Priyanka’s entry in the electoral battle for Varanasi, if it is going to be so, can well prove to be a historic turning point as was the case in 1980 or even bigger than that.
Author: Abid Shah
Lok Sabha Polls 2019: Can Ghaziabad turned into BJP fortress by Ex-Army chief General VK Singh be held this time too?
On Holi evening a cigarette vendor was hovering around his closed shop outside a sprawling middleclass colony in Ghaziabad. Asked why his kiosk was shut despite no signs of Holi revellers being anywhere around, he shot back “they may come drunk and ask for bidiswithout paying.” His retort pointed to the[Read More…]
In his new book SC lawyer AG Noorani tries to castigate RSS and yet…
In what is a virtual new tome on RSS, or Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, its writer and Supreme Court lawyer AG Noorani has somehow missed out a significant point regarding demonetisation and its possible use that RSS, as per his findings in the book, could well have tried to make[Read More…]
A humble yet scholastic clerk with 40 degrees under his arm
Seldom does one come across with someone who has such an extraordinary passion for learning as is the case with 56-year-old Suresh Kumar Shrichandani from Ajmer in Rajasthan. Only last month he has cleared his MA examination in Rural Development from IGNOU, or Indira Gandhi National Open University. And with[Read More…]
Pulwama attack followed by death of an Army Major in Rajouri puts Pakistan in a spot and yet…
Close on the heels of a ghastly suicide attack on a Central Reserve Police Force convoy killing over 40 personnel near Pulwama on Jammu-Srinagar highway, a Major-rank officer of Indian Army lost his life on Saturday (February 16). He met the tragedy while defusing an improvised explosive device. The second[Read More…]
BJP to bank on hotshot celebrities to counter Priyanka Gandhi effect on 2019 polls
Before the last week’s unfortunate events in Jammu and Kashmir it was the advent of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi in active politics that bothered the Bharatiya Janata Party too much. So much so that the looming general elections had sent the ruling party higher ups to the drawing board[Read More…]
2019 Polls: Will sound and fury of PM Narendra Modi’s rapid fire end up in a whimper?
Before Modi this has been the case in 1977 because of some of the actions of the late Indira Gandhi and over a decade after her debacle also with her son Rajiv Gandhi.
New CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla and the uphill task before him
The new CBI Director Rishi Kumar Shukla has a reputation of being an upright, rule-abiding and, thus, unyielding police officer. He is generally averse to political or any other kind of pressure in his work. He is thought to be publicity shy, media shunning and yet polite and soft spoken,[Read More…]
Union Budget 2019: Piyush Goyal tries to be a messiah by bulldozing his way and yet…
What should have only been for a few months vote on account has indeed bulldozed its limits. Except for the absence of any fresh levies the Union Budget 2019 presented on February 1 by Union Minister Piyush Goyal reads like a virtual election manifesto. And so it is redolent with[Read More…]
Can Priyanka Gandhi prick and deflate BJP balloon?
There couldn’t have been any better bet than Priyanka Gandhi to put a shot in the arm of Congress before the upcoming national elections. Indeed, the entry of the 47-year-old sister of Congress president Rahul Gandhi was the only certainty amid the myriad uncertainties dogging the politics of the country[Read More…]
Upper Caste Reservation: Has BJP given up on Dalits and OBCs?
Job reservations like the proverbial cat are finally out of the bag. And indications are that the step is going to be flaunted as a virtual magic wand through the months to come to sway the electorate once again in the name of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. The reason for[Read More…]
PM interview: Narendra Modi’s takes make no mistake to leave out Ayodhya
The best defence is often said to be a good offence. Perhaps it is this dictum that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally pulled out and relied upon while giving an unusually long interview to a news agency on the first day of the New Year where among other things[Read More…]
A new book cuts through the myths of Ayodhya dispute to bring out truth
A new book on Ayodhya amply illustrates deep political motives behind sustaining the vexed dispute through past few decades. Written in Hindi by Sheetla Singh, a veteran journalist from Faizabad, who successfully founded and ran for past sixty years a local popular daily Jan Morcha, the book is titled Ayodhya[Read More…]
Towards 2019: Is Congress on comeback, or the BJP’s clout on the wane?
Hereon elections are going to be a closely contested affair and, thus, can hardly turn out to be a cakewalk for either the BJP or the Congress. This has to be more so with regard to the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Congress has made a stunning comeback through[Read More…]
ED raids on Robert Vadra and the mystique of exit polls!
The sheer timing of the raids indicates that the Centre’s ruling party, or the BJP, waited to make this move till the last day and last hours of the polls.
Ayodhya: Where not just mosque was ruined but modern instincts too got blunted
What has actually been lost in 26 years when an old mosque was pulled down at Ayodhya is not only a concrete structure built in medieval times but also quite a bit more vis-à-vis the present times. So much so that the ghosts of the demolished mosque still hover over[Read More…]
BJP’s love for Sajjad Lone pushes Jammu & Kashmir to the brink
Through past five months, or after pulling out its support to Mehbooba Mufti-led State Government the BJP did try to find an alternative to Mehbooba.
Gujarat migrants’ exodus: Politics amid plight of poor workers
To harass, bully, intimidate, maul and even kill weak and vulnerable sections like minorities, women and Dalits are somehow, though whether rightly or wrongly, thought to be the new normal as society in general has been getting more and more brutalised through past few years. Yet, occupational susceptibilities and easy[Read More…]
Rafale aircraft deal: How India got caught in French Revolution!
The muck that goes with power back home has starkly been laid bare by former French President Francoise Hollande. The disclosures made by him on September 21 about the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft by India have set off a bitter political battle, putting the Opposition virtually at the[Read More…]
Is Mohan Bhagwat trying to be relevant in times of Modi and Shah?
Strangely, neither Prime Minister Narendra Modi nor his BJP point-man Amit Shah were to be seen at the three-day discourse of the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat that concluded on Wednesday, September 19, in New Delhi. The Sangh patriarch preferred a distance with the two greatest founts of power and influence[Read More…]
Kanhaiya Kumar’s entry in the electoral fray may well open a new chapter in politics
The former Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar appears to be on way to bring new blood and verve to the politics of not only his home State, or Bihar, but also to that of the rest of the country. The reason for this is that he for[Read More…]
How Shivpal Yadav’s move can upset Akhilesh-Maya plan for next polls in Uttar Pradesh?
The main question vis-à-vis electoral politics in Uttar Pradesh is whether the signs of recent cracks in the top family of Samajwadi Party or that of Mulayam Singh Yadav, will affect his son Akhilesh Yadav’s alliance with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party or not. Together the SP and BSP have planned[Read More…]
Jammu & Kashmir: Why and how Satya Pal Malik became Governor of the crucial State
At long last Jammu and Kashmir has a new Governor. And the State under Centre’s direct rule has now a political hand at the helm of the troubled region at the border. The choice of Satya Pal Malik as Governor has, indeed, come as a surprise. The reason for this[Read More…]
SC/ST Act: Delayed Govt response to Dalit’s Bharat Bandh call
As politicos, and among them mainly the Government, took over four-and-half months time to pass the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the Lok Sabha after the Supreme Court had ruled to change some of its provisions millions of Dalits and their organisations spread across the[Read More…]
J&K: Hunt for Governor’s replacement picks up as Vohra differs on Article 35A
Now virtually at the end of his tenure the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir NN Vohra has put the Union Government in Delhi in a quandary. He has moved the Supreme Court for the deferment of any decision regarding Article 35A that deals with domicile, citizenship, property rights and issues[Read More…]