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Behan Mayawati is anything but a confused aunt. Consumed by her all-powering and unflagging need to stay in power and suspicious of the barest of darkness descending on her, Mayawati sees danger to her throne from all corners of the Bahujan Samaj Party's Diwan-e-Khas knowing that the Diwan-e-Aam cannot be controlled or taken for granted.

After the reports of high-level pollution in the river water at the Kumbh site now the Bihar economic Survey has come out with a report that the water in Ganges river is not fit for bathing at most places in Bihar because of high bacteriological content. The study has been carried out by the Bihar state pollution control board which monitors the pollution level in Ganga river regularly. Taking cognizance of the large gathering at Praygraj, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had earlier warned that the water at the Prayagraj, the site of Kumbh is highly polluted. They pointed out the pollution content to be far above the permissible limit and that the pollutants included high level of foecal matter.

If the United States of America is the provider of the largest trade surplus to India year after year, there is no reason for India to impose unreasonable tariffs on merchandise imported from its best trading partner. In fact, the import tariff should not be allowed to be a bone of contention between the two countries. On the contrary, India needs to severely downsize imports from China, which provides little access to Indian goods and investment to that country.

India’s growth rate has decelerated to four years low in 2024-25, and the quarter four performance of the economy would be key to achieve the projected 6.5 per cent of GDP growth rate. More serious concern lies ahead. Even International Monetary Fund (IMF) sees India’s growth rate to remain stagnate at 6.5 per cent yearly until 2030. World Bank has said that to become a developed country by 2047, India will need an annual growth rate of 7.8 per cent. In the backdrop of such projections, India needs not only to work very hard but also a paradigm shift in its developmental policies.

Threat perception of electoral dissipation in the 2026 assembly election and the resolve of the RSS cadres and leaders not to undertake electioneering in West Bengal unless the party president J P Nadda apologises for his Lok Sabha election eve remarks against the RSS, has finally forced the state BJP leaders to have a two-day long meeting with the state RSS leaders.

LUCKNOW: Rising popularity within the party and dalit youth and anti-BJP stance forced BSP national President Mayawati to remove her nephew and successor Akash Anand from all party posts. Mayawati is so shaken by the emerging powerful group of Akash Anand and his father-in- law Ashok Sidharth, former MP, that she removed both of them and announced that she would not appoint anybody as her successor.

“The Good Governor should have a broken leg and keep at home.” — Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes's words best capture a governor’s expected role within a parliamentary democracy. The governor's primary duties are consultation, encouragement, and advice. It is also expected that he remains above provincial politics.

The departure of Madhabi Puri Buch from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) marks the end of what many consider the darkest period in the history of India’s market regulator. SEBI, the institution responsible for ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in India's financial markets, found itself embroiled in controversies that not only undermined its credibility but also called into question the fundamental principles on which it was built. With allegations of misconduct, conflicts of interest, and regulatory overreach clouding her tenure, Buch’s exit is unlikely to erase the deep scars left behind by the crisis. Instead, it should serve as a moment for introspection on the governance of regulatory bodies in India and the dangerous precedent that political protection of erring officials can set.

Bonhomie between RSS and BJP that enabled the BJP to win the Haryana, Maharashtra and Delhi assembly elections, notwithstanding bitter acrimony between Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, appears to have been overshadowed by the fraternal rancour. The situation has acquired such heat that RSS is reluctant to undertake electioneering and help BJP win assembly elections in Bihar and Bengal.

The issue of giving wages to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers has again in sharp focus. Union Budget 2025-26 neither promised them to give status of the workers preventing them from getting even minimum wages, nor increased the little amount of honourariums and incentives that are being given to them as volunteers. The amount of work and time ASHA and Anganwadi workers are giving is not compensated by any justified wages, and thus their exploitation continues.