Bank strike
The two-day strike may affect customer transactions worth up to ~20,000 crore, industry body Assocham said, urging the UFBU to call off the stir.
State-owned lenders are grappling with high levels of bad loans and as per reports their losses for the quarter ended March 2018 are set to hit a record ~50,000 crore which is more than double the losses of ~19,000 crore in preceding quarter ended December 2017, Assocham said in a statement.
The strike evoked good response nationwide, said a top leader of the All India Bank Employees’ Association.
“Around 85,000 bank bran- ches spread across the country, including that of State Bank of India and some private banks will remain closed for two days. The response to the strike is good,” CH Venkatachalam, general secretary, AIBEA told IANS.
There were reports of disruption in banking operations in various states. The impact of strike in certain states like Kerala, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand was more severe compared to other states.
The state-run bank branches in the financial capital of Mumbai were either shut or witnessed thin activity. 2016, the government has slashed excise duty only once by ~2 in October 2017.
The central government levies a duty of ~19.48 a litre on petrol and ~15.33 per litre on diesel, while states collect sales tax and VAT which ranges from 26% to over 47% (Mumbai) of the fuel cost that consumers pay.
States also have a 42% share in central government’s revenue collections, including the collections from this excise duty due to the tax devolution under the 14th finance commission, so there has been demand that they also cut the local taxes on fuel. margin will be above a lakh. Jats have returned to the party; Muslims have consolidated against BJP and Dalits are backing us. Together, this makes for a winning combination in the seat.”
In the constituency with approximately 16 lakh voters, estimates suggest there are over five and a half lakh Muslims and over two lakh Muslims.
The BJP, in turn, is relying on a consolidation of Gujjar, Jat, Kashyap, Saini and a section of Dalit votes. “There is also (HinduMuslim) polarisation. Let us see,” said a UP-based leader of the party.
Anil Baluni, the BJP’s media cell head and Rajya Sabha MP, said that the BJP was absolutely confident of winning. “We are very positive. Bypolls are fought on local issues, but we are confident.”
Party president Amit Shah, in recent press interactions, has emphasised, in the context of past bypoll losses, that voters in such elections vote differently, on local issues - when they are aware that this will not impact government formation in the state or at the centre.
But experts believe that Kairana will send out a national message.
“Kairana is really important because it will answer a central question of the politics of our times. BJP won Kairana with 2.5 lakh votes in 2014; it is next to Muzaffarnagar in a belt known for the communal tensions; and the balance in the constitiuency rests between Hindu Jats and Muslims broadly,” explained Neelanjan Sircar, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research.