NEW DELHI: For the Left, its most crucial battle is in Kerala, as the CPM-led LDF fights for a return to power in the last Communist-governed state, which goes to polls with West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam and Puducherry. In Bengal – where it was once the dominant force and now lacks any presence in terms of MLAs and MPs from the state – it is striving for a revival. And in Tamil Nadu, it is putting up a fight to ensure the return of the DMK-led alliance, of which CPM and CPI are a part. The Left parties, including CPI(ML), are also gearing up for a fight against BJP as part of the Congress-led alliance in Assam. They will focus on reaching the working class, Dalits and other backward classes in all the poll-bound states.

General secretaries of CPM and CPI(ML) Liberation, MA Baby and Dipankar Bhattacharya, respectively, highlighted that the goal is to expand the footprint of the Left, weaken BJP where it is in power and ensure that the latter does not grow stronger in opposition-ruled states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Emphasising the outreach by the Left parties, CPI’s D Raja said BJP stands exposed for its failures on the economy, employment generation, inflation and foreign policy. Baby admitted that while there is a “stiff fight” in Kerala, “we are confident that people will see all that the LDF govt has done and not be swayed by the narratives of UDF and BJP. We are also going to the people and are open to criticism to understand their concerns and address them.” With a resurgent UDF stepping up its attack on the two-term CPM-led govt in Kerala and a BJP seen to be making inroads, the assembly polls in the state will be a critical test for the Left parties. A loss will put a big question mark over the Left’s relevance in the INDIA bloc, nationally. Meanwhile, in a bid to steer a revival in West Bengal and mark its presence as the third force in the contest, the Left front is going to the polls as a broader coalition which has CPI(ML) – unlike in the previous assembly elections – and some non-Left players too.

NEW DELHI: Congress’s fortunes post-2014 have followed a familiar pattern: rout in the national elections and then a long wait for assembly wins. It was an extended barren patch of three and a half years before Congress won a state poll (Himachal) after being routed in the Pulwama-dictated 2019 Lok Sabha contest. This time, Congress is hoping that the wait – which should have ended immediately after the 2024 LS polls with wins in Haryana and then Maharashtra – will finally be over through a win in Kerala. The polls in four states and one UT are an opportunity for Congress to get back into the reckoning, which the party prematurely hoped that the creditable performance in the difficult 2024 polls would ensure. If Kerala-2026 is the essence of Congress’s stakes in the coming battles, the principal opposition party is aiming to score significant political points in Assam, TN and Bengal, given that arch-rival BJP has positioned itself as a player across the national geography. After all, in the years since the Modi-led party turned into a political juggernaut, the Rahul Gandhi-run Congress has chosen to define itself ideologically and in sole opposition to BJP – a process which has also led to greater convergence among foes within the secular camp. For once, Congress ended the longstanding dichotomy of being an ally of CPM at the national level and in Bengal, while being a rival in Kerala – which provided BJP with an easy line of attack. It decided early to go solo in Bengal. Like many of the ‘Congress vs BJP’ fields, Assam has turned barren for the former with back-to-back defeats. Communal polarisation, marginalisation via defections and Assam-specific delimitation have made its political task a challenge. Congress belatedly plumped for Gaurav Gogoi, a young face with socio-political pedigree, as its flag-bearer. By all indications, Congress is hoping for a respectable performance that can debunk the growing perception of Assam becoming a one-party turf and keep the party alive in the state. After an unexpected public squabbling with DMK, Congress settled for a minor seat share for the polls. Given that BJP has inserted itself in the AIADMK-led bloc, and speculations are rife that TVK of Tamil superstar, Vijay, can be “influenced” by BJP after elections, Congress is eager that DMK sails through. The post-Jayalalithaa landscape in the state has proved easier for DMK, as witnessed in the 2024 LS polls, but TVK’s emergence and the prospect of a three-way split of votes have created uncertainty. Reduced to less than a fringe player in Mamata Banerjee’s fief, Bengal Congress is moving with a two-fold target in its solo run. The party believes it cannot go below 2021’s pathetic result of zero seats and 3% votes. AICC state in-charge Ghulam Ahmad Mir said the party’s vote share should move upwards of 15%.

Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma (Agency Image)

Virat Kohli has picked his former Royal Challengers Bengaluru teammate Chris Gayle ahead of Rohit Sharma while choosing the best opener in T20 cricket during a recent “This or That” challenge.In a video shared by RCB on Sunday, Kohli was asked to select between two players at a time while identifying the greatest opener in the shortest format. The former RCB captain first opted for Adam Gilchrist over Sunil Narine.

The next comparison was between Gilchrist and Travis Head, and Kohli picked the Australian left-hander, explaining that his choice was specifically for T20 cricket. When Head was then put up against Virender Sehwag, Kohli switched to the former India opener.The comparisons continued with Sehwag facing Sachin Tendulkar, but Kohli again selected Sehwag, noting that in the T20 format he would still favour the aggressive opener.The challenge eventually reached its final choice between Rohit and Gayle. After pausing briefly, Kohli decided to go with the West Indies legend as his pick for the best T20 opener.Gayle’s record in the format backs up his reputation. The former West Indies national cricket team opener remains the highest run-scorer in T20 cricket, having amassed 14,562 runs in 455 innings across all T20 competitions. In the Indian Premier League, he scored 4,965 runs in 142 matches.Gayle also holds the record for the highest individual score in IPL history. Playing for RCB against Pune Warriors India in 2013, he produced an unbeaten 175, a knock that still stands as the tournament’s best.Rohit, meanwhile, has enjoyed a remarkable career in the shortest format as well. The former India captain has scored 4,231 runs in 159 T20I matches and 151 innings, while in the IPL he has accumulated 7,046 runs from 272 matches and 267 innings.Kohli himself will soon return to action for RCB when the defending champions begin their Indian Premier League 2026 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on March 28.

NEW DELHI: If assembly polls since the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 reiterated BJP’s dominance and deflated hopes of its rivals emboldened by their LS poll bump, the fresh round of electoral battle will test the party’s mettle and determine if it can build on its momentum to make new strides in regions considered most unfriendly to its overtures so far. The poll announcement comes amid the opposition’s united attack on PM Modi govt over trade agreement with the US, energy concerns due to the West Asian crisis, and SIR of electoral rolls exercise, and the elections will offer a window into the popular mood. BJP is going to the poll in Assam, where it has been in power since 2016, with confidence, and to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and especially West Bengal, with varying degrees of hope, three states it has never governed. More than Congress, it is regional parties which have proved resilient against BJP, and two of BJP’s most vocal critics, CM Mamata Banerjee in Bengal and CM M K Stalin in TN, are in the fray in this round of polls. BJP is in office in only one of the four poll-bound states, while it is part of the governing alliance in the poll-bound UT of Puducherry. Outside Assam, BJP has the highest stake in neighbouring Bengal, where it is the direct challenger to TMC, while the party has taken the lead in stitching together an alliance under AIADMK’s leadership to take on the DMK-led bloc in TN. In Kerala, the electoral battle is largely between the incumbent CPM-led LDF and the Congress-UDF, but BJP, which pulled nearly 17% of the vote share in 2024, is being seen as an X factor that will influence the final outcome. As is often the case, PM Narendra Modi has led BJP’s pre-poll outreach by mixing the launch of development programmes with political rallies in all these states, with Bengal being his last port of call, where he addressed a rally in Kolkata Saturday. BJP believes its campaign around Hindu consciousness amid concerns over infiltration and TMC’s alleged pro-Muslim politics and misrule has taken root in the state and will help make up for what it may lack in organisational machinery against its rival’s well-oiled network. The PM’s attack on the Bengal CM, that she was working to reduce Hindus to a minority in the state, was sharper than usual “appeasement” charge BJP has levelled against her. In office since 2011, Mamata has thwarted BJP after being surprised by its performance in 2019 LS election when it won its best-ever tally of 18 seats against TMC’s 22. However, its steady 38-39% vote share in the last several polls has given BJP a launchpad to make a serious and determined bid to vanquish her. Under Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP has turned the alleged infiltration from Bangladesh into a resonant poll issue in the northeastern state and mixed this with native appeal.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court quashed and set aside a city sessions court’s Oct 19, 2024 conviction and life sentence of a Kanjurmarg (E) man for the murder of his elder brother with a cement paver block.Allowing his appeal, Justices Ajey Gadkari and Shyam Chandak on March 10 instead convicted Hemant Devrukhkar under IPC Section 304 (Part I) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sentenced him to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI).According to the prosecution, Sainath was addicted to tobacco and spat in the house. He abused and assaulted his mother and brother, who persuaded him to give up the vices. On April 12, 2018, around 9 pm, a quarrel ensued after Sainath began spitting and making loud noises. Sainath beat up Hemant, who was unwell with jaundice. The next morning at 7 am, the mother heard the sound of a stone falling, followed by Sainath’s cries. He was hit with a cement block on the head and mouth. Hemant told her he put an end to the daily disputes. The next day, Sainath succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Hemant’s advocate, Nitesh Nevshe, argued that Sainath’s death was caused without premeditation on account of the sudden fight and in the heat of passion. The offence could not be murder but culpable homicide not amounting to murder, he said. Prosecutor Ashish Satpute said such quarrels occurred on previous occasions and Hemant “intentionally” killed Sainath to put an end to disputes.The judges said witnesses’ evidence corroborated Hemant’s “extra-judicial confession” to his mother, which cannot be overlooked. She admitted Sainath’s behaviour was “unbearable”. The spot panchnama clearly showed the family resided in a small room, and Sainath “further created hardship by spitting tobacco and keeping it unhygienic”. The judges noted that Sainath assaulted Hemant, though he was unwell and not at fault. “On the contrary, he wanted Sainath to give up his addictions and improve,” they said.The judges concluded that Hemant’s “act of causing the homicidal death of Sainath” fell under Exception 1 of IPC Section 300 (murder), where the offender loses self-control by grave and sudden provocation, causing the death of the provoker or any other person by mistake or accident. They said Sainath’s “cumulative and continued abuse” towards Hemant and his mother over a period of time, coupled with a provocative assault on Hemant during their last quarrel, resulted in “continuing the stress by provocation, which ultimately led to the unfortunate homicidal death of Sainath.” The “appropriate” conviction is Section 304 (Part I), they added.

NEW DELHI: Election Commission on Sunday said announcements and policy decisions before the poll announcement are a prerogative of the govt in office – Centre or state. The model code of conduct, prohibiting any new announcement by a govt, comes into effect only from the time of the official announcement of election dates, the panel said while declaring the assembly poll schedule for West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Kerala, and Puducherry. Responding to questions on whether announcements, including dearness allowance for state govt employees, made by Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee less than an hour before EC announced the poll schedule are a violation, CEC Gyanesh Kumar said, “The model code of conduct comes into effect after the announcement of polls and not before.” There have been instances of incumbent govts announcing decisions, including financial assistance to beneficiaries, just before the code kicked in, and opposition parties have often termed these as “inducements” to influence voting. On Sunday, several reporters mentioned the Rs 10,000 financial help extended to women by the Nitish Kumar govt in Bihar just before the 2025 assembly election, and the M K Stalin govt in TN depositing Rs 6,550 crore into the bank accounts of over 1.3 crore women as of Feb. Mamata, who is TMC chief, announced dearness allowance for thousands of state govt employees on X, saying they “will start receiving their ROPA 2009 DA arrears from March 2026 onwards as per the modalities detailed out in notifications issued by our finance department.” Calling the DA announcement a “joke”, Bengal BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari said on X, “After years of looting the state treasury and cheating them blind, this is your desperate last-minute poll gimmick? Zero accountability, zero funds, zero delivery… Classic TMC poll drama.”