THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- October 22, 2016- Topic 1
Given how little the
Congress stands to lose in the elections to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, the
defection of its former State unit chief, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, to the Bharatiya
Janata Party should not have caused a flutter. She had already been ignored by
the party’s new team in leading the election campaign in the State. Even in her
glory days, she had drawn her power from little more than her proximity to the
Gandhi family. What she brings to the BJP, besides embarrassing the Congress,
is therefore uncertain. In fact, the Congress will be watched less for the
organisational loss her switch may cause and more for the manner in which it
responds to her ‘betrayal’. In diverse ways, all four political parties in the
fray are being compelled to clarify the organising principles that set them
apart. For the Congress, as it picks up the gauntlet with little expectation of
electoral success but an overriding ambition to use the stage to demonstrate
its capacity to influence the electoral debate, Ms. Joshi’s flight poses the
questions: What weight do Gandhi family loyalists carry in party affairs? What
is the Congress willing to do to show that it can democratise itself and loosen
the hold of the “high command”?
Family loyalty has taken on
a particularly contentious turn in the ruling Samajwadi Party, with readings of
the shift in the fortunes of Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his many
“uncles” changing by the week. The extent to which the SP patriarch, Mulayam Singh
Yadav, can cohesively accommodate the jostling ambitions of his sons, brothers
and others is uncertain, in the midst of rumours that Akhilesh Yadav may branch
out and launch his own party. The BJP, for its part, appears to be unequal to
the opportunity of deepening the development narrative that helped it sweep
U.P. in the 2014 Lok Sabha election; it seems to be falling back on Hindutva
polarisation to rally its cadres. In what is perceived as a political signal,
Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma has announced a Ramayana museum near the
disputed site in Ayodhya, while western U.P. continues to simmer with communal
tension. The Bahujan Samaj Party may be abandoning the ‘grand social coalition’
that won it the control of the State Assembly in 2007 for a more focussed pitch
to minorities and Dalits, a return to its founding agenda. The rethink is
perhaps forced by its performance in 2014, when the party failed to win a
single Lok Sabha seat despite polling nearly 20 per cent of the total vote in
U.P. Clearly for all four parties, 2017 is a whole new battlefield.
Vocabulary
Defection: the desertion of one's country or cause in favor of an opposing one.
Example: His defection from the Republican Party
Synonyms: desertion, absconding, decamping, flight, apostasy, secession
Flutter: an act of fluttering.
Example: There was a flutter of wings at the window
Synonyms: beating, flapping, quivering, agitation, vibrating; flicker, bat
Proximity: nearness in space, time, or relationship.
Example: Do not operate microphones in close proximity to television sets
Synonyms: closeness, nearness, propinquity, accessibility, handiness
Embarrassing: causing embarrassment.
Example: An embarrassing muddle
Synonyms: humiliating, shaming, shameful, mortifying, ignominious
Uncertain: not able to be relied on; not known or definite.
Example: An uncertain future
Synonyms: unknown, debatable, in doubt, undetermined, unsure
Betrayal: betrayal of trust; deceptive action or nature.
Example: His resignation was perceived as an act of treachery
Synonyms: betrayal, disloyalty, faithlessness, unfaithfulness, infidelity
Gauntlet: a stout glove with a long loose wrist.
Example: He wore a skin tight black muscle shirt, thick black jean pants, and
gauntlets with open fingers.
Contentious: causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial.
Example: A contentious issue
Synonyms: controversial, disputable, debatable, disputed, open to debate, vexed
Cohesively: characterized by or causing cohesion.
Example: Today I got a real sense that we were beginning to become a cohesive unit,
looking out for each other.
Jostling: push, elbow, or bump against (someone) roughly, typically in a crowd.
Example: Passengers arriving and departing, jostling one another
Synonyms: bump into/against, knock into/against, bang into, collide
with
Midst: the middle point or part.
Example: To be plopped in the river's midst , in a canoe, on a spectacular day, is
tranquilizing.
Synonyms: middle, center, heart, core, midpoint, kernel, nub