Protecting Parliament
The decision to prevent marchers rallying to the call of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) from approaching Parliament on July 20 was taken in view of the increasing political profile the protest acquired ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The visits of the I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders and others such as Arvind Kejriwal, AAP leader, to Jantar Mantar where activist Sonam Wangchuk had been on a fast made it evident that the opposition was making the protest a focal point despite claims that CJP was voicing the interest of students affected by the leak of entrance exam question papers such as the NEET-UG. The convening of a session of Parliament is often an opportunity for protesters to attract attention. In the past, the inauguration of the new Parliament building saw women wrestlers who accused former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of misconduct staging a similar march that was prevented by the cops.
No Olive Branch
As things stand, there does not seem much possibility of the government interacting with CJP organisers because of the assessment that the protests are in large part powered by outfits like the All India Students’ Association wedded to certain political ideologies. The view seems to be that the protest has strong commonalities with the ultra-Left protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2016.
Youth Forever
Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a pointed reference to the young team behind space startup Skyroot and referred to the company’s average age of 28. In a reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the prime minister said these were unlike “56-year-old youngsters”.
Fadnavis In the Muddle
It might be more than coincidence that leaders from both factions of NCP landed to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis around the same time. One set was from the official NCP at odds with leader Sunetra Pawar. The buzz about “reunification” was denied by the visitors but the chief minister seems involved in a complex operation to get NCP (Sharad Pawar) to support the Centre on key Bills while balancing factions in the NDA ally.
Bullet Train Sudoku
The comments of former Japan Justice Minister Hideki Makihara criticising India for delays in the bullet train project are intriguing. Makihara was justice minister in the Ishiba cabinet in 2024. His previous ministerial assignments do not indicate a connection with the bullet train project. While it is true the bullet train project has suffered from time overruns, the reasons are diverse. For one, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government under Uddhav Thackeray opposed land acquisition in Palghar, setting back the plans. Makihara’s references to signalling equipment are puzzling as this is not a point of contention.
New-Look Lok Sabha
With major shifts in alignments since the April 17 Special Session on delimitation, Lok Sabha had a very different look when the Monsoon Session began. Speaker Om Birla’s decision to recognise the breakaway group of 20 TMC MPs and the “merger” of six Shiv Sena (Uddhav) MPs with the Sena led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has altered the look of the House. The opposition bloc has shrunk and alliances have ruptured with the balance tilting towards the treasury benches.
Omar Vs Mehbooba
Both Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP and Omar Abdullah’s National Conference (NC) keep an eye on each other when it comes to playing the identity card. So when NC decided to hold a protest demanding restoration of statehood to Jammu & Kashmir, PDP agreed that this was indeed a valid demand. But it also upped the ante, calling for the rolling back of the abrogation of Article 370, release of “political” prisoners and lifting the ban on Jamaat-e-Islami. Since this could not be included on the list of demands, Mehbooba stayed away from the protest.