Apparently, the party mantle has fallen on Narendra Modi The BJP has demonstrated in unmistakable terms about who would be leading the party in an attempt to recapture power at the Centre. The leader is Narendra Modi who has been re-inducted into the parliamentary board of the party. He has been kept outside for six years. Now, accepting the growth figures in Gujarat, the central leadership of the party has no doubt he would be the fit person. And that underscores the fact that the party would be playing the extremist Hindutva ideology. And that would be a great departure from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee days. L.K.Advani, Yashwant Sinha, Jaswant Singh and all would not be tall leaders vis-a-vis Narendra Modi. There may be many critics against this choice. But a party has the right to choose its nominee, even though Narendra Modi has not been chosen the Prime Ministerial candidate as yet. The writing is clear on the wall. The rival political parties have also the right to criticise the situation. But the right of any party to bring a particular person on the vanguard cannot be questioned. The results have to be watched at the appropriate time.

On again, off again, still on again support; something is wrong Once in a while it seemed Mamata Banerjee was coming back to the UPA II when DMK pulled out. It seemed Janata Dal (U)'s Nitish Kumar of Bihar could be roped in. But one thing has to be recorded Biju Janata Dal's Naveen Patnaik did not even hint at supporting the UPA II dispensation. Dr Manmohan Singh's Government has been hanging on with the outside support of Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav. But for a few days now, Mulayam Singh has been at his best to rip open the Congress. It seems, when P.Chidambaram complimented his son and UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Mulayam has calmed down a little bit. But he is a past master at politicking. Remember, how he had hoodwinked Mamata Banerjee. Reports were apearing in the media that maybe Karunanidhi would return to the UPA fold. Lately, Karunanidhi has expressly confirmed there would be no going back to the UPA. Even the Prime Minister has hinted that there could be pulling out of allies, however as the leader of the ruling dispensation he should give out only remarks about the cohesion of the government. And that he has done. Everything may not be smooth going, and 2013 could be a cliff-hanger.

The marines' issue was miserably mishandled by the Italians Now we have heard about the resignation of Italy's Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi over the return of the two marines to India as assured to the Supreme Court of India. It seems Terzi was protesting against the return of the marines. No doubt, Terzi had a big role to play in the 'kidnapping' of the marines to Italy duping the sovereign nation of India. It all seems some people in India, maybe in the political sphere, maybe in the diplomatic or ex-diplomatic sphere, had given them false hopes. But the moment, the sovereign nation of Italy duped the sovereign nation of India and the Supreme Court of India, things had gone awry. The Italians were behaving like the mafiosi. The averrment that there is an agreement about not giving capital punishment to the marines is not tenable. Any law-abiding citizen in India knows that the marines' case would not come under the rarest of the rare cases. They would not get death sentence. The Italians should have shown perseverance and fought the case in India. On the political front, they could have drawn up an agreement with India allowing the marines to spend their time in Italy, if there is a small jail term for them. In sum, the marines' issue was a monumental mismanagement by the Italians.

Culprits smuggle themselves into the groups of just and fair and argue for truth More than 4 billion people live without access to the protections of law. This leaves them, their families, and their homes vulnerable to exploitation and violence at the hands of the rich and powerful. But now there’s an opportunity to change this. Because poverty will only be defeated when the law works for everyone, Chris Stone, President of Open Society, says along with George Soros, Amartya Sen. What we see now-a-days is the heightened form of inequality, the rich and the powerful get away with whatever they want. All the film stars will argue out the case for acquittal of an accused arraigned by the Supreme Court. This comment is without going into the merits of the culpability of a person who was once a drug-addict. There are millions of examples of inequality and disparity, in wealth acquisition, working of the law, justice and fairness. Now what we see is a strange phenomenon, the real culprit smuggles himself into the just and fair and argues out for justice, equality and fairness. What a paradox!!!

It would be just pulling on till the elections, in 2013 or 2014? It is a game of numbers in Parliament, there can be no mincing the matter. Whether the MPs belong to national parties or regional parties or some parochial ones, their support and votes count in the sustenance of the government. Coalition set-up runs in many countries, particularly in Israel, Japan, Italy etc There, when they find the going tough, they call for fresh elections. The post-election scenario would bring out a little different outcome, still coalitions pull on. Now the UPA II Government in India is facing the worst of its crises. Those who do not want to sing a swan song in Parliament now (for where is the guarantee that the same MPs would return after fresh elections?), would try to stitch some support so that the government survives. Who would all be coming out with support, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee, Biju Patnaik or so? For the Congress Party, announcement of elections should be at a convenient time. Is it the time now which is convenient? Lo, elections are on the horizon, at least during winter time this year!!!

Definitely, the atmosphere in Kerala has been vitiated by vitriolics but expediency demands that there would be no political killing Be he K.B.Ganeshkumar, P.C.George or some other leader, political expediency does not allow a killing. When the survival of the very government is dependent on complacency, that would be the rule. Any amount of waxing eloquent on the issues would not result in action. Now that P.C.George-Gowri Amma row has surfaced, Ganeshkumar issue had a reprieve of sorts. For, the problem remains only if it is in the air through television channels. Otherwise, it is just pass. No doubt, the goings-on in Kerala in the political sphere have been undesirable. But no one has a solution. The only solution seems to be to create a fresh controversy to suppress a previous row. And people are thriving on the telecasts of leaders washing dirty linen. We, Keralites, may think that ours is the ideal political atmosphere. Actually, we are ignoring the genuine issues that confront the people. We go on speaking about treating wastes at the source and solving the mounting garbage problem, which is the biggest woe for people of the state. Just tinkering with the issue by assurances of treating wastes at the source would not do. There should be gargantuan cauldrons and incinerators and mega level automatons that should burn off the wastes. That is costly and may necessitate crucial planning and execution. If the garbage problem can be solved at a mega level, much of the infectious diseases, viral fever, and other fevers caused by mosquitoes can be prevented. Demands for axing particular leaders would hog the headlines at breaking news realms for some time, the problems would escape into thin air, unless of course there would be a decision of the courts.

Unbelievable there could be such a Pontiff as Pope Francis I In this world of the riches-seeking, pleasure-playing and luxury-indulging times, it is unbelievable that there could be such a pontiff as Pope Francis I, who is in his first blessing asked the people to pray for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI as well. The new Pope coming from Argentina of Latin America loves football. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio as he was, gave up a palace for a small apartment, cooked his own meal, rode public transport. He is a history-making pontiff, first from Latin America, who gives importance to social outreach. Definitely, this prelate from humble beginnings can work to make the world a better place to live in.

Gorbachev, Pope Benedict XVI are trend-setters Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope Bendict XVI are the trend setters of the new world. The actions of Mikhail Gorbachev led to far-reaching changes in the world. Even though he had not anticipated the dissolution of the former Soviet Union, wanting only multi-party system to come into being instead of totalitarianism, other powerful and popular leaders emerged, along with new nations. Freedom for millions of people was the result of Gorbachev's actions which are not liked by traditional Communists. All the same, freedom is valuable. In the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI did not want to put up with things he could not bear. Rather than living a life of duplicity, he chose to remain steadfast in his beliefs. Abdicating the most powerful position on Planet Earth is not that simple. He has done that, now leading to the process for election of a new Pope. Now-a-days renunciation is a far cry for even those who are sworn to renunciation.

There is a connoisseur in every art, sport, entertainment form; don't trespass Cricket is the fort of personalities like Sachin Tendulkar and music that of Yesudas, Lata Mangeshkar and their class. Everyone can play cricket in the private domain, and everyone can sing like that. In public domain, there should not be a burden from small worthies playing cricket and singing songs, to 'entertain' the people. Only the players are entertained. The sight of worthy actors spoiling cricket and some of them orchestrating musical strains for the 'benefit' of the fans is illogical. There is a connoisseur in every art, sport and entertainment form. Don't trespass.

A lot of pressures are there, but Oommen Chandy had said not a leaf would move On the surface of it, the Oommen Chandy Government should fall by the wayside going by the sort of machinations against it. But Chief Minister Oommen Chandy himself had said not a leaf would move out of the Congress-led UDF bandwagon. The NSS-SNDP Yogam combine is gleefully waiting for the fall of its persona non grata government. M.V.Raghavan is not satisfied with the spoils of office offered to it, even as it has no MLA. So is the case with K.R.Gowri Amma. But they cannot simply move out, for if they venture out, there might be split in their own forts. Now Minister K.B.Ganeshkumar is being given a taste of being arrogant. His paramour's husband had given him blows at the ministerial bungalow itself, according to government's own Chief Whip P.C.George. But Oommen Chandy and the UDF have no complaint against Ganeshkumar by the aggrieved party. One should expect a bland statement from the UDF leaders after the front's meeting on Thursday. Everybody should behave and fall within the pattern of the UDF discipline. There is no complaint from the aggrieved parties, so would go on the fulminations. K.M.Mani is being shown an olive branch by the LDF, without cogent plan of action. Mani may not be that indiscreet to be hoodwinked by anyone.