This general election initially set out to be no more than the sum of its parts. That is why the BJP was ahead even then, because it had a string of solid, rooted to the ground, performing chief ministers and other stalwarts who could deliver seats on a state-by-state basis. … Read More
If ever there was a case for invoking Section 495-A of the penal code – causing religious hurt with intent – it should be invoked against Begum Teesta Setalvad and her accomplices in the Citizens for Justice and Peace organisation, for viciously wounding the religious sentiments and communal dignity of … Read More
There is merit in the Shiv Sena sentiment that the AK-47 wielding Ajmal Amir Kasab, caught on CCTV straddling Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus where he and an associate slaughtered 55 persons in cold blood, and later captured alive due to the personal valour of ASI Tukaram Omble, deserves no defence. The … Read More
The BJP’s election manifesto for the 2009 parliamentary elections is a masterly exercise in rooting India’s great power ambitions in its ancient civilisational consciousness, specifically its holistic and spiritual Hindu worldview which accepts and celebrates diversity and seeks the underlying unity within. Laden as it is with political, economic, and … Read More
Close on the heels of the temporary resolution of the dispute over the sacking of South Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu, there was a stir in Nepal over the seizure of copies of the Bhagwat Gita that devotees were bringing from Gorakhpur. The incident was quickly hushed … Read More
Cine star Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai and now general secretary of the Samajwadi Party, crossed the limits of normal and political decency by insinuating that Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj was responsible for the Supreme Court decision to deny him permission to contest the … Read More
On 14 March 2009, a lingering, insidious smear campaign against Sathya Sai Baba quietly fizzled out when Channel Nine MSN removed a biased anti-Baba broadcast from its official website. Ardent Sai defamer Robert Priddy admitted on his blog that Channel Nine MSN “would not have removed the video had there … Read More
If politics is the art of winning power by convincing people that you have the ability to wield it wisely, then BJP may as well pack its bags. Having closed its ears to common sense and reason, the party has permitted an absolute non-entity to hijack its agenda and eclipse … Read More
With the shine coming off his presidency with each passing day, Barack Obama must have been slightly relieved when the bosses of the now 80% Government-owned insurance giant AIG agreed Monday to return $ 50 million in bonuses, following a public uproar against the wanton use of taxpayer money for … Read More
As BJP president Rajnath Singh welcomed former Union Minister Dilip Ray and former Nationalist Congress Party leader Bijoy Mahapatra into the party yesterday, close on the heels of the entry of BJD Lok Sabha MP Archana Nayak (21 March 2009), Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik suddenly lost his aura of invincibility. … Read More
