Indian Politics
The rise of the Ambani brand
With great wealth, should there not be great scrutiny and accountability?
On the 2024 farmers’ protest in India
Thousands of farmers from Punjab and Haryana have taken to the streets again, just over two years after their previous year-long agitation.
The Modi Decade
Dissent is framed as disloyalty, with criticism of government policies labeled “anti-national.”
PROJECT SYNDICATE / India's looming demographic divide
India’s population is expected to grow over the next four decades to approximately 1.7 billion, before plunging to 1.1 billion by 2100.
Can India’s Oldest Party Reinvent Itself?
For the first time in nearly 25 years, Congress will elect a president who is not a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
India should think beyond the Hindutva agenda
Over the last few years – under the BJP government – India’s religious polarisation has increased in degree and intensity.
India’s caste census and the chimera of data-driven policymaking
Caste census, once again, is the talk of the town—at least in the Indian state of Bihar.
Is a federal party possible?
When former Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that they would not allow the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to return to power, she hinted at joint action on the part of the Opposition. It also means that she does not want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to run for a second term. On its own, the Congress does not have the numbers to pose any threat to the BJP-run government or Modi.
BOTTOM LINE / West Bengal and Assam election results and its impact on Bangladesh
The Election Commission in India needs to be congratulated for conducting a free and fair election in Assam and West Bengal, among others, as no party has alleged any rigging in the outcome of elections. Both Trinomool Congress and BJP did much better than expected in the two states.
Nepal's economy in chokehold
It has become difficult to follow Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's style of diplomacy. He is seen as a darling to the West
Focus on Aamir Khan
I was present at the function where Aamir Khan, a leading actor, said that his wife had asked him whether they should move to some other country for healthy upbringing of their child.
BJP thrashed in Bihar
The Grand Alliance called Mahagatbandhan of three parties led by Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav humiliated the BJP-led NDA in the Bihar...
Has Modi's magic waned?
Whether or not the Narendra Modi magic has waned or whether the strategy of campaigning has been faulty, the fact remains that the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has been routed in Bihar.
THE FOG OF OPINION POLLS
Perhaps Congress leaders think that things cannot get any worse after the nadir of 2014. Maybe they should think again. The reason is clear. Congress political tactics this year have floated out of the range of common sense.
DON'T GIVE HATE A CHANCE
India's religious pluralism is looking less secure every day. It's a turning point for India, a country that has taken pride in being a secular democracy where citizens...
Unravelling a forgotten chapter
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has done well to declassify the files on Subhas Chandra Bose. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have followed suit and make available to the public the documents and papers which the Centre possesses on Bose.
Reservations sans development
Leaders of different communities had so much confidence in the fairness of the country, when it won freedom, that none of them wanted reservations.
Saffornising the institutions
Understandably, there is a sense of horror over the Bhartiya Janata Party government's decision to 'modernise' the Jawaharlal Nehru Museum at Tin Murti in New Delhi.
Reluctance to shame British
I wish that the Commonwealth War Graves Commission would bring out these Indian sacrifices and not project the two world wars as fought only or largely by white troops. The deaths of Indians are as shocking as the demise of any white soldier. They too have mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers.