adityanath’s style of functioning particularly as the chief minister.  
Surprisingly, the BJP failed to secure a majority in Modi’s constituency of Varanasi. Expectedly, the Congress was laid low in Rahul Gandhi’s Amethi constituency.
This might well be an indication of the voter mood beginning to sour against Modi and the Lotus party in large parts of UP? 
Interestingly, the BSP has shown signs of revival despite party supremo and former chief minister Mayawati’s marked disinterest in any kind of local elections. This assumes importance especially after the BSP’s rout in the assembly elections in UP earlier this year leading to speculation about the regional party’s survival. 
The state will witness two crucial Lok Sabha elections for the seats vacated by Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Will the BJP’s poor performance in the civic elections take a toll on these seats due to the inimical local factors. The discernible dissatisfaction with Yogi Adityanath’s rule in the state is reflected in the poor outcome of the civic elections. BJP strategists are, however, confident of overcoming the challenge posed by the Congress and other non-BJP opposition encompassing the resentment among the Patidars and other backward classes and farmers in Gujarat. 
Impartial observers believe Modi and the BJP will somehow manage to retain power in Gandhinagar ensuring there is no break in BJP’s uninterrupted rule for more than two decades. 
However, there is a big, big ‘if’ about unthinkable happening in the wake of the no holds barred political one-upmanship in Gujarat, it is bound to cast a shadow on the upcoming assembly elections next year in several states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan among others and inevitably the 2019 general elections.   
(Ends Ends Ends)