Narendra Modi
North-east polls change 2019 game: Modi’s gains in Tripura, Nagaland and Meghalaya give BJP new momentum
Agartala, Kohima and Shillong are so far away from the heat and dust of Delhi that elections in the north-east have too often in the past been seen by political and intellectual elites in the capital as passing footnotes, at best. The tectonic shift in 2018 has been the lifting of these self-limiting blinkers. The […..]
Latest GDP numbers appear to have slain the demon of DeMon, but economic fundamentals remain a challenge
From Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s made-for-TV ‘Gabbar Singh Tax’ jibe to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s retort on the ‘Grand Stupid Thought’ of an 18% cap on GST rates, Modi government’s economic performance has been shaping the prestige poll battle in Gujarat. The stakes are high for both: a resurgent Rahul, campaigning with a newfound overt […..]
Congress gets Patel face saver: But BJP still sits pretty while Congress desperately searches for a new narrative and identity
There are three kinds of Patels in Gujarat, goes an old joke oft-repeated by Ahmed Patel’s detractors in the state. Kadva Patels, Leuva Patels and Ahmed Patel. Laced with the irony and exaggeration that is the hallmark of sharp political innuendo, it was meant both as a dig at his vote catching abilities and, equally, […..]
Dabang kaun: Being macho in UP
Machismo has always had political currency in UP, the original birthplace of terms like ‘dabang’, ‘bahubali’ and the utterly untranslatable ‘varchasv ki larhai’. It lies at the heart of Akhilesh Yadav’s 2017 makeover, as epitomised by his “let’s swap seats if you like UP so much” jibe at PM Narendra Modi this week as well […..]
Don’t under-estimate BSP 3.0
The big elephant statues stand forlorn in the afternoon heat. It’s the height of the election campaign but there isn’t a soul out to see them or the huge four-sided Brahma-like statue of Mayawati that stands as the centerpiece of BSP’s imposing but deserted Dalit Prerna Sthal on Lucknow’s Mall Avenue. The predominantly Mayawati-focused imagery […..]
