Shiv Sena offers BJP 135+18 seats in peace deal
The Maharashtrian party makes a last-ditch effort amid public sparring
Ashok Gehlot sets stage for reshuffle of Rajasthan cabinet, PCC shake-up before local polls
This comes amid heightened suspense in Congress on whether he would pitch for a new PCC chief and a second deputy chief minister — an arrangement he had in his previous term.
Government likely to deny Congress chairmanship of finance, external affairs committees
Congress likely to replace PC with Anand Sharma as home panel chief.
Congress campaign to focus on ‘agri crisis, industrial distress’ in Haryana polls
Due to government’s mismanagement, industrial belts are in deep distress, said PCC chief Kumari Selja.
Curious case of ex-Cong Chief Rahul Gandhi’s CWC membership
The official website of the All India Congress Committee has Rahul Gandhi’s name right on top, after Manmohan Singh, in a list of 24 members of CWC, the party’s highest decision-making body.
Sonia approves Haryana pact that Rahul sat on for 2 years
Kumari Selja named PCC president while B S Hooda is new CLP and campaign head.
NRC mess due to CM Sonowal, MHA says Harish Rawat
"The CM and MHA, the nodal ministry, must own up the responsibility for this”, Rawat said.
Ashok Tanwar set to exit Haryana PCC, Hooda may not get top post
Haryana Congress set for rejig as Sonia Gandhi works on avoiding split ahead of assembly elections.
PDP MPs yet to resign despite Mehbooba Mufti’s directive
When the Centre announced the decision on August 5, both the MPs staged a protest inside and outside Parliament, shouted slogans in the well of the Rajya Sabha and tore a copy of the Constitution.
Hooda tests Sonia line in Rohtak where she debuted 20 years ago
Sonia Gandhi’s political quotient of being a party unifier will be tested in Rohtak, the Haryana town where she had made her political debut.
Will independent pay mechanism for MPs work?
NEW DELHI: The Modi government’s decision to form an independent emoluments commission to determine the salary and allowances of Members of Parliament comes in the wake of increasing public outrage over people’s representatives giving themselves...
Six-month-old Narendra Modi-led government’s political impact is palpable on Opposition parties
NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government may be barely six months old and into its second Parliament session, but its political impact is palpable on the Opposition parties; sworn enemies such as Trinamool Congress, Congress...
BJP-Sena break up: Numbers the only article of faith in coalition politics
NEW DELHI: The break up of the longest and ideologically closest saffron alliance, BJP and Shiv Sena, has driven home the ground rule of coalition politics: ‘Coalition maryada’ cannot be an article of faith but...
Three ironies and a power struggle mark CPM’s in-house debate
BJP growth in West Bengal, Kerala troubling Karat’s CPM NEW DELHI: Three ironies loomed large over four days’ din at the CPM Central Committee meeting, which was projected as an “ideological fight” over the party’s...
To get the A K Antony panel report correct, read the Congress politics right
Congress veteran A K Antony, who on 14th August submitted to party president Sonia Gandhi a probe report on the reasons for the Congress’ disastrous electoral performance in the Lok Sabha polls, must be a pretty...
Forget armchair politics Rahul, last chance to save the sinking ship
It will be fascinating to see how Rahul Gandhi will deal with the aftermath of his party’s worst electoral defeat. A leader’s mettle is tested in defeat as much in victory. If Indira Gandhi was...
Rahul Gandhi’s Discovery of Congress
To witness the making of history from up close is a privilege. To witness its replay is a bonus. Sonia Gandhi’s address to the Congress Parliamentary Party on May 24 at its gloomiest post-Independence moment...
Why Old is Gold in Indian politics?
Friday morning’s newspaper headlines have declared a positive trend; voter turn-out in the Lok Sabha elections has recorded an upward boost. The enthusiasm of India’s large youth population in participating in elections is reportedly the...
Congress’ mid-war strategic switch-over
As the tempo of the Lok Sabha election campaign is touching the crescendo, a change of gear in the Congress electioneering pitch has become all the more visible. One reason, of course, is that after...
The Varanasi Agneepath
Rahul Gandhi or sister Priyanka challenging Narendra Modi can alter electoral equations Election season is not about daily TV bouts among rootless wonders, masquerading as “strategists” and “ideologues” . Nor is it all about beautiful...
Congress’ Kiran in the Seemandhra battlefield
If the Congress has its way in Parliament, India will have its 29th state, Telangana, during the winter session. In reality, Telangana statehood is being pushed by the Congress not as an acknowledgement of the...
Who’s afraid of Arvind Kejriwal?
At the end of every political stand-off, there are always hair-splitting arguments about the exact nature of the victory, defeat or truce. That is now playing out after the central government and Aam Aadmi Party...
Rahul Gandhi’s Second Coming
Defeat can often prove to be the best magic potion for a bounceback. Rahul Gandhi’s surprisingly powerful and focused political speech at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) meet in Delhi on Friday — after...
Congress War Session – In Hour of Crises
Congress’ one-day AICC session in Delhi on Friday comes at a time when the party faces its worst crises. If crippling electoral routs, tainted image of its central government, surging inflation, economic slowdown and administrative...
Don’t count those chickens
The run up to 2014 elections promises to be as colourful and gripping as any box-office blockbuster We have entered the New Year witnessing much drama in politics. The electoral rout of the Congress in...
Modi should highlight Golwalkar, not Patel
Pursuing legacies is an enduring inspiration, both for those who want to be stimulated by examples of great lives and times as well as for those who want to create their own. But it becomes...
“Modi’s lack of knowledge on Sardar Patel, History matter of big concern” says Shashi Tharoor
Exclusive interview with Union Minister & Nehru’s Biographer, Shashi Tharoor What do you think about Narendra Modi’s and BJP’s attempts to lay claim to the legacy of Sardar Patel? Modi is trying to redefine a...
What, Why & Who of Secular Convention
A secular convention is being organised by Left parties in the national capital today. Here is a take on the compulsions, calculations and dynamics of each political party that will rub shoulders on the dais....
Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi & their tests
Upcoming elections will test the mettle of both Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi The nip in Delhi’s air, heralding the arrival of the winter season, coincides with a palpable rise in the political temperature...
Rahul’s Guerrilla Moment
With its Ordinance spinning out of control , the Congress used an extraordinary strategy Rahul Gandhi’s show at Press Club of India last week, thrashing the Ordinance that the UPA had brought in to shield...
Why Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and the BJP have no choice but to partner
During the politically eventful 1996-2004 era, Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s visits to Delhi as supremo of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the high-profile CM of Andhra Pradesh who, more importantly, also acted as the master...
Kerala crisis: Can Oommen Chandy survive solar scam?
The opposition Left Democratic Front’s (LDF’s) blockade of the Kerala state secretariat at Thiruvananthapuram has hit the headlines for two primary reasons. First, for its sheer visual impact. The Communists have mobilised nearly 1,00,000 activists...
A Year of Subtle Moves by ‘Political Prez’
President Pranab Mukherjee is missing Parliament sessions the most: An aide President Pranab Mukherjee will complete a year in office on Thursday. When he assumed office, there was the question what kind of a President...
UPA’s last supper or more to come?
One would expect anniversary celebrations to synonymous with confidence and excitement. But when UPA – 2 marked its fourth anniversary last week with a customary political jamboree, the air was thick with uncertainty and urgency....
Operation Clean Up: UPA’s Do or Die Phase
This May not only marks the beginning of another harsh summer in Delhi but also signals the crisis-torn UPA-II entering the last year of its mandate with elections scheduled for March-April 2014 even as speculations...
Bansal – the self-made politician caught in family tangles
Pawan Kumar Bansal’s mild manners hide a steely resolve to outdo rivals, most notable being Venod Sharma His smiling demeanor and persuasive ways had all along helped Pawan Kumar Bansal survive the rough and tumble...
Ashwani Kumar and the Law of Connections
For someone who has actively courted the limelight, law minister Ashwani Kumar’s current predicament — following his decision to vet a CBI report on the coal block allocation case — offers a delicious twist. From...
Mao, Indira & VS Offer Modi a Model Each
Those who have been waiting for the ‘Narendra Modi Vs Rahul Gandhi’ battle may be bewildered by the internal drama unfolding in the BJP. It began with JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar challenging Rahul’s challenger, unleashing...
Twin dilemmas for BJP: Narendra Modi poses a problem and opportunity
When you go to bed tonight, you can be sure of waking up to a cacophony on your TV screen that would easily eclipse the IPL fireworks. Expect another blitzkrieg from Gujarat chief minister Narendra...
The Limits of SP-Cong Checkmating Games
Power politics in this coalition era is not aDharma Yudh. It is a dog-eat-dog world where the fittest and the smartest survive and thrive by gobbling up the proclaimed enemies and deftly neutralising the secret...
Coalition politics in Congress Chakravyuha
Realpolitik can be fascinating to watch, more so when there is talk that the fall of a government is imminent. But don’t reach for the calculator yet to gauge the course. Agreed, it is hard...
The Sonia Years
Last week, Sonia Gandhi completed 15 years as president of the Congress. Her reign is no mean achievement: she is the longest serving chief of the 128-year-old party. Sonia is not about to retire. Nor...
Congress’ Chidu Moment
A finance minister readying to present the last regular Budget before the next general elections has to display a split personality. On the one side, he has to act as an imaginative and forward-looking economic...
On Afzal Guru’s Execution
When home minister Sushilkumar Shinde was asked whether the execution of Afzal Guru was “political”, he said it was not a political decision but “done in accordance to the law”. The assumption, obviously, is that...
When silence is dangerous
Arecently-released film, OMG: Oh My God!, is a biting denunciation of the thriving business of selling God by unscrupulous and greedy Hindu godmen. Audience lapped up the movie, the pious elderly enjoying the movie as...
Congress’ challenge at Jaipur
The Congress Party’s brain-storming session at Jaipur this week is the fourth such institutionalised event with Indira Gandhi organising the first one at Narora in 1974, in the face of a declining economy and, more...
Tycoons’ pride, teammates’ burden!
Can only manufactured social calm, enforced by divisive politics, provide fertile soil for development and wealth creation? Or, is it inclusive democratic politics that creates genuine social harmony, as a safe environment for business and...
Political sizzlers for 2013
The Budget: The last regular Budget before the polls is bound to be an ‘Election Budget’. So, when P Chidambaram presents the next Union Budget, even the high priests of ‘good economics’ will be ready...
Modi: The Spin and the Plot
Two kinds of politics thrive in the national capital. One, chartered kite-flying by the spin-masters , meant to divert attention from the real plots. It has no life beyond the political lane of shallowness. Second,...
Reforms and a Literal View of the Opposition
There is much merit, of course, to all those arguments for speedy economic reforms to fuel growth and employment. After all, no central government since 1991 has either halted or reversed reforms, even though the...
FDI, Opposition & Déjà Vu
If you have a nose for political seasons, it is unlikely you’d miss the shrill similarity between the present debate on foreign investment in retail and the build-up to the 2008-09 vote of confidence over...
Politics, post-Thackeray
Torrential downpours and turbulent outpouring of emotions face one law of nature: both will come to a halt and those who live through it will acquire the practical wisdom needed to deal with future struggle...
Cong, BJP & Surajkund Effect
It is interesting Sonia Gandhi’s managers have chosen Surajkund as the venue for the party’s Samvaad Baithak this Friday. Political Delhi will remember this Haryana town for hosting meetings that put presiding leaders of the...
Clash of Titans in Himachal
The dust and din in Delhi tend to obscure an allout Congress-BJP poll battle in Himachal Pradesh culminating on November 4. It involves just 68 assembly seats and does not evoke quite the interest the...
Truth, Tact and Family Ties
Mango people in a Banana Republic” was Robert Vadra’s signoff before he shut down his Facebook account, even as the Congress leadership is wondering how to shut down the latest controversy after Team Kejriwal went...
Congress can hold ground when it comes to ministerial berths
In New Delhi, it’s often said that power is a function of the prime numbers you command: The kind of numbers not easily divided by non-parliamentary lures. But Congress floor managers would beg to differ....
The Politics of UPA Reboot
The way Sonia Gandhi resolutely rallied the entire Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday to provide wholesome political backing to the Prime Minister and his core team in pushing ahead with economic reform might have...
Mamata Good at Staging Revolts & Seeking Face-savers
Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has often threatened to shake the political establishment, ever since she attained some stature in politics. Yet, for all her political brinkmanship, Banerjee’s each such action – as BJP’s ally...
BJP’s Tryst with Mao
The Congress strategy is to work on contradictions amongst the non-BJP Opposition. “When politics develops to a certain stage beyond which it cannot proceed by the usual means, war breaks out to sweep the obstacles...
Leaders shrink, rookies thrive
When the Prime Minister addresses the nation on Independence Day this morning, he is expected to repeat the rituals with the entire UPA led by Sonia Gandhi cheering him on. You can trust him to...
