MS Shanker Is the Congress, once the undisputed national political force that ruled Bharat for decades, gradually losing its identity as a truly national party? The question may sound provocative, but recent political developments suggest that it can no longer be dismissed merely as political rhetoric. What should particularly worry the Congress is not just…
MS Shanker The removal of Konda Surekha from the Telangana Cabinet may, on the surface, appear to be a decisive assertion of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s authority over the State Congress. But beneath that show of command lies a more uncomfortable political question: has the Chief Minister actually consolidated the Congress, or merely pushed…
MS Shanker The Congress and its political allies may not like it, but they can no longer conveniently dismiss the RSS as a communal organisation without confronting a rather uncomfortable question: what exactly does its chief, Mohan Bhagwat, mean when he unequivocally says that a Hindu who believes Muslims should not live in Bharat is…
MS Shanker Welcome to the golden age of Indian print journalism, where methodology is a myth, reality is optional, and glossing over basic political arithmetic is standard editorial policy. In its latest cover story, a self-proclaimed “national publication” released its flagship popularity survey. The findings? Prime Minister Narendra Modi predictably leads the chart with 49%,…
Brig (retd) GB Reddi Unlike parties that largely awaken when elections approach, the BJP has built its political strength around a very different model: continuous organisation, constant cadre mobilisation and relentless electoral preparedness. That strategy has transformed the party from what was once widely regarded as a predominantly north Indian political force into a formidable…
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appears to have discovered a wonderfully convenient defence for the controversy surrounding Vande Mataram: if what Congress leaders did on Independence Day was a crime, then Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee must also be booked. After all, Kharge argues, they too sang the same version…
MS Shanker The controversy at the Congress headquarters on Independence Day may have begun with a few seconds of a video clip, but it has quickly turned into something much larger: a political test of how Bharat’s oldest national party relates to one of the most emotive symbols of the freedom struggle. During the Congress…
MS Shanker There is a growing need to distinguish between a genuine democratic protest and a politically engineered confrontation masquerading as a student movement. The distinction is not difficult to make if the entire evidence available in the public domain—including live television footage, CCTV recordings, police video, social-media posts and investigative findings—is examined objectively. A…
Indian politics has always been defined by its unpredictability. Parties that appear unassailable often witness internal turbulence, while seemingly weakened organisations occasionally reinvent themselves. Yet, at this juncture, it is difficult to ignore the growing signs of unease within the Congress, particularly among its ambitious second-rung leadership. The latest round of speculation was triggered by…
There are occasions when Parliament must rise above partisan politics. Protecting the future of millions of students is undoubtedly one of them. Yet, the Congress-led Opposition has chosen to paralyse Parliament for the sixth consecutive day, preventing discussion on one of the most consequential reforms aimed at tackling the menace of question paper leaks. That…
