MS Shanker There is an old saying in politics: leaders deliver the speeches, but it is often the nameless faces in the crowd that pay the price. A few hours of slogans can sometimes become a few years of litigation. That is perhaps the most uncomfortable truth that thousands of young Bharatiyas are never told…
MS Shanker The loudest protests against the latest amendments to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2026, tell us something important. Those who claim that the new regulations are an attack on civil society would have the country believe that transparency itself is a threat. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The fundamental question is…
MS Shanker There are few places in Bharat where status, wealth and political power ought to dissolve the moment one steps inside the sanctum. The sacred abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala is one such place. Before the deity, there are no Chief Ministers, ministers, legislators, bureaucrats or industrialists. There are only devotees. That is…
Pochiraju Raja Rao Bharateeyan politics has never lacked strange alliances. Yesterday’s bitter rivals have often become today’s indispensable partners, only to part ways again when political convenience changes course. Yet, not every political realignment strengthens democracy or enhances a party’s credibility. Some alliances come at a price too high to justify the arithmetic. The latest…
MS Shanker Political leaders are often judged not merely by the elections they win but by the restraint they display when they are in power. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s recent remarks describing Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee as a “weak leader” have therefore raised an important political question: has he inadvertently placed…
MS Shanker Politics is often judged by promises made during election campaigns, but history remembers governments for the promises they actually fulfil. If one were to view recent developments in West Bengal through that prism, the decision to rename Kolkata’s Suhrawardy Avenue as Gopal Mukherjee Road can be seen as more than a routine administrative…
Politics is no longer public service. It is a profession. MS Shanker There was a time when entering politics was considered an act of public service. Today, it has become one of the most lucrative professions in Bharat. That single transformation perhaps explains why political parties are breaking up at an unprecedented pace across the…
MS Shanker Politics can be unforgiving, especially for regional parties that once appeared invincible under charismatic leaders. Maharashtra today seems to be witnessing precisely such a churn. The developments unfolding within the factions led by Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar raise an important question: Is Maharashtra heading down a path similar to what befell regional…
MS Shanker Prime Minister Narendra Modi today enters the record books as Bharat’s longest-serving continuously elected Prime Minister, completing 4,399 uninterrupted days in office and surpassing the tenure record of Bharat’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, after the advent of electoral democracy. The milestone is more than a personal achievement. It marks the culmination of…
MS Shanker The political landscape of West Bengal is witnessing tremors that few would have imagined even a couple of years ago. The latest signs of unease within the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) emerged after reports that nearly 20 of the party’s 29 Lok Sabha MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and sought separate…
