Sidharth Bhatia

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The writer is a senior journalist and commentator on current affairs based in Mumbai

Politics needs politicians

In recent weeks, Salman Khurshid, the minister for law and justice as well as of minority affairs, has emerged as the face of the UPA government.

Is Modi jogging to Delhi any faster?

Try this experiment: Watch the speech Narendra Modi gave on September 17, the first day of his fast (it’s available on YouTube). Then switch off the sound and watch it on mute. (Mr Modi’s animated persona is more telling than the words he uses.) Chest puffed out, clear eyed, unsmiling and daring his opponents to come and take him on. Whatever he says is of secondary importance; his body language transmits arrogance and defiance. Yes, it seems to say, this is who I am, like it or not.

Is Modi jogging to Delhi any faster?

Try this experiment: Watch the speech Narendra Modi gave on September 17, the first day of his fast (it’s available on YouTube). Then switch off the sound and watch it on mute. (Mr Modi’s animated persona is more telling than the words he uses.) Chest puffed out, clear eyed, unsmiling and daring his opponents to come and take him on. Whatever he says is of secondary importance; his body language transmits arrogance and defiance. Yes, it seems to say, this is who I am, like it or not.

A middle class that roars

One of the interesting points that arose during the recent anti-corruption agitation was the apparent gap between the “middle class” and the “intelligentsia”. The latter said that the main supporters of Anna Hazare and his group were from the middle classes and proceeded to analyse the whole agitation from that perspective. The former, feeling they were being criticised, hit back at the intelligentsia, declaring that they were disconnected with the situation on the ground.

It’s all about power, stupid!

For the first time, the UPA government, after floundering for an apt response to the challenge thrown by Anna Hazare and his team members, has come up with a political counter-move. So far the government — in reality the Congress — has advanced either narrow technical arguments or spoken in generalities or taken a series of missteps, ranging from disallowing a hungerstrike to foolishly arresting Mr Hazare and taking him to Tihar Jail, thus further enhancing a frail old man’s martyrdom appeal. The crowds have only increased, the pitch of the protest only getting louder.

Right ghosts from the past return

A rising intolerance of minority communities, Right-wing extremism, debasement of the currency, disenchantment with capitalism. Add to that a crash in Wall Street. This pretty much sums up the scene in the West today. Except that this was exactly the scenario in the 1920s when Europe was recovering from the ravages of the First World War and Germany was under the unpopular Weimar Republic.

Home truths

After every rate hike announced by the Reserve Bank of India — and there have been several in the last year — there is speculation in the media that property prices will start sliding downwards. Home and auto loans go up, adding a further burden on the middle class, but news stories about the possible, even inevitable, dip in realty prices are a kind of silver lining in an increasingly cloudy scenario.

Our bribescape

As the Lokpal Bill talks between the government and representatives of the civil society movement wend on their pot-holed path, one question continues to perplex: Why does the Anna Hazare team not als

Look who’s watching

Anyone who has moved cities in India for a job will agree, starting life afresh can be quite a task. Renting an apartment, then getting to know the new environment and coping with an alien culture is tough enough, but even simple things can prove to be enormously complicated. Try opening a bank account, for example.

Playing with privacy

The scandal surrounding the conduct of American politician Anthony Weiner, who send lewd pictures of himself to women, has raised the inevitable question: could it happen here? Or, more appropriately, do Indian constituents care much about their leaders’ personal lives?

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