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September 27, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Is Modi government being unnerved by Rafale ‘war’?

Politics in the media age is increasingly about perception management which in turn is about shaping the narrative to your advantage. The UPA 2 government lost the plot when...

September 13, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Kaamdar vs Naamdar: is Cong falling into a BJP trap?

One of the more persistent criticisms against the Narendra Modi government has been that far too many of its ministers seem to have very little work to do and...

August 30, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Will Rafale 2019 be Bofors 1989?

Rahul Gandhi was just seventeen years old when the Bofors gun payoff scandal first exploded, a corruption charge that would tar his father Rajiv Gandhi’s reputation and eventually push...

August 17, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Vajpayee was the torchbearer of a gentler political era

Of the many stories of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s remarkable ability to win friends and influence people, there is one that stays in the mind. The prime minister was in...

August 15, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

The Chemistry of the Modi Cult

One of the biggest mistakes political journalists make is to often assess election trends based on talking to politicians. When Narendra Modi was Gujarat chief minister, any reporter who...

August 2, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Imran Khan: A Man of Many Parts

In December 2013, cricketer turned politician Imran Khan was in India for the Hindustan Times leadership summit. The Delhi election results had just been announced and Arvind Kejriwal had...

July 19, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

The social media election is here!

Amit Shah is often credited as the BJP president who has converted Indian elections from routine local fights into an all-out life and death ‘war’. Little surprise then when...

July 4, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

A ‘new’ Congress: from Arrogance to Accomodation

A simple photo-op can sometimes reveal the entire political picture. Last month, as Rahul Gandhi hosted an iftaar party, his high table did not include a single opposition party...

June 21, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Jammu versus Kashmir: a doomed alliance..

A few months after he had taken over as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in the spring of 2015, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed hosted a dinner for journalists in...

June 7, 2018
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Karnataka to Kairana: a Template for 2019

A by-election is a bit like a school monthly test: the marks don’t count for anything during the final exam. Which is why the opposition celebrations after besting the...