18
Sweet are the uses of adversity in the garden city
The eyes tell the story of what happened in Bangalore on 3 August 2011 at the BJP legislature party meeting to elect a successor to B.S. Yediyurappa. The BJP’s observer …
CHURUMURI POLL: Can Sushma save the BJP?
Six months after leading his party to its most spectacular crash yet, “the man who sowed the dragon seeds of hatred“, Lalchand Kishinchand Advani, has bid adieu to the post …
How BJP completely lost the plot in Karnataka
MATHIHALLI MADAN MOHAN writes from Hubli: The manner in which the BJP high command moved to sort out the three-week-long political imbroglio within the ruling party in Karnataka, has exposed …
‘Surprised, very surprised, saddened, appalled’
As if the circus so far hasn’t been hilarious enough, the BJP president Rajnath Singh has issued a gag order threatening action against anybody in his party who “favours” Mohammed …
Will an RSS-run BJP be more vicious in future?
PRITAM SENGUPTA writes from New Delhi: A quite extraordinary aspect of the supernatural implosion in the BJP is how the “disciplined party”—the democratic party with a difference—has dropped all pretence …
‘J’ Virus is just biological warfare to weaken BJP’
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: I met the Ace Political Expert (APE) after a long time. He was taking his morning walk in Cheluvamba Park. When we settled on one of the …
Is the BJP so weak that journalists can damage it?
PRITAM SENGUPTA writes from New Delhi: Former Indian Express editor Arun Shourie‘s explosive interview with the paper’s current editor, Shekhar Gupta, while revealing the deep schisms within the BJP, has …
ARUN SHOURIE POLL: Oracle or opportunist?
In the cesspool that is Indian politics, Arun Shourie has lobbed a giant pebble in the stinking swamp that is the Bharatiya Janata Party. It could sink without a trace …
10 questions for the party of The Great Debators
After watching Jaswant Singh‘s media powwow in Shimla following his expulsion from the BJP, PRITAM SENGUPTA in Delhi has a few questions for the BJP: *** 1) Like, is this …
CHURUMURI POLL: Is the BJP in total disarray?
The Jinnah Jinx has hit the BJP once again. First L.K. Advani found himself very nearly ostracised from the saffron brotherhood for comments he made during a visit to Pakistan. …
Sometimes you are up, sometimes you are down
Five months and two days ago, B.S. Yediyurappa was flaming mad when somebody pulled the chair from behind him at a press conference addressed by BJP president Rajnath Singh in …
In great IPL, what if Congress, BJP played cricket
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: In a rare show of friendship and camaraderie amidst hectic campaigning, politicians of various hues got together and played a five-overs-a-side tennis ball cricket match in Mysore, …
Sauce for the kaangis is not sauce for the sanghis?
NAGARAJ BHARADWAJ writes: She holds the dubious distinction of being sacked as chief secretary of Uttar Pradesh on charges of corruption by the Supreme Court. She was voted the second …
What Indian Political League can learn from IPL
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: My friend, the Ace Political Expert (APE), who also sometimes doubles as the Ace Sports Specialist (ASS), was sulking in a corner in the lawns of our …
Of course, Indian politics is the art of the possible
The Congress is in the middle of a blazing row with Lalu Prasad Yadav‘s RJD over seat sharing. The BJP, deserted by the Biju Janata Dal, is in the middle …
Is this all that pooje and archane could achieve?
E.R. RAMACHANDRAN writes: Will somebody please explain just what is happening to B.S. Yediyurappa and his BJP government? The CM mentions there won’t be power cuts and just after few …
Kissa Karnataka chief minister’s kursi ka: Part IV
B.S. Yediyurappa reacts angrily after another public boo-boo in Bangalore on Tuesday. The chief minister thought the powwow with the media was over and stood up. A security guard standing …
CHURUMURI POLL: Is Nepal row Indian business?
The controversy over the decision of the Maoist government of Nepal to force priests from Karnataka at the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu to resign and appoint Nepalese priests in their …
CHURUMURI POLL: Can Hindus not be terrorists?
BJP president Rajnath Singh and the party’s prime minister hopeful L.K. Advani have declared that the Anti-Terrorism Squad of the Maharashtra police should let off the Malegaon blast accused—“Sadhvi” Pragya …
Is the Kargil victory something to be ashamed of?
At a little past 11.30 pm last Saturday, an SMS came from Sudheendra Murali, a friend in Bangalore: “Kargil Forgotten.” To a South Indian with not a single member of the …
What a front-row seat at a swearing-in costs BJP
The transmogrification of the fortunes of our representatives upon ascending the steps of the Vidhana Soudha doesn’t seem to trouble voters as evidenced by the election of scores of stinking-rich …
All the little flowers that bloomed with the lotus
L.K. Advani, Narendra Modi, Prakash Singh Badal, Rajnath Singh join Karnataka’s 25 chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa and his ministers from the Vidhana Soudha after taking oath on Friday, 30 May …
CHURUMURI POLL: L.K. Advani versus ________?
Politics is a bit like chess. Besides making the right moves yourself, it is also about catching your opponent unawares. Sometimes the other side notices and neutralises the risk; sometimes …