Best of BS Opinion: Beyond promises, Divided Maldivian polity and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Vodafone Idea’s Rs 18,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO), having been subscribed nearly seven times, has revived hopes of a turnaround for the cash-strapped telco. Though the successful FPO is a positive for the telecom service provider, it may have a limited impact, given the degree of its losses and liabilities. These and other problems such as an eroding subscriber base and the need to build a 5G business suggest that the telco urgently needs to create a viable business model to build on the success of the FPO, the top edit points out. Read it here

In other views:

A K Bhattacharya analyses the BJP’s election manifesto, suggesting that it raises many economic-policy issues requiring a more holistic approach. Read it here

Commenting on the recent Maldivian presidential election, the second edit says losing a strategically vital archipelago in its backyard to Beijing should be a concern for New Delhi. Read it here

Rama Bijapurkar profiles India’s youth demographics to understand the low registration of first-time voters. Read it here

QUOTE OF THE DAY

 

‘In the morning you are in one party, in the afternoon you join the other one….First, you are praising your new leader and then you abuse your former leader.’

 

Former vice president Venkaiah Naidu