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June 1, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Break the silence on the wrestlers’ protest

In a hyper-partisan age where opinion is often shaped by WhatsApp forwards, India’s protesting wrestlers have discovered how fickle public adulation can be. Those who feted our medal-winning wrestlers,...

May 18, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

The K’taka verdict can worry the BJP

Are you sure we are winning so comfortably?” the senior Congress leader’s voice on the phone sounded anxious. It was the night before counting day in Karnataka where an...

May 4, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Will the double-engine rhetoric work in Karnataka?

Double-engine sarkar (government) is a term that has steadily crept into the political lexicon in the last nine years, since Narendra Modi became prime minister (PM). The double-engine rhetoric...

April 20, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Decoding UP’s nexus of crime and politics

In Uttar Pradesh (UP)’s notorious gang wars, even crime is seen through the prism of caste and community. This is why the sharply polarised reactions to the killing of...

April 6, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Who will take on Modi in the 2024 elections?

For the last few years, Indian politics has witnessed a long-running saga: KBC or Kaun Banega Challenger (who’ll become the challenger). New contenders emerge each year — sometimes every...

March 23, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

The controversy roiling Parliament is contrived

Long before “foreign soil”, there was the “foreign hand”. At a rally in Kolkata (then Calcutta) in 1976, at the height of the Emergency, former Prime Minister (PM) Indira...

March 9, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Indian cricket faces a moment of truth

As player, captain and commentator, there has arguably been no more authoritative voice in Indian cricket over the last 50 years than Sunil Gavaskar. So when the legendary cricketer...

February 23, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Why the BJP is reaching out to Christians in the Northeast

In a distant corner of India, a new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is attempting to break through an old barrier. At a Sunday mass in one of Shillong’s oldest...

February 10, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

Adani row may have limited political impact

Long before Rahul Gandhi, there was VP Singh. The former prime minister (PM) in the late 1980s targeted politician-big business links to project himself as Mr Clean. Singh was...

January 26, 2023
Rajdeep Sardesai
Columns

A new war of narratives in India’s political arena

For almost a decade now, the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s political playbook has revolved around a well-planned kaamdar vs naamdar (worker vs dynast) narrative. The binary of...