CATEGORIES

It's Party Time For Prashant Kishor

Nitish Kumar calls him the future of JD(U), but the poll strategist should know that in the Bihar CMs universe, the only certainty is uncertainty.

Retaliatory Fire

Now, serving army personnel move court challenging the FIRs against securitymen in insurgency-hit areas.

Horror Homes Of Bihar

New scandals suggest massive collusion in Bihars shelter homes. Will Nitish act?

A Clash Of Coalitions

Arithmetic may trump personality in 2019 as the battle has turned from Modi versus the Rest to UPA+ versus NDA+

Son-Shine Days

Rahul Gandhi goes digital to take the war right into the BJP camp, but will his new charisma translate into big gains for the Congress in the 2019 polls?

The Politics Of Meat

CM Trivendra Rawat plans to cancel licences to all slaughterhouses in the state

Twist In The Kochhar Saga

Reportedly on the verge of being dropped, the investigations into the conduct of Chanda Kochhar, former ICICI Bank managing director and chief executive officer, took a sharp turn on January 25 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) booked her for “dishonestly sanctioning loans to the Videocon group”.

Baghel Hits The Ground Running

The Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Begins His Innings With A Flourish, But His Aggressive Approach Could Unsettle The Establishment.

Maoists Strike Back

Red terror is back in Gadchiroli with seven tribals killed in 15 days— the highest in a decade.

Pension Payback

The Enhanced Defence Pensions Will Warm Many Hearts But Also Weigh Heavy On The Exchequer.

The Great Indian (S) Election

The greater reliance on data and new forms of communication in India’s electoral campaigns has created a cottage industry of political consultants and data experts who lend their services to political parties and candidates, mapping constituencies and helping them target voters through these new tools.

Gully Boy Socks It To Us

Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy elevates the Bollywood musical. Co-written by Reema Kagti and Akhtar, it has many elements, relatively rare, in mainstream Bollywood: intelligence, gritty realism, exploration of class and minority issues, and radical feminism—all driven by a pulsating rap score.

Still Room For Other Friends

Akhilesh Yadav’s remarks about the Congress being integral to an anti-BJP alliance shows a subtle shift in strategy. Is it the Priyanka effect?

Empty Shots

Life is unfair if you’re a woman and a support system of female friends and a bartender cum-friend to feed you shots any time, helps. Or so I’m led to believe by Four More Shots Please! (Amazon Prime).

BSY ‘Tape' Ties BJP In Knots

The audio tape of Yeddyurappa’s alleged attempts to buy over JD(S) MLAs has left the BJP red faced and party legislators fidgety.

Another Raje Joins Battle?

Will Priyadarshini Raje replace husband Jyotiraditya as the Congress’s Guna candidate?

Why Women Voters Will Make or Break Parties In 2019?

With women choosing to vote in unprecedented numbers, they can now make or break political parties. They are increasingly following their own priorities. Will they cast the decisive vote in 2019?

Modi's Northeast Gamble

On February 9, addressing a gathering of nearly 200,000 people in Changsari near Guwahati, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lamented the fact that iconic singer and musician Bhupen Hazarika, who in January had been awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously by the Union government, had not received the honour in his lifetime.

The Congress Is Capable Of Winning It Alone

In December 2013, Sheila Dikshit’s 15-year-old Congress government in Delhi lost an election, winning a meagre eight seats in the 70-member house. Dikshit herself lost to AAP challenger Arvind Kejriwal. In two successive polls—to the 2014 Lok Sabha and the 2015 state assembly—the Congress drew a blank in the capital. As the party looks for a revival in the 2019 general election, the octogenarian ex-CM has been brought back to head the party in Delhi. Dikshit spoke to Kaushik Deka on the party’s prospects and a range of issues:

Narendra Modi: Pakistan Will Pay A Heavy Price

After Pulwama, how can Modi strike back at Pakistan?

Cancer Plans That Fit The Bill

A slew of policies have hit the market, giving you the financial muscle to fight cancer.

Haute On Trend

A round up of what the best-dressed rooms will be wearing in 2019

‘I Resemble Everyone But Myself '

At 4 am on June 16, 1993, A.K. Ramanujan wrote an unpunctuated paragraph of what he called ‘free writing’: ‘Whatever comes to your mind consciousness epiphenomenon Bosnia Mogadishu children with problems Chinese immigrants . . . pain in the ankle arch instep acute as sting diffuse as a cloud of poison emitted by a savage squid cyclical is a phonograph stuck on a phrase’.

In Scindia Bastion, The BJP Fields A Political Lightweight

The NYAY scheme, farm loan waivers and his royal lineage feature prominently in Scindia’s poll campaign

The Fine Art Of Forging A Friendship

That show of bonhomie wouldn’t have come easy for Nitish. Soliciting EBC votes for the BJP’s Giriraj Singh, known for his hardline Hindutva—was a political tradeoff he couldn’t avoid.

“Scars Don't Bother Me”

Aishwarya Pissay, the first Indian woman to win five national bike titles, on the grit and gumption it takes to make a champion

Elections 2019 - The Explosive Battle For Uttar Pradesh

The state remains pivotal in determining who will form the next government at the centre

‘The BJP Is An Expert At Murdering Democracy, But Indians Are Wiser'

Appointed general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (West), former Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has been tasked with the responsibility of not just delivering seats for the Congress but also—as party president Rahul Gandhi has said—ensuring the BJP does not gain from Congress candidates pitted against the BSP-SP contestants. Now campaigning extensively in his constituency, Guna, Scindia spoke to Rahul Noronha on issues such as building the party in UP, alliances, his idea of friendship in politics and the prospect of his wife joining politics.

‘Hindutva Is A Threat To Our Constitution'

Though he resists the label of ‘Muslim leader’, All India Majlis­e­Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi is the biggest star in Muslim politics today. Turning 50 on May 13, he’s seeking to retain Hyderabad for the fourth time in a row, and is looking to extend the AIMIM footprint, contesting from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, and Kishanganj, Bihar. He spoke to Amarnath K. Menon on the status of Muslims:

Tough Going For The BJP

Chief Minister Raghubar Das faces a tough opposition alliance and disenchanted tribals who feel done in by the incumbent govt