This is the season of arrogance. The capital’s elections were fought on the platform of arrogance and a bunch of politicians were elevated because they lacked it and others were dumped as the
As anticipated the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) won the assembly by-election to the prestigious Srirangam constituency of Tamil Nadu, earlier held by the party chief J J
I am not going to repeat the biblical story here; I have used this word for two giants and powerful adversaries of the AAP. The two national parties, the BJP and Congress, with decades of political
It was an inauspicious start to the railway budget presentation in parliament on Thursday morning. Led by Congress president Sonia Gandhi the opposition parties stalled parliamentary business over
Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal share many characteristics. Cult politics is one of them. However, unlike the PM, the Delhi CM is fortunate in having people who can speak out and question him.
In parliament on Monday, the Congress party raised what it called ‘Snoopgate-2 , the alleged espionage of its vice president Rahul Gandhi by Delhi police. On March 12, Delhi po
Political parties have a predictable attitude when it comes to transparency: that it is a very good thing and it must apply to everybody – other than us. It was of course a political party th
Just as Congress president Sonia Gandhi was admitted to a hospital in the US in 2011, a bouquet with a get-well-soon message was delivered at her residence early one morning. Sonia’s illness
Nigeria, which just on Tuesday saw a peaceful presidential election, is angry with an Indian minister. What has Nigeria got to do with a minister in India? Well, in a remark t
The BJP is deploying over 15 lakh party workers, who would be trained to reach out to people and spread the message of good work being done by the Modi government. Another mass contact programme be
Somebody has goofed up and somebody will pay for it. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday was forced to say that his government would send a fresh request to the centre for a probe by th
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday returned from his 56-day ‘sabbatical’. He was on an unexplained leave amid speculations about his possible elevation as p
Rahul Gandhi’s disappearance and reappearance have led to much discussion and debate. That is surprising, because he is a leader far outshined by his mother, in a party far outshined by Modi&
As parliament resumed its budget session after a break, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, minister of state for parliamentary affairs speaks to Sweta Ranjan on the business
Temperatures are going to rise both outside parliament and inside. Lok Sabha resumed its budget session after a break and Rajya Sabha sitting is from Aril 23. The debate over land bill is going to
The land acquisition ordinance was tabled in the Lok Sabha on Monday by minister of state for parliamentary affairs Rajiv Pratap Rudy. The ordinance was promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee on
Politicians never learn especially Indian politicians about propriety. A farmer committed suicide during AAP`s rally in Delhi against the controversial land acquisition bill and the political
Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi is on a maiden two-day visit to Telangana from Thursday that includes a 15-km `padayatra` in Adilabad district. Rahul`s visit is to highlight the
Finally, after months of being headless, the prime minister-led selection committees will on Saturday decide the names of chiefs of central information commission (CIC) and central vigilance commis
The Karnataka government of the Congress party has decided to appeal against the high court verdict acquitting J Jayalalithaa in a corruption case. Jayalalithaa, 67, was sworn in as
Delhi Police on Monday beefed up security outside Sushma Swaraj`s residence in Delhi but the foreign minister faces relentless attack on the issue of her role in Lalit Modi controversy.
Lalit Modi is keeping the pot boiling and adding to the discomfort of Sushma Swaraj even as the Congress attack questioned Narendra Modi on why he was protecting his foreign minister and termed the
As the cacophony over Lalit Modi hits unbearable decibels, the arguments and comments are becoming irrational or say childishly pedestrian. Gurudas Kamat, AICC general secretary and
It is hard to believe that in the age of social media activism in India there is a possibility of emergency-like situation in the country. But BJP leader LK Advani did allude to such a scenario and
Even though Mumbai’s municipal corporation claims to have completed more than 95% of the desilting work and removed more than 3.40 lakh cubic metre of silt from major nullahs (storm water dra
The Bharatiya Janata Party has termed the advertisement of the AAP-led Delhi government that is being broadcast on television channels as a "violation" of the supreme court`s order and th
Lalit Modi’s tweets on the so called `accidental meeting` with Priyanka Gandhi and Robert Vadra has triggered a fresh war between the BJP and the Congress while pushing Vasundhara Raje issue
Lalit Modi show is running like a Indian serials on televisions, long and tedious with same repetitive dialogues. Now, this week’s episodes may focus on a RTI query. The ministry of external
Congress party has now found its voice to directly attack prime minister Narendra Modi instead of indirect barbs of Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje episodes. On Friday, the party raked up
Trainee Sub Inspector Anamika Kushwaha, who was recruited through Vyapam, found dead near Madhya Pradesh police academy in Sagar. Her body was found in a lake. Anamika Kushwaha was recruited throug
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting of NITI Aayog`s governing council, of which all chief ministers are a part, with the land acquisition Bill as the main agenda. However, the chief m
The Bharatiya Janata Party will continue to grow and Shiv Sena will remain confined to one state or say to Mumbai. Apart from being a national party, there are other reasons; especially the art of
Today is the day of loaded political discourse that can also serve as lessons to politicians. While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi remained stuck to the rhetorical mud-slinging, prime minister Narend
Parliament is set for confrontation between the Opposition-led by Congress and the government. The Narendra Modi government will be hauled up over Vyapam scam and Lalit Modi episode. External affai
Tyranny of the majority is a familiar concept in politics. It occurs when a majority takes action to thoroughly subjugate the minority. But what is happening in parliament or nothing is happening i
The countdown to the 2016 assembly elections began in Tamil Nadu with the byelection to RK Nagar, where chief minister J Jayalalithaa contested and won with a huge margin. The impending assembly el
Parliamentary majority does not give anyone a license to escape accountability, said Sonia Gandhi on Monday morning and dashed to ground any hopes the government was harbouring on resumption of bus
In a show of solidarity, nine opposition parties — Trinamool Congress, CPI(M), CPI, JD(U), RJD, NCP, RSP, Muslim League and Aam Aadmi Party — have decided to boycott the Lok Sabha for t
Will the Congress return to the parliamentary business now? A special court on Wednesday allowed the issuance of a non bailable warrant against Lalit Modi in a money laundering case. With this warr
India woke up today to another day of uncertainty and ceaseless cacophony created by the politicians. Television screens screamed that today is last day of parliament`s monsoon session and no legis
The Rajya Sabha worked for just over nine hours of the 17-day session monsoon session of parliament, which ended today. Key legislation like the goods and services tax bill is pending in the RS.
In a democracy political parties lose elections and some are won. And in a century of its existence the Congress party has many humiliating defeats and unbelievable victories. However, the party do
Narendra Modi and Bharatiya Janata Party have plenty to rejoice. The Samajwadi Party on Thursday pulled out of the `grand alliance` in poll-bound Bihar, dealing a blow to Nitish Kumar. The SP also
Haryana become the second state after Rajasthan to fix educational and other qualifications for the candidates contesting panchayat elections. The state Assembly on Monday passed a bill, fixing the
On his birthday there was a gift in numbers. Prime minister Narendra Modi`s favourability ratings have jumped to 87 per cent, according to a latest Pew survey released on Thursday.
Stop picking a new fight every day and to run the country you need to take people along. These are the words of advice for prime minister Narendra Modi by BJP leader Arun Shourie, who was once an a
National commission for scheduled castes chairman P L Punia is a dalit leader from the Congress. He represented Barabanki constituency in Lok Sabha from 2009 to 2014 and is cur
In what could possibly thaw the ice between the Centre and Opposition, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh to
The Congress has made a comeback in the rural areas of Gujarat and won 21 of the 31 district panchayats, while the BJP retained its hold over urban pockets clinching all six municipal corporations
The Congress has decided it will not obstruct non-contentious legislative business in parliament but strongly raise issues of public importance in both houses. A Congress strategy meeting chaired b
Public wrath is being expressed on the social media and the politicians have been gate-crashing on the issue of Delhi government`s move to curb movement of private vehicles in the capital due to ba
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today addresses a combined commanders` conference onboard the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya off the Kochi coast. The Combined Commanders` Conference is an annual th
Prime minister Narendra Modi is today meeting secretaries of the central government. Official sources said performance of various departments and development works being undertaken by them will be
The all important GST bill (goods and services tax bill) may get passed soon with the government agreeing to the conditions set by the Congress party to support the landmark tax reforms legislation
Prime minister Narendra Modi, replying to the debate after the president’s address, once again called on the opposition to cooperate in pushing ahead parliamentary business and pending legisl
Prime minister Narendra Modi took a jibe at Congress’s pet project, National Food Security Act (NFSA), by saying that four states, out of 11 which “hurriedly” agreed to the Act, h
Amidst uproar in parliament over corruption in the AgustaWestland chopper deal and BJP MP Subramanian Swamy’s attack on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, another twist in the tale has emerged. In
There is a very disturbing news report about the entire political spectrum agreeing that RTI is misused and some constrictions and impediments should be developed to muzzle it. This is indeed a sad
As many as 283 candidates in the electoral fray in Tamil Nadu have declared criminal cases against themselves, showed an analysis of self-sworn affidavits of 997 of the 1,107 candidates by Tamil Na
Arvind Kejriwal led-Aam Aadmi Party [AAP], which is contesting the municipal elections for the first time, is all set to give a stiff challenge to the BJP and the Congress in the Delhi civic bypoll
Arvind Kejriwal led-Aam Aadmi Party [AAP], which contested the municipal elections for the first time, has won five seats in the Delhi civic bypolls. Congress managed to grab four while BJP w
As the BJP celebrated its magnificent victory in Assam, the outcome of assembly elections in five states – Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal and Puducherry – should make India&rsqu
Political war that too on Twitter was a new low on Monday when HRD minister Smriti Irani entered in a Twitter spat with Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi. The nasty conversation started ove
On May 19, after the results of the assembly elections were announced, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “We will work harder till we win the confidence & trust of people.&rdq
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal today attacked the Centre saying that when the BJP appointed parliamentary secretaries it was legal and constitutional, but when AAP does the same, it`s illegal
Harish Rawat has seen more ups and downs in two months than many see in decades. He is back in power in Uttarakhand, but facing a CBI inquiry over the alleged horse-trading sting. Ahead of his
Jagmati Sangwan who resigned from Communist Party of India (Marxist) in protest against party’s refusal to accept that its alliance with Congress in West Bengal was key factor behind party&rs
Veteran Congress leader Sheila Dikshit, during her three consecutive terms as Delhi chief minister, often blamed the multiplicity of authorities in the national capital as an obstacle to develo
In yet another jolt to the BJP, the supreme court has ordered the reinstatement of the Congress government in Arunachal Pradesh, about four months after the party was ousted from power. Earlier in
Sheila Dikshit, Congress veteran and former chief minister of the national capital, will be the chief ministerial candidate of the party for the Uttar Pradesh elections, scheduled for early next ye
Political strategists often remain low-profile and prefer to be in the background. But Prashant Kishor grabbed headlines soon after BJP’s mammoth victory in the 2014 general elections. There
A combative Congress will raise issues like the ongoing violence in Kashmir and the fiasco of India’s unsuccessful attempt to join the Nuclear Supplier’s Group [NSG] in the monsoon sess
This is no laughing matter. Navjot Singh Sidhu, a former Indian cricketer who guffaws throughout The Kapil Sharma Show on television, has quit the BJP and his Rajya Sabha seat and there is a distin
Opposition is not necessarily enmity; it is merely misused and made an occasion for enmity, said Sigmund Freud, one of 20th century’s most influential
“Just 22 percent of the public approves of Modi’s management of India’s volatile relationship with Pakistan. Half disapprove. This harsh judgment is relatively unchanged from 2015
[This was the cover story of Governance Now a couple of years ago, September 16-30, 2010 to be precise. Little seems to have changed in the intervening period, except that this week Rahul Gandh
As reports suggest that Rahul Gandhi may indeed come to head the grand old party, we republish this analysis of the Congress vice president by a prominent social scientist, first publishe
Harshad Mehta The superhero stock-broker dropped a bomb in July 1993, when he told a press conference that he had paid prime minister PV Narasimha Rao a bribe of Rs
Remember the Lokpal? The one-point panacea for all corruption and black money. It is a law, on the statute book. And while the government has launched a surgical strike against black money that has
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) collected Rs 76.85 crores from 613 donations in the year 2015-16, which is the highest among all political parties. Indian National Congress (INC) party recei
The dangal is on. The election commission has announced dates to the assembly elections to five states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa, and Manipur. Chief election c
“This election manifesto is a forward looking visionary document, which promises the people that we will undo the damage done to the Punjab economy by the state government in the last ten yea
It took some 330 odd days and over Rs 200 crore for the government of Punjab to create the 800 metre heritage street from Amritsar’s Town Hall to the Golden Temple. Inaugurated in Decem
As much as 69 percent of the income of six national political parties and 51 regional parties has come from unknown sources, according to a long-term data analysis carried out by the Association fo
Elections to the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is the country’s richest civic body, will be held in February and political observers are expecting a split verdict. The reas
It is that time when contesting parties take the road less travelled, woo their voters with dream schemes and swear by their promises. Each party attempts to gerrymander vote share and appeas
It is that time when contesting parties take the road less travelled, woo their voters with dream schemes and swear by their promises. Each party attempts to gerrymander vote share and appeas
Prime minister Narendra Modi’s comment on his predecessor Manmohan Singh’s alleged practice of using a raincoat in the bathroom has been met with hostile reactions. It’s difficult
“Our corporator is missing,” reads a banner on a defunct lamppost in Shaniwar Peth – a densely populated area in Pune, the second largest city of Maharashtra after Mumbai. Many mo
It’s a hung verdict in the elections to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation, which is India’s richest civic body. Shiv Sena bagged 84 seats closely followed by BJP th
Bharatiya Janata Party’s spectacular show in the elections 2017 – especially, the victory in Uttar Pradesh, has put a stamp of invincibility on prime minister Narendra Modi’s pers
This Saturday, there could not have been a better birthday gift than this for Captain Amarinder Singh – a Congress victory in Punjab. And the icing on the cake – Amarinder Sin
As the votes got counted and the results by 11 am indicated a drubbing for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Goa and Punjab, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal shut himself up in his room.
A staggering 80 percent of the newly elected MLAs in Uttar Pradesh are crorepatis, shows an analysis carried out by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) which also said tha
The supreme court on Tuesday allowed Manohar Parrikar to be sworn-in as chief minister of Goa, but he must take the trust vote on Thursday. Parri
Anxiety and headache are just two of the side effects of saffron. Some people are also allergic to it. Pray what were you thinking – That this is about BJP’s victory and Yogi Adityanath
Work on the 1.6 km Rani Jhansi grade separator (road engineering jargon for a structure that allows traffic from different directions to flow without obstruction) began more than 19 years a
On the sultry afternoon of April 1, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal rose to deliver his first campaign speech for the capital’s municipal corporation elections. The venue was Gau
The cooperative banks, largely controlled by politicians, are today groaning under the weight of its own contraindication – it is flush with funds following demonetisation, yet it suffers fro
Historically, voter turnout for local elections has lagged behind state assembly elections and general elections. For example, a recent report by Jana
The dismal performance of the Congress in the Municipal Corporations of Delhi elections forced party chief Ajay Maken to announce his resignation, ending an energetic effort to revive the
A private agency has been hired to assess the functioning of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC). Sources say Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has tied up with the private agency t
President Pranab Mukherjee, who demits office in July, has been known as a man “of the constitution”, a believer in it, and was called to be its custodian during the last five years. Hi
Five years ago, when the Congress had finalised Pranab Mukherjee as its choice for the 13th president of India, the news-hungry media was eager to know if he had agreed. One day, he gave in to the
They may not have tweeted about it, as some did, or been vocal about it. But for the many guests who spent time at Rashtrapati Bhavan, as president Pranab Mukherjee’s guests, t
There is a huge difference between chalk and cheese. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, it appears, has not developed acumen to decipher it. He is not a quick learner. But, when a major st
At 70, Dr Aziz Ahmad, a well-known homeopath and politician now with Congress, still has a busy practice in Abu Bazaar, in old Gorakhpur. During working hours, the lane in which he has a clinic
History could have repeated itself as a farce, but in the triple talaq case today, there has been no replay. A historic blunder has been undone, though it has taken three decades. T
The Congress described as “melodramatic theatrics” the speech by prime minister Nare
The Congress has criticised the changes made in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), say
The assembly elections in Gujarat are expected by December, and the Elections Commission is touring the state on Monday to check the preparedness. It is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home st
When prime minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on internal democracy within political parties during a Diwali Milan interaction with the media in Delhi, he was merely echoing the sentiments of Sya
Campaigning in Himachal Pradesh early in November, prime minister Narendra Modi raised the pitch for good governance when he spoke about ridding the state of the five demons of mining mafia, forest
As terror mastermind Hafeez Saeed walked free in Pakistan, Rahul Gandhi tweeted to ridicule prime minister Narendra Modi’s diplomacy, and in response BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao called
In Ahmedabad, any mention of this locality elicits quite a reaction. “There’s no point in going there. It’s been 15 years now. It’s all developed!” And I’d be te
Rahul Gandhi, who becomes the Congress chief on Monday without opposition, is taking up a position that was once occupied by stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru, JB Kripalani and Subhas Chandra Bose.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi may get elected unopposed t
The election for the Congress presidentship turned out to be a stroll in the park for Rahul Gandhi as nobody else filed nomination papers. It is not that the Congress doesn’t h
As the first phase of the Gujarat elections is on, one question that political pundits and common people alike are asking is: who is likely to win? Indeed, these elections are vital for the BJP, no
Familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. But a two-decade-long association of a political party with the electorate is bound to unleash demons of contempt, jealousy and disaffection.
Rahul Gandhi has become the president of India’s grand old party. Nobody else wanted to, since none contested. By any parameter, it is not a welcome move in a democracy. Regardless of your vi
Assembly elections in Gujarat, since 2002, have been like Churchill’s description of Russia – with a little twist: wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, but eventually a non-riddle.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) surged ahead in the first hour of vote count in both Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh. The initial trends on Monday indicate that th
All eyes are on Gujarat as the vote count is on, but in the state all eyes might be on Ahmedabad. The chief city, and the early capital before the planned township of Gandhinagar cam
9:13 am: Like failed political analysts, parties also look for an excuse to explain away their failures. Right from the word go, the opposition in Gujarat began with a bravado but
An hour of vote count has showed that it is not going to be an easy win for the BJP in Gujarat as well as Himachal Pradesh, as had been predicted by the numerous exit polls. While th
The neck-to-neck run of the Congress and the BJP so far, as figures of leads come in from Himachal Pradesh, may sharpen the appetite of punters betting on an upsetting of the alternation game
As of writing, there are only leads, and the gap between the BJP and the Congress is somewhat increasing. Yet, it looks like a close battle – not what all the exit polls had forecast.
There was a time during the vote count when the BJP election managers may well have chewed through their nails as the Congress put up a spirited fight in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. But, soon the
In future, the Gujarat elections might as well be remembered for the arrival of Rahul Gandhi. Going by the leads, the Congress is certainly not going to win, and few ha
Prime minister Narendra Modi flashed the victory sign before entering parliament, as trends indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party was all set to retain Gujarat and win in Himachal Pradesh.
Going by the leads, the BJP is set to establish its stronghold in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. Confident of his party’s victory, prime minister Narendra Modi even flashed a victory sign whil
Prime minister Narendra Modi has thanked voters of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and credit good governance for his party’s victories in the state assemblies. “I bow to th
Just the facts first. In the Gujarat assembly elections, the BJP did not field a single Muslim candidate. No one expected it to; and its leaders make no bones about ignoring the nine percent Muslim
1934 The first elections After the British law paved the way for representational assemblies, the first elections were held in 1934. Gujarat was then part o
More often, a colloquial proverb sums up a complex political situation more aptly than scholarly formulations. If one looks at the Gujarat verdict, nothing summarises it more perfectly than the ada
The BJP is set to form the sixth government in Gujarat. Not counting a bump in 1996-98 thanks to its own rebel Shankarsinh Vaghela, the party has been in power since 1995, and shows no signs of ant
Prime minister Narendra Modi emerged as the most mentioned personality, while Vijay Rupani emerged as the most mentioned candidate on Twitter, the social media giant said in a release.
Prof Jagdeep Chhokar of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) points out a stark irony of crime in Indian politics. “There are more than 3.5 lakh undertrials languishing in Indian pris
Criminalisation of politics is the focus of public debate when discussion on electoral reforms takes place. This issue gets amplified when data highlights an increasing number of candidates with
Much before Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury got marginalised within the party’s central committee last week over the possibility of an alliance with the C
India is the largest democracy and the second largest populated country in the world. One-third of its population belongs to the youth in the age group of 15-29. Youth is a transition period
The partition happened due to the wrong policies of the Congress party, said prime minister Narendra Modi who called for building a new India. In the reply to the Motion of Thanks to
National and regional parties collected a total of Rs 1503.21 crore and incurred a total expenditure of Rs 494.36 crore towards the five state assembly elections held in 2017, observed the Associat
Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, has opted out of a meeting on the appointment of the Lokpal, a move that may end up further delaying the process for the country getting
“Parliament is a forum for exchange of views. If you are not allowed to speak, then what is the point? We might as well shut down and go home,” said Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at the
In the age of ‘breaking news’, ‘breaking first’ and ‘super-exclusives’, authenticity of news and following basic journalistic norms is hardly given any importanc
The Bharatiya Janata Party`s total income has increased by 81.18% in one financial year. In 2015-16, the party`s income was Rs 570.86 crores and this went up to Rs 1,034.27 crores during 2016-17. T
As the Congress leads a bunch of opposition parties in preparing to move an impeachment motion against the chief justice of India, Dipak Misra, BJP president has said its real agenda is not to save
Out of all MPs and MLAs in office, 58 have declared cases related to hate speech. This includes union minister for drinking water and sanitation Uma Bharti along with 14 other Lok Sabha MPs. The li
If political punditry is to be believed, the predictable outcome of the Karnataka election will invariably be a hung house. And this punditry is based on sound logic which is quite convincing for a
While driving down from Bengaluru to Mysuru, you come across a patch of hillocks near Ram Nagar, a place that provided the backdrop for the all-time hit Bollywood movie, Sholay. This was where vill
One of the three big elections before the grand final next year is over. Predictably, there was mud-slinging and allegations, caste equations and mutt visits, histories and histrionics: With a pinc
Just after the UP assembly election in 1996, I was among the scores of reporters waiting at Kalyan Singh’s residence, waiting to get the first inkling of the future course of the BJP. T
Can the JD(S)-Congress combine give s
Recently, while addressing a rally in Mumbai, Congress president Rahul Gandhi took a dig at prime minister, Narendra Modi. Gandhi called the PM as a “watchman of a handful of superrich”
Self-deception is an essential trait of a revolutionary, particularly of the Marxist variety. Rahul Gandhi as the Congress president seems too eager to internalise this trait in his politics.
It was nearly midnight at a small ground in Aminabad of Lucknow, and an enthusiastic crowd was waiting for VP Singh. This was in 1988, after the Bofors scandal had blown up in the face of prime min
You needn’t be thoroughly familiar with Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to know about the Cheshire cat. Characters like Humpty Dumpty, the Red Queen and
Demagoguery is elemental to politics. But the use of lies, rather patent lies, as an instrument of politics is a new trend. In the age of social media lies peddled with confidence acquire features
In politics, the coining of slogans is nothing less than the work of literature. Like any good and creative piece of poetry or prose finds resonance with people, smart slogans set the political moo
Any mention of Rajasthan evokes many images: the ultimate princely state, the land of grandeur and valour, but also a place where life can be difficult. The state is going to polls
To describe the Chhattisgarh assembly election result as defeat for the BJP will be a euphemism. It is a total rout in every sense of the term. And if Raman Singh met this fate after three full ter
The Indian electorate’s tryst with cyclical elections invented a phenomenon called ‘lamppost elections’. Implicit in this formulation was the notion that the people would elect a
The Rajasthan assembly election outcome has thrown up many curious surprises. It was a near-unanimous prognosis, both of poll pundits and pre-poll surveys, that ruling BJP under Vasundhara Raje w
In cricket, reverse sweep was an unconventional invention by some batsmen not only to neutralize the spin but score a big hit. Cricket analogies are often applied on Indian politics while analyzing
Some of the developments in India during the past four years, such as lynchings, growing polarisation among communities on caste and religious lines in every walk of life and the consequent fear ps
The total donations (above Rs 20,000) declared by the national parties was Rs 469.89 crore, from 4,201 donations, revealed a report by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The report gives the
“Aandhi” (Storm), director Gulzar’s movie starring Suchitra Sen and Sanjeev Kumar, was made in 1975, when Indira Gandhi reigned supreme in Indian politics. The film, based on Ka
Those who have gained the most from the latest budget are the ones who are going to have the most crucial impact on the Lok Sabha election results. Who are they? They are hiding in plain sight. The
The nation is virtually in election mode, and political parties are busy thinking up campaign strategies. But have MPs been making a mark in their constituencies? A study of malnutrition indicators
Here is a picture of the late 1970s: prime minister Indira Gandhi calls on an ailing Sheikh Abdullah at a hospital in Srinagar. He had just been released and had taken over the reins of Jammu and K
The Congress party has unanimously supported Sheila Dikhshit`s decision to reject an alliance with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Delhi. With the Congress shutting the prospect of alliance, the natio
Few know that LK Advani was often accused by Sangh Parivar apparatchiks of exercising ‘unilateralism’. In the history of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its earlier incarnation, th
“Today is a historic day.. It is on this day that the Congress party launched its final assault on poverty. 5 Crore of the poorest families in India, will receive Rs. 72,000 Per Y
The general elections of 2019 commence on April 11 and the last phase of campaigning in the 91 constituencies of 21 states is under way. Both prime minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rah
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar is an archetypal Indian socialist, a Lohiaite whose tribe is practically extinct. In his personal life, he is extremely austere. In his political life, he is s
Urmila Matondkar joined the Congress party and within just two months into politics, the actor is already surrounded by controversies – from being accused of making anti-Hindu comments to
While the entire nation is agog with political grapevine, political parties are weighing on all options to lure voters by touching upon issues that impact their lives. Several parties, inc
Senior Congress leader and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit is the Lok Sabha candidate of her party from the Northeast Delhi constituency. In a conversation with Deexa Khanduri, she s
It’s early summer still in Odisha, but the state is already in the grip of an intense heat wave. In the last few weeks, many places have been regularly recording temperatures of 40 degrees Ce
The fifth of the seven phases of general election 2019 is currently underway and a total of 51 seats across seven States have gone to polls. Voting will take place in a
Sharad Pawar is the grand old man of Indian politics. He is among the last stalwarts from a generation that is fading out. He has served as chief minister of Maharashtra four times and held crucial
The ongoing parliamentary elections are in the concluding phase/ stage. Eventually, the results will be out on May 23. A huge number of candidates are, as usual, in the fray. There are claims and c
The 2019 parliamentary election in India is a humungous affair: about 890 million voters, nearly thrice the population of the United States, many months of planning, over a month of actual voting a
Gujarat was passing through a turbulent phase in the 1980s. The decade began middle class agitations against new reservation policies, and the caste friction turned communal under the watch of chie
Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor have stirred the hornet’s nest in the Congress. They have argued that the party should not “demonise” prime minister Narendra Modi. The two leader
The much hyped ‘double engine’ model of governance on which the BJP is seeking votes has utterly failed, and Mumbai and Maharashtra have had to face some of the worst effects of economi
Banking on the continued Modi wave, the BJP, along with the ally Shiv Sena, won the Maharashtra assembly elections in Haryana, it ran out of steam and could not achieve the simple majority.
Though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena got fewer seats in the next Maharashtra assembly than what the exit polls had predicted, the alliance has retained its edge over the opp
The BJP’s oldest ally Shiv Sena is once again parting ways, putting their alliance behind and preparing to form government in Maharashtra with the support of the NCP and Congress.
Maharashtra has been placed under the president’s rule after the leading contenders failed to make a head start in government formation amid tussle for power. Governor Bhagat S
The conundrum in Maharashtra is moving towards resolution, as the Shiv Sena has secured the support of the ideological opponents, the Congress and the NCP, to form the government, after the BJP, th
In the latest development in the unusual roller-coaster of events in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis of BJP was sworn in as chief minister Saturday morning, with Ajit Pawar of the NCP as deputy chie
Amid the high drama in Maharashtra politics, the supreme court has reserved its judgment on Tuesday, even as the Shiv Sena and NCP wrote to the governor, claiming they had the number to prove major
Devendra Fadnavis of BJP resigned as Maharashtra chief minister Tuesday afternoon, three after he was sworn in. Earlier in the day, Ajit Pawar of NCP resigned as deputy chief minister. The dramatic
Maharashtra finally has a government in place that has enough numbers, but its longevity may be tested time and again, given the differing ideological commitments of the three parties that make it
On November 29, Uddhav Thackeray, the 19th chief minister of Maharashtra and the leader of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), won the vote of confidence in the 244-member Vidhan Sabha of Maharashtra. Wit
Two weeks after the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) came to power in Maharashtra on November 28 following a month-long political tug of war, chief minister Uddhav Thackerey has announced cabinet portfolios
Thirty-two days after taking oath as chief minister, Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has expanded his council of ministers by inducting 26 cabinet ministers and 10 ministers of state (M
The National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCTD) goes to polls on February 8, amid debates and protests for and against the amended citizenship law and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC
Prithviraj Chavan, a senior Congress leader and former Maharashtra chief minister, is the key architect of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance that came to power after the three-day gov
Electoral bonds, introduced in January 2018 to bring in transparency in political funding, has emerged as the preferred route for making donations to parties, according to an analysis of the partie
The national capital territory of Delhi (NCTD) is going to assembly elections on February 8, and the results will be out on February 11. Now that the candidates have filed their nominations, here i
Delhi is voting today in a high-stakes assembly elections that have virtually been projected as a referendum on the CAA-NRC debate, which from the BJP dominated the high-decibel campaign. The rulin
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Arvind Kejriwal rewrote the political playbook of the country, by repeating the stunning performance of 2015, as it won 62 of the 70 seats in Delhi assembly, leavin
The party that came into existence on the intangible timeworn issue of corruption, transparency and increasing public investment through public savings is going on winning elections in Delh
The opposition in Odisha was taken by surprise at the alacrity with which the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government amended the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. The resolution in
A New India: Selected Writings 2014-19 By Arun Jaitley, with a foreword by Prime Minister Narendra Modi Juggernaut Books, 384 pages, Rs 799 Arun Jaitley (
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan has cautioned that after opening up if you are forced to shut down it would that be devastating for economic activity as it would create a trust deficit. It would
Sections of the news media have degenerated into becoming the pet performing poodle of the government, says Manish Tewari, former information and broadcasting minister and a member of the Lok Sabha
Congress leader and former union minister Kapil Sibal feels the media, the fourth pillar of democracy, has actually dismantled itself and is in self-destruct mode. He was in a live
Coming down heavily on the government for economic de-growth and job losses, Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate has said that even before the Covid pandemic struck, the economy h
Maharashtra’s women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur of the Congress is a member of the legislative assembly, representing Tivasa in Amravati district. She comes from a fam
The media is working under immense fear and compelled to align with the government failing which it is threatened by agencies like the enforcement directorate and income tax department, says Kumar
Amid political turmoil in Maharashtra over allegations made by the former Mumbai police chief, the ruling coalition allies met NCP chief Sharad Pawar late Sunday, leaving the fate of home minister
As many states face a huge resurge of Covid-19 cases, Dr Sudhanshu Trivedi, MP, Rajya Sabha, and national spokesperson, BJP, has said the government is better equipped to handle the second wave com
Ruling out reports of NCP and BJP coming together to form an alliance, Nawab Malik, Maharashtra cabinet minister and president of the Mumbai unit of NCP, has said BJP has always made such offers to
Anil Deshmukh is reportedly considering approaching the supreme court Tuesday to challenge a Bombay high court order that had forced him to quit as home minister of Maharashtra a day earlier.
Raising concerns about the “leaks” of aspects of an ongoing investigation into incidents leading to political turmoil in Maharashtra, former chief minister and senior Congress leader Pr
A political war erupted between the centre and Maharashtra over supply of essentials including medicines and oxygen as the state struggles to control the raging Covid-19 amidst scarce health infras
Citing non-supply of a copy of the ‘enforcement case information report’ (ECIR) and related documents, former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday did not make per
Slamming the Modi government on the issues of fuel price hike, inflation, economy and agriculture laws, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, has alleged that the centre has
Attacking the Narendra Modi government for “mishandling” of Covid -19 and a large number of deaths, astronomically high fuel prices, rising inflation, and unemployment, political analys
In a scathing attack on the government, PawanKhera, national spokesperson of the Congress party, has said that the BJP is remote-controlled by RSS, an unregistered organisation that decides who the
BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan has said if people want to do business in the country, they have to follow the law of land. Speaking with reference to the US-based Twitter’s friction wit
Responding to the criticism from the opposition Congress and BJP for floating a tender of Rs 15 crore for the upkeep of seven penguins at the Byculla zoo, the the Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municip
To protest against the rising fuel prices and inflation, the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Wednesday announced a week-long awareness campaign, beginning on November 14, the birth
BJP spokesperson Anila Singh has ridiculed Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, general secretary of All India Congress Committee in charge of Uttar Pradesh, for promising 40% reservation for women and said that
Ram Madhav, a member of the RSS National Executive, has said that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi proudly proclaiming to be a better Hindu is a welcome step and the opposition’s newfound claim t
Ahead of the 2024 parliamentary elections, to form a strong third front of regional parties against the ruling BJP at the centre, Telangana chief minister K. Chandrasekar Rao visited Mumbai and met
A few days to go, when results of elections to five state assemblies will be announced on March 10th. At stake are 689 assembly seats, in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur. BJP ha
Responding to the popularity of the much-debated film ‘The Kashmir Files’, political analyst and social activist Tehseen Poonawala has asked the opposition, if it has no burning issues
In a first-of-its-kind initiative launched by the exchange4medi
The Congress is scheduled to hold a Chintan Shivir (meaning, ‘introspection camp’) from May 13th to 15th in Udaipur and it has identified six specific areas for introspection. These are
The BrihanMumbai municipal corporation (BMC) has rejected the Congress accusations of financial irregularities worth Rs 8,000 crore—9,000 croe in awarding contracts for getting project-affect
A videography survey in the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi this month, along with a similar survey in the mosque in Mathura permitted by a court, has brought the Places of Worship Act under focus afte
Minutes after the Supreme Court ordered a floor test on Wednesday night, Uddhav Thackeray in a televised address resigned as the chief minister of Maharashtra and also as a member of legislative co
Former Maharashtra chief minister Davendra Fadnavis stunned all at a press conference Thursday and named Eknath Shinde, the rebel MLA from Shiv Sena, as the next chief minister. Though Fadnavis sai
After the Bharatiya Janta Party orchestrated rebellion in the Shiv Sena partly led by Eknath Shinde who took away with him a majority of MLAs, the Eknath Shinde-BJP government proved majority in th
The BJP has been in power in Gujarat since 1998, and the state proved to be its springboard for the national sweep in 2014. Yet, it never came even close to the highest tally of 149 seats (out of t
As many as 40 – or 22% – of the 182 members of the new Gujarat assembly have declared criminal cases against themselves, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Refor
As many as 122 winners of the Karnataka assembly elections, that is to say, more than half of the 224 MLAs, have declared criminal background, according to an analysis by the Association for Democr
The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) founder Sharad Pawar-led group on Thursday passed a resolution against the rebel faction led by his nephew Ajit Pawar during the National Executive meeting held
Hitting out at prime minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that it has saddled the country with a debt of Rs 200 lakh crore and atrocities against Dalits have increased
Between FY 2004-05 and 2022-23, the national political parties collected Rs 19,083.08 crore from unknown sources, according to an analysis made by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
The Supreme Court declared the Electoral Bonds (EB) scheme unconstitutional on February 15 and ordered the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide the names of individuals and business entiti
In the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra with 48 Lok Sabha seats is of crucial importance for the final outcome. In the 2019 election, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance won 42 seats including six s
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was cruising comfortably ahead to form the government for the third time, though the Congress-led INDI Alliance made surprising gains to change the ongoing
As the votes are being counted Tuesday evening and the BJP-led NDA was set comfortably to form the next government, prime minister Narendra Modi termed the emerging verdict as people’s reposi
Prime minister Narendra Modi met president Droupadi Murmu and tendered his resignation along with that of his council of ministers on Wednesday, a day after the vote was counted in the General Elec
Five Decades in Politics By Sushilkumar Shinde (as told to Rasheed Kidwai) HarperCollins India, 240 pages, Rs 599.00
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has said that the Mahayuti government has reached a consensus for 80% seats to be contested in the upcoming assembly elections and discussions fo
The vote counting on Tuesday after the assembly elections of Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana has been mostly on predictable lines, except for a twist: in J&K, as expected, the National Conferen
