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What 2026 verdict shows about India’s democracy by Habib Siddiqui

By Habib Siddiqui The results are in, and the unthinkable has happened. What I had feared for the past five years has now come to pass: the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under the ideological leadership of Narendra Modi, is set to form the next government in West Bengal. Suvendu Adhikari — whose record of incendiary, anti‑Muslim rhetoric has dragged political discourse to new lows — appears poised to become the state’s next chief minister. For a state long celebrated for its pluralism, cultural sophistication, and resistance to communal politics, this moment marks a profound rupture. Even The Hindu , one of India’s most respected newspapers, described the outcome as a “ paradigm shift in the BJP’s political journey .” Adhikari himself wasted no time claiming that the results reveal a “visible crack” in the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC) Muslim support base. For those of us who have watched India’s political evolution over decades, the BJP’s first solo victory in West Bengal is not a su...
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Manipur’s ‘unknown’ killers: Three years of India’s bloody ethnic conflict

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  Manipur, India   – The loud wails of a 37-year-old nurse pierce the air as she crouches near two coffins to grieve the killing of her infant daughter and five-year-old son in a blast last month. A woman tries to comfort the mother as dozens of men and women, most of them dressed in ceremonial white, congregate on top of a truck carrying the two coffins around the vehicle in Tronglaobi town in Bishnupur district of northeastern India’s Manipur state. Recommended Stories list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Why is India’s Manipur burning for three years? list 2 of 4 India’s Modi visits Manipur state two years after ethnic clashes list 3 of 4 Elusive peace: In India’s Manipur, bombs and mortars are civilian weapons list 4 of 4 India: How is the ethnic conflict in Manipur affecting ordinary citizens? end of list The last rites of the two children were held on Saturday, nearly a month after an improvised RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) hit their home on April 7, killing the children and wo...
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