The recent Delhi trial court verdict acquitting 23 accused — including former Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, and BRS MLC K. Kavitha — in the controversial excise policy case is not just a legal development. It is a political earthquake. And it comes at a time when the country is preparing for…
If sarcasm could generate electricity, India would not need to promise it for free before every election. Last week, the Supreme Court once again did what political parties have refused to do for years — speak uncomfortable truths. Pulling up states for announcing free electricity ahead of elections — particularly in the context of Tamil…
With the Election Commission of India expected to announce Assembly poll dates in the first week of March, the political chessboard across Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry is entering its decisive phase. The Commission’s special intensive revision of voter lists and its scheduled ground assessments signal that preparations are in advanced stages….
In a quiet but profoundly consequential move, the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has upheld the Parliamentary Pensions (Repeal) Bill, clearing the way for the abolition of lifetime pensions for lawmakers. Passed by Parliament with a simple majority, the decision has been hailed as historic—not merely for Sri Lanka, but for democracies grappling with the…
For Washington’s strategic planners, the temptation to view Iran through the same prism as Venezuela—or even Iraq—would be a dangerous miscalculation. Iran is not a collapsing petro-state with fractured institutions and limited military reach. It is a hardened, battle-tested regional power with layered air defences, a vast missile arsenal, and powerful allies who have a…
As India heads into a decisive round of Assembly elections across four politically distinct states—besides the Union Territory of Puducherry—the larger question goes beyond who will win and who will lose. The real story may be whether the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is once again reshaping the contours of Indian politics, not merely by capturing…
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…
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 question of whether Hindus are “awakening from their slumber” has become a recurring theme in public discourse—often raised with emotion, sometimes with apprehension, and frequently with political overtones. Yet, beyond slogans and counter-slogans, this question deserves a calmer, more thoughtful examination rooted in history, demographics, and contemporary global developments. Hinduism—Sanatan Dharma—is not merely a…
Last week, I had the misfortune of running into a left-liberal masquerading as a journalist. One of those specimens who spent most of his career comfortably ensconced in a government-owned television channel, surviving not on merit but on entitlement, proximity, and ideological conformity. He greeted me with forced curiosity and then, with the characteristic smugness…
