#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #Crime-Politics #Mumbai #WankhedevsMalik

‘Tamasha’ is a great Maharashtra folk dance tradition that literally means ‘fun’ and ‘entertainment’. In the last few months, a political ‘tamasha’ is playing out in Maharashtra which would be almost farcical if it were not so disgustingly immoral. Allegations are flying thick and fast: from drugs to underworld links and from extortion rackets to benami transactions, its open season in Maharashtra’s tryst with crime and politics. A Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) officer who arrests the son of one of Hindi cinema’s biggest ever stars is now himself being investigated for fraud and extortion.

#IndVsPak #StraightBatWithRajdeep #War
‘War Minus the Shooting’ to reflect upon how an India-Pakistan cricket match has literally become, well, war minus the shooting. For years, I have been a great proponent of Indo-Pak cricket: as an unabashed cricket romantic, I have always believed that sport can build bridges beyond the boundary, can provide some hope and sanity in an increasingly hyper-polarised world. Now, after watching the events unfold over the last week since India played Pakistan in the T 20 world cup, I am beginning to have my serious doubts.

#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #fabindia

This week, I am going to speak on the politics of Fab India.. but first a disclosure.. I do know the Fab India family well: I have witnessed how the retail clothes company has grown remarkably across the country, how it has provided a much needed link between artisans and small rural businesses and urban consumers. Fab India’s clothes, its kurtas in particular have made ethnic wear accessible and enduring. It has now branched into many more home products.

#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #priyankagandhi

Today, as the title suggests I am going to comment on the much talked about politics of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra but first with a clarification and an apology. Seven years ago in November 2014, at a lit fest event around by book 2014: The Election that changed India, I was in conversation with Shobha De. One of the questions that Ms De asked me then was how I viewed the politics of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Remember this was 2014 when Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had campaigned almost solely in the Gandhi family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli. My response to Shobha De was” ‘Politics is now ruthlessly competitive 24×7. There is no place for guest appearances or item numbers.’ Next day, in an article on the event, the headline of the newspaper DNA was: ‘Priyanka Gandhi does politics like an item girl.’

#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #lakhimpurkheri

This week has been dominated by two stories: one from rural UP, the other from Mumbai. The Mumbai story has all the elements of a Bollywood potboiler when the son of one of Hindi cinema’s biggest superstars is arrested in a drug bust. It’s easy to outrage over a story involving a VVIP brat: then when the VVIP brat’s father’s surname is Khan, it’s even easier to spend even more time outraging.

#rajdeepsardesai #straightbatwithrajdeep #AssamKilling

Lets start with a quiz question: how many of you know of Bijoy Shankar Bonia? My guess is that most of you don’t until I show you this photo. That right my friend, Bijoy Shankar Bonia is the photographer whose photo has gone viral, the photo of Bonia jumping, stomping and dancing over the dead body of a man who had just been shot dead by the Assam police during an eviction drive in Sipajhar in Assam’s Darrang district.