He adds: “The UPA has more to worry about the current round of reverses in the assembly polls, though the media is projecting it as a setback for the BJP. The BJP has demonstrated that it can beat anti-incumbency and get elected on the strength of its record of governance. This was proved earlier in Gujarat. The odds are not even.”
Hail Sheila ‘aunty’
The journal has something interesting to say about Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. “The Congress made history by winning Delhi under its ‘aunty number one’ Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for a record third term. Delhi witnessed a gravitation of anti-BJP votes under the Congress. Credit for the Congress win is entirely due to Sheila Dikshit who put in a meticulous constituency-wise election management for the last many months. The changed demographic profile of Delhi has made the BJP task Herculean. But above all this, what helped the Congress win Delhi was BJP’s overconfidence.”
Balance of power shifts
In a piece titled “End of globalisation, as we know it”, Bharat Jhunjhunwala writes: “Where did the model go wrong from the perspective of the developed countries? There was misplaced trust in continuous development of new technologies. The US left no stone unturned in having the TRIPS agreement included in the WTO. The underlying idea was that gains from exports of advanced technologies will be huge and more than compensate for the loss of employment due to cheap imports. The gains were indeed huge, but, only as long as new technologies were being developed. Absence of a new technology since then has deprived the Western countries of this steam of monopoly incomes. Now they have to fend for themselves against China and India on the strength of cheap production alone. ”
Compiled by Suman K Jha
Epaper
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