For years, from when Rahul Gandhi’s future elevation as party supremo became clear, a faultline exists between the old guard and younger leaders patronised by the scion. Past animosity with Shankersinh Vaghela may have hastened the split in the Congress but Mr Patel triumphed the moment the EC ruled that two legislators had violated Rules 39A and 39AA of the Conduct of Election Rules 1961. Ties between Mr Patel and Mr Gehlot date to their days as Sanjay loyalists and they have weathered many a storm together within the Congress. The Congress must work on the cracks in the BJP’s social coalition that became visible. It does not always benefit, as this episode proved. They voted for the BJP-backed candidate and if their vote was counted, the size of the electoral college would have risen. The third candidate would have been elected thereafter on second preference votes and on this count, Congress turncoat Balwantsinh Rajput stood a clear chance of romping home. True, that Rajya Sabha elections do not impact people as there is no mass involvement, but frenetic television coverage ensured the entire episode being beamed through the state.

The victory in Gujarat will strengthen old-timers, be it Mr Patel himself — ties between him and Mr Gandhi are none too cordial, it is believed — or people like Ashok Gehlot, who as the party’s Gujarat affairs in-charge, played a not so insignificant role in managing the election. As events eventually rolled out through late night into the early hours of Wednesday, neither did Mr Shah remain unvanquished, nor did the EC prove to be so spineless. For long relegated to moving pieces in the Congress durbar, it would be prudent to involve Mr Patel as the past personal truce that once existed between him and Mr Modi has ended. Second, the Election Commission was seen to be politically subservient.Undoubtedly, the most high-voltage Rajya Sabha election, it was proof that Mr Shah was dead serious when he told partymen some months ago that every election counts, and no poll is small or insignificant. The way the BJP lined up its brass at the EC office, including law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Arun Jaitley with dual charge of finance and defence was blatant pressure tactics. This underscored one law — anything which goes up comes down sometime — and one trait of retired, or retiring, bureaucrats — who after spending decades in a supine position, rediscover overnight their spine immediately after appointment to quasi-judicial bodies.

Till late Tuesday evening, almost the entire television-viewing audience believed two things. This attempt to coerce the EC into allowing the ballot of the two MLAs has to been seen in conjunction with repeated efforts of the BJP to undermine institutions. The outcome may have been different had the ire of the Patels been addressed. Mr Gandhi must withdraw Sachin Pilot from the state as he is not a big draw with the masses. Joti and his fellow commissioners of not returning the favour bestowed by appointing them. However, no one should expect the Modi-Shah duo to relent in their targeting of the Congress and its president specifically. On the contrary, this defeat will rankle and unless the Congress rediscovers spring in its step, the BJP leadership will be more focused in targeting Mrs Gandhi and her close associates, including family members. But prior to this, the Congress must put up a fight. The rules unequivocally state that no elector can show her or his marked ballot paper to anyone else besides the authorised representative of their political party. First, Mr Shah does not believe in any adversary having a smooth ride into any elective body even if her or his victory has been there for the taking for long. Both he and Mr Modi have a propensity for converting political contests into high-pitched media events, a long tradition in Gujarat’s politics. On the other side, a weakness in Mr Shah’s armoury has been detected.The Indian institutional system is the only clear winner in the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections. Consequently, the magic figure would have been revised to 45 votes, one more from what Patel polled.

The Rajya Sabha results have not just raised questioned about Mr Shah’s electoral brilliance and tactical invincibility but has also raised a fundamental question about the social coalition that will back the BJP in the impending Assembly elections due later this year.The Congress must immediately confront a long-standing internal issue, which is cause for concern.K.. Second, the viciousness with which he fought this contest suggests that Mr Patel was targeted because of his proximity to Congress president Sonia Gandhi and that his defeat would have severely undermined her position. With the Rajasthan Assembly elections due next year, he must be immediately named as the party’s chief ministerial candidate if the party has to have a realistic chance of ousting the BJP. For once, the party, barring Mr Gandhi’s brigade, made the battle for Mr Patel’s seat as its own. But Mr Shah’s bête noire would have still lost had only the BJP attended to the grievance of party MLA Nalin Kotadia.Two lasting images of the entire episode was the resigned look on Mr Shah’s face when he sat in the counting centre with party associates and the contrasting energy demonstrated by Congress leaders when they CNC Spring machine Suppliers marched to the EC office in New Delhi adequately armed with arguments. But Mr Shah need not look grudgingly at Nirvachan Bhavan and accuse CEC A.Ahmed Patel may have been elected but he did not "win" because he could not keep his flock together. The manner in which he left no stone unturned to ensure Mr Patel’s defeat throws up two pointers. First, BJP president Amit Shah was considered invincible. The Keshubhai Patel loyalist declared that he did not vote for the BJP candidates because the party did not address problems faced by his Patidar community.

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We can not do it with such narrow and orthodox thoughts," she said.Stating that incidents of atrocities on Dalits and tribals have increased, she said, "We are fighting this election to raise their voice."This is a country where we not only practise our own religion but we are also taught to respect others religion and how to be secular.Speaking to media later, she said the presidential election is being contested on the basis of ideology for the first time. We wanted to make India a progressive and modern nation and take it to (new) heights.""Presidential elections were held many times in the past and whenever two people from the so-called upper castes contested, the discussion would be about their (respective) achievements, their abilities, their qualities. Today this ideology is being attacked and we will not allow it to happen," she said.

Their caste was never discussed.. But when I and Kovind-ji are contesting, nothing is being discussed beyond (both being) Dalit," Kumar said."Read: Presidential poll a battle of ideologies not castes, says Meira KumarFor the first time, 17 opposition parties have decided to contest the election jointly on the basis of "ideology, principles and values which we have inherited from our ancestors", and this is an important event in the history of Indian politics, Kumar said..But I am pained because such issues are still being discussed; how do we progress (with this attitude)? If we keep ourselves under the clutches of the caste system, we will never progress," the former Lok Sabha Speaker said.Kumar on Wednesday met Congress MLAs in Raipur, seeking their support for the July 17 presidential election.Raipur: The Oppositions nominee for the presidential election, Meira Kumar on Wednesday said projecting the poll for the top office as ‘Dalit vs Dalit’ has exposed the real face of the society which still thinks through the caste prism.."I am happy because it has exposed the real face of the society, that such a thinking is still prevalent."I have requested MLAs and MPs to cast their votes Spring forming machine Manufacturers keeping in view the nations interest. We are living in the second decade of the 21st century."I feel sad when the election is described as a Dalit vs Dalit contest. Otherwise, future generation would ask them why they chose a path leading towards darkness, where people are divided in the name of religion and caste," she said."The caste system should be abolished for the growth of the nation.Asked about the contest being described as ‘Dalit versus Dalit’ (as the NDAs candidate Ram Nath Kovind too is a Dalit), Kumar said, "I am both happy and pained over this.

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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is expected to approve the execution of 11 Taliban and Haqqani prisoners, a government source told AFP, in apparent retaliation to the assault.At least three protesters were wounded, some of them critically, and were rushed to Kabuls Emergency Hospital, witnesses said.The Taliban currently in the midst of their annual "spring offensive" denied they were involved.The bombing during the holy month of Ramadan highlighted the ability of militants to strike even in the capitals most secure district, home to the presidential palace and foreign embassies that are enveloped in a maze of concrete blast walls. "Day after day, innocent civilians are being killed by terrorists.The Haqqani Network, long thought to have ties to neighbouring Pakistans shadowy military establishment, is led by Sirajuddin Haqqani who is also the Talibans deputy leader. If our leaders cannot restore security they should step down," he said.Health officials warned some victims may never be identified as their bodies were torn into pieces or burned beyond recognition."Another enraged Afghan said the protests would continue until Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah resign. "We want justice, we want the perpetrators of the attack to be hanged to death.Afghanistans intelligence agency has blamed the Taliban-allied Haqqani Network for the attack.

It has carried out numerous attacks in Kabul, including the 2008 Indian embassy bombing that killed almost 60 people.With more than 400 people wounded, the injured spilled over into hospital hallways as people were still searching for missing relatives..Angry citizens have demanded answers from the government over the perceived intelligence failure leading to the assault, which underscores spiralling insecurity in Afghanistan.Public anger has mounted after Wednesdays brazen Torsion spring machine attack, the deadliest in the city since 2001, which was launched from an explosives-laden sewage tanker that tore a massive crater in the ground.Kabul: Afghan police on Friday fired live rounds to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters seeking to march on the presidential palace to demand the governments resignation following a catastrophic truck bombing that killed 90 people and wounded hundreds. Demonstrators calling for President Ashraf Ghani to step down and chanting "Death to the Taliban" clashed with police near the bombing site, prompting officials to respond with live rounds, tear gas and water cannon as some protesters tried to overrun a security cordon."Our brothers and sisters were martyred in the bloody attack on Wednesday, and our leaders are doing nothing to stop this carnage," Rahila Jafari, a civil society activist, said during the protest.

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There are also reports that Microsoft plans to launch the smartphone before fall this year or spring of 2018, though this is pure speculation and the company can hold back the launch of the Surface Phone for as long as it wants. Unfortunately, this isn’t true and the Surface Phone is no where close to the launch. Microsoft’s CEO Satya nadella however confirmed that the smartphones are still on the table and it is just the matter of time until the smartphone is showcased.Speaking of the new Surface hardware, the company won’t be launching a new-generation of the Surface, but the Surface Pro 4 will witness coiling machine a hardware upgrade. These are all improvements that were expected on the Surface Pro 5, but at this point, just a hardware upgrade seems to be more likely than a new-generation model.

This indicates that the new hardware slated for May 23 will actually be a refreshed version of the Surface Pro 4, with higher RAM and storage, new chips and 4K screen.Microsoft will be holding its Build developer conference and a hardware event on May 23 in Shanghai.Earlier there were rumours about the company introducing the Surface Phone, as Microsoft’s CEO himself recently reiterated the company’s commitment to phones. The conference will more likely unveil the Surface Pro model, instead of the smartphone. The company recently announced the Windows 10 S and the Surface laptop at its education party on May 2.It seems that the Surface Phone isn’t ready for launch as of now and users will have to wait for the company to make an official announcement regarding the device.

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