Some Campaign Humour
Apart from Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress leader Sachin Pilot is much in demand as a star campaigner in this round of Assembly elections. In addition, he has also been given charge of Kerala state elections. However, his X feed reveals some much needed campaign colour as he posts pictures of not just the rallies but also of some fun activities, like a video of him stopping for fruit chaat as he arrived at the venue well before the candidate in whose favour he was to campaign. Another shows him having tea at a stall near Vaikkom town. Pilot posts a snapshot of the tea stall which has Irani Chai and Bun Maska on its menu and then adds, tongue firmly in cheek, “I am sure that Trump will not like this!” Oh dear.
Why is the government rushing with Women Reservations Bill?
The Narendra Modi government had been criticised by the Opposition for putting the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Women’s Reservations Bill) into the cold storage by linking its implementation with the completion of the 2027 census and the subsequent delimitation. But now, suddenly the government has announced a special session of Parliament, to be reconvened on 16 April after a brief recess, to pass bills to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816, so that the women’s reservation law can be implemented at the earliest.
The decision was conveyed rather than discussed with the NDA allies and some of the Opposition leaders, though both the Congress and the TMC state that they were not taken on board. The plan is to bring in an amendment to the Act whereby the number of seats would be increased by 33%, from 543 to 816 so that 273 seats can then be reserved for women.
While this is a move that no one can oppose, the suddenness of the decision as well as the urgency to rush it through do raise some questions. Why convene a session in the middle of ongoing state elections? More to the point, at a time when the entire world is going through a turmoil and there is an economic shock on the horizon, is this the right time to undertake such a mammoth exercise, which will take a toll on the exchequer as well? What is the rationale and why the secrecy behind this decision? If the government was so keen to give women their due, why not announce this roadmap in the original bill?
The Insta Hit
While the Aam Admi Party leader Raghav Chadha is facing some flak from his own party amidst speculation that he may be jumping ship to join the BJP; there is some sort of a silver lining for the young leader.
At a recent interaction with Gen Alpha on our weekly “We Women Want” when asked to name their favourite politician, Raghav Chadha was among those leading the list. It then transpired that the kind of issues Raghav is raising, most of which deal with problems we face in everyday life have struck a chord.
As has the fact that he is very prolific on social media, especially on Instagram where he puts out two-minute reels of the issues he raises. And this is just about the right attention span that Gen Alpha has to spare on any one topic these days. So both in terms of the medium as well as the message, Raghav seems to have hit a vote bank.
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