CATEGORIES

THE GREAT HINDU VOTE TRICK

THEY COMPRISE 70 PER CENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE STATE, AND ARE BEING PROPITIATED BY BOTH THE BJP AND MAMATA BANERJEE’S TMC. BUT WILL THE BENGALI HINDUS VOTE EN BLOC?

THREE MORE YEARS

THE BJP WON 19 OF THE 28 SEATS THAT WENT TO THE POLLS; THE CONGRESS WON JUST NINE

RUNNING OUT OF PACE

A DEFIANT OPPOSITION ALLIANCE HAS TAKEN ON THE IMRAN KHAN GOVERNMENT AND, FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, EVEN THE PAKISTAN ARMY. WHERE WILL IT ALL END?

MAN IN POLL POSITION

THE BJP HAS THE UNENVIABLE TASK OF MANAGING HIMANTA BISWA SARMA’S AMBITION AND KEEPING HIM ON ITS SIDE TO RETAIN A PRESENCE IN THE NORTHEAST

PUNJAB UPS THE ANTE

CAPITAL PROTEST Amarinder Singh at the November 4 dharna in New Delhi

Facing the Music

How musical was the Mahatma? It’s complicated...

A HISTORY OF OPPOSITION

Indian past and its complexity

Getting Mumbai To Move Again

Unlock 5.0

What The Joe Biden-Kamala Harris Win Means For America, India and The World

What a Joe Biden-Kamala Harris administration in the united states presages for india and the world

KAMAL NATH PLAYS HIS HAND

MADHYA PRADESH BY POLLS

THE INTERMINABLE LOOP

The Centre’s desperation for funds has never been more palpable. The clamour for a fiscal stimulus to revive the economy is only growing, and the government must also find the resources for substantial unbudgeted, yet unavoidable, expenditure on managing the Covid-19 pandemic. Strategic disinvestment in public sector enterprises, once again in the news, would have come to the rescue, but chances are the government will once again miss its overambitious Budget 2020-21 target of Rs 2.01 lakh crore.

PLAYING FOR KEEPS

Not one to admit defeat easily, Fatima Sana Shaikh is slowly and steadily carving a space for herself in a cut-throat industry

MIRED IN RED TAPE

AS THE BORDER CRISIS WITH CHINA CONTINUES, THE DEFENCE MINISTRY MOVES TO REVIVE FOUR CRITICALLY REQUIRED WEAPONS PROCUREMENTS. MULTIPLE FACTORS, HOWEVER, PREVENT AN EARLY RESOLUTION

FRIENDS IN NEED

On October 21, Bimal Gurung, leader of a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) faction and a fugitive from the law in West Bengal, made his first public appearance in three years. Despite the many charges filed against him—including under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act)—he held a press conference in Kolkata that day, announcing that he was ending his alliance with the BJP-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance) and that he would help the TMC’s (Trinamool Congress’) Mamata Banerjee become “chief minister for the third time in 2021”. He added that the BJP “has done nothing about our demand for a [separate] Gorkhaland”, and that “Mamata Banerjee does what she says, so I’ll help her win seats in the Darjeeling region”. As a major political force in West Bengal’s hill regions—Darjeeling, Kalimpong and the subdivisions of Kurseong, Mirik and Siliguri—Gurung’s support will be crucial for the TMC in the upcoming assembly election, which is likely why he roams free despite the many cases against him.

Too Close for Comfort

COVID: SECOND WAVE

VISION FOR A LUXE 2020-21

The coronavirus and its socioeconomic impact on India and the world is unprecedented. No report, no survey could have predicted a six-month lockdown and life as we knew it coming to a standstill. But then that’s a pandemic for you.

DOWN TO THE WIRE

PM MODI AND THE BJP PULL OUT ALL THE STOPS AS TEJASHWI AND A RESURGENT RJD THREATEN A FIGHTBACK

Economy: The Festive Season Uptick

While some sectors of the economy have seen improved demand and sales in recent months, businesses are hoping the festive season sets a lasting favourable momentum

Covid-19 - The Festive Season Challenge

The daily number of active cases is declining, but with the festive season upon us, India is bracing itself for a second wave

The Season Of Smoke Signals

Reports of the NCR’s terrible AQI (air quality index) numbers have already begun making the news.

An Enchantment

Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi is a meditation on personal history, loyalty, trust and truth

Farm Revolution 2.0

How to make the spate of farm reforms by the Modi government work

Waking The Dread

With his unputdownable sixth novel, Hari Kunzru brings to life our worst nightmares

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Even though he was expecting a “small opening”, Sanjeev Bijli, joint managing director of PVR Ltd, was disappointed when he heard the collection figures for October 15.

An Election Placebo

Promises are free, and those made in the heat of electioneering best not taken at face value.

TAKING THE LEAD

Come Diwali and Priyanka plans to make UP her home and battleground in an effort to create a template for Congress revival

“ONLY THE PEOPLE CAN JUDGE ME”

I may look young but my soul is old,” says newly minted BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia to a 3,000-strong crowd that has assembled on a sunny late October morning in Dholagarh, a mofussil 85 km from Gwalior, to see and hear his campaign for the Madhya Pradesh by-elections.

THE CITY GOES UNDER

Flash floods following pounding rain in mid-October (a record 320 mm in 24 hours on October 14), and sluggish relief work have dented Hyderabad’s image as a growing metropolis.

NOT QUITE OVER YET

THE ONSET OF WINTER AND A LAX ENFORCEMENT OF COVID PROTOCOLS COULD USHER IN A SECOND COVID WAVE. INDIA NEEDS TO TAKE HEED

CONGRESS COMEBACK PLAN RIDES ON NATH

On October 25, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath wrote to sitting and former Congress MLAs tasked with managing the by-elections in ‘manuals’, or clusters of 10-12 booths each.