BJP

The National Board of Secondary Education has obviously not heard of Premchand and so when it found that a book by him had been prescribed for one of its courses, it promptly had it removed. But when writers are unconcerned about what murky deals are struck in connection with a 'vishwa' conference of and in their own language, they should not be surprised at what has happened to the Premchand text.

With the AIADMK's victory in the Sathankulam by-election, Jayalalithaa can once again reveal - and revel in - her enduring supremacy. All the same she is not one to let grass grow under her feet and is focused on next year's parliamentary poll. But it is hardly possible for her to ruminate over the national scene now, with her plate filled with regional - rather, local - problems. There is the running battle with the DMK and the acrimonious exchanges inside the assembly, with the debate turning to past events. Outside the house too, the fury of allegations and counter-allegations continues. Events have turned strongly dramatic with the Queen Mary's College affair.

Despite the recent controversy that has dogged history writing in India, since ancient and even pre-modern times, patricians and rulers have used history for control as well as for moral/administrative education and entertainment. This apart, historians too have been guilty of focusing too much on empiricism rather than seeking to dwell on the nature and philosophy of history.

With only a few months to go for the assembly elections in UP, the results of the by-elections in two Lok Sabha and nine assembly constituencies across seven states could not have come at a more inconvenient time for the BJP. For the Congress, on the other hand, there were signs, already visible in the May assembly elections, of some revival of fortunes. The party has won four of the assembly seats at stake.

If indeed the BJP had held back its full approval for the prime minister’s invitation to Pakistan’s president Musharraf and for the Agra summit, there was little evidence of self-congratulation over the failure of the summit at the national executive meeting of the party. However, the resolution on the matter typically displayed no hesitancy about apportioning blame and there appears to have been some satisfaction about having ‘done our best’. Whether this nonchalance is sufficient backing for future forays into India-Pakistan parleys, remains to be seen.