The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which is contesting all the 200 seats in the upcoming Assembly elections in Rajasthan, hopes to post a strong show in the state and its leaders have left no stone unturned in their effort to woo voters. But a recent comment by one of the party's local leaders threatens to blow up in its face. Dharamveer Singh, state BSP chief, said in a rally that the British should have ruled this country for another 100 years. "Had that happened, the SCs/STs/OBCs wouldn't have been oppressed," he said. Dharamveer went on to claim that Dalit icon BR Ambedkar would not have been able to help the backward classes in the country had the British not allowed him to study. While many political rivals slammed him for his "loose talk", some suggested the leader should migrate to the UK if he felt there was a debt to be repaid to that country.

Adding to Rafale chorus

Many Opposition parties that were earlier dragging their feet about joining the Congress in its protest against the government on the Rafale deal seem to be coming around. While the Communist Party of India (CPI) participated in a protest in Delhi last Friday, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued a booklet on the Rafale controversy and conducted a public hearing to mobilise opinion on the subject. After much prodding by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu (pictured) — who made a sudden trip to Delhi and addressed the media on Saturday — the Telugu Desam Party joined the Congress and the CPI in the protests at the CBI office in Hyderabad. The three parties are planning to contest the Telangana elections in an alliance. Other parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, have also added to the anti-government chorus.

Bitter pill

The slide in the bourses is giving a hard time to stock market investors and traders. Many of them are complaining that the wealth erosion has been impacting their physical and mental health. No surprise that a picture of a tablet called “Nifty” has gone viral in messaging groups focused on stock market chatter. Nifty, an index tracking stock price performance of 50 blue chip companies, is down 15 per cent in two months. While the Nifty tablet is an antibiotic used to fight urinary tract infection, investors are joking that one should have a tablet each before the market opens and after it shuts.