Of late, Indian politics seems to have discovered a curious new science: the art of the impossible comparison. Leaders, cutting across party lines and ideological spectrums, appear convinced that the surest way to sway the public imagination is not through careful planning, grounded policy, or measurable outcomes—but by invoking grand metaphors, global benchmarks, and cultural…
Municipal elections are often dismissed as hyper-local contests about roads, drains, and garbage collection. But in India’s deeply nationalized political climate, civic polls have increasingly become ideological referendums. That is why the recent civic verdict in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai’s political ecosystem, is being watched closely in Telangana. Not for its immediate administrative impact, but…
There was a time when the Nobel Peace Prize stood as a moral lighthouse in a stormy world — a symbol of conscience rising above convenience, principle towering over power. Today, that lighthouse flickers. And with the extraordinary spectacle of Venezuela’s opposition leader Maria Corina Machado “presenting” her Nobel Peace Prize medal to U.S. President…
In an age where television studios brandish the tricolour as a badge of moral authority, one would expect a corresponding sense of national responsibility. Yet, a troubling trend has emerged—sections of the media, masquerading as “true nationalist” channels, magnify isolated issues into sweeping indictments of the nation itself. The result is not journalism. It is…
Sometimes, governance sounds less like policy and more like a late-night WhatsApp forward. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s recent warning that traffic challan penalties may be “automatically deducted” from violators’ bank accounts belongs firmly in that category—dramatic, attention-grabbing, and deeply disconnected from how India actually functions. At first glance, the statement seems well-intentioned. Traffic…
Will Hindu temples finally be freed from the clutches of the State, or will India’s version of secularism continue to operate with one eye shut? This question, long whispered in legal corridors and debated among devotees, has returned to centre stage following a significant observation by Supreme Court judge Justice Surya Kant, who made it…
The forthcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections—expected in 2026—may well turn into a referendum on a question long dismissed by the Dravidian establishment: is Hindu consolidation finally underway in Tamil Nadu? For decades, the state was portrayed as immune to religious polarisation. That assumption is now being stress-tested, largely due to the ruling DMK-led alliance’s own…
One of the great myths sold to the public—especially by so-called opinion-makers in television studios and editorial rooms—is that national consensus is achievable on complex issues of statecraft. In reality, consensus has rarely existed, at least not in any meaningful or durable form, within functioning democracies. Not in my lifetime, and certainly not in any…
The Indian National Congress today is no longer driven by ideology, policy alternatives, or even electoral arithmetic. It is driven by a singular obsession: Narendra Modi. In that blind pursuit of political vendetta, the party appears willing to undermine India’s credibility, dignity, and global standing—careless of the fact that it is simultaneously eroding whatever little…
A republic cannot survive on selective respect for the Constitution. When elected lawmakers swear allegiance to the Constitution on one hand and openly glorify those accused of orchestrating communal violence on the other, the danger is no longer rhetorical—it becomes existential. The Supreme Court of India has, after careful consideration, denied bail to Umar Khalid…
