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‘Appe Midi’, Julia Roberts and S. Bangarappa
D.P. SATISH writes from New Delhi: Even though Sarekoppa Bangarappa spent almost 15 years in the national capital New Delhi as a four-time MP—he entered the Lok Sabha on a …
Can the paragon of integrity hear his conscience?
A South Indian view of national politics is largely, if not completely, missing from Indian media, including and especially South Indian media. It is almost as if all wisdom on …
CHURUMURI POLL: Manmohan, still ‘Mr Clean’?
Manmohan Singh‘s unique selling proposition (USP), especially with the urban middle-class, has been his squeaky clean image in the “cesspool of Indian politics”. No scam or scandal or slipup under …
VHP & Bajrang Dal aren’t part of Sangh Parivar?
In the non-stop disgrace that Karnataka politics has been under the BJP, the disgrace of September 2008 when the State was held hostage by Hindutva Hitmen is now history, buried …
Has the middle-class deserted Manmohan Singh?
Manmohan Singh was always the darling of the middle-class. He was educated, honest, and had risen to the top on his own steam—plus Manmohanomics had put money in their pockets. …
CHURUMURI POLL: Manmohan, still ‘Mr Clean’?
Manmohan Singh‘s unique selling electoral proposition—his squeaky, clean image and credibility in spite of swimming around in the cesspool of politics—has come under question for the first time in two …
CHURUMURI POLL: India’s best prime minister?
Bruised and battered by crisis after crisis, prime minister Manmohan Singh has received a rare stamp of approval from fellow-sardar Khushwant Singh. “The dirty old man of Indian journalism” has …
Wanted: a uniform civil code for man & godman
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: Ajji sprang to her feet and switched off the TV set. She was faster than any of Ric Charlesworth’s Australian forwards. “Rama, Rama! Kala yellig bantho? In …
‘The closest India got to Plato’s philosopher-king’
After briefly toying with the idea of giving him his due—a clean chit in the Liberhan report; a major highway named after him in Hyderabad—the Congress party has suddenly but …
One question I’m dying to ask Justice Liberhan
After 17 years—three more than Lord Rama‘s exile—and 48 six-monthly extensions, the Justice Manmohan Singh Liberhan commission’s Rs 7 crore quest into the “truth” behind the demolition of the Babri …
CHURUMURI POLL: A Bharat Ratna for PVN?
Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao is one of the forgotten heroes of Indian politics. He had very nearly retired from active politics and returned to his home-state, Andhra Pradesh, when Rajiv …
Boys will be boys, MPLADS will be MPLADS
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a very popular scheme among all MPs irrespective of the party or caste they belong to. Under …
What did Pattabhi Jois have that PVN did not?
Journalism, it is said in jest, is basically about letting readers who did not know that a certain somebody was alive that a certain somebody is dead. Even by that …
1991 liberalised economy, 2008 liberalised polity
Towards draw of stumps on day one, Team Manmohan looks like it might score 271 in 20 hours. Or it might not. But sometime in the year 2025, seventeen years …
Is an MP’s loyalty only worth Rs 25 crore in 2008?
The grisly sight of law-makers being bought out like horses to shore up governments is an old story, as anyone acquainted with the Veerappa Moily tapes from the early 1980s …
Never do tomorrow what you can do day after
M.J. Akbar in the Khaleej Times, Dubai: “No Government of India has been as minimalist as the UPA regime. For over four years now it has survived on a simple …
CHURUMURI POLL: Is the ‘Dream Team’ exposed?
When Sonia Gandhi mysteriously heeded her “inner voice” in 2004 and passed on the baton to Oxbridge-educated Manmohan Singh, the country it was believed was in safe hands. And when …
God moves in mysterious ways. So do Godmen.
It’s not often that the long arm of the law manages to shake hands with India’s powerful godmen and women. But on Sunday, 25 May 2008, as the political vacuum …
The Congress had lost even before the poll began
KRISHNA PRASAD writes: The colour television and the personal computer have been essential electronic items in the Congress’ electoral inventory for over a quarter of a century. The party’s understanding …
One-thousand three-hundred & ninety-four words
In 1997, when Outlook crowned the then Congress president Sitaram Kesri as the Villain of the Year, the magazine’s managing editor Tarun J. Tejpal described why Kesri had been picked …