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...
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...
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...
The Chowkidar against corruption?
The defining image of the 1989 Lok Sabha elections was VP Singh campaigning across the country and claiming that he had in his pocket the Swiss bank account number...
When NiMo meets NaMo
When NiMo meets NaMo One good thing in the often joyless times in which we live is the flowering of satire and cartooning on social media (yes, RK Laxman’s...
Will 220 be the new 272?
February is arguably the nicest month weather-wise in the national capital: the icy Himalayan wind gives way to a gentler cool breeze signaling a gradual change of seasons. This...
Gujarat: Urban-rural is split wide open
If there is any city that is seen to represent the public anger over demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax, it is Surat. Textile traders had shut shop...
The battle for Gujarat: Ten Takeaways
Having spent more than a week in Gujarat –a state that I regard as both karmabhoomi and Janmabhoomi –over three recent trips, here are ten takeaways from an election...
battle for Gujarat: BJP is winning election, losing narrative
It may be coincidental, but it is perhaps only appropriate that the Gujarat elections are being held in the week of the 25th anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition....