POLITICS
What the 2024 elections and 'Char Sau Paar' mean for India
With the Lok Sabha poll schedule being announced on March 16 and the Model Code of Conduct coming into effect, the stage has been set for a contest, where the primary question is whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s razor sharp focus on 400 seats for the NDA can be achieved. Meeting that goal would set the stage for big-ticket political and economic reforms
POLITICS
Lok Sabha Polls: Why Opposition's personal attacks on Modi benefit the BJP?
Why don't the Opposition leaders realise that their personal attacks on Modi do not help change the mood of the electorate? The personal attacks do not yield any political advantage. Modi remains a popular figure and is good at evoking sympathy from large sections of voters across India
TRENDS
Bharat Ratna: Honour for champions of economic reforms and farmers but Modi's political message is clear
Bharat Ratna to PV Narasimha Rao, Chaudhary Charan Singh and MS Swaminathan connects with Indians at multiple levels. Rao is a darling of the middle classes, is adored in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and was out of sync with a Sonia Gandhi-obsessed Congress. Charan Singh was among the first farmer leaders and struck crucial blows to the Congress edifice. Without Swaminathan, India’s achievements in agricultural self-sufficiency are unimaginable
POLITICS
Tamil Nadu: Actor Vijay's foray into politics — Whose cart will be upturned?
Vijay’s success in the crowded Tamil Nadu political field rests on whether he will be able to pull enough voters away from all the existing players to become a viable entity. He is counting heavily on the popularity of his films and his on-screen image among the youth
BUSINESS
Republic Day 2024: India looks more confident than before, but challenges are on the rise
From climate change affecting rainfall to geopolitical uncertainties, India has to be on the guard. But there is a sense of trust among ordinary people in Modi's ability to navigate the challenges, which is further amplified by Opposition parties repeatedly failing to show a viable alternative model of governance
POLITICS
Real test for Shinde Sena-BJP-Ajit Pawar lies in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls
Maharashtra assembly Speaker Rahul Narvekar’s ruling favours Eknath Shinde. Soon Narvekar will also have to decide on the disqualification motions arising out of the NCP split. But with elections nearing, all sides know that the real test of strength has become the electoral arena
TRENDS
Vijayakanth: 'Black' MGR who dared to take a plunge in TN politics & made a difference
Vijayakanth achieved commercial success comparable to MGR and Sivaji and stayed afloat despite the emergence of superstar Rajinikanth and Kamal Hasan. He made his way into politics because he wanted to do something to fight poverty and corruption, which he did as an action hero in his films
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
How will politics in South India pan out for 2024 Lok Sabha polls?
Seeing the electorate’s choice in Karnataka and Telangana along a North-South axis is to misread the anti-incumbency sentiment in these states. BJP is well in play for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in most of the South Indian states. The possibility of new alliances shaping up in states like Tamil Nadu cannot be ruled out either
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
Assembly Elections 2023: The possibilities for national politics if exit poll projections hold
Assembly Elections 2023: The exit poll projections give both Congress and the BJP a reprieve. Congress can take heart if it wins Telangana and Chhattisgarh. BJP will be reassured by wins in MP and Rajasthan heading into 2024. But the split result forewarns a mad rush of freebie promises that is the antithesis of good economics
ASSEMBLY-ELECTIONS
How will assembly elections in five states affect BJP and Congress in Lok Sabha polls?
Lok Sabha elections are a different ball game but the temptation to read a larger impact to these assembly polls is very strong too. It is more likely that the issues which dominate national politics closer to March will influence the LS polls. But the 2023 outcome could have implications like who gets to lead the opposition or whether BJP could lose some sitting seats
BUSINESS
Why have Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh responded differently to Narendra Modi's appeal?
Even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the BJP's best bet to attract votes, there seemed to be certain preconditions for his appeal to work
BUSINESS
Gujarat Elections | Why BJP has trained its sights on a less feisty Congress?
Can the Congress upset the BJP’s prospects in many constituencies?
BUSINESS
After Mulayam Singh Yadav's demise, is it adieu for socialism as a political plank?
Mulayam Singh Yadav, who passed away on October 10, was a leader who moulded socialism to suit the realities of Indian politics. Is that socialism electorally viable in today’s India?
BUSINESS
Politics, religion, caste, or calibre — factors that go into nominating a presidential candidate
Every Prime Minister since Independence has preferred a President with whom they have a good rapport. But it is easier said than done, because finding such a person is also connected to the composition of the electoral college at any given point of time
POLITICS
Maharashtra | BJP’s scripts a political thriller with a twist in the tale
By making Eknath Shinde Chief Minister, the BJP is killing several birds with one stone: it further weakens Uddhav Thackeray, strengthens the rebel Shiv Sena faction, and the BJP comes through as the guardians of Hindutva
POLITICS
President’s Election | Of Presidents who left a mark, and those who did not
The names that immediately come to our mind include APJ Abdul Kalam, KR Narayanan, Pranab Mukherjee, R Venakataraman, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and even India's first President Rajendra Prasad
BUSINESS
Jharkhand | Can the Hemant Soren government withstand this storm within the alliance?
Suspecting that Hemant Soren may be negotiating with the BJP for an alternative arrangement for running the government, the Congress decided to signal to the JMM chief that he cannot take the grand old party for granted
POLITICS
Uttar Pradesh Elections | How local and international issues dominate the narrative
From the stray cattle menace to lack of jobs to the hijab controversy in Karnataka to the crisis in Ukraine, everything is a campaign subject in Uttar Pradesh
POLITICS
Uttar Pradesh Elections | Why main contenders find the battle tightly contested
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s bid for a second term should not have been so difficult because of the work done on the ground, including developing infrastructure, improving law and order, and implementing many schemes
BUSINESS
Assembly Elections Phase II | Can BJP fight anti-incumbency, retain Uttarakhand?
In this term, the BJP has had three chief mnisters in Uttarakhand, finally settling on incumbent Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who appears to have managed to reverse the saffron slide
POLITICS
Uttar Pradesh Elections | Is BJP facing headwinds from SP-RLD combine?
Fifty-eight seats go to the polls in the first phase in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2017 assembly polls, the BJP bagged 53 of these 58 seats, while the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party got two seats each
POLITICS
Legal hurdles and the political demonisation of NEET in Tamil Nadu
While the Dravidian parties are playing to the gallery on the NEET issue, the BJP will have to go the extra mile to stand its ground on what is clearly an emotive issue in Tamil Nadu
POLITICS
Opposition unity does not have a long shelf life
In the long run, can opposition parties sit together and set aside their individual ambitions, egos and turf wars to fight a Narendra Modi-led BJP?
POLITICS
Union Cabinet Reshuffle | Prime Minister Narendra Modi focuses on performance and expands BJP’s social pyramid
Performance was one of Narendra Modi’s benchmarks for the induction of new faces and exclusion of others. At the same time, he has not lost his appetite for new experiments in governance
