That such leaders of niche, caste-based parties are now highly prized is no surprise in today’s hyper-fragmented polity. What piques interest is only how much voice each carries—and uses for hard bargaining during seat-sharing—in alliances that do not always convey the air of being happy joint families.
Two of the four new faces sworn in on March 5, as the Yogi Adityanath government went in for a long-talked-about cabinet expansion, are from these small parties: Rajbhar, boss of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), and Anil Kumar of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). Rajbhar, well known for his “pressure tactic” politics, returns to the Yogi cabinet after almost five years. His inclusion comes a day after he criticised the candidature of the BJP’s sitting MP Ravindra Kushwaha for the Salempur LS seat in east UP, proof enough that the party doesn’t take him lightly. The BJP evidently realises his import in Purvanchal—the eastern swathe of UP—where Rajbhar votes matter in at least a dozen Lok Sabha seats. The western UP-based RLD, whose chief Jayant Chaudhary recently cut ties with I.N.D.I.A., got its recompense for hitching its wagon of Jat votes to the NDA.
Denne historien er fra March 18, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
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Denne historien er fra March 18, 2024-utgaven av India Today.
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He gave the beat to the world
He would pick up the rhythms of each experience of mobility and weave them into his taals. Thus it was that he reflected joy and laughter in rhythmic cycles...such was the magic of Zakir's fingersText and photographs by Raghu Rai
KERALA TOURISM CAMPAIGN, 1989 - TICKETS TO PARADISE
All it took was a catchy tagline-'God's Own Country'-for the world to discover Kerala's wealth of natural beauty. It remains among the best tourism ad campaigns, earning the state a place among top 10 international destinations
SPIRITUALITY - THE GURUS OF COOL
Among the cult Indian gurus, no one had a bigger hold on western minds than 'Osho' Rajneesh. He's also perhaps the role model for the enterprise-building gurus of today
RETAIL SHOPPING - THE MALL MANIA
Shopping malls, a 1990s innovation in India, changed the way the Indian middle class shops. Their success now lies in being 'shoppertainment' destinations, offering something for everyone
CULINARY RENAISSANCE, 1978 - TANDOORI NIGHTS
ITC's Bukhara and Dum Pukht turned the world to tandoori cuisine and had an enormous impact on the F&B industry. Decades on, they are still a pit-stop for celebrities and heads of state visiting Delhi
INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH - REVENGE OF THE NATIVE
Rushdie lit the way but Indian writing in English has taken a life of its own in the past few decades, with translated Indian fiction most recently having its moment in the sun
INDIAN ART - A BRUSH WITH GOLD DUST
The 1990s economic liberalisation came as oxygen, lighting up the Indian art scene. Today, artworks by established masters routinely go for astronomical amounts
FESTIVAL OF INDIA, 1982 - CULTURE CAPITAL
The Festival of India grew into a symbol of our 'soft power', introducing our art and aesthetics to a global audience while also helping rebrand our domestic products
THE INDIPOP TREND - DISCO GOES DESI
For ages, the film song ruled. Nothing else was audible. Then came Nazia, charioteered by Biddu, and Indian ears went into a pleasant madness. Literally, Disco Deewane. A whole genre was born
SHOLAY 1975 - THE BIRTH OF THE FANDEMIC
India had seen hits before. But Sholay seared into its collective psyche like a badland bullet. The effect was on a scale never seen before- one film creating a new mass folk culture. And a trail of monster blockbusters that still continues
