Anand K. Sahay

Sep 12, 2011

Crusader-come-lately

In arriving at an estimate of who we are as a society, and when we evaluate our collective political selves, it seems hard to wriggle out of the belief that we are passing through distressing times. Any whippersnapper can pass by, stand at a traffic island, and unleash abusive vocabulary principally at those who hold the reins of office but also others.

UPA’s last attempt to save face

The recent policy announcements — after a two-year policy drought — concerning foreign direct investments (FDI) and the unpopular but unavoidable decision to raise the price of diesel to signal the go

Coalgate: A loss that is too presumptive

At the social level, we are a sturdy and sensible people on the whole. We might make serious mistakes but recover to our normal with surprising swiftness. This explains the trek back of students and young workers from Guwahati to Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai within a week of what was being called an “exodus”.

Step 2 for Rahul

In some ways, Rahul Gandhi is an enigma. As if to prove the point critics make that the Congress suffers from the dynasty syndrome, he joined the party, was straightaway given a ticket for the Lok Sabha (winning the seat twice in a row), and was made a general secretary, thus reaching the highest levels of party leadership.

Presidential polls: What lies beneath

In every sense of the word, this has been the most exciting and eventful President’s election we’ve had, possibly surpassing 1969 (in the scale of ruptures and re-alignments that may potentially ensue) when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sought to re-fashion political contours on her way to political hegemony by getting her handpicked party nominee to defeat the official Congress candidate.

Demise of big idea politics

Writing in another time, when the British empire was not near collapse, and when the new idea of communism that arose in Russia was yet to mesmerise a generation of British writers and intellectuals,

The making of a President

Although nominations have not yet been filed, there are few reasons to believe that a serious contest will ensue for the upcoming election of the Rashtrapati when President Pratibha Patil demits office. Traditionally, a consensus between political parties has been created around an eminent Indian proposed by the ruling party or the principal party of the governing combine.

A nonaligned sutra for West Asia

India’s disinclination to attend to world events, or even major regional ones, unless it is being called to account — as on the NPT question — has become its hallmark.

The defeat and after

Unlike UPA-1, whose steady incremental achievements added up to positive vibes at the end of the five-year term and helped it slay the demon of anti-incumbency, the UPA-2 has hardly been a string of successes. For the Congress and the government it leads at the Centre, the recent Assembly election in five states were therefore of greater significance than might otherwise be the case.

Charioteer & his chase

BJP stalwart Lal Krishna Advani’s apparently sudden announcement that he would get on to a motorised “rath” or chariot and do a cross-country yet again — this time with the avowed intention of campaigning against corruption — has caught even his own party unawares. It should not have.
The decision fits perfectly with the recent declaration of BJP president Nitin Gadkari that his party will march under the leadership of Anna Hazare. In fact, it can logically be seen to be in furtherance of that line. The tactical direction flowed from the RSS — around which the Hindutva bodies revolve — and given to the
BJP as a political party to pursue.

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