Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and state Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu in Amritsar, September 22 (Photo: AFP) THE ELEVATION OF Charanjit Singh Channi, replacing Amarinder Singh as chief minister, has inspired claims of a Dalit finally getting his due in Punjab’s upper caste-dominated politics. In a state that accounts for the largest number … Continue reading Is Charanjit Singh Channi’s anointment in good faith or an act of deception?
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A Setback for the Gandhis
Rahul Gandhi at a roadshow at Sulthan Bathery, Kerala, April 1, 2021 Rebel Congress leaders of the G-23 are expected to revive their calls for an organisational rejig That Congress saw Kerala as an island of hope for its first family, the Gandhis, was evident in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Sensing a huge setback … Continue reading A Setback for the Gandhis
Inside the Mind of the Indian Muslim Voter
KHALEED RASHEED FARANGI MAHLI, one of Lucknow’s prominent clerics, has a message for the people of his community this election: go out and vote in large numbers. Self-confessedly averse to interfering in politics, Farangi Mahli, a religious scholar of Farangi Mahal, an area near Chowk in Uttar Pradesh’s capital city that had in the past … Continue reading Inside the Mind of the Indian Muslim Voter
Rahul Gandhi: The Angry Debunker
ON APRIL 2ND, JUST BEFORE noon at 24 Akbar Road, headquarters of the Congress party in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi looked like a well-rested runner ready for an ultra-marathon. Except, he was not in sports gear, but a set of white, spotless kurta-pyjamas. But then, two years ago on a poll trail in Chotila, a temple-town … Continue reading Rahul Gandhi: The Angry Debunker
Eastern Uttar Pradesh: Will It Make or Break BJP in the 2019 Election?
IN BALLIA, KNOWN for its links to India’s freedom struggle and various melas, a strange morning ritual along narrow village roads stuns you. Men are seen taking their pigs out for a walk, waving canes, as if herding sheep that need to graze or walking dogs that must attend their call of nature. Here in the … Continue reading Eastern Uttar Pradesh: Will It Make or Break BJP in the 2019 Election?
Enter Priyanka: Can She Save the Day for Rahul?
THE MOST STRIKING thing about Priyanka Vadra Gandhi is a cliché, but one that is true: that she resembles her much- revered, much-feared grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, a politician who the late writer Gabriel García Márquez is said to have famously exclaimed about: “Madam Gandhi—what a combination of delicate femininity and sheer … Continue reading Enter Priyanka: Can She Save the Day for Rahul?