The Karnataka ‘nataka’: ten takeaways
15th May 2018 will go down in history as a day when Indian politics rewrote the Harold Wilson oft-used quote that a week is a long time in politics....
Karnataka’s 20-20 election
Karnataka is, arguably, India’s most beautiful state. Few states can match its rich diversity: from the wondrous Karwar coastline to the verdant green hills of Coorg, from the wildlife...
Battle for Karnataka : Ten Takeaways
Battle for Karnataka : ten takeaways. Ten days in Karnataka over two extended trips still leaves you with the stamp of an ‘election tourist’ but then that is my...
The Modi challenge: Aspirations Vs Mutinies
If prime minister Narendra Modi was not a politician, he could probably be a feel-good guru. Mr Modi’s signature characteristic has been his ability to constantly radiate a positive...
Decoding the fake news debate
Smriti Irani has an uncanny knack of giving it back as good as she gets. Last month, in parliament’s central hall as her fellow-MPs gathered around to wish her...
Its Just Not Cricket
“We were desperate,” admitted Australian captain Steve Smith when pushed to offer an explanation as to why his team had so brazenly attempted to tamper with the cricket ball...
The end of a love affair
I am not quite sure when I first fell in love with cricket but the Australians certainly had much to do with my early infatuation. Eknath Solkar was my...
Modi Vs All
In the mid-1990s, as VP Singh was scrambling to help form a non-BJP, non-Cong ‘Third Front’ government, we asked the former prime minister if such a ‘khichdi’ government was...
The Journalist as Neta
Should journalists enter Rajya Sabha on a political party ticket? That’s a question that gnaws at me after Kumar Ketkar, a friend and early mentor, became the Congress candidate...
Battle for North East: Ten takeaways
Maybe it’s the skill of prime minister Modi to convert every state election into a ‘national’ battle but never before has an election result to three small states in...