It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Rashtrapati Bhavan has leaked, or caused to be leaked, the information that President K.R. Narayanan sent a written communication to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee two weeks ago, asking him to convene a Rajya Sabha session to discuss the Kargil situation. Given … Read More
There is a disturbing trend in recent years for state-funded institutions to become controversial on account of being controlled by politicians or bureaucrats, often both. If there was Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal, there was the Indian Council of Cultural Relations in Delhi. And now, tenaciously hogging the limelight, is the … Read More
Notwithstanding its pleasant showing in coastal Goa, Congress would do well to pay careful attention to Sharad Pawar’s forthcoming convention in Mumbai on June 10. Although he has scrupulously shunned high rhetoric, Pawar has effectively punctured the party in this critical state, taking over the bulk of the Congress Legislature … Read More
Astride a high horse, straddling the low moral ground, Sonia Gandhi has achieved the grail of tin-pot tyrants. As the sun sets today, she will have elected a new party. Not yet a new people. But not a bad beginning. So where will she go from here? The wonderful thing … Read More
Ever since an envious, over-ambitious Sonia Gandhi yanked Atal Bihari Vajpayee out of South Block for the offense of doing a fairly credible job, the nation has been subjected to intense polemics on the pedigree of our politicians and their right to rule. As is natural in the circumstances, the … Read More
There can be no escaping the conclusion that the Indian people are victims of a presidential coup d’etat. From that fateful evening nearly two weeks ago when he directed the Prime Minister to seek a vote of confidence, to Sunday’s virtual command that the cabinet recommend dissolution of the Lok … Read More
Last year, when Pioneer chose to comment editorially on President K.R. Narayanan’s decision to vote in an election, I remember wondering if it wasn’t over-reacting. Certainly, it was unusual. I also had no quarrel with the view that the Head of State must be, and must be seen to be, … Read More
The unhappy situation in which the BJP-led coalition finds itself today has mesmerised most political analysts and social scientists. Reams of reportage has been expended on the mini-cyclones regularly splattering the regime and clouding the image of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, easily the most respectable politician on the spectrum. … Read More
From the time the first salvo was fired against the BJP and the sangh parivar as a whole over violence involving Christians in some parts of the country, I have pondered over the clashes, which mark a quantum shift in the anti-Hindu rhetoric with which we are familiar. To my … Read More
A new meaning has been added to Bihar’s bulging dictionary of pain. It would seem that its sufferings have no end. The ancient cradle of Indian democracy, learning, and civic consciousness is today a travesty of our tryst with destiny. Bihar is the penultimate example of India’s rupture with its … Read More
