Dubai International Airport is open and operating today, running scheduled flights across its terminals even as scattered delays and cancellations ripple through the wider region amid an escalating conflict involving Iran and its neighbors.

The airport, known by its code DXB and the world’s second-busiest by passenger traffic, has continued flying largely on schedule throughout 2026 despite periodic disruptions tied to hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran that have hit other airports across the Gulf far harder. Dubai Airports, the government entity that runs the emirate’s civil aviation infrastructure, has confirmed that both Dubai International and its secondary hub, Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, have kept operating through the year’s worst episodes, even as some individual routes were rerouted or adjusted.

Delays and cancellations reported this morning

Multiple flight delays were recorded at airports across the United Arab Emirates this morning, according to Gulf News, while several UAE and international carriers continued to operate with cancellations, reduced services or schedule changes. Etihad Airways reported technical delays on two long-haul flights, while flydubai and Air Arabia cancelled a number of services to Bahrain and Kuwait.

At Dubai International specifically, flydubai cancelled its FZ025 flight to Bahrain and FZ8501 to Kuwait, while other delayed or cancelled departures Thursday morning included Emirates’ EK564 to Bangalore and EK039 to Birmingham, flydubai’s FZ971 to Sochi, and Turkish Airlines’ TK761 to Istanbul. Jazeera Airways’ J9122 from Dubai to Kuwait and Airblue’s PA811 from Dubai to Multan were also listed as cancelled. Emirates’ own flights to Bahrain and Kuwait, including EK837, EK839 and EK857, were scheduled to operate as planned, with the airline advising passengers to check its official channels for the latest updates.

Gulf News noted that not all of the disruptions are necessarily tied to the regional security situation, with some delays and cancellations attributable to routine operational or technical causes.

Regional tensions driving the disruption

The scattered delays come as tensions across the Middle East continue to escalate. There have been reports of a possible strike on Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, attacks on vessels near Oman’s Khasab, and continuing fallout from clashes between U.S. and Iranian forces. Houthi forces have seized Yemen’s Red Sea port of Mokha, and Brent crude has climbed above $107 a barrel. Saudi Arabia has activated early-warning systems in its southern Asir region following missile and drone attacks, while Israel has said it destroyed major Hezbollah tunnel infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Despite that backdrop, Dubai has remained comparatively insulated. The instability tracing back to the conflict has weighed most heavily on smaller and more exposed airports elsewhere in the Gulf, particularly Kuwait’s main international airport, which sustained direct damage from Iranian strikes earlier this year and continues operating out of two of its terminals while a third remains closed for repairs.

International carriers slowly restoring service

A number of international airlines have moved to restore or expand their Dubai schedules in recent weeks. Turkish Airlines has resumed its Dubai and Abu Dhabi services, though its flights to Iran remain suspended. Qatar Airways is running multiple daily Dubai flights and has also resumed service to Bahrain, Kuwait and Erbil, with its network now recovered to more than 160 destinations, or roughly 85% of its pre-war footprint. Air India and Air India Express have restored their full Gulf Cooperation Council networks, together operating about 780 weekly flights between India and the region.

Other carriers remain more cautious. Air France has suspended Dubai flights until Sept. 15, citing persistent regional airspace risks, while its Beirut service stays grounded through Sept. 24. British Airways has kept its Dubai and Abu Dhabi routes suspended, with Dubai service not expected to resume until Oct. 25 at reduced frequency. KLM has paused flights to Dubai, Riyadh and Dammam until Oct. 24 and continues to avoid the airspace over Iran, Iraq, Israel and parts of the Arabian Gulf. Lufthansa, Eurowings and Swiss have similarly kept Dubai service suspended through Oct. 24, even as they restore some other Middle East routes.

Longer suspensions remain in place elsewhere in the industry. Air Canada has paused Dubai flights until mid-January 2027, and Virgin Atlantic does not expect to resume service until October 2027, though it says tickets for that return will go on sale later this year. Singapore Airlines, ITA Airways, Finnair and AirBaltic have each suspended Dubai routes until Oct. 24, while Cathay Pacific has cancelled Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights through Nov. 30, offering affected travelers rebooking, rerouting or refunds. Korean Air’s Incheon-Dubai route remains suspended until further notice.

Shifting travel advisories

Government travel guidance for the UAE has eased in several countries even as the broader region remains volatile. The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office has lifted its blanket warnings against all but essential travel for major regional hubs, including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar, though it continues to warn that conditions remain unpredictable. Australia has lowered its UAE travel advice from a Level 4 “do not travel” warning to Level 3, urging travelers to reconsider their need to travel.

The United States, however, continues to list the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Oman at Level 3, “Reconsider Travel,” citing risks linked to armed conflict, drone and missile interceptions, and major commercial flight disruption; non-emergency U.S. government staff and their families have been ordered to leave the UAE. Canada continues to advise a “high degree of caution” for travelers in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, recommending that travelers keep documents current and maintain sufficient supplies in case flights are suspended and they are required to shelter in place.

What travelers should expect

Airlines and travel platforms are urging UAE-bound and departing passengers to check their individual flight status before heading to the airport, even for previously confirmed bookings, given how quickly schedules can shift. Travelers are advised to arrive at least three hours before departure, or four hours if flying flydubai, complete online check-in where available, and build in extra time for traffic, security and immigration processing.

For now, Dubai International Airport remains open and largely on schedule, a contrast to the more severe disruptions still affecting several of its neighbors, though officials continue to caution that the situation across the region can change quickly.

Former first son Hunter Biden lashed out online after his $LAPTOP meme coin collapsed, blaming a “f–k up” that left four out of five investors with losses, while one mystery trader came away with nearly $1 million.

Biden chose the name $LAPTOP in a nod to the laptop controversy that became the subject of political controversy surrounding him and his father, former President Joe Biden. The hard drive from the laptop dropped off at a Delaware repair shop in 2019 contained thousands of emails documenting Hunter Biden’s international business dealings, as well as intimate photographs and videos revealing his cocaine and alcohol addiction, prompting scrutiny by Republican lawmakers into the father and son.

Hunter Biden has said the symbol used to target him is now a symbol of “resilience, redemption and recovery.”

Biden claimed the issue began shortly after trading started on Wednesday because the project’s market maker supplied significantly less liquidity than needed to handle the initial demand.

HUNTER BIDEN LAUNCHING A LAPTOP-THEMED CRYPTOCURRENCY

“There was a f–k up. The f–k-up occurred in the first 30 seconds of launching the coin, in which the market maker, for some unknown goddamn reason, only put in $5,000 of liquidity. And the demand was through the roof,” Biden said on Friday in a video posted on X.

The project’s thin liquidity pool helped drive the token’s quoted price from $2.39 to an eye-popping $316 before it crashed.

Biden said his coin’s value was briefly “larger than the market cap of f–kin’ goddamn BlackRock,” adding that the price chart “looked like Mount Everest.”

BlackRock’s market cap is upwards of $175 billion.

The mystery trader turned a roughly $250,000 bet into $1.18 million within just minutes, earning about $930,000 before transaction costs, according to a blockchain analysis by Datavault AI.

But other traders were less fortunate, as about 80% of traders who bought $LAPTOP on launch day lost money, according to blockchain analytics firm Bubblemaps, which estimated that more than 15,000 wallets ended up in the red.

A buyer who invested roughly $200,000 when $LAPTOP was near its brief peak was left holding tokens worth about $2,000 after the collapse, according to Datavault AI.

“This is my f–king token,” he said in the video. “I’ve been working on this thing for six months straight.”

“I was intimately involved in every single discussion, every single step of the way in creating the tokenomics, in creating the way in which the coin would be presented,” he continued. “At the end of the day, it’s my responsibility, and there was a f–k-up.”

Biden said the situation had stabilized, but acknowledged that investors had already been hurt.

“They got it under control, but not before the damage was done,” he said.

Biden said he plans to stick with the project and repair the damage, although he did not elaborate on whether this means compensating investors.

WHAT ARE MEME COINS? THE HIGH-RISK CRYPTO ASSETS EXPLAINED

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“I am in this to the end 100%, and I promise you that we’re gonna make it right,” he said.

He said the project was working to increase liquidity and trading volume.

“This isn’t some bulls–t f–king celebrity token where I get on Twitter and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know about this, and, you know, I’m really sorry,’” Biden said.

“Biden also said he and his partners had “not made a single dollar” from the project, previously disclosing that they were in a six-month lockup period that prevented them from selling their token holdings.

The debate over basketball’s greatest player of all time has followed LeBron James through four franchises and 24 NBA seasons, and it isn’t going anywhere now that he’s a Philadelphia 76er. Hall of Famer Ray Allen, who played alongside James and against Michael Jordan during his 18-year career, has made clear in recent years that his vote still belongs to Jordan.

James signed a two-year, $8 million contract with Philadelphia in July, ending his eight-season run with the Los Angeles Lakers and setting up what he has called his “last decision” as a player. The move reunites him with Joel Embiid, his teammate on the United States’ gold medal-winning 2024 Olympic team, and pairs him with All-Star wing Jaylen Brown, whom the 76ers acquired from Boston in a blockbuster trade. Philadelphia also completed a separate trade sending rookie forward-center Johni Broome to the Los Angeles Clippers to clear salary-cap room for James and veteran guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Allen’s long-standing position on Jordan

Allen, who won two NBA championships and is best remembered for his game-tying 3-pointer in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals as James’ teammate on the Miami Heat, has repeatedly and consistently sided with Jordan in the sport’s defining debate. In an interview with Dan Patrick, Allen offered a direct comparison of the two stars.

“I think [James] certainly, just off the cuff, he’s certainly in the top five of all time. But playing against him and MJ, I think for me it’s MJ all day long,” Allen said. “MJ just had everything, from mid-range to 3-point to post-up game, and he could score and dominate in each position.”

Allen expanded on that assessment in a separate conversation with CBS Sports, crediting Jordan not just for his on-court dominance but for the way he transformed the league commercially.

“In my opinion, M.J. is the GOAT,” Allen said. “LeBron is a product of M.J., so a lot of what’s in LeBron — in his DNA — comes from Michael. For anybody that says that LeBron is the GOAT, they’re growing up in today’s era.”

He continued: “They believe what they believe based on how it feels and what he means to them, and that’s OK. But the way MJ affected the game, man, he had a stranglehold on the league and he struck fear in everyone because he was an unstoppable player.”

A viral moment with young fans

Allen’s most widely circulated comments on the topic came not from a formal interview but from a video that spread across social media, showing him debating the question with a group of young basketball players. When one fan argued in James’ favor, describing him simply as someone who “can score and pass it,” Allen responded with a rapid-fire challenge to the logic.

“Is he a great free throw shooter? Is he a great 3-point shooter? Is he a great dribbler?” Allen asked. After the fans acknowledged James doesn’t lead the league in any of those specific categories, Allen pressed the point further: “So you’re saying he’s the GOAT when he ain’t even great in all them categories?” He closed the exchange by naming his pick outright: Jordan.

The moment drew criticism from some fans and analysts, who noted that Jordan himself was never known as an elite 3-point shooter and that James remains one of the most well-rounded players in league history, ranking among the sport’s all-time leaders in scoring, assists and rebounding. Still, Allen has not wavered from his position in subsequent public comments, pointing instead to Jordan’s two-way dominance and cultural impact as the deciding factors.

Why the debate resurfaces now

James enters his 24th NBA season, a league record, as he begins his tenure in Philadelphia. He is the NBA’s all-time leading scorer and has appeared in 10 NBA Finals, winning four championships across three franchises — Miami, Cleveland and Los Angeles. Should he add a title with the 76ers, he would become the first player in league history to win a championship with three different teams, a milestone that supporters argue would only strengthen his case in the GOAT conversation.

Jordan, by comparison, played 15 seasons and won all six of his NBA Finals appearances with the Chicago Bulls, along with five MVP awards to James’ four. Jordan also won Defensive Player of the Year in 1988 and led the league in steals three times, statistics Allen and other Jordan supporters frequently cite as evidence of his more complete two-way game.

James’ arrival in Philadelphia has been framed by the 76ers organization and by James himself as a final opportunity to add to that championship résumé. In announcing the move, James described it as a chance to “energize a new fan base” after strongly considering retirement following the end of his 23rd season with the Lakers.

“I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time,” James wrote in a social media post announcing his decision in July.

A debate without an ending

The Jordan-James argument has become one of the most enduring conversations in American sports, and Allen is far from alone among former players in weighing in. Hall of Famer Allen Iverson, who faced both stars in their primes, has offered a different view, calling James “the best overall basketball player that we’ll ever see.” Former teammate Dwyane Wade has similarly stopped short of crowning either man outright, noting that the debate often comes down to generational loyalty more than statistical analysis.

For Allen, though, the answer has remained consistent across multiple interviews spanning several years: Jordan’s all-around dominance, defensive impact and outsized influence on the sport’s global growth outweigh James’ record-setting longevity and statistical accumulation. Whether a potential championship run in Philadelphia changes that calculus for Allen, or for the wider public, is likely to remain a live question throughout James’ 24th season.

This article was written by

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Apple Inc. lost an early round in a discrimination lawsuit brought in the U.S. by a female engineer from India who says her two managers — one from her country, the other from Pakistan — treated her as they would in their own countries: as a subservient.

The woman’s case in California state court is the latest to allege workplace bias in Silicon Valley that focuses on cultural prejudices of some tech workers from South Asia. Cisco Systems Inc. is fighting a suit brought by California’s civil rights agency alleging bias against a member of India’s so-called lower castes, known as Dalits.

Anita Nariani Schulze is part of the Sindhi minority — she is Hindu, with ancestry in the Sindh region of what is now Pakistan. Her complaint alleges that her senior and direct managers, both male, consistently excluded her from meetings while inviting her male counterparts, criticized her, micromanaged her work, and deprived her of bonuses, despite positive performance evaluations and significant team contributions.

Schulze claims the managers’ animus reflects sexism, racism, religious bias and discrimination on the basis of national origin. The Sindhi Hindu nationality is “known for its technical acumen” and its gender equality, she says, which “exacerbated the managers’ discriminatory treatment.”

In a tentative ruling on Wednesday, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Sunil R. Kulkarni rejected Apple’s request to toss out the suit. While not ruling on the merits of the case, Kulkarni said Schulze had adequately supported her legal claims. Apple had argued her claims weren’t specific enough and were based on stereotypes.

But the judge rejected Schulze’s request to represent a class of female Apple employees who suffered job discrimination over the last four years. He agreed with Apple that she didn’t show a pattern of discrimination that could be applied to a broader group.

It wasn’t clear from the court’s docket whether the judge will hold a hearing Thursday before issuing a final ruling.

Apple didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

In the Cisco case, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleged that two Indian employees at the San Jose-based company discriminated against a Dalit co-worker on the basis of caste.

Cisco has denied the claims, insisting it has “zero tolerance for discrimination.” It also said the lawsuit should be tossed out because caste isn’t a protected category under U.S. civil rights law.

Roller blinds rank among the most popular window treatments in British homes, and it’s easy to see why—they’re neat, practical, and available in a near-endless range of fabrics. But the fabric you choose for a bedroom window shouldn’t be the same one you pick for a living room.

Each space has different needs for light, privacy, and how the room is actually used throughout the day. Most people focus on color and price, then realize months later that the blind lets in too much light, fades badly in direct sun, or doesn’t offer the privacy they expected. Knowing how to choose the right roller blind fabric for bedrooms versus living areas means thinking about function first—then aesthetics. Get the balance right, and your blinds will work hard for years. Get it wrong, and you’ll be replacing them far sooner than you’d planned.

What Bedroom Roller Blind Fabrics Need to Deliver

Another factor to consider is the type of fabric and whether it suits the requirements of the space. For projects where fire performance is part of the specification, Direct Fabrics’ flame-retardant roller blinds are one example of blinds made with fabrics intended to meet relevant fire-safety requirements. This can be particularly important in commercial, hospitality, education, and other settings where window coverings may need to satisfy both practical and safety standards. Other suppliers, including Hillarys, Blinds2go, and Swift Direct Blinds, also offer roller blinds in a range of fabrics, finishes, and levels of light control. Considering how the fabric will perform over time, including cleaning, durability, and resistance to fading, can also help narrow down the right option for the space.

Blackout vs. Dim-Out: Understanding the Difference

Blackout and dim-out are the two fabric categories most relevant to bedroom roller blinds, but they don’t perform identically. A true blackout fabric contains an opaque coating, usually applied to the reverse of the blind, that stops virtually all light from passing through the weave itself. Dim-out fabrics reduce light significantly but allow some to filter through, which suits people who’d rather wake naturally with the light than sleep in complete darkness. Here’s the thing: the label “blackout” isn’t consistent across suppliers, so it’s worth asking for a fabric specification that confirms the light-reduction percentage rather than taking the category name at face value. Side channels and pelmets make a real difference too; even a genuine blackout fabric will leak light around the edges of a standard roller blind unless the window recess is fitted with channels that create a proper seal. If total darkness is the goal, that system matters as much as the fabric itself.

What Living Room Roller Blind Fabrics Need to Deliver

Living areas run on a completely different set of priorities. What you’re after is daylight control rather than daylight elimination: the ability to soften harsh afternoon sun, cut glare on screens, and maintain some privacy from the street without shutting the room off entirely. Most people spend time in a living room during daylight hours, so the blind needs to work well in its partially drawn or fully raised position as much as it does when it’s all the way down. Durability against UV exposure becomes more pressing here; south-facing living rooms take intense direct sunlight for extended periods, and fabrics with poor UV resistance will fade. Some coatings crack or discolor over time, too. Texture and pattern also carry more visual weight in a living room than in a bedroom, since the blind forms part of the room’s decorative scheme rather than sitting quietly in the background.

Screen and Solar Fabrics for Living Room Use

Screen fabrics, sometimes called solar fabrics, are a popular choice for living rooms because they manage glare without eliminating the view. They’re woven with small apertures, and the openness factor describes how much of the fabric’s surface is open weave. A 1% openness factor gives good privacy and strong solar control but cuts the view significantly. A 10% factor preserves the view and feels lighter but offers less protection from heat and UV. For most living rooms, somewhere between 3% and 5% openness strikes the right balance. Screen fabrics also help regulate temperature by reflecting solar heat before it enters the room, which can trim cooling costs during warm months; the trade-off is that they offer limited privacy at night when internal lights are on. So pairing them with an extra layer or a room-darkening roller blind on a double bracket solves that headache without compromising the daytime look.

Conclusion

Choosing the right roller blind fabric comes down to matching the room’s use to what the fabric is actually built to do. Bedrooms call for high light reduction, solid privacy, and easy maintenance. Blackout or dim-out fabrics with wipe-clean finishes are usually the right starting point. Living areas need more nuance: a fabric that manages solar gain and glare without cutting off natural light and one that holds its appearance through years of direct sun exposure. It’s also worth thinking about how to choose the right roller blind fabric for bedrooms versus living areas across a whole property rather than room by room, since consistent fabric quality and finish create a coherent look from the street outside. Test fabric samples in the actual room before you commit. What looks right in a showroom or on a screen can look very different against your walls and in your specific light conditions.

Caitlin Clark’s influence on women’s basketball drew another high-profile comparison this week, as sports media personality Colin Cowherd argued the Indiana Fever guard carries traits of three of the NBA’s most iconic figures — Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry and Larry Bird — rolled into one player.

Cowherd made the comparison during a conversation with Phoenix Mercury forward Sophie Cunningham on his podcast, framing Clark’s impact less around individual statistics and more around the scale of her effect on the sport.

“Well, I mean, let’s just say this was the NBA and Caitlin Clark came into the league, and I’ve compared her to Michael Jordan, where she literally changed the direction of the league,” Cowherd said. “You would think it would make sense to talk about Michael Jordan then or Caitlin Clark now. You play with the league superstar.”

He went on to break down the comparison piece by piece, tying each NBA legend to a specific aspect of Clark’s game and persona.

“You know what? I’ve said she has a Jordan quality where she literally changes the ratings,” Cowherd said. “She has a Steph Curry quality in that she shoots like we’ve never seen in her sport. She also has a Larry Bird quality, which is she kind of gets pissy, and she’s physical, and she’s pissy, and there’s a Midwest toughness to her. And I think it can rub people, including WNBA rivals, the wrong way.”

Cowherd summarized the comparison directly before turning the question over to Cunningham. “I look at her and I think she’s got Jordan’s ascension, Curry’s game, and Larry Bird’s personality. Am I wrong?”

Cunningham backs the comparison, with a caveat

Cunningham, who has played alongside and against Clark since her rookie season, largely agreed with the framing, though she offered a small correction on the Bird comparison.

“No, I don’t think you are,” Cunningham said. “I think that Larry Bird, honestly, might have a little bit more sass. Caitlin is just her own — her own personality, like, especially off the court. Like, she is strictly basketball. She loves to sit on the couch. She loves to watch TV. She’s very simple.”

Cunningham then pivoted to Clark’s broader effect on the league, crediting her with elevating the visibility of a sport that Cunningham said already had significant talent before Clark’s arrival.

“It’s been a blessing that she has been in our league,” Cunningham said. “I think the talent has always been there in our league, but just, like, the eyes and the platform and how she’s transforming our game. We can be thankful for the people who came before us, but you can also witness greatness and say that she is great and she has done so much for our sport right now.”

Cunningham also pushed back on hesitancy she has observed around fully crediting Clark for her role in the league’s growth.

“And I don’t know why people are so reluctant to give her her flowers,” Cunningham said. “And maybe it is that Midwest mentality that people don’t like, but shit, I love it. I’m from Missouri, so I’m like, ‘Hey, bring it on, sister.’ So I’m a big fan.”

Breaking down the three-way comparison

Each piece of Cowherd’s comparison points to a different facet of Clark’s game and career trajectory. The Jordan comparison centers on trajectory rather than playing style, reflecting Clark’s role as the central figure behind the WNBA’s recent surge in television audiences, attendance and mainstream attention since she entered the league.

The Curry comparison is more literal, pointing to Clark’s shooting range well beyond the three-point arc and her ability to warp opposing defenses simply by drawing attention from distance, a hallmark of Curry’s game with the Golden State Warriors.

The Bird comparison, according to Cunningham, is the least precise of the three. Bird built his reputation in part on confidence, trash talk and an outspoken personality on the court, while Cunningham described Clark as more reserved away from basketball, someone who prefers simple routines over a larger public persona.

Part of a broader pattern of attention

The comparison arrives amid continued scrutiny of Clark’s impact on the WNBA, a topic that has generated near-constant discussion across sports media since her rookie season. Clark has become one of the league’s most closely watched players both for her on-court production and for the ratings and revenue increases that have accompanied her rise.

Cunningham’s willingness to embrace the comparison, rather than push back on it, reflects how some of Clark’s peers view her role in the league’s recent growth. Rather than treating the comparison as an overstatement, Cunningham used the moment to argue that the broader women’s basketball community should be more comfortable acknowledging Clark’s significance without diminishing the contributions of players who built the league before her arrival.

Whether Cowherd’s specific pairing of Jordan, Curry and Bird holds up under closer scrutiny may be beside the point. The larger takeaway, reinforced by Cunningham’s response, is the extent to which Clark’s presence continues to reshape conversations about the WNBA’s direction, visibility and commercial trajectory nearly two years into her professional career.

Hyderabad: Riding on its success in the recent Legislative Assembly polls, the ruling Congress in Telangana is banking on the implementation of its poll ‘guarantees’ to score big in the Lok Sabha elections, being held on May 13. An Assembly bypoll will also be held on that day in this southern state.

The morale of Congress cadre is high following the 2023 win.

The BJP, riding high on its growing voter base in Telangana, is now aiming to win over 12 out of the total 17 seats and 35 per cent vote share, in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

The party doubled its vote share to nearly 14 per cent resulting in eight seats in the assembly elections held on November 30, last year. BRS, which ruled the state for about a decade since its emergence, is low on morale following the defeat, even as its founder and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao‘s daughter K Kavitha was arrested on the eve of poll dates announcement, adding insult to the injury.

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis of political parties in Telangana.

CONGRESS STRENGTHS: -Congress is in power following its victory in the Assembly polls and momentum is on its side. -The implementation of the ‘guarantees’ announced before the Assembly elections by the Revanth Reddy government has generated goodwill for the party. -The popularity of CM Reddy. -Since it is in power, it has more access to resources to fight the polls. -Regarded as a secular party and minorities are believed to have voted for the party in the Assembly elections. -The BRS which was in power for 10 years is demoralised following its rout in the Assembly polls. The contest is mainly seen to be between Congress and BJP in the parliament elections. -Strong cadre at the grassroots level. -The party has already announced candidates for some seats.

WEAKNESSES: -The construction of Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya may swing devout Hindutva voters in favour of BJP. -The popularity of PM Narendra Modi would help the BJP and Congress may not be able to address this fully. OPPORTUNITIES: -Decline of BRS, and BJP lacking organisational strength in some constituencies. – CM Revanth Reddy, who is also PCC president, is regarded as an intelligent strategist. – Key issues like Ram temple and CAA may help the party get votes of minorities.

THREATS: -BJP’s aggressive campaign -Though BRS is down, it has announced that it will have an alliance with BSP for the Lok Sabha polls. In view of this, Congress needs to ensure that it gets the votes of Dalits and other backward sections in bulk.

BJP STRENGTHS: -Consecration of Ram temple at Ayodhya created a spiritual ambience among certain sections which can be transformed into electoral benefits. -Party’s clean image with respect to corruption -Strong leadership at the centre and their political shrewdness -Support from Sangh Pariwar, RSS affiliates like Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal -Ability to polarise votes on a “communal” basis.

WEAKNESSES: -The party had to pitch turncoats at some segments -For every decision, the local leadership will have to look up to the central leadership. -There is a strong feeling among people that the BJP and BRS have a tacit understanding. -The removal of Bandi Sanjay as state president is still seen as a weakness of the party.

OPPORTUNITIES: -The party can claim some of the achievements, such as the Women Reservation Bill and the September 17 official celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day, to its credit. -BJP may focus on negative aspects of Congress government’s “Six guarantees”.

THREATS: -After the Assembly polls, Congress formed the government in Telangana very recently and emerged as an alternative to BRS. So the positive feeling towards Congress still remains -Congress’ campaign may centre around the BJP and BRS’s alleged understanding. The BJP needs to counter it effectively. Congress may use it as one of the major poll issues. -Barring a few, there are hardly any crowd-pullers in the party locally.