Towards a better polity
By Harsh Gupta
The BJP is the only party which can be both truly nationalist and truly liberal – and while it has many defects it is much closer to those ideals, compared to other parties. The other parties are pseudo-secular and throwback leftists- these communal socialists believe in vote banks and socially [...]
Knowing the man!
Writing in the Indian Express, Swapan Dasgupta argues,
Patnaik’s go-it-alone gamble is premised on two parallel assumptions, culled from the results of municipal and panchayat elections over the past two years. The local elections, which were fought by all the parties independently, saw dramatic increases in the strength of the BJD, minor gains for [...]
Second, BJP must decide if the Hinduvata agenda has any support outside its committed base. In Orissa, for example, the extended Sangh parivar made Patnaik’s life difficult after a Hindu religious figure was assassinated. Riots continued for months and apart from damaging Patnaik’s reputation, they again exposed BJP to the charges of being a communal party. Indeed, it appears that after its break-up with BJD, the party has activated its loony fringe: the VHP is threatening to launch agitations against the Patnaik government.
Friendship
Indian Express reports on what this blog had discussed yesterday,
History, in a way, has repeated itself. There was a secret meeting between Kalyan and Mulayam in Lucknow in 2003, just before Mulayam was sworn in as Uttar Pradesh’s new Chief Minister. That was the time when Kalyan had been expelled from the BJP and he [...]
Identity politics does not equal good governance
While her state rots away, Mayawati is spending crores–literally–on elephants and statues,
“The total cost of the project is estimated to cross over Rs 1,200 crore,” confides a senior LDA official, on condition of anonymity. [...]
A question of power
Echoing Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar, Amit Varma asks,
1] Frame an argument, or even your position on the subject, that states why Kashmir should remain part of India.
2] Then replace the word ‘India’ with ‘the British empire’, and ‘Kashmir’ with ‘India’.[link]
Now, the secession argument is terribly complex. Taken to its logical conclusion, what [...]
Devolve Responsibility
( This essay was written a few months back but never published. In light of the oil fuel hike and its expected political repercussions, a few readers may find it relevant. It would be useful to remember that oil price were officially de-regulated a decade back. Government could have avoided the current mess if [...]
India’s poor can only be helped by correct policies.
Writing in the Outlook, Anirban Bose tells the heart-wrenching story of his refrigerator deliverymen who were not allowed to use the elevator in his gated housing complex. Bose is appalled by the ridiculous rules of his local community which forced the them to use the stairs [...]
Nearly an year ago, this blog had argued,
I would argue that it would make perfect sense for any such party to concentrate on it’s core constituency, the young urban educated professional. Yes, their numbers are not high enough to capture power and it would remain so for a long time to come. However, if PMK [...]
Or why China will never beat America
In an interesting article, David Brooks discusses how the Chinese have built an elitist society which rewards meritocracy above all,
And the system does reward talent. The wonderfully named Organization Department selects people who have proven their administrative competence. You work hard. You help administer provinces. You serve as [...]
